Obama's Training Wheels

Obama can't even make the shortest address with the assistance of his steadying TelePrompter.

See the Politico.

News for the Boy

1) A hand print fossil reveals that some dinosaurs' arms were likely positioned upward, not downward as depicted in the Jurassic Park movies.

2) Fossil hunters in Colombia find a 43-foot long snake!

3) A paleontologist in England discovers 48 new species.

Colorful Chart

LastFM generated this chart of the artists I've been listening to this year.

(Click to embiggen.)

This Redistribution of Wealth Business is Tricky

A little parable from Monty Python:

Dennis Moore Part 1


Dennis Moore Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

At this rate, we won't need an emissions cap

Barack "Senator Government" Obama wants to impose an annual $80 billion tax on all consumers via a "cap-and-trade" program to regulate emissions. We won't need it. His platform contains enough assaults on productivity and other fuel taxes that emissions will decline as Atlas Shrugs and manufacturers close shop or relocate to friendlier climes. Oh look at that, the Dow plummeted again. Thanks, Obama. Here's your more equal society, wealth is destroyed and dependency on the government is increased.

Not Too Likely

Representative Pence has called on the President to veto the $410 billion pork-infused omnibus bill. This ain't gonna happen. Barack "Senator Government" Obama will not stand in the way of federal bloat.



PENCE CALLS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO VETO BLOATED SPENDING BILL

“House Republicans trust President Obama will veto any spending bill that is not consistent with his campaign commitment…”

Washington, DC- U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, made the following statement today after joining House Republican leaders in sending a letter to President Obama requesting he veto the massive omnibus spending bill:

“In only a few months, Democrats have passed massive spending bills at the taxpayer’s expense. To make matters worse, the manner in which this legislation was forced through Congress was not transparent or honest. For example, the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ spending bill was rushed through Congress without any Member having read it. And, the $410 billion legislation that passed this week contained nearly 9,000 ‘airdropped’ earmarks, most of which were not even considered in committee let alone on the House floor. This is unacceptable.

“House Republicans trust President Obama will veto any spending bill that is not consistent with his campaign commitment to ‘fiscal responsibility and accountability and ensuring that spending commitments are paid for without burdening our children and grandchildren.’ And, since the Democrats’ bill also goes against President Obama’s pledge to ‘slash earmarks to no greater than 1994 levels and ensure all spending decisions are open to the public,’ we urge him to stand by his word.

“We side with the American people who are tired of business-as-usual with Washington’s out-of-control spending habits. Our nation’s families and small businesses are being forced to make sacrifices and cut down on spending and we believe, so should government. American taxpayers deserve better.”

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

I was skimming through the channels earlier and paused on CSPAN's live broadcast of the "Black State of the Union. "Some angry looking freak of a woman with bulging eyes was gesticulating wildly. You'd think that community would be happy now that a half-black man was elected President. I had it on mute but it looked to me as though she wanted something, I guess it was money: more welfare, more federal housing, more food stamps, Medicaid and Medicare, gimme gimme gimme! I think I was onto something because, then as if on cue, the Master of the Art of the Shakedown, Jess Jackson, stood and took a bow.

The mainstream black leaders are anything but mainstream. That label should belong, at the very least, to a more moderate cohort, not these radical leftists. These people have moved beyond Marxism. As embodied in Obama's budget, the mantra "To each according to his need" has been replaced by "To each according to his want." And they have also discarded, "From each according to his ability." Obama is leaning heavily on 5 percent of taxpayers to pull the wagon bearing the rest of society.

This is not a formula for a stable and prosperous democratic Republic.

Iraq "End Date"?

Fraudbama strikes again. He gets his lapdog media to report that "Obama sets Aug. 2010 as Iraq end date." Wow! Our troops will be out of Iraq in a year and a half. Joyous day!

Oh wait, no they won't.

Even with the drawdown, a sizable U.S. force of 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops will stay in Iraq under a new mission of training, civilian protection and counterterrorism.

And this is only possible thanks to the belated surge, belated in that Bush should have kept up much more pressure early to keep Iraq stabilized after the successful toppling of Hussein.

Now I Don't Need to Go to the CPAC Dinner

Text for Rep. Mike Pence’s Address to Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)

[As Prepared for Delivery]

As I stood on that cold January day atop the grassy hills surrounding the fort, in the theatre of my mind I could almost see the armada sailing up the river with hulls overflowing with the pride of having sacked the Capitol of the young country with little opposition.

But the long night would not end as they hoped. Here, amidst these earthen barricades, a small determined band of patriots would save the revolution because they would not yield.

I stand before you today, at a historic moment for the conservative movement, and for this great country. The coming weeks and months may well set the course of this nation for the next generation.

This Administration and this Congress is barely a month old, and already the problems facing this nation have grown in magnitude -- eclipsing the ones the nation faced when voters cast their ballots in November.

How we, as conservatives, respond to these challenges could determine whether America retains her place in the world as a beacon of freedom; or whether we slip into the abyss that has swallowed much of Europe in an avalanche of socialism.

While some are prepared to write the obituary on capitalism and our movement, I believe we are on the brink of a great American awakening.

I can feel it, I can hear it. Our nation's founding revolution began with the rumblings of discontent. Back home in Indiana last week I heard it - along with a lot of straight talk and common sense. Hoosiers recognize pork when they see it, and they recognize what bailing out every failing business in America means: we're burying generations under a mountain range of debt.

One Indiana farmer at a town hall meeting last week summed it up nicely: “What you're hearing out here Congressman is whole lot a frustration.”

This wise man summed up the feelings of the American people, and I couldn't have said it better. People have good reason to be frustrated.

On Election Day, only 22 percent of Americans described themselves as “liberal,” yet voters sent to Washington the most liberal, one-party government in our nation's history.

So what happened?

The truth is, Republicans didn't just lose a few elections, we lost our way. We walked away from the principles that minted our national majority and the American people walked away from us.

So we're in the wilderness. The only question now is, what are we going to do about it?

There sure is a lot of advice out there, some of it even from Republicans.

We keep hearing that Republicans have to come up with new ideas and that we have to use new technology to take those ideas to voters who haven't been coming our way lately.

Yes, we need to offer positive alternatives.

Yes, we need to take our message to every community in America.

But more than anything else, we need to be willing to fight - for freedom and free markets and traditional moral values.

We need to be the loyal opposition.

We should support the president and his party in Congress whenever principle permits. And we must vigorously oppose the Administration and the liberal Democrat majority every time consistency to principle demands.

After an election defeat, Winston Churchill described the duty before us saying, “it is the duty of every English party to accept political defeat cordially and to do their best endeavors to secure the success or to neutralize the evil of the principles to which we have been forced to succumb.” Churchill added, “it is good that we have no wish to be unfaithful to so wholesome a tradition.”

And neither do House Republicans.

And we will be that faithful and loyal opposition, we will stand up to the big government plans of the left and we will speak for the average American every day!

Like we did on the vote of the so-called stimulus bill. Every single House Republican opposed it on the floor of Congress. Every one.

The time for go-along to get along is over.

Margaret Thatcher used to say: “First you win the argument, then you win the vote.”

Although we lost the legislative battle, we won the argument because we proposed a better solution: tax relief for working families and small businesses. Twice the jobs, at half the cost.

Republicans won the argument because we got back to basics: fighting for the principles and ideals that make this nation great.

We got back to fighting for basic economic freedom: free enterprise and fiscal responsibility

This is the way back for our movement and our party.

Fighting for free enterprise means standing up for free markets. The freedom to succeed includes the freedom to fail. We must defend entrepreneurial capitalism against the onslaught of the American left.

Even in these challenging economic times, especially in these challenging times.

The American people know what makes sense and what doesn't.

We can't borrow and spend our way back to a growing economy.

We cannot bail out every failing business in America.

And we cannot ask hard working families who have played by the rules and paid their mortgages to bail out the irresponsible decisions of others.

Yet, that's exactly what the Democrats are doing.

Worse, Americans aren't being asked, they're being told.

Earlier this week President Obama announced a plan to raise taxes in a recession to pay for massive federal spending on universal healthcare and global climate change. But, there is no hope in mountains of debt and there is no change in higher taxes.

The truth is, they just don't get it.

After writing a stimulus bill that was nothing more than a wish list of liberal spending priorities and power grabs, Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to the House floor and said, “every American is asking, 'what's in it for me?'”

She thinks the American people are a bunch of congressmen!!

No, Madame Speaker, they wanted to know what's in it, period. Which is more than you can say for the 246 Democrats who cast their votes for it.

The American people weren't asking, “what's in it for me?” They were asking, “what's in it for America?” What's in it that will strengthen the foundations upon which our prosperity rests?

As the details of that bloated bill emerge, the answers to “what's in it for America?” are all too clear. What's in it for America is generations of debt, burdening our children and grandchildren with debt tomorrow to fund liberal priorities today, all with sore little chance of stimulating the economy.

Americans are not happy. And they know this is not just about dollars and cents, this is about who we are as a nation.

As Reagan said in 1964, it's about whether “we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.”

My money is on the American people.

The morning after the banking bailout vote last fall, I was back home in Indiana and a man of modest means approached me, hat in hand, told me he'd lost his job the day before but came by to thank me for voting against the Wall Street bailout.

He looked me right in the eye and said, “Congressman, I came by to thank you because I can get another job but I can't get another country.”

For that brave American and on behalf of his right to live and work in freedom, Conservatives must oppose the march of big government that will stifle our recovery and change the nature of our country forever. And we must oppose it with everything we've got.

And it's not just our economic freedom that is coming under assault. We're also going to have to fight for our freedoms in the workplace and on the airwaves.

Free elections, without fear of intimidation or reprisal, are essential to an open democratic society. It has been the hallmark of this country since its birth; men and women going to cast their ballot in support of an idea or a candidate they believe best represents their interests.

The so-called, “Employee Free Choice Act,” envisions a world where workers would be denied privacy and forced to vote in an atmosphere of intimidation.

By pushing for Card Check, Democrats are trying to drive democracy from the workplace.

But the working men and women of America deserve better and Republicans will defend their right to a secret ballot.

And the freedom to listen to what we want, who we want, when we want is also a blood-bought American right.

Despite assurances to the contrary from the White House, Democrats from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin to California Senator Diane Feinstein all openly advocate a return of the so-called Fairness Doctrine to the airwaves of America.

But there's nothing fair about the Fairness Doctrine. Allowing bureaucrats to decide what opinions can be expressed on the public airwaves is nothing more than government rationing of free speech and it must be opposed.

We cannot permit the Democrats to censor the airwaves of America. We must pass the Broadcaster Freedom Act and once and forever, send this Doctrine of Censorship to the ash heap of broadcast history.

Finally, fighting for freedom means ensuring the blessings of liberty to our posterity, born and unborn. We must stand for the sanctity of life.

Ending an innocent human life is morally wrong.

It is also morally wrong to take the money of millions of pro-life Americans and use it to promote abortion at home and abroad.

The largest abortion provider in America should not be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X. The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America.

And Congress must restore the historic restrictions on foreign aid under the Mexico City policy. President Obama and Congress were wrong to allow our tax dollars to provide abortions around the world and the protections of the Mexico City and Kemp Kasten must be restored.

It's clear to most people around the country that we face some pretty challenging times. Public confidence in many of our institutions has been shaken, and remains unsteady.

We must take action to get this economy back on track, and the American people back to work - meaningful action, the kind that creates and saves private sector jobs, not government bureaucracies.

And there is something more we must do. We must recognize that our present crisis in not merely economic and political but moral in nature.

At the root of these times is the realization that we are struggling because so many in authority have walked away from the timeless truths of integrity, personal responsibility. An honest day's work for an honest day's pay, and the notion that we should live and work in a way that treats others as we would want to be treated.

The Old Book says, “if the foundations crumble, how can the righteous stand?”

If the foundations of integrity and personal responsibility crumble, indeed how can a free society endure?

The truth is, we must get back to basics

Recently, U.S. News & World Report called to say they had heard a rumor that I open my staff meetings at the House Republican Conference in prayer.

Only in Washington, D.C. is being caught in private prayer a newsworthy event.

We told them, “Yes, the Congressman does open meetings in prayer. We pray for the President, for colleagues in both parties, and sometimes we even pray for the press!”

The truth is that in times like these it is good to “remember what your knees are for.”

Our Founders believed in prayer, as did one of our greatest presidents. An Indiana farm boy named Abe Lincoln.

At the height of a civil war and on the eve of a bloody battle on a field in Gettysburg, President Lincoln fell to his knees and prayed. Lincoln later recalled to a Union general, “I don't know how it was, and I cannot explain it, but soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul. The feeling came that God had taken the whole business into His hands and that things would go right.”

Like millions of Americans, I've been spending some time on my knees lately and I've got the same feeling that, in the midst of these dark days, by His grace, things will go right again.

I close where this address began, standing, as I did just a few short weeks ago, on the barricades of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.

Facing overwhelming opposition, and what must have seemed like the inevitable advance of defeat, a small band of regulars withstood 25 hours of bombardment at the hands of the British fleet.

And when the sun rose and smoke cleared, because of their courage and determination, our flag was still there.

A poem was written, an anthem inspired and a nation reborn to freedom and independence.

Inspired by their example, let us conservatives resolve this day that we, like they, will stand and fight; we will not yield.

And with determination and courage and faith, we, like those Americans so many years ago, will hold the banner of freedom high and the good and great people of this land will rally to our cause.

So help us God.

Geting more out of GoogleDocs

Wired.com started a wiki page with some tips for using Google Docs.

Fraudbama's Thermostat

Obama on the campaign trail:

We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times . . . and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.

Obama in the White House (from the NYT):

The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat. “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there."

Over Torre

I've been sick of Joe Torre's act for a couple of years now. Glad to see some in the New York press are finally over Joe, thanks to his new book.

The Post's Kevin Kernan sums it up:

The irony is that Torre, who always preached teamwork, wasn't about that here.

Over London

Here are some impressive photos of London at night.

Wishing You a Happy Ashura!

Shi'ite Muslims gash their heads with blades during a ceremony marking Ashura in Nabatieh, south Lebanon, January 7, 2009. Ashura, the most important day in the Shi'ite calendar, commemorates the death of Imam Hussien, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, in the 7th century battle of Kerbala.

REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON)

Bushisms

The Associated Press put together a list of Bush's goofy quotes over the years. I'll take these over Clinton's legalistic prevarications and Obama's vainglorious windbaggery any day:

• "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." — September 2000, explaining his energy policies at an event in Michigan.

• "Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" — January 2000, during a campaign event in South Carolina.

• "They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander in chief, too." — Sept. 26, 2001, in Langley, Va. Bush was referring to the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.

• "There's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail." — Oct. 4, 2001, in Washington. Bush was remarking on a back-to-work plan after the terrorist attacks.

• "It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber." — April 10, 2002, at the White House, as Bush urged Senate passage of a broad ban on cloning.

• "I want to thank the dozens of welfare-to-work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves." — April 18, 2002, at the White House.

• "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." — Sept. 17, 2002, in Nashville, Tenn.

• "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." — Aug. 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a defense spending bill.

• "Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." — Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

• "Our most abundant energy source is coal. We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." — April 20, 2005, in Washington.

• "We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job." — Sept. 20, 2005, in Gulfport, Miss.

• "I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs." — Sept. 5, 2005, when Bush met with residents of Poplarville, Miss., in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

• "It was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship. After all, 60 years we were at war 60 years ago we were at war." — June 29, 2006, at the White House, where Bush met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

• "Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die." — Dec. 7, 2006, in a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

• "These are big achievements for this country, and the people of Bulgaria ought to be proud of the achievements that they have achieved." — June 11, 2007, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

• "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." — September 2007, in Sydney, Australia, where Bush was attending an APEC summit.

• "Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech." April 16, 2008, at a ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House.

• "The fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." — May 27, 2008, in Mesa, Ariz.

• "And they have no disregard for human life." — July 15, 2008, at the White House. Bush was referring to enemy fighters in Afghanistan.

• "I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office." — June 26, 2008, during a Rose Garden news briefing.

• "Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." — July 4, 2008 in Virginia.

• "The people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer — prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them. It's good to come down here." — Sept. 3, 2008, at an emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, La., after Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast.

• "This thaw — took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw." Oct. 20, 2008, in Alexandria, La., as he discussed the economy and frozen credit markets

AP Shocker!

Now that we are safely past the election (or are we?), the Associated Press reports that Barack Obama has had several controversial associates and friends, including some guy name Ayers:

In his life and career in Illinois, President-elect Barack Obama has crossed paths with some notable figures who have drawn scorn and scrutiny. Among them:

___

GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH: Obama has maintained a cordial but distant relationship with Blagojevich during the governor's tenure.

He has complimented Blagojevich for running "a sound administration" with "the right priorities." He supported his fellow Democrat for re-election in 2006, even though the governor backed someone else over Obama in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary.

Obama's circle of major Illinois political allies and supporters is largely separate from Blagojevich's, with two major exceptions. Both Obama and Blagojevich got extensive money and support from Chicago businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko. At least one top aide to Obama, Michael Strautmanis, previously worked for Blagojevich.

But Blagojevich's disdain for Obama was clear in court documents released Tuesday after the Illinois governor was arrested. Blagojevich, accused by federal prosecutors of conspiring to sell or trade for personal benefits the Senate seat left vacant by Obama, was overheard complaining at one point that Obama's people are "not going to give me anything except appreciation." He added: "(Expletive) them."

Obama said Tuesday, "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening."

___

ANTOIN REZKO: "Tony" Rezko, who raised money for the campaigns of both Obama and Blagojevich, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted in June on charges of using clout with Blagojevich's administration to help launch a $7 million kickback scheme.

The charges have no connection to Obama, but Rezko is tied to the Illinois senator in other ways.

Rezko and his family donated at least $21,457 to Obama and helped raise over $200,000 more, though not for his presidential bid. He also advised Obama on the purchase of a new Chicago home and, in his wife's name, purchased a vacant lot next door to the new Obama home when the seller wanted to dispose of both properties at the same time. Rezko then sold a slice of the property to Obama.

Obama has donated Rezko's contributions to charity and says it was a mistake to work with Rezko on buying the house.

___

JEREMIAH WRIGHT: Wright was Obama's minister for 20 years. He helped Obama embrace Christianity, performed Obama's marriage, and baptized Obama and his two daughters.

Wright was known for thundering "God Damn America" in clips that dominated cable television news programs for weeks last spring. Wright accused the government of creating AIDS.

Obama has done his best to distance himself from his former minister, to the point of resigning from the church that Wright once led.

Wright's comments were a stumbling block for Obama's campaign. In an impassioned speech about faith and race, the Democrat at first expressed support for Wright, saying that "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother."

But six weeks later during a speech at the National Press Club, Wright offered eyebrow-raising opinions about the U.S. government, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and hinted that Obama was distancing himself from the pastor for political expediency.

The next day, Obama said he was outraged and denounced Wright's remarks.

___

WILLIAM AYERS: Today, Ayers is a university professor and a member of Chicago's intellectual establishment. Forty years ago he was a member of the Weather Underground, a radical group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

Ayers was a fugitive for years with his wife, fellow radical Bernadine Dohrn. But after surrendering in 1980, the charges against Ayers were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct.

Obama had a very limited relationship with Ayers, who lives in the same neighborhood. They served together on the board of a Chicago charity, and in the mid-1990s when Obama first ran for office, Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate session for Obama at his home.

Ayers was front and center in GOP claims that Obama was "palling around with terrorists," as Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin put it.

Obama has condemned Ayers' radical activities, and there's no evidence they ever were close friends or that Ayers advised Obama on policy.

Ayers said in November that he hardly knew Obama. "I think my relationship with Obama was probably like thousands of others in Chicago. And, like millions and millions of others, I wish I knew him better," Ayers said in a newspaper interview.

___

EMIL JONES: Jones, the president of the Illinois Senate, amounts to Obama's political godfather and was an important part of Obama's longshot victory for U.S. Senate in 2004. He helped the little-known politician meet the right people, and he picked Obama to handle high-profile legislation during the two years leading up to the election.

But Jones' political style is very different from Obama's.

Jones is known for steering state money to a few favored institutions, including some that employ his relatives. Several of his relatives have gotten state jobs, and his wife's government salary jumped 60 percent after he became Senate president. He has played an important role in blocking ethics legislation in Illinois.

When Jones announced last summer that he would retire from the Illinois Senate when his term ends in January, an Obama campaign spokesman said "Jones has been a passionate advocate who has fought for working families and the underprivileged."

Jones was considered a possible successor to Obama in the Senate.

___

RASHID KHALIDI: Khalidi is a scholar and author on Middle Eastern affairs who has criticized Israeli policies and was part of a Palestinian advisory panel to peace talks in the early 1990s.

He's also a friend of Obama.

They met while both were teaching at the University of Chicago and living in the same neighborhood. Obama and his wife, Michelle, sometimes had dinner with Khalidi and his wife, Mona. The Khalidis hosted a political fundraiser for Obama in 2000, and the Woods Fund charity gave money to the Arab-American Action Network, run by Mona Khalidi, while Obama served on the charity's board.

Khalidi and Obama have both said they hold very different opinions on Israeli issues, but their friendship has been used to raise questions about Obama's support for Israel — and to generate Internet headlines such as "Meet Obama's Terrorist Friend."

Late in the 2008 presidential campaign, the Republican nominee, John McCain, and Palin criticized Obama for attending a 2003 party for Khalidi. Obama's campaign dismissed the complaints, saying Khalidi was not an adviser to him and that Obama does not share Khalidi's views.

___

MICHAEL PFLEGER: Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest in Chicago, has been known as a firebrand for years. He has protested over a wide range of issues, including gun shops and Jerry Springer. Obama has referred to him as a spiritual adviser.

Last spring, Pfleger visited Obama's church and preached a sermon in which he mocked Hillary Rodham Clinton and accused her of expecting to win the presidential nomination because she was white. Pfleger apologized, but Obama condemned the remarks and resigned from the church.

Seeking Christmas Cheer!

I did something last night I'd never done before, nothing too grand, but I hung up Christmas lights in our front window and put some garland around our porch. With the world going to hell and all the insanity in the news, including the election of Fraudbama and his Chicago-bred thugs and liars, the severe recession and foolhardy bailouts, the prospect for wars in 2009 between Pakistan and India on the one hand and Israel and Iran on the other, it is a fine time to celebrate the Christmas season for a few weeks!

We just witnessed a preview of the "fairness doctrine"

The revelation of such naked corruption in Illinois has been jaw-dropping. In one arm of Blago's criminal empire, he was leaning on newspapers to fire certain columnists who were in the habit of criticizing his administration. Politicians don't like it when the media turns its scrutiny on their deeds. Once the so-called "fairness doctrine" is reinstated, I can easily imagine this type of pressure and threats taking place all across the country as the Democrats try to shut down talk radio, the voice of the resistance to their quest for unchallenged power.

Charles Town

At last once a day I hear a radio ad for Charles Town Races and Slots, and I chuckle every time because it sounds like they are singing "Charles Town, Racists and Sluts!"

What a town!

Headlines

I was on a vacation of sorts for the past 4 days so I paid little attention to what was going on in the world. Now that I am trying to get back into the swing of things, I'm getting caught up on the headlines, and man, are they depressing. Makes you almost want to hold up in a bunker: horrible job loss report, riots in Athens, unprecedented parliamentary questions in Canada, a car "czar", bailouts every day, deficit "not a concern" to the new administration, spreading the wealth, union sit-ins, Jesse Jackson calling for union unrest around the country, Iran building its missile arsenal, and the arrest of a governor!

Christmas is coming along at just the right time for some respite from all this insanity.