MeTV – 4:00-4:30 on 10/21/13
“The Big Departure” air date 2/113/72 (yes, I copied it right)
“Juveniles who claim they want to be self-sufficient burglarize a grocery store”
I was listening to Cavuto rant about Obamacare when I flipped to MeTV and caught the last 10-15 minutes of Dragnet. It could have been broadcast for the first time today, and except for the clothes would have been timely.
The problem with public housing is that the residents are not the owners.
The people who live in the house did not earn the house, but were merely loaned the property by the actual owners, the taxpayers. Because of this, the residents do not have the "pride of ownership" that comes with the hard work necessary to become owners.
In fact, quite the opposite happens. The residents resent their benefactors, because the very house is a constant reminder that they themselves have not earned the right to live in the house. They neither appreciate the value of the property nor understand the need to maintain or respect it in any way.
The result is the same, whether one is talking about either a studio apartment or a magnificent mansion full of priceless antiques. If the people who live there do not feel they've earned the privilege of occupancy, they will make this obvious through their actions.
Note the common theme of the following photographs.....
The desk [in the oval office], built from timbers of the HMS Resolute and a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes is considered a national treasure and icon of the presidency.
The White House belongs to the people of America.
Its treasures should NOT be used by ANYONE for a foot rest…!
These photos, ongoing proof that this man has no class whatsoever, all show an innate disrespect for our White House.
SO, HERE'S A MESSAGE FROM THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA:
Mr. Obama, you're not in a hut in Kenya or Indonesia, or in Chicago public housing. You're in the White House, Barry, property of the people of the United States.
With all due respect, get your @#%*+#% feet off our furniture..!
1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.
13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.
15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? **** it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?
16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?
26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?
29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.
31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my *** everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!
Since I normally over-research the available products long before any major purchase, it was way out of character to purchase my 2013 Escape on the same day that I first became aware of them.
I had spent 6 months sporadically, and the last 3 months intensely doing the research to decide on what would replace my 2010 Fusion SEL. In addition to that abnormality, I should also disclaim that I’m not your “average” driver. I think the best term to describe my driving style would be “aggressive”. If there’s a vehicle in front of you, pass it. If there’s a vehicle beside you, (like at a traffic light) don’t let him get ahead of you. Buy the best radar detector that you can’t afford (after researching to find the best). While living in Houston for the past 13 years, I’d had 3 Accords before switching to the non-bailout-taking, American car company. All were 36 month, 36,000 mi. leases. I never went over 8,000 miles/yr.
My Fusion had the 3.0, 24 Valve, V6 with the 6-speed SportShift transmission. It would smoke the front tires off the line and chirp them going into 2nd. It had remote start, NAV, rear camera, and just about all the bells & whistles. I really wanted to replace it with the 2013 Fusion. The problem was that to get all the tech toys and AWD, I would need the “Titanium” trim level, and as of this writing, that trim level comes with only the “Charcoal Black” leather interior. I’ve had black and my wife doesn’t like black interiors, so it was a show-stopper. I’d have to find another vehicle and wait for Ford to come to its senses.
I liked the Sonata but it didn’t come with AWD, and now that we’ve moved to New England and 5 grandkids, I’ll feel safer with AWD. A little more research and I found one and only one 2012 Fusion within 150 miles that was colored and optioned the way I wanted. Sixty days before my lease was to terminate, I went to a local Ford dealer with the intention of committing to lease that particular 2012 Fusion if the local dealer could get the car, and if we could negotiate the right terms. My salesman said he could get the car, and would present my terms to his manager. While he was off doing his thing, I looked out at a line of SUVs that were backed-up along the showroom window. They looked pretty cool! They were Escapes – but I’d looked at Escapes and thought they were boxes. Turns out I’d looked at 2012 Escapes that were/are boxes. I’d also looks at the Edge and Explorer lines and found them too big for me to not worry when my wife would be carting the grandkids to Target during a New England snowstorm.
I went outside to look them over. My salesman came out and threw me the keys (fob) to a Titanium – so I went for a drive – alone. I loved it. I can’t describe it in just one word – it takes three; Easy, Quick, and Fun!
So I went back in to my salesman and spec’d one out. With the way Ford packages the Escapes, I ended up with an SEL 2.0 AWD with all options except Towing (Technology and Parking Assist packages, plus NAV and the Panoramic Sunroof) – in White Platinum Tri-Coat paint and Medium Stone leather interior. The MSRP came up to $37,190. We got close to what I was willing to pay so I called a timeout to go and get my wife.
We arrived back at the dealership and I led my wife toward the front to the lineup of Escapes. When our salesman came out my wife exclaimed, “Timmy!” Then they hugged and as Timmy said, “Auntie Lynne”, I came to the realization that the cost of my new Escape had just gone DOWN!
I signed up for a 24 month, 18,000 mi/yr lease, and Tim input the order. We went home and I started the research. The Dealer “eSource” website was open (it’s now locked out) and I downloaded copies of all promotional and technical materials. From the Ford Owners website I got copies of the Owner’s manual (Tip: Make sure you have the latest printing, currently 2nd.) I set up a Google Alert for anything “2013 Escape”, and I searched YouTube and the car magazines websites. And I read it all. I viewed lots of YouTube videos. I joined online Escape Forums. I drove my wife, family, and even my friends crazy.
If I had to put a number on it, I’d say that at least 95% of everything I read, saw, or heard was positive, even superlative, and continually reassured me that I’d made a good choice. The technology is nothing short of awesome!
It took 8 weeks from order to delivery. Two Ford employees, on different websites, kept me informed as to where mine was in the process. When I learned it was to be built on a Saturday, I was a tad apprehensive. I’d read Arthur Hailey’s “Wheels” and learned that the best day of the week to have your car built is Wednesday – because that day has the most employees on the line at their normal position, and the least number of fill-in’s or substitutes. Yeah, Saturday had me worried. (Needlessly)
From the forums, I also learned that some of the early Escapes had problems with water leakage around the front window and some had door/hatch alignment and fit issues. (Mine has neither.)
We took delivery a month ago. We now have 1,400 miles on it; I’ve washed it twice and waxed it once. And we’ve been on one 350 mile road trip to where we grew up in Vermont. Yesterday, my wife said, “I like driving this car better than any other car I’ve driven!” Except for a 1973 Citroën SM with a Maserati drivetrain, I agree.
We live in Hudson, MA, and to get almost anywhere we drive interstate highways at 75 mph or rural roads at 40. The trip to Vt. was mostly 2-lane rural country roads with speed limits of 50 mph. I used the Cruise Control whenever possible and had it set to 5 mph above the limits.
Some of the technology:
MapQuest, “Send to SYNC” – Or you can use the smartphone app, “SYNC Destinations” to find destination addresses and “send” them to your car. Then you start it up and give the voice command, “Services”, after which a nice lady’s voice asks if you want to navigate to whatever destination you sent.
Tip #1: If you want a different route than what the system maps out for you, include some waypoints from along the route that YOU want to go.
Tip #2: Use the “Auto” zoom level – it automatically zooms the map in and out based on your speed, and when you are nearing turns.
Real-Life: This works. Finding destinations via MapQuest or SYNC Destinations and then sending them to the car before your trip is sometimes easier than searching for destinations via Voice Commands or the touchscreen. You can save sent destinations to your address book (now called Favorites).
Hands-Free Power LiftGate - A gentle kicking motion under the center of the rear bumper activates, unlocks and raises the LiftGate when the driver has the Escape key fob in pocket or purse and it’s within 3 feet of the hatch. This allows quick and easy access to the cargo area without needing to set down packages or dig out keys. The same process closes the hatch.
Real-Life: This is really appreciated the first time you have your arms/hands full and you don’t have to put stuff on the ground/snow/mud to open the hatch. Plus, onlookers go, “Wow!”
SYNC® with MyFord Touch® - Offers multiple ways for customers to manage and control information through voice commands, menus accessed through controls on the steering wheel, touch screens, buttons or knobs. Upgraded system includes new look, making phone, navigation, entertainment and climate controls even easier to use.
Real-Life: Yeah, it needs a little refinement…but it ain’t bad! Using the phone is a lot easier and sounds (on both sides) much better than previous versions.
Active Park Assist - Parallel parking the Escape is virtually stress-free with active park assist. With the press of a button, the system detects an available parallel parking space and automatically steers the vehicle into the space. Drivers control only the gas and brake pedals. The rear camera, coupled with the front & rear proximity sensors provide visual, graphical, and auditory guidance & warnings as you get close to objects behind, in-front, and off the corners of the vehicle.
Real-Life: - This really does work. But it takes a bit of practice. It puts you right next to, but not touching the curb. The proximity sensor system quiets the radio/sound system as you approach objects and the warning beeps get louder and more intense as you get closer. An undocumented benefit is when you approach a drive-through window or toll booth – it beeps and turns down the sound volume automatically!
BLIS® (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross-Traffic Alert - Maneuvering parking lots and traveling open roadways becomes even safer and less stressful with Escape’s sensor-based BLIS sounds an alert when a vehicle is detected entering a blind spot. The outside mirrors have an indicator light that lets you know when there’s another vehicle alongside of you and when you’re clear to change lanes. Cross-traffic alert warns if traffic is detected approaching from the sides, such as when Escape is leaving a parking space in reverse.
Real-Life: - I’ve had this on previous vehicles and it’s one of the things that I’ll insist be on all of my future cars. More than once have I found the next lane was NOT clear even though I couldn’t see anyone there. Plus it does let you know if anyone is coming down the row behind you BEFORE you back up.
Curve Control – Torque Vectoring Control – Intelligent 4WD - The all-new Ford Escape is the first Ford SUV to combine class-exclusive technology to automatically slow the vehicle when it’s cornering too fast (Curve Control) or help accelerate through a turn (Torque Vectoring Control); a new Intelligent 4WD System helps deliver outstanding handling on pristine pavement and in adverse conditions as well, along with excellent traction off-road.
Real-Life: - I’ve entered some On and Off-Ramps at pretty good speeds, but have yet to activate the Curve Control. I have read quite a bit about it and I’m glad to know it’s there. I can feel the result of the Torque Vectoring Control – going around corners just seems so much more effortless than in previous vehicles. We’ve had only one snowfall so far this year and it was 4 inches of very wet white stuff on surfaces that were too warm for any ice to form. I couldn’t get it to break traction – so it wasn’t much fun. The Escape just went where I steered it with no wheel spin at all L.
Real-Life: - I was driving back from Vermont Saturday morning while a cold front was moving through. It was very windy; leaves were blowing all over. At first, I thought the driver of the Chevy Tahoe ahead of me might have had a hangover – he was sporadically swerving in and out of his lane. It was then that I realized there was one heck of a crosswind that was blowing him around. Him – not me! I was relaxed and steering with 2 fingers. I had read about EPAS, but I had no idea how good it really is! I honestly could not feel the wind, nor could I feel EPAS – the ride was rock-solid!
So, “What’s wrong with it?”– Not much. For my Escape, fit & finish, both inside and out is flawless. Some folks complain about the space between your right leg and the center stack covering – there isn’t any room, your leg will be against it. Aside from having to adjust my pants leg now and then (the seam of my jeans), I wasn’t bothered. The seats are comfortable, with plenty of room, and I’m 6’ 1”, 245 lbs.
There needs to be some kind of tray in the center console for coins, pens, and other junk. And I’d feel better if the SD card and the USB/RCA connectors had a protective cover.
The dash HVAC vents have bright, almost chrome trim that reflects on the windows and is visible in the side mirrors. No big deal, but it’s annoying at times.
Performance – The new engines combine EcoBoost’s core technologies of direct fuel injection and turbocharging and add twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT) to deliver even better miles per gallon and save customers money on fuel. The 2.0-liter offers 240 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque. My window sticker says 21/28/24 for City/Highway/Combined.
Real-Life: - For my 365 mile trip to Vermont and back, most of it highway driving at 60 mph or less, I got 25.1 mpg. That included 3 or 4 full-throttle starts in “Sport” mode, and yes I whipped the CR-V’s, and three V6’s – a Pathfinder, a RAV 4, and a Tacoma. Plus, there were several 40-to-80-and back to 60 passing runs on two-lane roads.
Over the 1336 total miles on the car, checking each time I fill the tank, I’m getting 18.3 avg., with 25.1 high and 14.6 low. I’m happy with it, and I realize we do a lot of 75-80 or-get-run-over driving on the interstates.
Bottom Line – If I could go back and change anything about the vehicle I ordered and am driving now, I’d change nothing. I love this car!
This one is a little different... . Two Different Versions....
.... Two Different Morals
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away..
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.
By Scott
Hillsdale College Professor Paul Rahe writes:
On the face of it, the question I pose is absurd -- not, of course, because Jacob Weisberg is right in supposing 2009 "Obama's Brilliant First Year." For the piece in which Weisberg argues this implausible case, he should be given the Steven Clemons Award, which is reserved each month for the author of a deadly serious post that is most likely to be misread as a parody.
No, as I tried to show in my post this past Sunday, Obama is in deep trouble, as is his party, and virtually everyone in our political class, apart from Weisberg, senses.
If the question I pose is absurd, it is because Barack Obama has three years left in which to rescue his Presidency, and a lot can and will happen in those three years.
None of it will help President Obama one iota, however, if he does not dramatically reposition himself. Tonight, in some measure, he may do so -- by the simple expedient of putting some distance between himself and those in his party (Joe Biden included) who think it possible for the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan with its tail between its legs and nonetheless prosper.
Next week, President Obama will have another, even more important opportunity to reposition himself. He will be once again in Copenhagen -- where some weeks back he made a colossal fool out of himself (and us) while seeking to persuade the International Olympic Committee to hold the next Olympics in Chicago.
This time, however, if our President wanted to, he could present himself as a paragon of principle and strength.
In his inaugural address, President Obama pledged to "roll back the specter of a warming planet" and "restore science to its rightful place," implying -- graceless as always -- that the administration of George W. Bush has suppressed scientific truth in the interests of ideology.
In Copenhagen, President Obama can show us that -- however unjust he may have been to his predecessor -- he is as good as his word, and then he can regain in some measure the trust that he has lost by his involvement in the lying, the wholesale bribery, and the other shenanigans associated with the "stimulus" scam and the proposed health care reform.
In the last few days, we have learned that what has long been suspected is all too true: that the work done by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, which formed the basis for the four reports issued by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a sham -- that the data were doctored, that the computer simulation was a fraud, and that systematic efforts were made by the most prominent climate scientists to corrupt the peer-review process and suppress legitimate criticism: all for the purpose of imposing a straitjacket on the world economy.
As radical climate alarmist George Monbiot has acknowledged on his blog, "Pretending that this isn't a real crisis isn't going to make it go away . . . I know that opaqueness and secrecy are the enemies of science. There is a word for the apparent repeated attempts to prevent disclosure revealed in these emails: unscientific . . . No one has been as badly let down by the revelations in these emails as those of us who have championed the science. We should be the first to demand that" climate research be "unimpeachable, not the last."
This is precisely what President Obama could say in Copenhagen -- that some of the most prominent climate scientists have betrayed their calling, that the global-warming hypothesis remains, in fact, unproven, and that the reports issued by the IPCC provide no basis for the making of public policy.
In this fashion -- mindful that a specter is "an apparition inspiring dread" and that one of the principal functions of science is to dispel illusions of this very sort -- he really could "roll back the specter of a warming planet" and "restore science to its rightful place."
In such a situation, it would be appropriate that President Obama recommend that there be further study, that the raw data collected and the computer code written be available for inspection by all, and that research funds be apportioned equally between those who assert and those who deny that we are threatened by anthropogenic global warming.
In short, he could rise above the fray, as presidents are supposed to do. And, at the same time, he could get out from under the economically destructive and politically suicidal cap-and-trade bill that Nancy Pelosi jammed through the House and that he endorsed.
He would infuriate the true believers that make up much of his party's base, to be sure. His science czar John Holdren -- a radical socialist who was an alarmist regarding global cooling back in the early 1970s before he became an alarmist regarding global warming -- might resign. Al Gore, who has made something like $100 million in the course of peddling junk science, would rise up in high dudgeon.
But the President of the United States would win the hearts of his countrymen. Climategate could be for Barack Obama what Sister Souljah was for William Jefferson Clinton.
Alternatively, of course, President Obama could hunker down, embrace "the specter of a warming planet," and disgrace himself by telling us what anyone who pays the slightest attention to developments knows to be untrue, as he has done so often in the health care debates. If he does so, however -- if he really is, as I suspect, a one-trick pony, an empty suit with a golden tongue -- he will only accelerate his precipitous decline and that of his party in the polls.
By Scott
Hillsdale College Professor Paul Rahe writes:
I am not a great admirer of Peggy Noonan as a journalist. Most of the time, she aims at capturing a mood, and I generally find the lack of analysis and the sentimentalism so visible in her work offputting. There are, however, moments when she hits the ball out of the park, and she did so just a few days ago in The Wall Street Journal.
Noonan began by drawing attention to two articles published by establishment Democrats. In the first of these, which appeared on Politico, veteran commentator Elizabeth Drew reported,
While [Barack Obama] was abroad, there was a palpable sense at home of something gone wrong. A critical mass of influential people who once held big hopes for his presidency began to wonder whether they had misjudged the man. Most significant, these doubters now find themselves with a new reluctance to defend Obama at a phase of his presidency when he needs defenders more urgently than ever.
This is the price Obama has paid with his complicity and most likely his active participation, in the shabbiest episode of his presidency: The firing by leaks of White House counsel Gregory Craig, a well-respected Washington veteran and influential early supporter of Obama.
The people who are most aghast by the handling of the Craig departure can't be dismissed by the White House as Republican partisans, or still-embittered Hillary Clinton supporters. They are not naïve activists who don't understand that the exercise of power can be a rough business and that trade-offs and personal disappointments are inevitable. Instead, they are people, either in politics or close observers, who once held an unromantically high opinion of Obama. They were important to his rise, and are likely more important to the success or failure of his presidency than Obama or his distressingly insular and small-minded West Wing team appreciate.
The Craig embarrassment gives these people a new reason - not the first or only reason - to conclude that he wasn't the person of integrity and even classiness they had thought, and, more fundamentally, that his ability to move people and actually lead a fractured and troubled country (the reason many preferred him over Hillary Clinton) is not what had been promised in the campaign.
This may seem like a lot to hang on a Washington personnel move. After all, intramural back-stabbing or making people fall guys when things go wrong (think Bill Clinton's Defense Secretary Les Aspin after the disaster in Somalia) are not new to Washingtonians.
But Craig's ouster did not occur in a vacuum. It served as a focal point to concerns that have been building for months that Obama wasn't pressing for all that might be possible within the existing political constraints (all that one could ask of a president); that his presidential voice hadn't fulfilled the hopes raised by his campaign voice (which had also taken him a while to find); that he hadn't created a movement, as he had raised expectations that he would; that would be there to back him up and help him fulfill his promises.
Drew's contention was not that Craig should have been kept. She acknowledged that, if Obama was unhappy with his performance, he should have been dropped. Her point was that it should not have been done in a shabby fashion by a series of leaks orchestrated by Obama's enforcer Rahm Emanuel. As an Obama loyalist, Craig deserved a dignified departure.
Symptomatic of her larger worries is the following:
The incident underscored worries that several had held about the Obama White House for some time: that it was too tightly controlled and narrowly focused by the Chicago crowd; that it seemed from the outset to need an older, wiser head, someone with a bit more detachment.
The current crowd displays a certain impulsiveness and vindictiveness that do it no good - as in the silly war-let on Fox News that it is now trying to back out of. Even if Craig was making a hash of his job - and there's no independent evidence of this - it just wasn't smart to treat someone widely held in such high respect in this manner; once again, the impulsiveness backfired.
The replacing of Craig with Washington attorney Robert Bauer, Obama's own attorney for years as well as counsel for the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign, further narrowed the White House circle just when it needed broadening, lowered the stature of the office, and choosing the president's personal attorney for a position that calls for dispassionate judgment is hazardous. (Does anyone remember Alberto Gonzalez?)
The Obamas themselves hang tight with a small Chicago crowd. Yes, he talks to others, and yes, a president's time is very limited, but the Obamas themselves seem as closed-off and unto themselves as does his inner White House circle. (Is this a coincidence? What is all this wariness about?) When the Obamas go to someone's house for dinner, almost invariably it's to that of Valerie Jarrett, the old friend from Chicago who serves as a counselor and whom they see all day. Old Chicago friends fly in for weekends frequently.
To this Noonan responded:
As I read Ms. Drew's piece, I was reminded of something I began noticing a few months ago in bipartisan crowds. I would ask Democrats how they thought the president was doing. In the past they would extol, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, his virtues. Increasingly, they would preface their answer with, "Well, I was for Hillary."
This in turn reminded me of a surprising thing I observe among loyal Democrats in informal settings and conversations: No one loves Barack Obama. Half the American people say they support him, and Democrats are still with him. But there were Bill Clinton supporters who really loved him. George W. Bush had people who loved him. A lot of people loved Jack Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. But no one seems to love Mr. Obama now; they're not dazzled and head over heels. That's gone away. He himself seems a fairly chilly customer; perhaps in turn he inspires chilly support. But presidents need that rock--bottom 20 percent who, no matter what's happening--war, unemployment--adore their guy, have complete faith him, and insist that you love him, too.
There is another sign -- which Noonan duly noted -- that the honeymoon is over. Leslie Gelb, a pillar of the Democratic foreign policy establishment, posted a piece entitled "Amateur Hour at the White House" on The Daily Beast, criticizing the Obama administration not only for its "inexcusably clumsy review of Afghan policy and the fumbling of Mideast negotiations" but also for the President's embarrassing Asian tour.
"Most presidents," he rightly observed, "wouldn't even commit to trips abroad without knowing that key deals would be finally agreed on and announced during the visit itself. The prospective visit is the power jackhammer to nail down the deals. Just take a gander at trips planned for Richard Nixon by Henry Kissinger or for George H. W. Bush by James Baker." Obama would have done better to take a vacation in Hawaii than to have undertaken a trip from which he would return empty-handed.
Matters were made worse on the scene. It was not good optics for Obama to bow to Japan's emperor. He seems to do this stuff spontaneously and inexplicably, as with his bow to the Saudi King some months ago. And it was truly unfortunate that Obama and his aides didn't flatly insist that he be allowed to address the Chinese people directly on television and meet with non-stacked Chinese groups--as has been the case during previous presidential visits. Beijing's leaders obviously didn't feel confident enough of their own standing at home to give the popular Mr. Obama such access. But he and his team should have made it a precondition of the visit. Its absence left an unhappy taste.
In his view, "the message for Mr. Obama should be clear: He should stare hard at the skills of his foreign-policy team and, more so, at his own dominant role in decision-making. Something is awry somewhere, and he's got to fix it."
After taking all of this in, Noonan observes,
Mr Obama is in a hard place. Health care hangs over him, and if he is lucky he will lose a close vote in the Senate. The common wisdom that he can't afford to lose is exactly wrong--he can't afford to win with such a poor piece of legislation. He needs to get the issue behind him, vow to fight another day, and move on. Afghanistan hangs over him, threatening the unity of his own Democratic congressional base. There is the growing perception of incompetence, of the inability to run the machine of government. This, with Americans, is worse than Obama's rebranding as a leader who governs from the left. Americans demands baseline competence. If he comes to be seen as Jimmy Carter was, that the job was bigger than the man, that will be the end.
Which gets us back to the bow.
In a presidency, a picture or photograph becomes iconic only when it seems to express something people already think. When Gerald Ford was spoofed for being physically clumsy, it took off. The picture of Ford losing his footing and tumbling as he came down the steps of Air Force One became a symbol. There was a reason, and it wasn't that he was physically clumsy. He was not only coordinated but graceful. He'd been a football star at the University of Michigan and was offered contracts by the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.
But the picture took off because it expressed the growing public view that Ford's policies were bumbling and stumbling. The picture was iconic of a growing political perception.
The Obama bowing pictures are becoming iconic, and they would not be if they weren't playing off a growing perception. If the pictures had been accompanied by headlines from Asia saying "Tough Talks Yield Big Progress" or "Obama Shows Muscle in China," the bowing pictures might be understood this way: "He Stoops to Conquer: Canny Obama shows elaborate deference while he subtly, toughly, quietly advances his nation's interests."
But that's not how the pictures were received or will be remembered.
To Noonan's remarks -- apt, I think, in every respect -- I will add but one observation. The Democrats are getting what they asked for.
In 2004, they tried a trick. If we nominate a man who won the Purple Heart in Vietnam, they thought, we will win. Never mind that John Kerry disgraced himself in the aftermath of his service in Vietnam, making unjust charges against his brothers-in-arms and resolutely thereafter refusing to apologize to those whom he had slandered. Never mind that he had no executive experience. Never mind that, as a US Senator, he was -- to say the least -- undistinguished. They wanted to win; and they gave not a thought to what sort of President he might be.
In 2008, the Democrats did the same thing. They had on their hands an inexperienced, recently minted US Senator from Illinois who was -- as Joe Biden put it in a candid remark that typifies his propensity for speaking his mind without first thinking about the consequences -- "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Never mind, they thought, Obama's long-standing connections with William Ayers, the unrepentant mastermind of a domestic terrorist bombing campaign in the 1970s. Never mind Obama's close association with the racist demagogue Jeremiah Wright. Never mind his lack of executive experience, his unfamiliarity with the private sector, and his ignorance of the ways of Washington. With the help of the pliable press, he could be sold -- and Americans would congratulate themselves on their lack of racial prejudice if they voted for him.
Now comes the reckoning. For Barack Obama seems to be a one-trick pony. He is very good at delivering a speech if he has a teleprompter at hand, and the first and even the second time that you hear him, you will be impressed. If you bother later to read and re-read the speech you will perceive its emptiness. But few will do that, and by the time that they do, it will be too late.
That is one problem. The other is that Obama's one trick cannot often be played. As we have seen over the last few months, as he has tried to play this trick over and over and over again, the more we see of him, the less we are impressed. Franklin Delano Roosevelt never held his fireside chats more than three times a year. How many times has Obama demanded airtime from the networks in the last ten months? I shudder to think.
There is a third problem. Once in office, presidents are judged more by what they do than by what they say and how well they say it, and Barack Obama is in the process of doing a great deal of harm. His "stimulus" bill was a transparent act of grand larceny, stealing from the future in order to enrich Democratic Party constituencies now. His unlawful handling of GM and Chrysler defrauded the bondholders, rewarded the intransigents in the UAW who were largely responsible for the auto-makers' decline, and made it harder for American corporations to borrow money.
And every version of the health care reform that he backs threatens to bankrupt the country and force us to raise taxes on a grand scale. If investors remain on the sidelines, if employers are reluctant to hire, and if, in consequence, the economic recover is anemic and virtually jobless, it is to a considerable extent Obama's fault.
The simple fact that he has done nothing to rein in a patronage-mad Democratic congress is a sign of his fecklessness as President. As David Ignatius points out in today's Washington Post, in 2010, there is going to be hell to pay -- especially in Democratic strongholds with especially high unemployment, such as Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, and California.
There is in this a lesson. In 2012, the Republicans should nominate for the presidency an individual with executive experience -- who has negotiated with legislators, and who has had to make decisions and take responsibility for the consequences. Among those available, they should choose a principled defender of constitutional government and a skilled manager who recognizes the ultimate dependence of the public sector on growth in the private sector of the economy and who thinks of himself in the international arena as the guardian of American interests.
There’s nothing like a summer vacation to rekindle a romance. So maybe a week on Martha’s Vineyard can bring back some of the magic between the Obama administration and the media.
Before White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left town, he tried to clarify President Barack Obama’s comment that “everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up.” Gibbs explained to reporters that what the president meant was that they were a bunch of bed wetters who made too much out of the implosion of the White House health care strategy.
Gibbs has grown more sardonic and patronizing as the summer wears on and Obama’s poll numbers wilt.
The press secretary has lectured reporters on the nature of their jobs — apparently to defend the administration against “misinformation” rather than asking impertinent questions like “How will you pay for it?”
When asked recently about the administration’s endless evasions on the public option, Gibbs instead opted to define a monopoly.
“If you had one place to eat lunch before you came to the briefing, do you think it would be cheap?” Gibbs demanded of CNN’s Ed Henry.
Henry should have asked Gibbs to define monopsony: a market in which one buyer is so large that it can control suppliers and ruin competitors. Henry could then explain he’d rather pay too much for the sandwich he wanted than have to eat at a government chow line opened across the street to encourage “competition.”
Gibbs is so crabby because, incredibly, the administration blames the media for the president’s problems.
It tried blaming Republicans, but the GOP is too far out of power. When the leader of the free world is complaining about a posting on the former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page, he’s got problems.
Team Obama tried blaming special interests, but that was a bust too. The president’s deal with the pharmaceutical industry gets him $150 million worth of ads to boost his plan, whatever it is.
The same people who bombard us with ads for products that promise to prevent hardened arteries or encourage hardening elsewhere will soon be selling you Obamacare.
“If you experience doubts about the plan lasting more than four hours, seek immediate help from Organizing for America.”
Democrats tried blaming the “mobs” of “un-American” protesters and “evil mongers” who were giving raspberries to members of Congress at town halls.
That flopped too, leaving the administration to blame the messenger.
And one can understand why Gibbs would be a bit shocked by the slightly less accommodating tone of the media.
Reporters who traveled with the Obama campaign tell horror stories about the organization — dishonesty, rudeness and abysmal access. But those reporters still served up the glowing coverage.
Obama was the hottest news story of their generation. Rather than covering the long-shot freshman senator who would be crushed in February, Obama campaign reporters experienced the reflected glory of being along for a historic journey. There was plenty of motivation to keep that journey going.
Conversely, Obama making a hash out of health care provides plenty of good copy for the White House press corps. And because Obama fatigue has set in with the reading and viewing public, skeptical stories match the national mood.
Some are still in the tank for Obama. But many liberal reporters think the president is blowing the Left’s big chance.
In talking about how everything got so “wee-weed up,” Obama observed that in August of 2008 the media predicted doom because John McCain began to close the gap after picking Sarah Palin.
In trying to explain that the president was talking about media incontinence, Gibbs referred to August and September of 2007, when most predicted Hillary Clinton would roll to victory in Iowa.
So not only are Obama and his people still reliving the campaign, they’re drawing the wrong lessons from it.
At this point in 2007, Obama was coming up in the polls, making Iowa a three-way race with Clinton and John Edwards. Now, the president’s numbers are sinking.
And if the trend line in the late summer of 2008 had held, Obama would have lost. It took a tsunami of bad economic news and the McCain campaign’s mishandling of it to put Obama back on top.
But there is no opponent here other than public opinion and no finish line other than the end of his term.
With only the steady breeze of favorable coverage of a typical Democratic president instead of the gale of positive press that once helped drive Obama to victory, it’s going to be a very long journey.
Chris Stirewalt, The Examiner’s political editor, can be contacted at cstirewalt@washington examiner.com. His column appears on Monday and Thursday, and his blog posts appear on ExaminerPolitics.com.
By John (...from PowerLine)
Earlier today, the Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee sent out one of the most bizarre emails I've ever seen. The email was titled "5 facts about the anti-reform mobs." The "anti-reform mobs" are Americans who are invited to town halls by Congressmen and have the temerity to show up--not only that, but to oppose Obamacare!
Here are the "five facts:"
1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.
3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting -- and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.
4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.
5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."
You could paraphrase the Democrats' complaints, "democracy's a bitch!" They are in a panic, obviously, because most Americans don't believe the falsehoods the Democrats have used to promote their health care takeover--like Obama's absurd claim that "If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them." That is not what any version of the Democrats' plan says. The Democrats need to learn that repeating a lie over and over won't always snow a majority of voters.
What scares the Democrats is poll data showing that a plurality of voters oppose their proposed health care takeover because they believe it will make their own health care worse and drive up the federal deficit. What a country! We are evidently, according to the Democrats, a nation of agents provocateur.
Dr. Charles Krauthammer spoke to the Center for the American Experiment.
1. Mr. Obama is a very intellectual, charming individual. He is not to be underestimated. He is a ‘cool customer’ who doesn’t show his emotions. It’s very hard to know what’s ‘behind the mask.’ Taking down the Clinton dynasty from a political neophyte was an amazing accomplishment. The Clintons still do not understand what hit them. Obama was in the perfect
place at the perfect time.
2. Obama has political skills comparable to Reagan and Clinton. He has a way of making you think he’s on your side, agreeing with your position, while doing the opposite. Pay no attention to what he SAYS; rather, watch what he DOES!
3. Obama has a ruthless quest for power. He did not come to Washington to make something out of himself, but rather to change everything, including dismantling capitalism. He can’t be straightforward on his ambitions, as the public would not go along. He has a heavy hand, and wants to ‘level the playing field’ with income redistribution and punishment to the achievers of
society. He would like to model the USA to Great Britain or Canada .
4. His three main goals are to control ENERGY, PUBLIC EDUCATION, and NATIONAL HEALTHCARE by the Federal government. He doesn’t care about the auto or financial services industries, but got them as an early bonus. The cap and trade will add costs to everything and stifle growth. Paying for FREE college education is his goal. Most scary is his healthcare program,
because if you make it FREE and add 46,000,000 people to a Medicare-type, single-payer system, the costs will go through the roof. The only way to control costs is with massive RATIONING of services, like in Canada . God forbid.
5. He’s surrounded himself with mostly far-left academic types. No one around him has ever even run a candy store. But, they’re going to try and run the auto, financial, banking, and other industries. This obviously can’t work in the long run. Obama’s not a socialist; rather, he’s a far-left secular progressive bent on nothing short of revolution. He ran as a moderate, but will govern from the hard left. Again, watch what he does; not what he says.
6. Obama doesn’t really see himself as President of the United States, but more as a ruler over the world. He sees himself above it all, trying to orchestrate and coordinate various countries and their agendas. He sees moral equivalency in all cultures. His apology tour in Germany and England was a prime example of how he sees America, as an imperialist nation that has been arrogant, rather than a great noble nation that has at times made
errors. This is the first President ever who has chastised our allies and appeased our enemies!
7. He’s now handing out goodies. He hopes that the bill (and pain) will not ‘come due’ until after he’s reelected in 2012. He’d like to blame all problems on Bush from the past, and hopefully his successor in the future. He has a huge ego, and Dr. Krauthammer believes he is a narcissist.
8. Republicans are in the wilderness for a while, but will emerge strong. We’re ‘pining’ for another Reagan, but there will never be another like him. Krauthammer believes Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Bobby Jindahl (except for his terrible speech in February) are the future of the party. Newt Gingrich is brilliant, but has baggage. Sarah Palin is sincere and intelligent, but needs to really be seriously boning up on facts and info if she’s to be a serious candidate in the future. We need to return to the party of lower taxes, smaller government, personal responsibility, strong
national defense, and states’ rights.
9. The current level of spending is irresponsible and outrageous. We’re spending trillions that we don’t have. This could lead to hyper-inflation, depression, or worse. No country has ever spent themselves into prosperity. The media are giving Obama, Reid, and Pelosi a pass because they love their agenda. But, eventually, the bill will come due, and people will realize that the huge bailouts didn’t work, nor will the stimulus package. These
were trillion-dollar payoffs to Obama’s allies, unions, and the Congress to placate the left, so he can get support for #4, above.
10. The election was over in mid-September when Lehman brothers failed. Fear and panic swept in, we had an unpopular President, and the war was grinding on indefinitely without a clear outcome. The people are in pain, and the mantra of ‘change’ caused people to act emotionally. Any Dem would have won this election; it was surprising it was as close as it was.
11. In 2012, if the unemployment rate is over 10%, Republicans will be swept back into power. If it’s under 8%, the Dems continue to roll. If it’s between 8-10%, it will be a dogfight. It will be about the economy.
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, April 3, 2009
Five minutes of explanation to James Madison, and he'll have a pretty good idea what a motorcar is (basically a steamboat on wheels; the internal combustion engine might take a few minutes more). Then try to explain to Madison how the Constitution he fathered allows the president to unilaterally guarantee the repair or replacement of every component of millions of such contraptions sold in the several states, and you will leave him slack-jawed.
In fact, we are now so deep into government intervention that constitutional objections are summarily swept aside. The last Treasury secretary brought the nine largest banks into his office and informed them that henceforth he was their partner. His successor is seeking the power to seize any financial institution at his own discretion.
Despite these astonishments, I remain more amused than alarmed. First, the notion of presidential car warranties strikes me as simply too bizarre, too comical, to mark the beginning of Yankee Peronism.
Second, there is every political incentive to make these interventions in the banks and autos temporary and circumscribed. For President Obama, autos and banks are sideshows. Enormous sideshows, to be sure, but had the financial meltdown and the looming auto bankruptcies not been handed to him, he would hardly have gone seeking to be the nation's credit and car czar.
Obama has far different ambitions. His goal is to rewrite the American social compact, to recast the relationship between government and citizen. He wants government to narrow the nation's income and anxiety gaps. Soak the rich for reasons of revenue and justice. Nationalize health care and federalize education to grant all citizens of all classes the freedom from anxiety about health care and college that the rich enjoy. And fund this vast new social safety net through the cash cow of a disguised carbon tax.
Obama is a leveler. He has come to narrow the divide between rich and poor. For him the ultimate social value is fairness. Imposing it upon the American social order is his mission.
Fairness through leveling is the essence of Obamaism. (Asked by Charlie Gibson during a campaign debate about his support for raising capital gains taxes -- even if they caused a net revenue loss to the government -- Obama stuck to the tax hike "for purposes of fairness.") The elements are highly progressive taxation, federalized health care and higher education, and revenue-producing energy controls. But first he must deal with the sideshows. They could sink the economy and poison his public support before he gets to enact his real agenda.
The big sideshows, of course, are the credit crisis, which Obama has contracted out to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and the collapse of the U.S. automakers, which Obama seems to have taken on for himself.
That was a tactical mistake. Better to have let the car companies go directly to Chapter 11 and have a judge mete out the bitter medicine to the workers and bondholders.
By sacking GM's CEO, packing the new board, and giving direction as to which brands to drop and what kind of cars to make, Obama takes ownership of General Motors. He may soon come to regret it. He has now gotten himself so entangled in the car business that he is personally guaranteeing your muffler. (Upon reflection, a job best left to the congenitally unmuffled Joe Biden.)
Some find in this descent into large-scale industrial policy a whiff of 1930s-style fascist corporatism. I have my doubts. These interventions are rather targeted. They involve global financial institutions that even the Bush administration decided had to be nationalized and auto companies that themselves came begging to the government for money.
Bizarre and constitutionally suspect as these interventions may be, the transformation of the American system will come from elsewhere. The credit crisis will pass and the auto overcapacity will sort itself out one way or the other. The reordering of the American system will come not from these temporary interventions, into which Obama has reluctantly waded. It will come from Obama's real agenda: his holy trinity of health care, education and energy. Out of these will come a radical extension of the welfare state; social and economic leveling in the name of fairness; and a massive increase in the size, scope and reach of government.
If Obama has his way, the change that is coming is a new America: "fair," leveled and social democratic. Obama didn't get elected to warranty your muffler. He's here to warranty your life.
The “Andy Rooney’s Political Views” found its way to my inbox again this morning. I thought I’d seen it before, and also thought I remembered it was a hoax. So I checked Snopes, and yup, Andy didn’t say these things. In fact, he not only denies them, he thinks they’re racist, and hateful.
I tend to not agree with Mr. Rooney – assuming there’s validity in the numbers, I believe there’s truth in these statements. I took a few lines out – some of them don’t belong.
Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.
I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING, MARTHA BURKE ?
I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.
I have the right 'NOT' to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.
When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.
My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.
I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze' or 'stop' in English, see the above lines.
I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.
We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.
I don't hate the rich; I don't pity the poor. I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.
I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.
It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say 'NO!'
I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!
I am sick of 'Political Correctness.' I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be 'African-Americans'? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else.
And if you don't like my point of view, tough ...
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God.
Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having 'In God We Trust' on our money and having 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Why don't we just tell the 14% to BE QUIET!!!
MSNBC Headline - "CIA waterboarded 9/11 plotter 183 times"
The New York Times reported in 2007 that Mr. Mohammed had been barraged more than 100 times with harsh interrogation methods, causing C.I.A. officers to worry that they might have crossed legal limits and to halt his questioning.
The 2005 memo also says that the C.I.A. used waterboarding 183 times in March 2003 against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Aren't you glad we live in a country where it's O.K. to complain about the treatment this dude got at the hands of the CIA? This asshole admits, and is proud of, planning the 9/11 attacks which killed almost 3,000 people, yet the NYT is upset because we stuck his head underwater 183 times.
Let's put his head in the toilet and flush it once for every father who died in the attack. Lets flush it twice for every mom who was killed. Nope, we can't do that - it's "torture".
Dinner Time – 220 Calories
I just ordered more!
Scale (1-10) = 9
I’m giving it a “9” because they’re really good! I was all ready to shun the Tacos, but on a whim, I decided to have them tonight. I’m glad I did – and in fact, I immediately changed the “0” to “2” for my next delivery (shipping 2/19).
They are packaged so that the 3 round tacos do not get broken. You mix the dehydrated contents with ½ cup of water and after letting it sit for 2 minutes to soak-up, you nuke it for 90 seconds. Then I spread the mix onto the 3 shells and waited about 45 seconds. Crunchy and flavorful! And by waiting the 45 seconds, the shells softened just enough so as to not shatter when bitten. These guys really impressed me!
Lunch Time – 180 Calories
What makes it “hearty”?
Scale (1-10) = 6
It’s got some pasta, beans, peas, lentils and such, but I wouldn’t call it “hearty”. It’s ok, but it’s soup. It’s not on my favorites list.
Breakfast Time – 120 Calories
I eat it dry!
Scale (1-10) = 8
Crunchy and flavorful, this little bag of what looks like Chex Mix with cinnamon flavor is really pretty good. I’m not a fan of no-fat milk, so I eat this dry. Definitely one to keep on the delivery list!
Dinner Time – 180Calories
I’m disappointed.
Scale (1-10) = 5
I had it with a piece of Pepperidge Farm’s Natural German Dark Wheat bread. It was very o.k.. It was thin, not hearty. And I looked at one of the pieces of “beef” when I stirred it before microwaving it. I wish I hadn’t. So far, the beef in the other entrées was much better.
Dessert Time – 100 Calories
I like ‘em!
Scale (1-10) = 9
I gave them a “9” only because for dessert, I like the “candy bars” better. But these are really good. They’re soy-based chips that really crunch, and they do have a strong cheesy flavor.
