The thin man

I don't know about you, but I think Obama is losing weight. Maybe he's back on the fags.
Or it could be that he's being squeezed from both sides. After all, the wheels are coming off the Baucus bill because it isn't liberal enough.

And the GOP is rightly asking, "What Bill?" Seriously, can anyone tell me what bill the White House is backing? When he gave that stirring speech to congress on September 9th, what bill was he talking about? In hindsight, no one really knows. He talked about details that don't add up with any bill out there.
One thing's for sure, it isn't the GOP idea. (No, the "gang of six compromise" doesn't count as GOP input.) Obama has snubbed GOP leaders since April. He doesn't want to hear what they have in mind.

So....I'm thinking the thin Obama is a result of pressure from the left and the right. They both keep squeezing until something comes out of the White House. We need a little more than, "No, that's not it."

Obama goes to Denmark

It's back to the other side of the Atlantic for Barack Obama and Oprah. He's done well in Germany. Surely he'll be a hit in Denmark as well. If only he were a free agent.

Pitching the Olympics in Chicago.

Well, Rio has a reputation for crime. Then again, Chicago is reeling from a black-on-black beating of a 16-year-old by three or four others. The video shows them using 2x4s as murder weapons.

Every few days another school child is killed on Chicago streets. The media coverage is always the same. Ron Huberman, Chicago Superintendent of Schools, appears and calls it senseless. Mayor Daley either calls for gun control or tells the parents they are at fault.

Then a black Chicago Police officer with lots of ribbons and insignias makes a few remarks.

Sometimes we get Father Pfleger (The Catholic version of Jeremiah Wright) or Jesse Jackson to decry the madness.

All I'm saying is that Chicago isn't exactly a crime-free town.

Then again, South America has been bypassed for the games all these years. (Maybe because it's winter there in August.)

Madrid has had some terrorist attacks. Tokyo's the safest of the four.

Democrats have proven once again that they can't add. Daley has been pitching to Chicago how profitable the games can be, bringing $22 billion into the economy.

An independent review says the real number is around $4 billion if all goes well.

Maybe that's why Chicagoans are divided about 50-50 on the games here.

Shrill works

Being vocal and somewhat obnoxious works rather well I think. Just imagine where we would be if Joe Wilson hadn’t rudely hollered, “You lie!” during Obama’s speech to congress.

The left had already demonstrated their deafness on the issue of illegal aliens getting universal health care benefits. They ignored talk radio, they ignored faxes from the constituents, they ignored complaints at town hall meetings, they ignored GOP amendments, they even ignored their own research reports.

The nail in the coffin on the issue was supposed to be Obama’s authoritative declaration that such talk was a “bogus claim.” Then Wilson went shrill on us and within days all versions of universal health care had provisions blocking coverage for illegal aliens.

Example number two. Various people have been trying to expose ACORN for years. As the election neared in 2008 there was some traction on voter fraud at the hands of ACORN. A few had established a link between the unions and ACORN, particularly SEIU and NEA. (Glenn Beck had even exposed that link.) And the eight- year scandal/internal investigation of ACORN embezzlement blew over quietly.

ACORN thugs attended universal health care rallies and tried to disrupt tea party events. The media gave the allegations zero coverage, writing them off as Faux News stunts.

But along came the sting videos in all their shrillness and suddenly we see the US Census telling them, “No thanks, ACORN.” The House and Senate both vote to stop sending them checks. The IRS takes away their tax-preparer license. Shrill works.

And it turns out that the White House has been tight with Hollywood ever since they signed Obama as the rising star, yet a transcript of the extent of the incest between the White House and artists resulted in people being fired. That would have never happened without the shrill exposure of the NEA conference call with all its ugly implications.

But shrill is a full-time job. Just today Bill Clinton dragged out the right-wing conspiracy idea. “Honest Bill”, as no one calls him, says those pesky right-wingers were after him and they are now after Obama.

The whole Monica Lewinsky affair was a right-wing conspiracy and so is all this criticism of the Obama administration. So says Mr. Clinton.

I’m glad we’ve cleared that up.

Hillary has never been shrill. Marching in the streets on May Day is not shrill. Calling Bush a liar is not shrill. Protesting at soldiers’ funerals is not shrill. Michael Moore is not shrill. Protesting in favor of Obamacare is not shrill. Only conservatives are shrill.

You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Obama's sinking popularity

The prez must be beside himself at this point. Some shrinks have analyzed his behavior and seem to think it is linked to being abandoned as a child, first by his father, then his step-father, then his mother...finally coming to rest at Grandma's house as a teenager.

Such individuals often turn out to be pleasers. They will say and do anything for the approval of others. When that collapses things get bizarre.

So, where are we?
The senior citizens never were behind him. He's made it worse by threatening to make Medicare more efficient.

The young, tech-savvy crowd are being pulled by Andrew Breitbart over to biggovernment.com. They love the videos of ACORN being punked. And the NEA conference call. Superb entertainment for the cynical.

The Latinos are still waiting for amnesty. Ruben Navarrette was griping about it just today.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/23/immigrants-lecture/

The unions? Well, they aren't too happy about the free coverage that has come about with the ACORN scandal. And, where's universal health care? And, what about secret ballots? And, weren't you going to give us all those illegal alien workers?

The independents? Polls show they have slipped below 50%.

The doves? Let's just say that Gitmo isn't closed yet and Obama is actually fighting in Afghanistan.

The Jews? Well, he really stepped in it at the UN. (Actually, Israelis living in the Holy Land have always been against Obama 4 to 1. US Jews are starting to feel the same way.)

He's even having trouble capturing the hearts of the children. His back-to-school was a PR disaster. I Pledge was poorly received. And now a principal in New Jersey is caught on tape indoctrinating little minds.

So, who's left? He's still got the white liberals who read the New York Times and the inner city blacks (though some of them are confused that Obama disavowed any knowledge of ACORN).

It always has been lonely at the top.

A word of advice: Chicago always has had trouble playing hardball. The Cubs are lovable until they start blaming the fans.

Rahm Emanuel is just being Rahm. Tough. In your face. Making threats to those who don't go along.

And Axelrod is ineffective, especially when you need to be precise and truthful. He's great at spin, but lousy at laying out a complex plan that adds up in the light of day.

May I suggest replacing your White House staff with people who can work with moderates and conservatives? Perhaps set aside identity politics.

Otherwise, the ideological divide will continue to widen. You are no longer the underdog; you are now the embodiment of big government. People will tear down the powerful; Americans are like that.

You can only gain so many victories by force...and then you must begin to collaborate.

Transparency

Candidate Obama spoke much about the need for government to be open and honest with the people. When he won he went to great lengths to put people in government who were assigned to fling open the doors and make this administration transparent.

Here we are eight months in and it is a fair question to ask how Obama is performing.

Well, the other day he pulled a Charlie Gibson on us by saying he didn’t really know much about ACORN. And some of his former friends in the press just simply couldn’t let that slide.

For instance, George Stephanopoulos, Obama’s pal at ABC. You can’t get any more blue than George. He was Communications Director for Bill Clinton. Surely he knew the implications of asking Obama what he thought about the ACORN sting.

Here’s where Obama pulled the Charlie Gibson move. The President said: “You know, if -- frankly, it's not really something I've followed closely. I didn't even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.”

Now, George could have held that line of questioning but threw him a rope by changing the subject to Afghanistan.

But others picked up on Obama’s effort to distance himself from ACORN.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-and-acorn-a-love-story/
and
http://www.thefoxnation.com/acorn/2009/09/22/obama-ties-acorn-date-back-decades?page=1

The greatest threat here is to the big media outlets. They were proven too loyal to the left and it cost them the story. In the end, they don’t know how to go after the Obama administration.

And the media midgets are scooping them still.

It turns out that Hilda Solis over at the Department of Labor has been working feverishly since she was sworn in to cover up the paper trail of union money in politics. Labor unions must file reports (LM-2s) showing how member dues were used. At first it was “$100,000 for political campaigning”. By 2004, it was “$100,000 to ACORN, 123 Main St, Baltimore for candidate X.” You put that info on-line and add a search function and you’ve got real transparency.

Well….Hilda Solis has been working on administrative measures to hide that dirty information. And ABC News and The New York Times aren’t the ones breaking the story.

http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/24/solis-moves-to-shutdown-disclosure-of-big-labor-acorn-connections/

This White House is acting foolishly, as though they’d been trained by the Chicago Political Machine. Wait….never mind.

Good news, bad news

First the good news.
Mexico's jobless rate at 6.28 percent in August
The Associated Press
7:55 p.m. September 22, 2009 San Diego Union Tribune

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's unemployment rate rose to 6.28 percent in August, the highest rate in more than 13 years.

Good news because the US unemployment rate is HIGHER at 9.7%. So maybe we aren’t as attractive a destination for illegal aliens.

Now the bad news.
Survey: 75 pct of Mexicans unhappy with country
By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET, The Associated Press
3:51 p.m. September 23, 2009 San Diego Union Tribune

MEXICO CITY — Mexicans are overwhelmingly unhappy with the direction of their country, and one in three would immigrate to the United States if they could, a Pew Research Center survey said Wednesday.

Of those in the poll who said they would like to migrate, more than half said they would be willing to do so illegally.

The poll of 1,000 people in Mexico found crime, government corruption and illegal drugs are major problems.

Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed said they are unhappy about Mexico's direction. Nearly all of those polled – 94 percent – said corrupt political leaders are a big problem.

Listen, amigos, our political leaders ain’t exactly saints, so stay home.

A woman’s touch

How wonderful it is to have a mother in the White House. Two school children. A woman who can relate to the woes of a working woman.

And Michelle Obama is just such a woman. So here she comes to help Barack sell Obamacare to the masses.

The title of her remarks: WHAT HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM MEANS FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES
Delivered September 18th.

Gather a group of Obama supporters and hear the First Lady tell about health care reform.

Here are a couple of quotes, just so you get the flavor of it:
There's a reason why we've invited the leaders not only from family advocacy groups and health care advocacy groups, but for so many organizations that have been fighting for decades for empowerment for women. And that's because when it comes to health care, as the Secretary said, as we all know, women play a unique and increasingly significant role in our families. We know the pain, because we are usually the ones dealing with it.

And:
I will never forget the time eight years ago when Sasha was four months that she would not stop crying. And she was not a crier, so we knew something was wrong. So we fortunately were able to take her to our pediatrician that next morning. He examined her and same (sic) something's wrong. We didn't know what….What would have happened to that beautiful little girl if we hadn't been able to get to a pediatrician who was able to get us to an emergency room?

For a moment I’d like to fantasize about a Q & A with the First Lady, one that would never take place, especially in an audience stacked with Obamacrats. But I can dream, can’t I?

Q: Mrs. Obama, did you ever work in health care?
MO: Why yes I did, at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Q: What was your job?
MO: I did community outreach, writing grants and working with the well-heeled to bring money into the hospital.
Q: How much were you paid?
MO: About a quarter of a million dollars a year; about $100K when I went part time.
Q: How did you get such a great job?
MO: I was hired by Dr. Eric Whitaker.
Q: Wasn’t he a friend of your husband while studying at Harvard?
MO: Yes.
Q: And didn’t Barack get Dr. Whitaker a job at the Illinois Health Department?
MO: Well, not exactly. Tony Rezko got Whitaker his job. My husband only gave Rezko a glowing recommendation about Dr. Whitaker.
Q: And what did Rezko give your husband?
MO: He gave us a great price on the lot next door in Chicago so we could have a larger yard.
Q: Back to your job, were you successful at your job at UC Medical Center?
MO: I think so. I was able to secure a $1 MILLION federal gift for construction.
Q: And who authored the earmark for that $1 MILLION grant?
MO: A Senator from Illinois.
Q: Durbin or Burris?
MO: Neither. It was Senator Obama.
Q: Oh. Do you ever see Dr. Whitaker now?
MO: Why yes. We spent some time with him up at Martha’s Vineyard just a week or two ago and we’re having dinner with him at Valerie Jarrett’s this weekend.
Q: What impact do you think salaries of $316,000 a year for grant writing have on health care costs?
MO: Gee, look at the time. I must be going. You’ve been wonderful. Goodbye.

Agitprop Theatre comes to America…

…funded by the taxpayers.

After masterfully exposing ACORN using their own words, Andrew Breitbart is now doing the same with the White House.

Community Organizer Obama named Community Organizer Valerie Jarrett to his senior staff. Jarrett is about as close as anyone gets to the Obamas. The ties are thick and deep.

Community Organizer Jarrett then hires Community Organizer Buffy Wicks to round up the pro-Obama entertainers in order to push the agenda of the left through movies, art, and stage.

As if Hollywood needed any help with their anti-family, anti-straight, anti-conservative message, they are now being assisted by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA, but not the teachers’ union) in producing and distributing the message.

Think of it as NPR on steroids.

Buffy is no capitalist. She went after WalMart and made them beg for mercy. And that was before she even got to the White House. But make no mistake, it was her success in emasculating WalMart that got her the job in the Obama administration. She’s known as Buffy the WalMart Slayer.
The Soviets used theatre to advance their message.
Translation:
DO YOU WANT TO JOIN?
1. Do you want to conquer coldness?
2. Do you want to conquer hunger?
3. Do you want to eat?
4. Do you want to drink?
Hurry up to join the strike team of exemplary labor.
(Soviet agitprop poster from the ‘20s)
Radical socialists in Britain have made the same efforts only a couple of decades ago.

Here’s an interesting write-up on an agitprop actress who died in 2002:
http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr268/shallice.htm

And now the Obama administration is working hard to subsidize projects that glamorize his left-leaning projects.

If you want to know more, here’s a start:
http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/21/explosive-new-audio-reveals-white-house-using-nea-to-push-partisan-agenda/

Thanks for the reality TV, Mr. Breitbart. Keep it up.

How'm I doin'?

Some of the highlights of the recent Obama media blitz and the poll reactions:

Tuesday, 9/8/09
Address to the school children
Rasmussen Obama Index: -11

Wednesday, 9/9/09
Address to Congress
Rasmussen Obama Index: -8
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 44%

Thursday, 9/10/09
Nurses come to the White House
Rasmussen Obama Index: -8
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 46%

Friday, 9/11/09
Rasmussen Obama Index: -5
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 47%

Saturday, 9/12/09
Minneapolis Healthcare Rally
Rasmussen Obama Index: -5
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 48%

Sunday, 9/13/09
Rasmussen Obama Index: -4
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 51%

Monday, 9/14/09
Rasmussen Obama Index: -3
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 45%

Tuesday, 9/15/09
“Brothers and sisters" speech at the AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh
Rasmussen Obama Index: -4
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 42%

Wednesday, 9/16/09
Rasmussen Obama Index: -6
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 44%

Thursday, 9/17/09
University of Maryland Healthcare Rally
Rasmussen Obama Index: -8
Rasmussen Obamacare support: 43%

Friday, 9/18/09
Rasmussen Obama Index: -8
Rasmussen Obamacare support will now be weekly, not daily

Saturday, 9/19/09
Rasmussen Obama Index: -7


Sunday, 9/20/09
CBS's "Face the Nation”
NBC's "Meet the Press”
ABC's "This Week"
CNN's "State of the Union"
Univision's "Al Punto"
Rasmussen Obama Index: -9


Monday 9/21/09
David Letterman Show
Rasmussen Obama Index: -8

Dirtiest Jobs: DC

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business/september_2009/americans_now_view_congress_as_least_respected_job

Bipartisan Boy Wonder

Do you remember a year ago? The Obama-McCain debates? The daily pronouncements by the candidates?

We were all led to believe that Obama would “reach across the aisle” and make sure conservative voices were heard. Obama was the candidate with the bipartisan bona fides, despite his ultra-liberal voting record and despite a clear history of McCain working within bipartisan committees for decades.

Despite what he claimed then, and despite his own words as recently as September 16th (“…it’s a plan that incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans…”), Obama continues to disenfranchise conservatives.

I bring the following as evidence.
1) The day after the 9/12 rally in Washington DC, where two million citizens protested big government and Obama policies, David Axelrod told Face the Nation that "I don't think it's indicative of the nation's mood. You know, I don't think we ought to be distracted by that. My message to them is, they're wrong."
2) Since as far back as April, Obama has refused to meet with Republican Congressmen to discuss their health care proposal, but instead tells the world that the GOP has no alternative.
3) When Obama made the rounds with the media yesterday, he deliberately bypassed Fox News.

It might be wise politics to smear conservatives rather than listen to them, but don’t you dare call it bipartisanship.

Left, right, left, right...

I am very much enjoying the reaction of the left-leaning media to the 9/12 protesters and the ACORN sting videos.

It was perfectly American to have a bumper sticker saying "Bush lied. People died." True patriots carried posters depicting caricatures of Bush as Alfred E. Newman or a monkey or eating a kitten or a French prostitute or even The Joker.

But "Abort Obama" on your truck gets a visit from federal agents who search your house.

And calling Obama a liar is off limits.

And it is unamerican to portray Obama as The Joker or Stalin or Hitler or George Bush III.

Conservatives are shrill, underhanded, intolerant, irrational, and fanatic.

A couple of prime examples are the statement of Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, worried that Joe Wilson was inciting violence akin to the assassination of Harvey Milk. She said:

“I have concerns about some of the language that is being used, because I saw this myself in the late ’70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it created a climate in which violence took place.”

We've already discussed the analysis by Jimmy Carter that the criticism is all based on racism.

And there was a fascinating analysis of the conservative movement on PBS when Bill Moyers interviewed author Sam Tanenhaus. Sam is an editor over at the New York Times so I think you know his political bent.

Video here (an hour long): http://video.pbs.org/video/1266848366/feature/84

He says this is a radical movement that has revenge at its core. In his words, "It's a politics of vengeance."

And there is this rather strange warning from an unknown source that the conservatives need to watch themselves lest they become known as the party of whiners. And no one likes a whiner, especially when they appear on page one or the lead story on your Yahoo! page.

Question: Medical Math

For me what is missing in all the debate about health care reform, including the Baucus bill, is a plain explanation as to how you balance the books.

Take the case of Otto Raddatz, for example. Forget the fact that Mr. Obama took a swipe at the insurance companies by manipulating his story to make it sound like Raddatz died because his coverage was terminated over undiagnosed gall stones.

Let's just look at the balance sheet of Otto's treatment.

Add up all the premiums he paid, the co-pays, the deductibles, the out-of-pocket...everything he actually shelled out for treatment of his cancer.

Then add up every dime paid by the insurance company for doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, radiologists. Remember, he had chemo and a stem-cell transplant.

Now, look at those numbers side-by-side. There is no doubt a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Suddenly, the government is going to manage that equation. Every plan promises that the level of care will be the same. Doctors, nurses, hospital workers, pharmacists will all be paid the same as they are now.

We are promised that the same expensive equipment and appliances will all continue to be made available.

And another 30 million or so people will have access to that same care who don't have it now.

We all know that managed-care is not a new concept. Insurance companies have been trying to control costs right along. They review the necessity of a procedure. They negotiate with doctors and hospitals over fees. They contract with some for fixed rates.

So, someone explain to me how the government is going to do it. What will have to give?

They talk about mandatory health insurance. Everyone will have to be on a plan and pay their premiums. If you're living here, you must have health insurance. That's how I understand the proposal.

So...about 12 million non-citizens want to live here but are uninsured. Forget for the moment that some of them are illegal aliens. Obama will take care of that by making them legal. Now, they must buy some health insurance coverage.

Recall that there was much noise a couple of years ago about raising the fee for processing naturalization papers by a few hundred dollars. They can't afford it. That was a one-time charge. Imagine now that we are requiring them to have health insurance to the tune of ...say $400 a month for the family. They can't afford something like that.

Or the squawking we heard from Bush and Kennedy about the costs associated with amnesty, or path to citizenship as they call it. Fees, back taxes...anything more than a couple thousand bucks total and it was too much. Require that bunch to pay $5K a year for health insurance.

In summary, the costs don't suddenly drop just because the government steps in. Risk doesn't stop. The actuarial tables don't suddenly change.

And every person who is given insurance for free or at a reduced rate simply adds to the problem.

Someone please explain how this whole thing balances. I just can't fathom it.

A red (er...yellow) flag

Here's a shot from the Tea Party protest in Chicago on April 15th. I've circled some little yellow flags in the crowd.

They are cheap replicas of the "Don't Tread on Me!" flags. There was a woman selling them in the crowd that day. She had no interest in the protest itself. She didn't carry a sign or even pay much attention to what was going on. She was just selling the flags.

As it turns out, people were in the crowd in Washington on 9/12 selling the same flags. It turns out they were from ACORN!

What a perfect way to raise cash and keep an eye on the enemy! It was brilliant. And if you got lucky you could incite a little violence and put a nice stain on the event.

At the very least you could snicker at your accomplishment and maybe even raise some allegations that the crowd was astroturf. "Look at all those people carrying the same yellow flag."

Here's video of them being ridden out of town on a rail. Note that the people involved didn't deny they were ACORN plants. An innocent person would have said, "That's ridiculous, sir. I'm a fellow patriot from Baltimore," and stopped to sort it all out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOPsla-MyLk

I'm thinking those flags aren't likely to be big sellers at future events, at least the little cheap ones.

Wolf as a deer

One of the simple pleasures of life is watching an episode of Jeopardy!, especially when you know the answers. And when they do their celebrity shows they throw softball answers. After all, they are playing for charity and actors don't exactly try out for the show.

CNN News Anchor Wolf Blitzer was matched with Dana "The Desperate Housewife" Delaney and Andy Richter, the comedian.

What an enjoyable show it was. Wolf was like a deer in the headlights, finishing with a MINUS $4,600. For me it just proves that George Soros can't be everywhere at once. Like Obama without a Teleprompter, the puppet is nothing without the puppeteer.
Then there's Ms. Delaney. Her answers were intelligent enough, she was just slow to ring in. She finished with $4,800
Andy Richter was poised and intelligent throughout. I guess that's what improv will do for you. He ended regular play with $39,000, wagered high on the final question, and took home $68,000 for St. Jude Hospital.All in all, it was a most enjoyable contest.

Old and new jokes

Old: How can you tell when a politician is lying? If his lips are moving.
New: What is the difference between a used car salesman and a politician? The used car salesman knows when he's lying to you.

As it turns out, Obama's speech to congress last week struck out. The third strike came to light today.

Strike 1: He deliberately called conservatives liars when he knew there were loopholes in the healthcare legislation that would allow benefits for illegal aliens. He went out of his way to call those claims "bogus" and "scare tactics."

Strike 2: His claim that his plan wouldn't cost any new money left everyone scratching their heads, and for good reason. They frankly don't see that kind of money in the form of "savings from waste."

Strike 3: His tear-jerker example went like this: "One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn’t reported gallstones that he didn’t even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it...That is heartbreaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America." That would be sad except it didn't happen that way. Here's the truth about the case from Fox: "Otto S. Raddatz, didn't die because the insurance company rescinded his coverage once he became ill, an act known as recission. The efforts of his sister and the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan got Raddatz's policy reinstated within three weeks of his April 2005 rescission and secured a life-extending stem-cell transplant for him. Raddatz died this year, nearly four years after the insurance showdown." The mix-up came because the White House took the story from a news report and didn't check the details. In fact, they souped it up a bit.

Pretty sad that he claimed from the start of the speech that he wanted to clear things up. Instead of adding light he blew smoke. But unlike the used car salesman, Obama is so determined that he wants to get something done this first year that he doesn't even know when he's lying.

Who is still with me?

This is an ACORN die-hard loyalty test. Who still thinks ACORN is innocent? Not very many people.

Minnesota – Pawlenty orders an ACORN investigation

New York – State Attorney General orders an ACORN investigation

ACORN itself orders an investigation

Illinois – Well, I called Lisa Madigan’s office yesterday and asked the question. The receptionist transferred me to another woman who must have been getting the question all day. She said, “If you would like to file an allegation, we’ll look into it.” I asked if they would take the initiative and got a repeat of, “If you would like to file an allegation, we’ll look into it.” I declared that there was enough information on the table already and she said (you guessed it), “If you would like to file an allegation, we’ll look into it.”

It makes me wonder how many of Lisa’s publicity stunts started as allegations from citizens. Lead paint in toys? Cribs? Car seats? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Lisa Madigan to lead out on this issue?

In Illinois the political calculus includes a formula that goes like this:
A happy ACORN = Black votes

Sort of like the equation:
Coddling illegal aliens = Hispanic votes

Not to be confused with this one:
Licking the boots of Slim Coleman and Joshua Hoyt = Hispanic votes

You can never be sure which is true so you do both.

And the insurance policy formula:
SEIU = votes and money

In a synapse reaction time test we have established a time line for the ACORN scandal story. My analysis reveals who caught on first:James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles (signal originators) ---> Andrew Breibart --->
Fox News --->
Local News --->
Jon Stewart --->
PJTV ---------->
Walter Cronkite ------------>
Katie Couric --------------------->
New York Times ------------------>
Charlie Gibson ----------------------------------------------> Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi had no idea the Senate had voted to pull ACORN funding, but she looks very professional.

Of course, those who follow Walter Cronkite on the synapse list are very embarrassed to be beaten by a dead man. But not more embarrassed than Illinois Senator Roland Burris who still doesn’t get it.

Here’s a clip of his eloquent response:
http://www.breitbart.tv/senator-flees-fox-news-reporter-asking-why-he-supports-acorn/

It would seem we have a different strain of the swine flu here with Durbin, Burris, and Madigan all joining the ostrich at the beach.

As for the exposé, the San Bernardino and San Diego episodes have been the most recent, but stay tuned. O’Keefe and Giles promise even more installments.

Tell me more

So, ACORN is in the limelight and we want to know more about the organization.

Well, in its simplest form, here’s their tag line.
"ACORN is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization with national headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C."

Non-profit- Well, someone ought to look into their tax status

Non-partisan- Here’s the cover of a March 18th ACORN publication called “Hope on the Horizon.”

There's something about it that seems oddly partisan. I can't quite put my finger on it. Can you?

And there’s that phrase “social justice” again. Obama closed his speech on September 9th with that same phrase. From ACORN’s website we read what that really means:
Affordable Housing- Well, the uninitiated may think this means that communities ought to be balanced with apartments, duplexes, and bungalows; not just mansions. But make no mistake, they mean subsidized housing. They mean Section 8 housing.
Living Wage- In the grand tradition of capitalism minimum wage is not enough for ACORN. They protest in Chicago to force Walmart to pay $10 an hour PLUS another $3 in benefits or cash. They even teach seminars about blocking big box retailers in neighborhoods. (Ironically, they are also lobbying IN FAVOR OF a supermarket in a depressed Las Vegas neighborhood.)
More Katrina Kash- ACORN is a strong advocate for dumping more of our tax dollars into New Orleans.
Healthcare for All- ACORN is a big supporter of government-run health care. They also advocate for more charity care and write-downs of medical debts, yet also want to stop hospitals from leaving low-income neighborhoods. (They’re not asking much, are they?)
Immigration- Without ever using the word “illegal”, ACORN demands comprehensive federal immigration reform and a legal path to citizenship and helped block federal legislation making it a felony to aid undocumented immigrants or to be undocumented in the U.S.
Felon rights- They advocated for a statewide record-sealing law to help nonviolent ex-offenders find jobs in Illinois.
The police- Increased police accountability in neighborhoods in Contra Costa County, Calif., Portland, Ore., Jacksonville, Fla., San Antonio, Texas, and Lima, Peru.
(All of the above come from their 2006 Annual Report on their website. I was hoping their Annual Report might tell a little bit about their funding or even their board members, but it was more of a newsletter.)

Is it just me, or do you detect a lack of the American spirit of capitalism and self-reliance in ACORN’s activities?

Speaking of information on their website, there was a link to a pdf of the San Bernardino Police Report. I was hoping it was proof that on the day of taping the sting, someone at ACORN called the police and filed charges against the pimp and the prostitute. Alas, it was a police report dated 9/15/09 showing there was no proof that the ACORN rep actually killed her husband as she mentioned on the video.

Now, those are just the ACORN activities dressed up for church. There are those pesky negative stories that seem to surround ACORN. Like voter registration fraud, breaking into foreclosed homes, threatening bankers and their families at home, tax evasion advice, encouraging international child sex slave trafficking, advice on skirting immigration laws, and condoning prostitution.

Obama links to ACORN have been campaign issues in the past.
*We do know that as a young lawyer OBAMA helped them on a public housing case involving asbestos.
*He also was a key figure in getting motor voter implemented in Illinios.
*Obama also taught some sort of leadership training seminars for ACORN.
*Despite Obama’s claims during the campaign, Project Vote and ACORN are (and were) closely tied together.

Jake Taper tried to tell us three weeks before the election. Here’s the story:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/being-squirrell.html

Here are some of the members of the ACORN advisory board (I couldn’t find a complete list on their website.):
• John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Board Member, RFK Foundation, former MD Lt. Governor (and Robert Kennedy’s firstborn)
• Andrew Stern, International President, Service Employees International Union
• Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, Cityview
• John Banks, Vice President of Government Relations Con Ed
• Eric Eve, Senior VP of Global Consumer Group, Community Relations, Citigroup
• Harvey Hirschfeld, President, Lawcash
• Dave Beckwith, Executive Director, Needmor Fund
So, there’s your “non-partisan” group of people charged with auditing ACORN. Good luck with that.

More race cards

Perhaps you read that Jimmy Carter has weighed in on the Joe Wilson "You lie!" statement.

Carter proclaims that it was a racist remark. As he tells it, "I think it's based on racism. There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

He's good. He can get all that from two words.

But Carter's not alone. The race card is being played because...
...someone is critical of the plan the president is proposing
...Wilson's criticism has verified merit
...it's worth a few political points to rile the "Social Justice" bunch and spark a few counter-protests to answer the recent Tea Party success.

Once again, Chris Muir, the Day-by-day cartoonist, finds the irony.


Alinsky would be proud of the left's counter-attack.

Obama's dead cat bounce

It appeared for a few days that Obama’s campaign style rallies were actually working. He hit a record 51% approval for Obamacare just a few days ago.

But alas, the cookie crumbled. Today 55% disapprove of his health plan, an all time high. And only 42% approve, an all time low.

Here are the trend numbers:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform

And Max Baucus (D-MT) is ready to release his version without any Republicans on board.

Harry Reid (D-NV) has often hinted that he will do a procedural end-around if necessary.

And Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is a total stranger to rational thought and will clearly throw the Republicans under the bus just to watch bad boy Joe Wilson writhe in pain.

As for poll numbers, Washington knows best. You and I don’t have the vision.

Two million people marching in DC can clearly be marginalized by some simple name-calling. As one poster calls us, "fear mongering lying idiots."

Watch for Obama to soon declare, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” (sorry Farragut) and move ahead with free health care for all.

Illinois fine senators

Durbin and Burris have both made statements to the press about their ACORN vote.
Please, if you are drinking coffee, put the cup down and swallow before you continue.

Here we go:
"I believe it would be a mistake to pass judgment based on a few isolated incidents," Sen. Roland Burris, a Chicago Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday. "ACORN is a community-based organization that employs thousands of Americans, and they do a lot of good work."

"These videotapes should be investigated. Those who are breaking the rules should be accountable for their misdeeds," Durbin said. "But ACORN provides counseling to thousands of families nationwide that face foreclosures. It's unfair to deprive these people from the help ACORN provides them because of three employees." (Daily Herald 9/16/09)

Say Dick, the count is up to seven employees, all with a penchant for cheating the IRS, encouraging illegal aliens, and condoning prostitution.

And my idea of foreclosure counseling is not to break into the home and take it back by force. Did you forget those ACORN stunts, Dick?

Not to mention the other problems with ACORN.

Perhaps you should listen to the Census Bureau rather than Rahm Emanual.

More congressional eloquence

California congressman Pete (now Peet) Stark has been in Washington since 1973.

He represents the 13th District which is inland from the San Francisco Bay. He represents towns like Alameda, Union City, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro and Fremont, as well as parts of Oakland and Pleasanton.

Stark is an atheist.

Stark has chewed out constituents on answering machines and swore at them.

Stark has even taken to passing judgment on African-Americans who are Republicans.

So, on Saturday he held town meetings. At one such meeting an older gentleman presented some logical concerns about the costs and the administration of Obamacare. He ended by saying, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

Not to be outdone, congressman Peet Stark said, "Well, I wouldn't dignify you by peeing on your leg. It wouldn't be worth wasting the urine."

And the entire episode is on YouTube.

I wonder who writes his responses. Kanye West, perhaps?

The new ACORN logo

The ACORN vote explained

I’ve been on the phone to Senators Burris and Durbin to express my displeasure over their vote to continue funding ACORN.

Here’s the text of the amendment:
SA 2358. Mr. VITTER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3288, making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
After section 414, insert the following:

Sec. 4__. None of the funds made available under this Act shall be directly or indirectly distributed to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Voting record:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00275

As you can see, Illinois and Vermont are the only two states where both senators voted to continue funding ACORN.

Burris’ office told me there would be a statement on the website shortly. (I’ll post it if and when that happens.)

A woman at Durbin’s DC office was very defensive of his actions and read a short statement to the effect that Durbin did not feel that the actions of a few employees warranted excluding ACORN as an organization from the funding.

I told her it appeared to be a systemic problem with three separate offices giving advice that amounts to tax fraud.

I also told her that there have been several cases of voter fraud at the hands of ACORN employees and that ACORN workers had broken into foreclosed homes and moved squatters into private property.

She didn’t say anything after that, only that she would pass along my opinion.

Gee, I didn’t even get to tell her that the Census Bureau had severed there relationship with ACORN last week because they had had enough.

It can never be proved but I will continue to believe that the White House contacted Burris and Durbin and asked them to vote to support ACORN. Obama once did work for ACORN and has a fondness for community organizers. Emanuel is also from Illinios.

The senate could have saved the ACORN funding had they voted along the party line. But they didn’t. 48 democrats agreed to pull ACORN funding. 2 dems did not vote.

And when 14 senators pile on as co-sponsors you know the idea has traction.

But ACORN is too powerful to kill entirely. There are a couple of possibilities here.
1) There will be another amendment restoring funding after ACORN humbles itself and agrees to get a handle on things (and people have a chance to cut some deals and twist some arms).
2) ACORN will come back under some other name with the same leaders and the same agenda.

Wait for it.

Liberal Repentance

Well, in case you haven't been following the ACORN scandal, there have been a couple of interesting developments.

First, the US Census Bureau told ACORN they no longer want their help. The letter was vague but said there was a cloud over ACORN as a result of some of their tactics, and the Census Bureau didn't need ACORN's allegations of a bad reputation. It was a pretty good letter, actually.

Then it was revealed that the Washington DC office of ACORN was also handing out free advice about how to fool Uncle Sam on a tax return. (This after ACORN had told the world that the problem was isolated to the Baltimore office.)

So, it is time for ACORN to apologize for their actions. So what did they do? They issued this statement:
Statement from Bertha Lewis, Chief Organizer, ACORN Regarding Recent News Reports
September 12, 2009

The relentless attacks on ACORN's members, its staff and the policies and positions we promote are unprecedented. An international entertainment conglomerate, disguising itself as a "news" agency (Fox), has expended millions, if not tens of millions of dollars, in their attempt to destroy the largest community organization of Black, Latino, poor and working class people in the country. It is not coincidence that the most recent attacks have been launched just when health care reform is gaining traction. It is clear they've had these tapes for months.

We are their Willy Horton for 2009. We are the boogeyman for the right-wing and its echo chambers. If ACORN did not exist, the right-wing would have needed to create us in order to achieve their agenda, their missions, their ideal, retrograde America. This recent scam, which was attempted in San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia to name a few places, had failed for months before the results we've all recently seen. I am appalled and angry; I cannot and I will not defend the actions of the workers depicted in the video, who have since been terminated. But it is clear that the videos are doctored, edited, and in no way the result of the fabricated story being portrayed by conservative activist "filmmaker" O'Keefe and his partner in crime. And, in fact, a crime it was - our lawyers believe a felony - and we will be taking legal action against Fox and their co-conspirators.

We will not be intimidated by this international conglomerate, which has made as its mission the destruction of our organization. ACORN members are committed to the empowerment of their communities - Black, Latino, poor, and working class – at the deepest level. We are an organization committed to halting the foreclosure crisis and keeping people in their homes. We are an organization committed to ensuring quality, affordable health care for every American. We are an organization that will not be stopped in our commitment to our members and our communities which has included:
· Helping hundreds of thousands of African-American and Latino voters register to vote and get to the polls in recent years;
· Preparing, since 2004, approximately 150,000 free tax returns totaling $190 million in refunds and increased earned income tax credit participation;
· Providing effective foreclosure prevention advocacy saving thousands of American families from losing their homes to foreclosure.

Link: http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12439&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=22581&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=12387&cHash=bb5331a517

It screams out, We are the victim here!

It makes Fox into the villain when in fact Fox (along with others) merely reported the work of an independent film maker from veritas video/biggovernment.com.

Very much like the Van Jones defense, they claim that the videos were doctored, twisted, and edited. But the audio tapes and transcripts are complete and damning.

And if the videos are distortions, why were the employees fired?

Other ACORN officials remind us that no laws were broken by ACORN since they didn't file any paperwork according to the scheme they suggested.

Nowhere did I see anyone from ACORN apologizing for the conduct of these four women and assuring us that all offices will be audited and new training measures instituted.

On an unrelated matter, President Obama led the nation to believe that there was no way illegal aliens would get benefits under Obamacare. He called it one of the "bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. "At another point in the speech he says, "Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics."

But Obama knew weeks ago of legitimate concerns about loopholes in HB 3200 that would give benefits to illegal aliens. He really should not have said, "This too is false."

So, here in its entirety is Obama's apology for what has since been revealed as a mistake in his speech:
"_____________________________________."

It's really hard for liberals to confess, isn't it?

The crime of candor

Not much disrupts the important work of congress. You can have a paper trail of soliciting sex with a page. You can admit that you have a same-sex partner living with you and working for the government and making a mess of subsidized mortgages.

You can even run away from an accident with a dead woman in the back of your car.

Kickbacks, adultery, drug use, soliciting in the men's room at an airport...and you go back to your seat in congress.

But there is one crime that will get you into deep trouble; the crime of candor.

It is bad form to tell the world that a fellow politician is telling a lie. For sure Joe Wilson will be hauled before his colleagues for shouting out, "You lie!" when the president told one Wednesday night.

And a lie it was. Note that by Friday afternoon (Hmmm. More bad news released on the weekend.) both the senate and the house announced that they were working on language designed to tighten up loopholes in the language of the health care reform bills to prevent giving benefits to illegal aliens.

Note that there is a paper trail on this one as well. The Republicans have submitted amendments to restrict access by illegal aliens but they were flatly rejected along party lines.

And lest we forget, on August 25th the Congressional Research Service sent a report to every senator and congressman, and the White House, telling them about the flaws in HB 3200.

So, Joe Wilson will be taken out behind the woodshed but the president and his co-conspirators who relentlessly told us that health care reform wouldn't benefit illegal aliens are free to go.

Ergo, truth-telling in Washington is a sin, but lying is not. That doesn't say much for our leaders, does it?

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, the Glarer of the House, is in photos on Friday announcing that they are looking at ways to correct the flaws. Nice.
Here she is glaring at Joe Wilson. That pose lasted waaaay too long and got more intense by the moment.

Health Care Reform and Illegal Aliens

The wise (but hypothetical) Obama would have said Wednesday night:
"There is a terrible problem in our world today of people risking their lives and those of their families to enter the United States illegally, often crossing the treacherous desert, sometimes losing their lives in the process.
This must stop. And one way to help is to eliminate known incentives for them to come here. One such incentive is our health care.
We must thoughtfully craft language into the health care bill that will ban illegal aliens from receiving all but the most basic emergency care.
I will veto any bill placed before me that does not have such safeguards."

The bipartisan (but also hypothetical) Obama would have said:
"Some members of congress on the other side of the aisle are concerned that undocumented persons may be able to benefit from health care reform. The Congressional Research Service has pointed out possible loopholes. I therefore urge congress to investigate this issue and act accordingly."

Instead, this is exactly what Obama did say. Note the partisan denial:
"There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."

And Rep. Joe Wilson called out, "You lie!"

The best camera shot of the night was the prolonged icy stare of Nancy Pelosi when Wilson said that. It reminded me of the TV mom who glares at her son over roll-over minutes on the cell phone.

That same Nancy is making headlines today, claiming that the House is addressing the loopholes.
What a joke this administration is.

While you were sleeping

Obama dropped a bombshell last night and few people noticed. He might as well have said, “I am 100% committed to spreading the wealth in America away from the middle class and into the inner city.”

It was at the end of his speech and you slept through it. It started by invoking the solemn memory of Ted Kennedy with a camera shot of the grieving widow.

Then Obama assumed his best hopey-changey tone and spoke of his mandate to create “Social Justice” in America.

You’d better get real familiar with that term “Social Justice” because it goes way beyond what you think it does. It is a concept as far to the left as you can get.

Google it and understand the agenda and what is behind it.

Then go back and read the end of the speech, beginning with his sealed letter from Ted Kennedy.

Some nuts at ACORN

Let's suppose that you took a camera into an ACORN office and asked for advice on taxes and buying a home.

And let's suppose you dressed and acted like a pimp and the woman with you like a prostitute.

You proceed to explain your line of work and ACORN employees advise you to:
-Claim that you are in the business of "performing arts"
-Deduct your dresses, make-up and condoms as business expenses

But it gets better. You tell these two ACORN experts that you want to bring under-age, illegal aliens from El Salvador and teach them prostitution.

These same ACORN employees advise you thus:
-Pay them under the table
-Do not declare them as employees because they are under 15 years old
-Claim three of them as dependents
-Claim them as exchange students

It's really unbelievable but true.

Take a look.
Transcript of sting interview at ACORN office in Baltimore
http://biggovernment.breitbart.com/2009/09/10/complete-acorn-baltimore-prostitution-investigation-transcript/

Footage from sting interview with ACORN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtTnizEnC1U&feature=player_embedded

More footage from sting interview with ACORN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNYU9PamIZk&feature=player_embedded

Obama Redux

Here’s the deal.

Fill a room with people who agree with you. On cue they will shout, whistle, applaud, and stomp their feet.

Then make your statements with confidence so they will believe you.

Talk about hope and change and new benefits for everyone that won’t cost anything.

And those poor saps at home will be convinced because you spoke with such conviction and everyone around you agreed with your statements…so they must be true.

Well, at least that’s what I saw last night.

But let’s take a look at some of his statements.

Like, “There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

Now, he may have created wiggle room by parsing his words, “the reforms I’m proposing…” That is rather like the statements of Bill Clinton.

That aside, he is casting dispersions on the Congressional Research Service as well as Rush Limbaugh because both are saying that illegal aliens will be covered in a variety of common situations.

Part of the reason this distrust exists is because efforts to close such loopholes by adding amendments to the bill have been flatly rejected.

This from The Dakota Beacon
The House bill not only makes a major expansion of Medicaid eligibility but also restricts (in Section 1702) inquiries about immigration status. Efforts to fix this and to add enforcement provisions to HR 3200 were offered in the Ways & Means Committee by Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and in the Energy & Commerce Committee by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), but voted down. No Democrats supported Heller.

Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized health care under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Barack Obama.

The House Ways and Means Committee nixed the Heller amendment by a 26-to-15 vote along straight party lines, and followed this action by passing the 1,018-page bill early Friday morning by a 23-to-18 margin, with three Democrats voting against the plan.
http://dakotabeacon.com/entry/obama_and_the_democrat_illegal_alien_health_care_deception/

Pardon us for not trusting Congress when they act so defensively.

Still, we’d like to see what he’s proposing that will specifically exclude illegal aliens, for HB3200 does not accomplish it.

And he earns no trust by ignoring this valid criticism, choosing instead to give the confident, flat denial.

On to the price tag:
He said: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future.”
And “…we’ve estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system.”

OK, now explain to us where the Congressional Budget Office is wrong in their analysis.

He spoke confidently, but ignored the facts already on the table from the CBO.

Pardon us, Mr. President, for not believing that your words alone will change the facts.

It was a great campaign speech, but doesn’t stand up to the scrutiny required for massive legislation. Sorry.

An episode from...

…the Obama West Wing.

Picture Obama, Emanuel, and Axelrod sitting around in the West Wing. They have their sleeves rolled up because it’s 80 degrees in there. They chat a bit about the Cubs and pizza.

Background music belts out a tune from Aida, I Know the Truth.
Obama sings along…
How did I come to this?
How did I slip and fall?
How did I throw half a lifetime away,
Without any thought at all?

This should have been my time.
It's over, it never began .
I closed my eyes to so much for so long
and I no longer can.

Getting back to business, they go over the current situation.
· Healthcare reform is stuck
· Public approval keeps sinking
· Independents are below 50%
· Van Jones is in trouble
· Unemployment continues to rise
· The car swap was a bureaucratic mess
· Afghanistan is a mess

What to do? Axelrod says, “Well, let’s go back to the time you were popular; the campaign.”

Here’s the plan:
· Send Biden out to tell people the stimulus package is working
· Make some speeches to large groups.
o Back to school, piped in to every classroom in the nation
o Speech to Congress in prime time

Well, Act 3 is tonight. I can hardly wait.

Two rallies

Same day. Same time. Two political rallies were held in the Chicago area. One had 2,000 protesters, the other 10,000. Which one do you think got the coverage?

The one with 2,000 of course!

You see, there was a Labor Day immigration rally held by the people who want amnesty for illegal aliens.

And the Chicago Sun Times showed up and posted a nice photo gallery as well.

Here's a sample:

They never disappoint. Most of the photos this time showed American flags, but there are always a few who have to bring their native flags to point out just how sincere they are about a path to citizenship.

Here's another one, this time from Brazil:

So, of course I have to show one of my favorite cartoons in response:The other rally, the one without the coverage, consisted of 10,000 people who drove down to New Lenox to greet the Tea Party Express bus on the way to Washington DC. The organizers would have been happy to have attendance of around 400 people!

And they didn't rent buses. No one got a stipend to attend. There weren't any signs printed in advance and handed to the participants as they got off the bus.

Sorry, no pictures from the media for this event. Wrong message I suppose. Just some snapshots:Now, did you see any signs of astroturfing in those two pictures above? Neither did I.

How about this picture from the illegal alien rally?Bingo! The blue and white pre-printed signs in the front and the yellow and black ones in the back.

Just another example of the difference between the left and the right.

Monday wash day

Monday has traditionally been designated as wash day, though you wouldn’t know it these days unless you read it on your dishtowels.

They say it is because of the labor involved in doing a load of wash the old way. Sunday was the day of rest so Ma was fresh and well-rested to do the laundry come Monday morning.

Labor, you say? Yes. Drawing and hauling buckets of water to fill the tubs, boiling the water, scrubbing the clothes, wringing, rinsing, hanging up the wet clothes to dry, draining the water tubs, taking down the dry clothes, and preparing the clothes for ironing- the Tuesday task.

Power was eventually added to the equation in the form of a gas engine. You could agitate the clothes rather than scrub them. And a crank type wringer would squeeze the water out.

Along came electric street lights in the 1880s, but the lines went dead during the day. No one had a use for electricity when the sun came up. (The exceptions were the factories where electric motors were used. Some had their own power plants. Still, the residential grids were turned off during the day.)

Then Thor came along in 1908, the first electric washer. Thor’s no longer around, but Whirlpool and Maytag are. By 1911 you could purchase any of the three.

Soooo…the electric company left the power on during the day on Monday so women could wash. By 1920 electric steam irons appeared and women wanted power during the day on Tuesday as well.

And the power company got the message. We wanted, and got, electricity 24 hours a day.

Sunday wash day

In the world of politics, Sunday is wash day. Bad news is best delivered on Sunday because the voter is taking the day off. White collar workers spend Sundays away from the TV, radio, and computer.

It is the day to sleep in, play a round of golf, go to the beach, do the crossword puzzle, and go to church (Yes, 38% of us claim to go to church each week).

So, get the bad news out on Sunday and by Monday the story will be gone.

And if it’s REALLY bad news, send out your talking heads to appear on the Sunday news specials. Only the wonks and your mother watch the boring, hour-long, news programs like Face the Nation. And lazy news reporters if they’re sober.

And if it’s REALLY, REALLY bad news you do it on a three day weekend. By Tuesday only the most controversial topics will have any life in them.

And so it is with the Obama administration. Things are a mess in the White House right now.
~Health Care Reform needs a major rewrite
~Van Jones the Communist is not only radical and racially motivated…he’s also a conspiracy theorist
~Obama’s back-to-school speech idea was a disaster
~The stimulus plan is a huge success only in the mind of Joe Biden
~Afghanistan is painted by the media as a bloody battle not worth the effort

So Van Jones resigns at midnight on Saturday and the White House staff puts on their makeup for Sunday performances:
~Press Secretary Robert Gibbs goes on Pravda (er…ABC News This Week with Stephanopolis)
~PR chief David Axelrod was on Meet the Press
~Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared on Face the Nation

Wow! The dirty laundry must be piling up inside the Beltway.

Oh, and the illegal aliens are marching in Chicago today, thanks to the support from the labor unions.
http://www.chicagojwj.org/node/95
(At least their “assimilation” has advanced to the point where they are marching on OUR Labor Day, not the socialist/communist one of May 1st. Duh!)

With what appears to be a perpetual boneheaded agenda, the talking heads in the White House aren’t likely to get a Sunday off any time soon!

The S word

(Note: Sometimes I make things up. I assume people can read sarcasm and understand that I’m being ridiculous. Sadly, this isn’t one of those times. Yes, Daley’s quote is real. Yes, two members of the Obama administration used “silly” in the last three days.)

Apparently the Obama administration has a style book.

Under S, the word “stupidly” has been banned.

But the word “silly” is the adjective of choice when you want to deflect criticism by poking fun at your critics.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs used the phrase “silly season” to give the official response about those who think Obama doesn’t need 18 minutes to tell elementary students to stay in school.

And Arne Duncan, Obama’s Secretary of Education, says it is just “silly” for people to worry about this nation-wide broadcast to students.

(Perhaps the most reasoned comment on the topic came from a school teacher in Utah who said the president should speak to the students some evening (say Labor Day) so the parents can choose the viewing and make the explanations. Besides, classroom time is precious and doing it at night would not disrupt the day.)

Well, “silly” is a great word, but hardly original. Its origins as a means of eloquent political speech hark back to Mayor Richard M. Daley.

(Of course, one will note that Duncan, Obama, Chief of Staff Emanuel, Obama’s brain Jarrett, and many others are also from the Chicago Democratic Machine. And as such they are protégés of Mayor Daley.)

In May of 2006 charges were leveled against Daley that he kept the tollbooths at the Chicago Skyway well staffed so he could breeze over to his Michigan cottage on week-ends. His response to reporters was eloquent:
“Everybody’s caught in traffic every day. I don’t know where they got that. Don’t worry. I’m caught in traffic as much as anyone else. It’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It really is silly. It’s silly, silly, silly. It is just silly. Silliness. It is silly. Completely silly…You’ve been on [the Skyway]. Come on. It’s silly…You know me. That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Count ‘em. That’s 11 sillies in one short answer.

The term was so effective that he used it again in September of 2006. It still comes out now and then.

The only question now is whether or not the White House seriously thinks Daley is a good communicator. If so, YouTube will light up with comments from the Obama administration.

White House Van Crashes

In an unsuccessful effort to move to the center Obama has fired Van Jones, his green jobs czar.
(David Axelrod adamantly denies that he was forced out. Denial is confirmation in Washington.)

It started like this. Jones was chosen as an Obama czar without adequate vetting. Clearly the president cannot simply do whatever he wants with his “kitchen cabinet” just because his trusted experts don’t come up for confirmation in congress. And he found out with Jones. (Sorry to besmirch Andrew Jackson here. There is no evidence that Jackson paid members of his kitchen cabinet, though some of them got pretty good jobs later on.)

When this video about Jones’ background went viral the administration started to worry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgmwyfKuL8&feature=related

Jones was co-founder of STORM, a pro-Communist group. Then the Ella Baker Center. Then he was part of the Apollo Alliance (authors of the stimulus package).

A group called Color of Change shot back at Beck, calling him a racist and sending boycott letters to Fox sponsors. (Strangely, Color of Change claims Van Jones was never associated with their group…yet the White House put his affiliation in their bio of Jones. Hmmm.)

Some of the advertisers caved, but others did not.

Once again, the race card is played and the ensuing strip poker game reveals some very radical statements coming from a White House advisor.

Glenn Beck then exposed more recent Van Jones statements on September 1st:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo46e8OHd9U&feature=email

Gee, can you find that kind of rhetoric in the archives of Colin Powell or Michael Steele? Well, no you can’t, but they continue to claim that the criticism is about race, not fundamental ideology.

Next come the poll numbers and a very critical problem is revealed. The White House is losing the support of the moderates.

According to a CNN Commentary on August 27th: “In May, 66 percent of independents approved of Obama's job performance, according to the Gallup Poll.
By August, Gallup showed the president was supported by 49 percent of independents."

Democrats may own the black vote. They may even own the Latino vote. But when you get beyond identity politics you have to really work to win the Independent voters. And they are losing confidence in Obama and his staff.

So Jones rolls over, claiming that he resigned for the good of the order. He called the attack a “vicious smear campaign” but failed to elaborate. In fact, the White House didn’t ever really defend him, leaving the media to take their quotes from George Soros as the apologist for Van’s radical past.

As Obama attempts to move toward the middle he is confronted once again with his extreme left past.

As an important byproduct of this OTJ lesson Obama will now create his own kinder, gentler proposal for national health care. But as the politicians say, standing in the middle of the road is the most dangerous place to be.

Suddenly, an old campaign cartoon seems appropriate.

Bible study

From Ecclesiastes chapter 1 we read:
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

And so it is with politics. We think that this propaganda effort from the left is something new. Not really.

агитпроп

That funny Russian word is what we call Agit-prop for the Soviet technique of “urging” people to endorse Communism (agitate) through “disseminating information" (propaganda).

And Obama has pulled out all the stops on health care. You’ve got ACORN, and the SEIU, and Moveon.org, and FactCheck.org, and MediaMatters, and CNN, and MSNBC, and ABC (except Jake Tapper).

It’s funny he doesn’t have the support of the Congressional Budget Office or the Congressional Research Service. But let’s not bother with that.

Agit-prop turned ugly in California when a “Moveon-er” walked through an anti-Obama group at a health care reform rally. A 65-year-old man took a swing at the leftie and so the leftie bit off his pinkie.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/09/fingered_protesting_man_bites.html

Now, that may be a first, Preacher.