Ok, enough fun and games. It is time to get to work.
Am I the only person who thinks that there were just too many inaugural balls?
This is not a knock on our new President. I bet he probably felt there were too many balls. In fact, the overload was similar to college football except that one month ago it was bowls, not balls.
Last night we had the Tostitos La Raza Fiesta Ball, The RU486 Now Ball, The Persian Environmentalist Global Shawarming Ball, and I think the Poulon Weed Eater and Tinactin Toe Fungus Balls.
I genuinely did want to hear what he had to say whenever he spoke. Yet does anybody really need to interview Kanye West or Puff Diddy Daddy Howdy Doody (or whatever he calls himself this week) for their opinions?
Whether democrats or republicans, we decry partisanship, but love a good party.
Well now the balloons have been popped and the floors have been cleaned. Hopefully the environmentalists did not leave their signs of “hope,” “change,” and “Yes, we can,” on the lawn to ruin the D.C. grass.
Before getting serious, a quick fun note. Young actor and husband of Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, wrote a column entitled “I pledge to serve President Obama.”
Andrew Breitbart of “Big Hollywood,” had a brilliant satire entitled, “I pledge to ridicule celebrities (who refuse to recognize that we are at war with people that want to kill them too).”
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/breitbart/2009/01/19/where-were-you-celebrities-after-911/
Ok, enough fun. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. I could care less about the Inaugural speech. I felt it was bland, but only because he set the bar so high in 2004 that he may have set unrealistic expectations. Nevertheless, I am going to judge this man not by what he says, but by what he does.
I do not see this as the greatest day in human existence, nor do I see it as armageddon. According to my calendar, it is Wednesday. On Wednesday, I work. Our politicians need to do the same, and fast.
The stock market dropped 300 points on Inauguration Day, which means at this rate the stock market will be at 0 very soon. No, I am not predicting that.
The only thing I want in my new President is for him to get the job done. Three different columns address this in various ways.
One of the most decent and thoughtful liberals I have ever seen on television (and met in person) is Juan WIlliams. I disagree with him much of the time, but he is a genuine and sincere person that cares about fixing problems. He makes it clear that for Barack Obama to truly be judged fairly, he has to face criticism when he is wrong. People that are too scared to criticize a black man are patronizing. Juan Williams is right when he says, “Judge Obama on Performance Alone.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123249791178500439.html
“If his presidency is to represent the full power of the idea that black Americans are just like everyone else — fully human and fully capable of intellect, courage and patriotism — then Barack Obama has to be subject to the same rough and tumble of political criticism experienced by his predecessors. To treat the first black president as if he is a fragile flower is certain to hobble him. It is also to waste a tremendous opportunity for improving race relations by doing away with stereotypes and seeing the potential in all Americans.
Yet there is fear, especially among black people, that criticism of him or any of his failures might be twisted into evidence that people of color cannot effectively lead. That amounts to wasting time and energy reacting to hateful stereotypes. It also leads to treating all criticism of Mr. Obama, whether legitimate, wrong-headed or even mean-spirited, as racist.
This is patronizing. Worse, it carries an implicit presumption of inferiority. Every American president must be held to the highest standard. No president of any color should be given a free pass for screw-ups, lies or failure to keep a promise.”
Juan Williams is a good man. He will condemn the truly racists in our society that will reflexively oppose President Obama out of a bigotry that will hopefully breathe its last breath in my lifetime. Yet he will also criticize those that will not criticize President Obama for any reason at any time, as if that is the appropriate remedy for past injustices.
Juan Williams gets it. He understands that it is time to get to work.
Christopher Dickey of Newsweek does not get it in terms of Israel, but despite using tired anti-Israel language, he does offer some insight into how President Obama’s election can be a message to Arabs in the Middle East.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/180635/page/1
Barack Obama was an acceptable alternative to the race baiting black “leadership” in the form of race hustlers Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is revered, while the Black Panthers are reviled. The ARabs in the Middle East have never tried non-violence.
As I said, Mr. Dickey is dead wrong in trying to morally equate Israel and the Palestinians. However, he is right when he says that if the Palestinians, and Arabs in general, would ever try non-violence, they would reach heights that Dr. King and President Obama reached.
Arabs in the Middle East need to stop their culture of failure and blame. They need to get to work.
Yet the biggest challenge for President Obama will not come in the form of a suicidal death cult in the Middle East. It will be the suicidal death cult in his own party. Liberals are masters at hara-kiri.
Make no mistake about it. President Obama has an icy cool veneer, but many liberals, beneath the hope and promise, are scared to death they will screw it up. I have repeatedly said that I do not worry when democrats win elections because they can’t govern. Liberals would rather gouge their eyes out than have me be proven right about this again.
The question before them is whether they will choose governance or vengeance. President Obama has no bloodlust. He truly wants to move forward and actually govern. Yet too many in his party want to take President George W. Bush and keep trying to destroy him. They want to punch him, violate his daughters, run over his dog, and strap him and Vice President Cheney to a medieval torture rack (Yes, they would favor torture in that situation).
They can’t let go. They don’t know how to not hate.
J R Dunn at American Thinker has an outstanding post about the depths of the hatred towards President George W. Bush.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/bush_and_the_bushhaters.html
“There is one thing certain to go through Barack Obama’s mind during the inauguration: at one point or another, while glancing at George W. Bush, he will consider the treatment that Bush got as president and hope to God he suffers nothing even vaguely similar.
It can be stated without fear of serious argument that no previous president has been treated as brutally, viciously, and unfairly as George W. Bush.
Bush 43 endured a deliberate and planned assault on everything he stood for, everything he was involved in, everything he tried to accomplish.”
When liberals say that “we should all come together,” what they really mean is that conservatives should “shut up and agree with them.” When asked how coming together can be combined with vitriol towards the outgoing President, the answer is that hatred of Bush is an exception because “he actually deserves it.”
By what criteria? Because they say so?
I do not blame Barack Obama for the fact that too many of his supporters are out and out lunatics. I will blame him if he caters to this mob. So far he has not. Yet Mr. Dunn knows what he is talking about when he warns of what will occuir based on what already has.
“His detractors were willing to risk the country’s safety, its economic health, and the very balance of the democratic system of government in order to get at him. They were out to bring him down at all costs, or at the very least destroy his personal and presidential reputation. At this they have been half successful, at a high price for the country and its government.”
The left was never willing to get to work. They needed vengeance like normal humans need oxygen.
“What were the reasons for this hatred and the campaign that grew out of it? We can ask that question as often as we like, but we’ll get no rational answer. All that we can be sure of is that Bush’s actual policies and personality had little to do with it. Al Gore’s egomaniacal attempt to defy this country’s constitutional rules of succession merely acted as a trigger, giving the left a pretext to open up the attack. The same can be said about lingering bitterness over Bill Clinton’s impeachment.”
The cancerous elements that formed Moveon.org never did truly move on. In the case of the Jayson Blair Times, hatred for President Bush was so deep and so vile that the paper was willing to get innocent Americans killed over it. After all, jihad does involve collateral damage.
“But even this pales in light of the actions of the New York Times, which on its downhill road to becoming a weekly shopper giveaway for the Upper West Side, seriously jeopardized national security in the process of satisfying its anti-Bush compulsion. Telecommunications intercepts, interrogation techniques, transport of terrorist captives, tracking of terrorist finances… scarcely a single security program aimed at Jihadi activity went unrevealed by the Times and — not to limit the blame — was then broadcast worldwide by the legacy media. At one point, Times reporters published a detailed analysis of government methods of searching out rogue atomic weapons, a story that was no doubt read with interest at points north of Lahore, and one that we may all end up paying for years down the line. The fact that Bush was able to curtail any further attacks while the media as a whole was working to undermine his efforts is little less than miraculous.”
I will again say that I do not blame our new President. Just because some political psychotics agree with him does not mean he agrees with them.
Yet can democrats put aside their hatred and actually govern? Will they work on solutions to current problems? Or will they conduct endless investigations of industries such as “big oil,” and then wonder why the stock market fears them?
Will they try to pursue war crimes charges against everybody in the Bush Aministration?
Barack Obama seems reasonable, but it will not be easy to pacify the centrists and the wingnuts.
I will continue to take a wait and see atittude with our new President. He deserves the benefit of the doubt.
The wingnuts deserve nothing, and will hopefully get nothing. Until they wipe the blood from their fangs, there is nothing to discuss with them.
As for the rest of us civilized human beings, we do not have time to indulge the tantrums of the left.
We have serious work to do. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.
eric
Well, Obama is off an running…
The Guantanamo prosecutions have been put on hold.
He has already telephoned the leaders of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians.
His military and economic teams will meet with him later today.
Here we go folks.
JMJ
The J. R. Dunn piece is good. Also check Townhall.com for John Hawkins piece “Endangering American Democracy to go after Bush”. His observations are on the money and the results are more than a little terrifying.
The market has dropped 300 points, which says a lot about the general attitude of investors. The citizens across the country are, lets say nervous, about what ever is about to happen. Frankly I’m more than a little afraid of Obama. Is he Socialist? Is he Muslem? Is he an American citizen? Will he dismantle the military and install Federally mandated local militia and “try” to take my firearms? Will he tax my Gnu? Will he allow the Dems in congress to criminalize people they don’t like?
There is more to fear than to feel giddy about.
The MSM drools, the Leftists drool and continue to hate with all their heart. I”ve been reading some coments at Daily Kos. These people are foul mouthed, ill mannered, disrespectful and to say the least dangerous.
I’ll keep my guns, money, and freedom for as long as humanly possible.
We can’t stop what is coming. And what is coming will not wait for us.
Toma
“Endangering American Democracy to go after Bush”
LOL! Ya’ just can’t make this stuff up.
“The market has dropped 300 points, which says a lot about the general attitude of investors.”
LOL!!! What? The market didn’t know Obama was going to be sworn in a week ago? A month ago? The Dow dropped 300 because Citibank announced some new problems, continuing the bank saga that was allowed to happen by the lack of regulatory oversight by the COMPLETE FAILURE that was Bush Administration and late GOP one-party state,
“The citizens across the country are, lets say nervous, about what ever is about to happen.”
Yeah, right. They’re only nervous about just how bad the lasting effects of the Bush administration and the late GOP one-party state are going to be.
“Frankly I’m more than a little afraid of Obama. Is he Socialist? Is he Muslem? Is he an American citizen? Will he dismantle the military and install Federally mandated local militia and “try” to take my firearms? Will he tax my Gnu? Will he allow the Dems in congress to criminalize people they don’t like?”
If you’re scared of any of that stuff, then man, have I got the solution for you! First, take this test to be sure you need the help: http://www.lifescript.com/Quizzes/Personality/Are_You_Paranoid.aspx?trans=1&du=1&gclid=CI-39t_MoJgCFQITswodoQFvmg&ef_id=1350:3:c_3737b29655f03c26caaf6d6707561553_2540568155:zAGu5Eo-KSYAAHyqVZAAAAAT:20090121212537
Then, if you find you need it, ask your doctor about THORAZINE! Yes, THORAZINE! It’s the wonder drug that will make you stop wondering! That’s right! No more wondering if Obama will send turbined brownshirts into your home to take away your guns and give all your fantastic wealth away to fund his massive liberal re-education camps! No more fear of losing your “guns, money and freedom” just because a hard rightwing Christian conservative isn’t in the White House! Yes, it’s THORAZINE!!!
(Talk to your doctor. Side effects include general stupor, constant drowsiness, the “thorazine shuffle,” and lack of interest in Fox News stories.)
JMJ
JMJ
You prove my point. Ill mannered and hateful.
Toma
“LOL! Ya’ just can’t make this stuff up.”
Yup, it takes a bunch of liberals to create that climate.
“LOL!!! What? The market didn’t know Obama was going to be sworn in a week ago? A month ago?”
Yea, but Jersey. Stop and think.
Could Obama make policy a week ago ?
Try again.
“Complete”?
How can you say “Complete” when even you gave him credit on ay least 4 issues the other day ? HUH ?
Does it feel good stroking that big head when you say that ?
Nothing could be further from the truth . I have said that I would continue to defend Bush even after he left office because it was guarnteed that you guys are addicted to your BDS.
Would you like me to pull up the posts that proved you wrong everytime you have said that ?
“Yeah, right. They’re only nervous about just how bad the lasting effects of the Bush administration and the late GOP one-party state are going to be.”
Another ridiculous statement since its becoming obvious that Obamas brand of change is to just hang on to most of Bushs policies that he said he would lose.
And yea, you proved Tomas point with your arrogant and typical returns.
Hows it feel to be the guy in the room who tells a joke and no one laughs ?
Oh, c’mon Toma, I’m just kidding around. Of all the things that should concern you, you’re off worrying about nonsense. If you want to worry about terrorism, the rise of competitor or aggressive states, the future of US/Israeli relations, laizzez faire vs slightly less laizzez faire government, changes that may be coming to the courts, and so forth, then you have fair arguments. But if you’re worried that Obama is a secret communist muslim who’s going to take your guns away, then really man, you need to get your eyes on the prize. Our good host is a hardcore neocon and you don’t see him worrying about crazy stuff like that, right?
Micky, as I said above, the market dropped because of very bad news from Citigroup, not the swearing in of Obama. C’mon man. Don’t you read the news? And look at Obama’s approval rating and then compare that with general fears about the economy and any person can plainly see that it’s certainly NOT Obama the people are worried about.
JMJ
Yea, I read the news, but you said it wasnt because of Obama, not because of Citigroup.
You got it right for once. Its not Obama were worried about.
its the “Obama people” were worried about.
Approval ratings right now aint worth a squirrel turd since he hasnt really got to work yet. You have to admit though that he has gotten his hands pretty dirty before he even started.
I have applied the same logic to Bushs hugh numbers right at the beginning of his first term. It didnt really matter, but after 911, they went thru the roof like nothing Obama has seen yet.
So, its only fair to look at Obamas numbers “AFTER” he actually accomplishs something.
Ok, my worries are crazy nonsense. I’m just referring some of the things the Dems have been doing for decades. And some of the statements Obama made during the campaign. I could be wrong.
Toma
Roberts just gave the oath to Obama one more time at 7:30 am today in the white House bathroom !!!
I was going to ask for a do-over after Obama and Roberts flubbed the oath yesterday but I was afraid I would get put in the same box with those who think hes a terrorist.
Oh my God ! You gotta love it.
A sign of things to come ? Taking the oath in the crapper ?
Micky, I think you should reread what I wrote and in context. I have no idea where you’re getting all that from.
Toma, I think you just have to look at things in degrees rather just just all or nothing. No one is trying to take your guns awa – they just want reasonable regulation. No one is trying to establish a socialist state – they just want reasonable social responsibility. Obama is not a secret Muslim – that’s just loony. You can argue that some regulation or law goes to far, or not far enough. You can argue whether one thing or another should be socialized or not, privatized or even in existence. But to argue the ridiculous extremes will get you no where. We do not live in a Libertarian Utopia. For that, you’d have to move to Somalia. Good luck with that.
JMJ
JMJ
The only way to reach an extreme is by degrees. A little at a time.
Who decides what is reasonable? What is reasonable to one may be extremely unexceptable to another.
We can argue by degree, but by degree to end result may be the same.
A spider sneaks up on a fly by degrees. He moves closer when the fly is not looking. If the fly continues to ignore the spider he looses.
Lets keep our eyes open.
Toma
Jersey,on Jan. 16, Citigroup capped a devastating 2008 by announcing an $8.29 billion fourth-quarter loss.
It would of gone down then.
Funny how it happened yesterday.
Yea that “reasonable” is that degree you gotta watch out for.
Reasonable to a liberal is a pea shooter in your safe deposit box.
JMJ;
“But to argue the ridiculous extremes will get you no where.”
Why dont you take your own advice next time you call the Bush administration a “complete and utter abject failure” ?
Toma, I remember years ago reading a Bill Buckley book, ya’ know, back when conservatives were at least sane, and he pointed out the fallacy of “domino theory” logic. I miss that guy.
There’s no slippery slope here. No one wants to take your guns away. There will be no thought police. Maybe, sometime in the more distant future we may see things like that, but if you think that would come from the Left, man are you barking up the wrong tree.
Micky, have you reviewed your calender? Take a wild guess what the first trading day was after the 20th.
JMJ
Oops – I mean after the 16th…
JMJ
It still happened before the inauguration. There was still Monday, he was not sworn in untill Tuesday. And if it was announced early enough on Friday there was still time.
I’m sure plenty of people knew that if they were going to move anything for whatever reasons they had, it would have to be done before Obama was actually able to do something.
“No one wants to take your guns away.”
You really believe that ? REALLY ?
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (BCPGV)
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV)
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), was originally formed in 1975 as the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (NCBH) “for the purposes of banning the importation, manufacture, sale, transfer, ownership and possession of handguns.” In 1989, after expanding its efforts to include restrictions on all firearms, the group adopted its new name, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
The Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence (EFEHV)
Incorporated in 1978 as an “educational” spin-off to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the EFEHV is supported by private donations and foundation grants. The fund distributes anti-gun research on handgun violence, firearms marketing and production, and firearms design.
The Violence Policy Center (VPC)
VPC is a non-profit national “educational” foundation that proposes firearms restrictions, including total handgun prohibition, as measures to reduce violence in America.
CeaseFire, Inc.
Their stated goal is to promote “handgun-free homes and families” by claiming that gun ownership is a public health threat.
Americans for Gun Safety
AGS was formed in June, 2000 and claims to be a centerist gun safety group. Its original Executive Director, however, is the former Chief of staff to the aggressively anti-gun Andrew Cuomo at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It’s current Executive Director was chief of staff to extreme anti-Second Amendment congressman Martin Meehan (D-Mass.)
Handgun-Free America, Inc.
Handgun-Free America (HFA) is a national, membership-based non-profit organization dedicated to building up strong support for the initiative to ban private handgun ownership in the United States.
Consumer Federation of America
CFA has now made the regulation of firearms a primary area of activity. They are the primary proponent of the Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act, which would give the U.S. Treasury Department broad authority to regulate guns, including the authority to ban them.
Join Together
, Join Together supports the “public health” approach to criminal violence, seeking to treat crime as a disease and firearms as the cause.
The American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress has long supported restrictive gun laws. However, they are now engaged in active Congressional lobbying for passage of legislation that infringes Second Amendment rights.
The Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation has provided financial grants to programs aimed at restricting gun ownership and regulating gun owners’ rights.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The MacArthur Foundation is a primary source of financial support for groups and individuals promoting the anti-gun agenda.
The Joyce Foundation
135 South LaSalle Street, Suite 4010
Chicago, Illinois 60603
Phone (312) 782-2426
Fax (312) 782-4160
The Joyce Foundation is one of the leading sources of funding for anti-gun groups and individuals. Anti-gun academics receive grants to complete studies that invariably find a link between gun ownership and crime.
The David and Lucille Packard Foundation
300 Second Street, Suite 200
Los Altos, California 94022
Phone (650)948-7658
packard.org
The Packard Foundation has provided significant financial support to the Million Mom March, now part of the Brady Campaign, and has funded anti-gun research.
Firearm Injury Center at Penn (FICAP)
FICAP, founded in 1997 at the University of Pennsylvania, conducts research on firearms as a “public health” problem. This research is designed to show that restrictions on firearms ownership are the solution to firearms injuries. FICAP is funded by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation (see above) and designs research projects to produce anti-gun research that is used to influence the media, policy makers and legislators.
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Originally formed to oppose nuclear weapons, PSR has widened their scope to include many other causes. On firearms it has endorsed international small arms disarmament. PSR has endorsed virtually every restrictive gun law which has been proposed including one-gun-a-month, ban on “junk” guns, and ammunition purchase restrictions.
California Wellness Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation is a private foundation funded in February, 1992 by a substantial endowment from Health Net, one of California’s largest health maintenance organizations. Through grants the Foundation funds research and public action targeted at “public health” issues. This includes grants for anti-gun research, community and governmental action, and policy advocacy. This foundation is one of the primary funding sources for state and local anti-gun causes.
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Ontop of this (which is just the tip of the iceberg) there are about 10 organizations at the state level in every state in the union.
“No one wants to take you guns away” ?
You are either lying, or clueless
” There will be no thought police. Maybe, sometime in the more distant future we may see things like that, but if you think that would come from the Left, man are you barking up the wrong tree.”
Of course you’ll deny that the left is constantly trying to impose legislation that would dictate morals and ethics that come from “progressive” minds.
It would more than likely come from the left due to the simple fact that dictating Judeo beliefs into legislation is a lot harder to do that it has been for the left to impose its PC guidelines and some of the more ridiculous laws they’ve tried to pass that would punish anyone for not thinking the way they do.
Theres no doubt a whole movement out there that would love to steer the thoughts of people and prosecute them when their actions dont reflect the thinking they demand.
Wake up.
Also much like the left that invites to all come together, as Eric said:
“When liberals say that “we should all come together,” what they really mean is that conservatives should “shut up and agree with them.” When asked how coming together can be combined with vitriol towards the outgoing President, the answer is that hatred of Bush is an exception because “he actually deserves it.”
By what criteria? Because they say so?”
Sound familiar ?
Yea, you would like to adjust everyones thinking so we could just operate on the premise that “because you say so” we should believe or do whatever simply because there is no defining your infinite wisdom, therefor we should just abandon the free thought that led us to reject your argument.
No doubt.
There are thought police or “dictators” out there in the millions
WOW, Mick I know they are after our weapons but did not know there names or numbers. And you probably missed some.
Most of these organizations stay under the radar. They work behind the scenes. They wait until we are not looking then make their move.
Good job
Toma
Apparently there is a Democrat Play book?
This is Paul Begala, this morning on Imus in the Morning. Day 3 of Obama’s day in office the talking points have been distributed?
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/01/paul-begala-men-in-tights.html
The market was closed on Monday, Micky.
JMJ
So what Jersey !
Then that still leaves Friday.
And heres the killing point bub…
The market sure as hell didnt go UP on the 20th !
Put that in your thinking cap.
————————————-
I have to correct myself here.
“Roberts just gave the oath to Obama one more time at 7:30 am today in the white House bathroom !!!”
This turned out to be true except for it taking place in the crapper.
I could of sworn I heard Shep Smith say “bathroom”.
Its starting to look like he said “backroom”
Sorry.
http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/C.aspx
Heres Citis chart Jersey.
Take a look at the movement that was even taking place on the 17th, 18th and 19th regrdless of whether Wall street was closed or not.
Come the 20th, it crashed !