THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Barack Obama held a meeting today.

Liberals everywhere should celebrate.

What was the meeting about? It does not matter. What was discussed? Irrelevant. Were any tangible agreements reached? Immaterial. Were there any safeguards or enforcement mechanisms to make sure that agreements are not breached? Totally inappropriate to even ask.

There was a meeting, and that is a victory.

For those who do care, today’s meeting took place between Barack Obama, Joe Biden (who was invited because apparently his schedule was clear from whatever it is he does), Professor Henry Louis Gates, and Sgt. Jim Crowley.

(On this White House version of Gilligan’s Island, Sgt. Crowley played Mary Ann, pure as can be. President Obama was Thurston Howell III. Vice President Biden was either Lovey or Gilligan, with the Professor being the Professor.)

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/30/beerestroika-drinking-to-distraction/

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/31/beer-summit-the-final-summary/

http://links.chango.com/links/redirector?siteID=8QMjuOoAMCPeBJ2perUuTPx2c&brandingFrame=true&linkUID=836f5858-025b-4cff-b7b9-13152d4bfd9b&short=bit.ly&href=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2Faonjb

For those who do not know, an arrogant gasbag Harvard professor (redundant, I know) locked himself out of his house. This makes me qualified to be a Harvard professor, since I have done that as well. The professor then compounded his idiocy (yes, it is idiocy when I do it too) by trying to break into his own home.

A concerned neighbor saw a man breaking into the home and called the police. Professor Gates might consider this racism. Others call it being a good neighbor. The police officer then showed up. Professor Gates might consider that racist as well. Others call it doing one’s job.

The matter could have been completely avoided had Professor Gates not tried to play the race card from the bottom of the deck. Being polite to police officers defuses many situations. Being belligerent escalates them.

Yes, I understand that in decades past, police abuse against minorities occurred. Like everything from sexual harassment to hate crimes laws, the pendulum has swung to the other end of the illogical spectrum.

This was a situation of a racially obsessed minority heaping abusive behavior on a law enforcement officer who had no racial animus whatsoever. Additionally, this was about more than race for Mr. Gates. This was about class. How dare a blue collar whitey question a man who is friends with Obama. How dare a Harvard graduate be questioned by a plebeian commoner!

President Obama then pulled “a Biden.” He claimed that he did not have the facts of the incident, but that the cops “acted stupidly.” Even some liberals understood that this was problematic. Naturally, their concern was for how it would appear, rather than what was actually said…liberals and substance, oil and water, etc.

Now the President has invited Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates to share a beer at the White House.

This is nothing more than a useless symbolic photo op designed to stop the slide in President Obama’s polls.

President Obama wanted this to be a “teachable moment.”

What President Obama means is that he can lecture us in a high-minded manner. We should be forced to understand Professor Gates. Whitey can learn from this, and be more sensitive.

Sorry, Mr. President, the only person that should be speaking at this gathering is Sgt. Crowley.

Barack Obama and Henry Gates have nothing to teach me. There is nothing valuable I could learn from them. One is a Harvard Professor, and the other is a Harvard academic that community organized his way into the White House.

The only thing people who develop Harvard syndrome know how to do it talk…and talk…and talk…and talk…and talk. They don’t listen. They teach, but they don’t learn.

Harvard is not an institution of higher learning. It is a left-wing house of elitism where ideological discussion is forbidden. Liberals are good, conservatives are bad, and then the discussion ends.

That does not cut it with me. I don’t need a toilet paper-sized piece of fancy parchment with letters next to it to teach me common sense or right from wrong.

President Obama screwed up. He issued a namby-pamby, half-hearted, half-baked, too little, too late non-apology apology. The words “I’m sorry” never occurred.

As for Professor Gates, I have very little sympathy for a grievance-monger that earns three times my salary. Yes, in his “nothing has changed since 1863” world I am the oppressor, but make no mistake about it. His behavior was no different than what police used to do before Miranda. The professor was the one who abused his power and his connections, for no other reason than he thought he could.

Make no mistake about it. The professor is delighted by this controversy. It keeps him in the news, which is great for book sales. He has a tome coming out, and his “street cred” for standing up to “the man” has just gone through the roof.

The only thing worth teaching about this moment is that accusations of racism need to be shot down rapidly and unequivocally. Sgt. Crowley did not back down. He did not give an inch. He was right.

The system is not rigged against black people. Anybody who thinks this should learn about what happened to a coworker of Sgt. Crowley. The coworker sent a mass email that referred to Professor Gates in racially inappropriate terms. To put it bluntly, the email was racist. The officer who sent that email was suspended, and will most likely be fired. The system can work.

That is a teachable moment. Don’t put bad stuff in emails. Email is forever. Also, don’t be a racist. Is it really that hard to wake up and not be a bigot? I think not.

The media will spend endless hours discussing the different flavors of ale each man consumed. At some point they will have Joe Biden fetch them some cigars and then leave the room so that the adults can have a conversation without it being leaked incorrectly to this very same media.

Yet nothing of substance will come out of this, because nothing substantive was meant to come out of it.

The only thing that will improve will be the President’s poll numbers. He will get credit for healing a nation when the truth is all he did was exacerbate a situation with his own bungling.

Maybe he does need a teleprompter to speak eloquently, but if he really wants to make things better in America, he could do what liberal academics simply refuse to do.

He can stop teaching, pay attention to others, listen, and learn.

This is called being quiet and doing one’s job without excuses.

Perhaps Sgt. Crowley can teach him. That is a photo op worth seeing.

eric

For those who have never met politically liberal Jews, they are like battered housewives, only with less hope.

I want to make it clear before the hags at the National Organization for Women send me another feminist Fatwa that I am not celebrating battered housewife syndrome. Even if a woman bothers me when I am trying to watch football, a simple, “Honey, I can take care of the trash later” is sufficient. Abusers are scum. Also, while the woman’s timing is terrible, the man could take the trash out before the game.

Nobody should be abused. However, there is a subtle difference between liberal Jews and battered housewives. The battered housewives really are innocent victims. Liberal Jews really do sow the seeds of their own pathetic weakness.

(Before going any further, do not confuse battered housewives with “Desperate Housewives.” In that show it is the husbands getting battered in various ways.)

In fact, only liberal Jews could create entire umbrella organizations designed to destroy their own communities and fight against their own interests.

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2009/07/israels-obama-problem.html

http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35743

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/self-loathing-at-the-san-francisco-jewish-film-festival/

An Arab Islamist loving, Palestinian appeasing, liberal Jewish handwringing and groveling organization has visited the White House. J-Street claims to speak for all Jews. They speak for sane Jews as much as Armageddonijad in Iran does.

They have arranged a self-hating Jew conference in Washington, D.C., and President Obama is delighted  about this.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/07/a-convention-of-killers-j-street-the-j-is-for-jihad.html

The key is not just to acknowledge the whining, begging, and sniveling of these and other Jew-lite (Jew? Where? Not me? Don’t dare call me that!) organizations. What matters is how deeply pathological the self-loathing has become.

For those that are not members of the Hebrew faith, some basic facts must be disseminated.

There is nothing in the Torah (Old Testament) that commands anybody to be politically liberal (or politically conservative). Liberals who babble about things such as “social justice” and “being good stewards of the Earth” are simply manipulating the Torah to fit their own ideology.

(Conservatives are accused of doing this in the Christian faith. I am not Christian, and do not go to Church. If this turns out to be true, liberal Jews should remember that two wrongs do not equal righteousness.)

The greatest Mitzvah (good deed) in all of Judaism is Tzedakah (charity). There are eight levels of Tzedakah. For example, anonymous giving is higher than gifts made aware. Giving cheerfully is better than giving angrily. The highest level of Tzedakah is helping somebody become self-sufficient by helping them start their own business. That is conservatism, not liberalism.

The Torah has nothing to do with liberal Jews acting the way they do. The issue is that many liberal Jews are liberals first, and Jews second. More importantly, they are secular liberal Jews in many cases. They are liberal and secular first and second (in either order) and Jewish third.

This is not to imply that liberal Jews could care less about Israel (although with many of them that is the case). The issue is that liberal, secular Jews care more about abortion, gay rights, and environmental issues than they do about issues such as safety and security. They are no different than other secular leftists.

So why does this matter in 2009? Also, why can’t they just be free to live their lives and believe what they believe?

Because their lives encroach on my right to live, and their beliefs are dangerous. Their actions are preposterous, and their analysis is naive and foolhardy.

This brings us to the 2009 meeting between President Obama and Jewish leaders.

Barack Obama has managed to fool most American Jews, but he has not fooled the Israelis. He recently polled only 6% approval in Israel. 6%! This means that Israelis believe that on Jewish issues (and yes, Israel is a main Jewish issue), the President of the United States is simply full of garbaggio. He is seen as hostile, bullying, meddlesome, and antithetical to all that Israel believes in.

The reason for this is because Israelis look at results. Liberal Jews, like liberal non-Jews, look at intentions.

Imagine waking up one day and being forced to confront that everything you believe in is wrong. The painful but honorable choice at this point is to admit this and move forward. The other option is to live in a constant state of denial.

Liberal Jews worship Obama because he is a liberal. Therefore, he has to be good on Jewish issues. He is their Messiah, and they have pinned their hopes on him. The problem with this is that Barack Obama is less of a man than he is a brand. He is an icon, and he consists of whatever his supporters project onto him. They confuse their support of him with his support of them.

So no matter how many times President Obama batters liberal Jews with the blunt instruments of his deeds, the snivelers and grovelers will blame themselves, explain why he is really supporting them, and blame evil Republicans for trying to use Israel as a wedge issue.

The evidence is in the gushing praise the J-Street apologists had for President Obama after meeting with him. Ordinary occurrences were treated as proof of kinship.

“He met with us. He listened to us. He empathized with us. He reaffirmed his commitment. He understood us.”

If this does not sound like apologetic drivel, I fail to see what does.

Only liberal appeasers could treat a meeting in itself as a victory.

Let me explain to liberals again for the milli-vanillionth time what conservatives have always grasped. Having a meeting is a means to an end. It is not the end itself. No matter how vigorous the handshake, no matter how tasty the sandwiches, no matter how comfortable the chairs, a meeting is a beginning, not an ending. Meetings prove nothing. What matters is actual tangible achievements coming out of meetings.

This is not only about Judaism. Liberals celebrate meetings with evil people that produce nothing. The United Nations is a giant slumber party of dictatorial madmen, but because they talk to each other it is supposedly useful. Meanwhile, genocide takes place worldwide while pleasant meetings occur.

In addition to meetings, President Obama is a master at conveying agreement. The guy can nod his head as well as any middle manager. He is polite. He listens. Has anybody on the left noticed that when it comes time for concrete action, he completely discounts the views of those he politely listens to?

Barack Obama has turned Judaism on its head. Judaism is about questioning anything and everything. The expression about 10 Jews in a room giving 12 opinions is not without validity. Yet with candidate and then President Obama, blind unquestioning faith is the norm. If he says something, it has to be true because he said it.

This reminds me of the old Eddie Murphy joke about a wife who catches her husband in bed with another woman. The husband responds, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”

Barack Obama allowed Jews to enter the White House. That is what he is supposed to do. He represents the people, and Jews are people. Yet President Obama did not make any promises, guarantees, or assurances. He did not reassure the Jewish lefties. They reassured themselves. By being allowed to be in his presence, they felt the same gratitude that comes with being “allowed” to join an all white golf club rather than express anger that such restrictions ever existed to begin with.

It is this desperation to believe that has the Jewish left twisting themselves into pretzels. It is how they can attack Republicans, even though most anti-Semitism in America now comes from the left. It is how negotiating with Armageddonijad when the Iranian people want to be free does not conflict with liberal support for human rights.

In mathematical terms, Obama is a tautology. He is truth, and truth is him. Therefore, any criticism of him is motivated by evil and lies, even when such criticism is not only part of rational Jewish debate, but based on a sincere desire to improve Jewish quality of life.

Liberal Jews stick up for everybody else. They defend blacks, gays, Latinos, and even Palestinians. They protest the death penalty for murderers. Yet they have hostility toward conservative Republicans.

If liberal Jews would at least be willing to look at Obama with the same critical lens that any intellectual or thinker would, they would see that his attitude toward Israel ranges between indifference and hostility. Israelis see this.

American liberal Jews are blind. The only question in months to come will be whether that blindness is innocent misguided naivete, or a willful refusal to see.

I suspect the latter is the case. Like battered housewives, the beatings will continue until liberal Jews start fighting back against their attackers and stop fighting their supporters.

Even worse, the supporters might get fed up and either join the attackers, or just walk away.

I will not make any predictions based on predetermined opinions and emotion. Unlike liberal Jews, I will act like a conservative Republican Jew. I will look at the results, and let logical reasoning lead the way.

eric

At Cafe Formosa in Hollywood, I had the pleasure of Emceeing the kickoff event to elect Ari David to Congress.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elect-Ari-David-to-Congress/82097997122?ref=mf

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/author/adavid/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ari-David/517440549

Ari is running against Henry Waxman in the 30th district in California, where Mr. Waxman has served for approximately the last 847 years.

Speakers at the event included writer John Romano, politico Ron Yates, and comedian Evan Sayet. A heartfelt tribute to Ari by his wife Fini David added to the poignancy of the evening.

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/author/jromano/

http://evansayet.com

As the Emcee, I wanted a brisk pace, and kept my own remarks to a minimum. Below are some of my remarks, followed by the kickoff of the Ari David campaign for Congress.

“When I was first asked to Emcee an event for Ari David, there was a bad telephone connection. I angrily yelled into the phone that there was no way I would support him or his wife. When the caller asked what I had against Ari David, I replied, ‘Oh, you said Ari David. I thought you meant that loser from ‘Curb your enthusiasm.””

“I recommended to Ari David a new government program where we take Henry Waxboy…I have downgraded him from Waxman…We take Waxboy and Brad Sherman (who should be downgraded to Sherboy, but that is for another day), put them in a moving van, and drop them off in another district where they can wreck others instead of us. This government program is called ‘U-Haul the cueball.'”

“Republicans in 2008 offered John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Fred Thompson, while Democrats offered Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Christopher Dodd. It’s obvious that the American electorate is bigoted against the follically challenged. Remember that in 2010. Ari David has good hair. Support him.”

“Another reason to elect Ari David is his wife Fini. Won’t it be great when Waxman is asked to finally leave Congress? We can look at him and say, ‘Congress Waxman, it’s over. Ari David is entering the building. So is his wife Fini. So Mr. Waxman, I say to you, here is Ari David, and as for you, Fini!'”

(That is the only situation where ever saying something in French has been acceptable.)

Anyway, there are a million things I want to say about Ari David. As a Jewish Republican, naturally I feel pride in his candidacy. More importantly, he is a principled conservative Republican who is not afraid to take on a liberal titan that has overstayed his welcome by several millennium.

“Thank you for coming to our event tonight. First I want to give special thanks to John, Ron and Evan for all of their support and all the great work they have done on our behalf. Please give them a hand.

Eric, I want to thank you for being the emcee at this party. Everyone, please buy a copy of his book because it is a great read and Eric Golub is really in touch with where the modern conservative movement is heading and last but certainly not least, I want to thank my gorgeous wife Fini who supports me in all of my AMBITIOUS endeavors. Honey, without you I would not be here tonight. I love you.

Fini and I are about to become proud parents of a beautiful little girl. I want you to all imagine the grief we are going to give Henry Waxman as we campaign. Let’s see, a beautiful wife, an adorable baby, a stunningly handsome candidate (that would be me) and a golden retriever puppy.  CENTRAL CASTING DID A GREAT JOB, DIDN’T THEY? People tell me that they think this will be a tough race. I agree with them. It will be really tough on Henry Waxman.

The theme is simple. Ari David and family love children, puppies and kittens. Henry Waxman will ROB YOUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE and put you in the poorhouse.

He doesn’t stand a chance.

I challenge Henry Waxman on three issues:

First:

I fully support Israel morally, militarily and diplomatically.

Henry Waxman pays lip service to the Jewish States security issues. But he has a deplorable record of standing with Pelosi and Obama at every turn as they harm Israel AND betray his true agenda. This agenda is the acquisition of unlimited political power. To gain this power from the Democrat party, he happily sells his own people down the river.

The first thing I will do in office is work to empower Israel to act unilaterally against any of her enemies at her discretion. I will also work to share with her all the missile and rocket defense systems available and work to continually develop more. Having the latest missile defense systems up and running is in Israel’s best interest and with Iran and North Korea becoming ever expanding threats it is in our best interest too. Henry Waxman has voted against missile defense system funding every time it has come up for a vote in the House.  IF HE HAD HIS WAY, OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE WOULD CONSIST OF SLINGSHOTS AND PEA SHOOTERS.  WELL MAYBE THAT’S AN EXAGGERATION.  HE’D PROBABLY THINK JUST PEA SHOOTERS ARE ENOUGH.

The second issue I challenge Henry Waxman on is his Cap and Trade FIASCO.

I am against all regulation and taxes on energy use and production. We are the most car centric district in the nation. How dare Henry Waxman sponsor (and pass) cap and trade legislation when his OWN constituents, are the PEOPLE most dependent on gasoline to live our lives?

Unemployment in California is at 15% and rising. We are in a terrible recession brought on by the Democrats in both Washington and Sacramento.

It is a shocking example of arrogance for Henry Waxman to IMPOSE any law on his voters that would increase the costs of OUR businesses and OUR LIVES.  AND AS IF THAT ISN’T ENOUGH DESTRUCTION, HE’S NOW IN THE FOREFRONT OF DEMOCRATS TRYING TO FORCE SOCIALISED HEALTH CARE DOWN OUR THROATS.  THE PLAN HE SUPPORTS WOULD BE SO DISASTROUS FOR THIS COUNTRY, WOULD INFLICT SO MUCH HARM ON OUR ECONOMY AND ON AMERICANS, EVEN OSAMA BIN LADEN MIGHT LOOK AT IT AND SAY, “I CAN’T TOP THAT.”

HENRY WAXMAN does not know the MEANING of the word enough!

The second thing I will do in office is work to rescind all of the federal fuel and energy taxes on Californians.

The third issue is CLOSE TO MY HEART, AND MANY IN THIS DISTRICT.

Every town has a local mill. I believe that our local mill, otherwise known as the entertainment industry must be protected and kept local.
Henry Waxman has presided over a massacre of runaway production and job loss in our entertainment business.

The third thing I will do in office is WORK TO streamline all regulations and significantly reduce all taxes on entertainment production in the LA area.   AND at a minimum WE SHOULD give the same economic incentives to LA production that equals or exceeds whatever the most generous benefits being given by any other state or nation. I will also work to curb production insurance costs.

THE ENTERTAINMENT business is critical to the local economy, BUT IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO AMERICA BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD HAS SO MUCH INFLUENCE OVER OUR CULTURE.

MOVIES, television, music and sports are what give Americans from diverse regional backgrounds a common unified culture. BUT AS FOREIGN INTERESTS GAIN MORE AND MORE CONTROL OVER ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT, THIS CULTURE IS INCREASINGLY THREATENED.

Because film content is being made for and controlled by foreign interests we have White supremacist villains in action films from Waco and Belgium instead of Muslim terrorists from Syria or Saudi Arabia.

PRESIDENT REAGAN SPOKE OF AMERICA AS A SHINING CITY ON A HILL, BUT RIGHT NOW our nation is on the precipice of a cliff. THAT’S WHY the choice (before us) in the next midterm election is crucial. We will either preserve our nation which has proven itself for more than 200 years as the last great hope for mankind or we will take the final steps into a thousand years of darkness.

For the first time since mankind’s ascent from the swamps to the stars has the leading culture on earth decided to sacrifice it’s place as the leader of all the other nations of the world and offer to destroy it’s civilization for the siren’s song of internationalism and equality.

We must not let this happen. It’s clear that the leaders of our nation believe there is something wrong with all THE GREATNESS WE HAVE ACHIEVED, AND because of this they believe America must be diminished. The irony is that oppressed people on earth who dream of being in America and dream of freedom will have their dreams die as the beacon of American freedom is dimmed and extinguished.

The choice that we have before us is not right or left. It is not Liberal or Conservative. My friends, the choice before us is only up or down.

The choice up leads to ideals of American exceptionalism, free enterprise, civil society and individual liberty. The choice down that our Democrat friend’s present leads straight to the soup kitchen of the welfare state and to the ant hill of totalitarianism.

The Democrats promise Utopian ideas like health care for all, reduced carbon emissions and low cost education in exchange for volunteer service. They promise us many things in this version of Eden including butterflies and rainbows. What their Utopian plans will actually deliver though is the Dystopia of East Germany in 1957. There was nothing gray or dreary there. No one went hungry or in need in that Marxist dream place so our Democrat leaders, ignorant of the history of their economic and social theories think “Why not impose that here?”

The party that espouses keeping the government out of our bedrooms and out of a woman’s body is putting the plan together to invade all the other rooms of our houses, our offices and our cars. They are even working on getting into our Jacuzzis. I like to be naked when I am in the Jacuzzi so I find this particularly disturbing because I don’t want to be anywhere near Nancy Pelosi while I’m naked.

Now with their so called health care plans they are going to invade all of our bodies and invasively cavity-search every orifice.

With their plans to cut costs the Democrats are willing to sell our bodies to the Federal government and of course, do this for our own good. This is why I like to call what they are doing to us “Death Care” plans instead of health care because the governments only care for us is that if we are dead so they won’t have to allocate scarce and strictly rationed resources to us.

I am not one to trade freedom for security because this leaves us with neither and the Democrats (have) did a masterful job terrifying the majority of Americans into making this nefarious trade last November.

It is time for us to stand up to these tyranny peddling oppressors and say no! No more invasions of our choices and no more micromanaging of our lives by the nanny state.

Henry Waxman for all of his beauty, benevolence, charisma and charm is nothing more than a petty bully dictator who wishes to have ultimate power over all of us.

Henry Waxman and his fellow commissars of the inconsequential must be stopped now!  HENRY WAXMAN HAS BEEN IN CONGRESS TOO LONG.  NOW IT’S TIME TO SEND HIM BACK TO THE REAL WORLD WHERE HE WILL HAVE TO LIVE UNDER THE OPPRESSIVE LAWS HE HAS HELPED PASS.

I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees in chains and slavery. A country that is ready for a master deserves one. My friends, we deserve no master and we will never be ready for one.

On November 2nd 2010 we can pull the trigger and fire a new shot heard round the world. We will shock the Democrats and beat them in this district that they take so much for granted. Let’s join the rebellion and have a new revolution. We will redeem and preserve the original ideals that made this country the greatest on earth and the place where men could be truly free.

Thank you for joining us tonight. God bless you and God bless the United States of America!”

The roof of Formosa Cafe was packed to capacity. If this many Republicans can show up in the belly of the beast of Hollywood, then the change that was mere lip service in 2008 could truly become actual positive change in 2010.

Elect Ari David. Vote for him and send him money.

eric

I had the privilege this week of participating in a conference call with House Minority Leader John Boehner.

http://johnboehner.house.gov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boehner

If we Republicans do our part, Mr. Boehner will be the next Speaker of the House in 2011, ending the reign of (t)error of the Pelosiraptor.

I initially met Congressman Boehner at a Commodity Futures conference in Palm Beach in 2005. I pointed out to him that if somebody were to break into my safe and steal stuff, that would be a crime, but yet every month money is taken out of my paycheck for a pyramid scheme known as Social Security against my will, and that was legal. I wanted to know why Congress didn’t just privatize Social Security, since I could get a better return than T-bills pay out.

His response was brutally honest.

“Privatizing Social Security requires courage. Members of Congress are not known for courage. Having to run for reelection every two years gets in the way of courage.”

With any luck, a Speaker of the House Boehner might provide the Republicans the toughness and grit to actually get things dnoe.

As for this conference call, in keeping with the long standing policy of my blog, certain events will have a majority of the commentary left off of the record as the situation dictates unless I am given express permission to place everything on the record. Therefore, this call will feature more generalities than specifics, without sacrificing the overall content of the call.

With that, I present some remarks from House Minority Leader John Boehner.

“Six months into the new administration, and there is already plenty to talk about.”

“America and Israel have been friends for a long time. The current way we are engaging Iran is not helping that relationship. Engaging Iran in this way is shortsighted, and our olive branch is seen by Iran as a sign of weakness.”

“The Republican Jewish Coalition helped to prevent Charles Freeman from becoming the head of the NIC, which would have been very bad for relations with Israel.”

“The Obama administration is currently courting regimes that are using Anti-American and Anti-Israel rhetoric.”

“I have been pushing Howard Berman (D-CA) on an Iran sanctions bill.”

(Also of importance is a resolution involving Gitmo, which was not discussed on the Conference Call.)

http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Petitions.TerroristTransfer

“On Card Check, there is no compromise that works for employers.”

“Card Check allows for an ‘ambush election.’ Once 30% of workers sign on, an election has to be held within 10 days.”

“Andy Stern, head of the SIEU, is claiming that there will be a vote on Card Check before the August recess. That will not happen.”

“We will get rolled in the House big-time. The key play is in the Senate. The solution is no compromise, no bill. Business organizations are united on this as never before.”

“Regarding Nancy Pelosi’s energy tax, it cripples small businesses, and sends high paying jobs overseas to China and India. They don’t have 1/100 of the controls we have here.”

“On health care, there is a 1018 page bill. It creates a giant government bureaucracy, adds one trillion in tax increases, and lead sto the cutting of Medicare and Medicaid.”

“With regards to ERISA, there is a five year grace period, but then Health Care Options Czar approval is required on all plans.”

“House Democrats got their arms broken on Cap and Trade, so there are no more arms to break. The Blue Dogs are meeting with the Obama administration. He is going to yell at them, but that is probably not going to sway them.”

“Health care is doubtful before the August recess. The current bill should be scrapped, and we should create a bipartisan bill.”

“Unemployment is approaching 10%. People are asking, ‘Where are the jobs?’ There is mounting anger over government intrusion, and the subsidizing of irresponsible behavior. The mid-year deficit is expected to be two trillion dollars.”

“People are losing faith in government when they see all this spending. Americans know that small business and not government is the engine that drives us.”

“Freedom itself is under assault.”

Congress Boehner then took questions. The first questioner wanted to know why the health care debate is not being framed as 85% of people being covered, which is pretty good. Congressman Boehner expanded that notion even further.

“83% of Americans like their coverage. Yet 80% think that they pay too much. The issue is cost control.”

“Access is a second issue. Start with the 47 million uninsured that is always cited. Now take into account those under age 32 that choose not to get coverage because they are healthy and indestructible. Then there are 10 million more that get coverage from SCHIP and Medicaid. There are also at least 10 million illegal immigrants receiving health care. Realistically, there are about 10 million who are working poor, or have preexisting conditions, tha do not have health care.”

Another questioner asked about Howard Berman and an Iran sanctions bill.

“Congressman Berman said he would not advance a bill until President Obama moved things along. Congressman Berman is dragging his feet, to see if the Obama administration’s Iran engagement plan has any chance.”

“Nancy Pelosi refused to co-sponsor resolutions pressuring Iran, Palestinians, and Hezbollah. I co-sponsored the bills. Watch what politicians do, not what they say.”

Congressman Boehner then offered some final thoughts on various issues.

“Some politicians believe in what they say, that they can talk their way through anything, that they can talk their way through life. Hillary Clinton is in India talking to them about climate change. India is our ally, and they are refusing to go along.”

“There is a certain amount of arrogance in this administration. They think that the world loves them. President Obama in particular is still taking in the adoring crowds in Paris and Berlin. They are in for a rude awakening. Outreach to Iran is seen as weakness. Again, the term I use for this administration is arrogance.”

“Who can compete with government? There is zero cost of capital, which means that in health care, the public option is the only option. There is an employer mandate. Any business with more than a $250,000 payroll will face an 8% tax. They will just refuse to offer coverage and push more people into the public option. Getting rid of the public option is important. Yet that is just one big bad thing. Government bureaucrats will be looking at various cures for diseases, and they will decide what people go with. The bureaucrats will crowd out private sector plans.”

“The Democrats will have a hard time passing it. They will have to drag me off of the tracks.”

I would like to thank Congressman Boehner for his time, and his commitment to sensible principles. In 1993 it was Texas Senator Phil Gramm who said that Hillarycare would become law “over his cold, dead political body.” President Obama’s worst bills can be defeated, but only if congressional Republicans follow the example of Congressman Boehner, and replace jellied knees with steel spines.

For the good of America, let’s hope so.

eric

At the 2009 Biennial Young Republican Convention in Indianapolis, several young rising stars lit up the crowd.

Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock, at only 28, is the youngest member of Congress.

Ohio State Representative Josh Mandel, only 31 years old, has already completed two tours of duty in Iraq. He is running for Ohio State Treasurer. I keep saying that he could be the first Jewish Republican President some day. Show him support.

Yet one person I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time is now a friend. More specifically, a friend is actually A. Friend, known to everyone as Andrew Friend.

http://www.facebook.com/s.php?init=q&q=andrew%20friend&ref=ts#/profile.php?id=1580326144&hiq=andrew%2Cfriend%2Carizona

Andrew is running for an Arizona state senate seat. He is young, smart, and very thoughtful when it comes to tackling tough issues. He is not a bombthrower or a screamer. He is a guy that likes to roll up his sleeves and work with people on practical solutions.

With that, I present my interview with future state representative Andrew Friend.

1) What is the Andrew Friend story?

“I was always political. In sixth grade, I went to private school, and became the treasurer. My other fellow students were already high schoolers. In High School, I was successful in making politics fun.

I then went to Embry-Riddle University in Northern Arizona. I ran for Student President of the University. I lost by 74 votes. Yet defeat builds up character. Losing led to an opportunity to apply for an internship in the Arizona state legislature, which has led me to a positioning for 2010.

In High School, I was Cadet Vice President for Air Force ROTC. I did Honor Guard details at Riverside National Cemetery.”

2) What three political issues are you most passionate about?

“Immigration, health care, and local Arizona issues involving funding and budgeting.”

3) Who are your three political heroes.

“Well Ronald Reagan was a hero of mine. Also, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.”

4) How would you like to be remembered 100 years from now? What would you want people to say about Andrew Friend the person?

“I want to have a legacy. I want to make a difference. I was not somebody who was just going through the motions. I want to repair the broken border. The laws since the 1900s are the same since Ellis Island. Five to ten years for people to achieve citizenship is way too long. Two to three years is more tangible. This increases legal immigration. We need to update our records.”

5) So you are not in the Minutemen Camp or other groups that are fairly or unfairly considered “hardliners” on the immigration issue?

“No. Look, I am not for amnesty, but I do support a guest worker program. My immigration position fits in with President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain. Making the path to legal immigration less time consuming will make more people play by the rules. People cheat when the situation seems hopeless. Legal immigrants should not wait ten years to become citizens.”

6) Besides yourself, who are some rising stars we should all look out for?

“Congressman Aaron Shock of Illinois is one. Also, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana. He is a warrior.”

7) How do people get in touch with you?

“I am on Facebook and on Twitter for now.”

8.) Although it is very early, who do you support for President in 2012?

“I like Mike Huckabee.”

I recommend that the people of Arizona get to know Andrew Friend. Like me, they will like what they see.

Now send him money!

eric

The other night in the middle of a speech to a chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition, I pointed out that “nobody knows everything.” Then out of nowhere, unscripted, I fliply added, “well, except for Charles Krauthammer.” The audience laughed, and most of them nodded in agreement.

I think about this not just because I have too much free time, but because I find myself admiring those that do things better than everybody else. In basketball, I marveled how Michael Jordan simply played the exact same game by the exact same rules as every other player, but somehow produced far superior results. Wayne Gretzky did it in hockey.

Yet while sports are entertainment, intellect can help improve the world. There are many bright people, but for some reason a select few are just astonishingly brilliant. I am in awe of them because I went to good schools, have an advanced degree, and yet do not see myself approaching them by the intellectual equivalent of a country mile.

I keep hearing that nobody knows everything, and yet when I listen to Charles Krauthammer I think, “maybe this guy really does know everything.”

When I met Sir Charles of Krauthammer in 2008, I recommended that he be knighted by the Queen. Yet given his humility, perhaps he should share the official name of my newly created intelligence index. Most indexes contain at least two parties.

It was not easy finding a worthy partner, but the thinkers at the Wall Street Journal…they know everything. I used to say that “the Wall Street Journal is never wrong,” but then somebody would cherry pick a column, most likely written by a token liberal.

Yet learning is about access to information. Some sources are so accurate that once one sees the name at the front or the back of the article, the content can just be accepted as fact.

Therefore, for those that think that the Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, or Morgan Stanley indexes are what should be traded, I would add only one item to one’s intellectual portfolio.

It is in that respect that I present the Wall Street Journal/Charles Krauthammer Index, or WSJ/Krauthammer Index. For short it can be referred to as the Krauthammer Index.

As the self-appointed manager of this index, I will now roll out the initial holdings, with their percentage correlation.

Using Mr. Krauthammer as the standard scale of 100, others that have high correlations are added to this non-diversified portfolio. With intellect, diversification is not desired. Barack Obama has low correlation with this index, but Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer have perfect negative correlation. They know virtually nothing.

With that, below are some more holdings.

Dr. Thomas Sowell knows virtually everything. He has about a 99% correlation with the overall portfolio. He should be read in abundance.

Larry Kudlow also has a sky high correlation. Follow his lead.

Dr. Walter Williams is brilliant, but he needs to take a higher profile. Being right is important, but communicating it to the masses spreads the rightness.

Although he is too young to have the silver hairs that Cicero possessed, age should at some point allow Capitalist Pig Jonathan Hoenig to be on this list.

Alan Greenspan would have been higher in this portfolio, but he admitted he is wrong when he was not wrong. He did not stick to his convictions, allowing the pressure to get to him.

Goldman Sachs could have been on this list years ago, yet any company run by Jon Corzine is disqualified. The company deserves points for firing him, but they still haven’t learned.

On military matters, three people are worthy of being part of the Krauthammer Index.

In no particular order, when Colonel David Hunt, Colonel Ralph Peters, and General David Petraeus speak, just sit there and take notes. Sure, one can fact check in the beginning, but that will soon grow tedious. These people simple know what they are talking about.

From a politics standpoint he could rate higher, but as a private citizen advocating policy, Newt Gingrich has a solid grasp of history and domestic issues.

If there is a member of the media that merits being on this list, I have not met them. Bernie Goldberg can be considered.

In addition to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post has high correlation with the Krauthammer Index.

Norman Podhoretz has well over 90% correlation with the Krauthammer Index.

I am not sure that a single politician merits inclusion, but Rudy Giuliani, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Vice President Dick Cheney are worth some consideration. If one measures them in a relative strength chart against Joe Biden, they rank higher.

From a legal standpoint, Chief Justice John Roberts has about a 99% correlation with the WSJKI. Justice Antonin Scalia also has a significantly high correlation. Sonia Sotomayor, whose entire career by her own admission has been mediocre, ranks higher than Boxer and the Pelosiraptor, which says little. She also ranks higher than Biden, which may mean even less than that.

There you have it America. Own as many shares as possible in these intellectual titans. Read their newspaper articles, digest them, and spread them to the four corners of the Earth as gospel.

Although I have a long way to go, I am convinced that I will be a brighter individual once I place my entire intellectual portfolio in the WSJKI.

Do not diversify. Just stick with the Krauthammer Index.

Think and grow rich.

eric

In his recent press conference, the First Gasbag in Chief waded into a racial powderkeg. After admitting that he had no idea what the facts were, he decided that a police department “acted stupidly” when a white police officer arrested a black college professor.

In another incident, Barbara “You had better call me Senator” engaged in outright bigotry, and had the temerity to express shock at being a victim of her own game.

No, the only people acting stupidly in this country are leftist race mongers, who have used political correctness, aka political McCarthyism, to destroy people. Now they are getting their racial castor oil shoved down their throats in spades, and they don’t like it.

President Obama offered social racial commentary about a conflict that may have had absolutely nothing to do with race.

I initially stayed away from this story in greater detail because unlike President Obama, we simply did not know all of the facts. My blog has a policy of avoiding stories when the facts are unknown. It saves time in corrections later on.

What is not in dispute is that a woman saw a man breaking into the back of his house. As somebody who has locked his keys in his car and lost his house keys, I have had to break into my own car, and use a ladder to climb into an open window on the roof as a youngster. Somebody witnessing this who did not know me would absolutely have a right to question this and call the cops.

I recently visited my parents. My father was supposed to turn the alarm off. He left it on and then went fishing. When I tried to reenter the house, the alarm went off, alerting the whole neighborhood.

Now had I acted irrationally, neighbors would have called the cops. I walked outside, saw the neighbors, calmly laughed and shrugged my shoulders. The neighbor across the street did not know me, but she saw me pick up a cell phone to call my dad. I was relaxed about it. The next door neighbor came outside, saw me, knew who I was, and immediately figured out the problem. My dad was thankfully reachable, and he gave me the code to turn it off. The neighbors went back inside.

Now one of two things must have been true about this situation. Either I was the coolest crook on the planet, or I really was innocent. Can anyone picture a criminal waiting for the cops, shaking their hands, and playing it off? I am not that cool a customer. I didn’t have to be.

Let’s say the police officer had not bothered to show up to investigate the complaint, and it had been a burglary. Then there would be cries of racism for police inaction and neglect. So the police officer went to the home as he was supposed to do. This is where the conflict started.

Professor Henry Louis Gates claimed that he was arrested even after stating who he was, and saw this as an example of racial profiling and police abuse. Police officer Sargent James Crowley insisted that Professor Gates got belligerent, saying the phrase, “Do you know who I am?” and mentioning that he was a Harvard professor.

This is not about race. This is about arrogance. This is about what I call “Harvard Syndrome,” which is developed at various Poison Ivy League Universities. I have never met a typical black person. I also have not met a typical white person, although President Obama referred to his grandmother that way. I have met typical college professors. They are arrogant liberal gasbags that think that intellectual snobbery is an admirable quality. Professor Gates is a Harvard elitist that turned his nose up at a lowly police officer.

An episode of the television show Frasier had the lead character, played by Kelsey Grammer, say to his boss that, “as a Harvard graduate, I cannot believe (blah blah blah).” His boss replied that “it” is obnoxious, at which point Frasier W. Crane (Using the full name is definitely elitist) asks if she means the situation itself. She replies, “No, I think it’s obnoxious that you have to mention that you went to Harvard in every sentence.”

Mr. Gates is trying to make himself a victim, when the truth is this situation could have been avoided with politeness. Yes, it is an indignity when a police officer confronts a person. It has happened to me. I handle myself in a polite manner. Are there times when the police officer goes overboard? Yes. There are procedures to remedy that, from internal affairs to lawsuits. However, this professor is doing a disservice to every real victim.

The police officer is not backing down. Usually in this case the white officer would seek forgiveness, promise to attend sensitivity training, and kiss the buttocks of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. This officer is defiant. He is either one cool customer, or he is telling the truth. Also, Mr. Gates picked the wrong white man to play the race card against. Apparently this police officer once gave mouth to mouth resuscitation to the late Boston Celtics basketball star Reggie Lewis in a desperate attempt to save his life.

President Obama, the king of bland platitudes, could have offered one in this case. He could have said, “We don’t have all the facts in this case, and we should not jump to conclusions.” As my friend Bob Parks succinctly stated on the O’Reilly Factor yesterday, President Obama could have said, “No comment.”

http://www.black-and-right.com/2009/07/23/br-on-oreilly-factor/

Instead he jumped to conclusions, and everybody from Bill Cosby to Boyce Watkins took him to task.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/28/a_post-racial_president_97642.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32085686

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/police-union-condemns-obamas-stupidly-comments-2009-07-23.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/24/obama_is_the_one_who_acted_stupidly_97609.html

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/23/the-dont-taze-me-bro-moment-of-henry-louis-gates/

Will President Obama apologize? Of course not. Will the media call him out on this? Of course not. Yet this police officer, if he keeps getting slandered, should go after Professor Gates with the same ferocity that Steven Pagones went after Al Sharpton during the Tawana Brawley hoax.

Fake claims of racial mistreatment poison race relations for all of us, and hurt true victims of racism. This must stop, and President Obama must stop acting stupidly.

Yet Barack Obama is a genius on these issues compared to Barbara Boxer.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/barbara-boxer-my-jerkish-behavior-is-great-for-fund-raising/

Senator Boxer is a leftist bully that has used her power to help drive California into the ground, as businesses leave the state.

Even her fellow liberals have privately had enough with her shrillness.

After tearing into a respected military general, she met her match in Harry Alford, the head of the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534265,00.html

The hearings had nothing to do with race. The Black Chamber is exactly the same as the Jewish Chamber and the Latino Chamber. They are pro-business groups that support tax cuts and other business friendly policies. Unlike Democrats, Republicans have an actual philosophy that unites us. We are not a collection of identity groups.

Mr. Alford was testifying against the environmental cap and trade bill. This makes sense. The Chamber of Commerce would be against any regulatory bill that restricts business. His race is totally irrelevant to everybody regarding this issue, except for Senator Boxer and her fellow liberals.

In attempting to rebut his arguments, Senator Boxer tried to show that she had support from other black groups. Mr. Alford immediately called her out, saying that her behavior was “racial” and “condescending.” Of course it was.

Senator Boxer saw a black man criticizing her, and resorted to pointing out the equivalent of saying that “some of her best friends were black.” She did not say those words, but why else would she inject race into a discussion about an environmental bill?

What made the situation even more interesting was that the mouth that roared turned into the mouse that squeaked. So why did Barbara Boxer back down? The answer can be found from comedienne Sarah Silverman.

When Sarah Silverman pointed out that she makes more fun of Asians than black people, it is because she looks at Asians and says, “We’re not afraid of you.”

Comedian Bobby Slayton pointed out that when he makes a joke about a black person, the white people look in the room to see if it is acceptable to laugh.

Barbara Boxer would have torn into Mr. Alford had he been anything else but black. She was afraid.

So is Barbara Boxer a racist?

I am going to be careful on this one. I think she has condescending attitudes towards the same minorities she claims to want to help. This makes her a typical smug liberal. Yet there is one more element to her.

She is a bigot, but not necessarily a racial one. She is an ideological bigot.

My life has been dedicated to stopping Ideological Bigotry. Barbara Boxer is one of its leading proponents.

She has ruthlessly castigated conservatives for years. She claims to be a champion of womens’ rights, but her entire career has been spent absolving liberal men who commit inappropriate acts toward women while lambasting conservative men who get accused by liberal women with no credibility.

In short, she makes her decision on every issue based on ideology. That is bigotry. Her job is to get to the truth. She creates her own truth, where left is good and right is evil.

Had a white conservative been arguing against her bill, she would have gone out for blood.

Thankfully, like the white police officer criticized by President Obama, Harry Alford is not backing down.

I am not going to claim that Barbara Boxer is evil. That would put me on her level. What she is, is stupid.

Until enough people have the courage to stand up for the truth, regardless of who the participants may be, bigotry and lies will continue to hurt good people.

Senator Boxer will not apologize because she truly believes in her own insufferable righteousness.

Boxer is as Boxer does.

Obama is as Obama does.

Liberal is as Liberal does.

The race baiting needs to stop, as does the Ideological Bigotry.

eric

I was going to cover President Obama’s remarks to the nation last night, but then I decided only to cover the substance. After deciding that a blank page would leave my readers cheated, I realized that the speech can be declared substantive simply because President Obama said so.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/22/the-fear-mongerer-in-chief/

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2009/Jul/23/fact_check__obama_s_health_care_claims_adrift_.html

http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=316116&start=1

http://www.rootforamerica.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry

I expected him to cover familiar themes, ranging from his own fabulousness and heroic nature, to saving America from everything in this world, all of which was George W. Bush’s fault. I also expected him to declare that he was bipartisan simply because he said he was, and that Republicans were not bipartisan because they disagreed with him.

I also expected environmentalists to praise him despite the fact that the gas from his speeches is killing the Ozone Layer, assuming that anybody really ever cared about that.

Naturally, I was right. He began his speech by mentioning that in the first few weeks of his administration, quick and decisive action was taken to save this economy.

No, Mr. President. That was George W. Bush and Hank Paulson. You and Timothy Geithner had no idea how to handle the problem, and you still don’t. The idea that anything bad belongs to your predecessor while anything good is all because of you is more tired than me at a mattress testing convention.

(Nordstroms should not have thrown me out. I may have bought that hammock.)

He then continued by spouting nonsense, but with his head tilted at an angle to convey seriousness.

“The recovery act we passed has already saved jobs and created new ones.”

Are you kidding me? Only a liberal could expect to lose 10 jobs, only lose 5, and call that job creation. These are the same liberals that think that if a program grows by 5% instead of 10%, that money is being saved. They simply make stuff up.

Mr. President, only 60 seconds into your speech, and you keep reminding me that you are full of cr@pola.

Just level with America sir. Stop telling us that anything you have done so far has worked. If you want to say you need time, and that in time things will work, I can listen. Do not say you have already succeeded. The facts contradict this.

He then stated that he provided Americans tax relief. Who are these people? What tax relief?

Then he stated that “our economy was not ready to compete in the 21st century.” He mentioned green jobs. Enough with the Deepak Chopra gobbledy gook. Steelworkers and coal workers are being decimated while the First College Professor in Chief lectures us about going green.

If he wants me to go green, make the stoplights more friendly so I don’t have to see red every morning on the main road.

Then he lied about 47 million Americans not having health care. This is the most fraudulent statistic the Democrats use, which says a lot for Democrats. The number is a bold faced lie.

He then lied about how people would not be forced to give up their private insurance. With a public option, they will undercut private companies. The same liberals who criticize Walmart for successfully lowering prices to drive competitors out of business deliberately ignore that Government is like Walmart to the 100th power. At least Walmart plays by the rules.

He declared that the AARP “endorsed his reform efforts,” as if that actually means something. The AARP are partisan Democrats.

He criticized one anonymous Republican strategist for saying that Republicans should “go for the kill” and reject compromise. Apparently Mr. Obama had no problem with allowing Rahm Emanuel to say that “a crisis should never go to waste.” Mr. Obama truly believes that compromise means cramming a liberal agenda down conservative throats with no dissent in the name of bipartisanship.

On the one hand Mr. Obama is tired of businesses being hit with tax burdens, but then says he wants to raise taxes on businesses. However, unlike George W. Bush, apparently when Mr. Obama raises taxes it will be an investment and not a burden. Well that solves that problem.

Once again, the Associated Press got to ask the first question, because they are a liberal organization posing as a neutral one.

They asked him if he would offer specifics as to what he wanted from Congress. Since he would rather let Nancy Pelosi either succeed so he can take credit, or fail so he can shift the blame on to her, of course he does not want to leave any fingerprints. Besides, this guy is lazy. He likes campaigning, but he has no interest in doing the actual work.

He never answered the question.

“There are a number of different ways to raise money. I preferred my proposal.”

How modest of him.

He thinks that there are enough rich people to pay for this.

“I am not for closing other ideas.”

My lord this man is generous of spirit.

He does not want to hurt the middle class. So instead he will harass rich people, and they will lay off or refuse to hire middle class people. President Obama will then blame George W. Bush for this as well.

President Obama was asked, “What’s the rush?”

While the answer is because he wants to ram things through before his polls slip further (the reason George W. Bush could not bomb Iran), he cited the need to help families.

He always makes one or two valid but meaningless points per press conference. He says things nobody could disagree with, but that don’t matter. This speech featured the line that “inertia is the default option.” He also mentioned that “it is important that we get this right.” Who could argue with that?

“I will not sign a bill that I don’t think will work.”

Then no bill should be signed until he is out of office.

In the interest of moderation, the President asked MSNBC to ask him a question. Chuck Todd asked if everyone would be covered.

President Obama said unless we had a single payer system, only 97 to 98% would be covered. During the campaign he said 100% of Americans would be covered.

“You haven’t seen me out there blaming the Republicans.”

For the love of God Mr. President, that is your entire political platform. Sheesh! Remember, everything in life that is wrong is your predecessor’s fault, he left you with a mess, but you are not blaming him. You need to stop bathing in “E’au D’Obama Anus” cologne.

In President Obama’s world, Republicans play politics while Democrats act on principle. The President even brags that he has “seen Republican ideas.” Yes, and then he rejects them out of hand.

For those who think I am always against President Obama, let me give credit where credit is due. His necktie was perfect. I think he uses a Windsor knot. Like his necktie, his words are contorted into a twisted shape that fits him perfectly but does not benefit anybody else.

“Americans have to give up things that won’t make them healthier.”

President Obama is a smoker. Come to think of it, that also makes him a hypocrite. His smoking habit does more to raise my premiums than anything I do.

I was only half way through when I decided to throw in the towel. Health requires a good night of sleep, which I cannot get if I stay up all night listening to this windbag.

(Windbag is a better term than gasbag due to his hostility toward the oil industry.)

He then went on to blame George W. Bush again, before taking credit for a stimulus package that George W. bush passed.

President Obama then stated that he saved 2.2 trillion dollars for America. I will not be getting a check in the mail, because these savings are as mythical as the jobs he has saved.

He then blamed his predecessor again. The theme here was to cry, blame, and protest.

This is our leader. I think the start of any health care plan should be pre-natal. We can start by giving the baby in chief his bottle and a nice long nap, or at the very least, a time out.

eric

At a private home in Beverly Hills, I had the pleasure of participating in a conference call with former Defense Department official Undersecretary Douglas Feith.

https://tygrrrrexpress.com/2008/06/meeting-undersecretary-douglas-feith/

Mr. Feith, along with Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz, are known in many circles as the “Neocons.”

This term should be worn as a badge of honor.

Mr. Feith has recently penned a book chronicling the events that occurred under President George W. Bush. The book is entitled “War and Decision.”

The conference call was set up as the conclusion to what was a monthly book club meeting. For those who have yet to meet Peter Bylsma, do so. His politics and taste in books is rarely matched.

I have yet to read the book, which runs 525 pages. Yet people I respect who have read the book have let me know that it is more of a thrill ride than a dry policy analysis.

After all, Mr. Feith was one of the architects of foreign policy that successfully defended America and the civilized world after the deadliest attack on the American mainland in our history.

While Mr. Feith was originally set to appear in person, accommodations were made for the teleconference. To get to talk with him at all was good, especially since it was his birthday. We sang happy birthday to him, which ended his evening.

Mr. Feith did not give a speech. He took serious questions, and gave equally intelligent and serious answers.

The first questioner wanted to know why President Bush did not articulate other reasons for the Iraq War. After all, the notion that we went to war for Weapons of Mass Destruction was a lie. Mr. Feith addressed this.

“So why didn’t President Bush articulate other reasons for the war? I raise that exact question in my book. The White House changed their approach to to discussing Iraq. In September or October of 2003, when we didn’t find WMD, the White House changed their rhetoric.

President Bush was set to give a series of speeches. I received two memos from Donald Rumsfeld. I said to him that we needed to discuss the rationale for the war. Strategic communications decisions are not done by the National Security Council or the National Security Adviser. The linkage between the NSC and the communications team was not that good. President Bush was giving an explanation disconnected from NSC deliberations. The changing of the rhetorical line damaged the war effort, and almost lost us the war. Thankfully, in 2007 we were able to turn it around.”

Mr. Feith was then asked about Pro-bono work he has done in Bosnia and other areas.

“I went to Bosnia pro-bono. There are some Jihadists in Bosnia, but many Bosnian Muslims are European. They are not Middle Eastern or Arab Muslims. They don’t support the Islamists.”

(For those on the right who love to cherry pick, Mr. Feith did not say that all Arab Muslims are terrorists. He spoke only about the European Muslims.)

Mr. Feith was then asked if all Presidents were now inherently handicapped due to the unpopularity of the 2003 Iraq War. It was inquired as to whether a President might in the future hold back on engaging in a proper war out of fear of bad media relations.

“There was support for the war. Certain wars, when taking a long time, are bloodier and costlier. People’s patience gets tried, and political pressure is applied. The President is not handicapped. When wars are years and not weeks, living in a democracy leads to people having concerns.”

Another questioner wanted to know if Mr. Feith wishes he had included anything else in the book, and what he may have left out.

“I wish I had done an entire additional chapter on Afghanistan. I didn’t carry it past 2002. I had a lot to do with Afghanistan policy through 2005. Also, the National Strategic Plan for the War on Terror is mentioned briefly. That could have been an entire chapter. Yet overall I regret not making the entire book shorter.”

In what was a partial reiteration of a prior question, it was asked as to whether or not it was even possible for America to fight wars nowadays with 24 hour media coverage, and if popular support was impossible.

“Wars depend on circumstances. 9/11 galvanized the country. Directly after 9/11, there was no strong anti-war sentiment.  If there is a future attack on America, there will be strong broad based support for strong action. Protracted wars inevitably lead to criticisms about how the war is being fought. Pericles dealt with sustaining support for war in his day.”

I then asked my question.

“Mr. Undersecretary, it’s a pleasure to have you with us, even if by teleconference. Do you care one way or another about your legacy, and if so, when the history books are written properly, what do you think your legacy will be? How would you like to be remembered 100 years from now? What would you want people to say about Douglas Feith the person?”

Mr. Feith gave a sobering and thoughtful answer.

“As far as legacy, what I have learned is that one has a tougher skin than one thinks one has. I have been on the receiving end of enormous criticism, much of it ill informed, badly motivated, and lacking any historical record. Over time I have faced nasty charges about lying and disloyalty. Some people have said that I only supported War in Iraq to benefit Israel. While I am pro-Israel, and my record reflects that, the Israel motive is not true. As the records open and passions cool, some rotten allegations will fall by the wayside.

I will not speak for me personally, but the Bush Administration people, over time, inaccuracies will be set aside. Hopefully there will be appreciation that serious problems were dealt with in an intelligent way and in a meticulously honest fashion. We upheld the Constitution and did a lot of good for the country. In the eight years since 9/11, there has been a substantial payoff. There will be more appreciation.”

The next questioner how the label “War on Terror” came up, and why it was not called a war on Islamofacism, Radical Islamic Fundamentalism, or something of that nature.

“The ‘War on Terror’ was actually a very ‘clever fudge’ President Bush came up with within hours of 9/11. President Bush wanted a term that conveyed a serious reaction, that would include possible military action. We wanted to use the term ‘war,’ but were not sure of the exact enemy. Terrorism is evil. It targets innocent people. The War on Terror bought us time to sort out and think through the nature of the problem. The problem is Radical Islamism, Jihadism, or whatever you want to call it. Yet we were talking about technique and not the enemy, because we didn’t immediately know the enemy.”

The next questioner wanted to know if tribalism made progress in Arab or Muslim lands impossible.

“Can we overcome tribalism? We’ll see. There has been remarkable progress in Iraq. Tribalism is not at odds with democratic processes and institutions. There is grounds for skepticism. If there is success, they would be the first Arab country to do it. Yet there is progress.”

The last questioner wanted to know why it was so difficult to find Osama Bin Laden.

“Bin Laden is well hidden. There has been a substantial effort to find him. I flew over the Hindu Kush mountains. It is tall, jagged terrain. There are tens of thousands of caves, many of which are inaccessible. No central government has ever run that area. An individual can hide there, the topography is difficult. Also, we don’t have the run of Pakistan. It is a sovereign country. We do have the run of Afghanistan, but we don’t have the run of Pakistan.”

I plan to sit down at some point in the future and read “War and Decision.” After all, anybody can carp from the sidelines. I am glad I live in a nation that allows such carping, although I wish it was done more often in a civil manner. However, carping is more useful when it is done by people who have a remote idea of what they are actually talking about. That comes from speaking to people who were actually in the room when life and death decisions were made.

I would like to thank Undersecretary Feith for his time and insights, especially given that he was taking time to do so on his birthday.

I will go to my grave believing that he and the rest of the Neocons were…and are…right.

To quote Winston Churchill, history will vindicate the Neocons because I will be helping to write it.”

eric