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.
Tag: Democrats
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)
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)
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)
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 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)
The Painfully Obligatory, Cat in the Hen House sounding, Ann Coulter does The View video posting (Whew!)
I’m posting this, because it will most likely get me hits here. (I’m such a Blog hit whore)
I haven’t watched this, except for the excerpt on Keith’s show earlier. I couldn’t bear it, nothing annoys me more than listening to a bunch of harpy broads arguing. (Don’t look at me like that, you know I am damned right. (About the broads, not my politics…) )
Anyhow, Here you are:
Here is my offical Political Byline political opinion on Coulter doing “The View”:
Ann Coulter going on The View to pimp her book, makes about as much sense as a cat going into a pen of Pitbulls and expecting an audience. I mean, the pitbull’s don’t give a crap about what that cat is going to say, they just want to eat him for lunch! Likewise, Coulter going on “The View” is about as dumb; those women do not give a crap about what Ann Coulter thinks, they just wanted to jump her butt because she’s a lightening rod Conservative harpy.
I can understand the desire to sell her book, but cripes does she have to run in front of a damned amtrack to do so?
….and in a blatant attempt at bastardy Capitalism, here’s Ann’s book via Amazon:
(H/T HotAir)
The Obligatory Obama has a Socialist Communist in his Cabinet
The only reason I am blogging about this, because I happen to think it is that silly.
Via Washington Times:
Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for “global governance” and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.
By Thursday, Mrs. Browner’s name and biography had been removed from Socialist International’s Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group’s congress in Greece was still available.
Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world’s social democratic political parties such as Britain’s Labor Party, says it supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies.
The group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, the organization’s action arm on climate change, says the developed world must reduce consumption and commit to binding and punitive limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr. Obama, who has said action on climate change would be a priority in his administration, tapped Mrs. Browner last month to fill a new position as White House coordinator of climate and energy policies. The appointment does not need Senate confirmation.
Mr. Obama’s transition team said Mrs. Browner’s membership in the organization is not a problem and that it brings experience in U.S. policymaking to her new role.
Here why that I think that the Republicans are making too big of a deal about this. The Republican Bloggers are making a huge deal about this and it’s stupid; they had a chance to run a candidate that represented a clean break from the Neo-Conservative polices of George W. Bush. They failed miserably. Because of this, we ended up with a Socialist President. Way I see it, the Republicans do not have a dimes worth of bitching rights at all.
Others: Townhall.com, Gateway Pundit, Wonk Room, Salon, AmSpecBlog, Sister Toldjah, JammieWearingFool, RedState and Fausta’s Blog
shocka!: Obama walks back closing Gitmo
Obama was on This Week With George Stephanopoulos and told him the following:
President-elect Barack Obama said this weekend that he does not expect to close Guantanamo Bay in his first 100 days in office.
“I think it’s going to take some time and our legal teams are working in consultation with our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do,” Obama said in an exclusive “This Week” interview with George Stephanopoulos, his first since arriving in Washington.
“It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize,” the president-elect explained. “Part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom may be very dangerous who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication. And some of the evidence against them may be tainted even though it’s true. And so how to balance creating a process that adheres to rule of law, habeas corpus, basic principles of Anglo-American legal system, by doing it in a way that doesn’t result in releasing people who are intent on blowing us up.”
But Obama said unequivocally that it will close. “I don’t want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution. That is not only the right thing to do but it actually has to be part of our broader national security strategy because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values.”
Talk about walking a campaign promise back. WOW! 😮
Of course, because he’s the Obamassiah, it’s just fine.
Liberal Heads exploding and calling for his impeachment in 5…..4……3…..2…..
Update: Wait a second here! “Anglo-American Legal system’? What the hell is this asshole trying to say? Because America was founded by White people, and because we happen to have laws against murder, that this makes us a racist Nation? Man, for someone who did not run a Campaign based upon race, Obama sure does like to remind people that American is a “Anglo Saxon”. Race Baiting tool. 🙄
Others: Washington Monthly, PoliGazette, theheretik.us, TIME.com and JammieWearingFool
(Via Memeornadum)
Note Worthy Article
The John Birch Society writes a note worthy article on Loen Panetta.
Quotable Quote:
Even the most unbiased of observers may legitimately ask: Why on Earth is an individual who helped negotiate the turnover of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard to the communist Chinese, thereby creating the threat to U.S. national security described in the Washington Times article by Rowan Scarborough and inserted into the Congressional Record by Rep. Solomon, being considered for a top position at one of our nation’s most critical intelligence agencies?
Notice that Scarborough observed: “The Clinton administration seems to be going out of its way to help the most serious threat to American security, the so-called People’s Republic of China.”
With so many Clinton administration staffers — including Leon Panetta — being recycled by Mr. Obama, can this administration be any different?
Indeed the answer there is; No.
Red State Update: Senator Franken, Kennedy, Burris?
Anybody else, besides me, notice that the dude with the beard is awfully sympathetic towards liberals as of late? 😮
Local News: Michigan’s Government continues to grow
This is what happens when you allow Liberals to run your state.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm - Communist Liberal Michigan Governor
Via WDIV-TV:
LANSING — Gov. Jennifer Granholm is continuing to sign a slew of bills passed in December by the Michigan Legislature.A new law signed Friday requires certain drunken drivers to use an ignition interlock device aimed at stopping repeat offenses. Another law prohibits stores from sending wine directly to customers. The wine law comes after a federal court ruling saying Michigan’s old law was unfair to out-of-state stores. Also Friday, Granholm signed a law aimed at punishing store owners caught with tobacco smuggled from around the country. Another new law removes sales taxes and fees from the gross receipts portion of Michigan’s new business tax that took effect in 2008. Critics had pushed to eliminate the so-called “tax on a tax.”
This is nothing more than a witches brew of unreasonable laws on morality and a direct attack on capitalism. Of course, this is what happens when you elect anti-capitalist communist-minded Liberals in your state to rule it. They always overstep their authority. Should not stores be allow to get tobacco where they wish? Should wine sellers be able to ship their wine directly to their customers, if they so choose to? As for the dunk driving laws, while I am sympathetic to those killed in drinking related crashes; the truth is that this law totally voliates one’s consitutional rights as an American citizen.
Anti-Israel Propaganda in the Wall Street Journal
I knew there was a reason for me to wake up earlier than normal today.
Via the Wall Street Journal, or shall I call it that Arab Journal? …and this is Rubert Murdoch’s Paper? WTF? WOW! 😮
Israel’s current assault on the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by self-defense. Rather, it involves serious violations of international law, including war crimes. Senior Israeli political and military leaders may bear personal liability for their offenses, and they could be prosecuted by an international tribunal, or by nations practicing universal jurisdiction over grave international crimes. Hamas fighters have also violated the laws of warfare, but their misdeeds do not justify Israel’s acts.
Right out the gate, the Palestine and Terrorist apologist begins to justify the actions of Hamas. He calls them misdeeds. I suppose he considers the attacks on the World Trade Center, our Pentegon and the crash of Flight 93 “Misdeeds” as well? I suppose he considers the 2,998 Dead and the 6,291+ Injured on September 11’th 2001, misdeeds? Which were carried out by those of the islamic faith?
Of course, if we look at the bottom of this article of Anti-Israeli screed, we can see where this Arab apologist is from:
Mr. Bisharat is a professor at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco
But of course! He is a liberal moonbat! I guess Rupert Murdoch was asleep when they snuck that op-ed piece through the building and to the printer.
Others: War in Context, Washington Post, Reuters, Guardian and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Baltimore Mayor in hot water
Seems like Detroit has some competition!
Via the WaPo:
Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted Friday on charges that she accepted illegal gifts during her time as mayor and City Council president, including travel, fur coats and gift cards intended for the poor that she allegedly used instead for a holiday shopping spree.
A grand jury indicted Dixon on 12 counts, including four counts of perjury and two counts of theft over $500. She was also charged with theft under $500, fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and misconduct in office.
The State Prosecutor’s Office, which has been investigating corruption at City Hall for nearly three years, said Dixon received holiday gift cards for four years from several people. Prosecutors said the gift cards were to be distributed to needy families, but were instead used by Dixon to buy electronics _ including an Xbox, a PlayStation 2 and a camcorder _ clothes and other merchandise and also handed out to members of her staff.
“I am being unfairly accused,” Dixon said in a statement. “Time will prove that I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be found innocent of these charges.”
Now where have I heard that before?
Oh, I remember!
Kilpatrick is now in jail. As is his former lover, who lied under oath.
Kilpatrick and Dixon are both, you guessed it, Democrats!
Others: Political Machine, NewsBusters.org, Towleroad, The Sundries Shack, Stop The ACLU, Hotline On Call, Macsmind, Hot Air, Democracy in America and RedState
B-Rod gets the A-OK from the Illnois Sec. of State
So says the Politico:
Following a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state, has certified Roland Burris’ appointment to the Senate, removing a major roadblock blocking Burris’ ascension to the body.
According to his office, White has signed a certificate saying that Roland Burris’ appointment document is “true and accurate.”
The move came just hours after Illinois’ top state court ruled that White’s approval was not necessary for a valid appointment to the Senate for Burris by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The Illinois House earlier in the day had impeached Blagojevich by a vote of 114-1. Blagojevich has been indicted on a number of federal corruption charges, including allegations that he attempted to “sell” President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the Senate to the highest bidder.
Burris’ attorneys argued White’s certification, following the earlier state court ruling, meant there was no reason that the Burris’ appointment should not be accepted by Democratic leaders.
Say what you want, call me racist all you want, I really do not care; but the fact remains is, that if Burris was white, he would be going to Chicago with his heart broken. But because Burris is black, he got a free pass. Just that damned simple.
B-Rod played the African-American community of Chicago, Illinois like a damned fiddle and they sat right there and let him do it. Quite frankly, I am surprised a few of them did not stand up and say “Hold up a minute!” 😮
Nope, they played right into B-Rod’s little fiddle dance. I found it most amazing. I mean, it pissed me off, and I ain’t even black!
Just my feelings on it…
Others: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Reuters, Power Line, Bloomberg, TPM Election Central, Jack & Jill Politics, Patterico’s Pontifications and Ed Driscoll.com (Via Memeorandum)
Bambi’s Mother-In-Law to live in the White House
I bet ol’ Bambi is just tickled pink over this one here.
Via the New York Times Blog, the Caucus:
It’s official: Marian Robinson, the 71-year-old mother-in-law of President-elect Barack Obama, will be moving into the White House, transition officials said on Friday.
In fact, Mrs. Robinson is already in town, helping to smooth the family’s personal transition as Mr. Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters prepare for new lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
“She is here to help them get up and running,’’ said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Obama. “She will determine in the coming months whether or not she wants to stay in D.C. permanently.”
In some ways, Mrs. Robinson’s decision to move – at least temporarily — is no real surprise. During the presidential campaign, Mrs. Robinson was a family mainstay, caring for the Obama girls, Sasha and Malia, while their parents were on the road.
She took them to school, to piano lesson and dance lessons, cooked their meals, ran their baths and got them to bed on time. She was a critical part of the family’s effort to keep the girls’ lives as normal as possible in the midst of extraordinary times.
But Mrs. Robinson is also deeply rooted in Chicago. She still lives in the house where Michelle Obama grew up. And she has often expressed ambivalence about the notion of moving to Washington.
“I’ve never lived outside of Chicago, so I don’t know,’’ said Mrs. Robinson, hesitating a bit as she considered last year whether she was willing to move into the White House. “In the end, in the end, I’ll do whatever. I might fuss a little, but I’ll be there.”
I do believe some music here would be most helpful…
Now Me and Jack Moss are think along the same lines. Who is paying for all of this? Most likely, you and me. 🙄
I also wonder about his half brother and aunt? (you know the one who’s here illegally?) I mean seeing liberals want amnesty illegal immigrants anyhow, what’s the difference? 🙄
It’s going to be a long four to six years.
Update: AllahPundit over at HotAir also has a humorus take on it as well. 😀 😛
Others: The Moderate Voice, TBogg, Papamoka Straight Talk, CBS News, Political Machine, Macsmind, Hot Air, TIME.com and Riehl World View
BlagoGate Continues
Sorry gang for the lack of posting. Just another one of those days where I just didn’t really feel like repeating myself over and over and over…. Hopefully, After the weekend, I might feel a bit more in the mood to blog about politics.
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Picking up on the scandal of the year, today the Chicago House of Representives voted today to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The Story via Chi-Town Tribune:
In a historic vote, the Illinois House has impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, directing the Senate to put the state’s 40th chief executive on trial with the goal of removing him from office.
The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state’s 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois’ longstanding reputation for political corruption.
Rep. Milt Patterson (D-Chicago) was the lone vote against impeaching the governor. Patterson, from Chicago’s Southwest Side, said after the roll call that he didn’t feel it was his job to vote to impeach the governor. He declined comment on whether he approved of the job Blagojevich is doing.
A Blagojevich spokesman said the governor will not resign. A 2 p.m. news conference with the governor is scheduled for the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago.
The actions of the House–approving an article of impeachment maintaining Blagojevich had committed abuses of power–represents the equivalent of an indictment.
The impeachment resolution covering Blagojevich’s actions “show a public servant who has betrayed his oath of office, who has betrayed the public trust, who is not fit to govern the state of Illinois,” said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the Chicago Democrat who headed a special panel that recommended Blagojevich’s impeachment a day earlier.
This now paves the way for the for the Senate of Chicago to start the process of starting an impeachment trial. I would tend to believe that the President-Elects camp just wants this little problem to simply go away. But it looks like the Governor is not going to resign and this process will be dragged out. Which makes me wonder, what would Al Capone do in a situation like this? 😉
Related to this story comes this little nugget of information via Chi-Town Sun-Times:
A potentially troublesome new detail emerged about Roland Burris’ controversial U.S. Senate appointment Thursday after a state House panel voted unanimously to recommend Gov. Blagojevich be impeached.
For the first time, Burris indicated that he asked Blagojevich’s former chief of staff and college classmate, Lon Monk, to relay his interest in the Senate seat to the governor last July or September.
“If you’re close to the governor, you know, let him know I’m certainly interested in the seat,” Burris said he told Monk.
That testimony appears to differ from an affidavit Burris submitted to the impeachment panel this week in which he stated he spoke to no “representatives” of the governor about the Senate post prior to Dec. 26.
Federal prosecutors, who identified Monk as “Lobbyist 1” in their criminal complaint against Blagojevich, indicated they tapped Monk’s phone in November as Blagojevich moved to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat.
Um, I believe when Barack Obama said, Hope and….Um, Change, this is NOT what he had in mind. 😮
I think it is safe to assume that this little soap opera is NOT going away anytime soon. Should be interesting to say the least. 😀
Others: Chicago Breaking News, BBC, The Gun Toting Liberal, Fox News, WBBM-TV, Sister Toldjah, TIME.com, Democracy in America, KFVS-TV, Scared Monkeys, Balloon Juice, Fausta’s Blog, Michelle Malkin, RBO, D-Day, The Huffington Post, Real Clear Politics, Progress Illinois, The Reaction, Chicago Breaking News, Progress Illinois, ArchPundit, Michelle Malkin, Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, The Capitol Fax Blog, Hot Air and FiveThirtyEight.com (Via Memeorandum)
Zo breaks it down about Hollywood and Liberals!
…and takes a shoe to the side of the face, twice, in the process! 😆
Rep. John Conyers says “No go” to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General
Here we go, with the blatant Identity Politics!
Via HuffPo:
I join in opposition with respected Noble Peace Prize award wining economist Paul Krugman, who has very serious concerns with having Dr. Gupta be the nation’s Surgeon General. […]
Also, there are highly experienced medical professionals who question whether Dr. Gupta has the necessary experience or even the medical background to be in charge of some 6,000 physicians or more who work in the United States Public Health Service. Gerard M. Farrel, Executive Director of the Commissioned Officers Association, stated in the January 7, 2008 Washington Post that Dr. Gupta will certainly face a “credibility gap” because he never served in the National Health Service Corp, and furthermore, does not have the “experience or qualifications to be the leader of the nation’s public health service.” Clearly, it is not in the best interests of the nation to have someone like this who lacks the requisite experience needed to oversee the federal agency that provides crucial health care assistance to some of the poorest and most underserved communities in America.
Translation? He is not a black man. So, he won’t serve our interests. Plus, he had the gall to question Michael Moore. So, no go on this man.
The Democrats make it so easy anymore. You all see why I left that bunch of psychopaths?
Others: NO QUARTER
Israeli/Gaza Conflict: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
I must say this crap is most pathetic. 🙄
First off, we have terrorist supporter and America’s worst former President and Commie Liberal traitor, Jimmy Carter in the WaPo:
I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.
After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).
We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel’s unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.
On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.
After 12 days of “combat,” the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.
Disgraceful. The old bastard ought to be charged for Treason and sent to a reeducation camp, along with the rest of Liberal America. 😡
I mean, just who the hell does that old duffer think he is? This is the same damned President who economic policies were a complete disaster. If it had not been for Ronald Reagan this country would have went into a full scale depression back in the 1970’s. Luckily Reagan made some very much needed changes and rid the country of some of the waste, which in turned staved off a depression and thankfully, we only experienced a slight recession. Again that recession was due to the disastrous polices of Carter. Hell, even Bill Clinton could not stand the old man, Clinton refused to meet with Carter at all. Which caused a major problem during his administration.
On the other hand, Marvin Hier makes some very valid points in a Wall Street Journal in an opinion piece:
At the U.N., no surprise, this double-standard is in full force. In response to Israel’s attack on Hamas, the Security Council immediately pulled an all-night emergency meeting to consider yet another resolution condemning Israel. Have there been any all-night Security Council sessions held during the seven months when Hamas fired 3,000 rockets at half a million innocent civilians in southern Israel? You can be certain that during those seven months, no midnight oil was burning at the U.N. headquarters over resolutions condemning terrorist organizations like Hamas. But put condemnation of Israel on the agenda and, rain or shine, it’s sure to be a full house.
Red Cross officials are all over the Gaza crisis, describing it as a full-blown humanitarian nightmare. Where were they during the seven months when tens of thousands of Israeli families could not sleep for fear of a rocket attack? Where were their trauma experts to decry that humanitarian crisis?
There have been hundreds of articles and reports written from the Erez border crossing falsely accusing Israel of blocking humanitarian supplies from reaching beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza. (In fact, over 520 truck loads of humanitarian aid have been delivered through Israeli crossings since the beginning of the Israeli counterattack.) But how many news articles, NGO reports and special U.N. commissions have investigated Hamas’s policy of deliberately placing rocket launchers near schools, mosques and homes in order to use innocent Palestinians as human shields?
Many people ask why there are so few Israeli casualties in comparison with the Palestinian death toll. It’s because Israel’s first priority is the safety of its citizens, which is why there are shelters and warning systems in Israeli towns. If Hamas can dig tunnels, it can certainly build shelters. Instead, it prefers to use women and children as human shields while its leaders rush into hiding. – Read the Rest
I suggest you go read that entire piece. It is filled with truth. I mean, people sure have short memories when it comes to Israel, Gaza and Palestine. Some people must have forgotten that Israel totally pulled out of the Gaza Strip, gave the Palestinians that land, that was rightfully Israel’s and let them live there. So, what does Gaza do? Elects a terrorist organization to govern and then they whine and cry when Israel invades that land! Fata was at least honorable enough to uphold a peace agreement, more than I can say for Hamas. The people in Gaza had better be glad I am not running that war campaign for Israel. They think the human toll is bad now? Ha! I’d bomb gaza into the damn stone age. Which is what Israel should rightly do, and take back their damn land from those arab scumbags.
Others on the right side of this conflict: QandO, , A Blog For All,protein wisdom, Don Surber, Little Green Footballs, Pirate’s Cove, Macsmind, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, Yourish.com,Jules Crittenden, neo-neocon and Jihad Watch
(Via Memeorandum)