To date, I don't remember President Obama ever saying the actual "V" word. For that matter, I've never heard him talk about "American Exceptalism." America has it's bravest men and women overseas defending and fighting for our security and the freedoms and liberties of other nations. The democrats can blame Bush and spin it like they always do, however, we know what is at stake, does our President? Mr. Obama will speak on the hallowed grounds of West Point. Unfortunately, it will not be of use, since the whole speech is being leaked by his administration ahead of time. I understand Obama's view of America is not the same as ours. He feels that America is responsible for many of the world's problems. Conservative Americans do not feel this way. We feel that America is the greatest nation on earth. In our little more than 200 years in existence, we have accomplished more than any other nation. Our innovation and exceptionalism is unprecedented. So, why is it so hard for Community Organizer in Chief to express these views. Is it his socialistic ideology? Or is it destain fothe very fabric of America. He talks that he is behind the military, supporting their every move, but it seems he does everything contrary to winning the war. Treating terrorists like U.S. citizens and giving them our rights, bringing the 911 terrorists to New York is a major slap in the face of families of victims and New York itself. Obama hand picked General Stanley McChrystal, knowing he is the most qualified to lead our forces to win in Afghanistan. General McChrystal has been waiting for troops for 3.5 months. It's been leaked that the President would like to end our involvement in Afghanistan by July, 2011. Excuse me one minute, "Hey Taliban and Al Queda, that's July 2011." What the heck is he doing? I am so tired of these rookie mistakes. Over the weekend, the political pundits were running cover for Obama's speech tonight. John Kerry is proclaiming that the Bush administration had the opportunity to take Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in Tora Bora in 2001. John " I served in Viet Nam" Kerry said Donald Rumsfeld , then Secretary of Defense, did not send in a surge of troops to take out the terrorists. However, didn't we bomb the daylights out of that region to about 2000 degrees. Of course, Kerry, along with other democrats attempt to rewrite history and forget that they voted against the surge. That doesn't fit the Obama narrative of today. Obama has his work cut out for him. There is already a mass exodus of independents and some moderate democrats, now, with him sending 30,000 to 34,000 troops, his extreme liberal base is up in arms (no pun intended). Even Michael Moore is speaking out against Obama, saying that the young people who voted him into office are confused and disillusioned. A President of the United States does not want to have to declare that the war has been lost on his watch. Even though half of his party has already done that in the past. (Reid, Durbin, Pelosi & Murtha). The speech tonight will be a Bush bash fest blaming the "previous administration" for everything they don't want to be blamed for. I pray that this is not just lip service, but a speech to inspire our fighting men and women. If it becomes solely a photo opportunity, it will blow up in the President's face. He has enough issues in his administration. I'm just glad Adminejad or Chavez didn't crash the State dinner. "Save our Sovereign Country."
Afghanistan win:
Obama on Afghanistan:
Points of Interest:
CRU's Phil Jones steps down temporarily in the wake of Climategate.
Obama and Congress poll numbers drop even more.
Maurice Clemmons killed by Seattle Police this morning.
Cato Institute estimates Healthcare Reform Bill at $6 trillion.
Fritz Henderson resigns at Government Motors.
Protect American Healthcare Ad:
Kill Bill Vol. III:
Opposition to Senate Healthcare Bill: Call your Senators!
"We the people" must stop the Obamacare Proposals: I am formally asking (pleading) with you to muster up the initiative and enthusiasm to fight the healthcare bill that will emerge in the end of the year. First, there are 2 bills (proposals) that will somehow be merged into one bill. Liberals are adamant about some form of "Public Option." (Government Run Option) I think the democrats believe they can push this bill through while we are sleeping. The democrats have blocked many bills that would allow the final bill to be posted on the internet 72 hours prior to a vote. Why? you know why. We must oppose this more than we did over the summer. Let them know, we are not against healthcare reform, just not a total makeover. Call and email your representatives. I have emailed and called mine so many times, they are referring to me by my first name. Write an old fashioned letter, it has a lot of importance. Attend your local tea parties and townhalls to voice your opinions and make a overwhelming presence. Below, is a little list how you can get involved. It is our civic duty. "It is our Country."
As I sit here in awe of the Ironic and Despicable truth of the title I have chosen for this piece, I grow greatly concerned with the course of our Country that our current President and his administration have set. The inconsistencies of raw Constitutional convictions, and even more so; the lack of Constitutional Fundamentals being exercised by this administration is simply unprecedented and will set this country on a course of weakness, feeblemindedness, poverty, and destruction. I have never served in battle. I have never seen my comrade and friend shot and killed by our enemy. I have never run out into a bullet-riddled field to take hold of my fallen soldier for the mere purpose of never leaving a soldier behind. I have never seen a defeat on a battlefield and then see the strength of my men and fellow soldiers respond with a courage and fearless determination to take hold of victory for the sake of our Country and the freedoms She extends to Her citizens. Therefore, I feel inept to speculate what must be going through the minds and hearts of our men and women that consistently and voluntarily put themselves between their fellow citizens and the tyrannical, radical, Islamic terroristic enemies that have set out to destroy the Freedom of America and all like Freedoms of this world. However, the most recent events and most recent decisions of this administration have compelled me to do just that.
My first attempt is to set the scene as it simply is. The first and foremost responsibility of this piece is to remove the politics that have mired the attacks of September 11, 2001. Regardless of whom you are, what party affiliate, what core beliefs you have, the undeniable truth is that we were attacked without provocation. Our sin? Individual Freedom and Individual Liberties. The politics that have mired the attacks of 9/11 have been as far fetched to say our President knew and enable the attack, or our President created such hatred with the radicals that America left our enemy no choice but to attack. All this and other such political rhetoric must be put aside to understand purely and plainly…AN ACT OF WAR WAS INITIATED BY OUR ENEMY AGAINST INNOCENT AMERICAN CIVILIANS which RESULTED IN THE MASS MURDERS OF OVER 2800 LIVES! That, my friend, is the purest and simplest fact of all!
We responded, as any self-governed sovereign nation should. We declared war against our enemy and set out to destroy them with the power of our mighty Military. We sent our Fighters, our Heroes, our Defenders to battle the enemy with a battle cry of solidarity and resolve. We asked them to go out and, yet again, defend the Liberties and Freedoms of this Great Nation. We asked them to go out and die for us. We asked them to go out and lose parts of their bodies for our freedoms and THEY BRAVELY WENT! They went with the understanding that they were DEFENDING THE FREEDOMS OF AMERICAN CITIIZENS…then something happened. Our government decided to extend those Rights to the VERY PEOPLE WHO HAVE SET OUT TO DESTROY THOSE RIGHTS! I simply cannot imagine…I simply lose my emotions. What betrayal! What indignity! What disgrace! I am not a Soldier; I am not an American Hero as the men and women of our military are, but I can only ask, how they cannot be asking themselves, “Whose rights are we fighting for?” If our enemies when captured receive the rights of an American Citizen, what then, is our purpose? What then, is our objective? Oh God, help us. I have a great and overpowering feeling that our Nation will soon ask God, “What have WE done?”
This betrayal and undoing of the successes of our Military is not enough. We have now placed our Military under an impossible microscope in an effort to discipline the successes and accomplishments of our military. We must find those that have captured our enemy and bring THEM to justice? No, not our enemies, our Heroes? On the heels of the egregious decision to extend our rights to the enemy, we are simultaneously seeking to discipline our Navy Seals for capturing the enemy. Yes, our enemy received a bloody lip during this capture and I am deeply saddened of this outrageous travesty (not in the slightest). While in the act of capturing this cold blooded coward, our Navy Seals somehow, someway bloodied the lip of the man who kidnapped, brutally murdered, and hung our innocent fellow citizens in public and our response to them is not “Thank you” or “Job well done!” but rather, “You bloodied his lip, you will pay!”. What have we come to in this country? Why have We the People allowed this to happen? HOPE AND CHANGE. Yes, this administration does not care about Victory. How often have we heard the words “Victory” or “Triumph” from this administration in the past ten months? The answer, Rarely. On the other hand, the current events suggest that this administration is actively pursuing to undermine the objective with the consistent demoralization of our military, and my friend, a demoralized military is a military on the brink of disaster. How can we continue to betray the heroes of our military and continue to expect them to carry out orders to defeat the enemy? When defeating the enemy, our heroes must face the consequences of Prosecution through Court Martial? A bloodied Lip? Really? God help us!
Gregory Oliver
Navy Seals court martialed:
Kill Bill Vol. III:
Opposition to Senate Healthcare Bill: Call your Senators!
"We the people" must stop the Obamacare Proposals:I am formally asking (pleading) with you to muster up the initiative and enthusiasm to fight the healthcare bill that will emerge in the next couple of weeks. First, there are 5 bills (proposals) that will somehow be merged into one bill. Liberals are adamant about some form of "Public Option." (Government Run Option) I think the democrats believe they can push this bill through while we are sleeping. The democrats have blocked many bills that would allow the final bill to be posted on the internet 72 hours prior to a vote. Why? you know why. We must oppose this more than we did over the summer. Let them know, we are not against healthcare reform, just not a total makeover. Call and email your representatives. I have emailed and called mine so many times, they are referring to me by my first name. Write an old fashioned letter, it has a lot of importance. Attend your local tea parties and townhalls to voice your opinions and make a overwhelming presence. Below, is a little list how you can get involved. It is our civic duty. "It is our Country."
CALL YOUR SENATORS!EMAIL YOUR SENATORS!CALL YOUR SENATORS!EMAIL YOUR SENATORS!
Chewing Copenhagen/Emission Impossible:
What will transpire at the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change Conference next week. Is the hacked emails and data that has populated the internet since two Thursdays ago going to hinder the "Climate Change" protocol? Why are they not postponing this forum until the investigations are completed? Prominent scientists have destroyed the whole "we are killing the earth" climate change findings along with their reputations. I think the hacker should receive the Nobel. Is Obama going to sell out America? Again? Whoops, I forgot, President Obama is receiving a Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo for something he will do in the future. This way, he can write off this trip on his taxes as a business expense. There are investigations started on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I read over the weekend that Professor Phil Jones, Head of the CRU at St. Anglia University and Professor Michael Mann of Penn State University have retained the services of Attorneys. Probably a smart move when British and U.S. politicians are inquiring about criminal charges. After reading about this conference, it sounds like poor, third world countries are looking the subrogate as much money as possible from richer countries. China, India and Russia will not agree to these stringent demands simply because of their economies. They will not allow for their economic growth be deterred by what the United Nations dictates. Obama better not agree to anything while he is there. World leaders feel they have a new wussy in town and his name is Barack. I believe that the UNEP is jockeying a dominant leadership position in the climate change fearing world. They feel they should be in charge of the world and what I fear is Obama giving away America to these fools. China and India will not ever succumb to any agreement that will hurt their economies witha a billion mouths in China and 400 million in India to feed. Obama should be focusing on our economy and unemployment instead of healthcare, climate change and crap & trade. We are in dire straits and he is getting a manicure to receive his Nobel. Whatever happens at this climate change circus, I wish I was there to see the protesters angrily protesting climate change and contradicting their plight by littering and destroying personal property. Will Michael Mann and Phil Jones be speaking at the conference? "Save our Jobs!"
Robert Gibbs/ They don't mean anything, silly:
Dr. Tim Ball:
Climate Change fraud:
7 stories Obama doesn't want told
By: John F. Harris
November 30, 2009 05:45 AM EST
Presidential politics is about storytelling. Presented with a vivid storyline, voters naturally tend to fit every new event or piece of information into a picture that is already neatly framed in their minds.
No one understands this better than Barack Obama and his team, who won the 2008 election in part because they were better storytellers than the opposition. The pro-Obama narrative featured an almost mystically talented young idealist who stood for change in a disciplined and thoughtful way. This easily outpowered the anti-Obama narrative, featuring an opportunistic Chicago pol with dubious relationships who was more liberal than he was letting on.
A year into his presidency, however, Obama’s gift for controlling his image shows signs of faltering. As Washington returns to work from the Thanksgiving holiday, there are several anti-Obama storylines gaining momentum.
The Obama White House argues that all of these storylines are inaccurate or unfair. In some cases these anti-Obama narratives are fanned by Republicans, in some cases by reporters and commentators.
But they all are serious threats to Obama, if they gain enough currency to become the dominant frame through which people interpret the president’s actions and motives.
Here are seven storylines Obama needs to worry about:
He thinks he’s playing with Monopoly money
Economists and business leaders from across the ideological spectrum were urging the new president on last winter when he signed onto more than a trillion in stimulus spending and bank and auto bailouts during his first weeks in office. Many, though far from all, of these same people now agree that these actions helped avert an even worse financial catastrophe.
Along the way, however, it is clear Obama underestimated the political consequences that flow from the perception that he is a profligate spender. He also misjudged the anger in middle America about bailouts with weak and sporadic public explanations of why he believed they were necessary.
The flight of independents away from Democrats last summer — the trend that recently hammered Democrats in off-year elections in Virginia — coincided with what polls show was alarm among these voters about undisciplined big government and runaway spending. The likely passage of a health care reform package criticized as weak on cost-control will compound the problem.
Obama understands the political peril, and his team is signaling that he will use the 2010 State of the Union address to emphasize fiscal discipline. The political challenge, however, is an even bigger substantive challenge—since the most convincing way to project fiscal discipline would be actually to impose spending reductions that would cramp his own agenda and that of congressional Democrats.
Too much Leonard Nimoy
People used to make fun of Bill Clinton’s misty-eyed, raspy-voiced claims that, “I feel your pain.”
The reality, however, is that Clinton’s dozen years as governor before becoming president really did leave him with a vivid sense of the concrete human dimensions of policy. He did not view programs as abstractions — he viewed them in terms of actual people he knew by name.
Obama, a legislator and law professor, is fluent in describing the nuances of problems. But his intellectuality has contributed to a growing critique that decisions are detached from rock-bottom principles.
Both Maureen Dowd in The New York Times and Joel Achenbach of The Washington Post have likened him to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock.
The Spock imagery has been especially strong during the extended review Obama has undertaken of Afghanistan policy. He’ll announce the results on Tuesday. The speech’s success will be judged not only on the logic of the presentation but on whether Obama communicates in a more visceral way what progress looks like and why it is worth achieving. No soldier wants to take a bullet in the name of nuance.
That’s the Chicago Way
This is a storyline that’s likely taken root more firmly in Washington than around the country. The rap is that his West Wing is dominated by brass-knuckled pols.
It does not help that many West Wing aides seem to relish an image of themselves as shrewd, brass-knuckled political types. In a Washington Post story this month, White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, referring to most of Obama’s team, said, “We are all campaign hacks.”
The problem is that many voters took Obama seriously in 2008 when he talked about wanting to create a more reasoned, non-partisan style of governance in Washington. When Republicans showed scant interest in cooperating with Obama at the start, the Obama West Wing gladly reverted to campaign hack mode.
The examples of Chicago-style politics include their delight in public battles with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (There was also a semi-public campaign of leaks aimed at Greg Craig, the White House counsel who fell out of favor.) In private, the Obama team cut an early deal — to the distaste of many congressional Democrats — that gave favorable terms to the pharmaceutical lobby in exchange for their backing his health care plans.
The lesson that many Washington insiders have drawn is that Obama wants to buy off the people he can and bowl over those he can’t. If that perception spreads beyond Washington this will scuff Obama’s brand as a new style of political leader.
He’s a pushover
If you are going to be known as a fighter, you might as well reap the benefits. But some of the same insider circles that are starting to view Obama as a bully are also starting to whisper that he’s a patsy.
It seems a bit contradictory, to be sure. But it’s a perception that began when Obama several times laid down lines — then let people cross them with seeming impunity. Last summer he told Democrats they better not go home for recess until a critical health care vote but they blew him off. He told the Israeli government he wanted a freeze in settlements but no one took him seriously. Even Fox News — which his aides prominently said should not be treated like a real news organization — then got interview time for its White House correspondent.
In truth, most of these episodes do not amount to much. But this unflattering storyline would take a more serious turn if Obama is seen as unable to deliver on his stern warnings in the escalating conflict with Iran over its nuclear program.
He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe
That line belonged to George H.W. Bush, excoriating Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988. But it highlights a continuing reality: In presidential politics the safe ground has always been to be an American exceptionalist.
Politicians of both parties have embraced the idea that this country — because of its power and/or the hand of Providence — should be a singular force in the world. It would be hugely unwelcome for Obama if the perception took root that he is comfortable with a relative decline in U.S. influence or position in the world.
On this score, the reviews of Obama’s recent Asia trip were harsh.
His peculiar bow to the emperor of Japan was symbolic. But his lots-of-velvet, not-much-iron approach to China had substantive implications.
On the left, the budding storyline is that Obama has retreated from human rights in the name of cynical realism. On the right, it is that he is more interested in being President of the World than President of the United States, a critique that will be heard more in December as he stops in Oslo to pick up his Nobel Prize and then in Copenhagen for an international summit on curbing greenhouse gases.
President Pelosi
I figure in Barack Obama’s Washington, including Obama, has had more success in advancing his will than the speaker of the House, despite public approval ratings that hover in the range of Dick Cheney’s. With a mix of tough party discipline and shrewd vote-counting, she passed a version of the stimulus bill largely written by congressional Democrats, passed climate legislation, and passed her chamber’s version of health care reform. She and anti-war liberals in her caucus are clearly affecting the White House’s Afghanistan calculations.
The great hazard for Obama is if Republicans or journalists conclude — as some already have — that Pelosi’s achievements are more impressive than Obama’s or come at his expense.
This conclusion seems premature, especially with the final chapter of the health care drama yet to be written.
But it is clear that Obama has allowed the speaker to become more nearly an equal — and far from a subordinate — than many of his predecessors of both parties would have thought wise.
He’s in love with the man in the mirror
No one becomes president without a fair share of what the French call amour propre. Does Obama have more than his share of self-regard?
It’s a common theme of Washington buzz that Obama is over-exposed. He gives interviews on his sports obsessions to ESPN, cracks wise with Leno and Letterman, discusses his fitness with Men’s Health, discusses his marriage in a joint interview with first lady Michelle Obama for The New York Times. A photo the other day caught him leaving the White House clutching a copy of GQ featuring himself.
White House aides say making Obama widely available is the right strategy for communicating with Americans in an era of highly fragmented media.
But, as the novelty of a new president wears off, the Obama cult of personality risks coming off as mere vanity unless it is harnessed to tangible achievements.
That is why the next couple of months — with health care and Afghanistan jostling at center stage — will likely carry a long echo. Obama’s best hope of nipping bad storylines is to replace them with good ones rooted in public perceptions of his effectiveness.
Polls you can live by:
26% Strongly approve of President Obama's job performance.
40% Strongly disapprove.
Presidential Approval Rating Index: -14
47% Somewhat approve of President's job performance.
52% Somewhat disapprove
*Sixteen straight days in negative double digits.
41% Favor Healthcare Reform.
53% Oppose Healthcare Reform
-12% Difference.
Quote du jour: "Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions. "
Evan Esar (1899 - 1995), Esar's Comic Dictionary
This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii
for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes
all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body,
he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now.
He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.
Dear President Obama,
My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.
I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.
One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.
So here goes.
I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.
I can't figure out what country you are the president of.
You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
" We're no longer a Christian nation"
" America is arrogant" - (Your wife even
announced to the world,"America is mean-
spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching
that nonsense to 23 generations of our
war dead buried all over the globe who
died for no other reason than to free a
whole lot of strangers from tyranny and
hopelessness.)
I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.
After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."
Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.
I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.
Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.
Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.
And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts, who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.
One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.
You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.
You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.
And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.
Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes
Pacific - The lost evidence of the batlle of Saipan:
Happy Thanksgiving to all, especially the men and women who don our Nation's uniform. Thank you for your past, present and future service to our Country. You are our Heroes.
From the Headlines of the Weekly Standard:
President Obama "very close" to deciding fate of Turkey Decision to pardon Thanksgiving Bird could take several weeks. (And it isn't Timothy Geitner).
Opposition to Senate Healthcare Bill: Call your Senators!
"We the people" must stop the Obamacare Proposals:I am formally asking (pleading) with you to muster up the initiative and enthusiasm to fight the healthcare bill that will emerge in the next couple of weeks. First, there are 5 bills (proposals) that will somehow be merged into one bill. Liberals are adamant about some form of "Public Option." (Government Run Option) I think the democrats believe they can push this bill through while we are sleeping. The democrats have blocked many bills that would allow the final bill to be posted on the internet 72 hours prior to a vote. Why? you know why. We must oppose this more than we did over the summer. Let them know, we are not against healthcare reform, just not a total makeover. Call and email your representatives. I have emailed and called mine so many times, they are referring to me by my first name. Write an old fashioned letter, it has a lot of importance. Attend your local tea parties and townhalls to voice your opinions and make a overwhelming presence. Below, is a little list how you can get involved. It is our civic duty. "It is our Country." http://www.congress.org/ http://www.joinpatientsfirst.com/ http://www.freedomworks.org/ http://www.resistnet.com/ http://www.teapartypatriots.com/ http://www.teaparty.org/ http://www.taxpayer.org/ http://www.taxpayer.net/ info@cmpi.org http://www.fairtax.org/ http://www.conservativeamericansunited.org/
CALL YOUR SENATORS! EMAIL YOUR SENATORS! CALL YOUR SENATORS! EMAIL YOUR SENATORS!
Quote du jour: "Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book..."
