The Coral Reef Alliance believes outgoing President George W. Bush has created his legacy as a President who has done more to protect the environment of the seas than any other President. Somehow, I doubt if former President Ronald Reagan would agree with their assessment.
Year: 2009
Obama should, but most likely won’t
Before I start this, let me simply say from the outset, that I am not a George W. Bush fan, nor will I ever be. I am not a part of the Conservative wing that believes that George W. Bush is some sort of hero. Having said all Paul Krugman and Rep. John Conyers have both written articles calling for Obama to fully investigate the actions of George W. Bush during his tenure as President.
First off Paul Krugman writes:
Last Sunday President-elect Barack Obama was asked whether he would seek an investigation of possible crimes by the Bush administration. “I don’t believe that anybody is above the law,” he responded, but “we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards.”
I’m sorry, but if we don’t have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years — and nearly everyone has taken Mr. Obama’s remarks to mean that we won’t — this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don’t face any consequences if they abuse their power.
Let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. It’s not just torture and illegal wiretapping, whose perpetrators claim, however implausibly, that they were patriots acting to defend the nation’s security. The fact is that the Bush administration’s abuses extended from environmental policy to voting rights. And most of the abuses involved using the power of government to reward political friends and punish political enemies.
At the Justice Department, for example, political appointees illegally reserved nonpolitical positions for “right-thinking Americans” — their term, not mine — and there’s strong evidence that officials used their positions both to undermine the protection of minority voting rights and to persecute Democratic politicians.
The hiring process at Justice echoed the hiring process during the occupation of Iraq — an occupation whose success was supposedly essential to national security — in which applicants were judged by their politics, their personal loyalty to President Bush and, according to some reports, by their views on Roe v. Wade, rather than by their ability to do the job.
Speaking of Iraq, let’s also not forget that country’s failed reconstruction: the Bush administration handed billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to politically connected companies, companies that then failed to deliver. And why should they have bothered to do their jobs? Any government official who tried to enforce accountability on, say, Halliburton quickly found his or her career derailed.
There’s much, much more. By my count, at least six important government agencies experienced major scandals over the past eight years — in most cases, scandals that were never properly investigated. And then there was the biggest scandal of all: Does anyone seriously doubt that the Bush administration deliberately misled the nation into invading Iraq?
Why, then, shouldn’t we have an official inquiry into abuses during the Bush years?
The answer to this question is very simple. Obama simply does not want the political firestorm. As much as it is great thing to see an African-American man for President, I think it would be counter-productive to Obama’s term in office to do something like this. Because you just know; that the Neo-Conservative political machine would swing into action against Obama, if he did try and do something like this. I mean, I might have many reservations about Neo-Conservatives, but their organizational and fund raising abilities is not one of them. If Obama went for a full blown investigation against the Bush Administration, the Podhoretz and Kristol funded minions would be out in full force.
So, while the idea of a full blown investigation with charges being filed is a noble idea; I just highly doubt that it will ever materialize. Obama just does not want to be viewed as a vengeful partisan President.
John Conyers writes basically the same thing, and I can understand his feelings. But again, what is very important; is how this sort of thing will be perceived by the rest of America. Would be it perceived as justice, or would it perceived as a partisan witch hunt? Sure, if your a partisan or a liberal ideologue it would be viewed as justified, but what about those who are not? What they think; matters greatly.
One thing that all Democrats and all Liberal-minded people must remember is, that not all of America is of a Liberal mindset. Just because Congress is of a Liberal majority, does not mean that all of America is. Some just voted for Obama, because he represented a change from George W. Bush, not because they wanted to see a Liberal witch hunt trial.
Others: The Moderate Voice, JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias, Right Wing News, The Seminal, Democrats.com, The Sideshow, Comments from Left Field, The Note, The Immoral Minority, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit, American Street, Hullabaloo, Seeing the Forest and The Impolitic
(via Memeorandum)
Snort Worthy Quote of the Day
The U.S. Justice Department’s 2008 report on what happened to assets it seized includes an intriguing list of items that were placed into use by various federal agencies instead of being sold off. Among them are the following assets received by the FBI: a “gambling device” valued at $2 (a deck of cards?), $120,000 in jewelry (for undercover work?), and $134 in pornography (for official jack-offs, I guess).- Source
The Farewell Address of the President of the United States
Here we go with, what was supposed to be the top story of tonight. But wasn’t. (Thank God for Canadian Geese! 😉 )
The Video: (via MSNBC)
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The Transcript: (via LA Times)
Fellow citizens: For eight years, it has been my honor to serve as your President. The first decade of this new century has been a period of consequence – a time set apart. Tonight, with a thankful heart, I have asked for a final opportunity to share some thoughts on the journey that we have traveled together and the future of our Nation.
Five days from now, the world will witness the vitality of American democracy. In a tradition dating back to our founding, the presidency will pass to a successor chosen by you, the American people. Standing on the steps of the Capitol will be a man whose story reflects the enduring promise of our land. This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole Nation. And I join all Americans in offering best wishes to President-elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.
Tonight I am filled with gratitude – to Vice President Cheney and members of the Administration; to Laura, who brought joy to this house and love to my life; to our wonderful daughters, Barbara and Jenna; to my parents, whose examples have provided strength for a lifetime. And above all, I thank the American people for the trust you have given me. I thank you for ….
…the prayers that have lifted my spirits. And I thank you for the countless acts of courage, generosity, and grace that I have witnessed these past eight years.
This evening, my thoughts return to the first night I addressed you from this house – September 11, 2001. That morning, terrorists took nearly 3,000 lives in the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor. I remember standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center three days later, surrounded by rescuers who had been working around the clock.
I remember talking to brave souls who charged through smoke-filled corridors at the Pentagon and to husbands and wives whose loved ones became heroes aboard Flight 93. I remember Arlene Howard, who gave me her fallen son’s police shield as a reminder of all that was lost. And I still carry his badge.
As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before Nine-Eleven. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our Nation. And I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe.
Over the past seven years, a new Department of Homeland Security has been created. The military, the intelligence community, and the FBI have been transformed. Our Nation is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists’ movements, freeze their finances, and break up their plots. And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the fight to the terrorists and those who support them.
Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored al Qaeda and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school. Iraq has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States.
There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil. This is a tribute to those who toil night and day and night to keep us safe – law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, homeland security and diplomatic personnel, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.
Our Nation is blessed to have citizens who volunteer to defend us in this time of danger. I have cherished meeting these selfless patriots and their families. America owes you a debt of gratitude. And to all our men and women in uniform listening tonight: There has been no higher honor than serving as your Commander in Chief.
The battles waged by our troops are part of a broader struggle between two dramatically different systems. Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology, condemns women to subservience, and marks unbelievers for murder. The other system is based on the conviction that freedom is the universal gift of Almighty God and that liberty and justice light the path to peace.
This is the belief that gave birth to our Nation. And in the long run, advancing this belief is the only practical way to protect our citizens. When people live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror. When people have hope in the future, they will not cede their lives to violence and extremism.
So around the world, America is promoting human liberty, human rights, and human dignity. We are standing with dissidents and young democracies, providing AIDS medicine to bring dying patients back to life, and sparing mothers and babies from malaria. And this great republic born alone in liberty is leading the world toward a new age when freedom belongs to all nations.
For eight years, we have also strived to expand opportunity and hope here at home. Across our country, students are rising to meet higher standards in public schools. A new Medicare prescription drug benefit is bringing peace of mind to seniors and the disabled. Every taxpayer pays lower income taxes.
The addicted and suffering are finding new hope through faith-based programs. Vulnerable human life is better protected. Funding for our veterans has nearly doubled. America’s air, water, and lands are measurably cleaner. And the Federal bench includes wise new members like Justice Sam Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.
When challenges to our prosperity emerged, we rose to meet them. Facing the prospect of a financial collapse, we took decisive measures to safeguard our economy. These are very tough times for hardworking families, but the toll would be far worse if we had not acted. All Americans are in this together. And together, with determination and hard work, we will restore our economy to the path of growth. We will show the world once again the resilience of America’s free enterprise system.
Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.
The decades ahead will bring more hard choices for our country, and there are some guiding principles that should shape our course.
While our Nation is safer than it was seven years ago, the gravest threat to our people remains another terrorist attack. Our enemies are patient and determined to strike again. America did nothing to seek or deserve this conflict. But we have been given solemn responsibilities, and we must meet them. We must resist complacency. We must keep our resolve. And we must never let down our guard.
At the same time, we must continue to engage the world with confidence and clear purpose. In the face of threats from abroad, it can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism. Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger. In the 21st century, security and prosperity at home depend on the expansion of liberty abroad. If America does not lead the cause of freedom, that cause will not be led.
As we address these challenges – and others we cannot foresee tonight – America must maintain our moral clarity. I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere.
Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This Nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace.
President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism. America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself. And even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead.
I have confidence in the promise of America because I know the character of our people. This is a Nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom. This is a Nation where citizens show calm in times of danger and compassion in the face of suffering. We see examples of America’s character all around us. And Laura and I have invited some of them to join us in the White House this evening.
We see America’s character in Dr. Tony Recasner, a principal who opened a new charter school from the ruins of Hurricane Katrina. We see it in Julio Medina, a former inmate who leads a faith-based program to help prisoners returning to society. We see it in Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade, who charged into an ambush in Iraq and rescued three of his fellow Marines.
We see America’s character in Bill Krissoff, a surgeon from California. His son Nathan, a Marine, gave his life in Iraq. When I met Dr. Krissoff and his family, he delivered some surprising news: He told me he wanted to join the Navy Medical Corps in honor of his son. This good man was 60 years old – 18 years above the age limit.
But his petition for a waiver was granted, and for the past year he has trained in battlefield medicine. Lieutenant Commander Krissoff could not be here tonight, because he will soon deploy to Iraq, where he will help save America’s wounded warriors and uphold the legacy of his fallen son.
In citizens like these, we see the best of our country – resilient and hopeful, caring and strong. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there is more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great Nation will never tire … never falter … and never fail.
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this Nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other: citizen of the United States of America.
And so, my fellow Americans, for the final time: Good night. May God bless this house and our next President. And may God bless you and our wonderful country. Thank you.”
I will not offer commentary. Because I do not think it is fair to the man. Anyone who reads this blog, knows my feelings about George W. Bush and his foreign policy. It is will stated on this Blog of which stripe of Conservatism that I reside in. So, I just present this as is.
All I will say is, Thank God it is finally over.
However, there is more commentary out there, both left and Right at Memeorandum
Breaking News: U.S. Airways Aircraft crashes into the New York Hudson river…
This is the Story… U.S. Airways Flight 1549 has crashed into the New York Hudson River. It appears the plane hit a flock of geese.
Here is the contents of the live Blog…:
Update: Picture: (via MSNBC)
US Air Flight 1549 Crashes into Hudson River in NY
Via WABC in New York:
The plane is a US Airways flight 1549 from LaGuardia to Charlotte. There were 146 passengers on board the flight, along with 5 crew members. There is no report on their conditions.
The plane went down near 57th street. The plane took off from LaGuardia at 3:11 p.m.
Ferries are rescuing passengers, some who are seen standing on the wings of the plane.
MSNBC is reporting that the pilot is reporting that the plane flew into a flock of geese. This caused problems with the engines.
Story finally via MSNBC:
NEW YORK – A US Airways passenger jet taking off from La Guardia airport in New York en route to Charlotte, N.C., crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday.
WNBC’s Tim Minton quoted a governmnet source as saying that the pilot may have hit a flock of geese.
The plane is an Airbus A320. NBC News identified it as Flight 1549, which departed at 3:20 p.m. ET with about 145 passengers and five crew members aboard. It was a scheduled flight to the Charlotte-Douglas, N.C., airport.
Video Coverage is available via CNN, MSNBC, FOX News
Update: More Pictures (via CNN)
Ferries helping get passengers off the planes
CNN is now reporting:
NEW YORK (CNN) — Emergency officials are responding to a downed plane in the Hudson River in New York City, according to the city fire and police departments.
The plane entered the water Thursday afternoon following a failed takeoff, the FAA says.
The U.S. Coast Guard said units were also responding, and a ferry on site was dropping life jackets into the water.
The plane approached the water at a gradual angle and made a big splash, according to a witness watching from an office building.
“It wasn’t going particularly fast. It was a slow contact with the water that it made,” said the witness, Ben VonKlemperer.
An Airbus A320 can hold a maximum of 179 passengers and a flight crew of two, depending on the configuration.
It has been reported, and I will repeat, this was NOT, I repeat, NOT a case of terrorism!
Update #2: Update, FAA is now reporting that everyone was rescued. and The FBI and Dept. Homeland Security is confirming that this was not a case of terrorism.
Update #3: WNBC is reporting that 12 people are being treating for trauma, at the port authority building. But that it is not for “Blood Injury.”
Update: Memeorandum has a Blog round up and I’m not in it! Grrrr!
Cartoons of the Day
Quote of the Day
The once settled, prosperous land has been emptied of big families and is continually losing its most able sons and daughters. It is being transformed into a giant meth lab, an agricultural industrial park, a rural slum, a place for losers. Another chapter in the unsettling of America. I am happy that he won’t be around to read it.
The Obligatory Kids with Nazi Names removed from home posting
I’m posting this, because I know that quite a few people read this posting from various places on the net.
The Leighhighvalleylive.com website reports the following:
A New Jersey Department of Youth and Family Services spokeswoman says that the agency would not remove children from a home because of their names.
DYFS made the statement today after The Express-Times reported Tuesday that the state had taken Adolf Hitler Campbell, 3, and his younger sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie, from their parent’s Holland Township, Hunterdon County home.
“Just to be clear, removal of a child from a family is only done when there’s an imminent danger to a child and that wouldn’t include the child’s name alone,”“We wouldn’t remove a child based on their name.” spokeswoman Kate Bernyk said.
Of course, I’m sure that the Alex Jones types will not believe this. There’s two sides to every story, and I’m sure both sides have thiers. But I am glad to see that the reason was not for the names.
My theory is this; that a neighbor saw the people on TV and called child protective and dropped the dime that daddy and mommy were fighting quite a bit and that they saw bruises on the children. That will get kids snatched a big ol’ hurry anymore.
Of course, neighbors have been known to lie out of spite too. Either way, I smell a huge lawsuit against the family, if it goes to court.
Others: Gothamist, QandO, City Room, Patterico’s Pontifications, Outside The Beltway, Don Surber, Wizbang, AMERICAblog News, The Impolitic, New Jersey Online , Sweetness & Light, HotAir
RedState Update on Gay Priest for Obama’s Inauguration
Exit Full disclosure: I snorted loud on the “Obama likes it both ways” crack. 😛
The New President’s Ride
Some interesting info on our new President’s Limo is found here.
(H/T Glenn)
Case Study Example of living in absolute denial
Via The Swamp:
President Bush has fessed up some of his mistakes, several in fact, in his final press conference.
But Vice President Dick Cheney is sticking to his story: The only mistake he can think of, in an interview airing on PBS this evening, was his “underestimating” the difficulty of standing up a new government in Iraq.
Bush, in his confessional presser, joked that the press corps had sometimes “mis-underestimated” him.
But Cheney isn’t one for confessionals. Cheney, asked by anchor Jim Lehrer of the Newshour if the Iraq war has been worth the 4,500 Americans lost in the effort, says:
“I think so.”
That’s one of those lines he might have preferred rehearsing – a mistake perhaps. He explains his answer, however: “Given the track record of Saddam Hussein, I think we did exactly the right thing. I think the country is better off for it today.”
When Lehrer asks Cheney about being the most powerful vice president in one of the most failing presidencies ever, Cheney says, “I don’t buy that.”
What doesn’t he buy? The failed presidency. – Read the rest
It is that blind arrogance that I and many other Independent Conservatives have a serious problem with. It’s that whole Nixonian attitude of “I am right and screw you”; is what will be a black mark on the history of America. I, for one, am extremely happy that this Administration’s tenure is over.
I was not very thrilled about Barack Obama being elected President, but anything is better, than that type of blind arrogance. It will be a welcome relief to have a President that will admit when he makes a serious mistake. The problem is that the realization that Bush’s style of leadership was not the right way to go, may have come too late for the Republican Party. Obama’s election was not a endorsement of Liberalism, it was a denunciation of the Neo-Conservative arrogance and Bush Doctrine style of rule.
Hmmmm: Osama Bin Laden challenges Obama in a message
Interesting…..
Via ABC NEWS:
In a direct challenge to President-elect Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden questions whether America “is capable to keep fighting us for more years” in a new audio message attributed to him Wednesday morning on an internet website.
A senior U.S. official told ABCNews.com, “There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the tape.”
It is the first time bin Laden has been heard from in seven months and puts to rest speculation he is dead. The al Qaeda leader’s last audio message was posted on May 18, 2008…
Today’s message begins with a call for a jihad against Israel because of its attacks on Gaza but concludes with a challenge to the U.S., and implicitly the incoming Obama administration.
“Now America is begging the world for money,” bin Laden says, “and the USA will not be as powerful as it used to be.”
“This rapid failing for America was one of the reasons that the Israelis started their attacks against Gaza and just to make use of what’s left of the Bush term,” he says.
Bin Laden makes reference to Vice-President elect Joseph Biden, quoting him as saying “the financial crisis is bigger than we expected” and the al Qaeda leader counsels patience in continuing to fight the U.S.
Bin Laden appears to be referring to comments Biden made to ABC News’ George Stephanopolous in an Dec. 21 appearance on This Week. “The economy is in much worse shape that we thought it was in,” Biden said then.
“The majority of the U.S. people are happy to get rid of Bush, Bush left for his successor a heavy heritage, the hardest part of heritage is guerilla wars,” bin Laden says…
Hmmm, isn’t that part I underlined what must Liberals say as well? 🙄
If course, many liberals think Obama Osama is dead, so this must be a fake. But you just know the Obambi-Messiah will raise him from the dead and mostly likely walk in water, while he’s at it.
Others: Sweetness & Light
The real question people should be asking is……
Why are Conservatives even wanting to dine with Obama?
Jonathan Chait opines as to why Liberals aren’t flipping out about the dinner date last night:
I actually don’t find it terribly surprising that liberals haven’t shown any outrage over Barack Obama’s dinner party with George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Bill Kristol, and David Brooks. I’ll get to my hypothesis why liberals aren’t upset in a moment. But first imagine this counterfactual: George W. Bush (or maybe a victorious John McCain) sat down before his first inauguration with Paul Krugman, E.J. Dionne, and Frank Foer. Would conservatives have reacted with the same equanimity? No, I think they’d have gone nuts. And the reason is that they wouldn’t have confidence in Bush or McCain to be surrounded by liberal ideas without being deeply influenced by them. I don’t think they’d have reacted this way if, say, a President Mitt Romney did the same thing.
And that’s why liberals aren’t having a cow. They know that Obama understands far more about policy than any of his right-wing dinner companions, is used to being exposed to opposing ideas, and won’t come out of that dinner telling his staff, “Hey, did you know we cut half the capital gains tax and raise more revenue?”
A separate issue is why Obama didn’t pick some conservatives with a bit more intellectual integrity than, say, Kristol and Krauthammer. The problem, of course, is conservatives like that tend not to rise to positions of high influence.
As for his question, except for the idiot line at the end about high influence, I pretty much agree.
However, I feel, as a Paleo-Conservative, that the difference between a Democrat and a Neo-Conservative is about hair’s breadth. This is the reason for the Neo-Con’s relationship with Hillary. I mean, they all but sucked up to her.
Perhaps the Neo-Conservatives are trying to suck up, in order to save face in 2010 and 2012.
You notice though that on that guest list, Pat Buchanan or anyone from “The American Conservative” or “Reason” magazine was not there? Just Neo-Conservative talking heads.
It’s going to be a long four to eight years.
Update – Related Video: (H/T to AP)
Exit Comment/Question: I wonder if the Liberal watchdogs will make a big deal about the basketball playing comment? She was being funny, but it was a bit mean. I was shocked she said it. 😮
Others: The Daily Dish, Kevin Drum and Washington Monthly (Via Memeorandum)
Uh-Oh: U.S. Official says Gitmo detainee was tortured
I have much mixed feelings on this one.
Via Washington Post:
The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a “life-threatening condition.”
“We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani,” said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. “His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that’s why I did not refer the case” for prosecution.
Crawford, a retired judge who served as general counsel for the Army during the Reagan administration and as Pentagon inspector general when Dick Cheney was secretary of defense, is the first senior Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo to publicly state that a detainee was tortured.
Crawford, 61, said the combination of the interrogation techniques, their duration and the impact on Qahtani’s health led to her conclusion. “The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent. . . . You think of torture, you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge” to call it torture, she said.
Military prosecutors said in November that they would seek to refile charges against Qahtani, 30, based on subsequent interrogations that did not employ harsh techniques. But Crawford, who dismissed war crimes charges against him in May 2008, said in the interview that she would not allow the prosecution to go forward.
Is this woman a far lefty loon? A Democrat? Um, No.
“I sympathize with the intelligence gatherers in those days after 9/11, not knowing what was coming next and trying to gain information to keep us safe,” said Crawford, a lifelong Republican. “But there still has to be a line that we should not cross. And unfortunately what this has done, I think, has tainted everything going forward.”
Which is another way, perhaps more artful way of saying that our Government essentially flipped it’s collective shit after September 11’th. We blew it, and we will have to deal with consequences down the road too. Ron Paul, in his book, “Revolution – A Manifesto”, refers to a CIA term that is used to describe what happens when the United States does things of this nature. It is called “blowback”. I look for the United States to experience blowback because of what happened during the Presidency of Bush. I just hope like hell, that Obama is prepared to deal with such an event. It is truly a sad thing to know, that our Government did engage in such activities that is forbidden under the Geneva Conventions.
I highly suggest that you go read this, because it is, quite frankly, a sobering read. God Help this country in the coming years.
Others: : Jeffrey Goldberg, The Daily Dish, Reuters, Washington Monthly, PoliGazette, Balloon Juice, Pat Dollard, Hullabaloo, Newshoggers.com, Gawker, Jules Crittenden, Brave New Films blog, TalkLeft, Obsidian Wings, No More Mister Nice Blog, Philly.com, Associated Press, Guardian, ACSBlog, theheretik.us, Emptywheel, Sister Toldjah, NO QUARTER, ATTACKERMAN, democracyarsenal.org, TIME.com, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Raw Story, The Atlanticist, Firedoglake, On Deadline, Infidel Bloggers Alliance, Stop The ACLU, Macsmind, Fox News and TPMMuckraker
(via Memeornadum)
So much for that…
I had to kill the Nice theme I had, for some reason the comments button stopped working. I think one of my widgets was causing an issue. I found a nice template, but it was causing errors. So….
I gotta find a new theme or something here.
So, while I’m hunting, you’ll have to look at the default theme. 😛
I know, it sucks. But for now, it will have to do. 😀
Stay Tuned.
Oddball Issue with the comments.
I seem to be having an oddball issue with my comments in Firefox. It might be template related. No sure. Might have to find a new template.
Stay tuned.
Not sure what is causing it.
BlogAds is an Anti-Conservative Owned Business
I haven’t had a good fight in a while, so, I decided to bring something up on this Blog.
Many of you know, that I use BlogAds on this Blog for Advertising. You’ll also notice that not many people have used the service for their advertising needs. I think I might have an idea why.
I was nosing around over on the official BlogsAds Blog and quite frankly, I was quite horrified to what is on that “Company Blog“. There is a great deal of Anti-Conservative, Pro-Obama screed over their Blog.
You can see examples of what I am referring to by going Here, Here, Here and Here.
What I find utterly amazing is the fact that Conservatives even use this service at all. I mean, I am part of the Conservative Hive on BlogAds.
My question is this, how is it, that Conservatives are using a Blog Advertising service who’s owner, (I presume that is who wrote those entries) partakes in the bashing the Republican Party and Conservative values in General?
Quite frankly, I’m sickened by what I read over on that Blog, the owner of BlogAds ought to ashamed of himself and should either remove the postings of Political Nature or close the business down, or at best only accept Liberal Advertising, because quite frankly, taking the money of Conservatives and bashing them on a Company website or Blog is totally hypocritical in this writers opinion.
I am almost sure that the owner of Blogads will most likely delete my account, as a result of bringing this to light. I am sure I will see an e-mail shortly tell me to get lost. But I will not pull this entry. Business owners who partake in this sort of Anti-Conservative rhetoric ought to be exposed and ran out of business.
Trackposted to Nuke’s, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Woman Honor Thyself, Adam’s Blog, The World According to Carl, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, Democrat=Socialist, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
The Late Night Music Express with……….The Pelfrys
One of my favorite Gospel songs. (I’m not a Southern Gospel freak, but this one touches me a special way.)
Lyrics:
I Shall Return
Words by: Clint Kerns
VERSE 1:
In a far eastern country a great general stood in tears
As he sadly watched his men face defeat
He bravely fought the battle though it seemed it was in vain
But for now all he could do was retreat
But just as he was leaving, he turned and one last time
Looked and saw the fear in their eyes
With a voice as loud as thunder calmly reassuring
He made them this promise and saluted them goodbye
CHORUS 1:
I shall return, with reinforcements
I shall return, from a distant shore
March in victory, stand triumphant
I shall return, we’ll win this war
VERSE 2:
In a middle eastern country there on the mountain side
The greatest general was about to go away
You see His men had watched Him give His life on a cruel cross He died
But He conquered death and hell in just three days
But now that He was leaving fear had griped their hearts
For they knew the time had come to say goodbye
But before he ascended back to His Father
He made them this promise as He rose up through sky
CHORUS 2:
I shall return, with a shout of victory
I shall return, with those gone before
Keep marching onward, stand triumphant
I shall return, we’ve won the war
TAG:
Weary soldier keep your courage though the enemy assails
Keep marching toward the finish for Jesus will prevail
REPEAT CHORUS 2
Memo to America: Michigan Winters Suck!
I have been reading with mild amusement and slight concern about some other Bloggers adventures in dealing with the wonderful white stuff in the cold north that we call snow.
Yeah, I know, I linked to Ed, even if he did insult my dad. 😡 But it’s a new year, and I am not one to hold a grudge for long.
Anyhow, I just got back in from driving around the corner to get some hamburger buns for supper; I might be a recovering liberal, but I like my beefy hamburgers. Anyhow, I was out there, let there be no misunderstanding; it is freaking COLD here in Michigan! (Currently 14 Degrees!) My Dad, whom has a heart of pure gold; (although he drive me nuts at times!) let me borrow his big coat and gloves, I wore my trusty dusty, Handy Dandy, Chevrolet cap on the ol’ bean. I looked like the Great Nanook of the North out there! 😆
Anyhow, I did have a bit of misfortune. I was trying to release my windshield wiper from my frozen windshield with my ice scraper, so, the wipers would work, and prompty broke the stupid thing. Smooth move there. 🙄
Thankfully, the wiper was on the passenger side of the car. I did make it around the corner, and got said buns, and got my rather frozen hairy behind back in the warm house.
Al Gore can kiss my rather obese, hairy, happy-go-lucky, white behind! Next time I hear a damn Moonbat liberal opining about Global Warming, I’m just gonna pop him in the mouth. Come live in Michigan right and talk that idiot crap. I dare ya.
It’s going to be one long winter season, and I’m already tired of it. Oy!
The Obligatory Hillary Clinton “intervened in government issues directly affecting companies and others that later contributed to her husband’s foundation” Posting
Seriously, why is anyone even remotely suprised by this?
Via AP:
Secretary of State appointee Hillary Rodham Clinton intervened at least six times in government issues directly affecting companies and others that later contributed to her husband’s foundation, an Associated Press review of her official correspondence found.
The overlap of names on former President Bill Clinton’s foundation donor list and business interests whose issues she championed raises new questions about potential ethics conflicts between her official actions and her husband’s fundraising. The AP obtained three of the senator’s government letters under the Freedom of Information Act.
Clinton was to begin her confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Under an agreement with President-elect Barack Obama, Bill Clinton recently released the names of donors to his foundation, a nonprofit that has raised at least $492 million — including millions from foreign governments — to fund his library in Little Rock, Ark., and charitable efforts worldwide on such issues as AIDS, poverty and climate change.
The letters and donations involve pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications and energy interests. An aide to the senator said she made no secret of her involvement in many of the issues. Bill Clinton’s foundation declined to say when it received the donations or precisely how much was contributed.
I mean, after all, we are talking the Clinton’s here. Democratic ties to corruption and lobbyists; especially among the Clinton’s and other well-heeled Democratic figures goes all the way back the Kennedy era. I know, Obama promised change, and with Hillary we did not get it. One must remember though, if she’s not seated, Obama could lose his popularity among Hillary’s supporters.
Still it would be quite juvenile of me not to observe that this does represent a “walk back” of the mantra of hope and change that Obama promised during the campaign. The Clinton defeat was supposed to represent a defeat of the old Clinton guard within the Democratic Party. So much for that little bit of drama. 🙄
I’ve written it here a great number of times, but I believe it to be quite true, it is going to be a very interesting four to eight years in politics. 😀
Others: The Moderate Voice, CNN, NO QUARTER, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Booman Tribune, Reuters, protein wisdom, CBS News, Associated Press, JammieWearingFool and The Politico
(via Memeornadum)
Guest Voice: An Unreflective Man By Patrick J. Buchanan
An Unreflective Man
By Patrick J. Buchanan
January 13, 2009
With his public approval where Harry Truman’s stood when he left office, George W. Bush gave his last press conference yesterday.
And like that predecessor he often identifies with, Bush showed a Trumanesque defiance of his critics — and a Trumanesque failure to understand what ruined his presidency.
He denounced protectionism, as he has with dismissive contempt since he went to New Hampshire a decade ago. But nowhere in his defense of free trade was there any explanation for how Middle America lost 3 million manufacturing jobs in his first term and a million more in the last year.
Nowhere does there seem an awareness that the ideas he absorbed at his father’s knee and the Harvard Business School had resulted in the de-industrialization of his country, an enormous and growing dependency on Japan, China and Asia for the essentials of our national life, and, now, for the borrowed money to pay for them.
Someone once defined tragedy as what happens when a beautiful theory collides with a fact. And this is what has happened every time a great empire — be it the Spanish, British or American — embraced free trade as its salvation.
President Bush says it was freedom that prevailed when he rejected the pleas of weak-sister Republicans and backed the surge. But what spared us a debacle in Iraq was an infusion of 30,000 combat troops, an uprising against the murderers of al-Qaida and a U.S. decision to buy off the Sunni tribes, a strategy besieged empires have pursued for centuries.
Nor does there appear in Bush’s self-assurance any awareness of the cost of his Freedom Agenda. In Iraq, it is 4,000 U.S. dead, 30,000 wounded, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead, millions of refugees, a pogrom against an ancient Christian community, and a strategic victory for Iran and its Shia allies across the Middle East. When last heard from, the Ayatollah Sistani — the chief Shia cleric in Iraq, who has welcomed Iranian but not American visitors — was calling for Muslims to stand up against Israeli criminality in Gaza.
Like Woodrow Wilson before him, Bush appears to believe that the nobility of his goals — expanding freedom and bringing an end to tyranny in our world — validates and will sanctify his decisions.
Like Wilson, he is a utopian. He fails to understand that idealism has its delusions and disasters.
The war Wilson led us into “to make the world safe for democracy” gave us Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and 70 years of the most barbaric empire in all history. The peace Wilson brought home led straight to Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich and a second world war far worse than the first.
The West’s road to hell has been paved with good intentions.
President Bush rightly denounces Europeans who see Israel as always wrong. Yet he behaves as though Israel can do no wrong. Sixteen days into the Gaza war, with the Palestinian dead and wounded near 5,000, and a humanitarian catastrophe at hand, has our “compassionate conservative” president uttered one word of compassion for those whose losses outnumber the Israelis’ 100 to one?
In defending his rejected immigration reform, President Bush clearly sees himself as in the vanguard of decency, and admonishes his party against being perceived as anti-immigrant.
But is this president oblivious to what is happening in his country because of his and his father’s failure to secure the border? Even in rich, liberal Montgomery County, Md., one reads over the weekend that there is a hardening of attitudes toward illegal immigration after a spate of crimes and killings. Working-class Americans pay the price of the idealism around the dinner table at the Crawford ranch.
In his first five years, Bush himself has admitted, 6 million aliens were arrested at the border, breaking into this country. One in 12 — 500,000 — had criminal records. Is it anti-immigrant to demand a halt to this invasion, even if it means troops on the border? Is it truly compassionate, or an act of cravenness, to insist that the answer is amnesty for 12 million to 20 million illegals and absolution for the businesses that hired them?
Choleric and cocky Harry Truman may be Bush’s role model. But it was Dwight D. Eisenhower who had to clean up the mess Harry left behind.
Six months into office, Ike had ended the Korean War. He had the courage no president has since shown to tell the Israelis they must get off occupied land. They did.
While surely repelled by Nikita Khrushchev, especially for the Hungarian bloodbath of 1956, Ike had him up to Camp David in 1959 because, wicked as the Bolsheviks were, they had nuclear weapons, and one must talk to them.
Prudence is the mark of the true conservative. Ike and RonaldReagan had it. Neither Bush nor Truman did. And that is why the former left the country so much better off than did the latter.
Goodbye, Mr. President, and God bless.
Obama to close Gitmo?
Will someone please tell Barry to make up his flippin’ mind already?
Via the AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
That executive order is expected during Obama’s first week on the job — and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers. Both spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Obama’s order will direct his administration to figure out what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held at Guantanamo.
It’s still unlikely the prison would be closed any time soon. Obama last weekend said it would be “a challenge” to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.
I guess this might have been due to the pushback he got from the statement on the weekend. Either way, it’s a stupid idea. But then again, we are dealing with Liberals here. 🙄
Others: Riehl World View, Macsmind, Macsmind (Via Memeorandum)
Quote of the Day
The trouble is that the U.S. government will not go all the way while prosecuting Madoff. Uncle Sam would if there were pension funds involved, but going to bat for some rich white Europeans is not Sam’s habit. Obviously Madoff has hidden assets, perhaps in the billions, and most of his feeder fund managers have money, too. I don’t see any of them wearing striped pyjamas any time soon. Smart lawyers, the best money can buy, will defend them against underpaid government mouthpieces. The leading players so far have maintained a stony silence, making sure to avoid any kind of apology or statement of responsibility. Villehuchet’s suicide is probably seen as a dumb act by the Madoffs, Picciottos, Piedrahitas, Toubs and Noels of this world. It’s going to be an interesting Gstaad season, to say the least.