That is pretty dramatic, isn’t it? That it costs us twice as much to fill up our cars in just two short years since Obama got into the White House? Yikes. Not that his followers have said much about it, nosirree. They have been mysteriously silent on that point. Huh. I wonder what they would have said had this happened under, say, Bush? Oh, wait – they are STILL blaming Bush for the prices:

Now y’all know I was not a huge fan of George W. Bush’s, not by a long shot, but comparing 8 years to 2 is just a bit of “fuzzy math.” And forgetting that there was/is tremendous upheaval still in Iraq and Afghanistan is a tad disingenuous. Yes, things are going nuts in the Middle East, but really, that is not new to this president. That is all to say, what a stretch. The most recent turmoil has been going on the past 3 – 4 months – how about the increases from last year, huh? Good grief. Are there any hoops these folks will not jump through in their attempts to exonerate Obama of any wrong-doing, any inaction, any missteps? Apparently not, at least not in Cenk’s case(and feel free to list as many examples of this as you would like).

Though at least Bob Beckel can acknowledge that, if nothing else, maybe Obama shouldn’t be laughing about how much gas now costs Americans:

At least Beckel has a sense of humor about his support for Obama and his budget policies, but yeah, laughing at how much it is costing people to fill up their cars, not getting the impact these gas prices are having on Americans all across the board, is telling, telling, telling about Obama.

But get this – these current gas prices are going to look like a walk in the park compared to what we can expect this summer. Yes, the experts are now saying we can expect a 40%, yes, that is FORTY percent,increase by this summer:

[snip] According to AAA’s daily fuel-gauge report, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is about $3.79, up about 33% from $2.86 a year earlier.

The average U.S. household’s vehicle fueling costs will rise about $825 from last year’s level, hitting $3,360 in 2011, the EIA said.

The government also expects refiner acquisition costs of crude oil to average $112.50 a barrel this summer, up about 50% from the prior year.

Meanwhile, wholesale gasoline margins — the difference between the wholesale price of gas and the refiner acquisition cost of crude — are forecast to average 53 cents a gallon this summer, up 47% from last year. (Click here to read the rest.)

Holy shit. This is a cascade effect kind of thing, as many of us already know. It affects how often we drive, how much our food and clothes cost, how much we have left over at the end of the month.

Reuters/Ipsos just came out with a poll this morning highlighting this very issue:

[snip] More than six of every 10 Americans have cut back on other expenses and reduced their driving as a result of the rising gas prices caused by tumult in North Africa and the Middle East.

The increase in energy costs also hurt Obama’s approval rating, which dipped for the second consecutive month to 46 percent — his lowest Ipsos poll rating since early December 2010.

“That’s all a function of gas prices. People are feeling the pinch at the pump,” said Ipsos pollster Cliff Young.

“Increased gas prices have a direct impact on the pocketbook, and there is very little lag time between rising gas prices and its effect on presidential approval and confidence,” he said. [snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Yes, this is having a major impact on Americans all across the country. And it looks like it will only be getting worse.

Bottom line, this is NOT a laughing matter, Mr. Obama, not even close.

Update below the fold.

Of Obama campaigning. Yes, he has already started for his re-election. Blech. Oh, he just happened to show up at the Lincoln Memorial after the 11th hour agreement on the budget vote, running around, glad handing, acting like he was the one who wrote the damn thing:

Never mind that he was kicking and screaming throughout the whole process, threatening to veto an extension bill that would fund the Pentagon, thus the military, should there be a government shutdown. And never mind that the REASON we were on the verge of a government shutdown was the Democrats refusal to pass a damn budget last year when they controlled all three houses. Gee – can’t imagine why they decided not to do that, and that decision was made pretty early in the year.

And now Obama is prancing around like he did this single-handedly? Please.

It is only going to get worse from here on out. This is only the beginning of his re-election bid, which he curiously decided to launch in the midst of a boatload of serious issues facing the nation and the world (Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iran, the budget, gas prices that have doubled – DOUBLED -under Obama, and on and on).

Just as a reminder, these are some of the “highlights” toward which I imagine we can look forward, and the mature responses of his followers:

Or this:

Or how about this memorable comment:

Here’s some campaign advice for Mr. Obama, free of charge: when you are in the middle of a campaign, and you choose to go out to be among the people, including eating in a diner, when someone dares ask you a question, answer it. That’s why you are there, right? If you want an uninterrupted waffle-eating breakfast (and was that waffle ever an indicator of things to come from Obama), stay in your hotel room. I’m just saying – you might not want to get all snappy with the people you want to vote for you when you deign to mingle among them.

That is just the beginning. That doesn’t even begin to touch the ways in which Obama takes credit for actions that were not his (the list is way too long, but think back to the last election when he claimed to be on committees he wasn’t on, or bills on which he didn’t work, etc., etc.). How much worse is it going to get now that he actually got into the White House? Geez, I shudder to think.

I wonder if, maybe the second time around, the media might actually do more of its job, and ask him some real questions, like about Rezko, for instance. Or his connections to Big Oil. Yeah, I didn’t think so…

I don’t know that I can take another 1 1/2 of Obama campaigning. The last time was one time too many, if you ask me. I think I’m going to have to spend more time watching videos like this instead of watching Obama lie like a rug, calling people racists if they disagree with him, or tilting his chin up at people in the most arrogant manner possible:

Uh, yeah. This is much better, don’t you think?

**Update** My aunt mentioned to me today that Obama had been complaining about his loss of privacy. Was he ever. I knew he had complained about this before, but wow, want a little whine with that cheese, Mr. Obama? Good grief. I guess he didn’t believe Bush when he said being president was “hard work.” Hmm – I wonder if people will give Obama as hard of a time for saying this:

“I just miss – I miss being anonymous,” he said. “I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks. I can’t take a walk.”

His dream, he said, was to “go through Central Park and watch folks passing by … spend the day watching people – I miss that”.

Faced with simmering criticism for playing more golf than most previous occupants of the White House, he explained that the sport was simply the best way of getting away from it all.

“It’s the only excuse I have to get outside for four hours at a stretch,” he told Hearst magazines. [snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

Oh, freakin’ spare me. After he pulled every dirty trick in the book to get INTO the White House, from caucus fraud to vote-stealing, he’s complaining (again)? That just takes the cake…

I think this calls for another horse video, this time with a cat (this one reminds me of my Jordan playing with a teeny tiny little kitten, letting him play with his tail and everything – so cute):

It is hard to believe that this oil spill in the Gulf is still continuing, over 70 days later. And, it is hard to believe how much this situation has been mismanaged by both BP and the US Government. Sadly, that is the case on both counts.

For instance, BP continues to act stupidly by not utilizing fishers from the Gulf area to assist in cleaning up the area, as this article by Matthew Boyle highlights, Local Fishermen Watch As Clueless Out-Of-Staters Take On Cleanup Duties:

Local out-of-work fishermen around the Gulf of Mexico are fuming at the Unified Command Center and BP after hundreds of people from other parts of the country have showed up for work along the Gulf Coast with their boats.

Bob Zales, president of the National Association of Charterboat Operators, said that those people from out of the area are taking jobs away from the fishermen and others directly affected by the spill. They’re doing it, Zales said, by getting hired onto BP’s subcontractors’ workforces.

Companies BP subcontracted to handle cleanup operations include SWS Eagle, Parsons and PEC Premier.

Zales said things would be better if the workers were experts on the handling these kinds of issues or at least knew the area.

“These so-called professionals they’re bringing in from out of state don’t have a clue how to set up boom,” Zales said. “They’re just here making money. But we’ve got people begging for work.”

Zales said the subcontractors should kick out the workers from other parts of the country and hire the local fishermen who know the area and how to do the work correctly.

“These are companies that are allegedly experts on environmental issues,” Zales said. “But, I can tell you, that from what I’ve seen, they don’t know what they’re doing. If this wasn’t so serious, it would be a good comedy.”

Yes, indeed, they should use the fishers and boat captains from the area who know the area, know how to set up booms, and have a sense of urgency about the work they are doing. Since the effect of this spill is already catastrophic, it seems to me they would want to use people who were knowledgeable about the area, and knew what the hell they were doing.

Oh, and one last tidbit from this article:

In Panama City, Fla., SWS Eagle employed at least 11 illegal immigrants, all of whom were arrested by law enforcement officials in Bay County. The officials expect that many more illegal aliens are working on cleanup sites.

“Thirty people didn’t show up for the next shift,” Ruth Corley, Bay County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said. “We had received several tips that BP had employed illegal aliens. It turned out it was a subcontractor situation.”

Yes, this would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious, on a number of levels. What the hell is the matter with these people?? Sheesh. Click Local Fishermen Watch As Clueless Out-Of-Staters Take On Cleanup Duties”>HERE to read the rest of this informative, and disturbing, article.

And then there is the Federal Government’s mishandling of the spill. We know they stopped the sand berms from being built in Louisiana, which is bad enough. But there is another factor that is as egregious as they come, and that is the lack of oil skimmers being pressed into service, as this article by Karen Nelson highlights,
No Skimmers In Sight As Oil Floods Into Mississippi Waters:

A morning flight over the Mississippi Sound showed long, wide ribbons of orange-colored oil for as far as the eye could see and acres of both heavy and light sheen moving into the Sound between the barrier islands. What was missing was any sign of skimming operations from Horn Island to Pass Christian.

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor got off the flight angry.

“It’s criminal what’s going on out there,” Taylor said minutes later. “This doesn’t have to happen.”

A scientist onboard, Mike Carron with the Northern Gulf Institute, said with this scenario, there will be oil on the beaches of the mainland.

“There’s oil in the Sound and there was no skimming,” Carron said. “No coordinated effort.”

[...]

“They’re paying all these boats to run around like headless chickens,” Taylor said, as reporters gathered to hear his assessment of the Sound.

Great. Sounds like there is poor oversight and coordination of resources available to do the job that is needed to be done to keep the oil from reaching the mainland: [...]

Horn Island was doing its part Saturday, observers pointed out. The wiggly lines of sheen were coming straight at it from the south, headed for the island’s southern beaches. The island had boom in place to protect the inlets and sensitive wetlands along its northern shore, the side that faces the mainland.

Even the Pascagoula River was doing its part.

Carron pointed out the line where the river’s fresh water met the Sound’s salt water near Horn Island. All along the line was the orange oil caught between the two types of water and held at bay.

But where the failure came was in the human effort.

And that is the part that is most critical at this juncture, the human part. Rep. Taylor’s frustration was evident: [...]

Taylor slipped a note to a fellow passenger.

It said: “I’m having a Katrina flashback. I haven’t seen this much stupidity, wasted effort, money and wasted resources, since then.”

Back on land in Gulfport, Taylor let loose.

“A lot of people are getting paid to say, ‘Look! There’s oil’ and not doing anything about it,” Taylor said. “There shouldn’t be a drop of oil in the Sound. There are enough boats running around.

“Nobody’s in charge,” Taylor said. “Everybody’s in charge, so no one’s in charge.

“If the president can’t find anyone who can do this job,” he said, “let me do it.”

Give the man the job, then. If he is willing and able to oversee the clean-up in the Gulf, and he clearly has a vested interest in it, give it to him already. Heaven knows he could scarcely do worse than what we are seeing now.

There is more in this article, and you can click here to read it all, but I think the following sums up the entire problem:

Taylor and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., took the morning flight on a National Guard helicopter with representatives of the state DEQ and BP.

After the flight Wicker said he feels it’s not too late for President Barack Obama to accept help from other countries that have offered the services of their large oil-skimming boats.

Wicker blamed bureaucracy and the president, but said, “Mississippi has been a champ from the beginning of this.”

He also said he noticed BP has been slow to accept prevention plans from local governments. [...]

Like I said at the beginning, it is a failure on the part of the two parties who need to get this right, BP and the Government. Now is not the time to be wasting money, bringing in people who haven’t a clue what to do, or letting skimmers sit idly by. Now is the time for cohesive, coherent action, by all the parties involved.

There are people who have plans available, like Taylor, to get the job done. There are fishers out of work for the time being due to the spill who could be working to contain and clean up the spill. A little common sense would go a long way here. If the people overseeing this project are failing at it, replace them immediately with those who can. Send the skimmers, use planes to spot for the boats (as the article above suggests), do anything and everything to contain and clean up this spill before it contaminates more beaches.

Time is of the essence, especially with Tropical Storm Alex bearing down. Time is of the essence….

But it begs the question, why. Why is Obama suing Arizona over its new law for real, not just the mealy mouthed circular logic BS Obama has been spewing? Well, Senator Kyl tells his constituents why, following a one-on-one conversation with Obama himself. Take a listen:

Did you catch that? Because Obama is arm-twisting the Republicans to support his Immigration policy (amnesty). That is why he is suing Arizona, and not helping with border protection, a CONSTITUTIONAL mandate. Nope, Obama wants something to do his duty, as Kyl said. That is seriously, seriously wrong.

And there is the Gulf Oil disaster, and the related clean-up. I think this headline says it all, Breaking: Obama Administration Only Accepted Help From 5 Countries Out of 28 That Offered Assistance. What?? WHY? That is the question:

Just last weekend Barack Obama announced that the BP oil spill was like 9-11. This weekend as President Obama went golfing and to the ballgame, the Obama State Department was STILL in the review process on deciding which countries the US would accept help from… 60 days after the disaster!

As the Gulf Coast shores continue to be coated with crude, the Obama Administration has only accepted assistance from 5 countries out of 28 who offered to assist the US with the cleanup.

This makes zero sense to me. Zero. What the hell is the matter with him? I am sure he will find a way to blame it on someone else. Hmm, like maybe Hillary? Possibly:

The State Department posted this on their website.
28 countries have offered to help assist the United States with the worst environmental disaster in American history. Only 5 offers have been accepted the rest are under review.
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I do not understand this one bit. Oil continues to gush into the Gulf, and the Obama Administration has only cleared FIVE countries to come help?? Look at some of the ones he has not yet cleared. It isn’t like they are two-bit players. This makes zero sense. Either he is playing politics with this spill as he bows down to the unions, or he is continuing to show his complete lack of experience, qualifications, commitment, or all of the above. I am voting for all of the above. It is insane for him to not have all hands on deck to deal with this disaster NOW.

Then there is this, along with not having more countries help us in the Gulf, or setting up the borders to be porous as well as dangerous, without lifting a finger to help and suing states that try to do something about it to bend Republicans to his will. And that would be Eric Holder’s decision to hold off on making a decision (!!) about where to try Khalid Sheik Mohammad. Naturally, Holder says this isn’t at all political. He’s a big liar, too, though (remember when he called the US a bunch of racists after just electing Obama? Uh huh.). I don’t believe for one skinny second this isn’t a political decision, despite the headline, Mid-term Elections Have Nothing To Do With 9/11 Trial Delay, Holder Says. Right. So what is his justification, then? Beats me. Maybe you can figure it out from this:

Attorney General Eric Holder said the decision over where to hold the trial for alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was “weeks away” — three months ago.

Now advocates on both sides of the issue say they expect the Obama administration to punt the decision until after the November midterm elections— when the controversial plan could do less damage to the political fortunes of endangered Democrats and might face less resistance on Capitol Hill.

Holder last week explicitly denied the midterms had anything to do with the timing but would only say discussions are continuing. The White House had no comment.

Any further stalling could pose a serious political problem for President Barack Obama on the left – where advocates cheered his administration’s plan to break from the Bush administration and give top al-Qaida figures trials in American courtrooms, a sign to the country and the world that U.S.-style justice was enough to try to men accused of the worst crimes in the nation’s history. (Click HERE for the rest of the story.)

Seems pretty political to me, like Obama holding our borders hostage, as Kyl said. And, like not allowing other countries to come help clean up the oil, or lifting the Jones Act YET as he continues to kowtow to the unions.

This is criminal. Perhaps not in the strictly legal sense, though I think violating the mandates of the Constitution would rise to that level. So yeah – it most likely is in terms of the Borders and his lack of protection there, or the threat in the Gulf to livelihoods and life.

As president, though, he is seriously derelict in his duty and must be held to account.

+Before 5/31/08, I never thought I would be upset at the Democrats holding all three chambers, but these mid-terms cannot come quickly enough. Perhaps the Republicans will retake the House, and hold Obama accountable for his massive misdeeds, arm-twisting, coercions, and downright contempt for the protection of the people he swore to serve. He clearly is beholden to other interests, not the interests of the people or the country.

Nowhere is this clearer than Arizona and the Gulf Coast. Will they be Obama’s Waterloo?

Actually, come to think of it, there is a connection between the BP oil crisis and one major issue in DC, the Obamacare program. That connection is – wait for it – labor unions.

Yep, Obama still refuses to waive the Jones Act, which would allow foreign ships and oil skimmers to come in so as not to upset the labor unions. The oil continues to gush from the earth’s surface, harming our marine life, our ocean, and too many people’s livelihoods at a time when jobs are already hard enough to come by (newest unemployment data for today skyrocketed to 472,000 jobless claims this week).

Add to that the moratorium Obama put on deepwater drilling, despite Salazar’s advisers advising against the moratorium, and many more people will be struggling before too long, especially in the Gulf. Like they need any more hardship. Obama even admitted as much, yet he is determined to go forward with his plan, halting any more drilling.

But how are the unions related to Obamacare promises that our health care, if we have it, will remain unchanged? Well, as it turns out – SURPRISE – most of us WILL have our current health care changed by Obamacare. Which group will not? You know the answer, labor unions:

That’s right, unions will be grandfathered in as this article highlights, “New Rules Could Make 66 Percent Of Employer Plans Lose ‘Grandfathered’ Status.” Gee, none of us who were following this massive takeover saw that coming, did we? Oh, right – we DID, and were told we were just haters for it. Well, we’re hating now:

New rules from the Obama administration that regulate health care plans that existed before the reform bill was passed highlight the difficulty the administration faces in both reforming the system and allowing people to keep the plans they like.

Under new regulations issued Monday, anywhere from 39 percent to 66 percent of employer plans will lose their “grandfathered status” by 2013, according to estimates included with the rules.

For plans that do not fall under the grandfathered status, employers would have to find a plan that complies with the health care bill passed March 23. Whether or not costs for the new plans will be less than grandfathered plans has yet to be seen.

Small businesses would be harder hit than large employers, losing grandfathered status for as few as 49 percent and as many as 80 percent of plans. Employers may keep their plan if it does not raise its prices beyond “reasonable changes” and if it does not cut substantially cut benefits for a particular condition.

Oh, there’s a big surprise. Small businesses, the backbone of our economy, are going to be taking the biggest hit here. Golly, too bad no one said anything about this before. That’s snark, just in case you missed it. Hell to the yes we were saying it. Again, we were roundly discounted. How many times do I have to say this? We were RIGHT:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reiterated a saying that President Obama said many times during the health care debate: “If you like the plan you have, you can keep it,” Sebelius said at a press conference Tuesday.

But experts say the new regulations reflect the limits to which that promise can be kept.

“Given the direction that President Obama wanted to go with health care, his promise that people could keep their existing plans was always a dicey one,” said Tevi Troy, former HHS deputy secretary under President Bush and visiting senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

The administration said that it would “take into account reasonable changes” that insurers routinely make in response to changes in cost and availability but would not outline details about what “reasonable changes” might be.

The regulations stipulate that insurers may make changes to their plans, but only to increase benefits or adapt to consumer protections outlined in the health care bill.

“They give all Americans with health insurance some important protections this year and create a path to the consumer-friendly health insurance marketplace of the future,” Sebelius said.

The new rules mandate that new individuals may not be added to grandfathered health plans after a business merger or restructuring so that grandfather status is not traded as a commodity. Thus companies will likely have employees with two different types of health care coverage, if the companies stay with their current plan.

Troy anticipates that insurance companies will try to freeze their plans to retain their grandfathered status for as long as possible.

“Freezing is not sustainable,” Troy told the Daily Caller. “The majority of plans will lose their grandfathered status in relatively short order, which I suspect was the unstated intent of both the legislators and the regulators.”

Here’s the bottom line. MANY of us knew this was going to happen. Many of us knew this was a hugely flawed bill from the get-go, not the least because the vast majority of the people voting on it hadn’t read the damn thing. With its jumping off point being big giveaways to Big Pharma, it could only go downhill from there, and did.

At what point do the people who buy every single word coming out of Obama’s mouth finally accept that they are being had? How many times must we say, “We told you so” before they will remove their blinders, their rose-colored glasses, or whatever it is that is keeping them from seeing the truth of who this man is? Despite his strong words, he is selling out the Gulf to the unions. Despite his claims to the contrary, those of us not in unions are likely to be screwed when it comes to health care, while the only ones NOT feeling the pain will be the unions.

Obama is not working in OUR best interest, but in the UNION’S best interest. As I have said before, they are sure getting their money’s worth with him. And what are we getting? Oh, you know that, too – the shaft.

I might add, after the big 18 minute speech, we can also add Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Howard Fineman to the list of people whose Obama-fog is being lifted. That’s quite a trifecta, and in large part due to the Obama speech about how we would deal with this devastating oil spill, all 18 minutes, which apparently lacked specificity. Just ask Olbermann. Wow, who even knew this was possible?

But to be fair, Stewart’s rehab back into the Reality-based community started earlier than the MSNBC Trifecta, not waiting for the speechifying of the Flawed Analogy Maker in Chief. At least from what I have seen in clips. But when I saw this on Tuesday night, I admit, I was stunned:

Holy moley – it’s as if this BP spill has finally broken through all of the Kool Aide induced amnesia, and some folks are finally starting to put together the pieces like we did during the primaries. Though Stewart missed one – that Obama as president also supports spying on American citizens. But other than that, it was as if Stewart finally decided to look at all of the things we had been screaming about in 2008 and 2009. Of course, he had to have the obligatory dig at Sarah Palin. We can’t have it all be about how hoodwinked the Obots were by Obama or else their heads might explode, so Stewart used the favorite punching bag of the Democrats, Sarah Palin, as a way to reduce tension in their brains. Whatever. Maybe he’ll get over that someday.

It should be interesting to see how Stewart responds to Obama’s Big Gulf Oil speech on Wednesday night’s show. If Tuesday night is any indication, Stewart may have finally gotten it. Perhaps he’ll report on the Safety Award the Obama Administration gave to the Deepwater Horizon, even though the Bush Administration gave it citations, or the lack of federal inspections, or that Obama only has 20 minutes scheduled for his big meeting with the BP Oil Execs (and, WTH with that??), or even why in the world Obama is still kowtowing to the unions and not waiving the Jones Act so other countries can come HELP US with this spill? Will more members of the MSM start to put these all together, or just leave it to a few sites while they continue to protect the Obama Presidency (how’s that working out for you now, Chris Matthews?)? Time will tell, and soon enough…

So, thanks, Larry, for helping me to go back to “The Daily Show.” Maybe there is some hope after all, you think?

UPDATE: Sadly, BP has announced the Top Kill method is NOT working. Back to the drawing board and other possible strategies. for stemming the tide of oil oozing across the Gulf.

It is with that effort underway that President Obama made his second trip to the Gulf on Friday since the oil spill began April 20th. Obama had this to say:

Is it just me, or does Obama sound a bit petulant in his remarks? Not exactly reassuring to those who are suffering as a result of this oil spill. Gov. Jindal’s response to the lackadaisical effort by the government is spot on.

Perhaps Obama’s petulance is in response to Gov. Jindal, or perhaps he is responding to some of his supporters like James Carville (thanks, SFIndie). Carville, a native of Louisiana, is absolutely blasting Obama on his response, or lack thereof, to the Gulf spill:

Carville makes a lot of good points, especially regarding BP. I wonder how Carville, or even Obama, will respond to the news that BP bused in a bunch of people, 400 of them, to LOOK like they were involved in the cleanup while Obama was there? Are you kidding me??

But it isn’t just anger and frustration that are the hallmark emotions of this disaster. There is also great sorrow, as demonstrated by Rep. Melancon during a hearing recently:

We cannot forget how hard this is for people in Louisiana. They have suffered so much already, and this spill is nothing short of catastrophic. I know the people of Louisiana have worked hard to restore their wetlands, to bring back to life the dead area in the Gulf. To have this event, so soon after Katrina, is a hardship most of us can scarcely imagine. The need our support on both an individual and government level (talking to YOU Obama). They need our help, and they need our prayers. Let’s do anything and everything we can to help the people of the affected area, the injured and endangered wildlife, and the environment.

The May 17th NASA’s MODIS /terra satellite imagery below (h/t University of Wisconsin and NASA) shows, according to Skytruth:

The total area covered by slick and sheen, at 10,170 square miles (26,341 km2), is nearly double what it appeared to be on the May 14 radar satellite image, and is bigger than the state of Maryland…

And if that isn’t bad enough.  It also confirms that “a substantial tongue of oil has moved southeast from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and entered the Gulf of Mexico’s Loop Current.”

From Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog:

The [Loop] current flows northward into the Gulf of Mexico, then loops southeastward just south of the Florida Keys (where it is called the Florida Current), and then along the west side of the western Bahamas. Here, the waters of the Loop Current flow northward along the U.S. coast and become the Gulf Stream. Once oil gets into the Loop Current, the 1 – 2 mph speed of the current should allow the oil to travel the 500 miles to the Florida Keys in 10 – 20 days. Portions of the Loop Current flow at speed up to 4 mph, so the transport could be just 4 – 5 days. It now appears likely that the first Florida beaches to see oil from the spill will be in the Lower Florida Keys, not in the Panhandle.

And that appears to be already happening. Approximately 20 – three to eight inch “tar balls” were found at Fort Zachary Taylor and the adjacent Navy beach at Truman Annex in Key West on Monday.

On Tuesday they were sent to labs to establish if their origins is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill or a passing ship.  In the mean time, the Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries continue to survey for more.

As McClatchy points out, while:

A state advisory noted that, just last year there were 681 reports of “oil and petroleum incidents along Florida’s waterways and beaches,” advising “these types of occurrences are not as unusual as one might think.”…

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a conference call Tuesday morning that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association was expanding its fishery closure at noon to cover 19 percent of the Gulf, or 45,728 square miles.

So where might this oil go next?

More from Dr. Masters on the Loop Current. Based on a 1-year study in the 1990s:

the greatest risk of land impacts by surface oil caught in the Loop Current is along the ocean side of the Florida Keys, and along the coast of Southeast Florida from Miami to West Palm Beach. Eddies breaking away from the Gulf Stream would also likely bring oil to northwest Cuba, the western Bahamas, and the U.S. East Coast as far north as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, though at lesser concentrations. Southwest Florida cannot rest entirely, though–the “forbidden zone” is only true for surface waters, and there is onshore flow below the surface. Since recent ship measurements have detected substantial plumes of oil beneath the surface, southwest Florida might be at risk if one of these plumes gets entrained into the Loop Current. These subsurface plumes were also detected by current probes launched into the oil spill on May 8 by one of NOAA’s hurricane hunter aircraft … There are plans for the Hurricane Hunters to go out again tomorrow and drop more probes into the spill to attempt to get a better handle on where the oil is and where the currents are taking it.

Too bad this isn’t a low budget hollywood horror flick, because then the overly obvious and absurdly faulty plotting would have made this a comic farce.   Then I’d be laughing instead of sick to my stomach when I read about Transocean distributing a $1 billion profit to shareholders, or watch  A must-see: 60 Minutes interviews Deepwater Horizon survivor Mike Williams.

…and up from the ground comes a bubbling crude.  Oil that is.  Black Gold.  Texas T…

Well, I never did figure out what Texas T means.  But the idea that wealth and so many other good things came with that yucky black stuff was hard to dispute.  Until the Exxon Valdez happened.

When the Valdez ran aground, we all learned lessons about grades of crude and their weight versus water and how that affected their devastating impact on wildlife and the environment.  Many of us watched endless hours of clean-up on TV, heart- sickened by what we were seeing.  Others lost livelihoods and homes. Many traveled from near and far to help with the clean up.

When the BP oil well blew up last week, my heart bled for all those affected as I anxiously listened to reports on the missing, injured and killed.  The first reports of the spill itself were sketchy, but that was to be expected.  Still I had a gut feeling that this was going to be bad.  Every day the particulars of this spill went from bad to worse.  And every day I’ve wanted to write about it, but I couldn’t seem to find the right words.  Then Friday night I read this:

Leaked report: Government fears Deepwater Horizon well could become unchecked gusher

“The following is not public,” reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Emergency Response document dated April 28. “Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought.”

Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, “I’m letting the document you have speak for itself.”

In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.

“There is no official change in the volume released but the USCG is no longer stating that the release rate is 1,000 barrels a day,” continues the document, referred to as report No. 12. “Instead they are saying that they are preparing for a worst-case release and bringing all assets to bear.”

And still the words failed to come.

Words failed to express my heartache for those in the gulf region who are having to deal with another environmental disaster.  And that this one is completely manmade is unforgivable.

Words failed to demonstrate my disgust that we are having to learn these environmental lessons all over again.

Words failed to convey my anger that once again our over-reaching, elitist-enriching, corporate-protecting government has underachieved in its task to protect the best interests of the citizenry.

Words failed to reveal my horror at reading the following:

From the Gulf Coast Towns Brace as Huge Oil Slick Nears Marshes:

The delay meant that the Homeland Security Department waited until late this week to formally request a more robust response from the Department of Defense, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledging even as late as Thursday afternoon that she did not know if the Defense Department even had equipment that might be helpful.

From the Gulf Spill Balloons, Could Move East:

The oil slick over the water’s surface appeared to triple in size over the past two days, which could indicate an increase in the rate that oil is spewing from the well, according to one analysis of images collected from satellites and reviewed by the University of Miami. While it’s hard to judge the volume of oil by satellite because of depth, it does show an indication of change in growth, experts said.

“The spill and the spreading is getting so much faster and expanding much quicker than they estimated,” said Hans Graber, executive director of the university’s Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing. “Clearly, in the last couple of days, there was a big change in the size.”

-snip-

As bad as the oil spill looks on the surface, it may be only half the problem, said University of California Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea, who serves on a National Academy of Engineering panel on oil pipeline safety.

“There’s an equal amount that could be subsurface too,” said Bea, who worked for Shell Oil Co. in the 1960s when the last big northern Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout occurred. And that oil below the surface “is damn near impossible to track.”

Louisiana State University professor Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills, worries about a total collapse of the pipe inserted into the well. If that happens, there would be no warning and the resulting gusher could be even more devastating because regulating flow would then be impossible.

From Whistleblower: BP Risks More Massive Catastrophes in Gulf:

The whistleblower, whose name has been withheld at the person’s request because the whistleblower still works in the oil industry and fears retaliation, first raised concerns about safety issues related to BP Atlantis, the world’s largest and deepest semi-submersible oil and natural gas platform, located about 200 miles south of New Orleans, in November 2008. Atlantis, which began production in October 2007, has the capacity to produce about 8.4 million gallons of oil and 180 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

It was then that the whistleblower,… discovered that the drilling platform had been operating without a majority of the engineer-approved documents it needed to run safely, leaving the platform vulnerable to a catastrophic disaster that would far surpass the massive oil spill that began last week following a deadly explosion on a BP-operated drilling rig.

BP’s own internal communications show that company officials were made aware of the issue and feared that the document shortfalls related to Atlantis “could lead to catastrophic operator error” and must be addressed.

And then, as if on cue, I heard the President’s voice coming from the TV.  He was giving firm assurances that BP would pay for the clean up.

Suddenly words no longer failed.

What keeps us awake at night, Mr President, isn’t worry over who will pay for this.  It is the knowledge that–

OUR GOVERNMENT FAILED US.  AGAIN!

___

is upset over Democratic plans to take up immigration legislation this year – he accuses Democratic leaders of pushing forward immigration “haphazardly” and calls it an election-year political gambit.

John Kerry said in a statement on Saturday:

“We all believe that this year is our best and perhaps last chance for Congress to pass a comprehensive approach. We believe that we had reached such an agreement and were excited to announce it on Monday, but regrettably external issues have arisen that force us to postpone only temporarily,”

Kerry also commented that:

“I remain deeply committed to this effort which I have worked on for more than twenty years. We have no choice but to act this year. The American people deserve better than for the Senate to defer this debate or settle for an energy-only bill that won’t get the job done.”

Reading between the lines, I assume he thinks the Dems have “no choice” but to act this year because after the November elections, they will no longer have the numbers to ram this through. Understandably, voters who are still reeling from the passage of confusing health care legislation are deeply concerned about more sudden change and its effects on our troubled economy.

Ben Gemen of The Hill also reported earlier this week on Graham’s specific cause for concern regarding the Dems rush to ram through immigration policy:

Graham has been working with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on an immigration plan, but reacted critically to reports that Democratic leaders may try to move on the issue.

“If immigration comes up then that’s the ultimate CYA politics,” Graham said. He warned against bringing up a bill in a “haphazard way.”

“This comes out of left field,” he said. “We haven’t done anything to prepare the body or the country for immigration.” Graham said the measure he has discussed with Schumer is not ready, and wondered aloud what could be brought to the floor.

“It would be news to me if we’ve got one done [an immigration bill],” he said. “I have been working with Chuck, we have been making progress, but business and labor are not together on a temporary worker bill.”

Graham noted that the climate change and energy bill that he’s crafting with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is supposed to be unveiled Monday.

“What am I supposed to do, write an immigration bill between now and Monday with Chuck?” Graham said.

We will see what transpires. As of now, Graham is no longer on board with cap and trade.

Look, the Dems won in 2008 and all things being equal, I can understand all the horses wanting to race at the same time as they attempt to pass all manner of legislation that has been whirling around in their hot little brains for many years. However, we are still in such a difficult place with the economy. If this administration doesn’t wake up and focus on jobs, jobs, jobs right now, they may find that voter outrage grows beyond anything that can imagine or manage.

While it is certainly possible to multi-task and push on more than one front at a time, what we have seen thus far does not inspire confidence. The health care legislation that just passed is “historic.” It is also a historic mess that requires a lot of fixing. If there is more careless and hasty legislation on the horizon re reform for Wall St., immigration and cap and trade — likewise pushed through with the same lack of care in the crafting — there may be more mutlitasking required in the repairs department than our legislative bodies have any idea how to handle.

Do it once. Do it right.

I’m waiting for some of the adults in the room to emerge and think something through before putting more junk on the books. It is much easier to make a mistake than it is to repair one.

There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America’s unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won’t bring jobs. Our nation’s debt is unsustainable, and the federal government’s reach into the private sector is unprecedented.

Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:
I am deeply concerned about President Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.

Palin points that “American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy”…

There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn’t lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America’s economy.

As with everything the Obama Administration is doing, cap and trade also employs the ram-rod technique of shoving legislation down the gullet before anyone has had a chance to give it a second thought. Palin then makes a point I’m sure Obama would rather she gloss over:

Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.

In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.

The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.

The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet. As the president eloquently puts it, their electricity bills will “necessarily skyrocket.” So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

Even Warren Buffett, an ardent Obama supporter, admitted that under the cap-and-tax scheme, “poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity.”

Governor Palin urges us to move in a new direction and states we can achieve energy independence if we:

…responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.

In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America. We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats.

Of course, Alaska is not the sole source of American energy. Many states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source. Westerners literally sit on mountains of oil and gas, and every state can consider the possibility of nuclear energy.

Whether one agrees with her or not, one thing Governor Palin can speak to with authority is energy, given her service at the Oil & Gas Commission:

We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama’s plan will result in the latter.

For so many reasons, we can’t afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.

Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?

Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama’s energy cap-and-tax plan.

Loved the “Yes, we can” reference. What is your reaction to her position? I do not pretend to know that right answer here, but certainly she raises issues worth discussing.

Everyone else out there is having quite a big reaction. In a few hours, her op-ed in WaPo has attracted over 3,000 comments. All over the blogosphere and on news sites, people are reacting and as usual, Governor Palin is a lightning rod for both love and hate. HuffPo, typically, cannot kill the message, because she does have a point, so they shoot the messenger, claiming she is “too stupid” to have possibly written this piece. I thought the piece was pretty coherent myself, and yeah, I’m sure she wrote it. By the way, did I mention that I despise elitists. You can her article it in its entirety here.

Further, since the surprise announcement of her resignation on July 3rd, Palin has raised over $200,000 for her PAC, in addition to over $700,000 raised in the five months since its formation. CBS just put out a poll saying 65% of those asked think Palin would not make a good president and most pundits left and right are harping about the fact that her political career is effectively over. Wishful thinking, perhaps. I have no idea what Palin’s actions will be or what her political career will look like going forward, but one thing is assured — as long as these ridiculous attacks continue, her following will grow and she will get plenty of free press that she may use to her advantage.

As for the “chattering class,” as Palin calls them, I can only say, gee fellas, that’s an awful lot of copy to devote to someone with nothing to say, no platform to say it, no following and no hope of making a dent. Evah.

Somebody seems awfully scared of this lady.

Just sayin’.

Of course, I want what is best for Senator Clinton, and what is best for this country. And I HOPE that Obama isn’t just setting her up to fail, or to take the blame for his errors. If that proves to be the case, and I hope it doesn’t, don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

So, in order for Hillary Clinton to be able to take this position, her husband had to be willing to have his donors and speeches be more transparent and accessible to the POTUS. And with that, we have this article from The Onion (and for those who don’t know, its a parody-based “news” source): Bill Clinton Agrees To Disclose Guacamole Recipe

WASHINGTON—In a major stride toward increased transparency of former presidents’ culinary activities, Bill Clinton agreed Monday to disclose a highly guarded guacamole recipe—including a full list of ingredients—so that his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, can be named the next Secretary of State. “President Clinton’s efforts will help us avoid any potential ethical problems that the continued secrecy of the preparation instructions for this delicious Mexican appetizer could cause,” said Obama transition team spokesperson Ian Gloucester, who added that the recipe will be vetted for any undue foreign influence from Middle Eastern flavors such as cumin. “We’re just trying to steer clear of the issues that would arise if this dish was to be served in the White House, and it was discovered that the provenance of the recipe was less than savory.” Administration insiders said that if the guacamole recipe is traced back to celebrity television chef Rachael Ray, Sen. Clinton will be compelled to decline her nomination.

That President Clinton – he is wiling to do ANYTHING for his lovely wife…I wonder if he really IS being considered for her Senate seat? Wouldn’t THAT be a kick???

Because I have been talking about our students, teachers, and schools of late, I give you this video, also from The Onion:

In The Know: Are Our Children Learning Enough About Whales?

It’s Friday, people – hope this gives you a laugh.

It became evident, as I watched the video, that Governor Sarah Palin can more than “hold her own” in a debate.

York wrote the following about Palin’s performance:

And all I have to say is that Palin was good — really good. It wasn’t a debate in which the candidates were in each other’s faces or throwing out zingers, but Palin clearly outshone her rivals — especially Murkowski, the longtime senator who played the role of the experienced statesman.

This debate was not lightweight like the recent Saddleback Forum but one that, according to York, was substantive and “heavy”:

As far as substance was concerned, the debate was heavy — I mean heavy — on oil, natural gas, and the money that comes therefrom. To my ears, Palin knew a great deal about the subject and spoke with real authority about it — again outshining her rivals.

You can watch the video of the GOP primary debate at C-Span’s Web site.

As I watched the video, I was more than impressed. She is truly smart and knows her subjects well. The debate also dispels a rumor about Palin and her personally-held stringent beliefs about contraception. Here is the question that Palin was asked:

In a recent survey you said that you would support abstinence-until-marriage education but that you would not support explicit sex-ed programs. What are explicit sex-ed programs, and does that include talking about condoms in school?

Here’s Palin’s answer:

No, I don’t think that it includes something that is relatively benign. Explicit means explicit. No, I am pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues. So I’m not anti-contraception. But yeah, abstinence is another alternative that should be discussed with kids. I don’t have a problem with that. That doesn’t scare me, so it’s something that I would support also.

I once attended sex education classes for my son when he was in 6th grade. His education began with the birds and bees, which bothered me some. The remainder of the course subject was benign, no more explicit than the books my mother gave me to read when I was young. I was satisfied that the class wasn’t too explicit. The more explicit items are best left to parenting at home.

York learned in his research that Alaska didn’t have a death penalty, something I was not aware of either. I did find out that Palin and I differ on the death penalty. She supports the death penalty when it involves children. My belief is much more broad than hers. Here are her thoughts on the death penalty:

If our lawmakers were to consider such a thing, I think that support should be given for heinous crimes. A murder of a child? I say, my goodness, hang ‘em up. Yeah. A murder of a child, anything to such a degree, I don’t think that there can be anything worse. And if lawmakers were to consider it, that should be the consideration.

In short, this is a debate worth watching. It is my opinion that Biden is going to have a lot on his hands when he debates Governor Sarah Palin. She will certainly do her homework and be well-informed on all questions. Biden has much to worry about in Palin.

OF NOTE: At C-Span, you can also watch the 2006 general election debate between Sarah Palin, the Democratic candidate, former governor Tony Knowles, and the Independent candidate, Andrew Halcro.

Pat Buchanan of all people makes this observation about last night’s “historic” convention speech:

After the phony roll call vote was taken here to formally nominate Barack Obama — a roll call that did not remotely reflect the true delegate strength of Hillary — the media exploded in an orgy of celebration about the historic character of the moment to which they had just been privileged to be witness.

“The first black presidential nominee ever of a major party in history!” was proclaimed. Coming on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Barack’s nomination is being hailed as the last great step forward in the long march to equality and justice in America.

The moral pressure to join the march of history is enormous.

Nor is it unfair to say that some journalists here are obsessed with the issue of race in this campaign. There may be wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rising tensions with Russia, a falling regime in Pakistan, and reports of U.S. and NATO warships headed for the Persian Gulf, but here it is all about the first black ever nominated for president.
…
Here at the convention, the media watched Hillary and Bill’s speeches with a commissar’s care — to ensure they not only embraced Barack but “validated” his credentials to be president. Should they not go all out for Obama, we are told, the Clintons are dead in the party.

So Obama needs to be validated? Still? With his tremendous financial advantage, press drooling over him, and the DNC elite praising him to the hilt daily – he still needs to be validated by the Clintons? Who did they nominate again?

This ridiculous pre-programmed media narrative about his “historic” candidacy (never mind Hillary’s historic candidacy) entirely ignores the fact that we are in a mess, both at home and abroad, and it would be nice to have a leader who knew what the hell they were doing regardless of race, sex or age. What say you?

I could give a crap about “history” or symbols. Symbols don’t govern. Women do. Men do. I do give a crap about leadership and policies that make sense. Not lofty pie in the sky rhetoric that doesn’t even have a passing acquaintance with reality, offered by someone who has spent barely any time in the Senate.

From George Will, The Devil in His Details,

Obama’s rhetorical extravagances are inversely proportional to his details, as when he promises “nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy” in order to “end the age of oil.”

So why did Obama vote for Bush/Cheney’s Energy Bill? Hmmm. More…

The diminished enthusiasm of some voters hitherto receptive to his appeals might have something to do with the seepage of reality from his rhetoric.

Yes, I’m quoting a conservative. Why? Because Obama is maxed out on the lefties, he is maxed out on the black vote and the youth vote. The voters he needs are actually concerned with bread and butter issues that his faux noble, nose in the air attitude have not yet begun to address.

Even MSNBC’s Campbell Brown, an Obama cheerleader and pillow-fluffer from way back, thought that Barack Obama’s spectacle …

“went a little long, it started to feel like a half-time at the superbowl.”

And when you have Charles Gibson of ABC News asking for the substance behind the fluff of Obama and none other than George Stephanopoulos (no friend to Hillary) asking why she was not chosen as VP to strengthen the ticket — you know you’re in trouble.

Charles Krauthammer in today’s WaPo piece, The Perfect Stranger, points out that:

…The deeper anxiety was that the party was nominating a man of many gifts but precious few accomplishments — bearing even fewer witnesses.

When John Kerry was introduced at his convention four years ago, an honor guard of a dozen mates from his Vietnam days surrounded him on the podium attesting to his character and readiness to lead…

Eerily missing at the Democratic convention this year were people of stature who were seriously involved at some point in Obama’s life standing up to say: I know Barack Obama. I’ve been with Barack Obama. We’ve toiled/endured together. You can trust him. I do.

Hillary Clinton could have said something like that. She and Obama had, after all, engaged in a historic, utterly compelling contest for the nomination. During her convention speech, you kept waiting for her to offer just one line of testimony: I have come to know this man, to admire this man, to see his character, his courage, his wisdom, his judgment. Whatever. Anything.

Instead, nothing. She of course endorsed him. But the endorsement was entirely programmatic: We’re all Democrats. He’s a Democrat. He believes what you believe. So we must elect him — I am currently unavailable — to get Democratic things done. God bless America.

Of course, Krauthammer has to trash Hillary. So again, it is her responsibility to legitimize Obama? If Krauthammer so trusts her opinion on this matter, then perhaps we should have nominated her.

Hey Chuck, did you want her to lie? Obama is NOT a man of substance. He has shown repeatedly that he will throw any one or any policy under the bus so fast it would give you whiplash. Hillary does not and cannot trust him. So she went as far as she could reasonably go without her nose growing on national television.

Furthermore, when it is clear that the ‘loser’ has more power than the ‘winner’ in this contest, we are in a sorry state in this party and in this country.

Pat Buchanan also points out that if Obama loses, we may all be labeled racists –at home and possibly by people abroad as well. Oh really?

John B. Judis, in his piece Avoiding A Long, Disappointing Fall in The New Republic, notes that according to the New York Times’ Matt Bai, “the race isn’t about race” and that what matters more is Obama’s “remarkably little governing experience.”

Daniel Henninger of the WSJ in his piece, Barack Obama: Leap of Faith, quotes New York Times articles stating that in dozens of interviews with friends of Obama during his years as editor of the Harvard Law Review “they could not remember his specific views from that era, beyond a general emphasis on diversity and social and economic justice,” and as a teacher at the University of Chicago, ‘he notably did not participate in its intellectual debates.’

Barack Obama raises the prospect of a candidate for the first time being elected into the presidency almost wholly on the basis of a compelling persona. It is no surprise this could happen in an age tugged by the siren song of celebrity.

Senator McCain nailed Senator Obama perfectly as the celebrity candidate. Like Tom Cruise with his great grin, easy laugh, affable demeanor and cocky swagger, charm is used as a tool to keep one at arm’s length – to seduce with a smile so as to keep the smoke and mirrors from ever letting you peer beneath a well orchestrated surface.

Much to the chagrin and dismay of people like Donna Brazile who envision the NEW Democratic Party being more urban and urbane, kicking the rest of us to the curb, Henninger goes on to correctly observe:

The 2008 election is almost certainly going to be decided by white, lower-middle-class voters — the people who voted for Hillary Clinton this year and before that for Ronald Reagan. If these voters don’t swing behind the Obama candidacy in Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Missouri, he will lose.

Yet amid a universally described lack of clarity about Sen. Obama’s experience and core political beliefs, it is now being said that if the people in blue-collar counties don’t vote for him, they, and their nation, remain racist.

This is false. If they don’t vote for Barack Obama, it won’t be over his personal roots, but because they’re confused about the roots of his politics.

I couldn’t have said it better. It ain’t about race. It never was.

After securing the nomination in June, Obama’s first priority had to be healing the rift between himself and Hillary Clinton. Candidates who can’t put nomination battles behind them well before the convention usually lose. Think of Goldwater in 1964, Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Walter Mondale in 1984. There are only two candidates I can remember who succeeded in overcoming intraparty rifts during the convention–John Kennedy in 1960 and Ronald Reagan in 1980–and they did it by nominating their primary opponents to be vice president.

Obama, who evidently did not see a nail-biting election looming, chose not to do that, and is reaping the consequences.

Obama and his throng chose to continue the massive disrespect heaped upon Hillary Clinton and her supporters. No real roll call vote was allowed. Surely she might have taken the nomination from this empty suit. Talk about putting yourself before either your party or your country, Senator Obama.

Now the media wants to complain that we know very little about this man and that his ‘same old same old’ hopey-changey rhetoric is getting tired. They are asking “where’s the beef?

Whatsamatter? Has the soufflé fallen already?

Well, the hell with all of them.

We have been asking, shouting, writing, calling, screaming, pleading for the substance for months and months and ridiculed for so doing. No matter what helpful prescription Mr. Judis is offering Mr. Obama in his article, to “Avoid A Long, Disappointing Fall,” I think that is exactly what the foolish and foolishly corrupt DNC and their new leader Senator Obama are going to have — a long, disappointing fall.

And nobody could deserve it more.

I reckon “Backtrack Barack” is just going to flip or flop on every single position that got him to where he is now – the PRESUMPTIVE candidate. If he keeps this up, he’s going to get confused and end up at the REPUBLICAN National Convention!!

So, thanks tons, all of you Obamabots, for all of your abusive, thuggish behavior, for locking out Clinton supporters from caucuses, getting signatures outside of the caucuses, harassing Clinton supporters online, setting up inside polling booths, and the RBC ones who STOLE VOTES ot push Obama over the top.

Thanks so very, very much. This Bush III transformation is just about COMPLETE!! Way to go.

Just as a reminder, this is the one you SHOVED aside, treated like no other Democratic candidate in our history, on lo, this very subject (and yes, I had this in recently, but frankly, it bears repeating):

And just for fun, in my paper today was an article about John Edwards. Specifically, it was about the birth certificate of his alleged “Love Child,” and how the name of the father was left off. But what was INTERESTING, and by that I mean, a great set-up, was the accompanying photo of John Edwards. The original belongs to the AP, and we know how pissy they can be, but it was similar to the one below, except they were shaking hands:

Interesting, right? The way the paper laid it out, implicating Edwards as the Baby Daddy, and connecting Obama all at the same time! Kinda makes you think, right? And that was the point. Just like many of us think this was the EXACT reason Edwards endorsed Obama – he was being strong-armed. That seems to be the modus operandi of the Obama Bloc. Oh, yeah.

So, in one day, in one paper, we have Obama flipflopping on Offshore Drilling. And, Obama and Edwards together as Edwards “Love Child” is discussed. What a guy. What a candidate. Another George W. Bush. Great job, SuperDelegates. Regroup – even if you are embarrassed that you ever even endorsed this sham of a candidate, do NOT let pride get in your way. Or money. Give us the BEST candidate for the Democratic Party. Give us HILLARY!!!!

And one more fun video along those lines (thank you, Sophie!):