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AKA "Prime's Worm Hole," formerly "The Borg Conspiracy"
Late last week, while speaking of the soon to be dedicated Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, his daughter Beatrice seemed to want to emphasize the fact that the new King memorial is larger than other memorials. that her father is depicted standing while former president Lincoln is depicted sitting. Still, there are others who have noted that the new King monument stands head and shoulders above most every other monument in Washington. Literally. The King stauary rises thirty feet, while Lincoln's seated repose only reaches 20 feet. The same for the statue of Thomas Jefferson inside his memorial.
But now, one of the more cerebral black leaders has come out and openly spoken out concerning the overall appearance of the King memorial and the manner in which the man's legacy has been portrayed. and the critique is not kind.
The official dedication to the memorial was postponed due to
Hurricane Irene, but the monument on the National Mall is open to
visitors. In an interview with the Washington Post,
Angelou took aim at the inscription which reads “I was a drum major for
justice, peace, and righteousness.” The inscription paraphrases King’s
famous comments delivered at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in
1968. In February 1968, two months before he was killed, King said, “If you
want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for
justice, say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for
righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” Angelou told the Washington Post Tuesday that the omission of “if” in the inscription changes the meaning of King’s words. “The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an
arrogant twit,” Angelou told the Washington Post. “He was anything but
that. He was far too profound a man for that four-letter word to apply.” Angelou is a member of the memorial’s “Dream Team,” a group of
celebrities who donated their resources and time to the memorial’s
construction. She was also a personal friend of Dr. King. “He had a humility that comes from deep inside. The ‘if’ clause that
is left out is salient. Leaving it out changes the meaning completely,”
she told the paper. Angelou, 83, went on to say that the inscription “minimizes the man.” It is one of 14 quotes carved on the monument. Emails to the King Center seeking comment about the memorial’s inscription were not returned.
My personal observations of the new monument are these. Taking into account that I have not directly seen the monument yet and I am having to rely on reports and photographs, the monument strikes me as something Egyptian in likeness. Also, it strikes me that the intent of the artist was to convey some manner of superiority to the stone figure resembling MLK. At least that is the impression that is gives me.
With these latest revelations and comments by Mya Agelou? I foresee more follow up commentary by others in the community of black leadership nationally. And at some point in time? I believe that we may see a movement to have the monument re-done.
We shall see.
The president has asked to speak to a joint session of the house and senate on September 7th. Apparently, he didn't get everything covered during the State of the Union last January. Either that or he though of other things to say.
"I respectfully request the opportunity to address a Joint Session of Congress on September 7, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.," the letter reads. "It is my intention to lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that the Congress can take immediately to continue to rebuild the American economy by strengthening small businesses, helping Americans get back to work, and putting more money in the paychecks of the Middle Class and working Americans, while still reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order."
The president he must be formally invited by Congress in order to address a joint session and can't just show up. The rule works the same way for the State of the Union.
Would it be too much of a cliche? To say that this request is "unprecedented?"
Come to think of it? Just about everything the man has done has been "un presidential."
according to the request, the president wants to lay out for congress, what he thinks they need to do to breech the impasse of politics to resolve the woes of the economy and a stagnant unemployment rate that remains above 9%.
Well damn! Maybe there is a solution to America's problems after all. Maybe it's as simple as we should just ditch congress and let the president decide everything. He has already indicated that he feels that he could do just that, but that he wants to give congress the opportunity to reach the proper solutions on their own.
Apparently the president has tired waiting for the blind squirrels to find their own acorns, so now he is going to tell them directly what he expects. (And the man knows a thing or two about ACORN). and barring their appropriate reaction to his recommendations, he may very well decide to take responsibility for everything and begin making decisions on his own in the near future.
I guess we shall see.
Black Caucus wants Obama Members of the Congressional Black Caucus told a town hall meeting there is no doubt who the CBC wants to see win the White House in 2012: Barack Obama. At a packed church auditorium in central Los Angeles, Rep. Karen
Bass, D-Calif., accused the media of creating a controversy between the
caucus and the president.
"Part of the way that it's been covered, frankly, has pissed me off,
because they always want to see us divided," she said. "The
Congressional Black Caucus is very clear about who we want to see in the
White House the next four years, and we're not going to let them divide us." But not every member was as thrilled about President Obama's performance.
"His advisers are not advising him correctly," Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., told the audience, referring to a White House jobs plan which many liberals expect to be too small. "We have to have the president of the United States coming out for
the jobs bill that will put millions of Americans to work," Conyers
said. "We want the president on our side."
Oh? I get it. The president is just not being advised properly. Silly me, I thought it was still Bush's fault.
The bottom line, Barack Obama doesn't have a plan and he never has had a plan. The only thing he knows about creating jobs is that he can create jobs by expanding government. Other than that, he has no clue about how to go about creating jobs in the private sector, where the economy is truly driven.
Why? Because he is an anti American, anti capitalist and he cannot fathom how to create jobs other than to expand government.
It seems that the president has an ever increasing problem with his base. Specifically, with black Americans and with the so called Congressional Black Caucus as emblematic of a rising disenchantment across the board inside the black American voting base.
What are black Americans so upset about as it concerns Barack Obama's presidency?
Jobs apparently. That and the fact that as the lyrics to the 70's black sitcom the Jefferson's once proclaimed: "We're moving on up! and we finally got a piece of the pie!" Well, apparently not. Apparently, many black Americans believe that Barack Obama hasn't delivered that pie and they are mad as hell about it.
The leaders are tired, they say, of Obama dog-whistling his support for a
broad black agenda rather than explicitly embracing the kind of war on
racism, poverty and economic segregation embodied by King.
“You can spend a lot of time trying to win over white independents, but
if you don’t pay attention to your base, African-Americans, if you have
not locked up your base yet, you’ve got a serious problem,” said CNN
contributor Roland Martin.
And then there is this from Maxine Waters of The Congressional Black Caucus....
So, if you follow the commentary coming from many black leaders like Maxine Waters and Roland Martin, the reality seems to be clear. Most blacks in America are upset that they have not realized the so called dreams of "yes we can" as they envisioned them three years ago when they voted in mass to elect Barack Obama.
Apparently, most blacks in America figured they would have an inside track and their own 'go to guy' in the White House, if Barack Obama was elected president. Listen and read through the code speak coming out of the Congressional Black Caucus members and other prominent black leaders across America. Barack has let them down. The unemployment rate in black America is twice or more than the national average is and that is not acceptable.
And to top it all off, the president has failed to exclusively cater to the laundry list of those like Beatrice King (daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.), who feel that he hasn't done enough for those she calls the "oppressed and marginalized." Listening to her speech in the run up to the dedication of the King monument on the National Mall is enough for anyone to understand that there is a significant black undercurrent in America that is dissatisfied with America's first black president.
He simply hasn't lived up to his hype or his speeches or his promises to black America. He spent more time trying to sway white independents than he did doing what blacks who voted for him desired (in their opinion). Barack Obama has failed to tilt the bounty toward black America. Forget about any visions of equality. Many blacks in America are long past seeking equality. They want reparations, be they openly handed out by the president from the public treasury, or concealed in programs that are specifically designed and aimed to benefit only blacks in America.
Much of that has already gone on over the last forty years since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, but contemporary black Americans want more. They are demanding more. The playing field transitioned from attempts at leveling, to an outright unabashed full tilt bias toward black favoritism. A favoritism in everything from housing to education, to jobs, to elected office. These standards were established and reestablished and the advantage was given to blacks 'Carte Blanche' to achieve it. Most called it affirmative action and indignantly defended it as a just resolution to the history of slavery and disenfranchisement.
But when does it end? Is there a shelf life? No. Civil rights has become a cottage industry in this country and those who hustle the never ending representations of racism as the root cause of all evils, will never willingly drop their pursuits or desires to obtain benefits above and beyond every other race, group, or class of people in this country.
Thus is the dilemma for Barack Obama. How can he deliver what he seemingly promised, while at the same time attempting to represent the country as a whole. Personally, I don't believe that Barack Obama has any true racial identity. We all know that he is the product of a bi-racial marriage between an African born black man and an American born white woman, but Barack Obama's loyalties lie in neither race. Barack Obama has clung to the black side of his heritage, because of political expediency.
Simply stated, being black allowed him far more opportunities than the white half of his heritage and he took advantage of it every step of the way. From the days of his youth in college and right on into politics. He learned how to get on the right side of that tilted racial playing field and bounce until the benefits he desired began to flood his way.
I firmly believe that as far as racial identities go, Barack Obama's political identity trumps his racial identity on all levels. I also believe that if you could look into his 'heart of hearts' and see his true loyalties? You would discover that he is far more aligned with his black African heritage, than any black American roots he may have represented to attain his political goals.
Barack Obama knows how to play the racial buzz words and how to align himself with the popular cultural allegiances to obtain his own personal political goals via the race game. His record demonstrates that. Now the question is simply this. Can he maintain his persona of 'the man behind the curtain' manipulating the Great and Powerful Oz for black America. Or has black America finally begun to awaken to who the man really is and the fact that as far as black America is concerned, those interests don't meld into his larger world view of how he wants to permanently impact this country.
I believe that black America is waking up and even those like Maxine Waters are beginning to realize that their great black hope ain't exactly what was advertised.
The numbers are in. According to the most recent Gallup polls. President Obama's approval rating is at it's lowest. Down to 38%. But all is not lost. When it comes to American Muslims? They love him.
Most American Muslims are satisfied Obama backers
Americans and few Muslims believe there is support for Islamic extremism here, a survey released on Tuesday found.
With the 10th anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks on New York and the Pentagon approaching, the Pew Research Center found that most Muslims felt ordinary Americans were friendly or neutral toward them.
In contrast to the majority of the general public dissatisfied with the nation's direction, 56 percent of the estimated 2.75 million American Muslims said they are satisfied, the survey showed. Seven out of 10 view President Barack Obama's tenure favourably.
"On a variety of measures, Muslims in America are very content with their own lives and with the communities where they live," Pew researcher Greg Smith said in an interview.
Four out of five Muslim Americans surveyed were satisfied with the way things are going in their lives and rated their communities very positively as places to live.
"We've seen Muslims move in a different direction than the rest of the country (with more) believing America is going in the right direction," Smith said.
Makes you wonder the basis for the 30% who don't like him.
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, speaking of the coming dedication of the MLK monument on the mall in Washington DC.
Listen at 5:36 on the video.
"Daddy is standing, Lincoln is seated, Lincoln remembered for signing the Declaration of Independence."
A mind really is a terrible thing to waste.
For the past week or so, the recurring theme in the media seems to be that Barack Obama has lost his swing. His numbers are down and his mojo may be failing him. Today's local news teaser for the noon news posed the question: "What can the president do to improve his flagging approval rating."
My mind immediately leap to the task and authored this thought in about a milisecond. "Resign!" That ought to put his numbers over the top permanently. Just saying......
When the president left for his family vacation on Martha's Vineyard twelve days ago, he told the American people that he was going to be working on a jobs and economic stimulus plan. Apparently, between rounds of golf and everything else on his vacation agenda, he didn't get either done. After leaving for Washington a day early, so he could get some face time on network and cable TV to make his own assessments of hurricane Irene, ("this isn't over") he comes back today to tell the American people, that he will lay out his plans to congress concerning jobs and the economy 'next week.'
Obama says will unveil jobs plan next week
President Barack Obama said Monday he would unveil proposals next week aimed at spurring job growth in part through infrastructure improvements.
Obama made the comment as he announced he had picked Princeton economist Alan Krueger as the new chief of the Council of Economic Advisers.
He said next week he would lay out a series of steps that the U.S. Congress can take immediately to put more money in the pockets of middle class families and put construction crews to work.
So, having sat idly for two weeks before his vacation, while watching the stock market tank and lose over 1000 points in a week, the president decided to take a twelve day vacation and leave Americans hanging once again. But don't worry, because Barry has a plan. He just had to get some much needed relaxation and golf rounds in, before he could return to Washington to put the finishing touches on everything.
Anyone else in America like me? Just can't wait to hear about this plan? Thought so.
Do take the time to read the entire piece at The Daily Caller. It outlines pretty succinctly, precisely what is looming on the horizon for us here in America. Provided the country doesn't collapse under the weight of it's debt before they can get around to it.
If you want to see what a disarmed society looks like, look no further than England.
Thousands of angry, drunk, violent thugs running wild and stealing
anything they can carry. Shopkeepers and homeowners crippled with fear,
unable to defend their loved ones or their property. Innocent citizens
forced to watch helplessly while their life’s dreams — everything they
worked so hard to build and acquire — are carried out the door, or
smashed to pieces, or burned to the ground.
Men, women and children forced to strip naked in the streets, while
packs of criminals laugh and ridicule them before making off with their
clothing.
The fact is, when British politicians stripped their citizens of
their God-given right to self-defense, they robbed them of their freedom
and their dignity.
Sales of baseball bats are up over 5,000% on Amazon.co.uk. This isn’t
to mark the beginning of little league season. These are desperate
homeowners and shopkeepers purchasing the best — and in reality, only —
self-defense tool that the British government will allow them to own…at
least for now.
If past is prologue, this flood of baseball bats into London will
spark cries from government leaders for mandatory bat registration and a
wave of new laws on how, when, and under what circumstances British
citizens may carry or swing a bat. After all, this is exactly how
British citizens lost their gun rights.
First came mandatory gun licensing. Next came a wave of restrictions on firearms ownership. Then came the outright gun bans.
It has been illegal to own a handgun in Britain for nearly 15 years.
As a result, Britain’s violent crime rate has soared. In fact, Britain
consistently clocks-in with the highest violent crime rate in all of
Europe. Last week’s riots notwithstanding, you are six times more likely
to be mugged in London than in New York. These are the inconvenient
statistics that the gun-ban crowd likes to sweep under the rug.
As if banning handguns didn’t send a strong enough message to
criminals that British citizens are ripe for the picking, the British
government went even further in 1999.
Recall the tragic story of Tony Martin, the British farmer who was
awakened one night to the sound of breaking glass and found two burglars
in his home. Martin had been robbed six times before. This time, he
went downstairs, retrieved a shotgun, and fired at the intruders.
For this, Martin received life in
prison for killing one of the burglars, ten years for wounding the other
thug, and one additional year for possession of an unregistered
shotgun. The wounded burglar served just 18 months of a three-year
sentence and was given $5,000 in legal assistance from Britain’s Legal
Services Commission so he could sue Martin for violating his civil
rights.
So says Al Gore. Amazing isn't it. He talks about 'winning the argument' in this interview, but he has been losing his argument steadily and he knows it. So he has moved on to the most common last stand tactic of all liberals once they have exhausted their shouting points.
They attack the personal character of their opposition with ad hominen. Suddenly, 'climate deniers' are racist according to Gore. So, how long before they also become Nazi's. Gore labors through his analogies of attack, by attempting to demonize his opposition with the same old tactics.
"This is different, this is an organized effort to attack the scientific community. and to slander them with the lies, that they are slanting the statistics in order to make money." (the exact same accusations that he and the climate change hustlers use against their opposition.) This man has no shame. No more so than any liberal hell bent on forcing their reality on others, regardless of history or facts or truth.
Standing waist deep in storm driven sewage sludge, "Tucker" the live on the scene reporter has clearly placed himself in this predicament in order to dramatize the visual effect Just goes to show the extent that the media will go to create news.
After last week's earthquake in Virginia, someone tweeted. "that was just our founding fathers collectively rolling over in their graves." Somehow I can't help but believe that the sentiment is very close to the reality.
Enter the most recent decision of "Goshen College." A "Mennonite college" simply seeking diversity.
Goshen bans the National Anthem
Tiny Goshen College in Indiana has banned the "The Star Spangled Banner: at all sporting events because the Mennonite school's president considers the National Anthem's words to be too violent.
The 1,000-student school had already banned the words last year, but the band could still play the music for patriots in attendance. Now, the school has banned the song entirely, according to NBC Sports.
The school’s board of directors told college President Jim Brenneman to “find an alternative to playing the National Anthem that fits with sports tradition, that honors country and that resonates with Goshen College’s core values and respects the views of diverse constituencies.”
Brenneman was okay with that.
“I am committed to retaining the best of what it means to be a Mennonite college, while opening the doors wider to all who share our core values,” Brenneman said. “And I invite others to join us at Goshen College as we make peace in all of its forms, even with the national anthem.”
I have to admit, my immediate knowledge of the Mennonites and their cousins the Amish, begins and ends with their historically being pacifist and practicing the shunning of most technology. So I did a quick Google and re-confirmed those existing perceptions.
On the surface, this would seem to be nothing more complex than this little Mennonite college wanting to adhere to its founding principles. However, there are two immediate catches to that explanation in my opinion. The first being why it has taken one hundred and seventeen years for them to come to the conclusion that the National Anthem simply doesn't represent their beliefs and is too violent.
But the larger looming give away to the present thinking comes via the statement of the College's Board of directors.
Specifically when they were quoted as directing the college president to : “find an alternative to playing the National Anthem that fits with sports tradition, that honors country and that resonates with Goshen College’s core values and respects the views of diverse constituencies.”
So.......I say? It is time for the board of directors of this college to stop hiding behind their religion and their supposed desire for diversity.
What they are really hustling is progressive political liberalism, of the extreme left wing flavor. Most commonly recognized as egalitarianism. Masquerading once again as fairness, but in all honestly being deployed as a screen to their real desires which are socialistic to the core.
Having read of this decision by Goshen College to ban the National Anthem? I believe that it is time for them to find a new safe harbor. It is time for them to go back to from whence they came.
Perhaps there are some recently redeveloped territories and nation states where their brand of loyalty and patriotism are more appreciated. Perhaps there is some land that needs clearing in Libya or Ethiopia or the Sudan or the outback of Australia. Some place where they can spend the next several generations as their ancestors did. Farming and subsistence living until their hosts once again tire of their tendencies to be non complimentary to the culture of their host country.
As my father use to say........."anytime you get tired of this country? There are planes and buses leaving every hour and walking ain't crowded."
I believe the interim response to this lunacy should be this. Any college or university that is scheduled to play Goshen in any competitive collegiate sport, should simply cancel and refuse to come to their school to play. The simple version for Goshen? "Go ahead, take your ball and go home. There are other schools that can be challenged to play collegiate sports. Schools that are neither controlled by progressive egalitarianism or a liberal political subculture.
Schools that are more interested in education and collegiate traditions and camaraderie than making political statements and pushing the left's agenda.
This is about a forty minute video. It tells the real story behind America's POW's, going all the way back to WWI. There is not a lot I can say about it, other than it needs to be seen to be believed. Please take the time to watch.
So. Egalitarianism strikes once again. It's not good enough for these 'fellows' of the University of Georgia to teach legal Georgia students. They feel that the Georgia law that reinforces the reality that criminals should not receive the same benefits as law abiding citizens, is well.......unfair. So they are doing something about it.
I guess there are no ethics violations or breeches of contract or violations of the law involved in this type of conduct by these five. Open, knowing and willing association with criminals and conspiracy to violate the laws of Georgia must not qualify as questionable ethical acts or criminal conduct these days at UGA.
Five University of Georgia professors have formed a program they call “Freedom University” to provide courses for illegal immigrants not allowed to attend some of the state’s most competitive colleges, reports The Associated Press. The professors are offering to teach what they say is a rigorous seminar course once a week similar to courses taught at the most competitive schools in the state, the news service reports.
The new program is aimed at students who have graduated from high school, but can’t attend Georgia’s top schools because of the state’s new policy than bans illegal immigrants or because of cuts to state scholarship programs. The professors stressed that although they work for UGA, the classes are not connected in any way to the school.
The Brits do a far better job of keeping track of things than we do. In a Daily Mail article posted on the internet yesterday, they were recounting the $10 million that Michelle Obama has spent in Taxpayer money on her vacations since arriving as first lady. The Daily Mail article Now comes this little tidbit today... Obama daughters visit Nantucket
With President Barack Obama playing golf and getting briefed on the approaching Hurricane Irene on Martha's Vineyard yesterday, his daughters, Sasha and Malia, took an excursion to Nantucket. President Obama's daughters arrived at noon in a private, 40-foot boat, which was escorted into the harbor by a Coast Guard cutter, according to a source with knowledge of the girls' trip to the island. Accompanied by Secret Service agents on the impromptu visit, the girls strolled around downtown, and were spotted at the Cheryl Fudge clothing store and other locations in the core district before departing around 5 p.m. The Obamas are vacationing on Martha's Vineyard for the second straight summer.
So..... the adolescent presidential daughters get their own shopping junket to Nantucket, absent the company of their mother or father. And the American taxpayers once again are soaked for the cost of Cost Guard cutters to escort them along with an extensive Secret Service detail to protect them while they go clothes shopping. I wonder what Michelle was up to. Sipping Vodka martinis back home at the ranch? And perhaps the pres was setting out for another round of golf. No, he was probably diligently working on his new jobs and economic report as promised. Who knows. Who cares. Obviously the mainstream media don't seem to have a problem with any of it.
I don't care who this guy is, republican or democrat. Who the hell does he think he is and what law was being violated for this police officer to be confiscating cameras?
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
August 24, 2011
A congressman from Ohio had cops grab the cameras of constituents
during a town hall meeting. Steve Chabot, a Republican, had cell phones
and cameras confiscated in order to “prevent an embarrassing Youtube
video from making the rounds,” according to Carlos Miller, who runs a blog documenting efforts by the state to stifle the First Amendment rights of photographers.
See video of the incident below.
Police said the cameras were taken “to protect the constituents.” A
local television station, however, was allowed to videotape the meeting
and the brazen move by Chabot and the cops. Think Progress, the Soros-funded media operation,
also reported the incident, primarily because Chabot is an
establishment Republican and protesters outside the event called for
more taxes. The Democrat blog reported:
Media were permitted to record the event, making the ban
on citizen cameras all the more baffling. Clearly no “security” threat
existed; rather, as one of Chabot’s staffers told ThinkProgress, they
wanted to “prevent” people from “making a show” of the event. Indeed,
Chabot and his staff were worried enough about citizens voicing their
anger at his policies that they only accepted pre-screened questions
chosen by the congressman’s staff.
This should not be perplexing – the controlled corporate media can be
trusted to not embarrass Rep. Chabot, at least not on points that
matter, while citizens cannot.
It is also interesting that Think Progress attributes the current
economic implosion to Chabot and the Republicans when Democrat Obama is
in the White House and allegedly in control.
In fact, neither Obama or the Republicans control the economy. It is controlled by a Federal Reserve that has doubled the monetary base since last August.
Many times when science attempts to unravel mysteries, the first place they turn is to study a microcosm representative of the whole. If the same principle holds true in other aspects of life? Say as it concerns, jobs, the economy, and taxes? Perhaps Illinois is the harbinger of things to come.
Illinois started to create jobs as the national economy began to
recover. But just when Illinois’s economy seemed to be turning around,
lawmakers passed record tax increases in January of this year. Since
then, Illinois’s employment numbers have done nothing but decline.
Data
released today by the bureau confirms this downward trajectory. When it
comes to putting people back to work, Illinois is going backwards.
Since January, Illinois has dropped 89,000 people from its employment
rolls.
Yep. They started to create jobs as the national economy began to recover. Then someone decided that it was time to raise taxes. Nothing like more taxation to inject momentum into a flagging job market and economy teetering on the edge.
And the end result?
Two points to note. First, this is Obama's home state. Well actually not his home state, but the one he used to launch his political career. The same state where his fellow liberal rogues like Rahm Emanuel continue to flourish and thrive.
Second, once again the cause and effect of taxation as an economic and job killing equation is realized and proven. So.....what was that adage about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome?
I know. Some call it insanity. I say no. It's not insanity. Insanity would denote an inexplicable departure from reason. An inexplicable motivation and determination to do something contrary to the rules of common sense and logic.
No, this is not insanity, this is dogma. This is stupidity, this is the abject refusal to differentiate between right and wrong. Ignorance means you don't now any better. Stupidity means you do know better and you consciously choose to do the stupid thing in the face of reason.
Insanity? Maybe that's just a better description of liberals in general. Absent any reasoned explanation for their self destructive actions? The answer must be that they are crazy.
What else is the American media hiding from us and refusing to tell
the people? An interesting article at the Washington Examiner. Let's see
if any in the main stream egalitarian controlled media pick up on it.
Where are Woodward and Bernstein when you truly need them........
It is not every day that the White House and Democratic National Committee
celebrate a supposedly private company’s debt restructuring plan, but
such is the marriage of big government and big business under the Obama
administration. The New York Times
reports: “Chrysler said Tuesday that it had paid back $7.6 billion in
loans from the American and Canadian governments, marking another
significant step in the revival of the company, the smallest of the
Detroit automakers.”
But as The Truth About Cars reports, the loan pay back is just another Obama con job:
Back in November of 2009, when GM announced that it would repay its
government loans, it didn’t take much investigation to realize that
The General was simply shuffling government money from one pocket to the other
and that true “payback” was still a ways off. … And now that our
government finds itself “contemplating a runaway deficit and getting rid
of its 8 percent of Chrysler’s equity,” would you believe that a
similar federal money-shuffle is under way? Believe it.
American taxpayers have already spent more than $13 billion bailing out Chrysler. The Obama administration already forgave more than $4 billion of that debt
when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Taxpayers are never
getting that money back. But how is Chrysler now paying off the rest of
the $7.6 billion they owe the Treasury Department?
The Obama administration’s bailout agreement with Fiat gave the
Italian car company a “Incremental Call Option” that allows it to buy up
to 16% of Chrysler stock at a reduced price. But in order to exercise
the option, Fiat had to first pay back at least $3.5 billion of its
loan to the Treasury Department. But Fiat was having trouble getting private banks to lend it the money.
Enter Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu who has signaled that he will
approve a fuel-efficient vehicle loan to Chrysler for … wait for it … $3.5 billion. TTAC comments:
Now, technically the DOE loan program is supposed to be used for
specific, qualifying retooling projects, so Fiat can’t literally take
the DOE money and use it to pay back the government loans. But freeing
up $3.5b in capital that would otherwise be spent on retooling with
low-cost loans will make it infinitely easier for Chrysler to secure
the $3.5b in debt refinancing it needs. And, in light of the GAO’s
pointed criticisms of the DOE loan program’s fairness and transparency,
it’s hard to overlook the coincidental nature of Chrysler’s need for
$3.5b and the government’s allocation of extra funds to apparently
guarantee a low cost loan to Chrysler for precisely the same amount.
After all, we’ve seen this movie before..
So, to recap, the Obama Energy Department is loaning a foreign car
company $3.5 billion so that it can pay the Treasury Department $7.6
billion even though American taxpayers spent $13 billion to save an
American car company that is currently only worth $5 billion.
Oh, and Obama plans to make this “success” a centerpiece of his 2012 campaign.
Morning in America. This report speaks for itself. As does the look back attached to the end. I am interested to see how messer Obama intends to address this most recent wrinkle in reality as it concerns his promises. Perhaps in between golf rounds on the Vineyard this week, he will craft a witty and audacious response to these latest reports concerning GM. I for one can't wait to hear the great one on this and all the other economic misery that this nation has descended into under his tutelage.
General Motors Co. is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over a suspension problem on more than 400,000 Chevrolet Impalas from the 2007 and 2008 model years, saying it should not be responsible for repairs because the flaw predated its bankruptcy.
The lawsuit, filed on June 29 by Donna Trusky of Blakely, Penn., contended that her Impala suffered from faulty rear spindle rods, causing her rear tires to wear out after just 6,000 miles.Seeking class-action status and alleging breach of warranty, the lawsuit demands that GM fix the rods, saying that it had done so on Impala police vehicles.
But in a recent filing with the U.S. District Court in Detroit, GM noted that the cars were made by its predecessor General Motors Corp, now called Motors Liquidation Co or "Old GM," before its 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout.
The current company, called "New GM," said it did not assume responsibility under the reorganization to fix the Impala problem, but only to make repairs "subject to conditions and limitations" in express written warranties. In essence, the automaker said, Trusky sued the wrong entity.
Now, let's take the way back machine to March of 2008
Obama's promise to AmericaIn a bid to boost flagging auto sales, the federal government will pay for any warranty repairs on a General Motors or Chrysler vehicle if either company can't because of financial problems or a bankruptcy filing, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can. If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors, you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired just like always," Obama said in a speech. "Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it has ever been. Because starting today, the United States will stand behind your warranty."
"Hold the pickles hold the lettuce special orders don't upset us, all we ask is that you let us serve it your way! Have it your way at Burger King,
Well, maybe for a little while longer at least, but after that? They are going to begin serving Guacamole burgers? I am sorry, but let's either leave things the hell alone, or move them to Mexico. Want to lose my business BK? GO ahead and act stupid like a lot of other American companies that no longer exist.
Fast-food chain Burger King is making a 180 degree shift in its marketing, with a decision to drop its "King" mascot and focus on — sit down before you read this! — product.
Now, under new ownership, and with a new management and marketing team, Burger King is focusing on what matters: updating the stores, fixing its food and changing its image. As Alex Maccedo, SVP, marketing, put it to USA Today: "People want a reason to go back to Burger King ... There are no plans to bring the King back anytime soon."
Along with new management, Burger King has also hired a new ad agency, McGarry Bowen. Mc Garry's ads are often derided in ad industry circles as conventional, formulaic and unhip. The criticism isn't entirely unjustified ... but who cares? Last I heard, advertising is not about creating art house shorts; it's about selling stuff. Against that standard, McGarry's work tends to perform well. A new campaign by McGarry, launching this weekend, will introduce the California Whopper, made with guacamole.
Whether the new burger will catch on remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the marketing campaign will give it a shot at success. The entire TV commercial will focus single-mindedly on sights and sounds of the burger's ingredients being washed and diced.
Iran's state TV is reporting that two
American men already held for two years in Tehran have been sentenced to
8 years in jail each on charges of espionage and illegal entry.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have been held
since July 2009 after being taken into custody on the Iran-Iraq border. A
third American who was taken with them, Sarah Shourd, was released in
September on $500,000 bail and returned to the United States.
The station's website says Bauer and Fattal,
who are both 28, have been sentenced to three years each for illegal
entry into Iran and five years each for spying for the United States.
It's not clear if that includes time served.
American Evangelical theologian William Lane Craig is ready to debate the rationality of faith during his U.K tour this fall, but it appears that some atheist philosophers are running shy of the challenge. This month president of the British Humanist Association, Polly Toynbee, pulled out of an agreed debate at London’s Westminster Central Hall in October, saying she “hadn’t realized the nature of Mr. Lane Craig’s debating style.”
Lane Craig, who is a professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, Calif., and author of 30 books and hundreds of scholarly articles, is no stranger to the art of debate and has taken on some of the great orators, such as famous atheists Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. Harris once described Craig as “the one Christian apologist who has put the fear of God into many of my fellow atheists”. Responding to Toynbee’s cancellation, Lane Craig commented: "These folks (atheists) can be very brave when they are alone at the podium and there's no one there to challenge them.
But one of the great things about these debates is that, it allows both sides to be heard on a level playing field, and for the students in the audience to make up their own minds about where they think the truth lies." But David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, believes the reason behind the cancellation is much simpler. "The fact is some people get tired of debating Christians because of the same arguments over and over again. And sometimes it’s a lot like arguing with a wall," he said.
So, the simple reality is, these atheist are just tired of talking to Christians or anyone else that adheres to beliefs contrary to their own non belief. Like talking to a wall apparently. So I have a question. Why is it when leftists and non Christians are pressed to defend their views and beliefs? They either simply withdraw and refuse to discuss it, or they launch into ad hominem personal attacks on their adversaries. It may be no more complicated that the simple fact that they are at a loss for words. Knowing as they do, that is they rather than their adversaries who are like talking to a wall. Where as those like this professor do have an inside edge and advantage. Matthew 10:19 When you are arrested, don't worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.
See something? Say something. So goes the public service announcements of Big Sis and Homeland Security.
But what is actually being said in these supposed public service announcements?
Well let's see.
In her accompanying statement to the video,
DHS chief Napolitano also hints that gun stores could be a prime
breeding ground for terrorists, making reference to a recent case where,
“the owner of a gun store near Ft. Hood called authorities when an
individual in his store was behaving in a suspicious manner.”
So just who is Ms. Napolitano talking about? From the look of her glitzy PSA's it would seem that the enemy within are everyday looking, professionally dress and "white" Americans. Yeah, the owner of the gun store near Fort Hood saw something suspicious alright. He saw a "middle eastern looking" young man attempting to buy weapons and ammunition. That certainly fit Big Sis' profile now didn't it.
The bottom line, Janet Napolitano and Homeland Security and her counterpart Eric Holder at the Justice Department have absolutely no intention on either focusing on or publicly identifying the real threats to this country. Aside from that, the reality is obvious as it concerns who they see as the threats to their existence.
They are not worried about Muslim extremists or Islamic jihadists or those who have held the demonstrated records for over thirty years as it concerns global terrorism. Napolitano and Holder are afraid of those Americans who do not adhere to the present regime's conceptualizations of proper socialist thinking and thought speak.
You know the ones. Those military veterans and those middle class Americans who dare to speak up and speak out and challenge their elected officials. Those who actually still believe that they have a right to speak out given them by a constitution that Napolitano and Holder would just as soon ingone and consider a bother.
All those folks in flyover country who cling to their guns and religion. those are the "enemies of the state." Those are the enemies of this state. Just ask Janet Napolitano or Eric holder. Scratch that, don't ask, just watch and review the propaganda that they are putting out in the form of commentary and public service announcements.
Sounds like Maxine is bailing out on all the hope and change that she and the others have been hustling the last three years.
Just don't seem to be working apparently.
Looks like the White house has been on top of this Libya thing all along. It's a simple math problem really. Just number his (Kadafi's) days and let him know that we are on top of it and that we will not rest etc. etc.
Meanwhile:
White House Press Briefing March 30, 2011 Jay Carney
And there are different developments each day, but the trend we think is
clear and the pressure on Qaddafi will continue -- both on his forces
through the military operation and all the ways that we’ve discussed,
through the measures that the United States and its international
partners have taken to isolate him, to put pressure on him, to pressure
those around him to realize that their days are numbered, the days of
this regime are numbered, and that they may want to reconsider where
they stand.
White House Press Briefing May 11, 2011 Jay Carney
It depends on what you mean by “personally involved.” He’s briefed
regularly on it and in some detail, but he’s obviously not -- the United
States is not taking the lead in this mission, so he’s not playing a
lead role in that sense. We believe that NATO is fully capable and is
proving itself fully capable of fulfilling the mandate of United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1973, and believe that, as we've said in
the past, if that mission is successfully accomplished in protecting
civilians, enforcing an arms embargo, enforcing a no-fly zone, and the
other measures that are being taken -- the non-military measures that
have been taken by the United States and the international community
continue to have an impact, that Muammar Qaddafi’s days are numbered.
And now there is this from our newly appointed Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta.
So how's that all going again?
How many days is it this time? I always thought that days meant less than a week and weeks meant less than months and months meant less than......well you get the idea.
So days is it? You don't say.......................
A top Republican senator slammed the Justice
Department for reportedly promoting the supervisors of the failed
anti-gunrunning sting operation Fast and Furious, which is under a
federal and congressional investigation after weapons linked to program
were used in a December attack in Mexico that killed a U.S. border
patrol agent.
The Los Angeles Times
reported Tuesday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives promoted three key supervisors of Operation Fast and Furious
who came under fire for pushing the program even after it clearly
spiraled out of control.
The three supervisors -- William Newell and
David Voth, both field supervisors who managed the program out of the
agency’s Phoenix office, and William McMahon, who was the ATF’s deputy
director of operations in the West -- are being transferred to
Washington for new management positions at the agency’s headquarters,
the newspaper reported.
So what do you do when several of your key players possess information that can potentially damage the administration. You promote them and move them closer to the fountainhead. That way you can keep them under close eye and scrutiny and isolate them from those who might negotiate the truth out of them
Clever people this current administration huh..........
But he still better watch what he says. Because apparently the president doesn't feel that Perry has enough experience yet playing with the big boys.
As for Wolf Blitzer's commentary concerning Perry's comments being
"disrespectful" to the commander in chief?
I am sorry Wolf, but have you been experiencing out of body episodes
over the last few years. How about missing time? Maybe it's me? But it
strikes me that you must have missed the entire George Bush presidency.
And
the never ending onslaught and litany of abusive rhetoric that was
aimed at him by an endless list of democrats. Assailing everything from
his command and leadership capabilities, to his basic level of
intelligence.
Yet here comes Wolf Blitzer asserting to this president, that Governor
Perry's comments concerning Obama's lack of military service might be
construed as disrespectful.
Honestly, when it comes to the leftist media in this country, you can't
make this stuff up.
Having watched that video, a couple of realities came to my mind. The first of which being that while John Stewart is a liberal, more often than not, his comedic observations are spot on and often prescient when it comes to his political observations. Particularly as it concerns the media.
The second reality that comes to my mind having watched Stewart's critique on the media's treatment of Ron Paul, is that this is nothing new. Nothing new for Paul and more importantly, nothing new in the blatant manner by which the media continually attempts to slant opinion and control political opinion in this country. And they have been doing so for at least the past forty odd years.
Ever since the days of Walter Cronkite, the American media has been on a never ending quest to be the sole arbiters of what the American people should be allowed to see as it concerns politics and who they should be allowed to follow or hear speak. Individual opinions never enter into the equation with medias coverage of news or politics, only which spin they intend to put on the day's events. With American media, their demonstrated desire is to continually tell their readers and viewers what to think, what to watch, what to read, who to listen to and what to believe.
That is precisely what John Stewart reveals to his audience on a regular basis via his satires on American politics. And the man remains prescient in his observations concerning politics and politicians and the media in my opinion.
Britain must confront
its "slow-motion moral collapse" Prime Minister David Cameron declared
Monday, following four days of riots that left five people dead,
thousands facing criminal charges and at least 200 million pounds ($326
million) in property losses.
Cameron said his
coalition government would outline new policies designed to tackle a
culture of laziness, irresponsibility and selfishness which he believes
fueled Britain's unrest.
He also pledged to
toughen rhetoric from ministers and officials, who he claimed had too
often had shied away from promoting strong moral standards.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that there have been voices all along. Decades of voices warning us and them of the dangers of our moral collapse. So now that it is here and upon us and now that we have successfully bread at least three generations back to back of the morally bereft? Now we need to suddenly sit up and address our "moral collapse?"
Something tells me that it is a wee bit more of a problem than simply admitting that there is a problem. It is a problem. An out of hand and out of control problem and a problem that in my humble opinion is only resolved as it has always been resolved. It takes a cultural cleansing to accomplish. More often than not as the result of some terrible war.
That is what is in our future and that is what lies ahead for the British. They have made their beds just as we have and now it is time to pay the price for our willful moral decay. and the price is anarchy and chaos and we are seeing that erupting all over the western world now. In the UK they have had rioting in the streets. How soon to follow here in America. We already are experiencing flash mobs and racial attacks against white people all across this country. As of now, the media is reporting these instances, but there has been no hue and cry or media indignation over these attacks.
In places like Philadelphia? They are calling it "mob violence" and implementing curfews.
Get back to me on how that is going. Meanwhile, watch the news and blink.
The Senate majority leader seems to think so. Reid
sat down with more than 30 Review-Journal staffers Friday afternoon for
an hour-long Q&A session at the newspaper's offices. The bulk of
the back and forth was dedicated to federal spending and how Congress
might tame exploding budget deficits. Reid blamed everything that
ails Washington and the nation on Republicans.
He slammed the GOP for
its refusal to go along with tax increases as part of this month's
debt-ceiling deal, saying hard-core fiscal conservatives are making it
impossible to strike a long-term deal that slows the growth of the
national debt. "(Senate Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell has done a good job bringing the country to a standstill," Reid said.
The
reason Republicans have drawn such a deep line in the sand on tax
increases, of course, is the Tea Party movement. The populist uprising
that was born from Washington's bailouts achieved critical mass after
Democrats decided to start spending like no government before. The
stimulus. The ObamaCare overreach. Budget deficits that made President
George W. Bush look like a piker.
Democrats were tossed from office in record numbers last November. That groundswell is shaping the 2012 campaign. But Reid doesn't expect it to last. "The Tea Party was the result of a terrible economy," he said. "I've said that many times, and I believe that." "That (the Tea Party) will pass. They will lose a number of seats next year."
The Tea Party? Slip sliding away? I doubt it senator. If memory serves? You and Nancy predicted no losses for the democrats in 2010 in the house too didn't you. How'd that work out for you? Seems senator Harry believes that the Tea Party exists only because the economy is down and as soon as that gets resolved? All will be well.
Well not exactly messer Reid. See, your guy (Mr. Hope and Change) was supposed to already have all his fixed. Wasn't he? And not only has he failed to even begin to fix the economy and unemployment? But he has in fact worsened it. I might add, with your help and the help of madam Pelosi.
So I don't think the Tea Party is going any where Harry. As a matter of fact, I am not sure that there even is a Tea Party, but I am quite sure that there are several dozen dozen million pissed off Americans who are fed up with Washington and the democrat party. And it's president and it's leaders.
So if I were you messer Reid? I'd say that you and madam Pelosi had better steer clear of adolescent girls with dogs and picnic baskets from Kansas sprinkling water. And the one who may very well fit the bill of the new age of Dorothy? May very well be Michell Bachman. So, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain senator. The Tea Party is just an anomaly and everything that happened last November? Well that was just a glitch and it won't be long before you and the other democrats are singing happy days are here again! Right?
Keep thinking that Harry. Keep telling yourself that Harry. Keep doing what you are doing Harry.
Tim Pawlenty announced an end to his presidential candidacy Sunday after what he called a "disappointing" third place finish in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll. The former Minnesota governor said he had
hoped to get some lift from the preference poll that is an early
indicator of a candidate's potential strength in the primary season.
"I'm ending my campaign for president,"
Pawlenty told ABC's "This Week," noting that he wished the scenario had
been different but voters were looking for something else.
Straw polls aren't a definitive call on any coming election, but they give you a peek in the box as it concerns public sentiments. And apparently Tim Pawlenty saw enough yesterday in Iowa to convince him that what ever the question may be come 2012, the answer won't be Tim Pawlenty.
There are some others who should take note also IMO. Newt Gingrich not being the least of those who should be reading the tea leaves right now. Romney also had his comeuppance yesterday, even though he had previously decided not to play or participate in the straw poll. Right now, I see Rick Perry and Michelle Bachman calling the tune to this dance and slowly the others will drop by the way side IMO.
For those who have been following the demise of the US postal Service, things are about to get interesting.
Unions Rip USPS Cost-Cutting Plan to Slash Jobs, Revamp Benefits
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/12/postal-unions-rip-cost-cutting-plan-to-slash-120000-jobs/#ixzz1Uv8hSweV
Seeking to exploit Congress's abysmally low approval ratings, President Obama is urging voters to tell their lawmakers they must compromise for the sake of the country.
In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said people are frustrated by the partisan gridlock in Washington, especially after the brutal fight over increasing the nation's borrowing limit that didn't prevent the U.S. debt from being downgraded.
Obama tried to position himself on the side of the public and against a deeply unpopular Congress. But even though Obama's approval ratings aren't so good either, he clearly sees a need to direct the public's anger toward Congress or risk being the target himself as the 2012 campaign revs up.
"You've got a right to be frustrated," the president said. "I am. Because you deserve better. I don't think it's too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start delivering."
"Members of Congress are at home in their districts right now. And if you agree with me -- whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or not much of a fan of either -- let them know."
The bottom line, the US Postal Service has outlived it's shelf life. Not unlike print media, technology has trumped the viability of continued use of a service that at best is beyond it's ability to service the nations needs. Too many changes have occurred and the USPS and it's unions have refused to change. As they are doing now. The difference this time around, there are no other options.
UPS and Fed X and the others didn't come into being because the USPS was doing such a great job of delivering packages. They came into existence to fill the void of service that the USPS had allowed to grow and fester. Now, the technology of electronic communication has all but eliminated the need for paper communications period.
So rather than recognizing the obvious and changing business models, the USPS has doggedly followed the mantra of their unions. Right up to the point now where they stand at the great abyss and may very well be un-salvageable.. We shall see. I foresee bailouts in the offing and billions poured into the USPS to attempt to placate their unions and keep the house of cards standing. After all, we have a general election coming next year and the man needs all the support that he can buy.
Seeking to exploit Congress's abysmally low
approval ratings, President Obama is urging voters to tell their
lawmakers they must compromise for the sake of the country.
In his weekly radio and Internet address
Saturday, Obama said people are frustrated by the partisan gridlock in
Washington, especially after the brutal fight over increasing the
nation's borrowing limit that didn't prevent the U.S. debt from being
downgraded.
Obama tried to position himself on the side
of the public and against a deeply unpopular Congress. But even though
Obama's approval ratings aren't so good either, he clearly sees a need
to direct the public's anger toward Congress or risk being the target
himself as the 2012 campaign revs up.
"You've got a right to be frustrated," the
president said. "I am. Because you deserve better. I don't think it's
too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start
delivering."
"Members of Congress are at home in their
districts right now. And if you agree with me -- whether you're a
Democrat or a Republican or not much of a fan of either -- let them
know."
Really mr. president? It's all congress' fault? Have you checked with Nancy and Harry and your new BFF Boehner on their feelings on the matter of blame and your jumping ship to go stand with the rest of America in the flyover land? I mean, I have heard some yarns spun in my time? But that is a doozy. Careful mr. president, you are putting yourself into an alien landscape. A place where many people still cling to their bibles and their faith and their guns.
The audacity of hope? You need a follow up book now Barry.
Working title? The audacity of the man!
No it's not going to be that simple Barry. You fooled the American people. You applied and proved Lincoln's adage that you can fool all of the people some of the time. But not now. Americans have suffered too much under your new world order of America descending and Fabian socialism as your guiding principles.
Your hatred of this country has been as obvious as your fathers dreams were of obliterating all semblance of colonial imperialist history. Our allies have witnessed it through your actions and how you have treated them and the American people have been offered up a daily reminder by your administration, that regardless of the location of your birth, you were not raised as an American. You loathe this country and it shows.
Your formative learning from the time you were a baby, were at the feet of radical socialists and communist, including while at the apron strings of your America hating mother. Not a lot has changed Barry, aside from the fact that a few hundred million more people now realize your realities of your determination to destroy this nation first hand. They should have listened three years ago when there were those who tried to warn them.
Meanwhile, America knows who is responsible for their misery and who has been behind it from the start and changes are coming. Perhaps not fast enough to spare us more pain and perhaps too late to save us from the damage that you have done, but none the less, the people have been awakened finally and they will no longer be fooled in mass by your tricks and deceit.
You are a one trick pony and come 2012, you are on the way out and back to whence you came messer Obama and good riddance .
If there is any truth to the old adage, "that a picture is worth a thousand words," then we certainly had one of those moments this week.
Upon the return of the thirty SEALS and Air Force special operators and the Chinook flight crew killed last week in Afghanistan to Dover AFB on Tuesday, the Pentagon imposed a blackout of all media coverage at the request of at least nineteen of the families. This immediately incensed major media in America and they began bellowing aloud about how president Obama had lifted the ban on them filming the caskets of our dead returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The media squealed that this decision concerning these most recent war dead, was a violation of the president's edict and prevented them from 'covering the story.' The military command and the Pentagon immediately countered and put out a statement that the reason the arrival of these honored dead was placed off limits, was reasoned. It was due to the fact that the remains had not been identified and that barring the family members being able to identify their individual deceased and thus give permission for the filming and photography, the Military could not allow filming absent the permission of family requirement of the president's previous edict. The Pentagon later clarified and stated that nineteen of the families had requested that no media be allowed at the ceremony.
Everyone will note that president Obama made no move to overrule the military decision, but he did choose to cancel a low level meeting that day, so that he could take Marine One down to Dover to be there with Secretary of Defense Panetta (and others) when the dignified transfer of the remains occurred.
Had it ended there, I believe that nothing could have or would have been said concerning the president's visit to supposedly pay tribute to these service members and their families. But it didn't end there. Having banned the general media from taking photographs of the arrival and dignified transfer of bodies, the White House decided to permit special dispensation for the White House photographer to snap still photos of the arrival and transfer. Had it ended there and the photos been filed away for posterity, I believe that nothing would have been said. But it didn't end there.
One of the photos taken by the White House photographer, aside from being a clearly staged photo as opposed to a candid shot, was immediately distributed to a number of major news networks and media for release and publication. On the surface, based upon reactions and reports by the media, they immediately felt mistreated and voiced their objections to having been excluded from the ceremony once again.
But more importantly in my humble opinion, is what the photograph represents. The White house in later responses and in defense to the photograph, was quick to point out that none of the flag draped coffins were visible in the photograph. Well certainly they weren't. That wasn't the purpose behind the photograph to begin with. There was no need to actually show the caskets, only the necessity of showing a silhouetted president Obama, holding his Faux slaute.
He was front and center to take credit for the SEAL team mission involving Osama Bin Ladin and at Dover yesterday, he was front and center for a photo op that his administration insured was choreographed and delivered to the media. A photo clearly staged. So while the media feels left out and slighted for not having been allowed into the most solemn of moments these families could have endured, they made no mention what so ever of the content of the photograph and how it was staged to obviously represent president Obama in a positive light.
Yes, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then Barack Obama certainly got his teleprompter full on this occasion in my opinion. I just wonder how some of the families of these honored dead feel and felt about the president turning the arrival of their dead sons and husbands and fathers and brothers into a White house Photo op.
You decide. I already have come to my own conclusion.
A White House photographer was
allowed to take and widely distribute a photo from the ceremony Tuesday
for the return of the remains of 30 American troops killed in a weekend
helicopter crash in Afghanistan despite the Pentagon's claim that any
public depiction of the scene would violate the wishes of bereaved
families.
News media coverage of the ceremony had been banned by the Pentagon over the objections of several news organizations.
Pentagon
officials had said that because 19 of 30 of the American families of
the dead had objected to media coverage of the remains coming off a
plane at Dover Air Force Base, no images could be taken. In addition,
the Pentagon rejected media requests to take photos that showed
officials at the ceremony but did not depict caskets.
Eighty percent of Muslim Americans approve of the way Barack Obama is
handling his job as president, according to a newly released survey conducted by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center, a partnership between Gallup and the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi.
There are many factors that can be considered when trying to determine if your enemy is winning the war against you. Below is one that I believe most people in America haven't considered.
The chief of the secretive US special operations command
has lobbied against the release of names of American commandos killed
in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.
Thirty US troops were killed on Friday when their Chinook helicopter
was shot out of the sky in a remote Afghan valley, but in a break with
Pentagon practice, the identities of the dead service members have not
been released.
The dead included 22 members of the elite Navy SEAL
commandos and three Air Force special operators, and senior officers
overseeing the special forces are reluctant to publicly identify the
slain troops, officials said.
"There were concerns expressed by
the SOCOM (US Special Operations Command) commander about the safety of
the members of the unit and their families and the families of the
fallen," a senior military officer told AFP.
Since America was attacked on September 11, 2001 many things about our lives have changed. Not the least of which being the impact on air travel and the daily conversations concerning terrorism and what to do next. We have totally altered our way of life and allowed the enemy to dictate how we live ever since that day.
The first example of that impact was when then President Bush shut down all domestic air travel in this country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The economic and monetary costs were devastating and in my opinion, they ultimately contributed to our present economic dilemma.
Since the 9/11 attacks, we have waged two wars in the middle east and spent untold billions on both the wars and the housing of hostiles in Cuba and the wrangling over how we should proceed in defense against further attacks concerning domestic security.
But there are also untold and unobserved consequences that have been ongoing and are now unfolding as a result of those attacks. Last Friday, America lost thirty heroes in one single blow in Afghanistan. Twenty five special forces SEALS and Air Force special forces troops died and five air support crew of the chopper. And since then the military has refused to identify those killed, citing secrecy as it concerns our special operations units and concern for the safety of their families.
When interviewed, those in the military and at the Defense Department have indicated that they do not want to compromise the safety of the families of these honored dead by identifying them publicly. So in essence, these brave souls died in service to this nation and now, at a time when they should be publicly honored during their burials, they are relegated to the shadows of secrecy and fear of retribution by our enemies.
I said from the moment that I first heard the news of their deaths, that this was a retaliatory attack against this nation, for our having killed Osama Bin Ladin. I said from the beginning that these men were set up by our supposed allies and led into an ambush where they were killed. By Monday of this week, that assessment was becoming all to clear, as Afghan officials began to confirm those realities off the record and the Defense Department remained mum on the issue.
Now as the remains of these brave souls are returned to their homes and families and as their burials are carried out over the next week, another tragic reality of our enemies effect on our lives becomes apparent. We cannot even publicly honor our deserving dead. For fear that the safety of their families may be compromised. For fear that our enemies will strike out against them.
I can appreciate those concerns, but I can also appreciate the psychological victory being handed to our enemies. They have already achieved a glorious morale boost by killing twenty two of our SEAL Team Six members. The same unit responsible for killing their beloved mentor Bin Ladin. But now they achieve an equal victory in my opinion, when they force us through fear, to bury our honored dead in the absence of any public recognition for their sacrifices. And refusing the nation the ability to honor their lives during the celebration of those lives during their burials is a victory for the Taliban.
These men are American heroes and they should be treated as such. There should be full military honors and the acknowledgments of a grateful nation. These brave souls will get their military honors, but they will be carried out under the cloak of secrecy. For fear that our enemies might strike at their survivors.
Franklin Roosevelt once famously said: "The only thing we have to fear....is fear itself."
Personally, I can't help but believe that this nation has been living in fear for almost ten years now and I can't help but believe that it is time for it to stop. I also believe that the time has long since past when we should have been instilling greater fear in our enemies, than they will ever be capable of instilling in us.
Maybe one day that will once again be the reality in this nation. But not now. Not under the present circumstances and definitely not while we continue to live in fear.
