"One of these things is not like the other . . ."

Photo credit, Drudge. Nothing special here, just another Urkel moment from Obama. You gotta love the Urkel helmet, Mom wash pants, short sleeve dress shirt, and girl's bike. Do we really have to ask, "What is the matter with this man?" I think we have a pretty good idea. Hey Barry, if you look like a complete dork doing something, then maybe you shouldn't do it. I would also recommend that Barry refrain from having his picture taken in a tank--just some free advice, Mr. Commander-in-Chief.

George Bush wasn't perfect, but at least you could respect him as a man.

"Pick up your stick": Restoring Honor Rally, Washington, DC

I'm on a really slow internet hookup this morning at the hotel, so I'll do what I can here.

We got up on Saturday at 4:00 a.m., left the hotel at 5:00 a.m., and walked from our hotel to the Lincoln Memorial, arriving at 6:00 a.m. Even so, we were still about a third of the way down the reflecting pool from the Memorial. We were so packed in by the crowd that there was no possibility of moving, so we stood in our places from 6:00 a.m. until the rally ended at 1:00 p.m. (we stood because I vetoed taking our camp chairs with us on the train--dumb, very dumb--plus we were plastered up against an iron railing, although the good thing about that was that the railing gave us something to lean on). And I'm here to tell you that once the sun burned off the clouds, it was a hot day. For another view of the rally crowd (and, as NewsBusters says, it's guaranteed to drive the liberal media crazy), go here.

The attendance being reported at the rally varies, but the number that most of the lamestream media seems to have decided on is "tens of thousands" (Beck joked that it would be reported as "more than a thousand"). I guess that number is technically correct, if not totally misleading and deliberately meant to trivialize the numbers. How about somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000?--and I think that's a conservative estimate (pun intended). That's the number that Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit is reporting, and judging from photos of other events at the mall where the crowd was estimated by the Parks Police, an estimate of 500,000 seems reasonable.

Here's the photo of the crowd posted at the Huffington Post, taken from the far end of the mile-long reflecting pool, the distorted perspective obviously meant to imply "something" about the size of the crowd.

I've been reading the coverage of the Saturday's Washington rally around the internet, and I don't think I've ever read such deranged, childish drivel in my entire life--about any other event, anywhere. My God, how the Left hates and fears Glenn Beck and his message. They're consistently calling it (in scare quotes) the "Restore Honor" Rally. Is that how the lamestream media would report the "Gay Pride" Rally? I don't think so.

Here's a sample, an opinion piece from the NYT by the seriously unhinged by this event Bob Herbert: "America Is Better than This": "For all his celebrity, Glenn Beck is an ignorant, divisive, pathetic figure. . . . He is an integral part of the vicious effort by the Tea Party and other elements of the right wing to portray Mr. Obama as somehow alien, a strange figure who is separate and apart from — outside of — ordinary American life."

Here's part of the "vicious," ignorant crowd who is of course being blamed by the lamestream media for being "too white."

Here's my honest take on what Beck was doing on Saturday. It's pretty simple, really: he was filling a void. Who else is stepping up to remind this nation of its goodness, of its leadership position in the world, of its exceptionalism? Certainly not our Apologist-in-Chief. Who else is encouraging America to return to the values of faith, hope, and charity that have made us a great nation? “For too long, this country has wandered in darkness,” Beck said Saturday. “This country has spent far too long worrying about scars and thinking about scars and concentrating on scars. Today, we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished, and the things that we can do tomorrow.” Yeah, that's racist hate speech if I've ever heard it. Good grief. One of the most even-handed reports I've read about the event is at Politico: "Glenn Beck Calls for National Revival."

Sarah Palin spoke at the rally, but frankly I wish Beck hadn't invited her. I didn't have the impression that most people in the crowd were all that thrilled to see her there. In fact, at one point in her speech she was heckled by a "whistler" (no one much cared for that, either). It didn't make much sense to me--Beck was trying to make the case that the event was "non-political," and then he invites the most devisive political figure on the Right. Did he do it because he thought he needed her name to get numbers for this rally? I honestly don't know.

The people at the rally were mostly a friendly bunch. We stood along the fence with two nice young women from San Diego, and we also watched while a family from upstate New York elbowed six people into a space big enough for two. When one woman in their group heard that we were from Missouri she said, with a confused look on her face, "Oh, you must have really good hunting there." Well, Hon, in St. Louis, not so much. Ha-ha. We met a woman with a small engineering business from Washington State, walking back to our hotel. "Why are you here?" we asked her. "Because I'm mad as hell about our economy," she said. We met people from Texas, from Georgia, from Philadelphia, from Tennessee, from Florida, from Little Rock, Arkansas--from all over the country. Many, many of these people headed straight for a bus to take them home again when the rally ended. For them this was no picnic--hardly a "vacation." The word I heard several times was "pilgrimage." These people came because they were serious about making a statement--and they did that simply by showing up. And if the lamestream media wants to continue to ignore, trivialize, dismiss, and demonize these people, then so be it. Our voices will be heard most loudly at the ballot box come November.

Update. This is a good view of where we were standing, jammed in somewhere along this fence. You can see how we weren't going anywhere until the rally ended. This photo comes from Gateway Pundit.

Here below is my own photo of our view, up against the fence. It didn't help that a couple came about an hour before the start and jammed their way in front of me. That's the woman in the blue, practically standing on my feet. I told her that I'd been there since 6:00 a.m. and she said, "Good for you." I'm no good at confrontation, so I just tried to ignore her. She was a nasty piece of work, having nothing good to say about anything or anyone. I think most people were friendly, decent, and fair; I don't know what her problem was, but she didn't seem to like the rally much, especially every time the speakers took off on a religious theme, which was pretty often. That seemed to be reasonable payback for her rude behavior. However, it was something of a downer to have to look at this sadsack for the entire rally.

Update. The Stupids Step Out. Seriously, is it even possible that these two people are President and First Lady of the United States? Four Ivy League degrees between them, and they can't negotiate that umbrella under the gate? I thought this guy was the smartest man evah. As for the First "Lady" (the "scare quotes" seem appropriate there), what in the world is she doing here? Anyway, they're baaaack.

h/t for this photo from the commenters at Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog
Obama as "Barry Poppins"--heh

Update #2. Here's a nice article from American Thinker: "The Media Left Thinks Beck's Rally Was Political; They're Wrong."

And of course we left the mall spotless.

Here's a wrap-up from Michelle Malkin: "The challenge: to trivialize this in order to dismiss it as irrelevant."

CBS gets the "lowball crowd figure" award: 87,000 showed up, according to these geniuses. And contrary to reports put out by the lamestream media, the Parks Service does continue to do crowd estimates, and they estimated this one at about 300,000.

Restoring Honor Rally in Washington, D.C.

We're going to the Restoring Honor rally that takes place this Saturday in Washington, D.C. I'll be incommunicado for a couple of days because we're traveling by train. It's going to be a great weekend! We're hoping for an amazing turnout. Glenn Beck said on his show on Monday that there were 1,000 buses registered for the event--that means 1,000 buses are coming, at least, as of last Monday. For the inauguration, which had more people on that site than ever before in history, there were 1,500 buses. So we'll see, it sounds already like there's going to be a great crowd. Generally crowds aren't my thing, but in this case I'll make an exception. Check back later in the week for updates.

Welcome Home!





Update. According to Peter Baker in the NYT, the Obama administration's paper of record, ("As Mission Shifts in Iraq, Risks Linger for Obama), the White House "wants to find a way to mark the moment" of the end of the combat mission in Iraq. "Mr. Obama plans to make a high-profile speech on the drawdown next week [oh hooray, another Obama speech--just what's needed], and aides are discussing whether to have him meet with returning troops." (emphasis mine) So there's a possible downside for "Mr. Obama," Commander-in-Chief, to meet with returning troops? This administration is sickening beyond belief.

In the article, Baker identifies "profound risks" for Mr. Obama "as he seeks to claim credit without issuing a premature declaration of victory." Are you kidding me? Whatever "Mr. Obama" decides to do, the lamestream lapdog media will continue to cover for him, so there's hardly a profound risk for him anywhere in sight. Certainly not anything like the profound risk accepted by every single one of our troops that the Commander-in-Chief has sent into harm's way.

No, You Will Not Build It There



h/t to "MJ," a commenter at my favorite blog, Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog. Please share this video.

The Day the Music Died

One of my favorite websites, HotAir, is reporting that when people look back to see the day that Hope and Change officially expired, this could be that day.

"Illinois voters say they would be negatively influenced if a candidate was endorsed by Barack Obama" (emphasis mine). And Democrat strategists are telling candidates: "Walk away from Obama."

Can we blame Bush for this? Hahaha.

And Barry, will you please SHUT UP already with the ridiculous, tedious "car" metaphor?

Oh, and where was Obama on this momentous day? He was starting his Vay-cay-shun, of course. He and the fam are at Martha's Vineyard, their second summer in a row at Blue Heron Farm, an estate that is estimated to rent for $50,000/week. He begins the 10-day vacation during a week when his Gallup approval rating is 41%, an historic low, and his disapproval rating is 52%, a high. The estate where the Obamas are going to "unwind" and "recharge" is located in Chilmark, MA, recorded in 2007 to be America's most expensive small town.

Sadly, unlike last year, this time there were no "happy-happy family off-to-our-vacation" photo-op shots this year. The word is out that Lady Obama is in no mood to have her picture taken arriving at yet another expensive vacation destination, after barely having had time to unpack from her Spain extrava-palooza. So the photo-op prop this year is Bo the Dog, who is happy to oblige. I mean, come on, is there really anyone out there so mean-spirited as to believe that this dog doesn't deserve a vacation?

What's the hottest selling t-shirt on the island at Martha's Vineyard this year?

Update. From J.R. Dunn at American Thinker: "Obama's Point of No Return." For Richard Nixon it was the eighteen minute gap; for Jimmah Carter it was the malaise speech. For Obama? "When historians come to select the moment when Obama went over the edge of the world, I think they'll find the great Iftar speech of August 13, 2010 hard to beat." Great article.

Update #2. An excellent article by Fouad Ajami at the WSJ: "Obama's Summer of Discontent"--The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long.

A snippet from the article: Now that realism about Mr. Obama has begun to sink in, these iconic figures of history had best be left alone. They can't rescue the Obama presidency. Their magic can't be his. Mr. Obama isn't Lincoln with a BlackBerry. Those great personages are made by history, in the course of history, and not by the spinners or the smitten talking heads.

Update #3. Obama--"too often comes across as irritable and self-pitying." An article by Jeff Jacoby at the Boston Globe: "Lighten Up, Mr. President."

Right Network: Launching 8 Sept 2010

"All that's right with the world."



h/t to my favorite blog: Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog

Question of the Day

Q: Will Barack Obama be a one-term president?

A: Yes, he might last that long.

Snort. This comes from Roger Simon at Politico: "Obama, the one-term president." OK, so Simon is having great fun with the sarcasm here--"it builds" to the very end, as one commenter says. So maybe he needs to find one of those "/sarc" keys on his computer.

Or how about this from CNN of all places: "Critics say Obama's message becoming 'incoherent'" Was that also sarcasm?

Update. "The Obamas have become the 'most vulgar' family in White House History" by Andy Martin. This is definitely not sarcasm. Martin says it's time to legislate limits on presidential spending for personal expenses. "The Obamas are what is known as nouveau riche: they are people who are new to money and have no sense of propriety or manners. I supposed you could say nouveau riche is a polite substitute for "trailer trash. . . . The Obamas are spending borrowed money like there is no tomorrow. Maybe they realize that for them, there is no tomorrow."

Obama wades into the Mosque at Ground Zero controversy

I was going to put this one in the "Usable News" post, but it started getting longer as the controversy has grown, so I decided it needed a separate post.

Clearly, Obama is an apologist for Islam. Whether or not you believe Obama is a Muslim, and I think a pretty good case can be made that he is (although then you get called a whacko conspiracy-theorist nut for speculating on that), it's pretty clear that Obama has a great affinity for the Muslim faith. On Friday night, he hosted a White House Iftar dinner (you don't know what that is?--that's partially my point--Obama certainly does), celebrating Ramadan. Of course, any dinner where O is the host also must include O as the speaker. So what does he do, but wade into the controversy about building a mosque three blocks from Ground Zero.

He said, "Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as a President, I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religion as anyone else in the country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan." OK, Barack, anybody knows that the point of the controversy is NOT that people don't have a right to practice their religion--or even to build a mosque. The point of the controversy is that a mosque built at the site where 3,000 Americans lost their lives as a result of a terrorist attack by Islamic radicals is not only insensitive, it's also morally wrong.

So that was Friday. On Saturday, realizing that he's getting some serious heat for his support for the Ground Zero mosque, and since he's a guy whose natural reaction is to vote "present" on difficult issues, Obama started backpedaling, "clarifying" his remarks: he wasn't commenting on the wisdom of putting the mosque three blocks from the hole in the ground that used to be the World Trade Center; no, no, no, he was only commenting on the right to build it there. Really? So then, Barry, which side of the issue do you support?

This guy is no natural-born politician; instead, he's a hopeless hack. But then you wonder, is he really this clueless and tone deaf, or is it something else?

Doug Ross has a brilliant piece that he posted on Saturday: "Obama Logic: Disdained White House Nativity Scene Due to Separation of Church and State; Vocally Markets Islamic Victory Mosque at Ground Zero." He reminds us when the White House social secretary put out remarks that "this year the White House would have a 'non-religious' Christmas celebration," that "the Obamas did not intend to put the manger scene on display." There was such an outcry that Zero was forced to walk that one back as well.

At the New Ledger, writer Pejman Yousefzadeh is wondering if we are witnessing "A Presidential Meltdown?"

Update. I'm quite sure the lamestream lapdog press won't report it, but did anyone else notice what Obama said in his prepared remarks at the IFTAR dinner on Friday night? Here it is, and I quote: "Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality ... a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country."

Say what? Muslims are known for "diversity" and "racial equality"? Islam "has always been part of America"? What is this guy talking about? Is Barry doing weed again? What "America" is Barack talking about? I mean, I know that he's not exactly known for his excellent grasp of basic America facts (57 states, the "bomb" that fell on Pearl Harbor [you'd think he'd get at least that one right, coming from Hawaii], etc.), but it's a pretty far stretch, even for him (who has spoken about the "country" of Europe) to say that Islam has "always" been part of this country. What a tool.

Image credit: thelastcrusade

Update #2. So my source for all things "diverse" tells me that, actually, you could say that Islam is known for it's diversity, since in Islam, mutual hatred trumps race. So maybe that's what Zero was talking about. But he still gets and "F" in American history.

Update #3. My new hero, Chris Christie, gov of New Jersey: "Stop playing politics with the Ground Zero mosque."

Update #4. "Mr. President, this is not about religious freedom." See the article at The Corner, National Review Online. This is a response from former U.S. Navy officer, medical doctor, and Muslim, M. Zuhdi Jasser. This is not about religious freedom, Jasser writes. "It is about the importance of the World Trade Center site to the psyche of the American People." This is a stinging rebuke of Mr. Obama.

Update #5. Audio: Mark Levin interviews Zuhdi Jasser on the Ground Zero mosque. h/t to HotAir

One of my favorite blogs, Missourah.com, has a thought-provoking post today about the Manhattan mosque issue: "Sticking Your Head In the Sand - Not Just For Ostriches?" Nice.

More Usable News

It's the dog days of summer. The heat in Missouri is relentless. Blogging seems too much like work. So I think I'll continue just posting here links to articles and websites that catch my eye.


Barack Obama's numbers hit new lows over the weekend, in between his Ramadan celebration dinner at the White House and his "vacation" time (hours!) photo op at the Gulf, where he encouraged "you" to do what he and his family clearly have no intention of doing, mainly spend vacation money at the beaches of the Gulf states. Although it's a little bit late to be making vacation plans, isn't it? He and his family, on the other hand, will be at Martha's Vineyard (again), for a 10-day extrava-palooza elitist retreat where they'll stay at an estate costing in the neighborhood of $50,000 per week.

So it isn't a big mystery why Big Zero's numbers hit a new big low over the weekend. According to Gallup, Obama is now below 50% in all income groups; only 42% of independents approve of his performance; only 37% of married voters approve. In the Gallup poll, 50% disapprove of the job Barry is doing as president, which is a new low for that poll. Over at Rasmussen, which keeps track of the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, today's numbers show that 45% "strongly disapprove," while 26% "strongly approve" of Obama as president. The high strongly disapprove number is significant, since people who feel strongly about an issue are also inclined to VOTE.

One of the best thinkers and writers who turns up at HotAir is a guy who calls himself DOCTOR ZERO, named after an obscure comic book hero he followed during his college days. I read his posts every time they appear at HotAir. He also has a website, which I just found. He tends to "write long," but that's OK because he always has something thought-provoking to say. This time is an article he titles "The New Abnormal." Here's a snippet; the whole thing is a great read:

The New Abnormal is becoming a big part of the Democrats’ pre-election spin. Americans are supposed to accept their reduced standard of living and shrunken economy. They should lift their watery eyes in gratitude to the noble Democrat Party, which won’t let any semblance of fiscal responsibility stop them from looting the future to provide endless unemployment benefits. The entire concept of unemployment has become a welfare hammock, with people like Biden essentially telling the jobless that a substantial number of them (eight million!) can expect to spend the rest of their lives that way.

Around the Blogosphere--News You Can Use

It's the dog days of summer, and the news is pretty slow, but I've been trolling around on the Internet the last few days and I came upon these interesting news tidbits, articles, and websites. Look at the top for the newest links.

It's not often that I wish I lived in Florida--nothing wrong with Florida, it's just not my style--but I wouldn't mind living there now just so that I could vote for Lt. Col. (Ret.) Allen West for the U.S. House. I wouldn't care what party he was representing, I would vote for this man. He talks about "restoring American exceptionalism." When was the last time you heard that from any politician? This guy is saying all the right things, as far as I'm concerned. His battle cry upon opening a new campaign office?--"Come and get it!"

In stark contrast, watch our incredibly petty president as Zero refuses to accept a letter about the problems of security along the border with Mexico from Rep. Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

What kind of a president does this, asks Elizabeth Scalia, the creator of The Anchoress website. "I guess it's a president who believes he is a prince, not an executive, a president who thinks he is supposed to rule, rather than lead, and a president who dares not accept a letter from a Governor  because he then won't be able to say he never read it or hasn't seen it." A president who hides under his desk and votes "present." And who preens for the cameras (what a look he's giving that woman with the cell phone camera--this guy thinks he's a rock star--"I'm too sexy for my hat").

You know, the DemocRats may just have a problem come this November (heh). Just one example of that is to be found on the Dewey from Detroit blogsite in the post: "The Michigan Giant Awakes." Dewey has posted an article from American Digest, from a fellow Michiganian--a Union Michiganian. After reading articles like this one, I'm starting to wonder if November is going to be the biggest bloodbath evah for the party in power.

We are everywhere in this country, but mostly we are in the blue states. We are beyond fed up with promises. We are beyond fed up with being taken for granted by our non-representing representatives. And we are determined to make a deafening exclamation point at the ballot box on Nov.2. After being unemployed for nearly two years, I am over the blame game of GOP versus DEM. Who in the heck cares?

I have been a Democrat all of my life. I am a union worker in a generation of union workers. My entire family are union workers. We are all Democrats. Not a one of us has even the slightest problem voting against the democratic party, The democratic party doesn’t exist anymore. We don’t recognize it, we don’t like it, we don’t buy what they’re selling and very soon WE will be giving THEM a pink slip.

The look on the soldier's face says it all. George & Laura made a surprise visit to the troops, showing up unannounced at the USO in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. According to the article in the L.A. Times, they mingled with the soldiers, thanked them, chatted, and posed for photos as proof of the unexpected encounter for folks back home. "A President and First Lady who love their country and their country's military," someone was quoted as saying. God bless the troops. Can you even imagine O and Michelle Antoinette doing the same? No.


"Bozo the Spokesman," Robert Gibbs, is in trouble again. In an interview with The Hill in Washington (where else, since I sincerely doubt Gibbs goes anywhere else, which is part of his problem), Gibbs was blasting liberals who aren't in lock-step with O's policies, saying liberal naysayers would never regard anything the president said as good enough: "I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested," Gibbs said. I mean, it's crazy." He went on to say that the "professional left" will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president." Now some Democrats are calling for his resignation or even that he be fired.

Some, like Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn) think Gibbs went too far and that his dismissal would be "fair." "Why would he want to go and deliberately insult the president's base?" Afterwards, when asked if he stands by his comments, Gibbsy replied, "Yes." Seriously? An article at Politico by Ben Smith is entitled "Gibb's disdain, recoprocrated." This guy Gibbs has been a dumb-ass from Day One. Frankly, I hope he stays. You know, people used to apologize when they said or did something stupid. Now they do something called "walking it back." That's what Gibbs sort of tried to do when the interview was published, telling the Huffington Post: "I watch too much cable, I admit." This guy is a snarky, smirking jerk. I've always thought he was the perfect face of the Obama administration.

I started a really interesting book last night: The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America by Pamela Geller with Robert Spencer. She makes an excellent point: "The United States is the nation of enlightenment, of the power of the individual. But this is not Barack Obama's point of reference. Barack Hussein Obama did not grow up breathing these ideas. He spent a good portion of his childhood in Indonesia, and when he did move to the States to live with his grandparents when he was twelve, it was not to the continental United States, but off the mainland in Hawaii. Hawaii had only just become a state two years prior to his birth, and many on the island were not happy about it. So not only was it a nascent state, but many within it were hostile to the idea of America" (xv).

Here's a statistic that may blow your mind, from GatewayPundit: 1 of 15 children in the U.S. today has one illegal parent. And four out of five of them are "anchor babies." But Obama is suing Arizona for upholding the immigration law.

Will someone please explain this one to me? The Obama regime has cut $12 billion from the food stamp program. Say what? Evidently in the bill just passed by the House that provides $10 billion to school districts so that they can rehire laid-off teachers, is a requirement that $12 billion be stripped from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Some are saying that this is just part of a deal to pay off the unions. Yeah, Obama's and the liberals' hearts just bleed for the poor, don't they? Harry Reid says this will mean a reduction of about $60 a month for a family of four. I would submit that these fat Washington cats have NO CLUE what that will mean for some people. I wish just one journalist out there would ask Harry Reid, "Hey Harry, tell us if you know, what's the price of a gallon of milk?"

This is an excellent article at JOSHUAPUNDIT about the controversy surrounding "A Mosque At Ground Zero."

Seriously, if you don't read any other article this week, read this one. It's that good. It's from the Wall Street Journal by Fouad Ajami: "The Obsolescence of Barak Obama": "The magic of 2008 can't be recreated, and good riddance to it."

This is a must-read from Ottawa Citizen: "Mischief in Manhattan: We Muslims know the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provovation."

There's anotheer article with more information and links at American Thinker: "Muslims Speak Out Against the Ground Zero Mosque, by Eileen F. Toplansky.

Let's celebrate real tolerance. Greg Gutfeld: "I'm raising money to build a Muslim gay bar next to the Ground Zero mosque." Allahpundit on HotAir says he's looking forward to the congratulatory Mike Bloomberg press conference. Gutfeld says, this is no joke. He also says, "This may be the greatest idea I ever had."

There's an interesting article at the Washington Examiner by Glenn Harlan Reynolds: "Further thoughts on the higher education bubble." Reynolds says this: "My reasoning is simple enough: Something that can't go on forever, won't. And the past decades' history of tuition growing much faster than the rate of inflation, with students and parents making up the difference via easy credit, is something that can't go on forever." This is a must-read.

Karl Rove was a guest host on Rush Limbaugh's radio program on Monday. He's got a great website.

Here's some news about the Pro-Dem Carville-Greenberg poll: "Shows disastrous news for Dems." This is posted on Ben Hart's EscapeTyranny.com website. This is a poll run by former Bill Clinton advisers James Carville and Stan Greenberg: "When asked about how they intend to vote in November, 52% of those who voted in 2008 said they plan to vote Republican to lodge a protest about current economic conditions. Only 41% plan to support Democrats."

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has been charged on three ethics counts of violating House rules. Breitbart's Big Government has the details: "House ethics panel outlines charges against Waters."

This is from THE FOUNDARY, "Morning Bell: Under Obamanomics, Government Workers Win, You Lose." Today the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve YET ANOTHER BAILOUT for those states that have proved incapable of controlling their spending on government worker pay, benefits, and pensions.

My Last Post about Lady Obama

I have no desire to make this blog all about Michelle Obama. However, since the lamestream media is asserting that her favorability numbers "outshine all others" among several major political players who "might someday seek to call the White House home," then Michelle Antoinette's behavior deserves scrutiny. She is NOT, as Bob Gibbs, White House spokesperson, asserted last week "a private citizen": "The first lady is on a private trip. She is a private citizen and is the mother of a daughter on a private trip. And I think I'd leave it at that," Gibbs said.

That's just bullshit, Bob, straight up, but of course you know that. "Private citizens" are not given private audiences with the King of Spain and his family. They're not protected by 70 Secret Service agents and 250 Spanish law enforcement officers. Nor do they have their own private stretch of beach cleared by the Spanish police so that they won't be disturbed by the riff-raff. Sigh. Nor do they fly on Air Force 2. Can you just give us a break, Bob?

Could this woman not dress up just a little bit to meet King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, and Princess Letizia? The commenters at Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog have variously described this wrinkled A-line wrap-around skirt [who wears something like that with a derriere as large as hers?] as "dressing like a cafeteria lady," or, "visiting the Royal family wearing her best PTA meeting outfit." And silver shoes. Plus she allows her daughter to meet the King and Queen wearing some kind of early Halloween costume. Yesterday the poor girl was dressed in a tight-fitting boy's underwear outfit. What is wrong with this woman? Did she get the Spain "mother/daughter vacation," as it was billed, confused with a family vacation to Disneyland? The woman is unkempt. And she uses her children as props.

Granny Jan (avatar "Jihad Kitty") has done it again with her videos--this latest one I think is her best one yet.


It's pretty clear that in the current First L_ady's mind, she is trying to morph into Jackie O-bama. We knew Jackie O, Michelle, and you are no Jackie O.

 And O the birthday boy is having yet another "birthday bash" on Sunday with "close family and friends." Funniest thing, though, Lady Michelle won't be there. She'll be back in town, she just won't be at O's birthday party. Yet the lamestream press is happy to be fed the Happy, Happy Obama Marriage meme. Heh. Some in the press are calling this "Obama's birthday week." (??) I guess that speaks for itself.

And P.S., the "Michelle thinks she is not entitled" YouTube video could get 70 million hits, but the tally will always continue to read "303 views." Just sayin'.

Obama's Newest "Protege"--Alexi Giannoulias

This is Barry in Chicagoland on Thursday, stumping for Alexi Giannoulias, the Democrat seeking the U.S. Senate seat Obama himself once held. This guy was born in 1976. In 2006 he was elected Illinois State Treasurer, becoming the youngest State Treasurer in the nation.

Alexi is known by some as "Obama's newest protege." Fox News has the report on this one:

"Alexi is my friend. I know his character. I know how much he loves this country. I know how committed he is to public service for all the right reasons,” the president said to an audience gathered at the Palmer House Hilton.

But the president’s show of support drew fire from Republicans criticizing the senate candidate’s checkered financial record. “He’s campaigning for a failed mob banker who loaned money to known criminals and lost $150 million of taxpayer dollars,” NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX) said in a written statement.

Giannoulias’ Republican opponent Mark Kirk has faced his own share of criticism for inflating his experience in the U.S. Naval Reserves. Yay Chicago politics.

The Obamas Are Just Like You and Me--Sorta


Photo credit: Thanks to a brilliant and very funny commenter at Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog, "Granny Jan," whose avatar is "Jihad Kitty." Granny, you are one creative cat.

Sixty rooms? Really? On whose dime? Oh, let me guess. I'm just so thrilled that Lady Michelle has traveled to Marabella, Spain where her trip will pump boatloads of cash into the Marabella economy. Don't go to Las Vegas or anything, MO. Of course not--how gauche.

As Stephen Woodward at the examiner.com (St. Louis) points out, the First L_dy (I can't quite bring myself to type all of it) has three residences at her disposal, yet the "right call" in her judgment is to book 60 rooms "at the fabulous Ritz Carlton in southern Spain"? I think Granny has it right--Evita Obama, indeed.

What, Camp David doesn't suit? Taxpayers (that's you and me) already underwrite the cost for that. Evidently it's not Chi-Chi enough for Michelle-O and her gaggle of people bought off to be nice to her, including staff. friends. Instead, she goes off on Michelle-O's Excellent Adventure; it's estimated that the roundtrip flight alone will cost taxpayers (that's you and me) at least $193,000.

Obama (that's her husband--you know, the one who had to spend his birthday with "the guys" in Chicago while wifey was playing with "the girls" in Spain), on one of his recent campaign stops, assures "the masses" (that's you and me) that he feels our pain. Seriously. Read the Chicago Sun-Times article: "Obama: Our finances have suffered too."

Obama says the first couple is "not that far removed from what most Americans are going through." He tells the network "it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there."

You know what I have to say to him? Shut.Up. And next time, Evita-O, maybe you could consider a U.S. city for your excellent adventure--just sayin'. Oh, that's right, "next time" (August), the Obama's are finally going to get to go on vacation--to Martha's Vineyard for 10 days. Yep, just like you & me. Well, not really, since we're paying for it.

Update. Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog (MOTUS, for those who aren't following along) assures those taxpayers who are paying for Lady Michelle's trip (that would be you and me) who are worried about the cost: Michelle-O pays for all of her non-official, personal expenses. "So far, that includes the breath mints,Tums and Sasha’s barrettes," says MOTUS. So quit yer bitchin' about how much this is all costing us--the "us" of us who pay taxes, that is. The only thing it's costing those 50% or so of us who actually pay taxes in this country is plane fare (as above), the costs of three shifts of Secret Service details, plus all the costs for "support staffers." Oh, now I feel so much better.

We are also told, by Lynn Sweet, Politics Daily correspondent, that the First L_ady's Spain vacation is one of eight vacations she's taking this year. "She has no official duties in August"--oh, how hugely nice and well-deserved! Sweet says that whether she will "jump on the campaign trail to help Democrats in the November midterms is still up in the air." Seriously? I thought Lady Michelle was the Dem's secret weapon or something, especially since her popularity is about 20 points higher than O's--although that might change. Just saying. Sweet says that the "East Wing" (Michelle-O's office staff) has put it all into perspective for us: "The East Wing argues that Mrs. Obama is not an elected official and, as a private citizen, is free to focus on her family and friends." Michelle Antoinette.

So of course, we serfs who pay for all this need to remember that the Royal Wons are entitled to a little down time, as we were told by spokesperson Bobby Gibbs: "I don't think the American people begrudge a president taking some time with his family that's well earned and well deserved, for a few days to see and spend time with them."

These Obamas continue to be ridiculous, clueless shits. Big, big surprise--I so thought they would change.

Update #2. Even Susan Estrich is pretty sure Obama doesn't get it. Estrich writes: "I'm thinking here of the president's forthcoming vacation to Martha's Vineyard, one of those terrible decisions that has even his strongest supporters shaking their heads. Why is he going to Martha's Vineyard? For vacation. Because he likes it. Because he knows people there, has friends there, enjoys himself there. . . . I don't begrudge the president a nice vacation. But having already spent time in Maine this summer, a second vacation [and of course, in Lady Michelle-O's case, a third] to a place other than the hard-hit Gulf is an invitation for people to think what too many already think: The president just doesn't get it." Duh.

Here Estrich is saying the 2008 presidential election would be "historic." Little did she know. This must seem to her like a very long time ago. I don't think she has much love for the O's.





Update #3. This is the main headline, image, and link on the Drudge Report this afternoon (Friday). Here's the article at the Mail that's linked to the image at Drudge: "Spanish police close public beach for Michelle Obama's L250,000 Spanish holiday." The White House had to know this would not go over well. The only conclusion I can draw is that they simply don't give a damn. She's barely going to have time to get ready for their 10 days in Martha's Vineyard when she gets back. Oh, that's right, her 37 staff members can help out with that.

More Updates. It would seem that news of Michelle Antoinette's extravant trip to Spain is making the rounds--and people don't like it. What a surprise that one is--who could have seen that coming?

This is from the Los Angeles Times: "Michelle Obama's Spanish vacation draws critics."

As the economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sun-splashed Spanish resort this week may be sending a different message. . . . Every first family takes vacations. The criticism aimed at Michelle Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the U.S. and support its fragile economy.

The Times reminds us that Obama once scolded his American stump-audience that families saving money for college "shouldn't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas." Yeah, instead we all ought to fly to Spain and pump money into their economy.

And the HotAir commenters never disappoint, remind us--let's see, who said this one again? --“Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone . . . Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed.”

Well baby, guess what. We are now involved, informed. 2012 can't come fast enough, Big Mamma.

Missourians Thumb Their Noses at ObamaCare

Updates on the final count below. Updates from HotAir below.

I proudly cast a "Yes" vote for Prop C today in Missouri, and it turns out I was part of 74%--Wow!--who did the same, voting yes on Prop C, billed as the "Health Care Freedom Act." Today's vote in Missouri was the first-in-the-nation referendum on ObamaCare. See the story in Time here. A "yes" vote signaled a rejection of the Pelosi-Obama Rationed Health Care Plan.

Our friend Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit has the real story: "Show Me State" Shows ObamaCare the Door"

Today was the hottest day of the year, but it didn't keep people from going to the polls and voting to challenge the individual mandate set up by ObamaCare. Forty-two states are lined up to vote on a similar challenge to O-Care. Thank you, Missouri, for leading the way today.

HotAir also has a report, plus comments as usual.

Oh, and P.S. Overall, the Republican turnout was huge compared to the Dims. Uh-oh. Something tells me this isn't going to be Barry-O's best year. Hey Barry--HAPPY BIRTHDAY from MISSOURI!

Update.

From the NYT: "In Missouri, Health Law Is Rejected by Voters"

From the WSJ: "Missouri Voters Oppose Mandatory Health Insurance"

From the LA Times: "Prop C - Nation Is Watching Missouri Primary"

The final vote, after the votes in the cities were counted (after all the ballots from the cemeteries, felons, and "Micky Mouse" had finally been gathered together--that takes awhile, you know) was 71%.

Update #2. Oh Lordy, do I love this. The headline at HotAir this morning: "Missouri pops the ObamaCare-media bubble." This is from Ed Morrissey: "One meme had materialized over the last couple of weeks that ObamaCare had begun to get more popular with voters. Using a couple of carefully-selected media polls, the White House had started this claim and the press seemed willing to ignore (yeah, duh) the avalanche of other polling showing that solid majorieties favor repeal of the overhaul and the candidates who argue for repeal. That meme died in Missouri"--YES!

From one of the snarky commenters at HotAir: "So, when is Eric Holder plannig on filing the lawsuit against Missouri?" hahaha

Update #3. I just heard on Fox News (where else) that NONE of the major network news outlets covered this story--not NBC, CBS, or ABC on their "nightly news" shows. It's no surprise; however, it's notable, just the same.

This photo was on the front page of our weekly town paper, the Webster-Kirkwood Times. That was a surprise to me, since the neighboring towns of Webster Groves and Kirkwood vote overwhelming Democrat and liberal. Interesting. The paper did report that the "Democrats in the Obama camp . . . see Prop. C as a 'yawner'--and a symbolic political gesture." A yawner, huh? Well, not so much, and it's funny how those "symbolic" political gestures (throwing tea into Boston harbor?) can turn out to be damned powerful. Congrats to all who worked so hard on Prop C!

Update #4. Hilarious. The Hill is reporting the response from White House spokesperson Bob Gibbs regarding his take on the Missouri vote against the ObamaCare mandate: "Asked what it means that voters in Missouri would vote against the federal mandate, Gibbs said, "Nothing."

Brilliant Question, Freaky Answer

Q:"If they can do this, what can't they?"

A: "The Federal Government can do most anything in this country."

This is an exerpt from Congressman Pete Stark's (D, CA) town hall meeting, 7/24/2010, Hayward, California. Questions like hers in town hall meetings give me hope for this country. Maybe she would like to run against Stark? This maroon has been elected 18 times in 37 years in the 13th District of California. Way to go, 13th District!



Stark answers: "I think there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life. . . . The federal government, yes, can do most anything in this country."

And these are the kinds of people who get elected time and time again to represent the people in Washington. For the love of God, no wonder we're so screwed up.

Update. From Michelle Malkin. Chris Pareja is the independent Tea Party candidate running against Stark. He's a father and small business owner with solid grass-roots support and a limited government agenda. Learn more about him here and help out his campaign.