Cold Front in Hades

It is a little colder in Hell today...though probably not frozen over.

Bill Maher has apologized to John McCain:

Remember during the campaign when John McCain attacked Obama for acting like a celebrity and we all laughed at the grumpy old shellshocked fool? Well, it turns out he was right. Sorry, senator. I'm sending a nice gift basket of high-fiber muffins your way.

The rest of the column isn't all that good, but there does seem to be a large majority in this country that would like the President to get the heck out of our televisions.

Someone needs to remind President Obama that he was a mid-season replacement show last January, the television season is now over, and he should take a break until September or October.....

Obama's Deurbanized Zones

It looks like Obama has a plan to help our cities survive and become greener at the same time:

Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.

Yeah, we should probably get rid of those pesky buildings in order to make room for all the tent cities we will need thanks to George Bush!

But I remember watching a documentary recently about the new wide open natural spaces in New York City, where wildlife runs free.



Oh, wait...That was 'I Am Legend'. My bad.....

But what the hey...the animals looked happy!

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words...

...or none at all.

People are making some hay about this photo of First Lady Michelle Obama



Now, as much as I like to bash her for her previously stated dislike for her lot in a wonderful life, and wearing expensive shoes to feed the homeless, and $100/lb steak at the White House...I can't bash her for this photograph.

Photos are but an instant in time. Sure they can reflect the emotion of a person, but they can just as easily be misleading. Emotions take moments, even seconds to express. Thus taking a sliver of that expression as it evolves can produce a snapshot of something entirely different.

Lets take a case in point... Do we really think that President Bush looks like this?







Of course not...these were but slivers in time during an emotional expression. But hey, the left sure did love to use them to advance their case that he was a dunce and a moron.

Now was the First Lady scowling at Carla Bruni...maybe...maybe not. We just don't know. (In fact if you ask me, based on the angles, I would say she is looking *behind* Bruni)

My ultimate point is, there will be plenty of fodder for which to criticize the hypocritical First Lady, but lets not start the meme that an alleged scowl proves that she is a mean bitch. To do so would be no better than how the left treated Bush....and we need to remind ourselves that we are better than them....

UPDATE: Thanks again to Instapundit for the Instalanche! I have also fixed the bad picture. One drawback to a job where you can't read 'blogspot' sites or access Blogger...I didn't know it was an issue until I got home tonight. For the same reason, I haven't read the comments yet....

UPDATE II: Well I certainly am getting beat up in the comments... But if you think I am soft on Obama, look around the rest of the blog and decide for yourself.

In the end, I don't necessarily disagree that she might be a shrew, or a cold-hearted bitch, or whatever else. But I was simply stating that based on my photographic experience, this picture doesn't "prove" any of that, no more than Bush's funny faces "proved" he was allegedly an idiot. If you want to spotlight the arrogance of the First Lady, use her words against her. There are certainly plenty of those to go around.

But ultimately I think there are plenty of bigger issues to go after besides discerning the temperament of the First Lady.

UPDATE III: Now almost 2 years since I published this post, I noticed that the Yahoo News image of Mrs Obama and Carla Bruni that I originally used was blank. A search of Yanhoo News images for "Obama + Bruni" now gets ZERO his. So it appears that someone put that official image down the memory hole. Thank goodness for the internet....there are plenty of other copies out there....

Chrysler Closing Conspiracy?

I admit, that when I first read the reports that the Chrysler dealership closings disproportionately targeted GOP donors, I did think "Well, of course...I'll bet most car dealers are Republicans anyhow..."

I might have left it at that and remained skeptical of any mass conspiracy, except for some more specific details about how some big-wigs in Democratic circles essentially had all their competition wiped off the map in several markets....

The Mysterious Case of RLJ

In Smith's research, one company kept popping up on the list of dealerships remaining open. The company is RLJ-McLarty-Landers, which owns six Chrysler dealerships. All six dealerships are on "the safe list."

RLJ's owners "are Steve Landers (long-time car dealer, 4th-generation dealer), Thomas "Mack" McLarty (former Chief of Staff for President Clinton), and Robert Johnson (founder of Black Entertainment Television and co-owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats)... McLarty campaigned for Obama in 2008, and Johnson has given countless amounts of money to Democrats over the years."

[...]

All other factors being equal, what are the odds that RLJ's dealerships would remain open while all other area dealerships would be shuttered?

In fact it seems that RLJ delearships in 5 markets will have *all* of their local competition shuttered. And we are not talking about just one competitor here. In each market RLJ will see 2, 3, and even 4 other dealerships closed, leaving them the only place to buy (or service) Chrysler-related brands. This is nicely illustrated by Doug Ross at the link above.

One has to wonder, as people dig through and analyze the lists of "safe" and "closing" dealerships, how many more of these instances will be found.....

Joe Biden - Psychic!

Oct 2008: "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy" - Joe Biden

May 2009: North Korea conducts second nuclear test

If only America had listened!

Memorial Day 2009

Godspeed 1Lt Schulte

Tax the Rich*!

*I think the new definition of utopia is where everyone is defined as "rich", and taxed appropriately...





Don't worry, remember the President promised that ordinary citizens won't see "one dime" of higher taxes....unless of course you are a glutton and consume gasoline, electricity, natural gas, food, government services, etc....

Speakeasys of Capitalism

I think I need to start up business plans for a network of speakeasys where people can talk about and practice capitalism....

"This is America. We have a free enterprise system that has worked spectacularly for us for two hundred plus years. When it fails it fixes itself. Most importantly, it is not an owned lackey of the oval office to be scolded for disobedience by the President."

Read the whole thing here.

Two Hundred & Thirty Three years....well, it was a good run....

Hat Tip to Peter Robinson and Instapundit.

Could Obama Help Turn Indiana Red Again?

"Remember how President Obama blamed Chrysler's bankruptcy filing last month on "a small group of speculators" who turned down Treasury's $2 billion final offer for their $6.9 billion in debt?"

It appears that the list of evil 'speculators' included the likes of retired Indiana State Policemen, retired Indiana Teachers, and Indiana motorists.

Vultures!

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock revealed this week that his state's police and teacher pension funds have lost millions of dollars in the Chrysler "restructuring." Indiana's State Police Fund and Major Moves Construction Fund, which finances roads and bridges, together lost more than $1 million. And the Teacher's Retirement Fund "suffered, at a minimum, a loss of $4.6 million due to the action of the Federal government," reports Mr. Mourdock.

Attention RNC, NRSC, & NRCC....if you don't go into Indiana with adds that directly link Obama and his 'Gangster Government' tactics to the losses at state pension funds....you would be complete idiots. And don't wait until 2010...start TV ads now.

Indiana used to be a Red State, and only voted for Obama by a little more than 28K votes out of 2.7 mil votes cast. Use his actions that have directly hurt the 'speculators' in Indiana's retired population and turn Indiana RED again....

And you think that Indiana will be the only state where pension funds have been roughed up by the hoods from Pennsylvania Ave, you have been asleep. I am quite sure this could be an effective tactic to elect Senator Giuliani....

The Wrong Change for Afghanistan

Last week there was news and discussion about how the replacement of one 4-star General with another 4-star General would affect the future of the war in Afghanistan.

However, it may be more important to explore how that war will be affected by the replacement of a Major by at 2LT, and a Captain by a Corporal.

The perplexing news comes from frontline blogger Vampire 06, at Afghanistan Shrugged:

"Today, I was informed that my team will be replaced in a matter of weeks by a team from the Georgia National Guard. Not so bad on the surface, but the hazardous rocks lay below the calm exterior. The team is commanded by a Second Lieutenant (2LT) and his Non-commissioned Ofiicer in Charge is a Sergeant (E5). The remainder of the team is made up of E5s and below. Not exactly the experience rich combination that you’re looking for in a Combat Advisor Team. In fact my S3, CPT Brain is being replaced by a Corporal.

At this point I have to shake my head and wonder, “What the ..?”

Is this what we’ve come to?

Does the building of the ANA mean so little that this is what we’re committing to the fight?

Is this the surge that’s supposed to win the war and bring us all home?

I’m perplexed, pissed off and to be perfectly honest depressed. Ask any former advisor and they’ll tell you that this is a difficult mission that we put every ounce of our souls into, with the hope that one day the ANA/ANP will get it and we can go home. It’s built on your judgment, knowledge and experience and your ability to communicate them effectively.

Now, some genius has decided that we should have 2LTs advising ANA Battalion Commanders on how to plan, support and employ their Kandaks in combat. That alone will be perceived as an insult in an Army where rank means a great deal. Who the hell thought this one up?

By the way this is occurring throughout eastern Afghanistan, right against the Pak border. A border with a country that is gradually melting down and the Taliban is attempting to consolidate. Is this the time to bring in your least experienced team?"

We can change the warriors at the top all we want to find the right strategic leadership, but if we skimp on finding the right warriors for some specific tactical missions on the ground, then we are doing more harm than good.