Obama's Libya Speech - Word Cloud

Here is the official, "as prepared for delivery" word cloud of Bush's Obama's speech on Libya tonight:



Apparently it had something to do about people (mentioned 39 times)... And here I thought he was going to talk about the current war we are engaged in over Libya, but he only mentioned that word once..

Resetting the Reset Button

There is a particularly revealing Op-Ed over at The Daily, describing Hillary Clinton's current frustrations. "Fed up with a president “who can’t make his mind up” as Libyan rebels are on the brink of defeat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is looking to the exits."

One sort of has to feel sorry for the woman. Forced to work for an amateur essentially elected by the media, and forced to be first line of defense against his international dithering.

“Obviously, she’s not happy with dealing with a president who can’t decide if today is Tuesday or Wednesday, who can’t make his mind up,” a Clinton insider told The Daily. “She’s exhausted, tired.”

I am thinking that Hill might want to have her own 'Reset Button', no? But as the link shows, she is not entirely innocent in all of this either.

“If you take a look at what’s on her plate as compared with what’s on the plates of previous Secretary of States — there’s more going on now at this particular moment, and it’s like playing sports with a bunch of amateurs. And she doesn’t have any power. She’s trying to do what she can to keep things from imploding.”

I think the lady may protest too much. One reason she and her Department have so much on their plate, is the way they have conducted business. She has been the one who has been the leader of "smart diplomacy", the concept where if we are just nice and listen to everybody (as opposed to alleged 'Cowboy Diplomacy') then they will be nice to us and everyone can get along and sing kumbayah...

So, since she felt the best course of action was to project a 'Weak Horse' strategy in the Middle East the last two years, she cannot grouse now when she suddenly wants to ride the 'Strong Horse' and can't get her boss away from the Pony Rides.... This is why foreign diplomats describe American diplomacy as "amateur night".

And in reference to Libya “We are wondering if this is a priority for the United States.”

Of course not...this is the priority right now...

Vast Devastation

As the tragedy in Japan continues to unfold, incredible...almost inconceivable...pictures emerge. The always terrific "Big Picture" site at the Boston Globe shows us the carnage and despair in 'Japan - Vast Devastation'.

Two incredible images:





And forgive me for drawing a parallel, but the following photos reminded me some others:

2011:


1945 (Hiroshima):


2011:


1945 (Nagasaki):

(I am not making a statement on moral equivalence here, just simply that devastation is devastation...)

[h/t - Jammie Wearing Fool]

Tyrants, Tyrants...Everywhere

No this is not about Mubarak or Qaddafi...its about a tin pot tyrant an his umbrella....

Charlie Rangel's deputy chief of staff, Geoffrey Eaton, threw such a fit over a missing umbrella during Thursday night's downpour at Harlem's popular Chez Lucienne restaurant that management had to call police to escort him out.

According to witnesses, Eaton, 52 -- who's also president of the NAACP's Midtown branch -- flew into a rage after a meal alone at the bar of the Lenox Avenue bistro when the staff couldn't find the umbrella he insisted he'd left by the door on his way in.

"He yelled at everyone, even the customers," said the manager on duty, who asked not to be named. "We said, 'We'll give you another umbrella.' Other people offered . . . we said, 'If that's not enough, we'll pay for your cab home.'

Of course the obvious take away is...what an ass! But the key graph was the following:

BET.com contributor Bevy Smith, who was dining separately at the bistro, told us, "He cursed out the entire waitstaff, and everyone was trying to appease him. He was like, 'Bleep that, I want a bleeping umbrella, why the bleep can't you find it?' " "I said, 'Shhhh.' He yells at me, 'Bleep you, and mind your own bleeping business . . . you're a disgrace to our race.' "

The real lesson to be learned here is not that the world is filled with jack-asses, because it is. But rather, that even on the local or micro-scale, you never get anywhere trying to appease dictators and megalomaniacs.

[h/t - JammieWearingFool via Instapundit]

NYT: Conservatives Are Right, But They're Still Mean!

Who said this:

"Although taxpayers are on the hook for the recession’s costs, most state employees pay only 3 percent of their salaries to their pensions, half the level of most state employees elsewhere. Their health insurance payments are about half those in the private sector.

In all, the salaries and benefits of state employees add up to $18.5 billion, or a fifth of [the State]’s operating budget. Unless those costs are reined in, [the State] will find itself unable to provide even essential services.

To point out these alarming facts is not to be anti- union, or anti-worker."

Rush Limbaugh? Anne Coulter? Hosni Mubarek? Scott Walker? Nope..none other than the New York Times about NY state's current fiscal woes.

Now over at the NYT, they still can't bring themselves to fully admit that conservatives are right. Saying so leaves such a bitter taste in their mouths, that they must immediately follow up any kudos with a big BUT!

Immediately after printing the words above, they got right back to the business of what passes for civility in Liberal Fantasy Land:

"In recent weeks, Republican politicians in the Midwest have distorted what should be a serious discussion about state employees’ benefits, cynically using it as a pretext to crush unions.

New York does not need that sort of destructive game playing. What it needs is a sober examination of the high costs of wages and benefits, and some serious proposals to rein them in while remaining fair to hard-working government employees."

Really? The Republicans have distorted the discussion? The Republicans have cynically used the situation to their own ends? Really??

Last I checked, the only ones willing to have a serious discussions *were* the Republicans. The only serious discussions that Wisconsin or Indiana Democrats were having were with the waitresses working at the undisclosed hiding locations.

Last I checked, the ones who were cynically using the situation were the Union members who left school children and their parents in a lurch, shouted down debate, held a state capital building hostage [see Presidential lexicon], shoved their opponents around, and essentially told taxpayers "Suck it up whiners, and gimme my due!". This is the type of sober, serious discussion that the NYT wants Republicans to be party to?

The bottom line is that the only folks who have performed "a sober examination of the high costs of wages and benefits" has been those "cynical" Republicans. Democrats prefer to still live in fantasy land where the government gravy-train can go on forever. The only folks who have offered "some serious proposals" to rein in costs have been those same Republicans. Democrats have either abdicated their responsibility, or again believe that their don't need to be serious proposals to change the path of government spending. Of course it is no mystery as to why this is....

It is great that the editorial board at the NYT may be finally catching onto reality, but they need a little more rehab to able to kick the "Blame Republicans" addiction.

Although I fully expect this addict to relapse....

Free The Teachers From Politicians!! (Except The Ones That Will Give Them What They Want)

Bill Hobbs has some interesting pictures from a Tennessee teachers protest. One in particular caught my eye.


[Photo: Bill Hobbs, 2011]

Now I am confused.... Is this a call for every child to be home schooled?

Or perhaps she is just a big proponent of having bake sales to fund her school. Because that's what it will take once we get "politicians out of education", and all local, state, and federal dollars disappear.

And if there are no politicians involved in education, who is her union going to collectively bargain with? I just hope she isn't teaching a class in critical thinking....

Of course what she really means is "Don't let *conservative* politicians derail the 'union dues-liberal politician campaign warchests-collusive collective bargaining-gold plated pay & benefits for me' gravy train."

Collective Bargaining 101

Not really sure what 'Collective Bargaining' is? Then head over to the Foundry blog at the Heritage Foundation. The first thing you will learn is that Collective Bargaining is not a Right...it's a privilege.

Second, they have a nice video illuminating the racket that Collective Bargaining really is. Collusion between Public Sector Unions and politicians of a certain persuasion to keep overnment big, tax dollars flowing, and those politicians in power...

"...Government Unions have a direct stake in keeping government big, no matter what the voters may want..."

As Instapundit likes to say...our country is in the very best of hands...