Thursday, April 30, 2009

Specter the Defector: Flip-flopping Like a Ten Pound Bass

"The one consistency in the history of Arlen Specter has been his willingness to do whatever will best protect and advance the career of Arlen Specter."

By David S. Broder

Thursday, April 30, 2009

It's been more than four decades since Arlen Specter, senator from Pennsylvania, earned the nickname "Specter the Defector." With his decision this week to leave the Republican Party, he confirmed that it is indeed an accurate description of his political character.

I was a kid reporter for the New York Times back in 1965, when Specter's flip-flopping first attracted attention, and the report I filed recounts the circumstances that led to his unflattering nickname. Specter, then a Democrat, had been an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, and he harbored an ambition to run against his lackluster boss, James Crumlish. The Democratic bosses of Philadelphia were not encouraging Specter because, as one of them told me, "We don't want another young Tom Dewey," the reform-minded New York prosecutor who launched himself into the governorship and two presidential nominations by sending a string of prominent officeholders of both parties off to jail.

So Specter, with the encouragement of such prominent Pennsylvania Republicans as Sen. Hugh Scott and Gov. William Scranton, said he would run against Crumlish on the GOP ticket. To hedge his bets, and to help himself gain Democratic votes, he waited until he won the race to change his party registration.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/29/AR2009042904016.html

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Border Agents Cannot Wear Masks By Napolitano's Order

UPDATE: http://www.black-and-right.com/2009/04/30/whats-the-truth-about-the-flu/

The word out of Washington is it might scare people to see the agents wearing masks.

But our idiot VP can say all kinds of scary stuff and that's OK.

What is wrong with this woman?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82NW9OktKmM&feature=player_embedded

© Janet Crain

Click here to view all recent Sarah Palin in 2012 posts

How Much is $100,000,000??? VIDEO

Hat Tip: Ree

Obama is going to save the economy with these stringent cuts /sarc

Pass it on

© Janet Crain

Click here to view all recent Sarah Palin in 2012 posts

American Chopper Meets American Woman

April 30, 2009

Sarah Palin will appear on an episode of the popular show, "American Chopper", in which she'll receive a custom made motorcycle to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood.

Here's a clip of the episode, which hasn't aired yet, showing Palin relaxing against the bear skin rug on her office couch and visiting with Paul Teutul Sr. Enjoy.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Is Statesmenship Dead?

According to The Hill, Specter said this only about 6 weeks ago:

"I am staying a Republican because I think I have an important role, a more important role, to play there. The United States very desperately needs a two-party system. That's the basis of politics in America. I'm afraid we are becoming a one-party system, with Republicans becoming just a regional party with so little representation of the Northeast or in the middle Atlantic. I think as a governmental matter, it is very important to have a check and balance. That's a very important principle in the operation of our government. In the constitution on Separation of powers."

So what has happened in the few weeks since then? Is the country less in need of a two-party system? Is it OK for the Republican party to be only a regional party, leaving out the Northeast? Do we not care about checks and balances? Are the Constitution's precepts no longer important?

No, it was none of that (according to Specter himself). He said that he could see he was going to lose in the Republican primary, so it was in his interest to switch parties. He will not let the Republican primary voters determine his legacy.

http://churchvstate.blogspot.com/

100 Days Worth of Gaffes

President Barack Obama has delivered on his promise of real change in at least one respect: The volume of gaffes and miscues sputtering forth from his Oval Office is unprecedented. For those who just can’t wait to hear what the president’s teleprompter will say next, here’s a recap of the Obama gaffe machine’s most remarkable – and disturbing – utterances:

http://www.newsmax.com/gaffes/index.html?s=al&promo_code=7ED8-1

© Janet Crain

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Photos and Presidents ...Both Can be Overexposed

<< Proverbs 25:17 >>

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

by George Will

A 19th-century historian called the Middle Ages "a thousand years without a bath." That oversimplified somewhat, but was interestingly suggestive. So is the summation of Obama's opening sprint as 100 days without silence.

Ordinary politicians cannot comprehend that it is possible for the public to see and hear too much of them. In this sense, Obama is very ordinary. A few leaders of democracies have understood the importance of being economical with their demands for the public's attention. Charles de Gaulle believed that remoteness nurtures a mystique that is an essential ingredient of leadership. Ronald Reagan, an actor, knew that the theatrical dimension of politics requires periodic absences of the star from center stage. He spent almost an eighth—a year—of his presidency at his ranch. But when he spoke, people listened. If Obama, constantly flitting here and there, continues to bombard the nation with his presence, he will learn how skillfully Americans wield the basic tool of modern happiness, the TV remote control with its mute button.

Calvin Coolidge, the last president with a proper sense of his office's constitutional proportions, was known, not coincidentally, as Silent Cal. His reticence expressed an institutional modesty: "It is a great advantage to a President, and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know that he is not a great man.""Men," Coolidge said, "do what I tell them to do—why, is a great mystery to me." Perhaps it was because he did not ask them to do all that much. Unless today's Congress can legislate that there shall henceforth be 36 hours in a day, and unless it can lengthen the year by four months—some liberals probably think Congress can—Obama will soon learn what happens when government's circuitry becomes overloaded.

The trajectory of Obama's presidency might have been determined by what he did in his first 100 days. His budget calls for doubling the national debt in five years and almost tripling it in 10. If the necessary government borrowing soon causes a surge in long-term interest rates, the result will be the 1970s redux—inflation and stagnation. If so, the 44th president will be remembered not as the second iteration of the 32nd (Franklin Roosevelt) but of the 39th (Jimmy Carter).

Cont.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195076/page/2

And in case you were in a coma and missed the first 100 days; here it is in 5 minutes:

http://video.newsweek.com/#?t=21418917001&l=8711255001

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Obama: 9-11 happened because al-Qaida lacks 'empathy'

by Janet Crain
We keep hearing how hip and cool Obama is. Since when is STUPID hip and cool?

Why couldn't people see through him in 2008? For things he said in 2001?

Senator lectures U.S. military, blames terror on 'poverty, ignorance, despair'

Posted: July 20, 2008
2:43 pm Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – The 9-11 attacks were carried out because of a lack of "empathy" for others' suffering on the part of al-Qaida, whose terrorist ideology "grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair," Sen. Barack Obama explained in largely unreported comments eight days after the mega-terror attacks that rocked the nation.

Obama went on to imply the September 11th attacks were in part a result of U.S. policy, lecturing the American military to minimize civilian casualties in the Middle East and urging action opposing "bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle-Eastern descent."

"Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we, as a nation, draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy," Obama wrote in a piece about 9-11 published on Sept. 19, 2001, in Chicago's Hyde Park Herald.

The senator continued: "Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must re-examine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks and we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction," wrote Obama.

"We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity or suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, it may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics.

"Most often, though, it grows out a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

"We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle-Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe – children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and within our own shores."

Cont. here:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70119

Barnyard Humor......

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What's in a Name? U.S. officials want 'swine' out of flu name ...

by Janet Crain
Just like toxic assets became legacy trusts with the stroke of a pen, and terrorist attacks became man made disasters, the government is trying to prevent fear of this flu by calling it "H1N1 virus."

I tell you what would make feel better; calling Janet Napolitano yesterday's news, the former Homeland Security Secretary. But that is not likely. Obama is running out of people who at least made a good faith effort to pay their taxes and stay out of jail for other reasons.

I think the government will soon be called dead just resting in this new age of euphemisms. "H1N1 virus" won't be as funny, but I guess we can pronounce it hinny flu. Jay Leno should get some yuks out of that.

28 Apr 2009 21:31:42 GMT

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the "H1N1 virus."

"This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about," Vilsack said.

Israel has already rejected the name swine flu, and opted to call it "Mexico flu." Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork.

The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28343516.htm

OMG!!! Good Bye and Good Riddance!!!

Specter blows a kiss goodbye!!!

I guess the "embarrassing" Tea Parties were just too much for Specter.

Arlen Specter is leaving the Republican Party. Will run for re-election as a Democrat. One more RINO bites the dust!!!

Don't let the screen door hit you in the ...................

Specter's statement: "Not defined" by party

Statement by Sen. Arlen Specter:

I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, my Party has not defined who I am. I have taken each issue one at a time and have exercised independent judgment to do what I thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation.

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.

When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.

~ Arlen Specter

© Janet Crain

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Chavez Recommendation ......Whoopeeeeee!!!!

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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Cars of the Future...WOW /sarc

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To see ourselves as others see us.......

From the Telegraph.co.uk

Barack Obama and the CIA: why does President Pantywaist hate America so badly?

Posted By: Gerald Warner at Apr 24, 2009 at 18:41:00 [General]

If al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the rest of the Looney Tunes brigade want to kick America to death, they had better move in quickly and grab a piece of the action before Barack Obama finishes the job himself. Never in the history of the United States has a president worked so actively against the interests of his own people - not even Jimmy Carter.

Obama's problem is that he does not know who the enemy is. To him, the enemy does not squat in caves in Waziristan, clutching automatic weapons and reciting the more militant verses from the Koran: instead, it sits around at tea parties in Kentucky quoting from the US Constitution. Obama is not at war with terrorists, but with his Republican fellow citizens. He has never abandoned the campaign trail.

That is why he opened Pandora's Box by publishing the Justice Department's legal opinions on waterboarding and other hardline interrogation techniques. He cynically subordinated the national interest to his partisan desire to embarrass the Republicans. Then he had to rush to Langley, Virginia to try to reassure a demoralised CIA that had just discovered the President of the United States was an even more formidable foe than al-Qaeda.

"Don't be discouraged by what's happened the last few weeks," he told intelligence officers. Is he kidding? Thanks to him, al-Qaeda knows the private interrogation techniques available to the US intelligence agencies and can train its operatives to withstand them - or would do so, if they had not already been outlawed.

So, next time a senior al-Qaeda hood is captured, all the CIA can do is ask him nicely if he would care to reveal when a major population centre is due to be hit by a terror spectacular, or which American city is about to be irradiated by a dirty bomb.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2009/04/24/barack_obama_and_the_cia_why_does_president_pantywaist_hate_america_so_badly

Saturday, April 25, 2009

100 Days...Let Me Count the Ways

Posted: 12:38 pm
April 25, 2009

1. "Obama criticized pork barrel spending in the form of 'earmarks,' urging changes in the way that Congress adopts the spending proposals. Then he signed a spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them, some that members of his own staff shoved in last year when they were still members of Congress. 'Let there be no doubt, this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business, and the

beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability,' Obama said." -- McClatchy, 3/11

2. "There is no doubt that we've been living beyond our means and we're going to have to make some adjustments." -- Obama during the campaign.

3. This year's budget deficit: $1.5 trillion.

4. Asks his Cabinet to cut costs in their departments by $100 million -- a whopping .0027%!

5. "The White House says the president is unaware of the tea parties." -- ABC News, 4/15

6. "Mr. Obama is an accomplished orator but is becoming known in America as the 'teleprompt president' over his reliance on the machine when he gives a speech." -- Sky News, 3/18

7. In early February, the 2010 census was moved out of the Department of Commerce and into the White House, politicizing how federal aid is distributed and electoral districts are drawn.

8. Obama taps Nancy Killefer for a new administration job, First Chief Performance Officer -- to police government spending. But it surfaces that Killefer had performance issues of her own -- a tax lien was slapped on her DC home in 2005 for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help. She withdrew.

9. Turkey tried to block the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as new NATO secretary general because he didn't properly punish the Danish cartoonist who caricatured Mohammed. France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel were outraged; Obama said he supported Turkey's induction into the European Union.

10. . . . and he never mentioned the Armenian genocide.

11. The picture of Obama and Hugo Chavez shaking hands.

12. Hugo Chavez gave him the anti-American screed "The Open Veins of Latin America." Obama didn't remark upon it. At least it wasn't DVDs.

See the rest here:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04252009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/100_days__100_mistakes_166177.htm

A Fawning Media Projects its Own Aspirations onto Obama

Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin
By Janet Crain

The media just can't get enough. They perceive Barack Obama as the coolest hippest thing going and nothing gets in the way of that image. Even when he tries to walk through a window. So in honor of this image a collection of photos appears below the swooning text. Only one of Mrs. Obama. I'm trying to be nice. :-)

Fri Apr 24, 5:06 am ET

During his first 100 days as president of the United States, Barack Obama revealed how different he is from all the white men who preceded him in the Oval Office, and the differences run deeper — in substance and style — than the color of his skin.

Barack Hussein Obama is the nation’s first hip president.

This, of course, is subject to debate. But watch him walk. Listen to him talk. See the body language, the expressions, the clothes. He’s got attitude, rhythm, a sense of humor, contemporary tastes.

This much is clear: Whether dealing with the Wall Street mess, shifting troops from Iraq to Afghanistan or fumbling to fill his Cabinet, Obama leans heavily on personal panache to push political policies. Truth be told, his style is rooted in something elusive and hard to define. Pure and simple, it’s hip.

“Being hip is being able to navigate your environment and others’ environments,” like the way Obama traverses racial boundaries, said John Leland, author of the definitive book “Hip: The History.”

“Obama has this awareness that other presidents haven’t had. He’s white, and he’s black. He’s an elitist, and he’s regular folk. He’s not pinned down to a perspective.”

Young is to hip as old is to fogey — an essential characteristic. Obama has modern instincts and attitudes that appeal to younger people, and more than any other president in recent memory, that makes him a role model. He is green, open, athletic, tech-savvy, healthy. And his hip image certainly isn’t hurt by his wife, who is so obviously cool — setting trends (Sleeveless! Tending her own garden!), confidently mingling with superstars, gracing magazine covers coast to coast.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090424/pl_politico/21522;_ylt=AkeR0mIHbFJm7l3broIhtc4DW7oF

Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009

by Janet Crain
Snopes says this one is TRUE. An email is being circulated which concerns a proposed bill named to honor a teenager killed in a tragic assault on a school bus. Who knows what, if anything would have prevented this. If schools didn't have to admit any and everybody, it would help. Kids get in trouble in the city schools and are expelled. Answer ; send them to live with their grandparents (who often have even less control of them) So the rural areas are having to accept the human refuse of bad parenting and out of control teens. And then some well meaning lawmaker thinks tougher control of guns would be the answer. These are truly draconian measures being advocated.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, February 2009]

It has started.

Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House. This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009.

We just learned yesterday about this on the Peter Boyles radio program.

Even gun shop owners didn't know about this because it is flying under the radar.

To find out about this - go to any government website and type in HR 45 or Google HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sales Act of 2009. You will get all the information.

Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm - any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:

It is registered

You are fingerprinted

You supply a current Driver's License

You supply your Social Security #

You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing

Each update - change or ownership through private or public sale must
be reported and costs $25 - Failure to do so you automatically lose the
right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.

There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18.

They would have the right to come and inspect that you are
storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is
punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.

If you think this is a joke - go to the website and take your pick of
many options to read this. It is long and lengthy. But, more and more
people are becoming aware of this. Pass the word along. Any hunters in
your family - pass this along.

Related: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45

© Janet Crain

Click here to view all recent Sarah Palin in 2012 posts

Friday, April 24, 2009

Are We Stumbling into a 100 Year War?

by Janet Crain
Here is a blogger who voted for Obama, believing his promise to end the War in Iraq and whatever he said about Afghanistan. He realizes now that it was all a lie. And wonders if we will ever end these wars?

And so do I. Cindy Sheehan, where are you? Not camped out on Obama's lawn, that's for sure.

Obama has endangered us immeasurably by releasing the CIA papers and photos to come of Military Personnel. He is tying their hands, and threatening to prosecute them in the future, tried to make them provide health insurance coverage for their War injuries and he is sending them into the jaws of Hell in Afghanistan.

How long before the rest of his supporters wake up like this man?

Obama Establishing A State of Permanent Warfare

Diary Entry by Alfred McGuire

If we don't oppose Obama, the wars will go on forever.

::::::::

And to think I voted for him for many reasons, but primarily to end quickly the state of chronic warfare to which this country has succumbed
Ending the wars? He is not doing it. And he appears to have no intention to do so. Progressives, including myself, have to stop their tendency to deny the obvious where Obama is concerned. He is not only repeating Bush’s policies. He’s out-doing Bush, particularly with regard to Afghanistan. And in Iraq he is prolonging the war and leaving himself plenty of leeway to engineer an endless occupation, in other words endless war. Why is he pursuing this course and why have progressives, even anti-war groups been so silent about what can only be termed Obama’s betrayal of their goals and principles?
I have no definitive answer- only questions:
- Is his apparent readiness to accede to the interests of the military-industrial complex by engaging in profitable ( to them ) ongoing warfare part of his deal to win the presidency? How much in campaign start-up monies and subsequent contributions did he receive from weapons manufacturers and other war-related industries and suppliers? We need to start getting the tally on this.
- Does he share Bush’s fantasy that he can prove himself to be a “great” president by utilizing warfare to win imperialist domination in the region? Have the generals convinced him that he can do it?
- Is David Gergen’s assessment correct; namely, that Obama doesn’t want to be the one to end the wars for fear that he’ll be blamed for any subsequent problems that might arise in the region- which might prove detrimental to his re-election campaign? Is continued and expanded death and destruction little more to him than an adjunct to his political career? In that case, we voted for nothing less than a man of diminished conscience and we had better acknowledge that unpleasant fact honestly and speak out against him.
- Does he truly believe that the expansion of the war in Afghanistan is necessary to fight terrorism? The Europeans and other allies seem to view that as so much nonsense and will have none of it. Obama failed completely in his recent bid to get them to send troops. Does he know something that they don’t and why won’t they listen?
- Are oil reserves really the major issue in Iraq and is that why Obama seems to be planning a permanent occupation ( i.e. permanent war ) a la McCain’s “Hundred Years?”
Yes, all I have is questions. But my most urgent question is why we aren’t asking more and more questions, demanding answers and taking effective action.

http://www.opednews.com/populum/diarypage.php?did=12991

© Janet Crain

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

China is Listening.......

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Pointing Both Ways Like A Scarecrow......

JOSH GERSTEIN & MIKE ALLEN | 4/22/09 11:25 AM EDT Updated: 4/22/09 4:33 PM EDT

President Obama speaking at the Oval Office.

The president's attempt at clarity creates confusion and political vulnerability over an issue that has inflamed both the left and right.

Photo: AP

President Barack Obama’s attempt to project legal and moral clarity on coercive CIA interrogation methods has instead done the opposite — creating confusion and political vulnerability over an issue that has inflamed both the left and right.

In the most recent instance, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged in a memo to the intelligence community that Bush-era interrogation practices yielded had "high-value information,” then omitted that admission from a public version of his assessment.

That leaves a top Obama administration official appearing to validate claims by former Vice President Dick Cheney that waterboarding and other techniques the White House regards as torture were effective in preventing terrorist attacks. And the press release created the impression the administration was trying to suppress this conclusion.

The president, who has said he wants to focus on the future rather than litigate the past, also opened himself to distraction and attack by retracting the earlier assurance by top officials that they had no plans to prosecute lawyers for former President George W. Bush who approved the “enhanced interrogation” program.

A Democratic strategist close to the White House said: “The president looked resolute, and like he had threaded the needle perfectly on the substance: The heat from the right was preposterous, and the heat from the left was manageable. But now they look like the scarecrow, pointing in both directions. They got the policy right, but they look confused and beaten down by critics."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21569.html

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Dennis Blair: Was he improperly vetted?

Hat Tip: Obama Report

Reports of disobeying orders

According to journalist Alan Nairn, Blair disobeyed orders from civilians in the Clinton Administration during the 1999 East Timorese crisis during his tenure as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. Amid growing international concern over violence against the independence movement in Indonesian-occupied East Timor, Blair was ordered to meet with General Wiranto, the commander of the Indonesian military, and to tell him to shut down the pro-Indonesia militia. According to Nairn, two days after the Liquiçá Church Massacre, Blair failed to deliver this message; instead he presented Wiranto with an offer of military assistance and a personal invitation to be Blair's guest in Hawaii.^[5] Consequently, Wiranto’s "forces increased the Timor killings".^[6]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=3&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_C._Blair&ei=gl_vSeS7CpbKtgeSspnQDw&sig2=TNKNQLgepmK-4Y1OsWazSw&usg=AFQjCNHbhLsHA7DlbqXMklbXi-qzv_TdzA

But aside from investigating his own intelligence director's callous disregard for the innocent victims of East Timor, the president must also come clean and tell us about his vetting of Mr. Blair's apparent support and abetment of the East Timor killing spree at the time he appointed him intelligence director.

There's no need for the president to probe the actions and deeds of previous administrations, when there's plenty of stuff on his plate and in his own administration to probe.

http://obamareport.blogspot.com/2009/04/investigate-dennis-blair.html

I Hate Sqare Butts....the commercial that is!!!

UPDATE: Monday, April 20 FOXNews: Bill O'Reilly tonight - the Culture Warriors analyze a controversial new Burger King ad featuring Spongebob Squarepants!

by Janet Crain
Am I hopelessly old fashioned, a complete square, or wouldn't that be good in this new universe of square objects? I have been wondering if anyone else finds this Burger King commercial offensive and so I did a search. It seems some others do as well. Who wants their kids singing this jingle? I have no idea who Burger King's targeted audience was, but I know who it will be. Millions of kids old enough to sit alone will see this.

As a disclaimer, I never liked the insipid original Sponge Bob. What on earth was/is his appeal? Then college kids started liking this cartoon and devoting endless misspent hours to watching it. I still didn't get it. But then I never knew why Bob Barker became so popular with the college set.

So please comment, let me know what you think.

And vote in our poll in the upper right>>>>>>>>>

One guy who liked the commercial nevertheless had these misgivings:

I don’t know what’s more disturbing, watching the Burger King dance around to the song, or the fact that they’re using Baby Got Back to sell kid’s meals. And really, is it wise to use a song that glorifies fat asses to advertise a fast food restaurant that gives people…well…fat asses?
http://www.songspeak.com/you-other-sponges-dont-want-none-unless-you-rock-square-buns/

Here are the full lyrics:

I like square butts and I cannot lie
Squid and Sea Star can’t deny
When a sponge walks in, four corners and his pen
Like he got phone book implants, the crowd shouts

All the ladies stare
Dang those pants are square!
Swimming through the seaweed tangle
Is a butt with sharp right angles

Now Sponge Bob, I wanna get witch-ya
‘Cuz you’re making me rich-ah
Underwater, we keep it grungy
‘Cuz everybody knows that ‘He so spongey!’

Ooh, Rumplespongeskin
You dance, but your hips don’t bend
So groove it and move it
If you got caboose, then prove it

Sponge Bob is dancing
And Squidward is glancing
He’s hatin’… wet
He’s got Sponge Bob runnin’ his set

I’m tired of all these chairs
They don’t accommodate these squares
Take the average ???? tell him that
You gotta have square back

Mr. Krab! (yeah)
Patrick! (yeah)
Has Sponge Bob got the butt? (oh yeah)
Then shake it (shake it)
Shake it (shake it)
Shake that cubicle butt

Sponge Bob got back
(Naw, dude, I said cubicle, not booty-ful. Don’t trip. Yeah baby, when it comes to sea life, curves ain’t got nothin’ to do with Bob’s selection. 2 x 2 x 2 square trousers, working that black belt, looking like dotted lines. That’s how Sponge Bob like to rock them threads baby.)

A word to the DC sponges who wanna get wit it
And watch Sponge Bob kick it
I gotta be straight when I say you gotta scrub ’til the break of dawn
Bob got it goin’ on, been known to rock him a thong
Them round butts won’t admit it
But they’d wear that gear if they could fit it

You can draw his body on paper
His waistline really don’t taper
Your girlfriend wants to squeeze him
Wanna push his pores and tease him

But Sponge Bob ain’t gonna have too much of that squeezin’
You other sponges don’t want none unless you rock square buns!

To the new sponges in the magazines, you ain’t it Miss Thang
We rock them cubes, gals and dudes
Put it down at the goo lagoon

Some other box must get jealous
At the moves that come from square fellas
See Bob and they wanna get him
But Sandy Cheeks he won’t let ‘em

If you happen to wander on land
And you wanna be a square butt fan
And drive the crew right to Burger King
And give that sponge a ring

Sponge Bob got back!

© Janet Crain

Click here to view all recent Sarah Palin in 2012 posts

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Videos show torture by UAE royal

U.S. man: Videos show torture by UAE royal

Texan was advisor until he says business relationship began to deteriorate

updated 2:31 p.m. CT, Mon., June 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - As a trusted adviser to a member of United Arab Emirates royal family, Texas businessman Bassam Nabulsi says he safeguarded the sheik's most important documents: financial records, investment documents, and videotapes showing the sheik torturing people with a cattle prod and a spiked plank.

When the business relationship began to deteriorate, Nabulsi says, he also was imprisoned for months and tortured by jailers trying to get the tapes back.

Now, the tapes could become evidence in a federal lawsuit against Sheik Issa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a son of the late UAE president and brother of Abu Dhabi's crown prince.

The lawsuit and the tapes could prove embarrassing to the UAE, a U.S. ally that promotes itself as a pro-Western nation catering to business travelers and tourists.

The tapes have not been made public but The Associated Press viewed 11 still frames from one of the videos. They showed a man who appeared to be Sheik Issa beating another man with lumber, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing an apparent cattle prod into his anus. The victim also appeared to have been partly run over by a SUV and had salt poured on his wounds.

Suing for millions
Lawyers said the video also showed the victim's genitals being lit on fire. They said the abuse began because the sheik felt he had been overcharged in a grain deal.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25195299/

Monday, April 20, 2009

Oh, the best laid plans...........

by Janet Crain
So many of Obama's plans would detrimental to this country, it may be a bessing in disguise that we're too broke to implement them.

Obama’s Revenue Plans Hit Resistance in Congress

CARL HULSE
Published: April 19, 2009

WASHINGTON — President Obama is running into stiff Congressional resistance to his plans to raise money for his ambitious agenda, and the resulting hole in the budget is threatening a major health care overhaul and other policy initiatives.

The administration’s central revenue proposal — limiting the value of affluent Americans’ itemized deductions, including the one for charitable giving — fell flat in Congress, leaving the White House, at least for now, without $318 billion that it wants to set aside to help cover uninsured Americans. At the same time, lawmakers of both parties have warned against moving too quickly on a plan to auction carbon emission permits to produce more than $600 billion.

The unwillingness to embrace some of the major White House tax and revenue proposals has frustrated administration officials. They note that lawmakers, many of them supporters of the president’s ambitious agenda, clamor to hold down the deficit while balking at the proposals to finance his program.

Clint Stretch, a top tax policy analyst for the consulting firm Deloitte Tax, said, “The president and the budget committees have set very ambitious targets for revenue raising, and they did it against a set of proposals that are going to be very hard to enact.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/us/politics/20tax.html?_r=1&hpw

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Uncle Sam Wants You(r) DNA

F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases

By SOLOMON MOORE

Published: April 18, 2009

Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent.

More Profiles in the DNA Database

Heidi Schumann for The New York Times

Amanda Gareis helping process samples at California’s DNA crime laboratory in Richmond.

Enlarge This Image

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

An inmate waiting to be processed for DNA testing at Twin Towers.

Until now, the federal government genetically tracked only convicts. But starting this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will join 15 states that collect DNA samples from those awaiting trial and will collect DNA from detained immigrants — the vanguard of a growing class of genetic registrants.

The F.B.I., with a DNA database of 6.7 million profiles, expects to accelerate its growth rate from 80,000 new entries a year to 1.2 million by 2012 — a 17-fold increase. F.B.I. officials say they expect DNA processing backlogs — which now stand at more than 500,000 cases — to increase.

Law enforcement officials say that expanding the DNA databanks to include legally innocent people will help solve more violent crimes. They point out that DNA has helped convict thousands of criminals and has exonerated more than 200 wrongfully convicted people.

But criminal justice experts cite Fourth Amendment privacy concerns and worry that the nation is becoming a genetic surveillance society.

Cont.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/us/19DNA.html?_r=1

© Janet Crain

Click here to view all recent Sarah Palin in 2012 posts