What A Future!

Recently the Nethercutt Foundation sent students from six colleges to Washington D.C. to visit everyone from lobbyists to think tanks to members of Congress to get a grasp of how it works and why the tone is such as it is.

What they came away with should give them pause for the task of "fixing" it will be in their hands. We're all aware that the approval rating of both the President and Congress is less than desirable. So what happens. The blame game. The blame game perpetuates partisanship. No one will budge.

What must are these young people think when a Democrat actually admits to them that the current stand off with the Republicans is no more than payback for when the Republicans held the power?

They had the opportunity to visit sources that are but dreams to the rest of us with an interest. They found how lacking they were in American history as well as current events. They found the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not going to have a quick fix. They found how serious the threats are to security within our borders. They got a good idea of how ill prepared we are to respond. All one needs to do is look at how the oil spill is being handled and the Arizona immigration flap. The government will not be able to sue it's way out of a terrorist attack.

The times are interesting and the stakes are high. Should the Democrats hold both houses of Congress after the mid-terms they will own everything that comes to pass good, bad or indifferent. There will come the day the people will no longer accept that Bush is to blame for everything gone wrong.

Probably most sobering to these young people is the idea that not so far down the road the governance of the country will be in their hands. One would hope they've something positive to take away from their experience. I certainly hope it won't be the constant of "getting even"!

One Whale Of A Mistake

Nah. That's not Jonah sitting atop his whale. That's what the Taiwan oil skimmer, A Whale is going to look like after the Coast Guard and EPA are done 'inspecting' her!

Granted, we don't want to make matters worse, but some things my mind just refuses to grasp. Like why Obama has yet to suspend the Jones Act which would allow for foreign help aplenty. Why Washington State won't send it's skimmers. The reason given is they need them in case they have a spill in their waters. Excuse me? They don't have one now and the gulf coast does!

Finally, after 70 some odd days, the Taiwan vessel is in Norfolk. The EPA and Coast Guard are inspecting her to make sure she meets our standards. Some water returned to the sea may have traces of oil remaining. Wouldn't a trace be better than what we have now?

Wouldn't anything be better than what we have now! Why, when an entire region of the country is suffering ecologically and economically, does the government have to study everything to death? The time to do that is before we engage in a war rather than during a time of crisis that grows daily!

It isn't just our government, granted. BP has been inexcusably slow on the uptake also. It would seem common sense and a sense of urgency have been misplaced. To say workers have to wear haz mat suits and can only work in 20 minute stretches seems ridiculous if you actually want some work done! Consider those making an effort to save the wild life. They are under no such regulation. Are they not equally as important?

And just where is our President, our Secretary of Interior and our Secretary of Homeland Security? I'm sure those trying to get something accomplished are just as glad they are nowhere to be seen, but where is their leadership?

While ships are being inspected to see if they are worthy of helping our mess, there is one more that needs inspected. It's our ship of state ~ and it's commander in chief!

Readdressing Independence Day!

Ever since our founding fathers wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence this country was on an upward march to become the most powerful nation in and leader of the free world. We have taken tremendous pride in that and well we should. Now I find myself wondering how we've managed to elect a President who does not have maintaining that achievement as his goal. He wants us to be an equal among equals - or less.

While we were swooning over a young man with a silver tongue and patting ourselves on the back that we had reached a level where we could comfortably elect a minority President, world leaders wise in the way of politics on their level, saw naivety and inexperience. While people around the world turned out in mass to see our President many of their leaders were warming to opportunities newly available for exploitation.

There was a time when allies would not have been openly contemptuous of our President and his ideas. Look at them now. He tells them he wants to be like them yet he tries to dictate how they handle their own business. The message is mixed and weak.

The most egregious, however, is the constant tension between the Chinese and the U.S. The U.S. is angry they won't condemn the sinking of a South Korean ship purportedly by the North Koreans. Of course, to date, there is no proof the suspicion is true. As a retaliation of sorts the U.S. plans joint naval exercises with the South Koreans as a show of solidarity. In response the Chinese are going to conduct their own.

Perhaps it would have been wise to take the comment by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman when he said, "China borders on the Korean peninsula and we have our own feeling on the issue, different from that of the countries tens of thousands miles away...We have more direct and intense concerns."

Isn't this always the point? Our reality isn't always that of another country and our suggestions are often not appreciated.

At the very least we should get our goals in line. I vote for regaining our status as leader of the free world. Of course to do that we'll need a different administration with clear cut goals and a Congress willing to compromise among themselves to get there. It will be a long climb back.

Of all countries to be sniping at however, China would not be on the top of my list. After all, they own us.

Well, Duh!

I had to laugh when I read the headline for a story in The Wall Street Journal yesterday: Corruption Suspected in Airlift Of Billions in Cash From Kabul. We are well aware that we are supporting a very corrupt government headed by Hamid Karzai. We are well aware that his brother is one of the biggest offenders with his connections to the opium trade.

So why is it that suddenly officials are surprised that the millions of U.S. dollars packed in suitcases and stacked on pallets at the airport for transfer elsewhere might just be tied to corruption? Especially when much of it is slated for banks in Dubai?

What really frosts me and seems to be forgotten by the powers that be, this is U.S. taxpayer money. Yours and mine! You know, the money sent to create the jobs we don't have here, to build the infrastructure there while ours is falling apart, schools, hospitals.

It goes into Afghanistan as aid. It goes out as bribes. It's all perfectly legal with no accountability. They are shocked, shocked that it might be due to corrupt activity!

There is a new general in charge now to fight this useless war. We're told the ambassador, the special emissary and the State Department will no longer butt heads with the military and that the soldiers may again be permitted to defend themselves. That's all fine and dandy but it will be meaningless if in the end Karzai and his ilk will follow the money, our money, to their secret accounts in Dubai and elsewhere and ultimately leave the country to the Taliban.

Should that happen our entire government should be charged with aiding and abetting the enemy. After all it is our money making it all possible!

What Do We Have To Do?

The public is furious about health care. Even more so when they saw the size of the bill and found many in Congress admitted they hadn't read it. Remember Nancy Pelosi telling us as soon as it was passed we'd find out what was in it?

How many months have passed? The public still doesn't like it even as the President is assuming the power to change things.

So now it's financial reform. Another two thousand page monstrosity. What's in this one? You guessed it. No one knows. They really don't get it. Yet Christopher Dodd who headed the effort had this to say according to the Washington Post.

"It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."

I'm getting tired of the way these yahoos conduct business. How much pork are we going to find in this bill? How many 'Louisiana Purchases' or bribes like Ben Nelson from Nebraska negotiated? Be sure they're in there.

You know what we get with sloppy legislation? We get six year old girls on the no fly list and can't find out why or how to get off. We get police tasering an 86 year old bed ridden woman.

What's to be done when we're told it's the way Congress works. Period. Live with it. I guess I will but it would be nice to know what it is before rather than after the fact!

Not So McChrystal Clear

Subordination, it was said. Not as much as sheer stupidity. Having read the Rolling Stone article, I found the offensive comments to be no more than what most of the military who are frustrated with these unending conflicts might say to one another in their bull sessions. To relay it to a reporter is sheer stupidity. Or is it?

McChrystal surely marches to his own drummer just as does our President. As a military man, however, the President is his Commander-In-Chief. He is to serve. Not critique unless asked to do so. Which I'm certain he was on many occasions. Coming up on the short end of his requests, I wonder if this whole episode was designed to make public just what the upper echelons of the military think of the ambassadors, the Vice President and even the President. The whole mess. Even at the cost of a career. Never mind that he'll make millions on the lecture circuit.

McChrystal wasn't my favorite General. He was the one who decided to do away with the base fast food outlets that were such a reminder of home for the troops. It was under his command that the troops were to be awarded medals for restraint. Don't shoot unless you're sure a body is really a combatant. Come on! That's no way to fight a war. WAR!

Regardless of my opinion, McChrystal is a General of some note. The President can ill afford to be shown as weak or wrong, especially with his ratings as low as they are. He can accomplish that all by himself. It is not the General's place to do so. Discipline is essential. Chain of command is essential.

The days of Patton and Montgomery as showboating military leaders are long gone. War has been politicized to the extent, just like Obama's commission on the oil spill, that there are too many fingers with no appropriate expertise in the pie. Obama promised to listen to his generals. He may have listened but he didn't hear. The McChrystal incident shows the outcome of the thinking because of it.

For better or worse, the war is now truly Obama's. He can no longer blame any of it on Bush. The generals are his, the ambassadors are his and the strategy is his. What he now needs to do is get them on the same playing field and quit letting Karzai captain the team.

Who's Lying?

You cannot prove a negative. Senator John Kyl, R-AZ, said at a recent town hall meeting that he had a meeting with the President in the Oval Office where no one else was present.

The topic was border security. Supposedly the President told him that if the border was secured he'd have no leverage with Republicans for comprehensive immigration reform. The White House has said the President said no such thing. One of them is lying. It has come to this. What a disgustingly sad state of affairs.

But let's look at it. We know the Republicans and the administration are on different planets on this. The Republicans want to do it piece meal. Secure the borders then tackle what to do with the illegals already in the country. The Democrats want to do it in one fell swoop.

First of all, we have no idea if the President was really this candid or not if no one else was present. Therefore the White House denial holds no weight. On the other hand I can't imagine the President being quite so up front with a member of the opposition, even in private. Kyl, on the other hand can't prove the President actually said what he is attributing to him. In my opinion that makes it a wash.

We know from experience the President is not the "decider" Bush was. Right or wrong. Telling Larry King, of all people, We've already put more resources into border security than we ever have." doesn't mean squat when the illegals are still streaming across the border. More does not equate with doing what the law requires. Suing the state for trying to pick up the slack doesn't either.

Knowing the administration is for comprehensive reform or nothing it would seem Kyl's recollection of the conversation bears consideration. That the President would tip his hand that he plans to use border security as a bribe for votes seems unlikely though I have no doubt that is the game plan.

That either should lie about it or deny the substance of it is of value only if the administration thinks it can bully comprehensive reform through just as they did health care. Looking at how many Democrats are defecting on lesser issues and you'll see the flaw in that thinking.

I have little respect left for either side on a host of issues at this point. Incidences like this don't help. It just sticks in my craw that we have to play the "did too", "did not" game on such important issues.

When the President indicated that if the CEO of BP worked for him he'd be fired because of his handling of the oil spill, I might remind him that he works for me. Enough said.

The World Against The Government!

To listen to President Obama tell it everyone from BP to the auto industry, Wall Street and the health insurance companies are all against him, him being the government. As Daniel Henninger spells it out in this morning's Wall Street Journal he's making it personal. It's a glimpse into the mind of a man who seems increasingly angry. In the President of the United States, I'm finding it uncomfortable, to say the least.

Laws seem to be of little interest to him when he decides to take action. There is no law supporting his demand of British Petroleum and when the White House was asked, the questioners were told no law was necessary. There was no law to support his firing the President of GM.

We're going in the wrong direction here. It's not just the administration, nor just this one, but this one is the one in power. Include Congress. Of what possible value is today's grilling of Tony Hayward other than to allow the panel to posture and humiliate Mr. Hayward. Well, one thing it did do was, as usual, showcase the lack of knowledge Congressmen have about the issues at hand.

Yet they must be seen to be doing something. This is where we have a graphic example of just why the President's quest for bigger government is a flawed idea! The Coast Guard, Corp of Engineers, Salazar and Napolitano have done little but stumble all over one another. The end result is chaos.

At the head of the table sits the President. "Put a six month moratorium on all deep water drilling! BP can't pay their dividends! I'm tough. I'm in charge."

Whoa Nelly! Was any thought given to the consequences? Dividends are not like executive bonuses, for crying out loud. They go to investors, many of which are pension funds. Even rich ones like Obama's unions could be hurt.

As for the moratorium on drilling, an lot of jobs for those suffering Gulf states go away. It isn't the tourism business or fishing that generates the big bucks. It's oil . It isn't call it black gold for nothing. There is one other kicker. Other oil companies aren't going to let those rigs sit idle for six months. They'll be moved and just try getting them back. In truth I don't think Obama cares. I don't think he wants them.

The other kicker is how the world views all of this. We had dinner with friends from England last week and they had no kind words to say about our President and his ways. Companies considering U.S. operations may think twice. They see how he's treated the auto industry, banks and Wall Street. How health care was ramrodded through. They see how he's treated Toyota yet what have you heard about the recent recalls at GM? Is Obama Motors exempt from the press? They're looking at this BP business and thinking maybe not.

The President made a point of apologizing for all sins American from years past on a world wide tour. Who's going to apologize for what he and his Congress are doing to us?

Some Men Lead, Then There Are Others...

I remember when I was doing publicity for a charity many years ago. The president of the organization intrigued me. The position was held by a lady, very attractive and very distant. Unlike what you would expect a leader to be. No rah, rah cheering on the army of volunteers, but rather a distant, cool persona. After a while I realized why. She hadn't a clue as to how to do her job.

That's how I'm seeing Obama these days. He seems to be two dimensional. He is either apologizing to our friends and enemies alike for sins past, or bullying them. There is no touch. No finesse. Nothing that a true leader usually displays. As I've observed before, he seems to have a penchant for playing catch up while trying to disguise it with bravado.

He's getting what he wants - more and more government intervention. If anyone is more clueless than Obama it's government and it's layer upon layer of bureaucracy. I honestly felt the politicizing of his speech to the nation last night was disgraceful and an insult to all the people, be they small entrepreneurs or large corporate enterprises who stepped forward at the onset offering help.

Where was the apology for not having the government's emergency plan staffed, equipped and ready to respond? Don't blame Bush. Flowery speeches and the consumption of snow cones does not a leader make. Yeah, he seems a nice enough guy but he's Peter principled out. He wanted the job, he got it, but it seems more than he can handle. I don't recall at the moment who said he seems paralyzed when it comes to decision making, but he does, so commissions are formed and another czar appointed.

In some ways I'm glad he's the way he is. The dreamer. Enough damage has already been done to our country by those who know how to control him. Were he more effective matters could be even worse.

The one man who has stood out as far as having passion is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. He is engaged, he is angry. He has been acting like a leader. He has not been afraid of taking on the government's response. Or lack thereof.

Ahem, Republicans. You're looking for a face to put on that figure of leadership you so desperately need. You might give him a more serious look. One bad speech shouldn't end one's career. Don't get hung up on how far to the right he is or isn't but observe what the man does in the face of crisis. Stepping in to salvage what should have been the government's responsibility has him looking worthy of consideration to me.

How

I've come to the conclusion that we're missing a point in this season of primaries. That would be the "how". And not the cliched Indian greeting!

Dissatisfaction with and disappointment in the Obama administration and Congress in general has the lynch mobs calling to throw all the bums out, no matter which party. There are legislators who are pretty thorough in their decision making process and actually have the people in mind before themselves. Their problem is they can't seem to band together in numbers enough to overcome partisanship.

Now people are being unseated merely because they are incumbents. Not wise. Having been bouncing around this part of the country of late I've had the chance to browse some newspapers I usually don't see. It seems all the same. So and so's a bum, elect me. I'm against this, this and this. I'm for not much of anything.

But if they are for something, no one is saying how they would expect to achieve their goals. Never mind that the lofty idea of one politician hasn't a chance to even get a hearing, especially if said politician is a newbie. But other than that, how often have you ever heard the "how"?

We had better start pinning them down. I don't see a lot of substance in many of the Tea Party favorites that are winning primaries. Take the race in Nevada for instance. Harry Reid had everything but his rump out the door but the Republicans elected the weakest of the candidates vying for the nomination to run against him. She is a Tea Party favorite. In all that I've read, I don't see what she actually brings to the table. It would be nice to unseat Reid but I don't see it happening now.

If we really want to put the skids on this run-a-way administration we had better get off our "any body but" mode and start looking for candidates who actually have some ideas as to how to make things work rather than listening to no more than the same tired slogans.

There certainly must be some truly able out there. Aren't there?

Those Who Can, Do; Those Who Can't, Posture

What possible good can come from the government suing BP? I'm by no means absolving them from a share of the fault for the massive leak, but they are by no means solely responsible. If the U.S. hadn't been swayed by the enviros and their faulty science the oil companies wouldn't have needed to seek deeper and deeper locations in which to drill.

If, indeed, the administration was on top of the disaster from the beginning, why didn't they make it public? Saying the Coast Guard was there isn't the same thing and they had nothing to do with what was happening on and beneath the rig anyway. Obama, I believe, was greeting the Duke Blue Devils. I don't see much difference between the way this administration has handled this issue than the way Bush handled Katrina.

Let's face it. Those taking the brunt of the responsibility and biggest financial hit is BP and those involved with them in the drilling. The blow out wasn't anticipated. What exactly happened, if short cuts and procedures were shaved, at this point is all speculation. Accidents happen. Not to lessen the impact on the natural environment and those who's livings depend on use of the sea and it's products, it hasn't been a romp in the park for BP or the industry as a whole either. Their stock has plummeted leaving scores of stockholders in the dump. Their bottom line is fractured with the cost of trying to fix the leak and then the clean up required afterwards. A law suit would only drain those resources further.

Maybe Obama is infuriated and frustrated with the time it's taking for a fix. If the emergency plan that was in place had been functional, perhaps matters wouldn't have gotten so bad. Who is to blame for the equipment needed for the plan not being in place? Certainly not BP! Give the petroleum industry, those who have the knowledge and expertise in the field, space to figure it out and get it done.

The government and the justice department would do well to just stay out of the way until the problem is resolved and the clean up finished. Plenty of time for recriminations then. Is there an oil man among them? Not Salazar. Not Napolitano. Certainly not Obama.

Right now would be a good time for the government to do what it does best. Nothing.

We Need A Real Third Party

We need a real third party to which the moderates from both the Republicans and Democrats can migrate and join with independents. The two part system no longer works because it's too fragmented and at the same time, too partisan.

On the Democratic side you have the left and the far left. The only time they come to the center is during a Presidential election because left and far left do not have the numbers to win on their own. Even Obama was more of a centrist during his campaign, though he is anything but right now.

The Republicans are even more fragmented. They have the right leaning, the far right and the Tea Party. Again, none of the fragments can win a national election on their own. I will be surprised if Rand Paul, the first Tea Party type to win a primary, will win the Senate seat for which he is running. Emboldened by his win he has been free with his opinions that are anything but main stream. There is nothing wrong with that in itself but there is a limit as to how bizarre thinking can or should be.

At the moment, the Christian Conservatives are being fairly quiet. Perhaps that's because there is no real Republican leadership to take to task for not being far enough right. The Tea Party is a mixed bag depending on which branch you're dealing with. No direction to count on there.

The far left is not happy with Obama for not being far enough left. The rest of the Democrats seem to be marching like Lemmings to the sea behind Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid.

Bi-partisanship under this administration is beyond hope. Obama's idea of it is for a few Republicans to turn their backs on their own party's policies and join with him. Compromise is not part of his vocabulary. Scolding and "catch up" is. Scolding as in taking Arizona to task for taking needed action. "Catch up" is sending 1200 National Guard troops to the border. But compromise with the Republicans and fix the border first, which is the easier of the tasks, then tackle the problem of illegal immigrants already in the country? It won't happen.

So where do the moderates and independents go? They are ignored by both sides yet they are the last best hope to raise the country out of the mess it's in. I wish the President was one of us, but he's not. Surely there is a viable leader lurking in the shadows somewhere. Come out, come out where ever you are!

I'd not think it all bad that a coalition government might have to be formed with a third party. Like the Brits. If no party gets the pre-determined votes necessary for an outright win, a coalition would be formed to make up the difference. Under any circumstance that would require compromise.

After all, that's what it's supposed to be about!

The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth And The Garbage That Comes With It!

Is anyone other than myself getting tired of our government apologizing for the immigration law Arizona recently passed. First we listened to President Calderon of Mexico scold us. The photo is of a mess left behind at one of the way lays on a route out of Mexico heading toward Tucson. His people fleeing his country. Imagine that along all the routes smugglers use out of Mexico.

By their own admission neither Big Sis Napolitano nor AG Holder had read the bill before criticizing it. Napolitano even said the borders are as secure as they've ever been. She had the previous watch and is telling us, though I doubt she intended it this way, the borders are not secure now and never have been. But we're hung up on hurt feelings if asked to produce proof of legal stature in this country.

The last straw was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights and Labor, Michael Posner, being told by the Chinese, of all people, this was a trend they found "troubling".

With primary elections under way for the next Congress, I hope the voters are paying close attention to what the candidates stand for. If it's for a strong America, one had best not vote for a supporter of Obama's policies.

I'm to the point I'm not sure I can vote for our Blue Dog. Sarah Palin, campaigning for a challenger, summed it up when she said, "...Walt, it's who you're hanging with...". I really don't think this country can recover from continuing one party rule. Actually, the ailment has to cease before it can recover and as long as the Democrats hold sway, everything we once were is going to continue to disintegrate.

The solution to the immigration problem doesn't have to be all that "comprehensive". Part of it, yes, the part about the illegals already in the country. The part about securing the borders should be a totally different issue. Do it. It's not rocket science.

If the Feds had done it instead of politicizing it way back when Reagan issued amnesty Arizona would not have had to do as it did. I hope the other states contemplating similar measures follow through and through and through until the Federal government gets the message. Don't apologize to the oppressive, don't scold Arizona, don't support those who are trying to make it into something it's not and do do your job. Secure the border!

Of Borders And Bonds

When President Obama welcomed the President of Mexico today he said in his remarks that we are not defined by our borders, but by our bonds. I disagree on one point. I believe we are defined by what lies within our borders. Borders count.

Within those border we also have bonds and they seem to be failing as rapidly as those of our once strong allies like Great Britain and Turkey and even Israel. We've managed to alienate all of them.

Now it would seem that Obama's bonds within his own party are failing. First he is antagonizing the press. Then the primary candidates are being hung out to dry. Arlen Specter is the best example. Not that I was pulling for him. I think he got what he deserved. Never-the-less, promised Presidential support was no where to be seen because Obama didn't want to be tied to another loss as he was earlier in the year with Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia.

They talk about the loneliness of the Presidency. The isolation in the White House. This from the Blackberry President who insisted on keeping his so he could keep in touch with the outside world. What happened? Do you suppose he's brought it on himself by not being a man of his word? You can see it coming. It happened to Bush too. Obama, with his insistence on his agenda at all costs, is losing his own people. They worry about falling like dominoes with his support so they are beginning to opt out. It needs to be remembered they were already falling without him. It's his agenda and a "D" behind your name is going to be treacherous.

This all makes sense except for one thing. The Republicans still have no one taking the lead and here we are in primary season. Will the American public hand this President a second term based solely on the Republicans failure? It could happen. It happened with Bush. He got his second term, as angry as the people were with him, because the Democrats had a weak candidate.

It's no wonder we no longer forge ahead. We're playing on a teeter totter. It's time for that elephant to get a name and a face!

The Pinocchio Syndrome

I have a solution for all our political woes. An implant that would cause a politician's nose to grow every time a lie escapes his lips. Man, you wouldn't be able to maneuver through the halls of Congress!

It would also be a blessing when it comes to deciphering which candidates are playing loose with the truth. Take Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and his war record. Blumenthal is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Chris Dodd, no stranger to mis-truths himself. He called a press conference today to dance away a New York Times story which revealed he mislead voters about his war record. Only on a few occasions, mind you, and it shouldn't denigrate the fact that he did serve in the Marine reserves which he claimed to have joined by looking them up in the yellow pages and calling.

Someone, and I think it's Blumenthal, is missing the point. No one is denigrating what he did, but rather what he said he did and did not. Serve in Vietnam. I am no authority on how the draft worked back in those days, but getting five deferments doesn't sound to me like he was anxious to risk life and limb. Ending up in the reserves is suspect unto itself, but as I said, I'm no authority.

Had he let slip once that he served in Vietnam, it could be construed as misspeaking but records should he made the same statement time and time again. He has it backwards when he accuses the Times of an "outrageous distortion".

I haven't yet decided how I feel about the men from the VFW who stood behind him in support. Did they really believe it was a collection of statements of no consequence? Were they blinded by the man and his position? I can't imagine actual Vietnam vets wanting someone who did not serve claiming to have done so for political gain.

We the people got lucky this time. Someone blew the whistle prior to an election and the press did a good job in substantiating it.

One Democratic operative compared Blumenthal's statements to those of candidate Hillary speaking of her experience under fire in Bosnia when tape showed a gathering of small children singing and bearing flowers. "It wasn't the end of Hillary Clinton." Wasn't it? So too should it be the end of Mr. Blumenthal. How can voters know now what is and what is not truth? From a state Attorney General no less!

I wonder if anyone has ever done a study, there are so many, on the length of politicians' noses as a ratio to their accidental misstatements.

Everything Is Backwards!

One day another one of those home made bombs will go off. Timothy McVeigh proved it some years back. Those pesky bombs can indeed work.

I think the one main reason I will never again vote for a Democrat for President is because of their distaste for being prepared for war. Obama is gutting our defense much as Carter did. I'm all for nations being anti-war, too bad more of them aren't. But we really need to face facts. The world is at war with Islamic radicals. We've been lucky under Obama. The attempts on U.S. soil have so far been duds. The troublesome thing is so many are getting so close. Sure, they've been caught, but it's by their own lack of expertise rather than our intelligence working.

I just don't think we have a grasp on how wars are fought today. The enemy wears no uniform and many times live among us. We can't "profile" them for fear of offending their sensibilities. Foreign leaders who are in power thanks to us and us alone are constantly criticizing us for civilian casualties. So we try harder, putting our own at more risk to save theirs who won't turn in the culprits that would save everybody a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Everything is backwards!

Consider the administration's quest for nuclear disarmament. What do we do but tell them exactly what we have! Secretary of State Clinton tells us it's in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can about the nuclear program of the United States.

Here we are like sitting ducks for every discontented terrorist want-to-be who happens to be in the United States. They learn how to make their bombs from countries who hate us and everything we stand for. Sure it's going to get them in line by telling them everything we have and what we plan to do with it - other than shrink the stockpile. By the way, how many countries have followed suit to date?

It's all backwards. An administration that promised transparent and open government drafts and passes legislation that is the antithesis of transparent and expects us to be happy with us. They know best. We're too dumb to understand and it's for our own good.

Explain to me, please, why they are more transparent about our national security apparatus with enemies than with legislation under which we are going to be forced to live?

It's all backwards.

When The Media Gets It Wrong

If I were a Tea Party member and saw these guys coming down the street toward me, I too would be a tad bit unnerved. The headlines, shortly after, blared that Obama and the secret service called out the swat team to keep the Partiers under control.

Nothing could be further from the truth though I must say the riot gear is a bit of over kill. The secret service did indeed ask for police, not the SWAT team, to clear the roadway for the Pressident's motorcade. No one was there to threaten the Tea Partiers into submission.

The same type of hyperbole is accompanying the new Arizona law to weed out illegals. It's just like the Gestapo they scream. What is more like the Gestapo than asking for ones "papers"? Please. When you go to Europe you are advised to keep your passport with you at all times and it is perfectly legal to be asked to produce it. Me. A white, anglo saxon atheist! What should I make of that?

Then there is the cry that the law is unconstitutional. I've heard it over and over! Pundits, letters to the editor, you'd think the sky was falling. I have yet, however, to hear just exactly what in the law is unconstitutional! Spelled out by those who claim it as an absolute truth!

All this over reaction is exhausting. When listening to the talking heads, and our august Senators, talk about finance reform, it's easy to see how many people don't understand how the system works. Just listen to the questions coming from the Senators if you can get past the profanity!

People are confused, anxious or down right angry because the media isn't doing it's job. The papers are disappearing. NBC news is a joke. Ann Curry visiting a submarine is not news!

It seems to matter little, however. More don't care than do. I'm willing to wager people spend more time on Facebook and Twitter then they do following the news. That, my friends, is for the birds. Tweet!

Foreign Policy By Appeasement And Spin

To say that this administration has a complex foreign policy would be an understatement. After months of complaining that voter fraud tainted the recent Afghanistan election, it seems now we're acquiescing to Karzai's "poor me" stance. Hillary Clinton even went so far as to call him a reliable partner !
I wonder if Ahmadinejad does too since his visit! This man who threatens to join the Taliban, whose brother is one of the major drug lords in the country and whose cabinet is chock full of corruption! So now we're going to play warm and fuzzy with this 'strong and vital American ally' because his feelings have been hurt. We're to express sympathy for the pressure he feels as commander in chief of a warring nation!

Well, he wanted the job! He threw the election once and was well on his way to a second time when his opponent withdrew. What's the adage about not standing the heat?? Heck, he wasn't even in the kitchen!

As all of this is carefully placed in the sound bite archives, Hillary comes back on stage to tell us we need fear that al Qaeda is obtaining nuclear weapons material. That's a little different than Iran seeking the big bomb. Which, by the way, we have yet to stop. You see, al Qaeda isn't even a country! Their figure head of a leader supposedly lives in a cave and their weapon of choice seems to be explosives strapped to one's body and detonated, or not, at the appropriate time!

For the sake of argument, however, let's say they get what they need for a bomb. And learn how to build it, enrich the fuel rods and explode it. Where will all this take place? My guess is they will choose a country that the U.S. has pledged no retaliation against other than with conventional weapons. I would. Heck conventional weapons haven't put them out of business yet as they blend into the populations of where ever they choose to be!

To surge or not to surge, to criticise or pacify, to fear acquisition of nuclear material by those who are capable of using it or those who are not. Talk about a spin zone. I wager even Bill O'Reilly has trouble keeping up!

The Palin Endorsement - Beware Or Blessing

We have a candidate aiming for our Blue Dog's congressional seat. He has to face one, if not more, primary challengers. He is a decorated war veteran. He has Sarah Palin's endorsement. I wonder if it's a blessing or a curse.

I watched her with interest at a campaign rally for McCain over the week end. She made him look as old and tired as I remember him from the end of the Presidential campaign. She literally took over the stage; had I not known better I would have thought she was the candidate.

She has really embraced her role as spokesperson for everything Tea Party and conservative. The problem is she hasn't learned how to sound anything more than enthusiastically scripted. If I were a candidate receiving her endorsement I'd not dismiss that aspect.

There is a percentage of Republican and Independent voters who do not think Mrs. Palin lives up to her hype. Include me. I'm wondering if her current celebrity as a FOX News contributor and keynote speaker at Tea Party events might diminish her credibility as an endorser of candidates. As a cheer leader she is unsurpassable. As a critic of qualifications, I'm not so sure.

As popular as she is, if I were a candidate I would not seek nor necessarily reject her endorsement. Her word will be enough for many. During this election cycle, however, we need look for more than flash. Being a war veteran does not qualify nor disqualify one for office. When Palin tells us said candidate "knows that real job growth comes from the private sector, not government" she could be talking about every Republican candidate in the country. It's what Republicans believe. No. I need more than that.

The era of sound bite qualifications is over for this voter. I need to hear hows and whys. On that basis I'll probably stick with our Blue Dog. I know we have differences on issues; I also know he has business experience and the fortitude to go against his party when he thinks they are wrong.

I could change my mind but his challengers are going to have to show some depth of understanding, present not only solutions but also show how to implement them. No small task.

I have seen neither from Mrs. Palin which indicates to me her opinion of a candidate is meaningless.

Inside Information

For most of the past five years I have had burning, aching pain in the areas shown in the illustration. I have changed family practitioners, gone to physical therapy ad nauseam, tried acupuncture and chiropractors, orthopedic surgeons and spine experts, all to no avail. Increasingly stronger doses of medications do not work. Finally, my current GP sent me to a chronic pain specialist.

Herein lies the story. It is not about my discomfort. It is, surprise, about the health care bill!

I was in this morning for my latest whammy; shots in both hips to see if we could quell at least some of the inflammation. While waiting my turn, the medical assistant asked me if I'd like something to read and laid a selection of magazines next to where I was sitting. An issue of Newsweek with Obama on the cover was on top. She turned it face down commenting that he wasn't very popular in that office of late.

Everyone in the room joined in the conversation. The Dr. doesn't understand how seniors can be happy with it considering the cuts.

The nurses all made a point of being concerned about both their salaries and benefits. You might say they just don't understand. I think that is beside the point. The fear is palpable and Obama running around the country still trying to sell it isn't helping.

The conversation turned to the reimbursements the doctors are now forced to live with and the increases coming. They talked about how family practitioners will no longer take chronic pain patients because they are a "pain". I was beginning to feel guilty being a Medicare patient on top of it!

Doctors are going to be leaving their profession looking for more lucrative opportunities. This particular doctor is thinking of creating a blog to talk about chronic pain and also, from what I've seen, help you wade through the information out there from a physicians perspective. At best it will be a difficult undertaking.

Staff? Those who are part time have decreased opportunity to go full time. Benefits, you know.

I've had similar conversations with the staff in my GP's office. They all have fear of what's ahead. My pain doctor had read my post where I commented I was off to see him while he still took Medicare. He laughed. I was dead serious.

Hub has for some time now thought I am a hypochondriac because none of the doctors and specialists I have been to have been able to pin point anything. I understand where he's coming from but he doesn't have the pain.

Then again, maybe he's right and it's all the fear factor in my head that the care may not be there when I really need it. I'm no longer sure. One thing I am sure of, however, Obama's ongoing campaign telling us we're going to love it won't ever convince me it's a good bill. It's not. That is not my imagination!

It would seem many in the medical community agree with me.