The Harrowdown Hill

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-05-17T21:54:00.005-05:00

"It's time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say, 'We're all Arizonans now'. And in clear unison, we say, 'Mr. President, do your job. Secure our border.'" -- Sarah Palin on Saturday at a news conference with fellow Republican and Arizona Gov. Janice Brewer.

Brewer scheduled the news conference to announce her first appointment to Arizona's new Joint Border Security Advisory Committee and the creation of a web site (http://www.securetheborder.org/) -- complete with a picture of Palin on the home page -- to address the state's new anti-immigration law. However, Palin viewed the news conference as an opportunity to criticize President Obama and essentially blame him for the country's long lasting struggle with illegal immigration. With this being said, during her condemnation of President Obama, she does not acknowledge the fact that Mr. Bush proposed a plan in 2004 to grant amnesty to all illegal aliens currently in the United States. Not surprisingly, Palin also avoids the fact that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), her former running mate in 2008, had previously introduced and sponsored legislation in support of amnesty. And until she does, Palin should stop stumping for conservatives currently embattled in re-election campaigns (such as Brewer) and just do her job for her supposed “fair and balanced” employer?

Hypocrite Within a Matter of Hours

2010-05-17T20:31:00.010-05:00

In case you contemplated rubbing shoulders with thousands of right wing nutjobs, you unfortunately missed the National Rifle Association's 139th Annual Meetings & Exhibits, which were held this weekend in Charlotte, NC. One of the keynote speakers at the Celebration of American Values Freedom Experience on Saturday was FOX News's Glenn Beck. During his speech (complete with his usual chalkboard), Beck uttered the following comment: "You go to your PTA meetings and when somebody says something stupid -- you go to your softball games and when your kids win a trophy for just showing up, you take that trophy and you say, 'Our family doesn't accept stuff we didn't earn'."

Rewind to earlier in the day and Beck was delivering the 2010 Commencement address to the graduates of Liberty University, the educational institution founded by Jerry Falwell. And at the ceremony, Beck actually received a honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the university. However, despite the fact that he dropped out of Yale University after only one course, Beck accepted the doctorate degree he clearly "didn't earn".

Ridiculous Argument of the Week

2010-05-12T16:31:00.004-05:00

On Monday, President Obama nominated Elena Kagan, the current Solicitor General, to replace the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court. One of the concerns that Republicans have voiced regarding Kagan is her lack of judicial experience. For example, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) released a statement which specifically described Kagan as "a surprising choice" due to the fact that she has never previously served as a judge. Cornyn continued by claiming that "Most Americans believe that prior judicial experience is a necessary credential for a Supreme Court Justice".

Before we examine Cornyn's absurd remarks, let's take a close look at Kagan's current role. According to the web site for the Department of Justice, the United States is involved in approximately two-thirds of all cases on which the Supreme Court decides the merits each year. That same web states that "The task of the Office of the Solicitor General is to supervise and conduct government litigation in the United States Supreme Court...The Solicitor General determines the cases in which Supreme Court review will be sought by the government and the positions the government will take before the Court." The Solicitor General is also responsible for presenting the "oral arguments before the Supreme Court".

Other than the actual justices, the Solicitor General is considered to be among the most influential and knowledgeable members of the legal community in regards to Supreme Court litigation. Four Solicitors General have eventually served on the Supreme Court: Robert Jackson, Stanley Reed, Thurgood Marshall and William Howard Taft (who was Chief Justice and a future President of the United States). Two current members of the Supreme Court have held other positions within the Office of the Solicitor General. Chief Justice John Roberts served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General and Justice Samuel Alito as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, both during the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

But despite all of the information included in the previous two paragraphs, Cornyn still delivered his asinine statement on Kagan's qualifications. However, Cornyn's opinions on the train wreck candidate otherwise known as Harriet Miers are completely different (even though Miers never served as a judge either). Cornyn had this to say in "The Wall Street Journal" about Miers (who withdrew herself from consideration after just twenty-four days): "The court is full of justices who served as academics and court of appeals judges before they were nominated to the bench. What the court is missing is someone who understands the consequences of its decisions on the American people." And the exact same argument that Cornyn uses to defend Miers ironically can apply to Kagan: "41 of the 109 justices who have served on the Supreme Court had no judicial experience at all when they were nominated. These include several luminaries from the school of judicial restraint, including the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist", Chief Justice John Marshall and Justice Louis Brandeis.

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-05-10T21:29:00.013-05:00

Please don't tell me that the bloom is off the rose. Sarah Palin is being heavily criticized by, of all people, numerous members of the Tea Party movement for her recent endorsement of Carly Fiorina, who is currently running in the California Republican primary for the United States Senate seat. For example, Eric Odom, the Chairman of the Liberty First PAC, described Palin's endorsement as an "unforgivable sin" and "downright confusing, dishonest and leaves me feeling cheated". Dawn Wildman, the co-founder of the Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition, stated that Palin's support of Fiorina shows she "is clearly out of touch with what the Tea Party movement is saying in California".

On her Facebook page, Palin portrayed Fiorina as a "common sense conservative" and as an individual who can be trusted "to do the right thing for America’s economy". However, it is important to note that Fiorina believes in expanding the H1-B visa program "if we want our information technology industry to be the most competitive in the world". That doesn't quite sound like a common sense conservative. Palin also praises for Fiorina for her knowledge of "how to really incentivize job creation". Palin, of course, fails to acknowledge Fiorina's comments regarding her dismissal of nearly 18,000 employees during Fiorina's tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard: "I would have done them all faster. Every person that I've asked to leave, whether it's been clear publicly or not, I would have done faster."

Palin continued on Facebook by stating Fiorina "has an understanding that is sorely lacking in [the District of Columbia]". Unfortunately that understanding does not apply to the political process. The "Los Angeles Times" reported that Fiorina has failed to vote in seventy-five percent of all California state elections since 2000, including all gubernatorial elections and presidential primaries. Her excuse? "For many years I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn't think my vote mattered because I didn't have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result." Let me get this right. Fiorina didn't think that her vote mattered despite the fact that, in 2000, she was a 46-year-old grown woman serving as the CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world? With that being said, Hewlett-Packard spent $4.7 million to lobby Congress and donated more than $390,000 to political candidates through the company's political action committee during her tenure as CEO. In addition, Fiorina and her husband have personally contributed more than $100,000 in political donations since 2000.

And since Palin commends Fiorina for her ability to lead "with distinction" and show "real leadership" as the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, let's take a closer look at how Fiorina's reign ended. The company's board of directors forced Fiorina to resign after numerous poor business decisions regarding the company, its various divisions and the acquisition of Compaq, as well as the resulting effect on stock value. Following her resignation, "InfoWorld" magazine ranked Fiorina sixth on the publication's list of "Technology's All Time Top 25 Flops", which primarily consisted of failed products and ideas. Fiorina was also included on "Conde Nast Portfolio" magazine's list of the twenty "Worst American CEOs of All Time".

In December 2007, Fiorina was selected as the Chairperson of Victory 2008, a group created by the Republican National Committee to, among other things, raise money for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Fiorina was also named in March 2008 as an advisor to McCain's campaign on economic and business issues. During her brief stint in both roles, Fiorina consistently delivered incorrect and misleading statements regarding McCain's stance on various topics. In addition, when she appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in April 2008, Fiorina uttered the following ridiculous comments on the recent economic crisis: "There's no question that the Iraq War is costing us a lot of money. But it's also the case that the housing crisis has nothing to do with the Iraq War. High fuel prices have nothing to do with the Iraq War, per se. And high food prices, in particular, have nothing to do with the Iraq War. It's not fair to try and make the Iraq War the cause of our current economic difficulties."

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-05-09T09:02:00.008-05:00

"Gulf: Learn from Alaska's lesson w/ foreign oil cos.: Don't naively trust - VERIFY. Livelihood affected by spill? Don't sign away remedy rights." -- Posted by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on her Twitter page in response to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

How ironic it is that Palin speaks so negatively of internationally based oil and petroleum companies considering the fact that she has such close ties with those companies. As I mentioned in my previous posting, Palin's husband Todd was employed by British Petroleum (BP), which leased the damaged oil rig in the Gulf Coast and is headquartered in Great Britain, for approximately twenty years until his resignation in September 2009. And while President Obama previously received more than $77,000 in campaign contributions from BP, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Palin's running mate in the 2008 presidential election, has received nearly $45,000.

Palin has also targeted Venezuela and its President, Hugo Chavez, in the past, as well as the country's state owned oil companies. During an interview with Univision in October 2008, Palin stated: "We want through negotiation and sanctions if need be to put pressure on a dictator like Hugo Chavez, to let them see that they will not mess around with America the way that they want to. Hugo Chavez especially wanted to use energy sources as a weapon. Again, that brings us to how important it is for our country to get firmly on a path towards energy independence, where we create jobs here by tapping into domestic and alternative sources of energy to allow us to be less and less reliant on someone like Hugo Chavez." However, her anti-Venezuela sentiments apparently do not extend to her husband. Todd Palin's snowmobile racing team was sponsored this year by Mystik Lubricants, a division of Citgo. (Citgo is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, the national oil company of Venezuela.) Aside from serving as the "proud sponsor" of Todd's racing team, Mystik Lubricants was also the "official lubricant sponsor of the 27th Annual Iron Dog event" for the second year in a row. By doing so, the company supplied 250 cases of snowmobile oil to the competitors and 500 safety vests to the volunteers. After the race was completed, the former governor appeared in a promotional video for the Iditarod Trail Race while standing in front of a snowmobile with the logo for Mystik Lubricants.

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-05-08T19:58:00.005-05:00

"I repeat the slogan 'drill here, drill now' not out of naiveté or disregard for the tragic consequences of oil spills." -- Excerpt from a posting titled "Domestic Drilling: Why We Can Still Believe" on the Facebook page of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin after an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and caught fire.

Not surprisingly, there are multiple offensive aspects of Palin's comments on Facebook. First and foremost, while she has used the expression "drill here and drill now" in the past, she is much more closely associated with the tag line "Drill, baby, drill". (Palin uttered both phrases at last month's Southern Republican Leadership Conference: "Let's drill, baby, drill. Not stall, baby, stall. We need to give it all we've got. Drill here and drill now.") With that being said, it is extremely interesting to witness Palin avoid the casual and folksy "drill, baby, drill" when commenting on an oil spill which is affecting millions of individuals and animals.

But despite that suffering by the inhabitants (man and beast alike) of the Gulf Coast, Palin felt the need to discuss her resume during that same Facebook posting: "It is inexcusable for any oil company to not invest in preventative measures. They must be held accountable or the public will forever distrust the industry. This was the position I took as an oil and gas regulator and as Governor of Alaska." Palin also tapped into the fear apparently living inside all Republicans by stating "We need oil and, if we don’t drill for it here, we have to purchase it from countries that not only do not like America and can use energy purchases as a weapon against us but also do not have the oversight that America has". (The only thing Palin was missing from those remarks was the phrase '9/11'.")

Palin does mention on Facebook that, as Governor of Alaska, she "instituted new oversight and held British Petroleum (BP) financially accountable for poor maintenance practices". This is somewhat of a surprise considering the connection between BP and Palin's husband Todd. BP, which leased the damaged oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, employed Todd for approximately twenty years until his resignation in September 2009. What is not a shock is Palin's omission of Halliburton from her posting. In case you have been living under a rock for the last 10+ years, Halliburton, which assisted in building the oil rig, was honored by having Dick Cheney as its CEO and Chairman of the Board from 1995 to 2000.

How's That For Radical?

2010-04-18T22:44:00.016-05:00

During his speech at the recent Southern Republican Leadership Conference, former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) used the terms "radical" and "radicalism" on six separate occasions to describe President Obama and his administration. In fact, Gingrich referred to President Obama as "the most radical President in American history", which was then repeated by numerous conservative nitwits, including Sean Hannity. But since Gingrich opened the door, let's examine some other Presidents who are clearly more radical than President Obama:

George Bush
1. He attempted to justify the country's invasion of Iraq by lying about the existence of weapons of mass destruction and then he and his administration mismanaged and underfunded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the next eight years.
2. Yes, economic, environmental and other blunders permeated his presidency but did you not read example #1?

Abraham Lincoln
1. Offending his political opponents and supporters alike, Lincoln took a strong stance on many of the topics which defined his presidency, including secession, slavery, emancipation and Reconstruction.
2. During the Civil War, Lincoln utilized his war powers to (1) proclaim a Union blockade in order to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies and arms to and from the Confederacy; (2) suspend the writ of habeas corpus; (3) spend money before those funds were appropriated by the United States Congress and (4) imprison as many as eighteen thousand suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial.

Andrew Jackson
1. In his third annual message to Congress in 1831, Jackson proposed the elimination of the Electoral College and the establishment of a one-term presidential limit by "giving the election of President and Vice President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term".
2. The charter of the Second Bank of the United States was revoked by Jackson in 1832 because the organization was, among other things, serving "to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful".
3. With the signing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, Jackson rescinded previously approved treaties with Native American tribes. The federal government's policy of Indian removal resulted in the Trail of Tears, during which thousands of Native Americans died from exposure, disease and starvation while en route to their destination of present day Oklahoma.

Franklin Roosevelt
1. The New Deal, the large series of economic programs from Roosevelt's first term, created the foundation for our country's modern welfare state.
2. With the Supreme Court serving as the primary obstacle to Roosevelt's programs during his second term, Roosevelt proposed the Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937, which would have allowed him to appoint five new justices as a "persistent infusion of new blood". However, Roosevelt's plan to "stack the court" experienced intense political opposition (including from his own party) and, as a result, was defeated.
3. After George Washington declined to run for a third presidential term in 1796, the two-term limit was simply an unwritten rule until the Twenty-Second Amendment was passed in 1947 by the Congress. At the same time, former Presidents Ulysses Grant and Theodore Roosevelt were criticized for their attempts to secure a third non-consecutive term. With that being said, in order to improve his chances for a third consecutive term, Franklin Roosevelt changed the location of the Democratic National Convention to Chicago, a city which strongly supported the sitting President. And as we all know, Roosevelt was eventually elected to four presidential terms (although he only served three months into his final term before suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage).

John Adams
By signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts during the threat of war in 1798, Adams suppressed Republican opposition by essentially prohibiting anti-government dissent and restricting freedom of speech and freedom of the press. For example, the Sedition Act (officially An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States) specifically forbids the practice of "writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States".

The five examples above certainly provide enough evidence that President Obama is clearly not the most radical President in history of the United States. But if that wasn't enough, here are two more:

Andrew Johnson
1. The seventeenth President was impeached on eleven articles outlining his "high crimes and misdemeanors", including (1) removing Edwin Stanton from his role as Secretary of War despite the Senate's order to reinstate Stanton and (2) delivering three speeches with the intent to bring "disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt and reproach" against Congress amongst the citizens of the United States.

Richard Nixon
1. Watergate. Enough said.

I Must Use a Different Dictionary

2010-04-16T19:46:00.016-05:00

Leaders of the Tea Party Express observed Tax Day yesterday by revealing their lists of Tea Party Heroes and Tea Party Targets (both incumbents and candidates) for the upcoming midterm congressional elections. Included on the list of targets are obvious and well deserving choices, such as Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Arlen Specter (D-PA). With that being said, let's examine the wonderful cast of characters designated as so-called heroes:

1. Sharron Angle (R-NV): After Angle was endorsed by the Tea Party Express during an event at the National Press Club, the former member of the Nevada Assembly introduced herself by stating "You know, I feel a little lonely today. I usually bring Smith & Wesson along."

2. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): Where do I begin with Bachmann? No seriously, WHERE DO I BEGIN? I honestly do not have enough time to detail all of the things wrong with this complete wacko so just take a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Bachmann.

3. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): In June 2009, Blackburn co-sponsored a bill which would, in response to the ridiculous claims that President Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen, require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificates.

4. Sen. James DeMint (R-SC): Aside from opposing all forms of abortion (including in cases of rape and incest), DeMint does not feel that same sex marriage should be legalized due to the prevalence of certain diseases among homosexuals. During his first senatorial campaign in 2004, DeMint uttered the following comments: "If a person is a practicing homosexual, they should not be teaching in our schools" and "I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend should be hired to teach my third grade children".

5. Charles DeVore (R-CA): A current member of the California State Assembly, DeVore has supported Floyd Brown, who is an unmistakable birther and the architect of the Willie Horton television advertisement from the 1988 presidential campaign.

6. Rep. Thomas McClintock (R-CA): In March 2008, McClintock was criticized by one of his opponents in the Republican primary for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax free per diem payments from the State of California during his tenure in the State Senate. Those payments of $170 per day were established to assist legislators who live far from the state capital of Sacramento. (McClintock lived in Elk Grove at the time, which is approximately fifteen miles from Sacramento. However, McClintock claimed that he lived at a family home in Thousand Oaks but this is actually where his mother resides.)

7. Rep. Walter Minnick (R-ID): Yes, a Democrat. But that is where the positives end. Minnick has voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

8. Randal Paul (R-KY): An ophthalmologist and the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Randal is "100% pro-life. I believe abortion is taking the life of an innocent human being. I believe life begins at conception and it is the duty of our government to protect this life."

9. Rep. Michael Pence (R-IN): In a statement opposing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act due to the legislation's expansion to include a victim's race, religion, disability, national origin, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, Pence declared that "This legislation is unnecessary and bad public policy...The hate crimes bill is broad enough to encompass legitimate beliefs and protecting the rights of freedom of speech and religion must be paramount in our minds."

10. Rep. Thomas Price (R-GA): During the health care debate from last year, Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) of the Democratic Women's Caucus attempted to address the benefits that the health care bill would provide to mothers and children on the floor of Congress. Capps was only able to utter "Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous..." before Price (in the behavior similar to a two-year-old) shouted "I object! I object! I object!". When Capps started her statement again, Price bellowed "I object! I object! I object! I object!". Price then bellowed "Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry." before being called "out of order" by presiding chairman Rep. John Dingell (D-MI).

11. Marco Rubio (R-FL): Despite a net worth of negative $103,000, a mortgage and thousands in student loans when he was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives, approximately $600,000 in contributions were stored in two inconspicuous political committees created and controlled by Rubio. A joint investigation by the "St. Petersburg Times" and "The Miami Herald" uncovered the following improprieties (among others) from that eight-year period:

Rubio and his wife (a former cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins and the "Treasurer" for the first committee, Floridians for Conservative Leadership) failed to disclose more than $34,000 in expenses over an eighteen-month period. Those expenses included $7,000 in travel re-imbursements to Rubio, bank fees, payments to consultants and credit card payments. In addition, re-imbursements of $5,700 to his wife were, according to Rubio, for travel expenses charged to her personal credit card.
For that same committee, Rubio charged more than $51,000 in unidentified "travel expenses" to three different credit cards. Florida law does not require charges to be itemized but other state lawmakers detailed nearly all of their committee expenses.
Rubio's second committee, Floridians for Conservative Leadership in Government (Notice the extremely similar name? Certainly nothing fishy there.), re-imbursed his mother-in-law's freight company for $3,500 worth of rental car services and authorized more than $10,000 in payments to teenage relatives of both Rubio and his wife. The total amount of nearly $14,000 was reported to the Internal Revenue Service as "courier fees" and was justified by Rubio regardless of the fact that none of those recipients were listed as political aides and that a non-existent was used for one of the individuals.
If that wasn't enough, Rubio's spending habits continued when, in 2005, when the Republican Party of Florida provided an American Express credit card for him to utilize at his own discretion. While he was Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2007-2008, Rubio charged more than $3,700 in meals on that credit card even though he was receiving $126 on a daily basis from the state to assist in subsidizing legislators' food and lodging expenses. Rubio has already admitted he used the credit card to double bill the Republican Party of Florida and state taxpayers in 2007 for flights from South Florida to Tallahassee. And for his last year as Speaker, Rubio reported a net worth of less than $8,400 despite earning $45,000 from the State of Florida, $69,000 from Florida International University as a Visiting Distinguished Service Professor and $300,000 from Broad and Cassel as an Of Counsel attorney.

12. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS): When discussing the topic of public funding for abortions last year on the House floor, Tiahrt delivered these startling comments: "If you think of it in human terms, there is a financial incentive that would be put in place, paid for by tax dollars, that would encourage women who are single parents, living below the poverty level, to have the opportunity for a free abortion...[President Obama] grew up in those similar circumstances. If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother might have taken advantage of it?" Tiahrt's stance on the environment is just as alarming:

The Republicans for Environmental Protection provided Tiahrt with a score of -4 on a scale of 100 on all environmental issues in 2005; his score for the entire 109th Congress was a 6 on a scale of 100.
The same organization criticized Tiahrt "for signing a 'Dear Colleague' letter to all House Republicans urging unity in an effort to pressure House conferees to include language authorizing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge".
The non-partisan League of Conservation Voters provided Tiahrt with the lowest possible score (0%) for 2005 and 2006; his lifetime score is 3% out of 100%. For the 109th Congress, Tiahrt cast votes designated as anti-environment on twelve out of twelve critical issues.

13. Patrick Toomey (R-PA): As a former member of the United States House of Representatives, Toomey served on the House Committee on Financial Services and co-wrote House Resolution 10. This resolution eventually resulted in the repeal of portions of the Banking Act of 1933 and, in turn, played an enormous role in the country's recent economic issues.

14. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC): "You lie!" Enough said.

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-04-14T09:59:00.009-05:00

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is currently investigating the finances of the California State University, Stanislaus Foundation and the possibility that the non-profit organization violated public disclosure laws by not releasing the details of a contract with a speaker for the educational institution's 50th Anniversary Gala on June 25. This story supposedly came to light after students discovered that documents were being shredded at the campus administration building on a day when staff members were scheduled to be on leave. The foundation, which expects to raise as much as $200,000 from the $500-a-plate event, refuses to provide, among other things, the amount of the speaker's fee.

Who is the speaker, you ask? You guessed it. It is none other than Sarah Palin. While I don't care if the foundation discloses the information or not, there is certainly an interesting aspect of this situation. The contract outlines the following requirements for speaking engagements by the former Governor of Alaska (and current diva) due to her "professional endeavors and high profile":

The donated private aircraft "MUST BE a Lear 60 or larger...for West Coast events or a Hawker 800 or larger...for East Coast events and both are subject to the speaker's approval".
Ground transportation "will be by SUV(s)" but, if that type of vehicle is unavailable, then "black town cars may be substituted".
Palin and her party must be provided with "accommodations of a pre-registered one bedroom suite and two single rooms in a deluxe hotel". The client may also be required to supply "a laptop computer and printer (fully stocked with paper)" prior to Palin's arrival.
For the Q&A portion of satellite events, "the questions are to be collected from the audience in advance, pre-screened and a designated representative...shall ask questions directly of the speaker".
To ensure that all attendees of the event are able to engage in a photo opportunity with Palin, this schedule of "45 minutes/75 clicks, 60 minutes/100 clicks and 90 minutes/125 clicks" must be followed and "a receiving line style, as opposed to a snake line" must be established. According to a detailed diagram, "guests should come from the speaker's RIGHT and depart at the speaker's LEFT. The waiting line should be kept close to the speaker's RIGHT."
The client is permitted to "take still photographs (without flash bulbs) of the speaker for the first three minutes of the speaker's presentation".
Palin must be provided with "a tall, wooden lectern with lip and fixed microphone, in addition to a handheld microphone...Unopened bottled still water (2 bottles) and bendable straws are to be placed in or near the wooden lectern." Prior to Palin speaking, the bottles will be opened "at an appropriate time".

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

2010-04-12T22:07:00.014-05:00

Just when I thought that Governor Robert McDonnell and Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli (the Laurel and Hardy of Virginia politics) had floundered enough in the area of discrimination due to sexual orientation, they have gone and done it again (and again and again).

Most recently, a draft proposal by McDonnell and his administration would require a non-violent felon to submit a letter before the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth will consider restoring the individual's voting rights. The letter will not only contain information on the offender's personal story and criminal case (which is already a part of the current process) but also details on the individual's contributions to society since his/her release, including subsequent employment, education and participation in church and community activities. If the applicant is unable or would prefer not to write the letter, the individual can actually contact the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and relate his/her story. But despite this last option, Secretary Janet Polarek feels that this new proposal would actually "streamline the process". Or just maybe Polarek's wishful thinking will have something to do with the fact that, by including this extra step, certain non-violent and non-habitual felons will be discouraged from applying.

Only Kentucky and Virginia require the state's governor to restore voting rights to felons. The overwhelming majority of states automatically restore voting rights to an offender once a prison sentence has been completed, while the District of Columbia provides felons with the ability to vote upon their release from prison. And while I certainly do not feel that convicted felons should be immediately integrated into all aspects of American society, this new proposal from McDonnell is certainly reminiscent of the literacy tests administered during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. David Mills, the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, stated that McDonnell "chose to institute an unprecedented roadblock in a commonwealth with a painful history of blocking voting rights. Given his experience last week, it’s shocking that the Governor would unnecessarily stumble on Virginia’s history yet again."

By last week's "experience", Mills was referring to McDonnell's recent proclamation that the month of April will now be recognized as Confederate History Month in the State of Virginia. The issue with the original proclamation is that McDonnell made absolutely no mention of the practice of slavery. In an apology a day later, McDonnell declared: "We cannot avoid our past; instead we must demand that it be discussed with civility and responsibility." However, McDonnell decided against discussing the topic of slavery in a civil and responsible manner by avoiding the topic in his proclamation. Aside from his apology, McDonnell issued a new proclamation which contained language specifically addressing slavery.

Not to be outdone, Attorney General Cuccinelli announced that his office will be filing a notice of appeal concerning new regulations on fuel efficiency from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA authorized new rules for new cars and trucks built between 2012-2016. Cuccinelli, in true alarmist fashion once again, uttered that the regulations were based on climate change research which was "unreliable, unverifiable and doctored".

Fo Shizzle!

2010-04-07T23:01:00.010-05:00

Ten days after President Obama's historical election in November 2008, Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), participated in a conference call with various conservative bloggers. During that call, Steele stated that conservatives should not soften their attacks "just because the President of the United States is a black man". Steele continued to comment on this specific topic by claiming that "the Obama campaign played the race card in reverse beautifully". Steele would launch his campaign for the position of RNC Chairman just ten days later.

Despite his opinions above, Steele sang a different tune regarding race during his interview with George Stephanopoulos on Monday's edition of "Good Morning America". When asked if he felt that he, as an African American, has "a slimmer margin for error than another Chairman would", Steele replied: "The honest answer is yes...Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. We, a lot of folks do. It's a different role for, you know, for me to play and others to play. And that's just the reality of it."

And Steele thinks that President Obama has "played the race card"? Let's take a look at some other incidents involving Steele since he became Chairman of the RNC:

In response to a question about his plan for "inclusion of diverse populations" within the Republican Party, Steele answered: "I got the fried chicken and potato salad."
During an appearance on "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on ABC Radio, Steele offered "some slum love out to my buddy", Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (who was born to immigrants from India). Steele eloquently described President Obama's stimulus package by uttering "There's a lot of bling bling -- the bling bling's got bling bling in this package". He insisted the Republican Party "has got to take it's head out of it's you know what and recognize that America doesn't look like America in 1952. That America now is something very different, very beautiful -- that has a lot of strips and strains to it. But it's real and we've got to get in the real." Addressing the criticism from Meghan McCain, the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), that Steele's new "hip-hop" strategy for the Republican Party isn't "going to work", Steele claimed: "I'm not stupid. I was born in [Washington, D.C.] on 8th Street. I know what's up. I know what time it is." After Sliwa informed Steele that he was going to play a song from Jay-Z, Steele responded with "There you go, playa".
While Steele was speaking in front of approximately 150 students at Howard University, one of those students mentioned her plans to study business law. Steele's reply? "Business law! Mo money!"
To update the image of the Republican Party, Steele reported that he was creating a public relations team to develop an "off the hook" campaign for "urban-suburban hip hop settings".

As you can see, Steele has never been afraid to play the race card. However, when he does so, it is in a manner that is extremely offensive and degrading to other African Americans. Or in Steele's words, he is just plain trippin'.

Then Mr. Bush Was a Serial Offender

2010-04-07T18:05:00.008-05:00

The individual with the pen name of "Robin of Berkeley" is a frequent contributor to the conservative web site American Thinker and, in her words, "a recovering liberal and psychotherapist" as well. With articles titled "Sarah Palin Is One Tough Mother" and "Obama the Repo Man", this writer's allegiance is certainly without question. And while she definitely has the freedom to voice her opinions, the most recent article went way too far. That article, "The Rape of America", actually compares being raped to the actions of President Obama and the Democrats:

"Let's start by analyzing the mind of a rapist. His goal: Domination and absolute power, through any means necessary. His motivation: punishing another, degrading her, feeling superior and godlike. Making her feel like an object, nothing, a no-thing. What else propels him? Taking what he wants just because he wants it. Feeling the surge of power, the adrenaline rush, the thrill of stealing a piece of her. Anything else? Feeding primitive, twisted impulses; expressing sadistic needs; the savage excitement of subjugating and controlling another."

If you think those comments were offensive, "Robin of Berkeley" didn't stop there:

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-04-06T07:40:00.004-05:00

As part of her deal with the devil (otherwise known as her employment with FOX News), Sarah Palin will serve as the host of a television program called "Real American Stories". This one-hour program is being described as "a series exploring inspirational real life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape".

The first installment of this series (which ironically aired on April Fool's Day) was originally scheduled to include LL Cool J (born James Smith) in a segment called "In Their Own Words". However, according to a spokesperson for the actor/musician, "LL Cool J was never scheduled to be a guest on 'Real American Stories' with Sarah Palin this week. The show had planned to use an interview from 2008 that was being repurposed without LL’s permission." To further emphasize his position, LL Cool J posted the following comments on Twitter: "FOX lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else and are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin's show. WOW." So how did FOX News respond to the fact that the network was clearly planning on using previous footage of LL Cool J inappropriately? In a completely mature manner, of course: "'Real American Stories' features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith's interview fits that criteria. However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career." "Fledgling"? While I certainly don't compare LL Cool J to the great thespians of our time, I wouldn't describe his career as fledgling considering the fact that he has a starring role on CBS's "NCIS: Los Angeles" and has performed in more than twenty films, not to mention his widely successful music career.

And in case anyone thinks that this was just an isolated incident, there is also Toby Keith. Keith was surprised when a radio reporter contacted his publicist in order to obtain details on the country singer's announced appearance on Palin's program. The publicist replied: "You're wrong. There is no Sarah Palin special with Toby Keith on it on FOX." The reporter then responded by e-mailing the press release from FOX News which claimed that Keith would "explain the inspiration behind his song 'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue'" during the television program. Keith's publicist believes that the interview was conducted in Las Vegas in January 2009. At the same time, neither Keith nor his publicist received an e-mail or telephone call from FOX News to inform them that the footage would air on Palin's program.

This Unfortunate Day in History

2010-04-04T19:57:00.005-05:00

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. The highly respected civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was preparing to leave for dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. Dr. King was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at St. Joseph's Hospital. Dr. King was thirty-nine years old, leaving behind a wife and four small children. According to biographer Taylor Branch, the autopsy revealed that Dr. King had the heart of a sixty-year-old, quite possibly resulting from the stress of the thirteen years of the Civil Rights Movement.

In the months prior to his assassination, Dr. King became increasingly concerned with the issue of economic inequality in the United States. He organized the Poor People's Campaign to focus on this issue, including an interracial march of poor Americans on Washington, D.C. And then in March, he traveled to Memphis in support of poorly treated African-American sanitation employees. Dr. King left the city but vowed to return in early April in order to lead another demonstration. On April 3 in Memphis, Dr. King delivered his final sermon, prophetically declaring:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now.
We've got some difficult days ahead.
But it really doesn't matter with me now
Because I've been to the mountaintop
And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.
Longevity has its place.
But I'm not concerned about that now.
I just want to do God's will
And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain.
And I've looked over
And I've seen the Promised Land.

I may not get there with you.
But I want you to know tonight
That we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

And so, I'm happy tonight.
I'm not worried about anything.
I'm not fearing any man.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Dr. King was killed the next day. Captured more than two months later, James Earl Ray, a habitual offender and escaped criminal, eventually pleaded guilty to murdering Dr. King and was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. (Although evidence exists which casts some doubt on Ray's guilt, it is certainly not along the same lines of Lee Harvey Oswald, where there is absolutely no way that he could have killed President John F. Kennedy.) However, the actual gunman is not even of importance here. It is that the irony of Dr. King's murder is almost to the point of immeasurability: A man who consistently preached and lived non-violence was felled by an assassin's bullet.

Idiotic Sign of the Week

2010-04-03T21:38:00.002-05:00

At one point last year during the health care debate, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) offered his summary of the Republican health care plan: "Don't get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly." He also started a web site (http://www.namesofthedead.com/) to memorialize Americans who "die simply because they have no health insurance". This time around, Grayson focused his energy regarding health care on a urologist in Mount Dora, FL.

Jack Cassell, the aforementioned urologist, posted the following sign last week on his office door: "If you voted for Obama...seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years." (He also provides Republican reading material in his waiting room under a sign which reads "This is what the morons in Washington have done to your health care. Take one, read it and vote out anyone who voted for it.") When asked about patients who may disagree with the notice on his door, Cassell declared that "If they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it".

According to a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health, there are "no grounds for a complaint" against Cassell. At the same time, it is evident from this moron's childish signs and comments that he does not believe in the Hippocratic Oath. This point is emphasized when you read the sections concerning "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required", "I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm" and "May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help".

With all of that being said, what more could you expect from an individual who obtained his medical degree from the St. George's University School of Medicine in Grenada, British West Indies? The Doctor of Medicine Program at this heavily regarded educational institution is only approved by three U.S. states (Florida, New Jersey and New York) and recognized by the Medical Board of California. Cassell is probably not complaining about all of the publicity, especially since his wife is currently running as a Republican candidate for Lake County Commissioner.

I'm Scared of Islands Now

2010-04-02T20:33:00.005-05:00

At a recent hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Admiral Robert Willard, the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, provided testimony in regards to his command's FY 2011 budget. When the discussion focused on the plans to transfer thousands of U.S. troops from Okinawa, Japan to Guam, Willard was present for possibly the strangest comment he has heard during his 40+ year military career.

This unbelievable remark concerning Guam was uttered by Rep. Henry Johnson (R-GA):

Johnson: "This is an island that, at its widest level is, what, twelve miles from shore to shore? And at its smallest level or smallest location, it's seven miles between one shore and the other. Is that correct?"
Willard: "I don't have the exact dimensions but, to your point, sir, I think Guam is a small island."
Johnson: "Very small island and about twenty-four miles, if I recall, long. So twenty-four miles long, about seven miles wide at the least widest place on the island and about twelve miles wide on the widest part of the island. And I don't know how many square miles that is. Do you happen to know?"
Willard: "I don't have that figure with me, sir. I can certainly supply it to you if you'd like."
Johnson: "Yeah, my fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize."

Yes, you read that right. Now I understand that Johnson has been experiencing numerous health issues (including cognitive) due to his long battle with hepatitis C. However, the last sentence of this exchange between Johnson and Willard is a little disconcerting, illness or not. With that being said, Johnson has already proven himself to be much better than his predecessor, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), who is famous for striking a U.S. Capitol Police officer and claiming that Mr. Bush and his administration had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks.

I Can Hardly Believe It Myself

2010-03-31T09:39:00.014-05:00

Despite the tensions between both candidates' teams during the 2008 presidential campaign, Sarah Palin attended and delivered speeches at rallies last weekend for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in preparation for the primary election in August against J.D. Hayworth. And I am actually in favor of it. Congratulations, universe. You win.

Now based on their history with one another, everyone in the world should have expected Palin to speak out in support of McCain. While McCain remains an extremely immature individual who clearly got by on his father's coattails, he is certainly a much better option candidatewise than Hayworth. For starters, Hayworth is actually a former member of the United States Congress. In fact, Hayworth served as a member of the House of Representatives for six consecutive terms until he lost a re-election bid in 2006. But I'll come back to that. Let's first take a closer look at various aspects of Hayworth's career as an elected official:

In his initial run for Congress in 1994, Hayworth criticized his incumbent opponent for voting for President Bill Clinton's budget plan, which Hayworth described as "the largest tax increase in history". However, this budget plan assisted the United States in migrating from an inherited 1993 budget deficit of a then record $290 billion to a budget surplus of $236 billion, while also creating the country's first two balanced federal budgets in forty years.
During his first re-election campaign in 1996, Hayworth fired two of his campaign aides for forging his signature in order to file a campaign affidavit within the established deadline.
In a fundraising letter for his 1998 re-election campaign, Hayworth not only referred to President Clinton as an "unprincipled philandering President" with "the most corrupt administration in U.S. history" but also claimed that his Democratic opponent was financed by "trial lawyers, radical homosexual rights groups, environmental extremists...along with almost every other left wing wacko group you can think of".
A 1998 "Washingtonian Magazine" survey of 1,200 congressional staff members from both parties ranked Hayworth as the second "Biggest Windbag" in the House. Hayworth stated he "was hoping to get the No. 1 spot". Luckily his wish was granted when he won the "No Rocket Scientist" category.
A similar survey in 2006 (this time involving more than 1,700 staff members) ranked Hayworth No. 2 again. By the way, McCain was ranked in the same 2006 survey as the "Straightest Shooter" in the Senate and tied for third as the "Senator I’d Like to See Win the Presidency in 2008".
Between 2001 and 2005, Hayworth's wife Mary earned $20,400 a year from TEAM PAC, Hayworth's political action committee, for performing bookkeeping and other administrative functions. As the only employee of TEAM PAC after December 1999, the fund shelled out $107,000 through the end of 2004 for Mary's salary and payroll taxes, or approximately twenty-six percent of its $411,000 in revenue. This occurred despite the fact that TEAM PAC also paid $70,000 to an external political consultant and a California bookkeeper during the same time, thereby designating forty-three percent of the total revenue for fundraising and administrative expenses.
While many Republican members of Congress returned the contributions they received from Native American tribes associated with the now incarcerated lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Hayworth, on the other hand, decided to keep the $150,000 in campaign contributions that he received from those tribes.
Hayworth voted for the 2005 Transportation Reauthorization Bill which contained, among other things, millions of dollars earmarked for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska. McCain did not support the legislation.
In 2006, Hayworth declared the current immigration law misinterprets the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, as a result, a child of undocumented immigrants born in this country should not be given U.S. citizenship. He delivered these comments even though the amendment specifically states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside".
Earlier this month during an interview with an Orlando radio station, Hayworth compared same sex marriage with zoophilia: "You see, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, when it started this move toward same sex marriage, actually defined marriage -- now get this -- it defined marriage as simply, quote, 'the establishment of intimacy'. Now how dangerous is that? I mean, I don't mean to be absurd about it but I guess I can make the point of absurdity with an absurd point. I guess that would mean, if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse." A complete examination of the 45-page decision on the case of Hillary Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health clearly proves that the phrase "the establishment of intimacy" does not occur once in the entire document. In fact, the word "intimacy" only appears six times in the decision. And to further contradict Hayworth's claims, Margaret Marshall, the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, started the ruling with the following: "Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society."

As I mentioned earlier, Hayworth is a former member of Congress. When he was seeking re-election in 2006, "The Arizona Republic", which had supported Hayworth in previous congressional races, decided to endorse his Democratic opponent. In explanation of its shift, the newspaper had these wonderful things to say about Hayworth:

Aside from the endorsement from "The Arizona Republic", numerous prominent Arizona Republicans crossed party lines by openly supporting Mitchell. Combined with the fact that he is a intolerant egomaniac and a crooked politician, this is why, boys and girls, Hayworth is no longer a member of the United States Congress.

Upon Further Review, Part II

2010-03-28T09:20:00.010-05:00

On the web site for the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Virginia, the following duties and powers are listed:

I have provided this information because not one of these bullet points specifically addresses the actions of and legislation passed by the United States government. Now I am not being naive in this situation and simply thinking that no state has ever filed suit against the federal government, as Cuccinelli and other state Attorney Generals recently did regarding the constitutionality of the new health care bill. However, challenging new legislation or the findings by a government agency (as was the case with Cuccinelli and the EPA's report on greenhouse gases) is not an area on which a state Attorney General should focus the majority of his/her time. In fact, State Sen. Donald McEachin (D-VA) commented on this very subject: "What we would prefer to see [Cuccinelli] doing is going after these predatory lenders that are breaking the law, going after Internet predators. That's the mission of the Attorney General's office. To be a consumer advocate, to protect our children. To ensure our safety. Not to tilt at windmills in a Don Quixote type fashion."

With that being said, Cuccinelli clearly thinks that he and his role are above the federal government, the White House and, most of all, President Obama. Combining this arrogance with his (1) prejudice towards homosexuals, (2) alarmist attitude regarding the federal government and (3) stance on President Obama's citizenship, the residents of Virginia (including myself) should expect to be ignored for the next four years.

The True Definition of Cowardice

2010-03-26T19:46:00.011-05:00

As a result of voting for the recently passed health care bill, certain Democrats have been experiencing scary, dangerous and irresponsible reactions for their support of the legislation. Vandals broke windows at the local offices of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY). Slaughter also reported that an individual contacted her office last week and promised to "send snipers to kill the children of the members who voted yes". Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) has received voice mail messages containing violent threats such as "You're dead", "We know where you live" and "We’ll get you". Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) was forced to change his personal cell phone number after Gary Emineth, Chairman of the Republican Party of North Dakota, provided that number and the contact information for Pomeroy's office in Washington, D.C. to delegates and a television audience as Emineth spoke at the state Republican convention. And if those stories aren't frightening enough, here are three more that will surely make you scratch your head.

First on the list is right wing blogger (and resident nutjob) Mike Vanderboegh who posted these comments on his web site: "If you wish to send a message that [Nancy] Pelosi and her party cannot fail to hear, break their windows. Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK THEM. The time has come to take your life, your liberty and that of your children and grandchildren into your own two hands and ACT. It is, after all, more humane than shooting them in self defense." While he receives private health insurance through his wife's employer, Vanderboegh ironically is unemployed and currently receives monthly disability checks for his supposed congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension. Since he rants uncontrollably against the new health care bill, I wonder if he will stop accepting those checks from the evil socialist federal government. I doubt it--most cowards wouldn't.

The second incident involved Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) and the Committee to Rethink Reform. The organization used a photo of Driehaus and his two young daughters in a newspaper ad urging him to vote against any health care reform bill which included federal funding for abortion. (Of course, this despicable action is completely hypocritical. While the organization wants to protect unborn children, they don't seem to have an issue with putting Driehaus's daughters in harm's way by publishing their faces in "The Cincinnati Enquirer".) But the most offensive aspect of this entire situation may be multiple statements from Rep. John Boehner (R-OH). During an interview last week with the National Review Online, Boehner declared that, if Driehaus voted for the health care bill (which he eventually did), Driehaus "may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati." However, on Thursday at his weekly news conference at the United States Capitol, Boehner claimed that "I've said countless times that it's possible to disagree without being disagreeable". Really? Boehner, in an cowardly effort to deflect attention away from his remarks regarding Driehaus, also had this to say: "No one saw this quote until Congressman Driehaus and other people made an issue of it."

The last event, which occurred in my state of Virginia, is truly gutless and clearly the most infuriating of the three. In an apparent attempt to foster the Lynchburg Tea Party's "mutual commitment of respect and understanding", tea bagger Michael Troxel posted the home address of Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-VA) on his blog "just in case any of his friends and neighbors want to drop by and say hi and express their thanks regarding his vote for health care". Troxel also uttered that he was promoting such behavior because nothing communicates your stance better than "a good face to face chat. It has a much more personal touch to it." With that being said, due to the fact that he is not only a coward but also an idiot as well, Troxel failed miserably at putting his Bachelor's degree in Print Journalism from Liberty University (the educational institution founded by Jerry Falwell), as well as his experience as a staff member of the university's newspaper, to good use. Why? Because Troxel, instead of posting Perriello's home address, actually published the home address of Perriello's brother Bo. Honest mistake, right? Maybe. (Although I'm still not sure which half baked web site Troxel used to obtain the incorrect information. I'm also not sure if Troxel has ever uncovered the Perriello's actual address.) However, the problem with Troxel's error is that Bo lives with his wife and four children under the age of eight at that address. As if that wasn't enough, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local authorities started an investigation after a severed propane line was discovered on Bo's property. I'm sure it was just a coincidence--that sort of thing happens all of the time.

There are a couple of side notes on the Perriello/Troxel story. After Troxel posted the address, Nigel Coleman, the organizer of the Danville Tea Party, did the right thing by avoiding due diligence altogether and verifying if the information was correct. Coleman instead decided to just cut and paste the address and then posted it on his Facebook page. At the same time, when he was informed about Troxel's fantastic investigative skills, Coleman's response was more than typical (but cowardly nonetheless): "Do you mean I posted his brother's address on my Facebook? Oh well, collateral damage." When Coleman was informed of the severed propane line, Coleman was "shocked" and "almost speechless" but also uncertain if this event was related to the posting of the home's address.

Last but not least, Kurt Feigel, a blogger and one of Troxel's local colleagues, justified Troxel's actions in an interview with POLITICO.com: "We should be protesting on his front lawn. He betrayed his district." Of course, Feigel is the same coward who operates the SendARope channel on YouTube on which he, among other things, encourages others to threateningly send ropes to politicians with which they disagree.

This Day in History

2010-03-25T08:49:00.005-05:00

Forty-five years today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech on the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery, AL after the successful completion of the march from Selma, AL to Montgomery. Officially titled as "Our God Is Marching On!", the brilliant address is more commonly known as the "How Long? Not Long." speech. Here is an excerpt from the most famous portion of the speech:

"I know you're asking today, 'How long will it take?'. Somebody’s asking, 'How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding and drive bright eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?'. Somebody’s asking, 'When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?'. Somebody’s asking, 'When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified and truth bear it?'.

I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long because truth crushed to earth will rise again.

How long? Not long because no lie can live forever.

How long? Not long because you shall reap what you sow."

To read a full transcript of the speech, you can click on the following link: http://www.mlkonline.net/ourgod.html. This link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAYITODNvlM) will allow you to view a video of a longer version of the above excerpt.

Quote of the Day

2010-03-22T22:50:00.009-05:00

In honor of the United States House of Representatives recently passing the new health care bill, I felt the following quote was appropriate:

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during a speech on May 5, 1966 at the Second National Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights

Upon Further Review, Part I

2010-03-17T11:40:00.018-05:00

I am sure supporters of Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell and Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli feel my and other individuals' criticism that both men are unopposed to discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace is either unwarranted or exaggerated. (Anyone can see that it's neither by reading a January executive directive from McDonnell and a recent statement issued by Cuccinelli.) But in case that isn't enough proof, let's take a closer look at other questionable aspects of the gentlemen's backgrounds:

McDonnell
To fulfill the requirements for the degrees of Master of Arts in Public Policy and Juris Doctor in Law from Regent University (as a reminder, this educational institution was founded by Pat Robertson), McDonnell wrote a thesis titled "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade" in 1989. Here are just some of the excerpts from that thesis:

"Today, the U.S. Census Bureau defines family as 'two or more people related by blood, marriage or adoption and residing under the same roof". Such a definition, while accurate in its sterile terms of defining logistics and membership, fails to include the convenantal bond of commitment at the core of family life." Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), etc. all supposedly had that "convenantal bond of commitment" while they were cheating on their wives. How did that work out for them?
The Family Protection Act of 1981 refused to acknowledge "homosexuality and abortion as acceptable behaviors and actions".
"A dynamic new trend of working women and feminists...is ultimately detrimental to the family."
"The model programs and consensus surveys favored by Republicans largely reflect values that are wholesome and good for individuals and families and should be taught in homes, schools, churches and businesses across the nation." Can someone explain to me then why conservatives complained so much when President Obama delivered his speech earlier this year to the nation's schoolchildren?
"With a character education program, the federal government would not just encourage the development of good character but would assume to authority to define what it is." Sounds a lot like big government to me.
"Democrats are likely to redefine family in a way that labels what was once deviant as acceptable."
"For Democrats, family policy encompasses such concepts as the creation of national health insurance, increased minimum wage, guaranteed minimum income...and mandatory parental leave." The horror!
"Every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators."
"Fight any attempts to redefine family by allowing special rights for homosexuals or single parent unwed mothers."
"The giftedness of the Republican philosophy is that it embraces the talents and worth of all peoples, while Democrats seek to shepherd a nation of powerless incompetents." Unless, of course, certain groups within "all peoples" include homosexuals and single parent unwed mothers.

Cuccinelli
1. During an interview with "The Virginian-Pilot" in October 2009, Cuccinelli refused to commit to a non-discrimination policy against gays and lesbians: "My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think, in a natural law based country, it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents, to put it politely (I need my thesaurus to be polite), behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society."

2. On last year's campaign trail, Cuccinelli plays the role of an alarmist regarding the federal government: "We're gonna have our seventh child on Monday, if he's not born before. And, for the very concerns you state, we're actually considering – as I'm sure many of you here didn't get a Social Security number when you were born, they do it now – we're considering not doing that. And a lot of people are considering that now because it is being used to track you."

3. When asked truly eloquent questions about President Obama's eligibility to be President of the United States, Cuccinelli delivered the following comments:

Q: "What can we do about Obama and the birth certificate thing?"
A: "It'll get tested in my view when someone - he signs a law and someone is convicted of violating it and one of their defenses will be it's not a law because someone qualified to be President didn't sign it."

Q: "How can we get proof?"
A: "Well, that's a good question. Not one I've thought a lot about because it hasn't been part of my campaign. But, I mean, someone is going to have to come forward with nailed down testimony that he was born in place B, wherever that is. You know, the speculation is Kenya. And that doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility."

4. In February of this year, Cuccinelli filed a request for the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to reconvene its proceedings regarding the negative effect of greenhouse gases on public health. According to Cuccinelli, the EPA's findings will supposedly have "far reaching consequences for the citizens of Virginia and the nation".

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-03-14T16:28:00.001-05:00

"They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan." -- Sarah Palin on October 5, 2008 at a fundraising event in San Francisco.

Aside from their role in building schools, Palin delivered another one of her geographical errors while praising U.S. soldiers for "fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values". At least she got that part right.

Disgrace of the Week

2010-03-11T22:13:00.004-05:00

Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell issued Executive Directive 1 yesterday afternoon to address discrimination towards homosexuals. In fact, the edict states that "Discrimination based on factors, such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Therefore, discrimination against enumerated classes of persons set forth in the Virginia Human Rights Act or discrimination against any class of persons without a rational basis is prohibited."

McDonnell was forced to establish these standards of conduct following an offensive letter that Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli delivered to the presidents, rectors and visitors of the state's public colleges and universities. This communication from Cuccinelli declared that the State of Virginia should "prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation', 'gender identity', 'gender expression' or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy".

While McDonnell is being applauded for his actions, it is important to examine this excerpt from Executive Order No. 6, which McDonnell signed just last month: "This order is in furtherance of the stated policy enacted by the General Assembly and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities. The policy permits appropriate employment preferences for veterans and specifically prohibits discrimination against veterans as contemplated by state and federal law." Do you see what is missing? No mention of sexual orientation whatsoever.

Another interesting aspect of this situation is that McDonnell's executive order from February "supersedes and rescinds Executive Order N0. 6, Equal Opportunity, issued by former Gov. Timothy Kaine on January 14, 2006". The 2006 pronouncement from Kaine "specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities. The policy permits appropriate employment preferences for veterans and specifically prohibits discrimination against veterans."

As a graduate of Regent University (the educational institution founded by Pat Robertson), we should not be surprised by McDonnell's aversion to civil rights for non-discrimination. However, during a gubernatorial debate from October of last year, McDonnell delivered this response when asked if he would renew the executive order preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation: "I'm supportive of the, completely supportive of the policies of non-discrimination."

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-03-10T18:29:00.005-05:00

In case you forgot, Palin was caught clearly peeking at her left hand during a question and answer session at February's National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN, with the phrases "Energy", "Budget cuts" (with the word budget crossed out), "Tax" and "Lift American spirits" written on her palm. At a fundraiser on Friday for the Ohio Right to Life organization, Sarah Palin attacked the media for criticizing her for using her hand as a cheat sheet at last month's convention.

Along with stating her disbelief in the fact that "some in the media got all wigged out" about her cheat sheet, Palin also claimed those same members of the media were unable to "argue the content of the words". Content? Here is a portion of her answer at the point when she started looking at her palm: "It would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country so that we can be safe and secure and prosperous again. To have people involved in government who aren't afraid to go that route, not so afraid of the political correctness that, you know, they have to be afraid of what the media would say about them if they were to proclaim their reliance on our creator." Wow, that sure is some hard hitting political content.

In defense of her seventh grade actions, Palin attempts to paraphrase Isaiah 49:16 in her speech: "If it was good enough for God, scribbling on the palm of his hand, it's good enough for me, for us. He says, in that passage, he says 'I wrote your name on the palm of my hand to remember you' and I'm like, 'Okay, I'm in good company.'" Unfortunately for Palin, the actual Bible verse is "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me", which alludes to the Jewish custom of enthusiastically puncturing hands with a representation of the individual's city and temple.

The most frustrating aspect of this whole storyline is that Palin described her cheat sheet as "a poor man's version of a teleprompter" on an episode of "Hannity" on FOX News. (This is clearly another pathetic shot by the Republicans at President Obama's use of a teleprompter for some of his speeches.) However, as you can see from the right hand side of the image above, Queen Hypocrisy herself used a teleprompter during her completely overrated address at the Republican National Convention. (And trust me, there are plenty more where that came from.)

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-03-09T22:34:00.005-05:00

"Canada needs to dismantle its public health care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit." -- Sarah Palin on November 24, 2009.

Despite comments like the one above, Palin relayed the following story during a speech in Calgary on Saturday night: "My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not -- this was in the '60s -- we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse. And I think, isn't that kind of ironic now? Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada."

Ironic indeed. While it is obvious that Skagway is a very small town, I am slightly confused why Palin's family, despite her brother suffering from a burn, had to travel the approximate 109 miles to Whitehorse for medical treatment. This is especially due to the fact that Skagway is only eighteen miles from Haines, AK. And while Haines is not a major city either, its population in 1970 (one year after Palin and her family left Skagway) was close to 1,100. Are you telling me that there wasn't any medical treatment available between those two towns? But that's neither here nor there. What is disconcerting is that Palin seems to continue her practice of altering her stories and background to fit her audience. In May 2007, "The Skagway News" reported a different tale: "Her brother burned his foot badly jumping through a fire and her mother had to take him down to Juneau on the ferry to the hospital." And in case you were wondering, Palin only has one brother and Juneau is approximately ninety-six miles from Skagway.

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-03-07T19:03:00.006-05:00

"I don’t think it will be the day after day after day of ethics violation charges that are frivolous, that are ridiculous. I think, on a national level, your Department of Law there in the White House would look at this, the things we have been charged with, and automatically throw them out, not make somebody hire their own personal attorney to get out there and fight." -- Sarah Palin on July 7, 2009, discussing if she could avoid ethics allegations as the President of the United States.

Palin declared that the ethics violations charges she received (and the time and money the state devoted to the investigations) while Governor of Alaska are supposedly one of the reasons she resigned from her position. And yes, you read the above quote correctly. She said "Department of Law".

Mr. Goose, Meet Mr. Gander

2010-03-06T15:26:00.006-05:00

Republicans are complaining about the Democrats' possible use of the perfectly legal reconciliation process in order to avoid filibusters against President Obama's health care reform bill. As a matter of fact, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) whined in an op-ed piece in "The Washington Post" from earlier this week, claiming the Democrats, in order "to circumvent bipartisan opposition", are considering reconciliation "to ram through the Senate a multitrillion dollar health care bill that raises taxes, increases costs and cuts Medicare to fund a new entitlement we can't afford".

First and foremost, the health care reform bill has been estimated by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office to cost less than $1 trillion, not multitrillion dollars as Hatch maintains. Not only that but the legislation has already been passed in the Senate by a supermajority under the standard rules. Reconciliation is only being discussed as an expedited way to amend the bill, thereby avoiding an expected filibuster by the Republicans. With that being said, along with the excerpts above, Hatch also offered these comments to obviously tug at the heartstrings of the right: "This use of reconciliation to jam through this legislation, against the will of the American people, would be unprecedented in scope. And the havoc wrought would threaten our system of checks and balances, corrode the legislative process, degrade our system of government and damage the prospects of bipartisanship." This certainly sounds a lot different than the Hatch from April 2001 who, while on FOX News, discussed the Republicans' first use of the reconciliation process in the Bush presidency: "I think we can do a reconciliation bill that'll have an overwhelming number of Senators and Congresspeople voting for this $1.3 trillion to $1.6 trillion tax cut." In fact, aside from the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act to which Hatch was referring, the Republican led Congress during the Bush administration utilized the reconciliation process for the following legislation:

Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (criticized for primarily providing tax cuts to corporations and wealthy individuals)
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (this legislation, dubbed the Nursing Home Bankruptcy Act by its opponents, passed the Senate with the tie breaking vote cast by Mr. Cheney)
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the tax cuts in this bill would increase budget deficits by $60 billion in 2003 and $340 billion by 2008)

And let's not forget that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) uttered similar statements last year when the Democrats were considering the reconciliation process in order to pass President Obama's budget plan. (However, Gregg certainly went over the top with his remarks by declaring "You're talking about running over the minority, putting them in cement and throwing them in the Chicago River.") But as is the case with Hatch, Gregg sang a different tune when he was debating the passing of Mr. Bush's tax cuts in 2005 with the help of reconciliation: "Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don't think so." and "If you have fifty-one votes for your position, you win."

Religious Zealotry Is Fun For Everybody, Part II

2010-03-02T19:52:00.007-05:00

In my previous posting, I commented on State Del. Robert Marshall (R-VA) and his recent press conference regarding the state funding received by the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood. And while Marshall continued to unsuccessfully justify his offensive remarks towards disabled children, additional elements of this story have surfaced.

Marshall has claimed that Planned Parenthood receives approximately $500,000 annually from the State of Virginia. However, he was (not surprisingly) unable to provide any evidence for that number when asked to do so. Craig Markva, the Director of Communication at the Department of Medical Assistance Services, stated that the $35,006 Planned Parenthood received in the 2009 fiscal year was strictly from Medicaid re-imbursements. And according to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in January, the Department of Health was engaged in a contract with Planned Parenthood to provide HIV prevention services in juvenile detention centers, for which Planned Parenthood received more than $28,000 during the 2009 fiscal year. Maybe it's just me but there seems to be a rather large gap between $63,000 and $500,000.

Of course, the pro-life nutjobs would lead you to believe that Planned Parenthood is performing abortion after abortion behind closed doors, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. But every rational individual realizes that it is not the case. In fact, the organization provides a number of different services, including general health care (cholesterol screening, flu vaccinations, etc.), HIV testing, hepatitis vaccinations, men's health (infertility screenings, prostate and testicular cancer screenings, etc.) and women's health (breast exams, cervical cancer screenings, etc.)

Aside from Marshall, another issue proving to be just as annoying to Planned Parenthood are pro-choice bills currently in both the Senate and House of Delegates within the General Assembly. Sponsored by the organization itself, this legislation advocates a speciality license plate with the slogan "Trust Women. Respect Choice." and would counteract the "Choose Life” license plate approved by the General Assembly last year. State Del. Todd Gilbert (R-VA) amended the House version of the bill last month, directing a portion of the revenue from the new license plate to the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund managed by the State of Virginia. (Gilbert proposed the amendment because apparently he and his XY chromosomes disagree with the actions of Planned Parenthood: "I don’t know if we’ve ever had a plate that had a message that was inconsistent…with the mission of the sponsoring organization. They consistently do not trust women to make informed choices.")

Now back to what Gilbert proposed. The Department of Motor Vehicles has reported that at least 1,899 of the "Choose Life" license plates have been purchased since 2009, channeling $13,485 to Heartbeat International, a non-profit Christian organization which funds anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers worldwide. Therefore, if the "Choose Life" license plate is directing funds to organizations such as Heartbeat International, then why should the new license plate be responsible for that as well? By the way, up until it was recently reported by "The Washington Post", one pregnancy center, the Mattingly Test Center in Ashburn, VA, was listed as a certified clinic (in other words, in good standing and eligible for funding) on Heartbeat International's web site. This is despite the fact that the Mattingly Test Center is a two-story brick residence with no signs indicating a clinic even exists, no record as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the Internal Revenue Service and no registry as a corporation with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Is it possible that the clinic was listed on the web site for Heartbeat International because it is owned by Linda Mattingly, who is a former Vice President at Care Net, a Virginia based anti-abortion organization similar to Heartbeat International? Kristin Hansen, the Vice President of Communications at Care Net, amazingly claimed that the Mattingly Test Center is "not an entity we are aware of" and its designation as a certified clinic must have been an "inadvertent mistake" by Care Net. And if that wasn't enough, Peggy Hartshorn, the President of Heartbeat International, attempted to avoid the subject, stating the emphasis placed be placed on "the incredible work" that pregnancy centers provide. Hartshorn also contended that officials at Heartbeat International will closely examine pregnancy centers in Virginia as the state funding becomes available. I, of course, would have assumed that was already occurring but I guess not when nepotism comes into play.

Last but not least, representatives from Planned Parenthood have insisted that the revenue earned from the new license plate will not be appropriated for abortions but instead for preventative services, such as cancer and HIV screenings. Gilbert's response? "Well, it certainly frees up other money that they can use for abortion services." This is obviously a complete stretch. That's like saying the funds Heartbeat International receives from the sale of the "Choose Life" license plates are distributed to fake pregnancy centers owned by former executives at similar organizations. Then again, maybe it wasn't a stretch.

Religious Zealotry Is Fun For Everybody, Part I

2010-02-27T20:44:00.013-05:00

Earlier this week, State Del. Robert Marshall (R-VA) responded to comments he uttered last Thursday at a press conference organized to promote the elimination of funding for the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood. Delivered in front of an audience comprised of political leaders, religious clergy and other anti-abortion advocates, Marshall has defended his remarks with less than heartfelt apologies, declaring at one point, "I regret that I was the occasion for this because this is now a huge controversy".

So what exactly did Marshall say? "The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion who have handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the firstborn of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children. In the Old Testament, the firstborn of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest." Well, that's not offensive at all. Yikes. When various disability groups objected to his statements, Marshall replied by stating that he understood how those groups could react "but they are reacting in part to words I never said, never meant and don’t believe". Really? This idiot apparently wants to be taken seriously as a politician but then uses phrases like "nature takes its vengeance?

Now we certainly shouldn't be shocked by Marshall's comments. Let's take a look at just some of the nonsense that has come out of his mouth:

When discussing rape and abortion, Marshall stated that "the woman becomes a sin bearer of the crime because the right of a child predominates over the embarrassment of the woman".
On contraception: "We have no business passing this garbage out and making these co-eds chemical Love Canals for these frat house playboys in Virginia."
While Marshall was the Research Director at the American Life League, he declared that the Norplant contraceptive (implanted under the skin) is "a real tribute to women's intelligence. They feel so irresponsible they can't do something once a day?"
Marshall takes pride in describing himself as a "right wing extremist" and Virginia’s "chief homophobe".

What I find odd about this whole situation is the glaring absence of Sarah Palin. When Rahm Emanuel, the Chief of Staff for President Obama, used the word "retarded" during a closed door meeting, Palin labeled the "slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities" as "unacceptable" and "heartbreaking". At the same time, Marshall uses insulting words such as "vengeance" and "punishment" in reference to disabled children and Palin is deathly silent. It's funny how that works sometimes.

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-02-27T08:44:00.004-05:00

Gaylord Parkinson, the former Chairman of the California Republican Party, once remarked that "Thou shall not speak ill of any Republican". In this day and age of a highly partisan political climate, it is apparent that not everyone received Parkinson's memo. During a recent interview with "Newsmax" magazine, Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida, discussed a variety of topics, including Sarah Palin and her viability as a presidential candidate. And while Bush attributed Palin's appeal to the conservative base to the fact that she is "a natural" and "charismatic", the praise for the former Governor of Alaska stopped there:

Ouch. To paraphrase Bush, Palin would serve as a strong candidate for higher office if she possessed any amount of "intellectual curiosity". In other words, she's not smart enough for the White House. (Finally a member of the Bush family that I can support, at least on this topic.) What is ironic about Bush's assault on Palin's intelligence is that, in an interview with the magazine last year, Palin uttered the following comments: "Let me start off by thanking you so much for your daily updates. If it weren't for Newsmax, there'd be a lot of us wondering what the heck was going on that day. It is very valuable, very helpful and I appreciate all that you guys are doing to get a good message out there." So why couldn't she at least list Newsmax as a news source she read when she was interviewed by Couric in 2008?

Northern Exposure of the Day

2010-02-26T19:48:00.005-05:00

You can easily gather from the quotes above that Sarah Palin does not support President Obama's plan for health care reform. Those same quotes would probably lead you to believe that neither she nor any member of her immediate family would receive socialized health care, correct? Think again. Recently released court documents from the custody battle between Palin's daughter, Bristol, and her ex-boyfriend Levi Johnston clearly reflect that Palin's grandson, Tripp Palin Johnston, does just that. In fact, those documents state that Levi Johnston is not required to purchase health insurance for his son because "the majority of Tripps's health care costs are already covered by [the Indian Health Service] and the Alaska Native Medical Center". Levi was not mandated to do so because Tripp is "an enrolled tribal member of Curyung Tribal Council within the Bristol Bay Native Association Consortium".

The Evil Known As Buddhism

2010-02-24T21:11:00.001-05:00

Brit Hume of FOX News has taken it upon himself to criticize Tiger Woods once again for the professional golfer's religion and, in turn, his extramarital affairs. Following Woods's televised apology, Hume uttered the following comments on Monday's "The O'Reilly Factor": "I think, because I'm a Christian and I believe that Christianity is true, that Tiger Woods and his wife Elin would be a lot farther down the road toward forgiveness and redemption if they were both Christians. But they're not. And they're going to do the best they can with what they have."

"With what they have"? Is he referring to a religion practiced by approximately 350 million individuals worldwide? A religion which assists its followers in achieving nirvana and escaping a cycle of suffering and rebirth. But maybe Hume has a point. Let's take a quick look at this list of Christian "leaders": Tony Alamo, James Bakker, Ted Haggard and Jimmy Swaggart. With moral and honest individuals like that to emulate, why isn't everyone a Christian?

This is not the first occasion that Hume has criticized Woods and his religion. On an episode of "FOX News Sunday" from last month, Hume had the audacity to deliver these remarks regarding Woods: "The extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world'."

Game, Set, Match

2010-02-21T21:09:00.009-05:00

On last Sunday's airing of "Geraldo at Large" on FOX News, the ultimate blowhard Ann Coulter provided her ludicrous commentary on the recent verbal sparring between Vice President Biden and Mr. Cheney over terrorism and both the current and former national security policy. Aside from declaring that she "would have been with Dick Cheney" on every issue concerning national security, Coulter insulted Vice President Biden by calling him a "drunken Irishman". She also remarked that having Vice President Biden respond to Mr. Cheney's statements is akin to "sending out the White House dog, saying 'We so don't respect you, we're sending in Joe Biden'".

First of all, Vice President Biden has never taken even one drink of alcohol, admitting frankly that there are "too many alcoholics in my family". Therefore, Coulter has managed in all of her infinite wisdom to label an individual who does not partake in alcohol as "drunken". But just when you think that Coulter is finished, her shrill voice unfortunately utters this gem: "How about comparing Joe Biden with Sarah Palin? She's twenty million times more qualified than he is." You can tell by the tone in her voice that she really doesn't believe what she just said. However, if, for some reason, she actually does, let's examine her comments by comparing Vice President Biden and Palin:

Current Position
Biden: Vice President of the United States
Palin: Political commentator for FOX News Channel
Score: Biden 1, Palin 0

Previous Position
Biden: United States Senator for thirty-six years (the fourteenth longest serving Senator in history)
Palin: Governor of Alaska (the least densely populated state in the country) for less than three years, resigning eighteen months before the completion of her term
Score: Biden 2, Palin 0

Education
Biden: Bachelor's in History and Political Science from the wonderful University of Delaware and Juris Doctor from Syracuse University, College of Law
Palin: Attended Hawai'i Pacific University, North Idaho College, the University of Idaho and Matanuska-Susitna College before returning to the University of Idaho and obtaining a Bachelor's in Communications
Score: Biden 3, Palin 0

Other Previous Positions/Roles
Biden: Former Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, former Chairperson of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, former Chairperson of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, former Co-Chairperson of the Senate NATO Observer Group, former member of the New Castle County Council, former adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, former attorney and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Close Up Foundation
Palin: Former Chairperson of the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission; former mayor of Wasilla, AK; former President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors and a former member of the Wasilla City Council

Is there a need to continue counting at this point?

This Unfortunate Day in History

2010-02-21T18:13:00.005-05:00

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X began a speech at a meeting of the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan when a disturbance broke out in the audience. A man stood up and yelled, "Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!" As the bodyguards of Malcolm X moved towards the man in order to quiet the commotion, another man from the audience rushed forward and shot Malcolm X in the chest with a sawed off shotgun. Two other men charged the stage and fired handguns, hitting Malcolm X an additional 16 times. Malcolm X was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at Columbia University Medical Center. He was survived by his wife and six daughters, including twins born after his assassination.

Because of the fact that Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were very public figures in the same time period, Malcolm X's legacy has been tarnished in the eyes of some individuals. Since Dr. King preached the notion of non-violence on a daily basis, Malcolm X is extremely misunderstood and often viewed as a very militant individual, especially with his use of the phrase "by any means necessary". This view was intensified after that particular phrase was combined with a photograph of Malcolm X standing by a window holding a machine gun. However, the photograph was originally taken as a warning against Nation of Islam members who had already threatened Malcolm X's life. (In fact, the reason that Malcolm X was murdered is because he publicly spoke out against the Nation of Islam after leaving the organization due to his fundamental issues with the Nation of Islam and its leader, Elijah Muhammad. And one of the individuals behind the assassination plot, regardless of his denials, was Louis Farrakhan, who is now the Supreme Minister and National Representative of the Nation of Islam.) But by merging the photograph with the "by any means necessary" phrase, the image appears to be a call to arms for the black population. And if you look at the phrase in its full context ("We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence via any means necessary."), you can see that Malcolm X is calling for his African-American brothers and sisters to stand up and take their rightful place in society. The full impact of the legacy of Malcolm X can be viewed in the eulogy that actor and activist Ossie Davis delivered in remembrance of the slain leader: "There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times. Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, controversial and bold young captain - and we will smile. Many will say 'Turn away - away from this man, for he is not a man but a demon, a monster, a subverter and an enemy of the black man' - and we will smile. They will say that he is of hate - a fanatic, a racist - who can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle! And we will answer and say to them, 'Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did, you would know him. And if you knew him, you would know why we must honor him."

Swing and a Miss

2010-02-19T18:16:00.015-05:00

At the beginning of his remarks earlier this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mitt Romney delivered a futile stab at humor: "I spent the weekend in Vancouver. As always, the Olympic Games were inspiring. But in case you didn’t hear the late breaking news, the gold medal in the downhill was taken away from American Lindsey Vonn. It was determined that President Obama is going downhill faster than she is." Romney's attempt at a joke may have actually even been slightly amusing to supporters of President Obama if the rest of his speech didn't contain numerous inaccuracies and a baseless defense of the Bush "legacy". The following is a list of other ridiculous excerpts from Romney's speech:

"[President Obama] himself promised change of biblical proportion. And given his filibuster proof Senate and lopsided House, he had everything he needed to deliver it." -- Even before Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) won the special election in January, the Democrats only held fifty-eight seats in the Senate. Yes, two other seats were held by Independents, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), but we all know which side of the aisle Lieberman truly supports.
"Remember the B+ grade [President Obama] gave himself for his first year? Tell that to the four million Americans who lost their jobs last year and to the millions more who stopped looking." -- Let's not forget that President Obama inherited an economy in the midst of a recession, an economy which suffered 2.6 million job losses in 2008.
Romney complained about "the absence of any meaningful sanctions against Iran even as it funds terror and races to become a nuclear nation". -- Last year President Obama extended the sanctions against Iran which had been established in 1995. And then just a few days before Romney's speech, Obama announced that his administration, in conjunction with international officials, will be "developing a significant regime of sanctions".
"President Obama’s self-proclaimed B+ will go down in history as the biggest exaggeration since Al Gore’s invention of the Internet!" -- It is utterly amazing to me that Republicans still resort to the Al Gore/Internet reference after all this time. However, as many people (including yours truly) have reported, much more knowledgeable individuals disagree with Romney's stance on Gore's role in this area. This is clearly evident by the following quotes from Internet pioneers Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn: "Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development...The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening...As far back as the 1970s, Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system...As a Senator in the 1980s, Gore urged government agencies to consolidate what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks into an 'Interagency Network'...The Gore sponsored High Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991 supported the National Research and Education Network (NREN) initiative, which became one of the major vehicles for the spread of the Internet beyond the field of computer science...Gore provided much needed political support for the speedy privatization of the Internet when the time arrived for it to become a commercially driven operation...No one in public life has been more intellectually engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the [former] Vice President...The [former] Vice President deserves credit for his early recognition of the value of high speed computing and communication and for his long term and consistent articulation of the potential value of the Internet to American citizens and industry and, indeed, to the rest of the world."
"As Everett Dirksen used to say, 'When they felt the heat, they saw the light'." -- Nice try, Mitt. Actually former Sen. Dirksen (R-IL) was frequently quoted as saying "When I feel the heat, I see the light".
"My party should never be a rubber stamp for rubber check spending." -- Figures from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office show that Bush was actually the largest spender since President Lyndon Johnson and that his spending increases were far larger than the three previous Presidents.
"We conservatives don’t have a corner on saying no; we’re just the ones who say it when that’s the right thing to do!" -- Earlier this month, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) placed a blanket hold on at least seventy nominations President Obama sent to the Senate until two lucrative programs were approved, sending more than $40 billion in taxpayer dollars to his home state.
"I am convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly. He pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9/11, he overcame teachers unions to test school children and evaluate schools, he took down the Taliban, waged a war against the jihadists and was not afraid to call it what it is - a war - and he kept us safe." -- Yes, the recession following 9/11 (which Mr. Bush did nothing to stop despite the intelligence he received) did end during his administration. However, the most recent recession started while he was in the White House due to his lack of action. His No Child Left Behind Act has been widely criticized for multiple reasons, including a system of incentives and penalties which motivates schools, districts and states to manipulate test results. As far as the Taliban is concerned, the Islamist movement continued its resurgence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009. In fact, the Taliban was blamed for the violence prior to August's presidential election in Afghanistan. And although Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a top commander in the Taliban, was arrested this week, terrorism and insurgency experts believe that Baradar's capture will only have a short term effect because the Taliban has proven itself to be "a resilient organization". And "he kept us safe"? See my comment above regarding 9/11.
"I also respect the loyalty and indefatigable defense of truth that comes from our 'I don’t give a damn' Vice President Dick Cheney!" -- Does this truth include Mr. Cheney's cowardly and irresponsible claims that Richard Clarke, the chief counterterrorism advisor for Mr. Bush, was responsible for 9/11?
"Ronald Reagan used to say this about liberals: 'It’s not that they’re ignorant, it’s that what they know is wrong'." -- Wrong again, Mitt. What President Reagan said was this: "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
"Conservatism has had, from its inception, a vigorously positive, intellectually rigorous agenda. That agenda should have three pillars: strengthen the economy, strengthen our security and strengthen our families." -- Unless your family contains a homosexual couple.

Let the Games Begin!

2010-02-19T18:08:00.002-05:00

As fans of my blog have noticed, I had put my blog on hold for the last few months because I have been so busy with work, family, etc. However, due to the current political climate (and my love of voicing my opinion), I have decided to restart the blog in full force. Therefore, you will start to see new postings as early as this weekend. By the way, due to my utter disdain for her and her actions, I will be adding a regular "Sarah Palin Watch" segment to my blog. Enjoy!

And Republicans Complain About Big Government?

2009-10-28T22:32:00.009-05:00

The Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act was originally scheduled to take effect last Sunday in the progressive State of Oklahoma. As a result of this legislation, the State Department of Health will now be required to publish data concerning all patients who have abortions performed in the state on a public web site. Any physicians who fail to provide such information will be subject to numerous penalties, including fines, criminal prosecution and/or loss of their medical licenses. (By the way, I use the term "originally" in my initial statement because the enforcement of this ridiculous law has fortunately been postponed due to a legal challenge from the Center for Reproductive Rights.)

Despite the numerous complaints, supporters of the Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act denied the fact that the legislation violates a patient's right to privacy and, in turn, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This legislation from 1996 mandates the establishment of guidelines which ensure patient information is "utilized in a manner that appropriately protects the confidentiality of the information and the privacy of individuals receiving health care services and items". However, these supporters continue to deny these privacy violations although physicians will be required to report, among other things, the following information on all abortion patients:

1. County in which abortion performed
2. Age of mother
3. Marital status of mother
4. Race of mother
5. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
6. Reason given for abortion
7. Was the abortion necessary to save the life of the mother?
8. Did the pregnancy result from an act of forcible rape? or Did the pregnancy result from an act of incest committed against a minor?
9. If the female was a minor at the time of conception, please indicate the age of the father of the unborn child at the time of conception?

And these are just nine of the up to thirty-seven questions (with some of them requiring extensive details) that physicians will be required to answer for every patient. And although such detailed detailed demographic information would allow for the identification of certain patients, especially those women who live in small towns. But even with this glaring evidence staring him in the face, State Rep. Daniel Sullivan (R) , the Republican visionary who authored the bill, obviously has a different opinion: "There's no way a person can be singled out or identified the way it would be listed." Tell that to, for example, the fifteen-year-old African-American girl in the town of Davidson (population 0f 375 estimated by the United States Census Bureau in July 2007), who is being ridiculed after it was discovered that she had an abortion. The town of Davidson whose population, according to the 2000 census was 1.33% African-American. Yes, Mr. Sullivan, I am sure that no one could ever be identified from this site. With that being said, Sullivan's defense of the supposed actual purpose of the legislation may be even more offensive. Claiming the data generated by the new bill will be used to educate the demographics with high rates of unwanted pregnancies, Sullivan provided this statement to FOX News: "If there's something that we can do to positively impact that segment of that population -- and have a lowering effect on those rates -- then we want to be able to look at what policy decisions we can make."

Despite the absurdity of the Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act, this isn't the first time that the State of Oklahoma has attempted to enact an unconstitutional law regarding abortion procedures. Last year the state legislature passed a bill which required the following to be performed on every abortion patient (regardless of the situation):

1. Perform an obstetric ultrasound.
2. Provide a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting.
3. Display the ultrasound images so that the pregnant woman may view those images.
4. Provide a medical description of the ultrasound images, including the dimensions of the embryo or fetus and the presence of external members and internal organs (if present and viewable).

The law was introduced by Sen. Todd Lamb (R) because he "wanted to encourage life in society. In Oklahoma, society is on the side of life." (As if wasn't everywhere else.) Luckily this particular piece of legislation was overturned in August of this year by an Oklahoma County District judge because the law violated constitutional requirements.

This Day in History

2009-10-26T22:12:00.004-05:00

Sixty-two years ago today, the current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was born at Edgewater Medical Center in Chicago, IL to Hugh and Dorothy Rodham. Aside from her present role within the Obama administration, Clinton has also served as First Lady of the United States and as a Senator for the State of New York. Despite the fact that Republicans have continually attacked her and her family ever since former President Bill Clinton announced his plans in 1992 to run for the White House, Clinton has remained a prominent figure in politics. And I will openly admit that, even if I disagreed with Clinton's ideology (which I don't), I would be extremely proud if my two daughters looked up to Clinton as an idol and wanted to follow in her footsteps. Of course, my daughters will be raised properly and with the ability to see through the female disgraces on the right, such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Ann Coulter.

Maybe Senility Is Settling In

2009-10-19T21:14:00.011-05:00

On Friday, President Obama and former President George H.W. Bush commemorated the twentieth anniversary of President Bush's "Thousand Points of Light" speech by hosting a Presidential Forum on Service at the George Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Texas A&M University. The event honored the tremendous advances in the service movement which was started during President Bush's administration and has been sustained and expanded through the leadership of President Clinton and President Obama. President Bush issued a letter the day before, asking the "Texas A&M Family" for their assistance in showing "the open, decent and welcoming Aggie spirit" to President Obama.

Despite his letter of civility regarding President Obama's visit, President Bush conducted a radio interview with CBS News which contained a slightly different message. Although President Bush preached during the interview that President Obama is "entitled to civil treatment and intellectual honesty when it comes to critics", he then proceeds to insult MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann by describing them as "a couple of sick puppies". President Bush continued with the following hypocritical comments:

"The way they, the way they treat my son and treat anybody that's opposed to their point of view is just horrible."
"When our son was President, they just hammered him mercilessly, and I think obscenely, a lot of the time."
During a discussion regarding the critics of his son's wonderful tenure in the White House, President Bush stated that those individuals "weren't singled out as much as they should have been".
Regardless of the fact he labeled Maddow and Olbermann as "sick puppies", President Bush declared that harsh criticism "should not be par for the course. To the degree it turns off one student or one person from serving, that's bad."

This lesson in civility comes from the man who hired Roger Ailes as his media strategist for his 1988 presidential campaign against former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Ailes, the current President of FOX News Channel and Chairman of the FOX Television Stations Group, was once described by fellow lowlife Lee Atwater as possessing "two speeds -- attack and destroy". When contemplating the content of a campaign commercial concerning William Horton, a convicted felon from Massachusetts who committed assault, armed robbery and rape while released on a weekend furlough program, Ailes remarked that "The only question is whether we depict [Horton] with a knife in his hand or without it". As the executive producer of the short lived television show, "The Rush Limbaugh Show", Ailes referred to President Bill Clinton as the "hippie President" and verbally attacked the so-called "liberal bigots".

This Day in History

2009-10-18T13:05:00.002-05:00

On this day in 1867, the United States formally took possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre. Now I am aware of the fact that this transaction for such a beautiful part of the world was a tremendous deal and I am sure that the majority of the state's residents are wonderful individuals. However, based on what I know about and have seen from a certain Alaskan family, is it too late for us to give the territory back?

Riding (But Ignoring) Coattails

2009-10-17T17:51:00.009-05:00

When the Nobel Foundation announced last week that the organization was awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama, it is certainly safe to say that a large portion of the international community was surprised, including the President himself. I tend to hold the same opinion of many other individuals about the fact that President Obama probably received the award more for the anticipation and potential for peace and diplomacy as opposed to the actual realization up to this point.

Although I agree there were more deserving individuals for the award than President Obama, I must completely dispute the argument from the right that the Nobel Peace Prize is now tainted or not as meaningful. Let's not forget that this is an award whose nominees include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin (Enough said.) and whose recipients include Yasser Arafat (a known terrorist), Henry Kissinger (a warmonger) and Shimon Peres (massacred hundreds of Lebanese). Therefore, you will have to excuse me if I don't protest President Obama's award because it is obvious that the Nobel Peace Prize has become highly political.

With that being said, I am bewildered most by one objector in particular: Michael Steele. I certainly expected the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) to release a statement against President Obama receiving the award and I certainly expected his comments to be immaturely along these lines: "It is unfortunate that the President's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain -- President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility or backing up rhetoric with concrete action." However, I am amazed that Steele would begin his statement with this sentence: "The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?'." While his election as the first African-American President has no bearing on the issues our country currently faces, it is most truly an enormous accomplishment which provides tremendous hope to millions of people worldwide.

What I am most frustrated about with Steele's comments is his inability to realize (or desire not to admit) the fact that President Obama's election accomplished one more feat: his Chairman of the RNC. Does Steele honestly believe that, if an African-American had not been elected to the White House, he would be in the position he is in today? President Obama got Steele elected without even voting for him! The Republican Party is attempting to use Steele in order to hopefully attract voters from a group that they have continuously ignored year after year. Now don't get me wrong. With remarks such as the ones below from just one interview on "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on ABC Radio earlier this year, it is obvious that Steele and the Republican Party know what they're doing. (By the way, this interview occurred less than a month after Steele assumed office in his new role.)

When discussing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (who was born to immigrants from India), Steele offered "some slum love out to my buddy. Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing a friggin' awesome job in his state."
In describing President Obama's stimulus package, Steele uttered: "There's a lot of bling bling -- the bling bling's got bling bling in this package. That's how bad it is."
"[The Republican Party] has got to take it's head out of it's you know what and recognize that America doesn't look like America in 1952. That America now is something very different, very beautiful -- that has a lot of strips and strains to it. But it's real and we've got to get in the real."
In response to Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and her opinion that Steele's new "hip-hop" strategy isn't "going to work", Steele claimed: "I'm not stupid. I was born in [Washington, D.C.] on 8th Street. I know what's up. I know what time it is. I used to hang out in Brooklyn and in the Bronx as a teenager. I know what the real world is like."
After Sliwa informed Steele that he was going to play a song from Jay-Z, Steele responded with "There you go, playa".

Hypocrisy/Insult of the Week

2009-10-16T19:18:00.007-05:00

The employees of FOX News are bent out of shape after members of the Obama administration criticized the network earlier this week. Anita Dunn, the interim White House Communications Director, stated "The reality of it is that FOX News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it's not ideological but what I think is fair to say about FOX, and certainly the way we view it, is that it's really more a wing of the Republican Party." Not to be outdone, Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, offered this comment when addressing Dunn's previous comments: "I have watched many stories on that network that I found not to be true." In response, Glenn Beck informed the audience of his self titled television show on FOX News that he had installed a telephone for the White House to use in case the network incorrectly reported any information.

Aside from the telephone devoted to the Obama administration, Beck uttered that "They're more worried about the war on FOX than the actual war in Afghanistan". With that being said, an analysis of Beck's program by POLITICO.com proves that this is clearly an instance of the pot calling the kettle black. The following are the threats (listed by the frequency of the words used) that Beck has discussed since his show began on FOX News on January 19th (the day before President Obama's inauguration):

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN): 1,224
Czars: 533
Socialist/socialism: 404
Communist/communism: 330
Liberals: 272
Service Employees International Union (SEIU): 259
Community organizer/organizing: 167
Marxist/Marxism: 127
Afghanistan: 97
Iraq: 95
Troops: 95
Soldiers: 52
Al-Qaeda: 50
Left wing: 43
Taliban: 38

Beck's list of individual enemies targeted on his show is also lacking when it comes to international terrorists:

Van Jones: 267
Valerie Jarrett: 52
Mark Lloyd: 50
William Ayers: 46
John Holdren: 43
Jeremiah Wright: 42
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 41
Osama bin Laden: 40
Kim Jong Il: 7
Mullah Omar: 2
Najibullah Zazi: 0

These numbers do not apply to Beck's program alone because the entire network has undergone a dramatic shift since President Obama entered the White House. Reporting extensively on terrorism during the Bush administration, FOX News has, much like the conservative movement overall, has turned its focus towards a smear campaign on the Obama administration and the Democratic Party.

Beck did briefly touch on the subject of Afghanistan last week when he, on the eight-year anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, offered these remarks: "A real quick mention of a couple of things. Eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, almost eight hundred Americans killed. Thank you, families, for your sacrifice. This has been happening in Afghanistan when we struck back against the terrorists. Eight years -- eight years. Do you really think, if we were really fighting to win and our politicians were serious, we would still be there?" But in true Glenn Beck fashion (and the entire network, for that matter), he embarrassed himself by continuing to speak: "And another anniversary -- FOX News Channel began its journey thirteen years ago. I'm proud to be part of the family." And there you have it. While FOX News has continually attacked President Obama since he entered the White House, the network's crying and whining poster boy accuses the White House of ignoring the war in Afghanistan. However, when he finally does mention the topic of Afghanistan, Beck minimizes the issue and, in turn, insults the troops in that area by also bringing up another ridiculous anniversary.

Kiss My Czars!

2009-10-16T15:05:00.006-05:00

A number of issues (including the financial crisis, health care reform and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) have garnered the headlines over the last few months (and deservedly so). However, there is one storyline that has been forgotten so I wanted to address it now. With potentially the most ironic name in all of politics, the Brainroom at FOX News recently compiled a supposed "detailed" (code word for highly exaggerated) list of the thirty-two "czars" that President Obama has added to his administration since he entered the White House in January. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, the informal title of czar (for example, drug czar) is given to certain high level officials in the executive branch who either direct or manage federal operations on a specific topic or coordinate policies between different departments on a given topic. Numerous fringe web sites have posted similar lists on this topic but, for this posting, I will use the one developed by the Brainroom and subsequently posted on the web site of the crying lunatic otherwise known as Glenn Beck.

Before I address the aforementioned list, it is important to point out that the czar title is an extremely subjective term and that President Obama, as Republicans would have you believe, did not create the czar role in the United States government. (Couldn't you refer to anyone serving as a department Secretary as a "czar" of some type? You could but it just wouldn't make sense.) As a matter of fact, the media has referred to appointed executive branch officials as czars since the early 1940s and President Richard Nixon appointed his drug czar in 1971. However, conservatives want you to believe that President Obama has drastically overstepped the boundaries in this area when compared to previous administrations. (By the way, for a portion of my research, I utilized the list published on Wikipedia. Now while I am definitely not taking the word of Wikipedia as gospel, I must emphasize that so-called czars are only included in the web site's list if, first and foremost, a political opponent or member of the media have referred to these individuals as czars in a citable publication. With all of that out of the way, let's take a look at the czar list from Brainroom, as well as czars from the Bush administration:

1. Afghanistan Czar--Richard Holbrooke
NOTE: It certainly seems to be an enormous stretch to label the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan as a "czar". This is highlighted even more by the fact that, in 2001, Mr. Bush appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as his Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan but Khalilzad was never labeled as any type of czar. According to the web site for the previous administration, the Special Presidential Envoy is "a representative to the Afghan people". Well, that sounds completely different.

2. AIDS Czar--Jeffrey Crowley
NOTE: This role and the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) were both created in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.
Bush: During his two terms in the White House, Mr. Bush appointed three individuals to the role of Director of the ONAP and all three have been criticized for, among other things, their poor performance.

3. Auto Recovery Czar--Edward Montgomery
NOTE: See below in information for Car Czar.

4. Border Czar--Alan Bersin
NOTE: Holding an extremely similar position under President Clinton, Bersin serves as the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And although Bersin was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the United States Senate was also required.
Bush: Numerous members of the Texas State Senate spoke with the White House in 2001 about the idea of creating a border czar. However, the Bush administration decided against the border czar role and instead assigned the tasks of this particular individual within the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and then eventually within the DHS. Thank goodness Bersin won't be working under the DHS. Hey, wait a minute!

5. California Water Czar--David Hayes (not on Wikipedia's list)
NOTE: Hayes serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, which is the same position that he held during the Clinton administration. Therefore, labeling Hayes as the "California water czar" just because that will be one of his major focuses during the Obama administration is absolutely ridiculous. And while Hayes was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: The Bush administration was and continues to be consistently criticized for its lack of support for California in the state's struggle to fix the water supply and environmental crises it has been experiencing.

6. Car Czar--Ron Bloom
NOTE: Nothing underscores how truly absurd this czar list truly is than if you conduct any sort of research on the "car czar". Multiple sources will name Ron Bloom as that individual while others will mention Edward Montgomery (the aforementioned "auto recovery czar").
Bush: At the end of last year, the Bush administration (specifically former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson) was considering the adoption of a plan which would select a car czar with oversight responsibilities concerning the financial troubles of the American automobile industry. Sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?

7. Central Region Czar--Dennis Ross
NOTE: Ross previously served as the Director of Policy Planning under President George H.W. Bush and then the Special Middle East Envoy under President Clinton. Due to his knowledge of that particular area of the world, Ross recently joined the staff of the National Security Council as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region (encompassing the Afghanistan, the Middle East, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf and South Asia). Seriously? Are we now labeling members of the National Security Council as "czars"?
Bush: As was the case with my earlier mention of Zalmay Khalilzad and his role as Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan, Mr. Bush named other individuals (Anthony Zinni, for example) for similar roles who handled the same region with which Ross is supporting.

8. Climate Czar--Todd Stern
NOTE: Once again, this czar list proves its absurdity if you conduct research on the "climate czar". Multiple sources will name Todd Stern as that individual while others will mention Carol Browner (the soon to be discussed "energy and environment czar"). With that being said, Stern served in a similar role as the Coordinator for Climate Change under President Clinton.

9. Domestic Violence Czar--Lynn Rosenthal
NOTE: During the announcement of Rosenthal's appointment, Vice President Biden, who spearheaded the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, stated that this topic "has not been a front and center issue for the last eight years on the national agenda".

10. Drug Czar--Gil Kerlikowske
NOTE: The term "drug czar" was first used when Jerome Jaffe was named as the Chief of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP) by President Nixon. And although Kerlikowske was appointed to his role by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: John Walters served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for all eight years of Mr. Bush's presidency. Otherwise known as the "drug czar", Walters eventually allocated more than $100 billion to the war on drugs. At the same time, illegal drug use among American adults during the Bush administration remained virtually unchanged. In fact, during his testimony in May of this year before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, John Carnevale, the former Director of Planning and Budget at the ONDCP, remarked that "The strategy totally failed to achieve any progress in this key goal area established by the previous administration".

11. Economic Czar--Paul Volcker
NOTE: It is certainly a stretch for someone in an unpaid, part time position to be viewed as a "czar". Nonetheless, that is the title that has been bestowed upon Volcker is in his role as Chairman of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Bush: When Mr. Bush appointed the Directors of the National Economic Council (four separate Directors during his presidency) and the Secretary of the Treasury (Henry Paulson, who was the last of three to hold this post during Mr. Bush's administration), multiple media sources referred to all of these individuals as "economic czars".

12. Energy and Environment Czar--Carol Browner
NOTE: See above in information for Climate Czar.
Bush: Despite his approach towards the environment and smart energy, I should point out that the two individuals who ironically served as Secretary of Energy during Mr. Bush's presidency were referred to as "energy czars".

13. Faith Based Czar--Joshua DuBois
Bush: This term started to be utilized after Mr. Bush created the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) in January 2001. By the way, four separate individuals served as Director of the OFBCI by the time Mr. Bush's presidency thankfully ended.

14. Government Performance Czar--Jeffrey Zients
NOTE: Aside from the fact that he needed to be confirmed by the Senate, Zients's official position is Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget.

15. Great Lakes Czar--Cameron Davis
NOTE: Davis was actually appointed by Lisa Jackson, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to manage President Obama's initiative to clean up the Great Lakes.

16. Green Jobs Czar--Van Jones (resigned on September 5th)
NOTE: As I stated in my comment regarding President Obama's supposed "climate czar", we certainly would not have expected Mr. Bush to have anyone focusing on jobs which improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources.

17. Guantanamo Closure Czar--Daniel Fried
NOTE: As the Special Envoy to Guantanamo, Fried serves as a member of an interagency committee chaired by Attorney General Eric Holder and responsible for reviewing the cases of the remaining captives in the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Fried's position has a rank equivalent to that of an ambassador. However, that has not stopped conservatives such as Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) from labeling him as a "czar". By the way, please keep in mind that, as I have pointed out in previous postings, the base established at Guantanamo Bay by the U.S. military is completely illegal.
Bush: This Pandora's box was opened by Mr. Bush so he, of course, never designated an individual to concentrate on closing the prison.

18. Health Czar--Nancy-Ann DeParle
NOTE: Holding the position of Director of the Health Care Financing Administration under President Clinton, DeParle currently serves as the Director of the Office of Health Reform.

19. Information Czar--Vivek Kundra
NOTE: Kundra is the first individual to serve as the Federal Chief Information Officer after being appointed by President Obama. With that being said, this position was created during the Bush presidency through the E-Government Act of 2002. Kundra will also serve as the E-Government and Information Technology Administrator.

20. Intelligence Czar--Dennis Blair
NOTE: In the role of the Director of National Intelligence, Blair is responsible for heading the sixteen-member Intelligence Community and managing and directing the National Intelligence Program, while serving as a principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. Does this sound like someone who should simply be labeled a "czar" to you? And although Blair was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: While the Director of National Intelligence position was not created until Bush signed it into law in December 2004, Bush also issued an executive order in July 2008 to expand the role.

21. Mideast Peace Czar--George Mitchell
NOTE: Appointed by Secretary of State Clinton, Mitchell is currently serving as a Special Envoy to the Middle East. As I have pointed out with other entries on this list, individuals (Khalilzad, Zinni, etc.) in similar envoy roles during the Bush administration were not labeled as czars.

22. Pay Czar--Kenneth Feinberg
NOTE: Following his appointment by the Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Feinberg was tasked with examining the executive compensation practices of companies which received funds from the federal bailout program. As is the case with Paul Volcker, Feinberg is performing his responsibilities as an unpaid employee. Feinberg also served in a pro bono role during the Bush administration when he was appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft as the Special Master of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

23. Regulatory Czar--Cass Sunstein
NOTE: Even though Sunstein was appointed by President Obama to the post of the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: Susan Dudley, the second individual to hold the position of the Administrator of the OIRA, was originally nominated by Mr. Bush in July 2006. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs conducted a hearing on Dudley's nomination in November of the same year but did not vote on her confirmation. Mr. Bush then re-nominated Dudley in January 2007, appointed her as a senior advisor to the OIRA later that month and then granted Dudley with a recess appointment as the Administrator of the OIRA in April 2007.

24. Science Czar--John Holdren
NOTE: Aside from being the Co-Chairman of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Holdren will serve as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. And although Holdren was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.

25. Stimulus Accountability Czar--Earl Devaney
NOTE: As the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior, Devaney has been responsible for "overseeing the administration of a nationwide independent program of audits, evaluations and investigations" of the agency's programs and operations since 1999. Therefore, Devaney was appointed to his role as the Chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board in order to manage the $787 billion from the American Recovery and Re-Investment Act.

26. Sudan Czar--Scott Gration (not on Wikipedia's list)
NOTE: Despite the fact that Mr. Bush appointed three individuals to the post of Special Envoy to Sudan, President Obama's selection (Gration) is the only one of the four labeled as a czar.

27. TARP Czar--Herbert Allison
NOTE: As a member of the Department of the Treasury, Allison serves as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability. So yes, the right has attempted to describe a high ranking official within the Department of the Treasury as a "czar". And similar to the individual performing the same role during the Bush administration, Allison was required to be confirmed by the Senate following his appointment by President Obama.
Bush: The post of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability was created in October 2008 while Mr. Bush was still in the White House.

28. Technology Czar--Aneesh Chopra
NOTE: Chopra serves as the Federal Chief Technology Officer and the Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. And although Chopra was appointed to his post by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.

29. Terrorism Czar--John Brennan
NOTE: In his role as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Brennan reviews options for the Homeland Security Council, including the council's responsibility for preparing for and responding to natural and terrorism related domestic disasters. However, despite the fact that the title of Assistant to the President is the highest rank any staff member of the White House staffer can hold, the right wing has decided to label Brennan as a czar.
Bush: Two separate individuals, Richard Clarke (who also served under President Clinton) and Wayne Downing, were referred to as "terrorism czars" during the Bush administration. As a matter of fact, along with his position as Deputy National Security Advisor, Downing also served as the National Director for Combating Terrorism, which was a new role created by Bush.

30. Urban Affairs Czar--Adolfo Carrion
Bush: Considering the assistance his administration provided to the residents of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Bush should have at least entertained the idea of creating an "urban affairs czar".

31. Weapons Czar--Ashton Carter
NOTE: As the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquistion, Technology and Logistics (AT&L), Carter is the principal staff assistant and advisor to both the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for all aspects of the AT&L area. And although he was appointed to his role by President Obama, confirmation by the Senate was also required.
Bush: Carter replaced John Young, who was the second individual to hold the same post during the Bush administration.

32. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Policy Czar--Gary Samore
NOTE: Prior to his current role as the Coordinator for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation at the National Security Council under President Obama, Samore served as an arms control negotiator during the Clinton administration.
Bush: Despite signing a Congressional mandate for the creation of a "WMD czar" into law in August 2007, Bush never appointed anyone to this post. Suggested by leading members of the 9-11 Commission, the provision, which was passed in Congress by a large margin and with bipartisan support, called for a Coordinator for the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Proliferation. This individual would serve as "the principal advisor to the President on all matters" relating to WMDs.

After analyzing the list from FOX News, my subjective research determined that only six of the thirty-two "czars" could actually be pinned with that label. Due to various reasons (the actual role and duties, the appointment/confirmation process, the existence of the role in previous administrations, etc.), the other twenty-six individuals (in red) were deemed to be simply high ranking officials in the Obama administration. For example, the Federal Chief Technology Officer (Aneesh Chopra) should not be described as the "technology czar". No CTO at a corporation would be described in a similar fashion so the same should apply to Chopra.

Aside from the Brainroom's list, other individuals at FOX News have continued this charade regarding these so-called czars. On the shining example of absurdity otherwise known as "FOX & Friends", co-anchor Gretchen Carlson falsely claimed that "Even though these advisors are not Cabinet positions, they don't answer to Congress because...they don't have to be confirmed". And then in a subsequent interview with Carlson, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) displayed his intelligence by remarking that a line "should have been drawn in the sand a long time ago" because "the advice and consent of the Senate is required for high ranking administration officials". Later in the same interview, Carlson uttered: "I have really been sitting back and waiting for Republicans to stand up and speak out about this. You seem to be the first person to bring it to national attention that you actually have a problem with it." Do you know why that is, Gretchen? Because both you and McHenry are complete idiots who have no idea what you are talking about!

One final point: In response to information published by FOX News and other conservative media sources concerning Obama's supposed czars, more liberal organizations have produced their own lists regarding czars from the Bush administration. (As is the case with the Brainroom's list, these lists from the left wing are purely subjective.) At the same time, a list on FactCheck.org (a project from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, whose founders have served under former Republican Presidents and supported Republican candidates), included these titles for czars during the Bush White House:

Abstinence Czar (a position confirmed by the Senate)
Bird Flu Czar
Birth Control Czar (Isn't this the same as an abstinence czar?)
Democracy Czar (But just not in the United States.)
Gulf Coast Reconstruction Czar (Should we ask the residents of the Gulf Coast how that turned out?)
Homelessness Czar
Mine Safety Czar
Reading Czar (Laura Bush previously worked as a school teacher and librarian, for Christ's sake. Couldn't she focus on this topic?)
World Trade Center Health Czar (Czar or not, this individual completely failed in this role.)

Dedicated to the Lemmings of This Country

2009-09-27T20:44:00.008-05:00

Following a ten-month "investigation", the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, otherwise known as the Warren Commission, released its 888-page final report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the public. This absolute abomination of a government report amazingly concluded that "the commission has found no evidence of conspiracy, subversion or disloyalty to the U.S. government by any federal, state or local official" in executing the assassination and, if this wasn't enough, that "[Lee Harvey Oswald] acted alone" in the murder of the President of the United States.

Led by Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, this disgrace of an investigating body shockingly determined that the bullets which killed President Kennedy and wounded Texas Gov. John Connally were fired by Oswald (and only Oswald) "from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository". Oswald's life, including his three-year emigration to the Soviet Union and his supposed "renouncement" of his U.S. citizenship, was described in detail but the Warren Commission made absolutely no attempt to analyze his so-called "motives" for the assassination. And despite a great deal of evidence to the contrary, the Warren Commission also concluded that Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who somehow murdered Oswald in the Dallas Police Headquarters on live television, had no previous contact with Oswald before that convenient day.

Despite the "official findings" of the Warren Commission, many intelligent individuals fortunately expressed their disbelief in the report. As a result, the House Select Committee on Assassinations determined in 1979 that President Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy", with a "high probability" of "two gunmen". At the same time, neither the Warren Commission nor the House Select Committee on Assassinations did nearly enough to disclose the real truth to the American people.

Now while there are countless things wrong with the crazy nut and lone gunmen theory used by the U.S. government to frame Oswald, one quick look at the members of the Warren Commission tells you everything. Those individuals are as follows:

1. Warren (Republican): After ascending to the presidency following the assassination, the highly suspect Lyndon Johnson named Chief Justice Warren as the commission's Chairman.
2. Sen. John Cooper (R-KY)
3. Allen Dulles (Republican): Following the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion and various unsuccessful assassination attempts against Cuban President Fidel Castro, President Kennedy's mistrust of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) grew. As a result, Dulles, the Director of the CIA at the time, and his staff were forced to resign.
4. Rep. Gerald Ford (R-MI): The eventual thirty-eighth President of the United States believed in the lone gunman theory and had strong ties to the FBI and its Director, J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover personally directed the FBI investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy, who had considered firing Hoover on multiple occasions.
5. John McCloy: Initially sceptical of the lone gunman theory, McCloy curiously changed his opinion after accompanying Dulles on a trip to Dallas in 1964.
6. Arlen Specter: Serving in the United States Senate since 1981, Specter was recommended by Ford as an assistant counsel for the Warren Commission. Specter introduced the absurd "single bullet theory" to explain how the non-fatal wounds to President Kennedy and Connally were caused by the same bullet. (According to this ridiculous theory, the bullet passed through President Kennedy’s neck and Connally’s chest and wrist and then embedded itself in the Governor’s thigh. By doing so, this bullet would have traversed fifteen layers of clothing, seven layers of skin and approximately fifteen inches of tissue; struck a necktie knot; removed four inches of rib and shattered a radius bone, before being found in nearly pristine condition on a stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital, to which President Kennedy and Connally transported following the fateful events on November 22, 1963.)

The other two members of the Warren Commission, Rep. Hale Boggs (D-LA) and Sen. Richard Russell (D-GA), repeatedly voiced their concerns with the report released to the public. At least a small semblance of logic and sanity existed with some individuals closely associated with the assassination.

As If Being Abused Wasn't Difficult Enough...

2009-09-26T09:16:00.017-05:00

Whether you agree or not with President Obama's health care bill, the enormity of what he is trying to accomplish should be blatantly obvious to even the densest of individuals. With that being said, because of the size and scale of this effort, certain aspects of this debate unfortunately get lost in the shuffle. However, as this drama plays out on stage right in front of this, a few of the villainous characters (and their unscrupulous behaviors) are coming out from underneath the shadows. Let's take a look at various aspects of this "performance":

Cast of Characters and some of their memorable quotes:
1. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN): "Thumbing their nose at the American people by ramming through a partisan bill would be the same thing as going to war without asking Congress' permission."
2. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC): "The federal government taking over a larger piece of the health care pie would be devastating long term to innovation and to the quality of care that the American people are accustomed to."
3. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV): When discussing the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Ensign remarked that "They get better health care than the average American citizen does".
4. Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY): "If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care...It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out."
5. Former Sen. William Frist (R-TN): "Let's face it, in a country as productive and advanced as ours, every American deserves affordable access to health care delivered at the right time. And they don't have it today."
6. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH): "Health care affects each person in our country on a personal level. Here in New Hampshire and throughout our country, families are worried about whether they will be able to pay for routine care, such as doctor checkups or prescription medication, not to mention how they would pay for unexpected large medical costs, such as a life threatening illness or injury. They are concerned about how to afford staying healthy or how to cope with medical bills that could bankrupt their families."
7. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): In a response letter to President Obama's speech on health care earlier this month, Hatch admitted that "No American should be denied coverage or care simply because of a pre-existing condition".
8. Sen. John Isakson (R-GA): "State or regional exchanges would not be allowed to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions." In Isakson's response letter to President Obama's address, he commented that "In Washington, the devil is always in the details".
9. Sen. Patrick Roberts (R-KS): From his web site, "Roberts believes guaranteeing access to health insurance for all Americans should include preventing health insurers from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions".
10. Sen. Jefferson Sessions (R-AL): From his campaign web site, "Access to quality health care represents a large and growing burden on the American people".

Storyline:
As you can see from the quotes above, these ten old and white members of Congress criticize President Obama's proposed plan to reform health care because they truly have the well being of all Americans in mind. However, I am starting to think otherwise. In 2006, Sen. Patricia Murray (D-WA), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, proposed an amendment to the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act. The act itself was introduced "to expand health care access and reduce costs through the creation of small business health plans and through modernization of the health insurance marketplace". And the amendment, you ask? This little piece of legislation would have prohibited insurance companies from ignoring state laws providing protection to victims of domestic violence, specifically in regards to denying insurance coverage to those victims. Why is such an amendment necessary? Because in seven states (Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming) and Washington, D.C., insurance companies are permitted to classify domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. An eighth state (North Carolina) forbids classifying domestic violence as a pre-existing condition for group insurance plans but not for individual or non-group plans.

It is important to point out that, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, domestic violence is one of the most powerful predictors of increased health care utilization. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that this serious public health issue affects more than thirty-two million Americans, or more than ten percent of the population. And although I certainly understand that men can be victims of domestic abuse, let's just take a look at the statistics on domestic violence against women for convenience sake. An estimated two to four million women are physically abused every year in the U.S., which translates into a woman being battered every eighteen seconds. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that women are about six times as likely as men to suffer violence from an intimate partner. Finally, the National Family Violence Surveys have reported that women experience a violent act by an intimate partner at an annual rate of 116 per every 1,000 women.

Plot Twist:
Despite the focus of the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, the bill (and, in turn, the amendment regarding domestic violence) did not pass. The irony of the situation is that the original sponsor of the bill (Sen. Enzi) and several of the co-sponsors (Sen. Burr and Sen. Roberts) decided to vote against the legislation.

Quote of the Day

2009-09-25T19:21:00.004-05:00

"The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation ALL the time, loyalty to the government when it deserves it." -- Mark Twain

While this quote can definitely be applied to certain members of the three current branches of government, it goes without saying that this statement from Twain would have been a perfect theme to the previous eight years.

Liar of the Week

2009-09-16T22:50:00.015-05:00

Former President Jimmy Carter is being criticized by Republicans for his comments this week regarding the vehement but cowardly attacks on President Obama. When specifically addressing the outburst by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) during President Obama's televised speech on health care reform before Congress a week ago, Carter stated that Wilson's scream of "You lie!" is "based on racism and...an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be President". While the White House is distancing themselves from Carter's remarks, Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, described the comments as "disingenuous and...just wrongheaded". I should point out Wilson did "apologize" for his outburst during President Obama's speech, expressing that "While I disagree with the President's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable". Well, let's take a few minutes and examine different aspects of this whole situation:

1. Wilson's accusation that President Obama was lying in his speech when he stated the health care reforms he is proposing would not apply to those individuals "who are here illegally".
Truth: The H.R. 3200 bill specifically states that this legislation will not "allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States".

2. Wilson's interruption of the President of the United States with the added perception that Wilson himself has always opposed health care for illegal immigrants.
Truth: Wilson actually voted in 2003 for the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, which mandates that the federal government must reimburse "hospitals, physicians and ambulance providers...for their otherwise unreimbursed costs of providing services and...related hospital inpatient, outpatient and ambulance services...furnished to undocumented aliens, aliens paroled into the U.S. at a U.S. port of entry for the purpose of receiving such services and Mexican citizens permitted temporary entry to the U.S. with a laser visa".

3. Wilson's interruption of the President of the United States as an attempt to show that he is a champion of health care for all U.S. citizens.

Wilson was rated 11% by the American Public Health Association, indicating an anti-public health voting record.
Wilson voted against (1) putting mental health on par with physical health, (2) extending health insurance to six million more children, (3) requiring negotiated prescription prices for senior citizens on Medicare and (4) permitting the re-importation of prescription drugs.
He voted for limiting (1) prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients and (2) antitrust lawsuits against health plans and insurance providers.

4. Wilson's superb voting records on issues other than health care.

Wilson has voted on legislation against (1) abortion, (2) allowing voting by stockholders on executive compensation, (3) increasing the minimum wage, (4) investing in homegrown biofuel, (5) prohibiting employer discrimination based on sexual orientation, (6) requiring warrants for wiretaps conducted in the U.S., (7) restricting no-bid defense contracts, (8) revitalizing distressed public housing, (9) stem cell research, (10) tax incentives for renewable energy and energy production and conservation and (11) $84 million in grants for black and Hispanic colleges.
He has supported legislation to (1) authorize the construction of new oil refineries; (2) ban a gun registration and trigger lock law in Washington, D.C.; (3) deauthorize critical habitats for endangered species; (4) grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies conducting warrantless surveillance on the American public; (5) permanently enact the PATRIOT Act; (6) prohibit same sex marriage and (7) restrict independent grassroots political committees.

5. Alan Wilson, the Congressman's son, and his attempts to paint a picture that his father is not racist.
Truth: Despite the younger Wilson remarking that "There is not a racist bone in my dad's body. He doesn't even laugh at distasteful jokes.", there are some instances in the father's past and present which may prove otherwise.

In his earlier years, Wilson served as an aide to former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC), who was infamous for his prejudicial views towards African-Americans. As a matter of fact, Thurmond, among his many quotes, once uttered that "There's not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches".
As a member of the South Carolina Senate, Wilson was one of only seven individuals in April 2000 to vote in favor of keeping the flag of the Confederacy flying over the State House. Wilson defended his vote by stating that "The Southern heritage, the Confederate heritage is very honorable".
Wilson has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), an organization comprised of male descendants of soldiers and sailors who served the Confederacy during the Civil War. In more recent years, some of the more vocal members of this group have expressed interest into transforming the SCV into "a modern, twenty-first century Christian war machine capable of uniting the Confederate community and leading it to ultimate victory".

This Unforgettable and Unfortunate Day in History

2009-09-11T10:41:00.009-05:00

At 8:46AM on a clear and sunny Tuesday morning in 2001, American Airlines Flight 11, carrying ninety-two individuals (including five hijackers) and loaded with ten thousand gallons of jet fuel, crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at a speed of approximately 466 miles per hour. The airplane left a gaping and burning hole between the 93rd and 99th floors of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in the floors above the point of impact. As the evacuation of the North Tower continued, a second airplane, United Airlines Flight 175, turned sharply towards the World Trade Center and then, just sixteen minutes after the North Tower was struck, sliced into the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors. Traveling at approximately 545 miles per hour, five more hijackers killed the other sixty individuals on board and caused an explosion which showered debris on the surrounding buildings and the streets below.

As millions nationwide watched the horror of the events unfolding on television, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over Washington, D.C. and slammed into the west side of the Pentagon at 9:37AM. Fuel from the Boeing 757 created a large inferno, causing a portion of the building to collapse. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon, along with all 64 individuals aboard the airplane (including six hijackers).

Less than fifteen minutes after the terrorists attacked the Pentagon, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. Designed to withstand winds in excess of two hundred miles per hour and a large conventional fire, could not endure the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. And then, at 10:28AM, the North Tower collapsed.

Meanwhile, a fourth and final aircraft, United Flight 93, was hijacked by four terrorists approximately forty minutes after taking off from Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ. Because the airplane's departure had been delayed, passengers on board were aware of the tragic events in New York City and Washington, D.C. through the use of cell phones and Airfones. They were, therefore, also aware of the terrible fate awaiting them so a group of passengers and flight attendants decided to revolt against the hijackers. Following the passengers' suspected attack on the hijackers in the cockpit with a fire extinguisher, the plane flipped over and sped towards the ground at close to five hundred miles per hour. Believed to be ultimately targeting, among other locations, either the White House or the United States Capitol, the airplane eventually crashed in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:03AM, killing all forty-four individuals on board, including the terrorists.

Some of the nineteen terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had actually taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Utilizing knives and box cutters easily smuggled through security checkpoints at three airports on the East Coast, these despicable individuals commandeered the four planes shortly after takeoff on September 11 and, by doing so, transformed the ordinary commuter airplanes into guided missiles.

In total, 2,995 people died in the attacks on September 11, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers, 37 Port Authority police officers and 8 additional emergency medical technicians and paramedics from private EMS units. Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment bank located on the 101st–105th floors of One World Trade Center, lost 658 employees, a staggering amount much higher than any other company. Almost ten thousand other individuals were treated for injuries, many of them severe.

Mr. Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office that same evening at approximately 8:30PM, stating that "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them". Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. led international effort to remove the Taliban regime in Afghanistan from power and destroy Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, began on October 7. However, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan continues, bin Laden is still at large and it has been 2,325 days since Mr. Bush declared "Mission accomplished".

Whew, That Was a Close One

2009-09-09T22:39:00.011-05:00

During the last two weeks, so much of the country has been engrossed in the debate surrounding President Obama's address on Tuesday to the nation's students. And after taking a couple of days to rewatch the video and read the transcript of the speech (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html), I can certainly understand why conservative parents and politicians alike were opposed to President Obama talking directly to their children concerning the importance of education. Just take a look at the following excerpts and you will immediately see the socialism seeping through:

Yes, he truly is evil incarnate. With a speech like that, it is clearly obvious that he was pushing his socialist agenda onto individuals with an attention span of a Jack Russell Terrier. Sarcasm aside, it was nice to see that Newt Gingrich had this to say about President Obama's address: "It’s a good speech. I recommend it to everybody if you have any doubts. I'd love to have every child in America read it, think about it and learn that they should stay in school and they should study." It was even nicer to see Jim Greer, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who previously claimed that President Obama was attempting to "indoctrinate America's children" prior to the speech even being delivered, was then in favor of the address after reading the text. In fact, Greer declared that "It’s a good speech. It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education and I think that’s what a president should do when they’re gonna talk to students across the country." Last but not least, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the former United States Secretary of Education under President George H.W. Bush, stated "I’m glad that the President has spoken to the schoolchildren of this country".

Update: Education Is Such a Pain in the Ass

2009-09-08T08:47:00.010-05:00

Even before the White House decided on Friday afternoon to release the text of President Obama's speech later today on education in advance, even more school districts nationwide persisted in succumbing to the pressure from Republican politicians and conservative parents alike. This includes Henrico County Public Schools, one of the school districts in my local area. Henrico County Public Schools added a statement on its web site on Friday afternoon which declared that President Obama's speech could be shown live as long as the teachers first contacted the parents. In other words, teachers would be required to contact the parent(s) for each student (1) at the last minute, (2) over the course of a long holiday weekend and (3) before the first day of classes. Regardless of the level of support a teacher may show to President Obama and his speech, he/she should not be expected to contact each student on their last free weekend before the start of the school year. (Which is exactly why this cowardly district announced this policy when they did.)

Those same critics of President Obama's speech also continued their lies regarding the list of suggested classroom activities provided to schools last week. They do so by claiming the outline for pre-kindergarten to sixth grade students instructs those children to read books on President Obama prior to the speech. This is completely untrue. What the document does, in fact, recommend is that "Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about Presidents and Barack Obama". As you can see, not only does the suggestion specifically mention teachers but it also speaks to reading books about Presidents as a whole.

A Speech From a President Well Overdue

2009-09-07T09:24:00.008-05:00

At the recent Centennial Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), President Obama delivered an incredibly moving and impassioned speech, even for him. The full video and transcript can be accessed at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31951708#31951708 and http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-the-NAACP-Centennial-Convention-07/16/2009/, respectively. (It is unfortunate to say that President Obama is the only President to date who could deliver such a speech.) With that being said, the following excerpts are just some of the extremely memorable moments of his address:

Paranoia of the Week

2009-09-05T18:26:00.008-05:00

As we all know, numerous Republicans (and even various Democrats) do not fully support President Obama's health care plan and, in turn, have issues with multiple aspects of the legislation. With this particular posting, I wanted to address a specific section in the House of Representatives version, a section towards which those opponents are truly taking an alarmist's view. When addressing the establishment of a national medical device registry by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the H.R. 3200 bill states this registry will "facilitate the analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that (A) is or has been used in or on a patient and (B) is a Class III device or a Class II device that is implantable, life supporting or life sustaining".

The concerns being incorrectly raised by certain individuals are not so much about the registry but the actual devices themselves. With that being said, let's address the section cited above. First and foremost, the national medical device registry would include "claims data, patient survey data, standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records and any other data deemed appropriate".

The proposed registry certainly seems to be an extremely valuable tool, especially considering the fact that data would contain information from Class III devices. Class III devices are defined by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as either "(1) life supporting or life sustaining, (2) for a use which is of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health or (3) presenting a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury". Those types of devices include brain stimulators, heart pacemakers, intrabone implants, replacement heart valves and silicone filled breast implants.

Now where the alarmists start to come out of the woodwork is the portion concerning Class II devices. Designated as such due to their need for special labeling requirements, mandatory performance standards and postmarket surveillance, Class II devices are typically non-invasive and include acupuncture needles, gas analyzers, infusion pumps, medical imaging machines, physiologic monitors, powered wheelchairs, surgical drapes and surgical needles and suture materials. However, since the FDA approved and classified an "implantable radiofrequency transponder system for patient identification and health information" as a Class II device in January 2005, critics of the current administration's health care bill are claiming that these transponder systems will be utilized by President Obama to provide U.S. citizens with the "mark of the beast" (as described by at least one white supremacist web site).

Am I saying that these transponder systems will not be a possibility in the future? Of course not. I am also not saying that I would be the first in line to volunteer for one to be implanted under my skin. At the same time, I would not oppose the implant either, especially if the new information technology involved with the process would both improve the secured access of medical records and reduce health care costs. With that in mind, many Americans continue to condemn President Obama without taking just a couple of minutes to look into the annals of the previous eight years. Under the Bush administration, all new U.S. passports issued in October 2006 and beyond were (and still are) equipped with radio frequency ID (RFID) chips which can transmit personal information, such as the name, date and place of birth, gender, nationality and a digitized photograph of the passport holder. Also during the Bush presidency, the United States Department of Agriculture implemented a program intended the extend animal health surveillance by identifying and tracking specific animals (including most livestock species, various wild game and certain species of fish) through the use of RFID tags. Last but not least, when the aforementioned "implantable radiofrequency transponder system" was approved by the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services (which oversees the FDA) was headed by Secretary Tommy Thompson. The technology, manufactured by VeriChip Corp. (a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions), was officially approved in January 2005 and Thompson left his Cabinet post two weeks later. Less than six months later, Thompson was appointed as a compensated member of the Board of Directors of VeriChip and Applied Digital Solutions. And just when you thought you had heard it all, Thompson almost immediately announced that he was planning on having one of the transponder systems from VeriChip injected into his arm. (In true Tommy Thompson fashion, he never went through with the actual procedure.) However, just four days after it was announced he was joining the Board of Directors of both companies, Thompson had some very interesting things to say about the technology (things that apparently everyone has since forgotten) during an interview with CBS MarketWatch:

Education Is Such a Pain in the Ass

2009-09-03T21:20:00.012-05:00

As President Obama plans to address the nation's school children and youth (pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade) on Tuesday, Republicans and conservative parents throughout the country are, for some reasons probably unclear even to themselves, complaining about the online and televised speech. Describing President Obama's 15-20 minute address as "very socialistic", "an underhanded tactic", "a form of indoctrination" and "indicative of the culture that the Obama administration is trying to create", many of those parents are demanding that school officials allow their children to participate in alternate activities (which probably means keeping them at home for their own form of indoctrination).

Despite the fact that President Obama's speech is intended to be an inspirational and pro-education message. these Fathers and Mothers of the Year are objecting to the language in the list of suggested classroom activities before, during and following the address for students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. For example, "What do you think the President wants us to do?" and "Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?". So much for "Ask now what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." With all of that being said, the following is just a short list of the other aspects of this story which both amuse and infuriate me:

Another section of the outline for students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade that these lunatic parents took issue is the suggestion of writing "letters to themselves about what they can do to help the President". To themselves? What is the harm in that? The White House eventually caved and changed the language in that suggestion to writing letters about "how they can achieve their short term and long term education goals". With a little research, the Obama administration would have realized that this concession was clearly a mistake. Why? President Obama is certainly not the first President to speak directly to the country's school children and youths. President George H.W. Bush delivered an address in 1991 to students nationwide from a junior high school in Washington, D.C. In fact, President Bush began his speech by stating "Thanks for allowing me to visit your classroom to talk to you...and millions more in classrooms all across the country". At the conclusion of his speech, Bush requested of the students: "Write me a letter -- and I'm serious about this one -- write me a letter about ways you can help us achieve our goals." Sound familiar? Yes, expect this request wasn't for the students to write letters to themselves.
In a wildly incorrect accusation, Jim Greer, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, uttered that, in President Obama's attempt to "indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda", "school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government run health care, banks and automobile companies; increasing taxes on those who create jobs and racking up more debt than any other President". When asked by POLITICO.com to provide any sort of basis for Greer's comments, the Republican Party of Florida was, not surprisingly, unable to offer any type of support to that effect.
In the areas of Virginia in which I live and work, things aren't any better. Betsy Overkamp-Smith, the spokesperson for the York County School Division, remarked that "We've had quite a few complaints about it. None of the comments have been, 'I think this is a great idea'." District officials with the Chesterfield County Public Schools commented that "We do not wish to interfere with our staff's ability to repeat past opening day successes".

Seriously? Do these whining parents and politicians really believe that, in a 15-20 minute speech, President Obama can brainwash our nation's students in less time than it takes to deliver a pizza? (Well, if he did accomplish that major feat, it would be the fault of the parents, not President Obama.) It is astonishing that these all of a sudden perfect parents are completely against the President of the United States addressing our school children and youth. Maybe they would be more comfortable with the situation if President Obama delivered the address either (1) as a character in a video game, (2) while trying to escape from the killer in the "Saw" movies or (3) while riding in a shopping cart with the cast from "Jackass". I'm sure their sons and daughters would.

How Quickly They Forget...

2009-08-23T09:04:00.007-05:00

With the Republicans continuing their rapid attacks on President Obama and his attempts to change the health care system in our country, it is obvious that they are once again suffering from their very own form of selective amnesia. Apparently those individuals have erased from their mind the fact that the Bush administration allocated $950 million to establish universal health care for the citizens of Iraq. Yes, you read that correctly. In fact, Article 30, Section 1 of the Iraqi Constitution (which the United States assisted in drafting) declares that "The State shall guarantee to the individual and the family - especially children and women - social and health security, the basic requirements for living a free and decent life".

In defense of the U.S. funded health care for all Iraqi citizens, Tommy Thompson,the former Secretary of Health and Human Services, stated in March 2004 that "Even if you don't have health insurance, you are still taken care of in America. That certainly could be defined as universal coverage." I guess that all depends on which hospital you go to, as this recent article shows: http://www.app.com/article/20090823/NEWS/90823012/-1/FRONTTABS01/N.J.+hospital+accused+of+diverting+uninsured++Medicaid+patients+to+other+hospitals. With that being said, I am not surprised by Thompson's ridiculous comments. This is the same individual who, during a presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in May 2007, provided the following response to a question regarding whether or not a private company opposed to homosexuality should have the right to terminate a gay employee: "I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that business people have got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be." The next morning, Thompson called into "American Morning" on CNN and backpedaled: "I made a mistake. I misinterpreted the question. I thought that I answered it yes when I should have answered it no. I didn't hear, I didn't hear the question properly and I apologize. It's not my position. There should be no discrimination in the workplace and I have never believed that."

If that wasn't enough, when addressing a conference organized by the Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism in April 2007, Thompson referred to his lucrative transition from public service to the private sector by uttering "You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition and I do not find anything wrong with that". After the conclusion of his speech, Thompson was reportedly pulled aside privately by the Director of the RAC, Rabbi David Saperstein, and then returned to the podium to issue the following remarks: "I just want to clarify something because I didn't by any means want to infer or imply anything about Jews and finances and things. What I was referring to, ladies and gentlemen, is the accomplishments of the Jewish religion. You've been outstanding business people and I compliment you for that." When speaking to a reporter from POLITICO.com, Thompson blamed his insensitive comments on the fact that he "was tired".

This Wonderful Day in History

2009-08-19T21:32:00.003-05:00

On August 19, 1946, William Jefferson Blythe III was born at the Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, AR. Blythe's father, a traveling salesperson, died in an automobile accident three months before Blythe was born and Blythe's now widowed mother eventually remarried four years later. And although Blythe was not formally adopted by his mother's second husband, he officially took his current surname at the age of fourteen as a kind gesture towards his stepfather. That last name? Clinton. Fast forward thirty-one years later, William Jefferson Clinton was thankfully elected as the 42nd President of the United States. Enough said.

The Truth Is Just a Minor Inconvenience

2009-08-10T11:12:00.016-05:00

In a question regarding the so-called "grassroots" movement in opposition to President Obama's health care plan, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) replied last week by stating "I think they're AstroTurf. You be the judge -- carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care." Well, on Thursday, the blowhard known as Rush Limbaugh provided these comments on his radio show: "The Speaker of the House accusing people of showing up at these town hall meetings of wearing swastikas -- that is not insignificant, folks. This woman is deranged. They are unraveling but that is not insignificant. You have the Democrat Speaker of the House saying that people, citizens who are concerned about health care, are now wearing swastikas. She's basically saying that we are Nazis. She is saying that the people who oppose this are Nazis."

First of all, you pathetic windbag, Pelosi did not imply that your fellow conservatives were "wearing" swastikas, only carrying signs containing those symbols. (This is in addition to posters of President Obama with an Adolf Hitler mustache and hanging dummies of Democratic members of Congress in effigy.) Second, there is not one mention of or any comparison to the word Nazi in Pelosi's entire statement. I can read it back to you, Rush, if you would like. (I would like to reiterate that I am not a big fan of Pelosi so sticking up for her is not one of my favorite things to do.) But just when you thought that Limbaugh might have been finished with his incorrect and offensive ramblings, unfortunately he continued:

"This party, the Democrat Party and where it's taken this country, the radical left leadership of this party bears much more resemblance to Nazi policies than anything we on the right believe in at all."
"You will find that the Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo."
"There are far more similarities between Nancy Pelosi and Adolf Hitler than between these people showing up at town halls to protest a Hitler like policy that's being heralded by a Hitler like logo." As before, Pelosi made no mention of Adolf Hitler or Nazis in her comments.
"You want to start talking, Ms. Pelosi, about ties to the Nazis? Let's focus on your party and some of the greatest heroes in your party that you hold up. And let's look at your policies, Ms. Pelosi. Your policies come dangerously close to some of those policies that Hitler forced on the German people. This is outrageous stuff for her to be running around saying these are unruly mobs with swastikas."
"Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate. His cabinet only met once, one day. That was it." This is a tremendous point by Limbaugh, considering the fact that President Obama has clearly conducted numerous meetings with the members of his Cabinet. You definitely have to hand it to Limbaugh--he has certainly never let the facts stand in his way.

Historical Events of the Day

2009-08-04T20:00:00.005-05:00

The significance of the first event is due to its impact on the present day, not only from a political standpoint but a cultural and sociological as well. On August 4, 1961, Barack Hussein Obama was born at the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, HI. Both students at the time, his mother from Kansas and his Kenyan father divorced less than three years later. (And as many Republicans would have you believe, the exact moment of Obama's birth, or possibly even before, is when his parents and other family members, hospital officials, the Hawaii state government, the governments of both Kenya and the United States, the Democratic Party, etc. conceived their conspiracy to put Obama into the White House. Because, of course, we all know how racially tolerant the 1960s in America were.) Luckily that theory has been proven to be complete nonsense and the rest, as they say, is history.

The other event from history which occurred on August 4th also had a huge impact on the cultural and sociological world. Acting on a tip from a Dutch informer, the Nazi Gestapo captured fifteen-year-old Anne Frank and her family in a sealed off area of a warehouse in Amsterdam. Eluding detection by living in rooms with blacked out windows and never flushing the toilet during the day, the Franks had taken shelter in the warehouse in July 1942 to avoid deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. With her final entry into her now famous diary on August 1st, Anne and her family were arrested just three days later (and after twenty-five months in seclusion). They were transported to a concentration camp in Holland and, in September, Anne and the majority of her family were shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German occupied Poland. And then, in the fall of 1944, with the Soviet liberation of Poland underway, Anne and her sister Margot were moved to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Suffering from the deplorable conditions of the camp, both sisters caught typhus and died in March 1945. (The camp was liberated by the British less than two months later.) Her father Otto was the only member to survive and, following the war, he returned to Amsterdam. He was reunited with Miep Gies, one of his former employees who had assisted in sheltering him and his family. Gies handed Anne's diary to him, which Gies had fortunately discovered undisturbed after the Nazi raid. Since its initial publication in 1947, "The Diary of Anne Frank" has been translated into more than fifty languages and serves as a literary testament to the nearly six million Jews, including Anne herself, silenced in the Holocaust.

Despite her and her family's two arduous years in hiding, Anne wrote the following as one of her last diary entries: "It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them because, in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end and that peace and tranquility will return again. In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out." I included this because I feel it is also extremely poignant to the trials and tribulations that President Obama has (and will continue to) experienced during his first six months in office.

Letter to the President

2009-07-31T18:05:00.002-05:00

Dear President Obama,

I openly admit that I voted for you during the election and happily sport an Obama/Biden sticker on the back of my car. However, I just don't understand the need for your recent "beer summit" with Vice President Biden and two guys from MA. Now I realize Professor Gates is a friend of yours and that, as an African American, racial equality is extremely important to you. But, c'mon man, just send a couple of fruit baskets or something. That time, regardless of how short, could have been devoted to the much bigger issues that you inherited from the four presidents before you. On the other hand, at least you didn't stick your nose into a private matter between a husband and his dying wife and sign legislation to inhumanely keep the woman alive like your predecessor did in Florida a few years ago. Thanks for not being that jackass! Keep it real.

Mark Hall
Port Haywood, VA

The Epitome of Crazy

2009-07-31T11:50:00.023-05:00

It is utterly astonishing to me that, despite the fact President Obama is already more than six months into his term, the conservative nutjobs continue to openly doubt the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate and, in turn, his citizenship. I guess these right wing idiots think that, if they keep discussing this topic, then President Obama's election victory will be magically overturned. This is especially ironic considering the questions (whether they are valid or not) surrounding the citizenship of his opponent during the presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). With that being said, I want to make sure that the other side of the argument is kept out there so the following links (http://theharrowdownhill.blogspot.com/2008/12/sore-losers-of-week.html and http://theharrowdownhill.blogspot.com/2008/12/they-finally-got-big-one-right.html) for two of the postings that I previously published on this topic. At the same time, it is nice to see that the editors of the National Review Online (with which I rarely agree) published an editorial (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTRjMTFhMzQxYmEzNjA2YWIwOTU4YWVjNzRmODE2NTI) against the dimwitted individuals who continue the debate on President Obama's citizenship.

One of the leaders of this group of tin foil hat wearing rocket scientists is Orly Taitz. Aside from being a birther (as the people who believe President Obama is ineligible to hold that office are now called), Taitz is also an attorney, a dentist and a real estate agent. (Yes, you read that correctly.) However, before we start listening to the ramblings of a lunatic, let's take a closer look at Ms. Taitz's various actions, background and "credentials".

Taitz claims that, in order to be classified as a natural born citizen, both parents must be U.S. citizens. But the fact that his father was a British citizen has no effect on President Obama's status as a natural born citizen of the United States. Section 1401 of Title 8 of the U.S. Code states that an individual born either inside or outside of this country is considered to be a national and a citizen of the United States at birth if one of the parents is a U.S. citizen (his mother).
Ironically, there is no evidence of Taitz's immigration to or arrival in the United States or documentation of her naturalization although records for those events are publicly available for the years from her birth in 1960 through the present day. There is also no evidence of her name being on the list of registered voters in California, a state in which Taitz has lived since 1987.
Although she is a member of the State Bar of California, Taitz is not listed as a member of the American Bar Association (ABA). By the way, the Office of the Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar of California is currently conducting an investigation after an official complaint was filed regarding Taitz and her actions.
The law school from which she graduated, William Howard Taft University, is not accredited by the ABA. The school also does not require applicants to complete the LSAT, which is an examination administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates.
Since William Howard Taft University is a distance learning institution only, Taitz’s degree entitles her, at most, to practice law in California.
Taitz describes herself as an expert in constitutional law. However, before her interest in Obama's citizenship began, her only cases involved defending herself against medical malpractice and breach of contract suits. And if that's not enough, her husband Yosef has appeared in court on multiple occasions for various charges (including fraud and assault and battery) but never utilized his wife as his attorney. (That's a shocker.)
The address listed for her law practice is the same as for one of her dental offices.
Taitz claims to have earned her Master's degree in dentistry from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem but the institution does not have her listed as an alumnus.
Her real estate license from the Department of Real Estate in California expired in February of last year.
Along with President Obama, Taitz has accused the following individuals of treason: (1) all of the Supreme Court justices, (2) every member of the United States Congress, (3) U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, (4) U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan and (5) other officials from the federal government.
Taitz is encouraging her supporters and fellow wackos nationwide to organize themselves as wholly unlawful "citizen's grand juries" and presenting their "indictments" of President Obama to government officials.
Taitz claimed that Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Carroll Childers was listed as a plaintiff that she and Maj. Stefan Cook filed against President Obama. However, in an e-mail to the "Ledger-Enquirer", Maj. Gen. Childers stated "You have bad information. I have not joined the lawsuit brought by Maj. Cook. Please retract that information and do not print it again...I have notified Dr. Taitz that I am no longer a plaintiff in any motion she might process." Taitz's response? "Probably it’s some kind of mistake. I don’t know what happened." Well, there's nothing like playing around with the reputation of a career military man.
Philip Berg, another infamous birther, filed a lawsuit against Taitz which accuses her, among other things, of harassing Berg and other plaintiffs in the case and plagiarizing the briefs Berg used in his birth certificate related actions for her own filings.
Earlier this year, Taitz contacted local law enforcement, the FBI and the Supreme Court and claimed that her two previous web sites were being hacked and sabotaged. As a result, the PayPal accounts she used to collect donations would not receive any further contributions. However, her New Jersey based webmaster, Lisa Ostella, disagreed with Taitz's claims. Why? If Taitz’s web sites were actually hacked, then the security of all of Ostella’s clients would have been compromised. Ostella has challenged Taitz to provide her PayPal records but refuses to do so. Maybe the size of her and her husband's house has something to do with it: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/birds-eye-view-map/25575662_zpid/#birds-eye-view.

Recommended Films of the Week

2009-07-29T22:37:00.004-05:00

Earlier this evening, I watched an amazing documentary called "Food, Inc.". The film does a tremendous job at detailing various food safety issues, the plight of the American farmer and other scary aspects of food production in the United States. For those individuals interested in this subject matter, I would also recommend another documentary called "Death on a Factory Farm". By the way, my favorite quote from tonight's documentary was from Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface Farms (http://www.polyfacefarms.com/), which is a family owned, multigenerational, pasture based, beyond organic, local market farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. When discussing, among other things, genetically modified foods, Salatin stated that "I'm continually amazed by our ability to hit the bull's eye on the wrong target".

You Couldn't Ask For a Better Source

2009-07-17T19:33:00.004-05:00

Wendell Potter, the Senior Fellow on Health Care at the Center for Media and Democracy, recently appeared on the "Bill Moyers Journal" on PBS to discuss, among other things, the scare tactics used by health care companies. With a twenty-year as a corporate public relations executive, Potter was the Director of Corporate Communications at CIGNA until he resigned last year to join the socially responsible Center for Media and Democracy. Potter's appearance with Bill Moyers was certainly timely, given the current debate regarding President Obama's health care plan. And after listening to Potter speak for almost an hour, I certainly understand why many individuals, including myself, feel that the health care system needs to be drastically reformed. If you have not done so already, I certainly encourage you to watch Michael Moore's documentary "SiCKO" to full appreciate the clips included in this interview but I have included some other quotes from Potter's appearance below:

Words to Remember

2009-07-15T17:58:00.006-05:00

From the very first posting of this blog in 2006, I have never commented about sports (even though I love the subject more than politics). But this is different. Ever since ESPN Radio started the auction to support The V Foundation for Cancer Research five years ago, I have sent an e-mail about this various topic on the day of the auction to the other individuals in my office. In case you are unfamiliar with his back story, Jim Valvano was the former head men’s basketball coach at North Carolina State University, winning the national championship in 1983 as an enormous underdog and eventually leaving in 1990 after ten years with the institution. He was unfortunately diagnosed with bone cancer in June 1992 and then, at the inaugural ESPY Awards show in March 1993, delivered the following speech (http://www.jimmyv.org/remembering-jim/espy-awards-speech.html) after accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Now Valvano is certainly not a man without flaws but, aside the funny moments (especially the part about the Green Bay Packers), no one can deny that the speech is extremely moving and inspirational. I included the link to the text and video of the speech but I just love to see the words in front of me. By the way, Valvano passed away less than two months after his famous speech. His tombstone in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC reads: "Take time everyday to laugh, to think, to cry."

Jim Valvano's Speech:
"Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. That's the lowest I've ever seen Dick Vitale since the owner of the Detroit Pistons called him in and told him he should go into broadcasting.

I can't tell you what an honor it is to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people too. But I can't help it.

Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. When people say to me, 'How do you get through life or each day?', it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

I rode on the plane up today with Mike Krzyzewski, my good friend and wonderful coach. People don't realize he's ten times a better person than he is a coach and we know he's a great coach. He's meant a lot to me in these last five or six months with my battle. But when I look at Mike, I think, we competed against each other as players. I coached against him for fifteen years and I always have to think about what's important in life to me are these three things: where you started, where you are and where you're going to be. Those are the three things that I try to do every day.

When I think about getting up and giving a speech, I can't help it. I have to remember the first speech I ever gave. I was coaching at Rutgers University--that was my first job and I was the freshman coach. That's when freshmen played on freshman teams and I was so fired up about my first job. I see Lou Holtz here. Coach Holtz, who doesn't like the very first job you had? The very first time you stood in the locker room to give a pep talk. That's a special place, the locker room, for a coach to give a talk. So my idol as a coach was Vince Lombardi and I read this book called 'Commitment to Excellence' by Vince Lombardi. And, in the book, Lombardi talked about the fist time he spoke before his Green Bay Packers team in the locker room and they were perennial losers. I'm reading this and Lombardi said he was thinking, 'Should it be a long talk or a short talk?'. But he wanted it to be emotional so it would be brief. So here's what I did. Normally you get in the locker room, I don't know, twenty-five minutes, a half hour before the team takes the field. You do your little x and os and then you give the great Knute Rockne talk. We all do. Speech number eight-four. You pull them right out, you get ready. You get your squad ready. Well, this is the first one I ever gave and I read this thing. Lombardi, what he said was he didn't go in, he waited. His team wondering, 'Where is he?'. Where is this great coach? He's not there. Ten minutes, he's still not there. Three minutes before they could take the field, Lombardi comes in, bangs the door open and I think you all remember what great presence he had, great presence. He walked in and he walked back and forth, like this, just walked, staring at the players. He said, 'All eyes on me'. I'm reading this in this book. I'm getting this picture of Lombardi before his first game and he said, 'Gentlemen, we will be successful this year if you can focus on three things and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers.'. They knocked the walls down and the rest was history. I said, 'That's beautiful. I'm going to do that. Your family, your religion and Rutgers basketball.'. That's it. I had it. Listen, I'm twenty-one years old. The kids I'm coaching are nineteen and I'm going to be the greatest coach in the world, the next Lombardi. I'm practicing outside of the locker room and the managers tell me, 'You got to go in'. Not yet, not yet. 'Family, religion, Rutgers basketball. All eyes on me.' I got it, I got it. Then finally he said, 'Three minutes'. I said, 'Fine'. True story. I go to knock the doors open just like Lombardi. Boom! They don't open. I almost broke my arm. Now I was down, the players were looking. Help the coach out, help him out. Now I did like Lombardi--I walked back and forth and I was going like that with my arm getting the feeling back in it. Finally I said, 'Gentlemen, all eyes on me'. These kids wanted to play, they're nineteen. 'Let's go', I said. 'Gentlemen, we'll be successful this year if you can focus on three things and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers', I told them. I did that. I remember that. I remember where I came from.

It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.

I talked about my family--my family's so important. People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who's right here too. That screen is flashing up there thirty seconds. Like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I'm worried about some guy in the back going, 'Thirty seconds'? You got a lot. Hey, va fa Napoli, buddy. You got a lot.

I just got one last thing. I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm'. To keep your dreams alive in spite of problems, whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.

Now I look at where I am now and I know what I want to do. What I would like to be able to do is spend whatever time I have left and to give and maybe some hope to others. Arthur Ashe Foundation is a wonderful thing and AIDS, the amount of money pouring in for AIDS is not enough but is significant. But if I told you it's ten times the amount that goes in for cancer research. I also told you that 500,000 people will die this year of cancer. I also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease and, yet somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background. I want to bring it back on the front table. We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children's lives. It may save someone you love. And ESPN has been so kind to support me in this endeavor and allow me to announce tonight that, with ESPN's support, which means what? Their money and their dollars and they're helping me--we are starting the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And it's motto is: 'Don't give up, don't ever give up.' That's what I'm going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and the moment I have. If you see me, smile and give me a hug. That's important to me too. But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease. I can't thank ESPN enough for allowing this to happen. I'm going to work as hard as I can for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we'll have some cures and some breakthroughs. I'd like to think I'm going to fight my brains out to be back here again next year for the Arthur Ashe recipient. I want to give it next year!

I know, I gotta go, I gotta go. And I got one last thing and I said it before and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all."

The V Foundation for Cancer Research awards 100% of all direct donations and net proceeds from the organization's events directly to cancer research and related programs. The foundation has raised more than $80 million to fund cancer research nationwide.

For All of Those Parents Out There

2009-07-10T21:57:00.005-05:00

An oldie but a goodie to hopefully make things a little brighter:

The Price of Children

The government previously calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to eighteen years old and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $741.38 a month, $171.08 a week and a mere $24.24 a day. Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice is: Don't have children if you want to be rich. Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140? Naming rights: First, middle and last. Giggles under the covers every night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies. A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites. Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to finger paint, carve pumpkins, play hide and seek, catch lightning bugs and never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to keep reading the adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watch Saturday morning cartoons, go to Disney movies and wish on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, handprints set in clay for Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless. You get a front row seat in history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date and first time behind the wheel. You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree and, if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications and human sexuality that no college can match.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever and love them without limits so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price! Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It's the best investment you will ever make!

A Village Is Losing Its Idiot

2009-07-03T18:10:00.006-05:00

In a surprise announcement, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared earlier today that she is resigning from her position, which would be effective at the end of this month. In an absolutely confusing and horrible speech (she is a truly horrendous speaker), Palin stated that she is not seeking re-election because she plans to "work for and campaign for those proud to be American and those who are inspired by our ideals and won't deride them". According to Palin, another reason for her decision is because she has always promised "no more politics as usual", a ridiculous phrase she uttered on five separate occasions during her speech. Her constant use of bad cliches reminds me of a quote from artist Salvador Dali: "The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot".

Palin's announcement comes on the eve of the release of e-mails between her and Steve Schmidt from October of last year, who was the senior campaign strategist and advisor to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during the 2008 presidential campaign. Highlighting the tension within the McCain campaign, the e-mail chain centers around Palin's husband, Todd, and his membership in the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), an organization which advocates an in-state referendum containing the option of Alaska seceding from the United States and, in turn, becoming an independent nation.

Palin (in an e-mail to Schmidt, campaign manager Richard Davis and campaign advisor Nicole Wallace): "[Please] get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party. It's bull and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it...[Please] have statement given on this so it's put to bed."

Schmidt (replying to everyone less than five minutes later): "Ignore it. He was a member of the AIP? My understanding is yes. That is part of their platform. Do not engage the protestors. If a reporter asks, say 'It is ridiculous. Todd loves America.'"

Palin (adding five more staff members to the distribution list): "That's not part of their platform and he was only a member because independent Alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non-partisan. He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed." Note: So her husband made a mistake and then quickly resolved the matter? I believe that Schmidt has something to say to the contrary.

Schmidt, finally putting the matter to rest once and for all: "Secession -- it is their entire reason for existence. A cursory examination of the web site shows that the party exists for the purpose of seceding from the union. That is the stated goal on the front page of the web site. Our records indicate that Todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect, then we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be inaccurate. The inaccuracy would bring greater media attention to this matter and be a distraction. According to your staff, there have been no media inquiries into this and you received no questions about it during your interviews. If you are asked about it, you should smile and say 'Many Alaskans who love their country join the party because it speaks to a tradition of political independence. Todd loves his country.' We will not put out a statement and inflame this and create a situation where John [McCain] has to address this."

In case you were wondering, Palin was silent after Schmidt's second e-mail and the McCain campaign did not issue the statement Palin demanded.

New Address, Same Attitude

2009-07-03T17:23:00.003-05:00

My family and I moved to a new house in the middle of June so we have spent the last few weeks cleaning, decorating, unpacking boxes, etc. But since the majority of that work has been completed, it is now time for me to start voicing my opinions again. Keep your eyes open for a new posting very soon!

The Worst Kind of Traitor

2009-06-07T11:10:00.010-05:00

During a luncheon last week at the National Press Club, Mr. Cheney discussed a variety of topics, including gay marriage (of which he is surprisingly in favor), the bankruptcy of General Motors and President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. Ironically, the event was honoring the recipients of the Gerald R. Ford annual awards for distinguished reporting on national defense and the White House. A portion of Cheney's comments focused on Richard Clarke's recent remarks in "The Washington Post". Serving as the chief counterterrorism advisor to both President Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush, Clarke had this to say regarding the former administration: "Cheney's admission that 9/11 caused him to re-assess the threats to the nation only underscores how, for months, top officials had ignored warnings from the CIA and the NSC staff that urgent action was needed to preempt a major al-Qaeda attack...Yes, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice may have been surprised by the attacks of September 11, 2001 -- but it was because they had not listened."

Before specifically responding to Clarke's editorial, Cheney invoked images of the ashes of the World Trade Center and the individuals jumping from the North Tower, the smoking Pentagon and Flight 93. After he had finished tugging at the heart strings, Cheney then commenced to subtly drop possibly the biggest lie ever since that horrible day occurred in September more than seven years ago: "You know, Dick Clarke. Dick Clarke, who was the head of the counterterrorism program in the run-up to 9/11, he obviously missed it."

Why is it such a lie? Let's take a look at the evidence. First, on January 25, 2001 (five days after Mr. Bush took office), Clarke sent a memo to Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor at the time, which recommended an immediate review of the al-Qaeda network and stated that "We would make a major error if we underestimated the challenge al Qida [sic] poses or overestimated the stability of the moderate, friendly regimes that al Qida threatens". In his book, "The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation", "The New York Times" reporter Philip Shenon reprinted other e-mails from Clarke which continued to warn Rice and other members of the Bush administration throughout 2001 about the threat from al-Qaeda. Apparently the titles of those e-mails weren't ominous enough to Mr. Bush and his team of irresponsible morons:

"Bin Ladin [sic] Public Profile May Presage Attack" (May 3)
"Terrorist Groups Said Co-Operating on U.S. Hostage Plot" (May 23)
"Bin Ladin’s Networks’ Plans Advancing" (May 26)
"Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent" (June 23)
"Bin Ladin and Associates Making Near Term Threats" (June 25)
"Bin Ladin Planning High Profile Attacks" (June 30)
"Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delays" (July 2)

And then on September 4, 2001, Clarke wrote one last memo to Rice, which was titled "Imagine Hundreds of Dead Due to Government Inaction". As you can probably deduce from the name of the document, Clarke urged "policymakers to imagine a day after a terrorist attack, with hundreds of Americans dead at home and abroad, and ask themselves what they could have done earlier". Within this memo, Clarke also (1) criticized the military for its unwillingness to retaliate for the attack on the USS Cole or strike Afghan terrorist camps, (2) accused senior CIA officials of trying to block the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle program and (3) expressed his concerns that, if attacked, the United States would need to rely heavily on foreign governments for assistance. As we all know, this country was attacked just seven days later.

Now I have heard a lot of bullshit come out of Cheney's mouth over the last eight years but this certainly takes the cake. Instead of taking responsibility for how he, Mr. Bush and their cronies turned their backs on credible intelligence from within their own administration and, in turn, allowing 9/11 to take place, Cheney wants to blame Richard Clarke, despite the evidence in front of him. I only wish that President Obama would call for the prosecution of numerous members of the previous administration.

Vacationers Are Apparently Acceptable, Part II

2009-06-02T16:23:00.007-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous posting, various Republican members of Congress are criticizing President Obama's plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Through their remarks, these individuals are creating a perception that the facility is bulging at the seams with terrorists anxious to be released so that they continue the horrors of September 11th. Or those terrorists will be placed into minimum security prisons within the United States with access to all types of weapons. Or, even worse, allowed to freely roam our streets without any sort of supervision. All of those are extremely inaccurate. However, certain Republicans from Kansas (Sen. Samuel Brownback, Sen. Patrick Roberts and Rep. Todd Tiahrt) are contributing to this ridiculous chatter about these "dangerous criminals".

What is amazing about these three politicians from the Midwest is that, while they openly speak out against closing Guantanamo Bay, they seem to forget about the inmates currently incarcerated in their own state. Take a look at the following list and let me know which group you are more scared of:

Scott Roeder has been charged with first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for shooting and killing George Tiller just three days ago. Before he was assassinated during Sunday morning's service at his church, Tiller was the Medical Director of the Women's Health Care Services clinic, which provides abortions to consenting women.
Previously named "Man of the Year" by a local charity, John Robinson is currently on death row for murdering six women. Nicknamed the "Slave Master", Robinson met some of his victims through the Internet.
Once the President of the Congregation Council at his church and a Cub Scout leader, Dennis Rader is serving a life sentence for murdering ten people, including four in the same family. The "BTK Killer" received his nickname from his method of binding, torturing and killing his victims.
Sentenced to five life prison terms, Don Nemechek was convicted in February of 1977 for killing five individuals (including a 2-year-old boy) within a twenty month period.
Gary Beach was convicted of first degree murder after investigators discovered the bodies of five victims (including his step-nephew) decomposing in his house.

Plus someone should remind the right wing that we are currently and safely imprisoning these domestic terrorists within our borders:

Terry Nichols, a veteran of the U.S. Army who conspired with Timothy McVeigh in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. Nichols is serving 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for this horrendous event, which claimed the lives of 168 people.
Eric Rudolph, serving five consecutive life sentences for committing a series of bombings (including during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA) which killed two people and more than 150 others.
Theodore Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", who carried out a campaign of mail bombings which killed three people and injured twenty-three others.
Richard Reid, convicted on charges of terrorism and serving a life sentence for attempting to destroy a commercial aircraft by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes.

Vacationers Are Apparently Acceptable, Part I

2009-05-31T12:58:00.012-05:00

Nearly every day for the past five weeks, Sen. Mitchell McConnell (R-KY), the Minority Leader since January 2007, has delivered remarks on the floor of Congress regarding President Obama's plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay (which, as I have mentioned in previous postings, is an illegal facility) and, in turn, the eventual destination of the detainees still held behind its walls. During one of those speeches, McConnell commented that "Guantanamo currently houses some of the most dangerous men alive...who are proud of the innocent lives they have taken". Not to be outdone by McConnell, Sen. Samuel Brownback (R-KS) declared that "The people in the community are going to feel very threatened -- this is in an urban environment, an urban setting, and for what? Why are we doing this?" Sen. Patrick Roberts (R-KS) and Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) echoed their colleague's theme by stating "Not in our backyard. Not in Kansas. Not on my watch." and "Do you want the terrorists in your hometown?", respectively.

Although I completely understand anyone's concern with the future location of any of the dangerous individuals currently being detained at Guantanamo Bay (although no one really knows how many of them are actually dangerous), I am amazed at how much Brownback, Roberts and Tiahrt speak out against this issue when members of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police frequently make trips to their state. Four times each year, soldiers from the Afghan National Army and officers from the Afghan National Police are selected from their respective units and are awarded a working vacation to either Fort Riley in northeast Kansas or a United States Army training area in Germany. During one of those trips to Fort Riley, U.S. Army soldiers instructed the Afghans on such things as proper etiquette while traveling on an aircraft, appropriate hygiene standards and the cultural differences between the two countries. Aside from participating in a training exercise, the visitors were provided with shopping trips to Wal-Mart and the post exchange and a tour of a sporting goods warehouse, treated to lunch at a local restaurant and entertained with an outing to a major league baseball game. Considering Brownback's previous comments, these trips to the U.S. are an utter disgrace, given the fact that Fort Riley is just more than an hour away from the Senator's home.

Now before anyone attacks me for being a racist and for trying to link these Afghan soldiers and police officers to the Taliban or al-Qaeda, I am certainly not doing that. (I will leave those baseless accusations up to the Republicans above and other naive members of the right wing.) However, it is amazing that these conservative politicians have no issues with soldiers from the Afghan National Army visiting the U.S., despite the fact that this military was trained and equipped by the Soviet Union for thirty years and then ruled by the Taliban for five years until this regime was "removed" in late 2001. And we shouldn't forget that the all levels of the Afghan National Police have been easily bribed in the past by members of the Taliban, especially considering the fact that those police officers generally earn between $30-100 per month.

Of course, the Republicans don't bother to mention the fact that President Obama has revived the Bush era military tribunals for top terror suspects imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. They only want to focus on the overwhelmingly small percentage of those individuals who are even guilty of any sort of crime.

Faulty Moral Compass

2009-05-26T21:00:00.009-05:00

On May 15, Mark Hine, the Vice President for Student Affairs at Liberty University (LU) in Lynchburg, VA to Brian Diaz, the President of the school's College Democrats, will no longer be recognized as an approved club at the educational institution. According to Hine's e-mail, the school is "unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by Liberty University...The Liberty Way states, 'It is the duty of every student to respect Liberty's Statement of Doctrine and Purpose. They may not engage in any activity on or off campus that would compromise the testimony or reputation of the university or cause disruption to Liberty's Christian learning environment.'" Hines goes on to state (in poor grammatical fashion) that "The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of LU and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the 'LGBT' agenda, hate crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc.)."

In an attempt to back pedal from Hine's e-mail, Jerry Falwell, Jr., the Chancellor and President of Liberty University and the son of Jerry Falwell, Sr., the school's founder, posted an op-ed piece on the school's web site on Monday. The main reason for the piece was to emphasize the fact that the media was supposedly erroneously reporting on the controversy. For example, reports that the school was banned from campus and, in turn, prohibited from meeting on campus. And that's erroneous to you? Well, Jerry, the Student Clubs and Organizations Policies currently posted on your web site states that "No student club or organization shall be approved, recognized or permitted to meet on campus, advertise, distribute or post materials or use university facilities if the statements, positions, doctrines, policies, constitutions, bylaws, platforms, activities or events of such club or organization, its parent, affiliate, chapter or similarly named group (even if the similarly named group is not the actual parent, affiliate or chapter) are inconsistent or in conflict with the distinctly Christian mission of the university, the Liberty Way, the Honor Code or the policies and procedures promulgated by the university". And if you refer back to Hine's e-mail, he clearly states that "Even though this [College Democrats] club may not support the more radical planks of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party is still the parent organization of the club on campus...The candidates this club supports uphold the platform and implement it. The candidates supported are directly contrary to the mission of LU. By using LU or Liberty University and Democrat in the name, the two are associated and the goals of both run in opposite directions." To hammer the point home, Hine declared in his e-mail that the school was "removing the club from the Liberty web site and you will need to cease using Liberty University's name, including any logo, seal or mark of Liberty University. They are not to be used in any of your publications, electronic or Internet, including but not limited to any web site, Facebook, Twitter or any other such publication." Jerry, I don't know about you but, to me, it doesn't sound too good for the College Democrats. However, we shouldn't expect too much from an institution of higher learning which has approved clubs with forward thinking names such as the Blue and Gray Society, Huntin' and Fishin' Club (yes, they actually used apostrophes) and Lord's Warriors.

At the same time, this combination of hypocrisy and extreme conservatism shouldn't be a huge surprise to everyone outside of Liberty University. This is the same school which has:

Accepted almost $4 million in loans in the mid-1990s from two organizations owned by Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church.
Allowed the debate team, despite the above criticism of the Democratic Party platform, to argue for abortion rights in previous competitions.
Continually supported and worked with Young Earth creationist organizations, which believe the heavens, Earth and life on Earth were created by direct acts of God between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Implemented a code of conduct which distributes reprimands and fines for completely harmless activities, including attending dances, viewing R rated movies or sexually explicit material, smoking, entering the bedroom of a member of the opposite sex and participating in unauthorized petitions.
Announced in the summer of 2005 that the in-class dress code was being relaxed to permit flip-flops, capri pants, jeans and other casual articles of clothing (but not shorts) as long as the clothing does not have any holes. (Rules such as collared shirts for male students still apply.)

But this can't be a shocker from a school which accepted 94.3% of all students entering in 2008, making Liberty University one of the least selective schools in the United States.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T20:41:00.008-05:00

First recognized in 1868, Memorial Day was established to commemorate the men and women of the United States military who have died while serving their country. Designated as "a fitting tribute to the memory" of those individuals who have made the ultimate sacrifice, the holiday obviously has an even greater meaning right now with our troops still in the Middle East.

On this Memorial Day, it is important to note that "The Washington Post" has created a web site called Faces of the Fallen (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/) to honor each U.S. service member who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The site includes important information for the service member, including a photograph, age, hometown, military background, the date on which the individual died and a description of the incident, as well as related links. With that being said, there are a few statistics to point out from the time that the United States has occupied the Middle East:

4,986 U.S. service members have died in the Middle East (as of May 22).
31,193 U.S. service members have been injured (as of April 14).
45,167 Iraqi civilians have been killed (as of May 26).
It has unfortunately been 2,216 days since Mr. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq.

Facts, Lies and No Videotape, Part II

2009-05-22T20:44:00.005-05:00

In my previous posting, I commented on President Obama's recent proposal to charge service related treatments to military veterans with private health insurance. I also took the time to compare the lack of funding that the Department of Veterans Affairs received from Mr. Bush with the plans President Obama has for the agency in his increased 2010 budget. The second part of this subject is reserved for something much more important. On the Internet and in e-mail format (http://www.moaablogs.org/battleofthebilge/2009/04/bilgealertapril2/comment-page-1/ ), an extremely irresponsible lie is being circulated throughout the world for everyone to see. In that despicable lie, President Obama is "quoted" while expressing his dismay with the opposition to his proposal: "Look, it’s an all volunteer force. Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn’t compute. I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country. I wasn’t asking for blood -- just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I’d have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation’s deficit. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans."

The members of the right wing who are stoking the fire of this pathetic sham are clearly poor excuses for human beings because this entire item is based in complete and utter bullshit. In case you wonder why I say that:

1. The majority of the text was pulled directly from the original posting (http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens188.htm) on March 21 by John Semmons on his personal blog. The name of his blog? Wait for it...It's called "Semi-News -- A Satirical Look at Recent News". (Apparently Republicans are unfamiliar with the terms "semi" and "satirical".) Therefore, the supposed quote from President Obama has been completely fabricated.

2. The remaining text (including the rant) has since been added from an unknown source.

3. Anyone with even an eighth of a brain would realize that any sitting President of the United States would not speak about the country's military in such a manner. This is certainly true of President Obama, whose every move is watched and whose every comment is analyzed.

One of the biggest problems with a situation like this is that the Democrats don't have their own versions of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly. As a result, the mindless and conscienceless Republicans continue to get away with stuff like this without any retribution from the left.

Facts, Lies and No Videotape, Part I

2009-05-21T22:42:00.007-05:00

President Obama and his administration recently proposed an ill advised plan to charge service related treatments to military veterans with private health insurance. Although the proposal was intended to raise more than $500 million in revenue, the plan was simply a bad idea. Currently veterans only pay for the treatment of injuries and ailments unrelated to their military service, thereby exposing wounded soldiers to co-pays and deductibles for the care of their war wounds. Thankfully President Obama had decided against pursuing this plan.

With that being said, the conservatives who are criticizing the plan above have seemed to miraculously forgotten the steps that President Obama has already taken to repair the damage Mr. Bush left at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under the Bush administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs suffered through massive budget shortfalls ($1 billion in 2005 alone) due to the fact that Mr. Bush’s cronies downplayed the agency’s financial needs. Previous reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed that officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs used controversial accounting practices during the height of the Iraq War to justify cuts to veteran’s health care enacted by the Bush administration. In January, the GAO released a report which stated that those same agency officials continued to minimize their budget estimates to Congress in the last days of the Bush administration in order decrease spending.

In the 2010 budget he unveiled in February, President Obama increased the budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs by 15.5%. That increase will help fund an overhaul of the agency's technological infrastructure and, in turn, eliminate the need for veterans to wait an average of six months for disability claims to be processed. President Obama's budget will also subsidize a program to provide health care to non-disabled veterans earning more than $30,000 a year. (During Mr. Bush's presidency, those veterans did not qualify for health care administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.) Through a pilot project with non-profit organizations, President Obama’s budget will aim to provide housing and job training to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of becoming homeless. Veterans who are medically retired from active duty will be allowed to keep their full disability compensation and retired pay. Last but not least, President Obama's budget will expand mental health screening and treatment with a focus on reaching veterans in rural areas through mobile health clinics and "vet centers".

This Day in History

2009-05-19T21:01:00.011-05:00

Eighty-four years ago today, Malcolm X (nee Malcolm Little) was born to Earl and Louise Little in Omaha, NE. After enduring the loss of his father at the hands of white supremacists and the hospitalization of his mother due to mental health issues, Little and his siblings were assigned to different foster homes. Despite those life shattering events, Little was still one of the best students in his junior high school. However, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade after his English teacher informed that his aspirations of becoming a lawyer were "no realistic goal for a nigger". Shortly after moving to Harlem, NY at the age of eighteen, Little began a life of gambling, robbery, racketeering, drug dealing and pimping prostitutes. He then relocated to Boston, MA; was arrested and charged with larceny and breaking and entering and was eventually incarcerated in the Massachusetts State Prison. While serving his sentence, Little found religion and joined the Nation of Islam.

Following his release from prison, Little changed his name to Malcolm X and, over the next few years, quickly became the second most influential leader in the Nation of Islam, just below Elijah Muhammad. However, after more than ten years with the religious group, Malcolm X publicly announced his separation from the Nation of Islam in March of 1964 due to (1) the internal criticism he received for his remarks regarding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, (2) the resentment of his popularity in the media by other members within the organization and (3) his own dismay with Elijah Muhammad's extramarital affairs with young secretaries and the lavish lifestyles that Muhammad and other members of the Nation of Islam were living. A month later, Malcolm X traveled to Saudi Arabia in order to visit the holy site of Mecca. According to Malcolm X himself, this journey to Mecca allowed him to witness Muslims of all different interacting as equals. As a result, Malcolm X developed "greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white" and, in turn, spoke out against the Nation of Islam when he returned to the United States.

As his negative comments concerning the Nation of Islam continued, the organization continually made death threats towards Malcolm X and his family and several attempts on his life. And then, on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X began a speech at a meeting of the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan when a disturbance broke out in the audience. A man stood up and yelled, "Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!" As the bodyguards of Malcolm X moved towards the man in order to quiet the commotion, another man from the audience rushed forward and shot Malcolm X in the chest with a sawed off shotgun. Two other men charged the stage and fired handguns, hitting Malcolm X an additional 16 times. Malcolm X was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at Columbia University Medical Center. He was survived by his wife and six daughters, including twins born after his assassination.

Because of the fact that Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were very public figures in the same time period, Malcolm X's legacy has been tarnished in the eyes of some individuals. Since Dr. King preached the notion of non-violence on a daily basis, Malcolm X is extremely misunderstood and often viewed as a very militant individual, especially with his use of the phrase "by any means necessary". This view was intensified after that particular phrase was combined with a photograph of Malcolm X standing by a window holding a machine gun. However, the photograph was originally taken as a warning against Nation of Islam members who had already threatened Malcolm X's life. But by merging the photograph with the "by any means necessary" phrase, the image appears to be a call to arms for the black population. And if you look at the phrase in its full context ("We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence via any means necessary."), you can see that Malcolm X is calling for his African-American brothers and sisters to stand up and take their rightful place in society. The full impact of the legacy of Malcolm X can be viewed in the eulogy that actor and activist Ossie Davis delivered in remembrance of the slain leader: "There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times. Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, controversial and bold young captain - and we will smile. Many will say 'Turn away - away from this man, for he is not a man but a demon, a monster, a subverter and an enemy of the black man' - and we will smile. They will say that he is of hate - a fanatic, a racist - who can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle! And we will answer and say to them, 'Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did, you would know him. And if you knew him, you would know why we must honor him."

Fake of the Week (No Pun Intended)

2009-05-15T20:02:00.009-05:00

At a press conference on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced that Carrie Prejean would retain her crown as Miss California USA despite her response to a question regarding gay marriage at the Miss USA Pageant in April. Addressing the criticism she received since the pageant, Prejean stated during her speech that "I would like to thank God for trusting me with this large task and giving me the strength to stand by my beliefs".

Yes, your beliefs. I am sure that God shares your belief in (1) posing for multiple topless photographs and (2) getting breast implants. (By the way, Prejean actually approached officials from the Miss California Pageant weeks before the Miss USA competition and requested that the organization pay for her implants, which they shockingly proceeded to do.) And if you forgot the answer that Prejean provided to judge Perez Hilton's question concerning gay marriage, here is her reply: "Well, I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? In my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there but that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be, between a man and a woman."

During that same Tuesday press conference, Prejean also remarked that "I am proud to be an American. I'm proud of the freedoms we enjoy because of the brave men and women serving this great country and who have served." These freedoms include the ability to exercise your freedom of speech (as Prejean did during the Miss USA pageant) but apparently not the ability to marry individuals of the same sex. (Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in what comes out of this nitwit's mouth?) Following her controversial response at the pageant, Prejan attempted to defend herself through numerous interviews. When she spoke with journalist Rex Wockner one week after the pageant, Prejean delivered these wonderful comments:

"I think the key thing is tolerance." Unless you are homosexual and you wish to get married to someone of the same sex.
"This is nothing against gay people. I have a lot of friends that are gay." Of course you do. Just like the accused racist has friends who are African-American and the abusive husband who has only hit his wife once.
In response to a question regarding whether homosexuality is innate or not: "No, I don't think so...I think it's a behavior that develops over time."

Considering all of the criticism that Prejean received following the pageant and her subsequent remarks in support of homosexuality, I am amazed by the fact that very little attention was devoted to the comments from Keith Lewis. Lewis, a State Director for the Miss California Organization, released this statement: "Given the fact that Carrie Prejean's first act upon returning to California was to headline five services at a church that promotes homosexuality as both unnatural and abnormal, we stand by our concern for her individual image and look forward to a time in the near future when she can put down her personal agenda and assume the responsibilities associated with being Miss California USA, including promoting our official platform, 'The Beauty of California,' which sole purpose is to embrace diversity."

We're Still Waiting...

2009-05-11T21:28:00.006-05:00

Due to today's unfortunate news from the Middle East, there are 2 things that I need to point out:

1. Today is the 2,202th day since Mr. Bush stood on the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a huge banner reading "Mission Accomplished".

2. It has only been 16 hours since a U.S. soldier shot and killed five of his fellow troops at a counseling center at a military base outside Baghdad, Iraq.

This morning's horrific incident is the worst attack of its kind since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003. However, the key word in that sentence is "worst", which obviously means that there have been others during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Therefore, it begs the question: Would Mr. Bush and his cronies from his administration finally like to offer a correction to their dog and pony show six years ago?

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

2009-05-11T11:59:00.007-05:00

During the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday, President Obama addressed the White House press corps and other journalists, as well as various politicians and entertainers. Aside from talking about his wife and two daughters, President Obama was also very self deprecating and not afraid to poke fun at him and his administration. With that being said, some of the greatest lines from President Obama's speech arose from his remarks regarding the massive train wrecks better known as Mr. Bush's presidency and the Republican Party:

If a Tree Falls in the Woods and No One Hears It...

2009-05-08T09:05:00.004-05:00

On the first Thursday of May during the entire course of his presidency, Mr. Bush hosted an ecumenical service in the East Room of the White House in observance of the National Day of Prayer. President Obama decided against conducting a similar service yesterday and instead elected to observe the day in private. And as expected, the right wing is attacking President Obama and incorrectly labeling his decision as a "boycott" of the National Day of Prayer.

As opposed to turning the day into a political event like Mr. Bush, President Obama decided to worship behind closed doors but also issue a paper proclamation calling upon all Americans to "pray in thanksgiving for our freedoms and blessings and to ask for God's continued guidance, grace and protection for this land that we love". Apparently that was not enough. Shirley Dobson, the National Day of Prayer Chairwoman, and her husband James Dobson, the founder of the homophobic and extremely conservative organization called Focus on the Family, expressed their irrational concern with Obama's decision. Shirley Dobson stated that "We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration. At this time in our country's history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer." (Of course, the Dobsons fail to mention that President Obama prays in private every day.)

You would think that an organization (or a political party, for that matter) so steeped in religion would realize the hypocrisy in their criticism. From Matthew 6:6: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

Unwanted Democrat of the Week

2009-05-06T20:21:00.002-05:00

When he recently announced that he would be changing his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, Sen. Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania was obviously attacked by the right wing. In fact, Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), had these mature things to say: "For [Sen. Specter] to effectively flip the bird back to [Sen. John Cornyn] and the Republican Senate leadership, the team that stood by him, who went to the bat for him in 2004 to save his hide, to me is not only disrespectful, it's just downright rude. I'm sure his mama didn't raise him this way. And it's a shame that he's behaving this way today."

With that being said, I am sure that Specter didn't expect a hard time from his new party. According to Specter, Sen. Harry Reid (R-NV), the Senate Majority Leader (and another unwanted Democrat), promised Specter that, when he switched to the Democratic Party, he would retain his committee assignments and his seniority within those committees. However, the Senate voted yesterday to remove Specter's seniority, subsequently placing him at the bottom of every committee on which he sits. Not surprisingly, Reid's spokesperson stated that "There was no miscommunication" between the two senators.

And while I applaud Specter's defense of a woman's right to choose, his criticism of Mr. Bush's administration and his support of President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial, Specter will always be considered a waste of space by me because of the role he played in the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As an assistant counsel for the Warren Commission, Specter co-authored the ridiculous "magic bullet theory", which suggested that seven wounds to President Kennedy and Texas Gov. John Connally were caused by the same bullet. This absolutely impossible theory was a crucial assertion for the Warren Commission and allowed the federal government to truly avoid investigating the actual conspiracy which resulted in President Kennedy's death.