a shot across his brow.....

P.I.D.E. (President I Didn't Elect) Barack Hussein Obama, Democrat and Teleprompter King, fresh from his smoky treat behind a White House shrub, better be ready to re-light up after I read a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. In the poll, Obama's political popularity has eroded quite noticeably amongst independents in recent weeks.

While his first real job approval rating among most American's slipped from 61 to 56 percent, (which is about the norm in a President's first term), his first real job approval rating fell to 45% from 60% in April amongst independent voters.

Democrat Peter Hart and Republican Bill McInturff, directors of the Wall Street Journal (owned by Fox News, by the way)/NBC News poll, write in their analysis of the findings that these results are "much more critical evaluation by these voters of President Obama"

This drop just reiterates my prior post about major concerns about government spending on the U.S. American Express Card (don't leave Chicago without it).

The Wall Street Journal adds that "The share of independents who say Mr. Obama is a liberal has risen to a substantial 64% from 46% two months ago. A large portion of them actually classify him as "very liberal." That's a particular problem because independents tend to view themselves as center-right -- 78% call themselves moderate or conservative -- so they see a president moving to the left of where they are."

"This is a clear and important danger for him," says Mr. Hart, the Democratic pollster. Independents, he adds, don't seem to worry so much that Mr. Obama is trying to tackle too many issues, but rather that "this administration is leaning much more left than they expected" as he handles those issues."

As I write this, a fresh coat of Teflon is being applied to the Obama armor.
(Don't worry about the cost, he charged it.)

Our weak, narcissistic and inept President....

President Obama's policy on Iran (or lack thereof) is embarrassing. At a time when our Savior elect can show some stones, he back peddles. Mr. President/Savior, there is a good reason why the protesters have signs in English. Just two weeks ago, Obama had promised in Cairo, (during his Apology 2009 tour) in his address/sermon to the Muslim world, that there will be a "new beginning" in U.S.-Muslim relations. The Great One spoke of his alleged belief in democracy and of his "unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent
and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you
choose." He added that they were just not American ideas but universal human rights, adding "and that is why we will support them everywhere." I guess this does not apply in Iran. Obama seems to think that the world is watching Iran and suggests that world opinion will turn against the government. He is either suffering from nicotine withdrawal or continuing to suffer from acute naivete. None of this matters to those in the Moslem world. History has proven that they could give a sh** what the non-Moslem world does.

Obama was brilliant in his campaign. But, fluttered in the breeze just as Kerry did on his wind surfboard back in 2004 when issues such as the Georgia conflict occurred with Russia. Many of his believers are even second guessing his spending on America's American Express Card without any definitive plans on how to pay off the balance.

Now Obama's verbal placating of guys like Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are taking the wind out his sails. (Sorry Mr. Kerry. Hey where have you been? How is Teresa, the ketchup queen?)

His policies sound great. One thing though, Barack. Do you ever read the policies through? The Big "O" literally subcontracted the stimulus plans to goons named Waxman and Markey. He did the same on his health plan to a fellow goon named Baucus.
He puts out pork barrel projects that have have burst the barrel. Even his carbon emissions bill (sorry Hillary your emissions still violate EPA standards when thinking back of when you found out Biden was the chosen one..) does not limit those fowl emissions from your political pals in those same industries.

So what if you Congressional Budget office came out with a figure of $1,600,000,000,000? Just charge it!

One of the first promises by the Big "O" was his plan to close
Guantanamo Bay. Not so fast. He now has to beg others to take these murderers (ok, alleged murderers and terrorists) to places like Bermuda.

Mr. Obama bent over and accepted the Arabs insistence that all of the problems in the Middle East could be solved with an Israeli/Palestinian settlement. Problem is Mr. President that this puts us in the position of having to pressure our friends in Israel to not expand any settlements and to back off their threats to Iran.

Finally, the stories of Obama wanting to do things "Chicago style politics" are beginning to give him cramps...political cramps. His thinking that there is always a sucker in the private sector that can be looted in behest to his political favs. (I.e. Chrysler and G.M. bailouts to the greedy United Auto Workers.)

His promise of a "transparent" Presidency sure fell off the band wagon. He kept attention anemic Republicans out of any serious policy negotiations. He scorned George W. in his speeches. (This past week GW bashed back, in third person, Texas style..)

While a majority of the mainstream media carry his political depends where ever he goes, he bitches and moans about his negative press on Fox News. (Funny how their ratings have increased since the Big "O" fumbled the oath.)

Now comes news that he fired Inspector Generals who exposed his political pals. Sounds like the same ole same ole Mr. Hussein-Obama.

He arose from Chicago, bumped his head on Air Force One and Marine One at the start of his Presidential rides, and excretes a glow like now one has seen in years. (Perhaps this is off the teleprompter reflection..?)

His poll numbers are down. But not that far down. Yet. Many libs are getting disappointed and frustrated. Their car payments are not being made. Yet. Where is their stimulus? Is it really just a prostate tickle? Can Mr. Obama adjust? Does he admit that he has to adjust his quasi policies?

Can he adapt to some harder realities and those events that are unexpected?

We have 1307 days until his term is up to find out.

The Reverend is at it again......

I have all along questioned the story behind the story of the Obama-Reverend Wright relationship. I have questioned the statement and retractions made by the infamous Rev. Now comes this news piece. In a radio interview today, Obama's controversial former pastor back peddled fast and furious to clarify his latest incendiary comments after a sermon Tuesday night at Hampton University in Virginia. He told a reporter covering the event for the Daily Press of Newport News that he hasn't spoken to Obama since he became president. "Them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office," said Wright. "They will not let him to talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is. ... I said from the beginning: He's a politician; I'm a pastor. He's got to do what politicians do."

In the interview today on SIRIUS XM radio, Wright said he meant to say "Zionists," rather than Jews and that he was taken out of context during a rushed interview as he was walking to his car.

"I am not talking about all Jews, all people of the Jewish faith. I’m talking about Zionists," Wright said.

If you may recall, Obama resigned from Trinity Church and cut ties with Wright after videos surfaced during the presidential campaign showing Wright in the pulpit shouting "God damn America" and accusing the government of creating AIDS.

For those with amnesia..here is the famous clip..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwQWuQVE6sw

I rest my case.

back again....from blogger space

I have been sitting back and watching the Great Obama dance and verbally disco around the planet. His latest "Apology Tour" is now over and reality is hitting the Teleprompter President with a sharp upper cut in the budget. (and our wallets)
The New York Times is reportedly going to headline tomorrow that Obama's economic team is getting close to hitting the panic button over the recent headlines of unemployment and economic data forecasts. The Obama administration had predicted an unemployement rate much lower than had been forecasted. The recent rate of 9.4% is much worse. Both private sector and the White House are both panicking.
Austan Goolsbee, a member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors
Austan Goolsbee spoke on Fox News Sunday: "It is going to be a rough patch [difficult period], not just in the immediate term, but for a little bit of time [in the future]," he said. "You have to turn the economy around, and jobs and job growth tends to come after you turn the economy around."
With this dream of an economic turnaround comes news that the Federal Reserve's announced $1.2 trillion plan three months ago which was designed to push down mortgage rates and breathe life into the housing market and other big government spending programs are turning out to have the opposite effect. Rates for mortgages and U.S. Treasury debt are now climbing higher as nail biting investors worry about a resurgence of inflation. This threatens to make a terrible housing market potentially worse and keep the economy stuck in a a neutral funk. Many financial genuises' think that jump starting the economy requires higher spending. However with rising rates means that fewer Americans will be able to refinance their home loans. To top this off...some potential buyers will be shut out of the housing market by higher monthly payments they won't be able to afford. A response from Mr. Obama was delayed as his teleprompter was not set up....

Let's be Frank...........

Let's be frank. Barney Frank continues to yodel about AIG. He is a big pain in the Fannie. Back in 2002, Mr. Frank was a major advocate for expanding not only Fannie but Freddie. (There are a million jokes in that line, but.....)

In 2003 Mr. Frank declared that both were "not in crisis" and that they were "fundamentally sound financially." He steadfastly made the same diatribe in 2005
when he rejected the argument that us taxpayer-type-folks were the ones who are responsible for F&F.

In 2007, Barney actually came up with the idea of raising the caps on both F&F.
All this would do would raise the risk of more exposure to taxpayers. Hence the subprime mortgage mess.

Watching ole Barney huff and puff in his "grilling" (pardon the pun) of AIG CEO Ed Liddy was even more amusing. After Jabba the Hut (aka Barney) finished with his partisan dance, he sulked under the microphone and muted away.

At least temporarily.

St. Obama....

Greetings and Salutations from Saint Hussein-Obama land...

I have been huddled in a dark corner of me basement waiting for the stimulus high, but have decided to sneak out and post on this blog on this special day.

Let's see...now that P.I.D.E. (President I Didn't Elect) Obama has urged, winked and prodded (and likely threatened with Vice P.I.D.E. Biden as his thug, imagine that)
governors to hurry the heck up and begin building bridges and schools to "revive the economy" and his presidency with new hope and euphoria, comes word that his administration is learning that spending $787 billion as quickly and transparently as promised is no easy task. (I know, a Democrat, and even those spend happy Republican's from the G.W. era, not knowing how to "spend.") States are wanting desperately to tap the huge keg of new money but are having trouble keeping track of the application deadlines and requirements in the 400-page stimulus bill. Ya see, (forgive the Irish brogue) Governors must sign pledges saying that they will spend the money appropriately. Trouble is, no one is the Big O's administration is still figuring out what the rules are. I'd suggest checking with Treasury Secretary (for now) Geithner, but he is still figuring how to log off Turbo Tax.
The threat hanging over all of this are two threats. The first was written into the law, saying that if states miss a deadline or don't spend the money fast enough, they lose the cash. P.I.D.E. Joe Biden delivered the second threat last week, warning that if states misspend the money, "don't look for any help from the federal government for a long while." Biden has had an interesting week.

Yet figuring out how to spend the money correctly isn't easy. Some examples of this b.s. are....

--The Housing and Urban Development Department is offering $1.5 billion for homeless prevention. Trouble is there's confusion over who qualifies.

--Governors are required to report how many jobs are being saved or created, but there has been no explanation of how to count them.

--The Energy Department is giving out money to make homes energy-efficient, and the work must begin soon, but there aren't enough trained workers for all the remodeling jobs.

I recall some of the other recent government f***ups..loans to help small businesses recover after the Sept. 11 terror attacks went instead to a radio station in South Dakota, a motorcycle shop in Utah and more than 100 Dunkin' Donuts and Subway franchises.

The Obama mafia is feverishly working to prevent such stories about the stimulus bill, hence having to get Biden and his thugs to rough up the governors. Many governors are making some tough calls, except Massachusetts Governor Patrick, who has not been in office long enough to know how to make a call.

Perhaps another stimulus bill can be filed to create a "Manager of Stimulus."

self destructing Democrats...

The embarrassment of the Obama campaign continues. The "Culture of Corruption" keeps adding more victims to its group and clan. Freshman Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., is only the latest embarrassment. Senate Democrats accepted Burris because they believed what he told them: He was clean. Burris now admits he tried to raise money for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who authorities say sought to sell President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

"The story seems to be changing day by day," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday.

The political mess for the Democratic Party, however, isn't Burris' conduct alone; it's the pattern that has developed so quickly over the past few months.

attern that has developed so quickly over the past few months.

_The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is the subject of a House ethics investigation. It's partly focused on his fundraising practices for a college center in his name, his ownership financing of a resort property in the Dominican Republic and his financial disclosure reports.

_Federal agents raided two Pennsylvania defense contractors that were provided millions of dollars in federal funding by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

_Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on federal charges, including allegations he schemed to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder.

_Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota, abandoned his bid to become health and human services secretary and the administration's point man on reforming health care; and Nancy Killefer stepped down from a newly created position charged with eliminating inefficient government programs.

Both Daschle and Killefer had tax problems, and Daschle also faced potential conflicts of interest related to working with health care interests.

_Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed after revealing he had tax troubles.

_Obama's initial choice for commerce secretary, Bill Richardson, stepped aside due to a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

_While the Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm William Lynn as deputy defense secretary, Obama had to waive his ethics regulations to place the former defense lobbyist in charge of day-to-day operations at the Pentagon.

The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Richard Durbin of Illinois, expressed his anger about the Burris case Wednesday while he was on an official visit to Greece.

"I do believe that the public statements made by Mr. Burris to this point have raised questions ... as to the nature of his relationship with the former governor and the circumstances surrounding his appointment," Durbin said.

Reid said in Nevada, "Now there's some question as to whether or not he told the truth."

Where to go next? Reid had no answer.

"What I think we have to do is just wait and see," the Senate leader said.

Senate Democrats now may be trapped in their own ethics system. Disciplinary action against a senator usually requires a long investigation by the Senate's ethics committee. While a preliminary inquiry on Burris is under way, that's only the first early step. And, with ongoing criminal investigations in Illinois, the committee probably would have to postpone any action — as it usually does — to avoid interference.

In 2006, Republicans lost control of the House after Democrats effectively used a "culture of corruption" theme against them.

The final scandal broke shortly before the election, when it was revealed that then-Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican, sent sexually suggestive e-mails and explicit instant messages to teenage boys who had served as House pages.

Republicans were further harmed when it was disclosed that several of their members were aware of the problem and failed to take action.

Democrats, who've been in control of both Congress and the White House less than two months now, are lucky on one point. The next congressional election is nearly two years away.

Note: Material in this blog from the AP.

Happy President's Day

Boy could we use this guy now....

so what is the rush?

Haven't posted in a while. I thought I would sit back and watch, listen and inhale all this stimulus. So, this huge pork filled bill passes...has to rush to pass....and where does President B. Hussen go? Takes the weekend off..takes the Mrs. out to dinner in Chi-town. OK. So let me see if I got this right. Pelosi has to have this done before she leaves on a junket. No one of the elected members reads this 1000+ package of b.s. Votes on it. (On purely non-partisan lines.) It passes after having to fly another Senator in (we won't even talk about the waste to the environment..sorry Al Gore) to get this vote a done deal. Incredible. We truly are the United Socialist States.

As of this writing, 1434 days, 3 hrs 33 minutes 20 seconds until this Presidency is over...

the only person not standing when Barack Obama was sworn in

He did once say he never could stand Obama. Being confined to a wheelchair for the swearing in ceremony due to a back injury...guess he got the last laugh....

great column by Michael Graham

A fable in the folly
As a leader seeks to become a legend . . .
By Michael Graham | Tuesday, January 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Op-Ed

As a card-carrying member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, I have a special Inauguration Day message for my fellow conservatives:

Shut up.

Just let it go. Let the Bush-bashers wave their “1-20-09” bumper stickers. Let fawning reporters swoon like teen girls at a “Twilight” cast party. Let Sheryl Crow babble on about Barack Obama saving the planet one roll of toilet paper at a time.

Today is their day, not ours.

So if you happen to work at one of the estimated 5 percent of U.S. businesses closed in observance of the inauguration, enjoy the day off. If, like UMass Medical School, your employer is setting up big-screen TVs so employees can watch the inauguration on the clock - grab a seat up front.

Don’t grouse about how your company never did any of this when Republicans were winning. You’re right - but nobody cares. Don’t whine about the same media demanding we rally ’round Obama today doing all it could to trash George Bush for eight years - old news.

Instead, just add a Bloody Mary to your breakfast menu, sneak one of the wife’s Prozacs into your lunch box and let the day roll on.

Don’t avoid Obama’s address, which will be impossible unless you’re Amish or own a sensory-deprivation tank. Just watch and listen.

No, I’m not asking you to drink the Kool-Aid and discover the joys of European-style socialism. With the Bush administration nationalizing banks and bailing out big business, there won’t be much left for Obama to “socialize” anyway.

Like it or not, Obama has connected with a large number of our fellow citizens. Already 65 percent of Americans expect him to be a great president, an AP poll says. More than 70 percent believe he’ll fix the economy in his first year, and 72 percent expect the stock market to rise.

All this, from a guy with no executive experience and less than one term in the U.S. Senate. It makes no sense, I agree. Which is why conservatives in particular need to listen to Obama today.

Because Obama’s message and persona are resonating with millions of Americans. To use a metaphor my fellow capitalists can relate to, Obama is increasing market share by meeting pent-up consumer demand. But demand for what?

It’s tempting to say that the only demand on Obama is that he not be Bush. Or you can attribute Obamania to the unique role he plays in the ongoing saga of American race relations.

But I believe President Obama will represent more than that when he stands behind the podium at noon and speaks to what Rolling Stone calls “an eager nation.” It’s a nation eager for a president who both wants to do great things and has the competence to achieve them.

What are voters saying with their support of Obama? I believe it’s that they want a president that can do both. Who can be a competent politician and a courageous leader at the same time.

There is no reason, by the way, to believe Obama will be such a president. But he has convinced Americans he can be, in part because that’s the leader we need him to be.

When Obama speaks today, these desires and demands will echo through his words. Smart conservatives who believe our ideas do the most to make the best America will listen. And learn.

the price and promise of citizenship....

My thoughts after the oath...
First off, President Barack Hussein Obama, now you use your full name. For many months you refused to use it. Wonder why?
Nice start off...flub and screw up the oath....
It was an eloquent speech filled with the customary Obama "risk takers", "doers", "makers of things", but bland and preachy.
(yeah preachy....)
Best part of the day so far...as reported by ABC News...the Carters snubbing the Clintons..
Nice to see Bush hug Obama before he left.
You see Mrs. Obama let out a big breath and sigh as former President Bush's helicopter took off?
Think they may of been thinking..."shit now what do we do...?"
Do you think Obama's chin will ever not be held high...you don't think he is that full of himself do you?

post inaugural stuff...

"Your Fired, Stand Down"

Obama's promises...

Just so you can keep track of what he promised...




Obama's Long List Of Promises To Keep, Obligations To Meet



Faced with economic collapse on the home-front and two wars overseas, the administration of President Barack Hussein Obama is signaling loudly and clearly that a substantial number of his costly campaign promises will have to be postponed or abandoned altogether. (hmmmmm...surprise?)

The incoming administration has already begun to take some flak for abandoning a commitment to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies. (Obama spokesmen have defended the windfall profits tax decision, saying it was only to be used if oil prices exceeded $80 a barrel). Weightier choices involving larger proposals with bigger constituencies lie ahead.

Obama's frequent press conferences since winning office are designed, in part, to provide him running room to prepare voters for the postponement or abandonment of some of his more costly pledges. His campaign promises ran the gamut, and many involve large federal expenditures.

These promises include a commitment to "quadruple Early Start to include a quarter of a million at-risk children;" to "put $150 billion over 10 years into establishing a green energy sector;" to "invest $10 billion per year in [a] clean technologies fund;" to establish a "National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over 10 years;" to set up a "$2 billion global education fund to counter the radical [Islamic] madrassas;" to add "65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines to relieve the strain on our ground forces;" a "solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president;" a "loan forgiveness program for doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural areas;" and the creation of "an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that would add as many as 112,000 new affordable units in mixed-income neighborhoods."

This list only touches the surface of a long inventory compiled by the National Journal -- an inventory which, using only brief summaries, runs to 10,350 words. A few of the campaign commitments might fit under the broad umbrella of a massive economic stimulus bill, including some infrastructure and green energy projects.

While refusing to concede neglect of any of the commitments made during the campaign, Rahm Emanuel, who will be Obama's chief of staff, told the Huffington Post that the President-elect will be constrained by the fact that he "inherits the worst economy since the great Depression and largest commitment of American troops overseas since Richard Nixon."

The Obama administration has the overall or "macro" goal of making America "more economically secure and safe than it is today" and that goal takes precedence over fulfilling every single campaign promise made over the past two years, Emanuel said. "I'm not read to concede" to the argument that the current fiscal crisis precludes the scope of expenditures outlined by Obama over the past year. But, Emanuel pointedly notes, if the choice is between achieving a more secure nation and fulfilling "promise x," there is no question the administration will choose the former.

In September, when the scope of the economic crisis was beginning to become apparent -- with a possible federal deficit of $1 trillion or more -- Obama conceded that he might have to delay his agenda.

in a September 23 Today Show interview, Obama said, "Does that mean I can do everything that I've called for in this campaign right away? Probably not. I think we're going to have to phase it in....and a lot of it's going to depend on what our tax revenues look like."

A longer sampling of the list of promises compiled by the National Journal shows how Obama will have to carefully navigate the shoals of the economy, and the inevitable disappointment of key constituencies as they learn that many of the expectations aroused during the campaign will not be fulfilled. The list of potential casualties includes:


Improve options for displaced workers

"Obama and Biden will also modernize and expand the existing system of trade adjustment assistance to include workers hurt by changing trade patterns. They will also create flexible education accounts that workers can use to retrain. And they will fully fund apprenticeship programs to help workers get credentials and skills in crafts that reward that investment with a middle class income and benefits."--BarackObama.com

Help community and small business development agencies

"Obama will provide additional resources to the federal Community Development Financial Institution Fund, the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies, especially to their local branch offices, to address community needs."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Improve rural schools and availability of doctors

"He will improve rural schools and attract more doctors to rural areas."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Help organic farmers and promote regional food systems

"Obama will help organic farmers afford to certify their crops and reform crop insurance to not penalize organic farmers. He also will promote regional food systems."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Give new farmers tax incentives

"[Obama] will also provide tax incentives to make it easier for new farmers to afford their first farm. Obama will increase incentives for farmers and private landowners to conduct sustainable agriculture and protect wetlands, grasslands and forests."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Provide farmers capital and help rural small businesses

"Obama will provide capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises, like cooperative marketing initiatives and farmer-owned processing plants. He also will establish a small-business and micro-enterprise initiative for rural America."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Create rural revitalization program

"Obama will create a rural revitalization program to attract and retain young people to rural America."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Improve high school graduation rates

"When I'm president, we'll fight to make sure we're once again first in the world when it comes to high school graduation rates."--9/9/08, Dayton, Ohio

Double the number of high school students taking college level courses

"And we'll also set a goal of increasing the number of high school students taking college-level or AP courses by 50 percent in the coming years."--9/9/08, Dayton, Ohio

Double charter school funding

"That is why as president, I'll double the funding for responsible charter schools."--9/9/08, Dayton, Ohio

Include more technology in public schools

"We'll help schools integrate technology into their curriculum so we can make sure public school students are fluent in the digital language of the 21st-century economy."--9/9/08, Dayton, Ohio

Provide tuition assistance to students who perform community service

"And we will keep our promise to every young American -- if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education."--8/28/08, Denver

Recruit teachers and principals

"As president, I will recruit hundreds of thousands of new teachers and principals."--5/5/07, Baton Rouge, La.

Recruit science and technology teachers

"As president, I will recruit a new generation of science and technology leaders to teach our children the skills they will need to be competitive."--5/5/07, Baton Rouge, La.

Provide pay raises for teachers and principals

"Let's make a promise right now that if you're a teacher or a principal doing the hard work of educating our children, we will reward that work with the salary increase that you deserve."--7/5/07, Philadelphia

Pay tuition for students going into teaching

"I will make this pledge as president: If you commit your life to teaching, America will commit to paying for your college education."--11/20/07, Manchester, Iowa

Increase Head Start and Early Start

"We'll increase Head Start funding and quadruple Early Start to include a quarter of a million at-risk children. I will create a Presidential Early Learning Council to coordinate this effort across all levels of government and ensure that we're providing these children and families with the highest-quality programs."--11/20/07, Manchester, Iowa

Create Classroom Corps

"To help every American receive a world-class education, I will create a new Classroom Corps."--12/5/07, Mt. Vernon, Iowa

"Obama will launch a Children's First Agenda that provides care, learning and support to families with children from birth up to 5 years old."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Double funding for after-school programs

"Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve a million more children."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Improve No Child Left Behind

"Obama will fund No Child Left Behind and improve its assessments and accountability systems."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Lower dropout rate

"Obama also will reduce the high school dropout rate and close the achievement gap by investing in proven intervention strategies in the middle grades and in summer learning and after-school opportunities."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Provide incentives for rural teachers

"Obama will provide incentives for talented individuals to enter the teaching profession, including increased pay for teachers who work in rural areas."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Increase assistance to land-grant colleges

"Obama will increase research and educational funding for land-grant colleges."--Obama's Blueprint for Chang

End American dependence on foreign oil in ten years

"And that's why if I am president, I will put the full resources of the federal government and the full energy of the private sector behind a single, overarching goal -- in ten years, we will eliminate the need for oil from the entire Middle East and Venezuela."--8/6/08, Elkhart, Ind.

Increase number of plug-in hybrid cars

"First, we'll commit ourselves to getting one million 150 mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrid cars on our roads within six years."--8/6/08, Elkhart, Ind.

Double renewable energy within four years

"Second, we'll double the amount of energy that comes from renewable sources by the end of my first term."--8/6/08, Elkhart, Ind.

Reduce electricity demand by 15 percent in ten years

"Third, I will call on businesses, government, and the American people to meet the goal of reducing our demand for electricity by 15 percent by the end of the next decade."--8/6/08, Elkhart, Ind.

Cap carbon emissions

"As president, I will set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming -- an 80 percent reduction by 2050."--10/8/07, Portsmouth, N.H.

Create new green-collar jobs

"My energy plan will put $150 billion over 10 years into establishing a green energy sector that will create up to 5 million new jobs over the next two decades, including jobs right here in Ohio that pay well and can't be outsourced. We'll also provide funding to help manufacturers convert to green technology and help workers learn the skills they need for these jobs."--2/24/08, Lorain, Ohio

Help U.S. automaker adapt

"I'll be a president who finally keeps the promise that's made year after year after year by providing domestic automakers with the funding they need to retool their factories and make fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars."--5/14/08, Warren, Mich.

Reduce oil consumption

"Obama will reduce oil consumption overall by at least 35 percent, or 10 million barrels of oil, by 2030."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Help manufacturers go green

"Obama will establish a federal investment program to help manufacturing centers modernize and Americans learn the new skills they need to produce green products."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Double clean-energy funding

"Obama will double science and research funding for clean-energy projects, including those that make use of our biomass, solar and wind resources."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Create Green Jobs Corps

"Obama will also create an energy-focused Green Jobs Corps to connect disconnected and disadvantaged youth with job skills for a high-growth industry."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Invest $10 billion per year in clean technologies fund

"Obama will create a Clean Technologies Venture Capital Fund to fill a critical gap in U.S. technology development. Obama will invest $10 billion per year into this fund for five years."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Increase money for low-carbon coal technologies

"Obama will significantly increase the resources devoted to the commercialization and deployment of low-carbon coal technologies."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Push cellulosic ethanol

"Obama will invest federal resources, including tax incentives, cash prizes and government contracts into developing the most promising technologies with the goal of getting the first 2 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol into the system by 2013."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Create energy-efficiency grant program

"Obama will create a competitive grant program to award those states and localities that take the first steps to implement new building codes that prioritize energy efficiency."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Provide universal health care

"I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year."--6/23/07, Hartford, Conn.

Spend $10 billion a year on implementing electronic health system

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records."--BarackObama.com

Expand nurse-family partnership program

"Obama will expand the highly successful Nurse-Family Partnership to all 570,000 low-income, first-time mothers each year."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Help individuals purchase private health insurance

"The Obama plan will create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to purchase a private insurance plan."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Expand eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP

"Obama will expand eligibility for the Medicaid and SCHIP programs and ensure that these programs continue to serve as a critical safety net."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Address women's health issues

"Obama will invest in research to examine gender and health disparities. Obama will also establish community-outreach programs in underserved areas to help make sure women have health care and maintain healthy lifestyles."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Establish loan forgiveness program for rural doctors and nurses

"He will attract providers to rural America by creating a loan forgiveness program for doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural areas."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Help homeowners

"Obama will create a fund to help people refinance their mortgages and provide comprehensive support to innocent homeowners."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Create an affordable-housing trust

"As president, I'll create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that would add as many as 112,000 new affordable units in mixed-income neighborhoods."--7/18/07, Washington, D.C.

Protect New Orleans

"When I am president, we will finish building a system of levees that can withstand a 100-year storm by 2011, with the goal of expanding that protection to defend against a Category 5 storm."--2/7/08, New Orleans

Invest $60 billion in infrastructure

"I've proposed a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over 10 years. This will multiply into almost half a trillion dollars of additional infrastructure spending and generate nearly 2 million new jobs -- many of them in the construction industry that's been hard hit by the housing crisis we're facing"--2/24/08, Lorain, Ohio

Invest in rural infrastructure

"Obama will invest in the core infrastructure -- roads, bridges, locks, dams, water systems and essential air service -- that rural communities need."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Invest $1 billion in transitional jobs programs

"I will invest $1 billion over five years in innovative transitional jobs programs that have been highly successful at placing the unemployed into temporary jobs and then training them for permanent ones."--7/18/07, Washington, D.C.

Provide every American broadband access

"As president, I will set a simple goal: Every American should have the highest-speed broadband access--no matter where you live or how much money you have."--6/16/08, Flint, Mich. Boost R&D funding

Expand high-speed Internet access in rural area

"Barack Obama will ensure that rural Americans have access to a modern communications infrastructure. He will modernize an FCC program that supports rural phone service so that it promotes affordable broadband coverage across rural America as well."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Support a global education fund

"I will support a $2 billion global education fund to counter the radical madrassas."--8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Increase funding to train police to gather intelligence

"I will increase funding to help train police to gather information and connect it to the intelligence they receive from the federal government."--8/1/07, Washington, D.C.

Expand Army and Marine Corps

"I will add 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines to relieve the strain on our ground forces."--8/21/07, Kansas City, Mo.

Provide soldiers with necessary equipment

"As president, I will ensure that every service member has what they need to do the job safely and successfully."--8/21/07, Kansas City, Mo.

"Obama will give our troops new equipment, armor, training, and skills like language training."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Target every source of fear in the Americas

"That is why there will never be true security unless we focus our efforts on targeting every source of fear in the Americas. That's what I'll do as president of the United States."--5/23/08, Miami

Create information declassification center

"He will institute a national declassification center to make declassification secure but routine, efficient and cost-effective."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Ensure military has enough training

"Obama will rebuild trust with those who serve by ensuring that soldiers and Marines have sufficient training time before they are sent into battle."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Strengthen civilian agencies

"He will also strengthen our civilian capacity, so that our civilian agencies have the critical skills and equipment they need to integrate their efforts with our military."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Give National Guard appropriate equipment, rest

"He will permit them adequate time to train and rest between deployments and provide the National Guard with the equipment they need for foreign and domestic emergencies."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Create international anti-terrorism network

"As president, I will launch an effort across our government to stay ahead of this threat [bio-terrorism].... I've proposed a Shared Security Partnership that invests $5 billion over three years to forge an international intelligence and law enforcement infrastructure to take down terrorist networks." --7/16/08 West Lafayette, Ind.

Make cyber-security a federal priority

"As president, I'll make cyber-security the top priority that it should be in the 21st century. I'll declare our cyber-infrastructure a strategic asset, and appoint a National Cyber Advisor who will report directly to me." --7/16/08 West Lafayette, Ind.

Update Veterans Affairs hospital system

"I've pledged to build a 21st-century VA as president. It means no more red tape. It's time to give every service member electronic copies of medical and service records upon discharge."--5/12/08, Charleston, W.Va.

Ensure all veterans are covered

"I think it is important for all veterans to be eligible for the VA. And that is something that I'm going to reverse when I'm president of the United States."--5/26/08, Las Cruces, N.M.

Ensure adequate number of VA clinics

"What we can make sure of is that there are enough clinics out there that for basic checkups, you know, problems that are outpatient situations, that people don't have to drive two or three hours. And that's something that I'm going to make sure is budgeted when I'm president of the United States."--5/26/08, Las Cruces, N.M.

Increase housing assistance

"I'll expand housing vouchers, and I'll launch a new supportive services housing program to prevent at-risk veterans and their families from sliding into homelessness."--8/21/07, Kansas City, Mo. Improve VA administrative systems

Fully fund VA

"Barack Obama will fully fund the VA so it has all the resources it needs to serve the veterans who need it when they need it. Obama will establish a world-class VA planning division to avoid future budget shortfalls."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Improve military's mental health screening and care

"Obama will improve mental health care at every stage of military service. He will recruit more health professionals, improve screening, offer more support to families and make PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] benefits claims fairer."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Improve care for various injuries and women's health through VA

"He will improve care for polytrauma vision impairment, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, aging and women's health."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Reverse 2003 ban on enrolling low-income veterans

"One of Obama's first acts will be reversing the 2003 ban on enrolling modest-income veterans, which has denied care to a million veterans."--Obama's Blueprint for Change

Inauguration Day 2009

Today we bring on a new President. I applaud and celebrate as the first black President is inaugurated. However, I cannot go without comment.

Today we install a new President who is unqualified, unaccomplished, a radical left with slight centrist hints, who has a (despite many who say otherwise) questionable citizenship issues. Barack Hussein Obama has pretty much dissed many of those who elected him..and this before taking the oath of office. He has promised so much and now retracted so much. He has made excuses of why, when many of those who questioned his promises during the campaign, including yours truly, had ample evidence to foresee that the Savior-elect was forecasting the improbable.
Obama's hyperbole is not a surprise to me. He has hired former Clinton cabinet failures and flip-flopped on closing Gitmo, pulling troops out of Iraq, has appointed the new boss to be of the IRS to get away with tax evasion and has promised a stimulus plan that is no sure fix at all. (Then again he hasn't really issued his full plan.)

The United States of America is slowly changing into the United Socialists of America.

And where is the Republican party in all of this? Kissing his ass all the way. I am afraid the supply of Preparation H will be out of stock in the coming days.

The disappointment and sadness of those Obama faithful who look at him through rose colored glasses and halos will bring out one thing....health care...mental health care. Question is...when will they see the light?

I do see some good features in Mr. Obama. Few.He seems to be a good father. His wife will be the new Gloria Steinem, in Oprah mode.

I believe the biggest fraud in America political history will be installed as President of the United States.

Obama mania....

Well well I am back. I took a time out to absorb all the b.s. about the Obama mania.
Yes, the liberal media will give this vision from Chicago all the wiggle room in the world. Or, maybe Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will pout. Oh, forgot about Barbara Boxer.

George H.W. Bush, Pres 41 made a comment in a recent interview that if you disagreed with B.Hussein Obama, P.I.D.E. (President I Didn't Elect) that I was to shut up and let him settle in. Give him a chance. Well 41, all I have to say is...if 1 plus 1 doesn't add up to 2, or in B.Hussein's case, 500, how long do you wait in the wings before one comments?

The last diss to President Bush was B.Hussein going out to dinner at the same time Bush gave his farewell address. Perhaps Mr. Bush should excuse himself at the time B. Hussein takes the oath? Or maybe he can fall asleep like Bill Clinton did at the Reagan funeral?

The only thing I can enjoy about this upcoming liberal disaster is to be able to say..."see." Even though Obama (oops I said his name) has had some centrist appointments, I still see shadows in the corner. (that isn't a "pc" term is it?

Where the heck as Biden been? The poor guy gets shipped out to Afghanistan. I did see in a pic that his hair still was appropriately coifed.

One funny of this week is Obama's appointment for Treasury Secretary...a tax cheat.
How wonderful.

But Hilliary is a go for Secretary of State. Did she look a bit "aged" at her confirmation hearing? Is this another Madeline Albright in the making?

Oh my!

the night Chicago died.....(at least the political machine)

I am back from a self imposed silence due to being overcome with P.I.D.E. (President I Didn't Elect) Obama's move from left to the political centrist/right face.
(Also enjoying that he is running from some of his campaign promises....insert belly laugh here..)

Let me see if I got this right. Rezko, Blagojevich, Wright, Obama all from the same political Chicago machine.....but there is no "association" with Obama (aka the Big O) and these gents from Crook county (kudos to Drudge on the nickname).

Judicalwatch.org is reporting that Hilliary "The Big C" Clinton is ineligible to Secretary of State due to Article 1 Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution.
From the rag New York Times:

"Senate Democrats were working Tuesday to put together legislation making it possible for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to become secretary of state despite a constitutional clause that some critics argue should bar her from joining the cabinet...

Judicial Watch, a watchdog group that made a name for itself investigating the Clinton administration in the 1990s, raised the matter Tuesday with a statement asserting that Mrs. Clinton was ineligible to become secretary of state because of the so-called "Emoluments Clause" of the Constitution. By the end of the day, Senator Harry M. Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, was consulting with Republican colleagues in hopes of putting together a bill to address the issue."

Meanwhile on the P.I.D.E. Obama birth certificate legal wrestling match...the U.S. Supreme Court failed to look into the validity of this document. Another opportunity for the Supremes come up this Friday.

The Electoral College meets on Monday, December 15th to make this baby official.

progressives getting nothing from Obama

This beauty piece from www.progressive.org. The blessed sway from the preachings of the P.I.D.E. (President I Didn't Elect) continue on. Of particular interest is the dead silence from the Big O's "Office of the President-Elect" regarding the auto industry begging on Capital Hill yesterday.
Let the show (about to) begin.....


Obama Throws No Bones to Progressive Base
By Matthew Rothschild, November 19, 2008

When is Obama going to appoint someone who reflects the progressive base that brought him to the White House?

He won the crucial Iowa caucuses on the strength of his anti-Iraq War stance, and many progressive peace and justice activists worked hard for him against John McCain.

So why in the world is he choosing Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State when she was one of the loudest hawks on Iraq and threatened to obliterate 75 million Iranians?

And it’s not just Hillary.

Obama’s OMB pick, Peter Orzag, is a Clintonite disciple of Robert Rubin.

Obama’s AG pick, Eric Holder, is a Clintonite who represented Chiquita Bananas.

And Larry Summers’s name is still being bandied about for Treasury, even though Summers, while Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, forced the deregulation of our financial markets and imposed disaster capitalism on Russia.

Worse still, heading Obama’s transition team on intelligence matters are two former deputies to George Tenet, of all people. (See Amy Goodman’s great story about this on Democracy Now!)

Look, there are a lot of talented progressives who could be in an Obama cabinet.

Joseph Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize-winner in economics and a critic of corporate globalization. He should be Treasury Secretary.

Senator Russ Feingold is a champion of civil liberties. He should be Attorney General.

Robert Greenstein is head of Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. He would make a much better OMB director.

Arlene Holt Baker, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, would be a tremendous Secretary of Labor.

And if Obama really wanted change, if he really wanted to honor progressives who backed him early on and then did the grunt work against McCain, he’d nominate Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of State.

That sure would indicate a welcome departure from empire as usual.

But at this point, progressives are getting absolutely nothing from Obama.

Promises..promises....

While I await more appointments from the "Office of the President-Elect", it is becoming clear that all these promises are starting to catch up to Barack Hussein.
Besides my earlier posts about his back flipping on lobbyists, the Savior-Elect now has another issue to gray his dome.
From the London Financial Times...
Iran increases stockpile of uranium

By Daniel Dombey in Washington and James Blitz in London

Published: November 19 2008 18:01 | Last updated: November 19 2008 23:00

Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear programme, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reported on Wednesday, deepening the dilemma facing US president-elect Barack Obama over his campaign promise to engage with Tehran.

The latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency reveals that Iran is rapidly increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium, which could be rendered into weapons-grade material should Tehran decide to develop a nuclear device.

The agency says that, as of this month, Tehran had amassed 630kg of low enriched uranium hexafluoride, up from 480kg in late August. Analysts say Iran is enriching uranium at such a pace that, by early next year, it could reach break-out capacity – one step away from producing enough fissile material for a crude nuclear bomb.

“They are moving forward, they are not making diplomatic overtures, they are accumulating low enriched uranium,” said Cliff Kupchan, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy in Washington. “These guys are committed to their nuclear programme: if we didn’t know that, they just told us again.”

The IAEA report also says there has been a breakdown of communication between the agency and Iran over alleged research on an atomic weapon. “The Iranians are making good progress on enrichment but there is absolute stone-walling on past military activities,” said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International institute for Strategic Studies. “It’s very disappointing.”

The progress chalked up by Iran increases the difficulties for Mr Obama, who campaigned on promises of talking to America’s enemies, although during the election he scaled down his initial vow to meet Iran’s leaders to a more general commitment to consider doing so if it advanced US interests.

“Obama faces a real dilemma,” said the Eurasia Group’s Mr Kupchan. “He must decide whether to pursue diplomacy quickly in light of rapid Iranian progress or whether to wait in the hope of a more moderate Iranian leadership after Iran’s June presidential election.”

European diplomats have responded favourably to Mr Obama’s suggestion of US engagement with Iran, although they are keen to avoid unilateral US actions that would rip up the approach fashioned by the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

IAEA officials said relations between the organisation and Iran had deteriorated so much there had been no contact between them for over two months, UN officials said on Wednesday.

”We had gridlock before but then at least we were talking to each other. Now it’s worse. There is no communication whatsoever, no progress regarding possible military dimensions in their programme,” a senior UN official said.

Ahead of Wednesday’s report, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian president, signalled that his country would press ahead with its nuclear program.

In a speech broadcast on TV, he said the US and its major allies wanted to deprive Iran of “honor and independence” by pressuring the country into halting its uranium enrichment work.

“Now the great powers are disappointed, as they have not the least bit of hope to break the Iranian people down,” he said. “If great powers seek to take over Iran’s rights, Iranian people will slap them so hard that they won’t find their way back home.”

Looks like we got some change.....

meet our new Attorney General...

Yes, as the P.I.D.E. (President I Didn't Elect) Hussein-Obama continues to pack his tribe with potential treasonous pals, I could not pass up this first in a while posts.
With Eric Holder at the helm, terrorism has just gotten a potential pardon.
Read on from the National Review:

November 19, 2008, 5:00 a.m.

Confirming Fears
By the Editors

That didn’t take long.

As we observed throughout the campaign, Barack Obama gave indications that his election would mean a return to the September 10 mentality, a national-security outlook marked prominently by its lack of seriousness about the terrorist threat. In choosing Eric Holder to be his attorney general, President-Elect Obama has taken a step toward confirming those misgivings.

Holder was the Clinton administration’s last deputy attorney general, succeeding Jamie Gorelick in 1997 under Janet Reno. That appointment marked the final elevation in a series of Clinton-era promotions that punctuate his résumé. Holder’s rise, like Obama’s own, is of symbolic significance, as he now has been nominated to be the nation’s first black attorney general. Symbolism, however, cannot camouflage the fact that Holder is a conventional, check-the-boxes creature of the Left.

He is convinced justice in America needs to be “established” rather than enforced; he’s excited about hate crimes and enthusiastic about the constitutionally dubious Violence Against Women Act; he’s a supporter of affirmative action and a practitioner of the statistical voodoo that makes it possible to burden police departments with accusations of racial profiling and the states with charges of racially skewed death-penalty enforcement; he’s more likely to be animated by a touchy-feely Reno-esque agenda than traditional enforcement against crimes; he’s in favor of ending the detentions of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay and favors income redistribution to address the supposed root causes of crime.

In any other time, Holder would simply be an uninspired choice. But these are not ordinary times — we face a serious, persistent threat from Islamist terrorists. At the same time, Democrats have expressed outrage over both the alleged politicization of the Justice Department and the reckless disregard of its storied traditions. For these times, it is difficult to imagine a worse choice for AG than Eric Holder.

Much has been made, and appropriately so, of Holder’s untoward performance in the final corrupt act of the Clinton administration: the pardons issued in the departing president’s final hours. Of these, most notorious is the case of Marc Rich, an unrepentant fugitive wanted on extensive fraud, racketeering, and trading-with-the-enemy charges — but granted a pardon nonetheless thanks to the intercession of his ex-wife, a generous donor to Clinton’s library and legal-defense fund.

Holder’s role was aptly described as “unconscionable” by a congressional committee. He steered Rich’s allies to retain the influential former White House counsel Jack Quinn (Holder later conceded he hoped Quinn would help him become attorney general in a Gore administration); he helped Quinn directly lobby Clinton, doing an end-run around the standard pardon process (including DOJ’s pardon attorney); and he kept the deliberations hidden from the district U.S. attorney and investigative agencies prosecuting Rich so they couldn’t learn about the pardon application and register their objections.

There’s more. In 1999, over the objections of the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons, and prosecuting attorneys, Holder supported Clinton’s commutation of the sentences of 16 FALN conspirators. These pardons — of terrorists who even Holder has conceded had not expressed any remorse — were issued in the months after al-Qaeda’s 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, when the Clinton administration was pretending to be the scourge of terrorism. The commutations were nakedly political, obviously designed by Clinton to assist his wife’s impending Senate campaign by appealing to New York’s substantial Puerto Rican vote.

Equally noxious were the stealthy pardons of Susan Rosenberg and Linda Evans — Weather Underground terrorists associated with Obama’s friends Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn — issued on the same day as the Rich pardon. Rosenberg and Evans had been serving decades-long sentences for bombings targeting American government facilities. With Holder again helping to circumvent the pardon process and to evade objections from prosecutors, the terrorists’ jail terms were commuted just weeks after the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.

Under Holder’s stewardship, moreover, the Justice Department chose, in the Dickerson case, to oppose its own prosecutors and seek reversal of the conviction of a bank robber whose voluntary confession had been elicited without Miranda warnings. Taking the Justice Department's signal, the Supreme Court overruled the lower courts and vacated the conviction, upending 30 years of precedent which had held that Miranda was not part of the core Fifth Amendment guarantee. Thanks to this ruling, rendered in the comfort of pre-9/11 complacence, terrorists tried in civilian courts — which is where Obama and Holder want them to be tried — will enjoy a powerful argument against the admission of critical confession evidence.

To be blunt, Holder is a terrible selection. If there’s any Obama cabinet nomination that Republicans feel moved to oppose, this should be it.

Dick Morris adds this from June 2008


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Obama's VP Search Mistake
Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
Thursday, June 05, 2008

On his first day as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama made his first clear, serious mistake: He named Eric Holder as one of three people charged with vice-presidential vetting.

As deputy attorney general, Holder was the key person who made the pardon of Marc Rich possible in the final hours of the Clinton presidency. Now, Obama will be stuck in the Marc Rich mess.

If ever there was a person who did not deserve a presidential pardon, it's Marc Rich, the fugitive billionaire who renounced his US citizenship and moved to Switzerland to avoid prosecution for racketeering, wire fraud, 51 counts of tax fraud, evading $48 million in taxes, and engaging in illegal trades with Iran in violation of the US embargo following the 1979-80 hostage crisis.

Seventeen years later, Rich wanted a pardon, and he retained Jack Quinn, former counsel to the president, to lobby his old boss.

It was Holder who had originally recommended Quinn to one of Rich's advisers, although he claims that he did not know the identity of the client.

And he gave substantive advice to Quinn along the way. According to Quinn's notes that were produced to Congress, Holder told Quinn to take the pardon application "straight to the White House" because "the timing is good."

And once the pardon was granted, Holder sent his congratulations to Quinn.

In 2002, a congressional committee reported that Holder was a "willing participant in the plan to keep the Justice Department from knowing about and opposing" the Rich pardon.

It is one thing to reach back to Obama's pastor to raise doubts about his values. But it is quite another to scrutinize the record of his first appointee.

It couldn't be a bigger mistake.

I can't wait for Ted Kennedy to take over the Coast Guard!