God's Little Surprises

This has been a tough week. Although I do personal stuff on here from time-to-time, I've always tried to keep this a blog and not a journal. My life's not interesting enough to keep readers coming back with nothing but personal day-to-day stories.

The events of the past couple of weeks have led to a lot of stories that I'll probably never tell because they are so intensely personal, but I thought I'd share this one with you as a way of saying thanks to the good Lord and thanks to a special friend.

My dad passed away early in the morning on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wednesday my wife and I escaped to Sea World to try and clear our heads, and on Thursday it was back to doing whatever we needed to do to take care of mom and prepare for the memorial services. She had a hair appointment on Thursday and needed me to take her. The salon was near the Mission Viejo Mall, and since I didn't want to sit in a salon for an hour, I dropped her off and headed to the mall to get out of the heat.

My goal was to sit in a comfy chair in the air conditioning and hopefully not run into anyone I knew. I was feeling really emotionally fragile and if anyone so much as smiled at me or said "hi" I'd tear up. I was doing my best to avoid contact with someone I'd have to talk to about my dad.

God had other plans.

I don't think I'd been there more than 3 minutes when I heard a voice say "Hey Rick!". I looked

around and it was Rick Muchow, the Pastor of Worship at Saddleback Church. I've known Rick since 1997 when he first asked me to sing for the Christmas programs, and in the years since have performed with him dozens of times. The photo at left was taken of the two of us following a Christmas concert a few years ago.

He asked the generic "how are you doing?".

"Okay", I said.

"Just okay?" (Apparently I'm a lousy liar.)

He had me. I told him that dad had passed away on Tuesday and I just broke down. I felt like an idiot crying in the mall, but there was no controlling it. He had come to the mall to get something from the Apple store that was right across from where I was sitting and ended up doing some pastoral work.

We talked for a bit and I reminded him who my dad was. Rick had actually prayed for my dad, along with other church pastors, one Saturday night a few months ago in the counting room at church where dad was volunteering. Until our meeting at the mall he hadn't made the connection between the two of us.

After a few minutes I got myself under control again and Rick promised to stop by the tent at church where the funeral would be held.

Rick's has had some family challenges of his own recently. His 19-year old son just had his sixth open heart surgery of his young life thanks to a congenital valve problem, and had suffered a stroke and seizure in the process. Thankfully, he's now on the road to recovery, though it promises to be a long one. Keep them in your prayers.

The funeral was yesterday and it was an wonderful tribute to my dad and his life. The first person to come up and give me a hug after the service was Rick. But he wasn't done.

The graveside service took place in the afternoon a few miles from the church. We hadn't specifically planned any music at the cemetery except for my 85-year old great uncle Gary who had flown in from Kansas City to attend the service. Gary still has a powerful voice and he was to lead the family in "How Great Thou Art" during the brief service.

As we were assembling at the cemetery I looked up and saw Rick Muchow walking across the grounds with his guitar case in hand. We hadn't asked him to come - he came on his own and during the service provided some wonderful music that my dad would have absolutely loved. He did a beautiful solo of "His Eye in on the Sparrow" and led us all in a medley of some of our favorite old hymns. He also accompanied Gary as he led the family. Not bad for a music pastor at a very contemporary church. He'd have made a good Nazarene.

Thank you, Rick. Your contribution of your time and talent yesterday afternoon was a real blessing to my family.

I owe you, buddy.

GM to Shut Down Saturn

How's that federal bailout going, GM?

General Motors Co.'s deal to sell Saturn to the Penske Automotive Group has fallen through, forcing the automaker to shutter the brand altogether.

The sale had been expected to be completed as soon as this week.

"Penske Automotive Group . . . has decided to terminate discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn," GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said in a statement. As a result, "we will be winding down the Saturn brand and dealership network."

The news is a blow to GM, which had made selling three of its brands, along with shutting Pontiac, a key component to its post-bankruptcy restructuring efforts.

GM has come to final terms on a deal to sell Saab to a Swedish maker of exotic sports cars, but it has not yet finalized the sale of Hummer to a Chinese heavy manufacturer.

Instead of selling Saturn, GM will now close the brand altogether. It said today that its Saturn dealers had already signed a "wind-down agreement." Under terms of a similar agreement signed by some other GM dealers, all new-car sales operations must cease by late 2010.

More empty dealerships coming to an auto mall near you.

Maybe We Should Follow Europe After All

Especially since socialism is now on the decline in many European countries:

A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of Socialism’s slow collapse.

Even in the midst of one of the greatest challenges to capitalism in 75 years, involving a breakdown of the financial system due to “irrational exuberance,” greed and the weakness of regulatory systems, European Socialist parties and their left-wing cousins have not found a compelling response, let alone taken advantage of the right’s failures.

German voters clobbered the Social Democratic Party on Sunday, giving it only 23 percent of the vote, its worst performance since World War II.

Voters also punished left-leaning candidates in the summer’s European Parliament elections and trounced French Socialists in 2007. Where the left holds power, as in Spain and Britain, it is under attack. Where it is out, as in France, Italy and now Germany, it is divided and listless.

Socialism appears to be on the decline just about everywhere, except China (and they're becoming more capitalistic every day), Venezuela, Cuba...and the United States.

Are those really the countries we want to emulate?

Blaming the Victim for the Crime

Boy, there's a lot of this going on right now. We have a whole assortment of Hollywood morons trying to excuse the inexcusable behavior of director Roman Polanski, even going as far as blaming the 13-year old victim for her rape.

And then there's this from the City of Los Angeles:

Looking to prevent your home from becoming a tagger's canvas? The city of LA has a plan that asks homeowners to pitch in or pay -- whether they want to or not.

All new buildings in Los Angeles -- including homes -- must have anti-graffiti coating under an ordinance approved unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday. There is an exception if the owners promise to remove any graffiti on their property soon after it appears.

The ordinance will take effect 30 days after being signed by the mayor.

Maybe if the officials would do their job and make the city gang-free, homeowners wouldn't have to pay to make their homes graffiti-free.

Sports Headline of the Day

From Drudge:

NFL STUDY AFFIRMS LINKS TO DEMENTIA...

Caused by playing or watching?

The Kooks in Berkeley Submit Themselves to UN Authority

From the land where meaningless gestures are a daily occurrence:

Berkeley became the first city in the United States, and possibly the world, to agree to international human rights treaties on Tuesday night, after the City Council approved a measure usually reserved for countries.

After a brief but spirited debate, the City Council voted unanimously to allow unpaid interns to report to the United Nations on how, or whether, Berkeley complies with treaties on civil liberties, racial discrimination and torture.

The council also agreed to take the first step in raising parking revenue by voting unanimously to add 420 meters and increase the parking meter rate 25 cents an hour, to $1.50.

But the decision to comply with the U.N. treaties generated the most energetic response from council members and the public.

"This is extremely important," said Councilman Max Anderson, who represents south Berkeley. "This is the way Berkeley should be talking. This should be an inspiration to other communities."

Actually, the parking meter increase is going to have more effect on the world than Berkeley's obsequious pledge to the UN.

Obama's Republican Problem

Not his problem with Republicans, his problem being a republican (from Jay Cost):

Ultimately, this President stands a better chance of success if he embraces the republican character of the people who imbue his temporary position with its power and majesty. The fact is that we are a republican people who tend not to think that anybody is better than we. If we begin to intuit that the President thinks he is better, it could impede his efforts to rally us to his side.

It is also a fact that staunch republicans created the presidency, and the office reflects their preferences even after 220 years of intervening history. By explicit design, the President is not a leader-for-life. Instead, he must face the judgment of his peers just 48 months after he wins the office. The Constitution endorses the view of the supremacy of the people because it delineates a timeline for when the executive power leaves the President and returns to the people (originally, as represented by the state governments). As if that were not enough, the 22nd Amendment forbids a President from seeking a third term, meaning that the people of this democratic republic will be around long after the Obama Administration has come to an end.

Read the whole post for a background on republicanism in the U.S. and how we look at our leaders compared to other nations.

Rather Deflated

The subject of the very first post on this blog was the Dan Rather Texas National Guard story about George Bush that turned out to be totally manufactured by Bush opponents. To this day rather insists the story was accurate, but when CBS realized their anchor had lost it they moved him out of the big chair. Rather sued, but now his lawsuit has been tossed:

A New York appeals court on Tuesday dismissed Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS, in which the television news anchor accused his former employer of breach of contract.

Rather filed the suit in 2007, claiming CBS made him a scapegoat when the network came under intense criticism over a September 2004 "60 Minutes II" story challenging then-President George Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Immediately after the story aired, questions were raised about the accuracy of the reporting.

Rather, who narrated the disputed piece, became the target of fierce criticism from conservative partisans who believed the story was an attempt to influence the 2004 presidential race.

Six months later, Rather stepped down from the anchor chair he had occupied for nearly a quarter of a century -- a departure he said was not voluntary. Rather's suit alleged that management at CBS and its then-parent company, Viacom, shifted blame to him to pacify the White House and that on the day after Bush was re-elected, he was informed he would be removed as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

The appellate division of the state Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, found "the complaint must be dismissed in its entirety and that a lower court erred in failing to do so."

"Rather claims that, in effect, CBS 'warehoused' him, and that, when he was finally terminated and paid in June 2006, CBS did not compensate him for the 15 months 'when he could have worked elsewhere,' the ruling said. "This claim attempts to gloss over the fact that Rather continued to be compensated at his normal CBS salary of approximately $6 million a year until June 2006 when the compensation was accelerated upon termination, consistent with his contract."

Rather's claim of lost business opportunities because CBS failed to release him was "insufficiently supported," the court said.

Rather wasn't "warehoused", he was toxic. Nobody but the wackiest of the wacky left would hire him to read traffic reports by the time he was so thoroughly discredited by the blogosphere and others who did the real work on the story. The company paid what was due on this contract and the suit was completely without merit. It should have been tossed long ago.

Supremes Take Another Gun Rights Case

This could be good news for 2nd Amendment supporters:

Taking on a major new constitutional dispute over gun rights, the Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to decide whether to apply the Second Amendment to state, county and city government laws. In another major case among ten new grants, the Court said it will rule on the constitutionality of one of the government’s most-used legal weapons in the “war on terrorism” — a law that outlaws “material support” to terrorist groups.

The Court had three cases from which to choose on the Second Amendment issue — two cases involving a Chicago gun ban, and one case on a New York ban on a martial-arts weapon. It chose one of the Chicago cases — McDonald v. Chicago (08-1521) — a case brought to it by Alan Gura, the Alexandria, VA. lawyer who won the 2008 decision for the first time recognizing a constitutional right to have a gun for personal use, at least in self-defense in the home (District of Columbia v. Heller). A second appeal on the Chicago dispute had been filed by the National Rifle Association (NRA v. Chicago, 08-1497). Presumably, the Court will hold onto that case until it decides McDonald; the same is likely for the New York case, Maloney v. Rice (08-1592) — a case in which Justice Sonia Sotomayor had participated when she was a judge on the Second Circuit Court.

Since the court's ideological makeup was not altered by the addition of Sotomayor, I think we can expect the ruling on the Chicago case to go much the same way as the Heller case in D.C. Chicago has a very tough gun ban and an extremely high rate of violent crime. Gun control certainly isn't making Chicago a safer place.

Health Care Photo of the Day

From Gateway Pundit, here's first class fool Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) demagoguing Obamacare:

This is why the Democrats are going to lose this fight. When their argument is reduced to such a silly level, nobody is going to take them seriously.

Today's Chicago Olympics Headlines

As the First Couple jets off to Copenhagen to beg the Olympic Committee to award the 2016 games to their overlords in Chicago, let's look at the headlines:

TRIB POLL: Residents evenly split on Olympics, 47% in favor, 45% against...
Anti-2016 protesters set decorations on fire in downtown Chicago...
Olympics-Rivals unfazed by shadow of Obama...
Rio goes on offensive...
Obama's Olympic pitch draws GOP complaint...
FOX-TV CHICAGO ORDERED NOT TO RUN ANTI-OLYMPICS STORY
OLYMPIC SPIRIT: VIDEO SHOWS BRUTAL GANG MURDER IN CHICAGO
An illustrated guide: All the president’s Olympic cronies

Some are suggesting the fix is already in for Chicago. After all, why would Obama risk taking a public slapdown by flying to Copenhagen only to be turned down. I'm not so sure that's the case, but given the worldwide swoon over Obama, it wouldn't surprise me if the Olympic Committee were also stricken by the Obama virus.

Today's Wacky Predictions

Looks like everyone has an opinion:

Bette Midler Warns Glenn Beck Could Set Off a Rwanda-Like Civil War in U.S.

Gore Vidal: US Under Obama Could Slide Into Military Dictatorship...

Hope. Change.

Kate Plus 8 Minus Jon

One of my wife's favorite shows is undergoing a facelift:

It appears the nasty divorce battle between Kate and Jon Gosselin has taken its toll on the couple's popular reality television show.

In a stunning announcement made Tuesday, officials at TLC said Jon has been officially booted from the show and the series will continue on without the father of eight. The show will now be called "Kate Plus 8," the network said.

The series will officially swap titles on November 2 to reflect the couple's divorce - which was filed for in June.

"Given the recent changes in the family dynamics," explained TLC President Eileen O'Niel, "it only makes sense for us to refresh and recalibrate the program to keep pace with the family."

The new show will chronicle Kate's life as a single mother raising her children - 5-year-old sextuplets and 8-year-old twins. The network said John will sporadically appear on the show but not on a regular basis.

I usually watch the show with my wife and I found the new post-divorce format to be very uncomfortable. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't cancel the show altogether, but you can't overestimate the power of 8 cute little Asian-looking kids on the viewing public.

International Blasphemy Day

Albert Mohler tells us today is a big day coming for the world's heathen:

Ready for a day to honor blasphemy? According to press reports, September 30 is set as the observance of the first-ever International Blasphemy Day. This could be interesting.

The choice of September 30 looks back to that date in the year 2005, when the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad's face sparked outcry and protests in the Muslim world and threats toward the West.

Now, as Religion News Service reports, the Center for Inquiry is planning a day of observances to mark the occasion. Ron Lindsay, a lawyer who serves as president of the Council for Inquiry International, said that the day was part of the group's effort to expose religious beliefs to investigation. In the words of the RNS report, the goal is "to expose all religious beliefs to the same level of inquiry, discussion and criticism to which other areas of intellectual interest are subjected."

Wanna bet that most of the blasphemous acts promoted that day will be directed at Christianity? Christians won't saw off your head if you offend them.

Dr. Mohler has some advice on how to respond:

The Blasphemy Day events are certain to draw media attention, which is no doubt the whole point of the observance. That is how a group like CFI can gain publicity for itself and its cause.

How should Christians respond?

First, take no offense. Refuse to play into the game plan of those sponsoring International Blasphemy Day. The Lord Jesus Christ was and is despised and rejected of men. Our Lord bore the scorn heaped upon him by his enemies. Christianity is not an honor religion. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not commanded to defend his honor, but to be willing to share in the scorn directed to him. Is the servant greater than his master?

Islam is an honor religion, and the major forces in the world today seeking to criminalize blasphemy are Islamic. The riots on the streets of many nations in protest of the Danish cartoons do represent what faithful Muslims believe their religion requires them to do. Not so for Christianity. We must be those who take to the streets with the Gospel -- not with a defense of our honor or the honor of our Lord. When Christians forget this, we lose our Gospel witness. The history of the church includes far too many instances of this loss. We dare not add another.

Second, mourn the blasphemy. The warning of Jesus is clear -- blasphemy has eternal consequences. The worst form of blasphemy is the refusal to hear and believe the Gospel. For that sin there can be no forgiveness. We must mourn the blasphemy, not because honor is at stake, but because souls are at stake with eternal consequences. God will ultimately and perfectly defend his honor. On that day, there will be no escape for unrepentant blasphemers.

Third, see this observance for what it really is -- an unintended testimony to the existence of God and the foolishness of those who deny Him. The sheer foolishness of a blasphemy contest with t-shirts and mugs betrays the lunacy of it all. They can do no better than this? One testimony to the power of God is the fact that his self-declared enemies come off as so childish and manic. The heathen rage and God sees the foolish grasshoppers.

International Blasphemy Day will come and go. Take note, ponder its meaning . . . and skip the t-shirt.

Personally, I am not easily offended by other people's stupidity. I'm not the one who will have to answer for it.

Government Workers Providing Jobs for Overseas Porn Workers

Your tax dollars at work:

Employee misconduct investigations, often involving workers accessing pornography from their government computers, grew sixfold last year inside the taxpayer-funded foundation that doles out billions of dollars of scientific research grants, according to budget documents and other records obtained by The Washington Times.

The problems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) were so pervasive they swamped the agency's inspector general and forced the internal watchdog to cut back on its primary mission of investigating grant fraud and recovering misspent tax dollars. [Emphasis mine.]

"To manage this dramatic increase without an increase in staff required us to significantly reduce our efforts to investigate grant fraud," the inspector general recently told Congress in a budget request. "We anticipate a significant decline in investigative recoveries and prosecutions in coming years as a direct result."

The budget request doesn't state the nature or number of the misconduct cases, but records obtained by The Times through the Freedom of Information Act laid bare the extent of the well-publicized porn problem inside the government-backed foundation.

For instance, one senior executive spent at least 331 days looking at pornography on his government computer and chatting online with nude or partially clad women without being detected, the records show.

When finally caught, the NSF official retired. He even offered, among other explanations, a humanitarian defense, suggesting that he frequented the porn sites to provide a living to the poor overseas women. Investigators put the cost to taxpayers of the senior official's porn surfing at between $13,800 and about $58,000.

"He explained that these young women are from poor countries and need to make money to help their parents and this site helps them do that," investigators wrote in a memo.

This guy should not have been allowed to retire. He should have been fired on the spot and his retirement should have gone *POOF!*.

Political Artwork of the Day

From Iowahawk, the "Hipster Doofus":

If you're not a Seinfeld fan, you're not gonna get it.

Celebration of Life

HolyCoast.com will be quiet today as we attend the memorial services for my dad.

I'll leave you with a video of his final public performance, December 5, 2008. He was asked to play the Angel Gabriel in a children's musical at Coast Hills Church in Laguna Niguel, CA. Two of his granddaughters performed with him and you'll see them at the end.

Political Tweet of the Day

From thrillerchick:

WARNING: If you get an email entitled: "Nude photo of Nancy Pelosi," DON'T OPEN IT!! It contains a nude photo of Nancy Pelosi.

Political Quote of the Day

From entertainer Andy Williams, who was one of my dad's favorites, talking about our president:

“Don’t like him at all,” Williams told the London Telegraph. “I think he wants to create a socialist country. The people he associates with are very Left-wing. One is registered as a Communist. Obama is following Marxist theory. He’s taken over the banks and the car industry. He wants the country to fail.”

Dad would have liked him even more after that.

Strippers 4 Obama

The Joker makes an unwelcome appearance at a "gentlemen's club":

Activists gathered outside a downtown strip club Monday to denounce as racist a banner depicting President Obama as the Joker from Batman.

"Not only is it an attack on the president, but also on all men and people of African descent," King Salim Khalfani, president of the Virginia NAACP, said of what he called "the abomination that's on the

wall" outside Club Velvet.

The banner, unfurled within the past few days, depicts Obama as Heath Ledger's grotesque Joker character from "The Dark Knight." The president is shown with smeared red lipstick, a white face and darkened eyes. The word "socialism" is spelled out below the caricature.

Dancer Kaitlyn McGee handed out a statement from club owner Sam Moore, who did not appear. The statement described him as a "staunch libertarian" and said the banner was intended to show his displeasure with Obama's policies. McGee walked through the crowd with a sign that read "Strippers 4 Obama" to show that Moore is not opposed to the president himself.

"Mr. Moore would like to say that anyone who believes that his banner is racist is an ignoramus," it read.

But the activists said the Joker banner was typical of what they called escalating attacks on the president - from depictions of Obama as Hitler at rallies to South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst during Obama's recent nationally televised address to Congress.

"Racism is as American as apple pie," Khalfani said. "The presence of a president that as African blood is very, very troublesome to many in this country."

Did you notice something in that article? It appears the AP has now accepted as fact that Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" outburst was based on racism, not on objection to his policies.

As far as the activists' other complaints, when lefties portrayed George Bush as The Joker, was that an attack on all white men? Of course not.

The race baiters of the world are going to have to come up with a lot better argument or the rest of us will just quit listening to them.

Obama's "Safe School" Czar Protected a Sexual Predator

Obama really knows how to pick 'em:

A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an "older man." At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report the abuse. That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama's "safe school czar." It's getting hard to keep track of all of this president's problematic appointments. Clearly, the process for vetting White House employees has broken down.

In this one case in which Mr. Jennings had a real chance to protect a young boy from a sexual predator, he not only failed to do what the law required but actually encouraged the relationship.

According to Mr. Jennings' own description in a new audiotape discovered by Fox News, the 15-year-old boy met the "older man" in a "bus station bathroom" and was taken to the older man's home that night. When some details about the case became public, Mr. Jennings threatened to sue another teacher who called his failure to report the statutory rape "unethical." Mr. Jennings' defenders asserted that there was no evidence that he was aware the student had sex with the older man.

However, the new audiotape contradicts this claim. In 2000, Mr. Jennings gave a talk to the Iowa chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an advocacy group that promotes homosexuality in schools. On the tape, Mr. Jennings recollected that he told the student to make sure "to use a condom" when he was with the older man. That he actively encouraged the relationship is reinforced by Mr. Jennings' own description in his 1994 book, "One Teacher in 10." In that account, the teacher boasts how he allayed the student's concerns about the relationship to such a degree that the 15-year-old "left my office with a smile on his face that I would see every time I saw him on the campus for the next two years, until he graduated."

Mr. Jennings' denials about these events reveal a lack of remorse. He has not admitted that he made mistakes in this case, and he now refuses to answer any questions about the scandal. Don't forget, this is a presidential appointee we're talking about. Mr. Obama should make clear what his standards are for public servants serving at the pleasure of the president. Encouraging and covering up man-boy sexual activity are serious offenses. The White House should force Mr. Jennings to come clean.

Mr. Jennings has made extremely radical statements promoting homosexuality in schools and about his utter contempt for religion that render him unsuitable for a prestigious White House appointment. His job in the Obama administration is to ensure student safety, and this scandal directly calls into question his ability to perform that job. Mr. Jennings and Obama administration officials refuse to answer any questions about this newly discovered evidence. A lot of Americans want answers about this guy and how he was approved for a job in the White House.

I'll bet Obama will be making room under the bus for this guy pretty soon.

You Make the Call

From Sacramento:

Helen Hodges understood the need for a gas station clerk to write her identifying information on a sales receipt. She just wishes he had chosen a different phrase.

"It says 'black lady,' and I can understand that because I am a black lady," Hodges told News10. "But I don't get 'big fat.' I don't get that part."

Hodges, 31, said the offensive incident happened Thursday night after she was shorted $10 in a gas pump mix-up at a station on Marconi Avenue near the Capital City Freeway. When she returned to the station for a refund, a $10 bill was attached to a receipt with a handwritten notation "black lady big fat."

We interrupt this excerpt for a photo of the aggrieved party:

Rude? Possibly. Accurate? You make the call.

Global Warming Quote of the Day

From John Kerry, who by the way served in Vietnam:

Kerry last week sought to change the vernacular surrounding the climate bill and sell its concepts more broadly, insisting it is not a "cap and trade" proposal but a "pollution reduction" bill. "I don't know what 'cap and trade' means. I don't think the average American does," Kerry said. "This is not a cap-and-trade bill, it's a pollution reduction bill"

If you buy Kerry's new verbiage, you have to buy the idea that carbon dioxide, which we all exhale, is a pollutant.

And speaking of globaloney, it turns out the famous "hockey stick" graph which purported to show a massive spike in global temperatures was created using cherry-picked data designed to produce the dramatic jump. Steve McIntyre has finally managed to get ALL of the data that should have been included, and once it's all added in, the blade of the hockey stick disappears.

Imagine that.

Evolution Headline of the Day

From the LA Times:

Dung beetle named for Charles Darwin

Seems about right.

Two "Middle Eastern" Men Removed from Plane at LAX

Hmmm:

A plane was stopped from taking off from Los Angeles International Airport, and two men on board were taken into custody, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

LAPD Lt. John Romero said the men, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, were acting suspiciously.

A law enforcement source said at least one of the men ran into a restroom on the plane and appeared to hide while the New York-bound jet was taxiing on the runway, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.

The flight crew confronted the two men and made the decision to stop the plane before it took off, the source said. The men were taken into custody by heavily armed law enforcement officials.

The plane has been taken to a remote area of the airport to be searched by a bomb squad, sources said.

The LAPD's anti-terrorism unit and the FBI are on the case, but the source said it's too early to tell whether terrorism played any role in the incident.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said that she was aware of only one person being detained for questioning after the person failed to comply with airline safety regulations and directions of the crew.

I'll bet they were renegade Baptists...

Grandma Gets Busted For Illegal Possession of...Cold Medicine

This is what happens when common sense is absent from the law writing process:

When Sally Harpold bought cold medicine for her family back in March, she never dreamed that four months later she would end up in handcuffs.

Now, Harpold is trying to clear her name of criminal charges, and she is speaking out in hopes that a law will change so others won’t endure the same embarrassment she still is facing.

“This is a very traumatic experience,” Harpold said.

Harpold is a grandmother of triplets who bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at a Rockville pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a Clinton pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of pseudoephedrine in a week’s time.

Those two purchases put her in violation of Indiana law 35-48-4-14.7, which restricts the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, or PSE, products to no more than 3.0 grams within any seven-day period.

When the police came knocking at the door of Harpold’s Parke County residence on July 30, she was arrested on a Vermillion County warrant for a class-C misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine. But through a deferral program offered by Vermillion County Prosecutor Nina Alexander, the charge could be wiped from Harpold’s record by mid-September.

Harpold’s story is one that concerns some law-abiding citizens who fear that innocent people will get mistakenly caught in the net of meth abuse roundups.

Whatever happened to intent being part of the criminal justice process? If I were her I'd fight this and get the charge dismissed rather than effectively admit guilt and go through a diversion program. She clearly did not possess intent to violate the law, but made her purchases in good faith while trying to do something nice for ill family members.

Even the Mainstream Media is Starting to See The Empty Suit

How bad must things be getting for Obama if Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman feels it's time to write this:

The Limits of Charisma
Mr. President, please stay off TV.

If ubiquity were the measure of a presidency, Barack Obama would already be grinning at us from Mount Rushmore. But of course it is not. Despite his many words and television appearances, our elegant and eloquent president remains more an emblem of change than an agent of it. He's a man with an endless, worthy to-do list—health care, climate change, bank reform, global capital regulation, AfPak, the Middle East, you name it—but, as yet, no boxes checked "done." This is a problem that style will not fix. Unless Obama learns to rely less on charm, rhetoric, and good intentions and more on picking his spots and winning in political combat, he's not going to be reelected, let alone enshrined in South Dakota.

The president's problem isn't that he is too visible; it's the lack of content in what he says when he keeps showing up on the tube. Obama can seem a mite too impressed with his own aura, as if his presence on the stage is the Answer. There is, at times, a self-referential (even self-reverential) tone in his big speeches. They are heavily salted with the words "I" and "my." (He used the former 11 times in the first few paragraphs of his address to the U.N. last week.) Obama is a historic figure, but that is the beginning, not the end, of the story.

There is only so much political mileage that can still be had by his reminding the world that he is not George W. Bush. It was the winning theme of the 2008 campaign, but that race ended nearly a year ago. The ex-president is now more ex than ever, yet the current president, who vowed to look forward, is still reaching back to Bush as bogeyman.

He did it again in that U.N. speech. The delegates wanted to know what the president was going to do about Israel and the Palestinian territories. He answered by telling them what his predecessor had failed to do. This was effective for his first month or two. Now it is starting to sound more like an excuse than an explanation.

And it goes on from there. The rhetoric was fine for the campaign, but now that's it time to actually do something, even the true believers are losing faith.

Obama will have a very hard time following Fineman's advice. After months of adulation and fawning during the campaign and early part of his presidency, Obama doesn't just go on TV because he thinks he needs to in order to sell his agenda, he goes on TV because he thinks YOU want and need to see him tell you how to live your life. The messiah complex runneth deep.

The War He Can Ignore

During the campaign Obama went on and on about how George Bush was not fighting the "right" war in Afghanistan correctly. After all, that's where bin Laden was supposed to be hiding out.

So, how much of a priority has Obama put on Afghanistan? Not much:

The military general credited for capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq says he has only spoken to President Obama once since taking command of Afghanistan.

“I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconferece],” General Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

“You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?” Mr. Martin followed up.

“That is correct,” the general replied.

This revelation comes amid the explosive publication of an classified report written by the general that said the war in Afghanistan “will likely result in failure” of more troops are not added next year. Yet, the debate over health care reform continues to dominate Washington’s political discussions.

Former U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations John Bolton said this was indicative of President Obama’s misplaced priorities.

“I think it’s very clear, and has been during last year’s campaign and in the eight months the president has been in office that he just doesn’t regard foreign policy and national security as important as domestic issues, like reforming the health care system,” Mr. Bolton told the hosts of the Washington Times’ American Morning News Monday morning.

He went on, “If you think there are no threats then it’s not illogical to pay no attention to the rest of the world. The problem is in his [Obama’s] basic reading of the international environment where we do continue to face massive threats for international terrorists and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, among others."

How would you like to be a family with a member being sent to fight in Afghanistan? How much support do you think that person would be getting from their government?

If we're not in it to win it, we better get out of there.

NRSC Plans to Lose California Senate Race

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the part of the GOP charged with electing Republican Senators, is apparently planning to lose the race next year to Barbara "Dumb as a Box of Rocks" Boxer. Red State reports from the California GOP convention in Indian Wells:

I’m writing to tell you about the loose talk here about Carly and the NRSC, emanating from the friends of Larry Elder.

You know Larry Elder: the African-American, Californian, libertarian, popular radio host and firebrand. He’s been around for a while, and he’s a solid presence on the California media-and-politics scene. Elder is a serious name and presence among California Republicans. He just wrapped up his radio show. “Why,” you might ask, “doesn’t Larry Elder run for the Senate?”

There is an answer accorinding to many of Elder’s friends at the Republican Convention — Senator Cornyn and the NRSC told him not to.

Here’s the story that is circulating at the convention: Back in the spring, Elder went to Washington to sit down with John Cornyn and the NRSC, and ask for their support for a bid for U.S. Senate against Barbara Boxer. Cornyn and the NRSC told him the following:

1. If Elder chose to run, they would not support him.
2. The NRSC was already committed to supporting Carly Fiorina
3. The NRSC expected Fiorina to lose against Boxer, but expected her to tie up Democrat resources in the meantime.

So Larry Elder came back to California and did not run. You know the rest: he’s watched the Fiorina campaign move from crisis to crisis (failure to vote, Iran sales, revelation of no self-funding, no CRP attendance, this Rasmussen poll, that website, etc.), and feeling increasingly frustrated. It’s probably too late for him to enter and Larry is hot under the collar that Cornyn gave him such terrible advice. So he’s talking to his friends — and his friends are talking to us — and I’m talking to you.

How incompetent is this? The NRSC actually told a popular African-American with statewide name recognition to NOT run? Last I checked, our party isn’t overflowing with those.

Oh, and the NRSC expects Carly Fiorina to lose to Barbara Boxer — and they told a talk radio host this?

California Republicans are used to a parade of incompetence and self-defeating stupidity at the highest levels of our beloved party. But this goes beyond what we’re used to. The NRSC nixed a perfectly viable and unique candidacy in favor of a candidate whose own website ponders if she is “coming soon?” I’d be mad if I were Larry Elder. In fact, I’m not Larry Elder, and I’m mad anyway.

In a debate Larry Elder would absolutely make Boxer looks like a stammering fool. He's a very sharp guy (I used to listen to his show from time to time). Too bad he's not in the race.

Why the national party would commit to a candidate this far out is a mystery to me, especially when another candidate, Chuck DeVore, is polling better than Fiorina. It seems like a strategy in which losing was the goal.

Bank of America Dumps ACORN

Looks like a little more nut cracking at ACORN:

Already facing the loss of federal government funding, the community-organizing group Acorn also has run afoul of one of its big corporate partners, Bank of America Corp.

In response to questions from The Wall Street Journal, a spokesman for the banking company said it has "suspended current commitments" to Acorn Housing, an affiliated group, and "will not enter into any further agreements with Acorn or any of its affiliates," pending assessments by the bank of the organization's operations.

Good. They've been extorting money from big banks for years, and now the banks finally have some ammunition on their side that will allow them to cut them off.

Obama to Make Personal Plea to Olympic Committee

Either that or he's going to make them an offer they can't refuse. From Mark Knoller's Twitter feed:

CBS News confirms that Pres. Obama will travel to Copenhagen at week's end on behald of Chicago's bid to host 2016 summer Olympics.

Initially, the WH said Pres. Obama couldn't go to the Olympic Committee mtg in Copenhagen because of the health care debate at home.

The WH said First Lady Michelle Obama would represent Pres. Obama in Copenhagen on behalf of Chicago's bid.

Now the WH says Pres. Obama will make a quick trip to appear before the Intl Olympic Committee in Copenhagen on Friday.

The decision reflects the importance Pres. Obama places on helping his hometown of Chicago and Mayor Daley get the 2016 Olympics.

WH says Pres. Obama will leave for Copenhagen on Thursday evening, address the IOC meeting there, and return to DC on Friday afternoon.

First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the US delegation to the IOC mtg, arriving in Copenhaven on Wed. She too will address the IOC on Friday.

Given the way the world has swooned over this guy they'll probably just skip the vote and award the Olympics by acclamation, though now that I think about it, Michelle could kill it.

Interesting comment in there about Obama not planning to attend because of the health care debate. Has he given up on it? Probably not, it's just that Obama desperately needs a victory...in something...anything...right now, and this is his current best hope.

Do you get the same feeling I do that Obama owes somebody in Chicago...big time?

These Chicagoans want nothing to do with the Olympics. Seems to be a growing movement in the Second City.

Support for Obamacare Continues to Slide

From Rasmussen:

Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% are opposed to the plan.

Senior citizens are less supportive of the plan than younger voters. In the latest survey, just 33% of seniors favor the plan while 59% are opposed. The intensity gap among seniors is significant. Only 16% of the over-65 crowd Strongly Favors the legislation while 46% are Strongly Opposed.

And let's not forget that seniors show up at the polls in much bigger numbers than young people. Could be real trouble for Democrats in 2010.

Nanny State Bars Babysitters

This is what happens when liberals are allowed to run governments:

A West Michigan woman says the state is threatening her with fines and possibly jail time for babysitting her neighbors' children.

Lisa Snyder of Middleville says her neighborhood school bus stop is right in front of her home. It arrives after her neighbors need to be at work, so she watches three of their children for 15-40 minutes until the bus comes.

The Department of Human Services received a complaint that Snyder was operating an illegal child care home. DHS contacted Snyder and told her to get licensed, stop watching her neighbors' kids, or face the consequences.

"It's ridiculous." says Snyder. "We are friends helping friends!" She added that she accepts no money for babysitting.

Mindy Rose, who leaves her 5-year-old with Snyder, agrees. "She's a friend... I trust her."

State Representative Brian Calley is drafting legislation that would exempt people who agree to care for non-dependent children from daycare rules as long as they're not engaged in a business.

"We have babysitting police running around this state violating people, threatening to put them in jail or fine them $1,000 for helping their neighbor (that) is truly outrageous" says Rep. Calley.

A DHS spokesperson would not comment on the specifics of the case but says they have no choice but to comply with state law, which is designed to protect Michigan children.

So, would Michigan's children be better protected if they were left home alone after the parents leave for work?

No wonder the state is on the verge of collapse.

The Return of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

Bill Clinton is on the case:

Bill Clinton says a vast, right-wing conspiracy that once targeted him is now focusing on President Barack Obama.

The ex-president made the comment in a television interview when he was asked about one of the signature moments of the Monica Lewinsky affair over a decade ago. Back then, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton used the term "vast, right-wing conspiracy" to describe how her husband’s political enemies were out to destroy his presidency.

Bill Clinton was asked on NBC’s "Meet the Press" whether the conspiracy is still there. He replied: "You bet. Sure it is. It’s not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically. But it’s as virulent as it was."

Clinton said that this time around, the focus is on Obama and "their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail."

Uh...no. Our agenda (those of us in VRWC) is for Obama's agenda to fail. Obama could be a successful president, but not with the leftist socialist agenda he's promoting.

Saudis Happy to Let Israelis Bomb Iran Nuke Sites

If the U.S. won't let Israel use Iraqi airspace, it looks like they can just go south a bit and fly over Saudi Arabia:

INTELLIGENCE chief Sir John Scarlett has been told that Saudi Arabia is ready to allow Israel to bomb Iran’s new nuclear site.

The head of MI6 discussed the issue in London with Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Saudi officials after British intelligence officers helped to uncover the plant, in the side of a mountain near the ancient city of Qom.

The monarchy in Saudi Arabia isn't any more interested in a nuclear Iran than are the Israelis. Nuclear weapons make strange bedfellows.

Chicagoans For Rio

A story broke on Drudge last night that the local Chicago Fox affiliate has spiked a story about Chicagoans who would rather see the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro rather than their hometown. The local anti-Olympians have their own rather entertaining website.

Olympic Games have very checkered financial histories. The games in Los Angeles were a huge financial success thanks to top-quality management. Atlanta made some money, though a lot of taxpayer money was spent on infrastructure improvements. Salt Lake City would have collapsed completely had it not been for Mitt Romney.

If Chicago gets the games, I've got to believe it will be a huge disaster. Given the incompetent and corrupt political leadership in that town, they'll be lucky if they can pull it off without bankrupting the city.

Liberal Dems Pushing to Include Illegals in Obamacare

Of course they are:

Fearful that they're losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access.

If anything kills Obamacare dead it will be the liberal Democrats who just can't stand the idea of a bill that doesn't include coverage for illegals and a public option. Right now they are the best friends Republicans have.

How To Get Your Sponsor on TV

Part of Joey Lagano's job as a Sprint Cup driver is to get his sponsor, Home Depot, some TV time during races. Let's just say he accomplished that in fine style today:

Political Question of the Day

From Political Punch:

'World Leader' to Obama: Explain Why 'They're Putting a Hitler Moustache On You'

I've always said that comparisons to Hitler are meaningless. Hitler was pretty much in a class by himself, and to paraphrase Godwin's law, the first person to start comparing someone to Hitler loses the argument.

There's plenty of things about Obama worth complaining about. Hitler comparisons don't help anyone make their case.

ObamWow

Seen on Facebook:

You Can't Mix Good With Bad and Expect Good to Result

Mark Steyn makes the point a little more graphically:

Half a decade or so back, I wrote: “It’s a good basic axiom that if you take a quart of ice-cream and a quart of dog feces and mix ’em together the result will taste more like the latter than the former. That’s the problem with the U.N.”

Absolutely right, if I do say so myself. When you make the free nations and the thug states members of the same club, the danger isn’t that they'll meet each other half-way but that the free world winds up going three-quarters, seven-eighths of the way. That’s what happened in New York last week. Barack Obama is not to blame for whichever vagary of United Nations protocol resulted in the president of the United States being the warm-up act for the Lunatic-for-Life in charge of Libya. But it is a pitiful reflection upon the state of the last superpower that, when it comes to the transnational mush drooled by the leader of the free world or the conspiracist ramblings of a terrorist pseudo-Bedouin running a one-man psycho-cult of a basket-case state, it’s more or less a toss-up as to which of them is more unreal. To be sure, Colonel Qaddafi peddled his thoughts on the laboratory origins of “swine flu” and the Zionist plot behind the Kennedy assassination. But, on the other hand, President Obama said: “No nation can or should try to dominate another nation.”

Pardon me? Did a professional speechwriter write that? Or did you outsource it to a starry-eyed runner-up in the Miss America pageant? Whether or not any nation “should try” to dominate another, they certainly “can,” and do so with effortless ease, all over the planet and throughout human history.

And how about this passage?

“I have been in office for just nine months — though some days it seems a lot longer. I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me. Rather, they are rooted, I believe, in a discontent with a status quo that has allowed us to be increasingly defined by our differences . . . ”

Forget the first part: That’s just his usual narcissistic “But enough about me, let’s talk about what the world thinks of me” shtick. But the second is dangerous in its cowardly evasiveness: For better or worse, we are defined by our differences — and, if Barack Obama doesn’t understand that when he’s at the podium addressing a room filled with representatives of Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Venezuela, and other unlovely polities, the TV audience certainly did when Colonel Qaddafi took to the podium immediately afterwards. They’re both heads of state of sovereign nations. But, if you’re on an Indian Ocean island when the next tsunami hits, try calling Libya instead of the United States and sees where it gets you.

There's more here - read it all.

Could Twitter Make or Break a Show?

Thanks to the multiple time zones in our country, network shows appear three hours earlier than they appear in the west, and that gives the east coast folks a chance to watch and review programs before the west coasters have a chance to see them. That also gives us west coasters a chance to pass on programming should we read east coast negative reviews. Mickey Kaus comments on that phenomenon:

Why watch Saturday Night Live in L.A. when the twitters from back East say it's weak? Does that mean TV shows now have a New York problem like movies have a Friday problem? Movies: If twitterers don't like on Friday, it will die on Saturday. TV: If the East doesn't like it, it will die in West? Just asking! Not my industry. ...

A couple of people I follow on Twitter are in New York, and I noticed some negative tweets regarding SNL coming out last night. It certainly didn't make me want to stay up and watch.

And besides, the weak season premier featured a new cast member dropping an "F" bomb live on the air. If that's the best they've got, who needs them.

Over at Wizbang Kevin Aylward talks about all the great subjects for SNL skits that were ignored in last night's season opener. Looks like a bad year coming for SNL.

Political Quote of the Day

From the Pantywaist President, regarding the conflict with Iran over nukes:

"I'm not interested in victory."

We know that the concept of "victory" bothers Obama greatly. He said in previous interviews that the scene of the Japanese surrendering to Gen. MacArthur on the deck of the USS Missouri was quite troubling to him (he mistakenly thought Emperor Hirohito was part of that surrender ceremony).

He may not be interested in victory, but we all need to hope and pray he's not interested in defeat.

And don't miss Chris Muir's cartoon today.

The NY Times Discovers Fox News

It took them awhile but now maybe they'll learn something (from Don Surber):

The New York Times ignored the ACORN story for more than a year now, going back to at least July 2008 when it decided not to pursue this tip: “The real story to all this is how these myriad entities allow them to shuffle money around so much that no one really knows what’s getting spent on what — and for the charities like the housing orgs, that’s a problem. Charitable money cannot be spent on political activites. It’s a big no-no that can cost charitable organizations their exemptions.”

So what is its excuse now?

No one watches Fox News or listens to talk radio. I mean only 47% of the country failed to vote for Barack Obama, right?

But Clark Hoyt, the newspaper’s public editor said that will change.

“Jill Abramson, the managing editor for news, agreed with me that the paper was ’slow off the mark,’ and blamed ‘insufficient tuned-in-ness to the issues that are dominating Fox News and talk radio.’ She and Bill Keller, the executive editor, said last week that they would now assign an editor to monitor opinion media and brief them frequently on bubbling controversies. Keller declined to identify the editor, saying he wanted to spare that person ‘a bombardment of e-mails and excoriation in the blogosphere’.

“Despite what the critics think, Abramson said the problem was not liberal bias,” Hoyt wrote.

I think this is the first time I've ever had the "Fox News" and "New York Times" labels on the same post.

While Abramson may claim there was no liberal bias involved, it's clear they didn't consider anything going on with ACORN to be a story worth covering. After all, doesn't ACORN "help" people?

They're also big supporters of every lefty issue the Times supports, and friends of my friends are also my friends. You can call it "bias", or just "blindness".

Roman Holiday

Famed film director Roman Polanski got an unpleasant surprise from Swiss authorities:

Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police for possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said Sunday.

Polanski, a French citizen, was flying in to receive an honorary award at the Zurich Film Festival when he was apprehended Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement. It said U.S. authorities have sought the arrest of the 76-year-old around the world since 2005.

"There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming," ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told The Associated Press. "That's why he was taken into custody."

Balmer said the U.S. would now be given time to make a formal extradition request.

In case you don't remember the details of the 32-year old case:

In 1977, he was accused of raping the teenager while photographing her during a modeling session. The girl said Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill at Jack Nicholson's house while the actor was away. She said that, despite her protests, he performed oral sex, intercourse and sodomy on her.

Polanski was allowed to plead guilty to one of six charges, unlawful sexual intercourse, and was sent to prison for 42 days of evaluation.

Lawyers agreed that would be his full sentence, but the judge tried to renege on the plea bargain. Aware the judge would sentence him to more prison time and require his voluntary deportation, Polanski fled to France.

I'm guessing the extradition order will never come. Attorney General Eric Holder is too busy trying to prosecute our CIA agents to mess with the Polish Perv.

Time-Lapse Tornado

Just because I'm such a sucker for cool looking severe weather (I swear one of these years I'm going to go storm chasing), here is a time-lapse video that was taken last June during the big Nebraska tornado:

Political Photo of the Day

Find the Goths:

Apparently this photo is causing some heartburn for the Spanish Prime Minister. Both his daughter are Goths - morbidly morose teens who dress all in black, and they've been trying to keep the girls out of sight of the press.

Well, they're not out of sight now.

Don't Downplay the Value of Public Humiliation

I'll bet it was pretty effective in this case:

The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning.

It was the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man last Sunday after they accused him of setting the flag in front of their building on fire.

Post Commander Nick Normile, a Vietnam War veteran, said the man came into the post's bar Sept. 18 on Poplar Avenue and was eventually turned away for not having a proper ID.

Apparently angered, the young man, who Normile did not want to name, cut the rope of the American flag flying overhead and used a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, Normile and others said.

The man sat pilloried as the village had its fall youth soccer picnic with a long parade of children passing in front of him.

"He'll never disrespect the flag again, I can tell you that," Normile said.

Crude, but effective.

Rush Runs Over Al Gore...Twice

Rush Limbaugh's appearance on the new Jay Leno Show had some memorable moments:

International Relations Quote of the Week

From Obama buddy and Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, during his speech at the UN:

"The Smell of Sulphur Has Been Replaced By Smell of Hope"

Sorry, but they both stink.

President Pantywaist

When his days as U.S. President are done, Gerald Warner of the UK Telegraph thinks he may have a future as president of Russia:

Barack Obama’s chances of re-election in three and a half years’ time may be evaporating at unprecedented speed, but his presidential ambitions could still be realised in another direction. He would be a shoo-in to win the next Russian presidential election, so high is his popularity now running in the land of the bear and the knout. Obama has done more to restore Russia’s hegemonial potential in Eastern and Central Europe than even Vladimir Putin.

His latest achievement has been to restore the former satellite states to dependency on Moscow, by wimping out of the missile defence shield plan. This follows on his surrender last July when he voluntarily sacrificed around a third of America’s nuclear capability for no perceptible benefit beyond a grim smile from Putin. If there is one thing that fans the fires of aggression it is appeasement.

Despite propaganda to the contrary, 58 per cent of Poles were in favour of the missile shield. But small nations must assess the political will of larger powers. Thanks to President Pantywaist’s supine policies, the former satellite states can see that they are fast returning to their former status. The American umbrella cannot be relied upon on a rainy day. They have been here before. Poles remember how a leftist US president sold them out to Russia at Tehran and Yalta. The former Czechoslovakia was betrayed twice: in 1938 and 1945.

If the word is out that America is in retreat, it will soon find it has no friends. The satellites will pragmatically accept their restored subordination, without openly acknowledging it, and co-operate with their dangerous neighbour, ushering in a new generation of Finlandisation...

A pushover in the Oval Office is the best news Russian expansionists have heard since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

He's the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century, giving up countries belonging to other people in exchange for a false peace.

Kelo Decision an Epic Fail

In 2005 many of us were outraged when the Supreme Court ruled that cities could take property belonging to homeowners and turn it over to developers in order to increase their tax revenue. It was known as the Kelo decision. Property along a waterfront area in New London, CT was seized, including private homes, and given to developers who were supposed to revitalize the area and bring new tax money to the greedy city.

So, how is that working out so far?

Weeds, glass, bricks, pieces of pipe and shingle splinters have replaced the knot of aging homes at the site of the nation's most notorious eminent domain project.

There are a few signs of life: Feral cats glare at visitors from a miniature jungle of Queen Anne's lace, thistle and goldenrod. Gulls swoop between the lot's towering trees and the adjacent sewage treatment plant.

But what of the promised building boom that was supposed to come wrapped and ribboned with up to 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues? They are noticeably missing.

Proponents of the ambitious plan blame the sour economy. Opponents call it a "poetic justice."

"They are getting what they deserve. They are going to get nothing," said Susette Kelo, the lead plaintiff in the landmark property rights case. "I don't think this is what the United States Supreme Court justices had in mind when they made this decision."

Kelo's iconic pink home sat for more than a century on that currently empty lot, just steps away from Connecticut's quaint but economically distressed Long Island Sound waterfront. Shortly after she moved in, in 1997, her house became ground zero in the nation's best-known land rights catfight.

New London officials decided they needed Kelo's land and the surrounding 90 acres for a multimillion-dollar private development that included residential, hotel conference, research and development space and a new state park that would compliment a new $350 million Pfizer pharmaceutical research facility.

Kelo and six other homeowners fought for years, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2005, justices voted 5-4 against them, giving cities across the country the right to use eminent domain to take property for private development.

The decision was sharply criticized and created grassroots backlash. Forty states quickly passed new, protective rules and regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some protesters even tried to turn the tables on now-retired Justice David Souter, trying unsuccessfully in 2006 to take his New Hampshire home by eminent domain to build an inn.

In New London the city's prized economic development plan has fallen apart as the economy crumbled.

In some ways Kelo was a success because it spurred movements all over the country to ban the type of behavior the city leaders in New London exhibited. Thanks to Kelo there are probably millions of homeowners who are now safe from this type of government taking.

Obama Shuns CNN

Welcome to Fox News' world, CNN:

A White House senior adviser was scheduled to appear on CNN's "American Morning" this week, but the White House rescinded the offer after the network booked author Christopher Andersen. Andersen's new book "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," is out today.

The inside flap of the book boasts having, "behind-the-scenes details of the Obama's courtship and marriage -- and the lovers who went before."

Andersen appeared on CBS' "Early Show" yesterday, but it's not clear if any booking offers to CBS were rescinded.

During her interview with Anderson this morning, CNN's Kiran Chetry said, "We reached out to the White House for a response to the book. They declined comment and made it known that they weren't happy. In fact, they pulled an interview they had with a senior adviser once they learned you were on the show."

Have you ever seen an administration as thin-skinned as this one? They don't realize it, but they're doing CNN a favor by withholding access to their talking heads. Maybe people won't be so inclined to change channels.

Sarkozy Doesn't Believe in Rainbows and Unicorns

The French President clearly wasn't impressed by The One (from Don Surber):

The press of course played down the controversy, but after President Obama gave the Security Council his Kumbaya about a nuclear-free world, French President Sarkozy mocked him mercilessly.

From the National Post, President Sarkozy: “President Obama dreams of a world without weapons … but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite. Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993. I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe a UN member state off the map.”

Then there was this exchange:

Obama: “We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth.”

Sarkozy: “We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.”

Our allies sense weakness at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Weakness in Washington endangers all.

And weakness in Washington is now official policy.

Political Quote of the Day

From Charles Krauthammer on Obama's stint as chair of the UN's Security Council:

Look, my model U.N. in high school was more realistic than this Security Council.

Read the rest of his analysis here.

Sea World Revealed

Last Wednesday, after the most grueling 48 hours of my life, my wife and I decided we just needed to get away somewhere to try and regroup. She suggested Sea World in San Diego, and I grabbed my camera and away we went. Of course, I took a few special photos:

The have two giant screws, which really should be placed at the entrance where you pay to get in.

Walrus massage ("ooo, right there....just a little lower...")

The Penguin Brothers Quartet had just finished their stand. The bass is taking a bow.

Shamu doing the "close parenthesis" trick.

The really cool whales have hood ornaments.

"Darn, I think I've got whale stuck on my shoe again."

The show's gotten a little more edgy. Now they sacrifice a virgin at the end to placate Mother Gaia and stop global warming. Here's today's "volunteer" sending in the appetizer.

Seen in the skies over the park, the rare Touristus HolyCoastus.

This fish was just so 1960's.

The had a nice collection of Democrat Fish, more commonly known as Piranha.

My wife's nightmare - taking a long walk in high eels.

"Geez, I've gotta quit eating everything they throw at me. "

"Egrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention..."

School Principal Has No Regrets

The principal of the New Jersey school where students sang praises to Obama has no regrets and would do it again if she could:

The principal of a New Jersey elementary school where young students were videotaped singing the praises of President Obama is making no apologies for the videotape and says she would allow the performance again if she could, according to parents who spoke with her Thursday night.

Three parents told FOXNews.com that Dr. Denise King, principal of B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, N.J., defended the controversial performance, which was videotaped and posted on YouTube, when they approached her during a "Back to School" event.

Parent Jim Angelillo said King told him the lesson was merely part of Black History month, and not an attempt to indoctrinate students, as critics have charged. He said he believes teachers have the freedom to express their political views, but not in the classroom.

"Freedom of speech, not freedom to teach," Angelillo told FOXNews.com.

King has long been a fan of Obama, hanging pictures of the president in her school's hallways and touting her trip to his inauguration in the school yearbook.

Included in the full-page yearbook spread were Obama campaign slogans ("Yes we can! Yes we did!") and photos King took in Washington on Jan. 20, when she attended the inauguration.

There also were photos taken at the school depicting students doing Obama-themed activities about their "hopes for the future," featuring posters of Obama. According to the yearbook, students watched the inauguration in class.

I posted the lyrics to the Obama praise songs in an earlier post. I'm waiting now for the condemnation of the kids from John McCain. After all, during the campaign McCain publicly rebuked several people who dared to utter the middle name of Obama and now we have a class full of kids chanting it numerous times.

Make room under McCain's campaign bus for some little kids.

Failure to Buy Obamacare Could Land You In Jail

Sen. John Ensign confirms it:

This doesn't happen often enough.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it "Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold."

The note was a follow-up to Ensign's questioning at the markup.

At least while you're in jail you'll have free health care.

Meg Whitman Wants You To Do Something She Rarely Did

Vote...for her:

Almost 9 million Californians cast ballots in the 2003 special election that swept movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger into the Governor's Office.

Meg Whitman wasn't among them.

The billionaire businesswoman now running for governor herself in 2010 didn't vote in that special election, even after Business Week listed her among a group of top executives with "worse than spotty voting records" in a 2000 magazine story, public records show.

Whitman apologized for failing to vote "on several occasions" as she introduced herself earlier this year as a candidate to replace Schwarzenegger as governor at a state Republican Party convention in Sacramento. She said her failure to vote was a mistake for which she had no excuses.

"Every citizen should take time to vote, and on more than one occasion, I didn't," the former eBay chief told the GOP activists. "Voting is a precious gift handed down by generations of Americans. I regret not having delivered my vote on several occasions."

In fact, however, a Bee review found Whitman regularly skipped elections in California and several other states where she lived and worked.

This can't help her chances. Voters have a hard time taking people seriously who don't think enough of the political process to participate...until they want to get elected.

New Senator Kirk Once Called for Means Testing for Social Security

A blast from the past. In 1985 Paul Kirk, who was just named to fill Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat, was chairman of the Democrat Party. He stepped in it big time (from the LA Times 1985 article):

Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. suggested Wednesday that Democratic congressional leaders consider eliminating Social Security benefits for people "who have no real need for them."

In a breakfast interview with reporters in Los Angeles, Kirk also suggested that Democratic leaders consider an across-the-board budget freeze for one year--including a cap on Social Security cost-of-living increases--while Congress seeks long-term solutions to the deficit.

Kirk later backed away from his comments after they set off a firestorm among Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, some of whom said privately that Kirk had undercut them in their debate with Republicans over proposals for controlling Social Security outlays.

Democrats have been assailing President Reagan and Senate Republicans for proposing two weeks ago that Social Security cost-of-living increases be limited to 2 percentage points under the rate of inflation in each of the next three years, with a guarantee of at least a 2% hike each year.

"It is outrageous that the chairman of the Democratic Party is suggesting a means test for Social Security," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). "The Democratic Party has always supported Social Security as an insurance program, not a welfare program. We promised the American people that if they paid into this system they would be able to draw out of it in retirement and not have to subject themselves to the indignity of having to show whether they need the money or not."

Some Democrats said privately that the idea of a means test for Social Security undermines their effort to broaden the party's appeal to middle-class voters.

California Sen. Alan Cranston, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said, "I am a Democratic leader that Kirk is apparently referring to and I can tell you that no leaders are going to take his advice on either issue. A means test for Social Security benefits would undermine the long-term support for the program and, as for an across-the-board budget freeze, Social Security should not be included. It has its own separate fund."

Mickey Kaus has Kirk's statement:

Kirk's subsequent s**t-eating recantation was comically, almost self-defeatingly, transparent. By bedtime on the same day, he put out a statement declaring: "I was wrong. Our party ... is unalterably opposed to any cuts in Social Security benefits. I should not have mentioned the subject of a means test. I plan to undergo electroshock therapy to insure that this idea never again appears within my cerebral cortex without producing immediate nausea and revulsion." [E.A.]

OK, he didn't say that last sentence. But he said the one before it. ...

It would be awfully entertaining for some political reporter to bring this up.