Obama’s Katrina

Ah that old saying – “It’s lonely at the top”. Will the gulf oil spill turn the media against Mr. President? They were sure quick to jump on W. To be clear, I do not believe Obama should have to take the brunt of this but I also know that Bush should not have had to take it for Katrina.

It’s the shear size, bureaucracy, and ineptness of our federal government to respond to anything. (Maybe another reason they shouldn’t touch healthcare – but I digress). It also appears that once again the state of Louisiana was ill-equipped or ill-informed to take action. This is strike 2. If you build your city below sea level you might want to have a plan in place in case a big hurricane hits. When you have oil drilling off your shores you might want to have a plan in place to contain a spill.

But now there’s chirping on the left that Obama is out of touch with the situation. When James Carville doesn’t have your back sir you may have a problem. Can the media be far behind? They are biting their tongues for now but if Top Kill doesn’t work you better grease up that silver tongue of yours ‘cause you’ll need to deliver another magical (yet empty) speech to save yourself.

Pretty soon we’ll be hearing the sports reporters on ESPN bash Obama like they did Bush. There’ll be the poignant picture of you gazing at the sludge covered birds and gooey marshlands with a caption of “why did I wait so long to react?” Eight years from now they’ll still be talking about how disconnected you were.

Again, there was not much you could have done Mr. President. You can blame BP but we all know you are indebted to them just as much as all of our politicians are.  You can rail against the evils of offshore drilling even though we all know we need to do it (and its track record was pretty darned good until now). Of course you can look for someone or something else to blame but remember –

It’s lonely at the top!

Twas the Day Before Christmas

Twas the Day Before Christmas

Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the Senate
The Dems said they would pass health care and by God they meant it
The votes were bought one by one
If you don’t believe me just ask Senator Ben Nelson

Just days earlier they had a vote in the night
It wasn’t transparent, just doesn’t seem right
The vote was cast straight down party lines
We’re headed for trouble, there are all sorts of signs

The people had spoken, they raised quite a clatter
The senate vote shows that public opinion doesn’t matter
They think they’ll make history and have statues erected
But they forgot why they’re there, why they were elected

President Obama wants this done and he wants it done quick
Thinks he can give people something for nothing, must think he’s St. Nick
But unlike St. Nick he comes in my house uninvited
So don’t tell me I get too excited.

This legislation makes promises that it just can’t keep
As history has shown us, the cost will be steep
And so as he pressured them, one by one they came
It’s important that we call them each by name

Now Boxer! Now Durbin! Now Reid and Lieberman
On Baucus! On Dodd! On Feinstein and Franken
Get this bill done so I can sign it at last.
Hurry now! Hurry now! My popularity won’t last!

He will add more bureaucracy claiming he’ll lower the cost
Showing once again that common sense is lost
Government agencies are full of corruption and waste
So I ask you again sir, what is the haste?

Obama is not Santa, he is more like Robin Hood
But redistributing wealth will do more harm than good
Innovation and competition is what makes this country strong
Take away those incentives and we won’t last long

Let insurance companies compete, that will lower the cost
And that you should do so soon, before all is lost
Add tort reform too, that’s what we all need
Doctors should heal not have to worry how they’ll plead

You will tell us it’s a good bill, but you can’t make your case
No one likes this bill, not even your base
We can’t afford Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
It is always the tax payers that you want to raid

If Obama was truly St Nick, he would look at my list
And then maybe, this opportunity wouldn’t be missed
There’s no doubt healthcare costs are out of control
But getting them down is not the government’s role

But still he insists, I will sign this bill though I didn’t read it
I can do whatever I want ‘cause I am that conceited
Let’s get this thing done, then we’ll have it made
Then we can move on and pass cap and trade

So as he jumped in his limo he shouted to Pelosi and Reid
Reconcile these bills and do it with speed
Obama waved goodbye although there weren’t many cheers
Because I heard him exclaim ‘I’ve still got three more years!’

Why aren't we calling it a terrorist attack?

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan entered a medical facility at Fort Hood, shouted "Allahu akbar" then started gunning down American troops. 13 dead, 29 wounded. Obama says we can't be quick to rush to judgement. Well I agree with that but now that there is overwhelming evidence proving he was a terrorist, we can judge. Yelling "Allahu akbar" was just the last clue.

Our intelligence agencies found e-mails he sent to known al-Qaida imams and operatives. Hasan denounced the "war on terror" as a war against Islam, and said Muslims should attack Americans in retaliation for the war in Iraq. He had openly denounced non-Muslims and had reportedly said they should be beheaded and have burning oil poured down their throats. I am not an intelligence expert but these seem like signs that should have made this guy a person of interest!

The media is saying he was under incredible stress and this may have caused him to snap. What stress? He was never in combat, never left Ft Hood. Hasan had business cards. They didn't mention his military grade but had SOA and SWT under his name. These are not military acronyms. SOA is short for "Soldier (or Slave) of Allah" and SWT is short for "Subhanahu Wa Ta'all," which means "glory to God".

It is frightening that our military and intelligence agencies missed all these signs. But why can't it now be called a terrorist attack? Just maybe it's because of politics. This would be the first attack on US soil since 9/11. Terrorist acts don't have to knock down buildings and steal thousands of innocent lives. This act was heinous and was a cool, collected, and vicious attack on our soldiers; and America.

Hopefully the evidence will force the media and Obama to call it what it was. This is absolutely no time for politics.

Don't play the racism card

Obama can only blame himself for this one. Usually his press conferences are so scripted that I can't believe the Gates/Crowley question caught him by surprise. Now I know he and the good professor are friends but he's the president! He needs to choose his words much more carefully. He, of all people, should get the facts before saying something so "stupid". Stick to the teleprompter sir.

I truly believe officer Crowley acted in good faith - and thank god. I know we haven't risen totally above racism in this country but we have made real progress. What will set us back as a nation and a people is using the racism card all the time.

If you suggest Michael Jackson was no role model, no saint, well you're a racist. Fire a black football coach because he has decimated your program (Go Irish!) and you're a racist university. Try to protect a home from burglary and happen to be a white cop questioning a black man and you're a racist.

Imagine if it was a real burglar entering Prof. Gates' home and the "white" cops did nothing. There sure would be a cry of racism then. From what I heard about the story I suggest that Prof. Gates was the racist! I'm glad the transcripts are coming out so the truth will be known.

One thing I liked about Obama was that I thought he would advance the race discussion in this country. I hoped he would silence the the victim peddlers like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton. His early comments on this case are a set back for that. You just may get a clearer picture of who a man (or woman) is when they speak off the cuff.

Here's a big thank you to all police (and fire too) persons for willingly putting your lives on the line to protect us. Sgt. James Crowley is a true American hero and I hope Obama can manage to say that while they lift their beers this week.

Oh, and if there is ever a 911 call that someone is breaking into my home, please come quickly and strongly question whomever is standing in my foyer!

What is the Hurry?

People have tried for over 50 years to reform health care in this country. The last two presidents had 8 years each to do it. So how does Obama think he can get it one in 8 months! And, more importantly, why does it need to get done so fast. Something this massive that will affect all Americans for the rest of their lives deserves good, spirited debate. Obama promised transparency so we, the people, can have a chance to review such new policy. Congress doesn't even read the entire bills they pass now,

So, what's the hurry? Could it be that Obama wants to "sneak" this through? That doesn't sound transparent. Could it be that he knows his popularity is already falling? The last Rasmussen poll I saw (today) shows him at 51% and the trend is downward. At this rate he'll lose the moderate Democrats and he may actually have to accept debate on this legislation.

The latest Congressional Budget Office just released their report that says the current plan making its way through Congress will actually cost MORE than the Dems say it will. There is no credible plan to pay for any of this. Do not think that raising taxes on the top 1% will do it.

Guess where they'll look next.

ABC is just Another Barrack Commercial

So much for even trying to look impartial. Last Wednesday ABC devoted the whole day to promoting Obama's health care plan. From Good Morning America to World News Tonight it was a one-sided infomercial expounding the wonders of more government control. The coup de gras was the 90 minute "special" called "Questions for the President: Prescription for America".

There are so many problems with this. Where do I begin? First of all ABC News employees gave 80 times more money to Obama's campaign then they did to John McCain's. Second, ABC refused to take paid ads from critics of O's program. Among the groups turned away - the Republican National Committee and a group called Conservatives for Patients Rights (damn extremists!!)

Third, the program served up softball questions from a pre-selected audience. In 75 minutes of air time 12% was used for questions and Obama talked for 60% of the time. That is not dialogue that's a monologue. The show had no health care experts or Republican congressmen on hand to ask questions.

Fortunately viewers were few and far between as well. The TV ratings for the evening showed that the program came in last among the top three networks. A rerun of CSI:NY even garnered more viewers than Obama.

Looks like America knows good fiction when it sees it!

How Biz-Czar!!

In 5 months as president, Obama has appointed 21 Czars for various causes. This far surpasses the number of appointments by past presidents over 4 or 8 years. Does anyone care about this? Here the trouble as I see it:

• Obama is expanding government even more by adding new positions
• He is circumventing the balance of power (and constitution) by appointing people to fictitious posts with no opportunity for congressional debate or vote.
• He is rewarding his campaign supporters by giving them comfy posts inside the administration.

Take your pick, I don't know which of these points is most egregious.

He has appointed a friend and Chicago activist to be the czar of the Great Lakes. I thought we already had the EPA to oversee this. He has appointed a czar to oversee executive pay. Great, so now the government has more control over this too. There's a car czar to make sure the the car companies bow to the government's whim.

Besides these czars there are also these:

CyberSpace Czar
Technology Czar
Drug Czar
Copyright Czar
Climate Czar
Energy Czar
Health Care Czar
WMD Czar
Education Czar
Economic Czar
Housing Czar
Mortgage Czar

Again does this bother anyone?

Isn't czar a Russian word? How appropriate!!