Obama and Reid vs. Blago, Burris and the Supremes

Rod Blagojevich has appointed an African American, who just coincidentally donated $20,000 to his political campaigns and who once called his own political opponents “unqualified white boys,”   to be the next senator from Illinois. 

Wow, can it get any crazier?

Yes, apparently it can, thanks to a 1969 ruling by the Earl Warren Supreme Court that stated the Senate could not refuse to seat Adam Clayton Powell based on his corrupt dealings.  It appears if Harry Reid tries to make good on his promise not to seat anyone appointed by Gov. Blago, he will lose. 

…[T]he most likely path for attempts to block the appointment is as follows: [Sec. of State] Jesse White refuses to certify the appointment, only to have the decision overturned in the state courts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would than refuse to seat Burris, only to be overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court.  huffington post

Former Black Panther Bobby Seals has weighed in on the issue with typical race-baiting.  He seem to think the seat belongs to an African American, and even uses the word “lynch” to describe any efforts to prevent Roland Burris’s being seated.

PE Obama gives Burris pats on the back for being a “good man,” but says the governor should resign and let “a lawful and appropriate process of succession” take place.  He doesn’t describe what that process would be though, and since this is Illinois politics no one is sure if any of the players know what that would look like if they tripped over it.

At this point, the only surefire way to abort this appointment is for Burris himself to refuse to accept it.  He sure didn’t look like that was his intentions in today’s press conference, though.

If you’re a betting person, give a big welcoming shout out to Sen. Roland Burris, D-Corruptanois, who will win this one in the Supreme Court. 

Just maybe the Supreme Court should have taken the time to check out Obama’s birth certificate, and perhaps gotten rid of this traveling circus before it got entrenched in the American psyche.  Or maybe the voters and media (the sycophantic media!) could have taken allegations about Tony Rezko, fund-raiser extraordinaire for Blagojevich and Obama, seriously and pondered just what choosing such associates revealed about the big O’s style of governing.

Too much to ask.

God help us all over the next four years, as we settle into national politics Chicago style.

Question For The Day

If you were Roland Burris, would you really want Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint you to Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

Really?

Especially knowing that the Senate Democratic Caucus insisted Blagojevich step down and, under no circumstances, make a Senate appointment?

I wonder what Mr. Burris is thinking right now?  If there were any sanity left in American politics my money would be on, “Not no, but hell no!”

But I don’t think there is any sanity left in American politics.

You Know It’s Over Once You Become a Joke

 

The ad below, a quarter page ad mocking Governor Rod Blagojevich, was taken out in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday.  It is brought to you via The Cleveland Leader.

A Merry Global Warming Christmas

Greetings from Minnesotans for Global Warming (“I have experienced many Minnesota winters and cannot fathom why the possibility of warmer weather is undesirable”).

Merry Christmas from All the New That Fits and its affiliated bloggers, some of whom are cheering global warming on as we “enjoy” winter temperatures already dipping into the negative numbers.  Fahrenheit.  And not in Minnesota.

Hot Air, CO2, and Disgusting Emotional Ploys

I posted a ridiculous animation about animals, global warming, and suicide yesterday.  The suicides were of the animal variety (extremely rare to unheard of in real life), which in cartoon land are apparently always accomplished by jumping of one variety or another.

Anyway, it was so ridiculous I was sure it was the most obnoxious piece of propagandistic excrement I would ever see on the subject.

I gave the radicals too much credit, as evidenced by today’s contribution from Greenpeace.

I remember the original Greenpeace as an organization with vision and purpose.  In my youth I felt it deserved respect; in my old age not so much.  In fact, the following garbage, aimed at children during the Christmas season, is so disgusting they no longer deserve any respect at all.

If you see this on your TV, call your local station and complain. Call the FCC and complain. Call Greenpeace and complain.  Call your elected representatives and complain. 

If someone wants to scientifically debate evidence of global warming I will be glad to watch – as long as both sides are given equal time and respect.  (And there are two sides – or three, or ten.  It isn’t settled science.  It is arrogat mankind believing they can explain the workings of the universe and control the uncontrollable.)  But to pitch emotional blackmail at children is obscene.

As opponents of the theory of anthropogenic global warming gain more support, advocates of the theory turn increasingly to emotional manipulation and bold attempts to get laws in place before the hoax is completely unwound.  Laws that will hobble our economy and have deleterious effects on our country.

 Shame on them, whether they are true believers or hypocritcal opportunists wanting to take advantage of the public’s gullibility.

All That Hot Air Isn’t From CO2

Obama’s newly announced science advisors have an agenda.  John Holdren and Jane Lubchenko are two of the nation’s most prominent advocates for extremist actions to reduce the threat of global warming, and the fact he selected them tells us a lot about where we are headed. WaPo

Does Al Gore have it right?  Is the debate over global warming over?  In this clip he explains to a German audience recently that the complete polar ice cap will be gone in five years, totally ignoring data indicting ice melt has been caused by a change in winds rather than temperature, and also ignoring recent record gains in ice coverage.

What’s with Al Gore?  I realize he isn’t a scientist, but neither am I.  I’m guessing he can read as well as I can, though, and one would think he would feel a responsibility to speak logically and factually, and stay current on information relating to his topic of interest. 

Perhaps his real interest is in cap-and-trade projects, and this has given him an incentive to see climate change through a glass darkly.

If the debate over global warming is over, it’s not because the science of the argument has been settled but because there can be no honest discussion.  Proponents of the theory constantly change the rules, refuse open debate, and alter their hypothesis to fit the facts rather than follow those facts to a logical conclusion.

In other words, it isn’t a debate, rather a soliloquy where one side uses emotional manipulation to confound skeptics into ignoring the facts presented by the other.  Isn’t that what our society is all about now?  Emotional appeals?  We also have to factor in a complicit media, without whose influence the national intelligence level might just rise by a significant degree.

So, coming soon to a TV near you, check out this rubbish:

Who pays for this kind of advertising and why?  The question always has to be What’s In It For Me?  In this case, what’s in it for advocates of global warming?  And as always, follow the money.

For scientists - professional reputations and grant funding are at stake.  For politicians - power over the economy, thus over the electorate.  The first want to get money and prestige, the second want to control it.  Nothing, NOTHING, will gain politicians as much leverage as a policy to control the economy by “controlling” the environment. 

The original hypothesis for climate change, back in the 1970’s, was that the earth was cooling rapidly and we would soon be entering a new ice age – all thanks to mankind’s activity.  Something had to be done!  When the earth stopped cooling and started warming again the hypothesis was changed (isn’t it funny how they can get way with that?), and they began scaring us with theories of  an incinerated earth. 

Unfortunately for the warmists, the earth appears to be cooling again.  It does that, you know – cools and warms, with long term trends and short term variations.  It always has and it always will, and nothing anyone can do will change that.  What arrogance to think otherwise.

Do they give up and admit climate changes are caused by forces beyond their control, even beyond their ability to explain?  Of course not.  Now they have a theory that cannot lose, because it is totally illogical and completely incomprehensible.

Long term global warming is causing short term global cooling, and weather is not climate.

Yep, that’s their theory now.  Weather doesn’t count, because if it is getting cooler it just proves that long-term global warming is causing earth to cool in the short term.

Huh?

If it is getting warmer, it is getting warmer.  If it is getting cooler, it is getting warmer.  Yep, you can’t argue against that one.  Literally.  I mean, how do you argue against a theory that says no matter what happens it proves the theory?

This latest hypothesis is a violation of the most basic of the laws of logic: the principle of non-contradiction. Something cannot be both A and not A. The weather cannot get colder while the climate gets hotter anymore than the earth can be flat while the world is round. This is not science, or logic; this is unabashed nonsense.

Yes. Climate science has come to this: We are now being told, in effect, to ignore the data and believe the hypothesis. I have recently written that global warming is not a science — it is a religion. I take it back. Global warming, aka climate crisis, is now a crisis of logic. In other words, it is insanity.  Larrey Anderson

If You Want Some Stimulation Go To Dayton, Ohio

Obama wants Congress to have a stimulus package ready for his signature on the day he takes office.  This would be the most expensive legislation in the history of the United States, and he wants it done within two weeks after the new Congress convenes.  They would have time to deliberate and digest the consequences of what they are doing when?

Foolish, foolish, foolish for the country, but certainly smart politics for someone intent on gathering power rather than tending to the long term viability of our democratic and capitalistic society.  What an opportunity this will present to purchase influence among special interests, including state politicians.

Though no stimulus bill has yet been drafted, Republicans are wary of some of the proposals put forward by groups that are talking to Obama’s transition team. They cite a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors listing myriad projects cast as vehicles to create jobs and boost the economy. Those include a dog park in Hercules, Calif.; a bike path in San Diego; and a $1.5-million push to curb prostitution in Dayton, Ohio.  L.A. Times

Looks like three big recreation projects: two pro and one con.

Dayton, Ohio?  Do they really have that many prostitutes there?

Governors want their states’ budgets bailed out, with California standing at the head of the line.  California, with all their advantages and wealth producing industries, has three times the debt per capita as the national average.  Still, they are determined to continue living their affluent lifestyle and recently voted authorization to issue hundreds of millions in bonds for additional indebtedness.  They won’t vote to raise their taxes to pay for it, though, and now want less affluent, more fiscally responsible states to bail them out

I say, go see those prostitutes in Dayton, Ohio instead of trying to $¢#%! the American taxpayer.

What Are We Teaching Our Girls?

I consider myself a pseudo-feminist.  This means the women who think they can’t make a decision without their husband’s permission would think I am scandalous, and the femi-nazis would have me roasting on a spit quicker than a liberal Hollywood starlet could bat her fake eyelashes.

I think it is important that we teach our daughters to think, to stand up when necessary, to value education, to expect the same career opportunities and compensation be available to them as are available to any man with comparable experience and abilities.  I think it is important that they not grow into women who see themselves as second class citizens in any respect, because they aren’t.  I’m not.  Women aren’t.

But still, what are we teaching our daughters?  I’ve thought about this off and on quite a bit throughout my adult life.  Quite a while back I was re-reading Gone With the Wind and asked my blog readers if they would rather be Scarlett O’Hara or Melanie Wilkes.

As I recall, not many people responded to my question, but those who did were much in favor of being Scarlett O’Hara.  While I can understand this on one level, it pretty much dumbfounded me on another.  Scarlett is strong, to be sure, but Melanie is much stronger, albeit in a way that is neither recognized nor appreciated in our society today.  One of these days I’ll have to dust off the English degree and defend that position, but I just don’t have the time for that right now, which is why I haven’t written anything about it since whenever it was I first posed the question, and didn’t plan to write anything about it any time soon.

But then, this morning, I uncharacteristically had a morning news program on (because, you know, with five kids I usually have Sesame Street on in the morning if the t.v. is on at all), and I happened to catch a bit of an interview with actress Eva Mendes who is starring a film called “The Spirit.”

She had this to say:

“They are childhood sweethearts,” explains Mendes. “This film is visually stunning. It comes from the creative, genius mind of Frank Miller. What’s really unbelievable with my character is I get to play not only a jewel thief, but a woman who’s been married 14 times and killed every last one of her husbands. I mean, ladies, is that not just — it’s a sick fantasy, but, still a fantasy. Somewhat of a fantasy.”

I understand why women dreamt of being able to vote, of being able to own land and property.  I understand why women dreamt of being able to work outside the home (there are days when I still day-dream of working outside the home, but whether I go or stay is my choice), and I understand why working women dreamt of the day when they would receive both respect and pay equal to that of their male counterparts. 

But when did the dream of equality turn into the fantasy of killing the men in our lives?  When did the phrase “Girl Power” come to mean “Man Slaughter?”

I cannot believe that Ms. Mendes speaks for as many women as she thinks when she says killing 14 husbands is a fantasy, even a sick one.  If she is right, our nation is in a worse place than I ever thought.  The fact that anyone would feel comfortable saying that on television, feel comfortable saying that at all, tells me society is worse off than I thought.

Can you imagine the backlash if a prominent male had said it was every man’s fantasy to kill his many wives?  It would be swift, it would be career killing, and it would be justified.  If we as women want equality, then we as women should be prepared for the equality that would bridle us from making such asinine comments.  Yet that equality does not exist.

I hope my girls grow to have strength of independence, much like Scarlett; but more importantly I hope they grow to have the strength of character and integrity like Melanie, the strength that would allow them to recognize being a powerful woman is not equivalent to being selfish and heartless.  Even in their fantasies.

Not even in office yet and already attached to a scandal…

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff were arrested in Chicago Tuesday on two counts each of corruption charges relating to trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

“He has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree,” Fitzgerald said in a news conference to announce the charges against the governor and his chief of staff. “This is a sad day for government. It’s a very sad day for Illinois government. Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a truly new low.”

The arrest is part of a three-year probe into the governor’s administration. The criminal complaint by the FBI says each man was arrested on two charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.

Fitzgerald said federal authorities obtained permission to wiretap the governor secretly a month and a half ago, and the recordings yielded a variety of details on Blagojevich’s alleged wheeling and dealing.

He said the 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was taped conspiring to sell or trade Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife, including an annual salary of $250,000-$300,000 at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.

The prosecutor alleged that Blagojevich is heard on tape demanding a corporate board seat for his wife worth as much as $150,000 a year; promises of campaign funds, including cash up front; and the post of secretary of health and human services or an ambassadorship for himself in the Obama administration.

Obama quickly distanced himself from the whole affair earlier today:

“I had no contact with the governor or his office and I was not aware of what was happening,” Obama said in Chicago

However, just two weeks ago, President-Elect Obama’s top advisor, David Axelrod said this:

So the question is… who’s telling the truth, Mr. Axelrod, or Mr. President-Elect?

[update: for more on the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship see Jake Tapper's blog, Political Punch over at ABC.com . Is it too much to hope that the rest of the "mainstream" press will take this scandal seriously and make an effort to truly investigate, rather than spend all their time propping the new president up?]

[update 12/10: Looks like the Ministry of Truth (no doubt soon to be a cabnet level post in the new administration) has struck again… the video has been taken off of Youtube. However for the time being you can still view it on Fox News Chicago’s website. Countdown to Obama’s Truth Squad forcing them to pull the video in 3…2… For those who miss the chance to view it, here’s the gist, courtesy of Tapper’s Political Punch:

While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a “kingmaker,” Axelrod said, “I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”

Of course now Axelrod and others close to Obama are saying that he “misspoke” and he takes it all back. Question: Would the press ever accept that kind of excuse from Bush? And since we know the answer to that question, Question 2: When is the press going to wake up and DO ITS JOB and actually INVESTIGATE this matter themselves?

Pelosi: “bankruptcy… not an option”

The Big Three are back in DC for a second try at 25 billion in cash and prizes. They were sent home a few weeks ago with their tails between their legs, told to come back with a “plan” next time. Are any of us gullible enough to think congress is actually going to turn them down? The only reason they said no before is because President Bush flat out said he’d veto a bailout bill for the automakers. Democrats are just biding their time until Dear Leader takes power next month and starts signing off on every spending bill they can put in front of him. (Not that Mr. Bush has been a paragon of frugality himself…). And lest any of us should be so gullible as to hope for any other outcome, Madame Pelosi quickly cleared up those misconceptions today.

“I believe that an intervention will happen,” Pelosi said at a briefing in Washington. “Everybody is disadvantaged by bankruptcy, including our economy, so that’s not an option.”

I’ve been listening to all the talk about bailouts and the auto industry in particular and I have to admit the whole thing makes my head spin. Economics has never been my strong suit. But I wonder, what exactly would be so horrible about bankruptcy? Don’t we have that system in place for a reason?

Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric and a guy who seems to know a great deal about economics and running a business thinks declaring bankruptcy is exactly what the Big Three need to do.

Talk about a fresh start. For more than a decade, U.S. carmakers have chipped away incrementally at massive legacy costs. But reorganization would open the doors to meaningful structural change through the renegotiation of contracts with creditors, dealers, and unions. And it would offer better odds of paying back taxpayers.

I wonder, does Madame Pelosi even care that these bailouts are fiscally irresponsible and make no economic sense… do any of the democrats care? Or are they so power hungry, so eager to transform us into a socialistic society that they will sign off on any blank check put in front of them? And at what point will America wake up and smell the communist coffee?