Nancy Pelosi Is Determined to Undermine Barack Obama

I've written eleven previous blog posts about Nancy Pelosi. This makes twelve. If you really want to, you can click THIS LINK and all twelve posts will open in a single window. Or you can just keep reading here for the Reader's Digest version.

Actually by simply reprinting these comments from my post from my July 24, 2008 post, Nancy Pelosi's War on America, I can summarize my objections to Nancy Pelosi's complete absence of leadership, her lack of intelligence and her destructive impulses:

America is really being betrayed by the current political posturing in Washington. And Nancy Pelosi is leading a bizarre and very destructive campaign against the best interests of the American people. It simply isn't possible to make any sense out of the current Democrat's posturing... EXCEPT that they have a genetic knee jerk opposition to any plan or any idea supported by Republicans. Is it possible that the Democrats feel forced to oppose the Republicans even if it actually means America is thrown into a full blown recession? What's happening is very disturbing.

Obviously I have the gift of prophecy. Here we are is a recession, or more likely a full blown depression, and Nancy Pelosi is still spending every hour of every day fighting against the best interests of her constituents, the House of Representatives, Congress in general, President Barak Obama and all of America.

I had great hopes that Barack Obama would reign in Pelosi and Obama's call for cooperation and bipartisanship would encourage or inspire Pelosi to turn over a new leaf. I genuinely believe President Obama wants a new culture in Washington.

Nancy Pelosi is determined to kill Obama's hopes and dreams. She is determined to bring about open warfare with her Republican counterparts. And she is succeeding.

She will not allow any Republican idea or compromise into her economic stimulus bill. She will not allow Republicans to even attend any planning meetings. Instead she taunts and berates Republicans and crows about her victory last November. She reminds me of President Bush after his 2004 win.

And like Bush, Pelosi's hubris will ultimately destroy her oven meager victory. Pelosi is sowing the seeds of a Republican reemergence and ultimate take over of Congress. But that is two to four years away. So before Nancy Pelosi can destroy herself, she will bring down the President.

Believe me when I tell you she doesn't care.

Walking A Tightrope

As Barack Obama completes his first week in office we should all be pleased at his effort to set a new, bipartisan, tone in Washington. In the pressure boiler of Washington even a single week is an accomplishment.

The question is how long will the political party leaders allow Obama to continue his voyage into the uncharted waters of compromise. Already Nancy Pelosi is making a solid effort to sink his ship and Republicans are testing his leadership.

I've come to believe Nancy Pelosi is genetically incapable of compromise. Her continued refusal to include a single Republican in the development of legislation is totally out of step with Barack Obama's stated goals. And Pelosi is supplying Republicans with all the ammunition they need to take continuing shots at the President's ship of state.

Actually, so far I'm impressed at Republicans restraint. I only wish Pelosi was using the same maps and charts as the President.

President Obama is receiving expected support from the press

, who are praising Obama's bipartisan approach and his general leadership. The press is actually helping mute the actions of Pelosi and other hyper partisan leaders.

Far right bloggers are rightfully criticizing the double standard shown by the press today versus the instantaneous trashing that President Bush received from the press four and eight years ago. While my friends on the right are totally correct, they should be pleased President Obama is being treated more fairly.

Far left bloggers have actually been more critical of Barack Obama than those on the right. For many of these "progressives," revenge and vengeance topped their list of priorities for the new administration. Obama's signals of compromise and tolerance, not to mention his outright endorsement of some Bush policies, have outraged his supporters on the left, many of whom feel betrayed.

The pressure from the far left and far right to return to rigid partisan dogma will be great. But the vast majority of Americans do not want to return to the gridlock that became the hallmark of the Bush administration and many of the last few administrations.

Barack Obama has my full support and I hope other bloggers, commentators and politicians will join me in supporting his approach of compromise and reasoned discussion and debate.

---

I want to add a few words to high praise for Sarah Palin who I heard yesterday on one of the cable news channels. I'm sorry that I don't have a link or video clip. But she was very gracious and extremely supportive of Barack Obama.

Sarah Palin emphasized that Barack Obama was "her president" and that he had and deserved her full support. She has high hopes that he will succeed in his efforts. She promised to oppose him on policy issues only and never allow the debate to become divisive or personal.

As Palin moves to position herself for a bigger political role in 2012 it will be damned difficult for her to maintain such a lofty position. But I applaud her for this early show of support and statesmanship today.

The World Celebrates

The above photograph, taken by flickr member NCinDC at the Inauguration, is one of thousands of photographs flowing in to flickr's Inauguration Photostream from all around the world. Below is a another photo by NCinDC taken at the World War II Memorial. I want to thank NCinDC for allowing others to republish his work under the Common Creative License.



Photos are flowing into flickr almost faster than it's possible to keep up. Some are simply television screen shots taken by home viewers. Others are impressive creative works. Still others are celebrations around the world.

And many, like NCinDC's above, are just citizen photo-journalism by some of the two million people in Washington DC to celebrate the greatest of all American Democratic Events, the peaceful change in leadership of the world's most powerful nation.

Today the entire world is proud of the United States!

Managing From Weakness

President elect Barack Obama, soon to be President Obama, will get his choice for CIA Director, Leon Panetta, confirmed. This is certainly as it should be, A President, especially a first term newly elected President, gets to chose his own team.

It is rare for an appointment to be denied unless the appointee has a genuinely fatal flaw. This, most assuredly, is not the case with Panetta, who I have previously said is very bright, honest, an excellent manager and totally loyal, not to mention a great Democrat Party cheerleader.

The only way for Panetta to not get the job is for Obama himself to arrange a face saving withdrawal. I do not expect that to happen.

In spite of all of the above, I strongly feel Panetta is a disastrous choice to lead the CIA, one that will ultimately leave the agency in ruins and one that will leave the United States deaf and blind in the face of an unprecedented terrorist threat.

I strongly urge readers here to link over to the National Public Radio (NPR) website and listen to the excellent and very balanced report by NPR Reporter Tom Gielten. Unfortunately a transcript of the report is not currently available. The report is fair and balanced and terribly frightening.

This is a decision that was made out of weakness and Obama's own unwillingness to confront very bizarre ultra left wing of his party. In spite of Obama's protestations, Panetta will have neither the ear nor the confidence of the President, who nominated his own real choice for CIA Director, John Brennan, to the position of "Counter-terrorism Advisor," which will not require any hearings or Congressional approval. It has been Brennan who has advised Obama every day. Brennan will continue to have Obama's ear and confidence.

This is a decision that will come back to haunt President Obama and the nation.

I strongly urge you to listen to the report.

A Mistake We Cannot Afford To Make

President elect Barack Obama has made a rare and unusual mistake in building an otherwise talented and able Executive team. But it is so serious mistake it puts his Presidency and our entire country at risk. The selection of Leon Edward Panetta to lead the Central Intelligence Agency is a game changing, and possibly a life changing, error.

I'll discussed Panetta's serious disqualifications for the job momentarily. But the very reason Obama made such a poor choice is equally important. Barack Obama clearly wanted a more experienced and qualified leader at this critical time.

Pamela Hess, writing for the Associated Press, tracks the rocky road that led to the Panetta designation. Hess writes, in her article Obama's intel picks short on direct experience:

The Obama transition team's long delay in selecting CIA and national intelligence directors is a reflection of the complicated demands of the jobs and Obama's own policies and priorities. The search for Obama's new CIA chief had been stalled since November, when John Brennan, Obama's transition intelligence adviser, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration. Brennan said his potential nomination had sparked outrage among civil rights and human rights groups, who argued that he had not been outspoken enough in his condemnation of President George W. Bush's policies. And despite an internal list of former and current CIA officials who had impressive administrative credentials, all either worked in intelligence during the Bush administration's development of controversial policies on interrogation and torture or earlier, during the months leading up to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

In short, Obama's political promises during the campaign and intense pressure from the far left thwarted Obama's natural inclination to chose talented and experienced leaders. But Panetta is a compromise in one area where compromise is both unwise and unwarranted.

Forced to compromise, Obama made perhaps the only choice left to him. Leon Panetta is a bright, experienced and talented executive. I have always liked Panetta. He is honest and loyal. As President Clinton's Chief of Staff Panetta was a pragmatic and detailed, if uninspired and unimaginative, manager. He can be trusted by President Obama.

But Panetta has virtually no experience in areas of either covert intelligence or military affairs. And his pontifications in these areas reflect a naivete that is positively frightening. And he has generally spoken out against the agency, it's leaders and activities. His record is one of reducing both the size, scope and funding of the agency. It can't be a surprise that rumblings from within the intelligence community are so very negative.

Again quoting from the AP report:

Veterans of the CIA were caught off guard by the selection. "I'm at a loss," said Robert Grenier, a former director of the CIA's counterterrorism center and 27-year veteran of the agency who now is managing director of Kroll, a security consulting company. The lack of intelligence experience puts Panetta at "a tremendous disadvantage," Grenier told The Associated Press in an interview. "Intelligence by its very nature is an esoteric world. And right now the agency is confronted with numerous pressing challenges overseas, and to have no background is a serious deficit. I don't say that he can't succeed. It may that he can compensate for the obvious deficit."

The fear among many in the intelligence community is that Panetta will gut the agency just at the moment it was finally regaining the size, scope and strength it needs to defend America against it's modern enemies of religious fanatics and terrorist organizations.

The dismantling and mismanagement of the CIA under the Clinton administration is often cited as a reason the agency missed key advance information about the al-Qaeda attack on 9/11. The weak and mismanaged agency also misread the information about the Iraq threat and "weapons of mass destruction."

Now is not the time to place a novice in charge of a key defense agency. Nor is it the time to tear down the agency in order to rebuild it later.

The President elect needs to rethink this nomination.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Three relatively small notes in a short blog entry to begin the New Year....

The Good

I find a great deal to like about Roland Burris, the former Attorney General of Illinois, who has been appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Blagojevich to fill the United States Senate Seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

In an effort to redeem himself, Blagojevich made an excellent pick. And, not coincidentally, put the U.S. Senate is a very awkward position.

I am hopeful that the Senate will find a compromise that will allow Burris to be seated. Senator Harry Reid is sending some hopeful signals.

The Bad

I have been 100% supportive of Barack Obama's choices for his staff and Cabinet. He has shown great judgement and is building a solid team.

But I am in no way disappointed to see New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdraw his name from consideration for Commerce Secretary.

My issue is NOT the current Grand Jury investigation into Richardson's awarding of contracts to his financial supporters. That might well end Richardson's career, but it's not my issue.

I lost all respect for Bill Richardson's intelligence and judgement when he proposed a six month withdrawal timetable from Iraq during the fall election campaign. I realized this was just one-upsmanship in campaigning as Richardson gasped for air in his long-shot candidacy. But the proposal was just plain dumb. And, I believe the man actually is "just plain dumb." Obama is much better off without him.

The Ugly

We are about to see death on a massive scale in Gaza as Israel launches a ground offensive. This is a tragic moment in a long and tragic conflict.

But one of the worst moments came earlier today when the bodies of a slain Hamas leader's small children were paraded through the streets of Gaza in an effort to enrage the entire Palestinian population into becoming human sacrifices facing the incoming Israeli army.

The death of these ten children, as well as Nizar Rayan's four wives, was unnecessary and completely avoidable. Rayan ignored repeated warnings to send his children and wives to safety. In effect, Rayan planned the death of his family.

So the children were used for propaganda purposes. The Daily Mail Online reports, "In grisly scenes, mourners held up the bloodied bodies of the children to the cameras in a clear attempt to blacken Israel's name and highlight its brutality. Graphic images showed the young children's uncovered faces as the victims were carried by thousands of angry Hamas supporters during the funeral procession."

We in the west simply cannot understand this level of hatred. We work to protect our families and to shelter our children, not send them to slaughter for political and public relations gains.

The Internet is littered with these pictures. You will not find them here.

Liberal Intolerance, Hate and Derangement

I simply must take today's five minutes to express my profound disgust at the giant cadre of liberal pundits and bloggers who are mounting an unrelenting attack on Reverend Rick Warren, pastor or the immensely popular Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, California, a "new age fundamentalist Christian church." Warren's egregious sin? He was chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to give the invocation at Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009.

The level of intolerance and absolute stupidity being portrayed on the pages of The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Slate Magazine and others is stunning and deeply saddening, especially coming during the holiday the celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. So much for peace on earth and good will toward men.

I absolutely refuse to post a single link to any of the crap out on the blogosphere from those who insist on condemning Warren for actually daring to believe the tenets of Christianity. Warren is roundly condemned for daring to both believe the basic dogma of his church and then to actually have the intellectual and moral courage to practice his faith in his daily life.

I am a deeply devout Unitarian Universalist. Warren and I share very few religious beliefs. I disagree with him profoundly on most theological issues. I most certainly disagree on the issues of human sexuality and lifestyle, especially Gay Marriage, which I strongly support.

But I disagree with almost every large and fundamentalist religion worldwide. I strongly disagree with most Islamic teachings and abhor the discrimination against women embedded in many religions.

But I DO NOT EXPECT, LET ALONE DEMAND that Pastor Warren magically abandon his core beliefs, just because liberals find some of those beliefs distressing. Far from it. I actually expect Warren to believe, follow, live and preach the word and commandments of God as he believes them. If Warren failed to do this he would simply not be a fundamentalist Christian.

Many, in fact most, of my close personal friends are Jewish. Many are Orthodox and live very conservative lives, keeping the Sabbath and following the laws of Judaism as closely as they can. Like Warren they reject homosexuality, They also deny that Christ is the savior.

Some day very soon a strongly conservative or ever Orthodox Rabbi will give an invocation at an Obama state function. Likewise I'll bet we soon see a Muslim pray at a state sponsored event. Will we so-called liberals DEMAND that they renounce their most sacred beliefs?

Or do we only demand that Christian ministers give up their beliefs and deny their God, as so many are now demanding of Warren?

And why do these supposed liberals insult and ridicule Christians, but remain reverent and respectful of other world religions? I've actually read these moronic pundits insult Christ in the most foul mouthed and demeaning language possible and then turn around and condemn the Danish who published the Mohammad cartoons for insulting Muslims and failing to respect their "deeply held beliefs."

Frankly, if Barack Obama chose Rick Warren to give the invocation at his Inauguration, I suspect that Barack Obama actually wanted a conservative Christian of deep moral faith to give that Invocation. Otherwise Obama could have chosen one of the many extremely fine and talented Methodists, Episcopalians or Unitarian Universlists to give the Invocation, or perhaps a great rabbi or Buddhist monk.

As to my fellow bloggers and pundits, have the courage to direct your outrage toward the person who chose a fundamentalist Christian to speak. Direct your outrage toward Barack Obama.

They Told Me If.......

They told me if I voted for John McCain I would get a bi-partisan moderate President who would often reach across the aisle and would appoint a broad range of people from across the political spectrum to his cabinet.

They told me that if i voted for John McCain I would get a pragmatic, logical and intelligent President who would NOT be captive to dogma or partisanship in making decisions BEST for the American people.

The told me if I voted for John McCain I would get a President who followed an intelligent and protective approach to our withdrawal from Iraq, a man who would listen to our military in the field and would not just quickly and dangerously withdraw troops regardless of the outcome.

So I voted for John McCain....

And I got exactly the type of President I hoped to have!

Good Work President-Elect Obama! I couldn't possibly be more pleased!

Facing the Future

Here are some rambling thoughts, in no specific or logical order, about the very difficult future that awaits President Obama......


Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my mind I hoped that the worldwide terrorist conflict with al-Qeada was somehow all President Bush's fault. Of course, in the logical and reasoning part of my brain, I knew this was not true. The attacks on 9/11 were planned well before Bush took office, during the tenure of President Clinton. And, unlike Bush, Clinton was relatively well like and well respected world wide. And Clinton had worked hard, if unsuccessfully, for peace between Palestine and Israel.

But, somehow in the very back of my brain and in my heart, I hoped the election of Barack Obama might allow a start toward the ultimate end of our conflict with radical Islam. However, Ayman al Zawahiri brought me back to reality. In a scathing communique, al Zawahiri condemned President-elect Obama ion the nastiest possible terms.

In a flashy and well produced video al Zawahiri condemned Obama as a hypocrite and traitor to his race, unfavorably comparing him to "honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s black Muslim leader. Parroting the words of Malcolm X, al Zawahiri called Obama a "House Negro," a docile slave doing the bidding of the white man.

The State Department dismissed the new video as spin control and a desperate tactic by al-Qaedo to blunt the world wide popularity of the new President who not only is black but has Muslim middle name. While this is undoubtedly true, it clearly shows al-Qaeda has no intention of dialing back the rhetoric or scaling back their on going efforts to attack and ultimately destroy the United States and much of western civilization.

As if this news wasn't upsetting enough, today we learned that Iran has enough nuclear fuel to create their first atomic bomb. Just how long do we believe it will take Iran to use the weapon on Israel or pass it along to a terrorist organization? Clearly the European led negotiations to curb Iran's development of the weapon have failed miserably. Can Barack Obama bring a fresh start to these negotiations or will he quickly learn that Iran's sentiments toward the US are identical to those of al-qaeda. I fear that Iran hopes Obama will be a docile "house negro." Based on what we witnessed during the campaign, I believe Iran will quickly learn he is nothing of the sort.

But the biggest problem that President Obama will face is the collapse of the world economy. I remain convinced we are entering a period similar to, but much worse than, the great depression of the 1930s. Unemployment will quickly move into double digits and major and massive bankruptcies loom immediately as Obama in sworn into office. Even as I write this today the stock market is on the verge of losing 50% of its value from it's peak. And some people I know personally have virtually lost their life's savings.

The big issues will be the loss of jobs and the cascading collapse of the retail marketplace. It will be difficult to overcome these twin problems and solutions don't come easily or quickly.

So far I'm very impressed with the choices Barack Obama has announced for his staff and cabinet. He is assembling a team with depth and talent. He is going to need them. We all will.

Campaign Finance Fraud

The right leaning blog The Gateway Pundit's lead story today is "Confirmed: It Looks Like Obama Just Got Away With Largest Election Donations Fraud in History" Gateway Pundit, along with a host of other right wing bloggers (all cross linked) has well documented the purposefully shoddy bookkeeping, elimination of security checkpoints and questionable donations and even more questionable accounting that allowed Barack Obama to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from unknown and possibly illegal sources.

Sadly, the mainstream media is still largely ignoring the story, although there is some rustling of the leaves among the press.

Pundit hypothesizes that is would actually take a "Special Prosecutor" to unravel the deception of the Obama campaign and I fear that is correct. Of course, during the glow of the honeymoon and a Democrat Party lock on Congress, no such prosecutor will be appointed.

What has happened here is appalling. If the actual list of donors were released it could, and I believe would, ruin the Obama Presidency. Of course, the massive cover-up is under way. Well, sort of. Bloggers investigating the scam at the Obama campaign website report that it is still possible to make fraudulent donations even today, even after the campaign had sworn they has fixed the problem.

I don't want to ruin the Obama Presidency. And and I don't want the massive fallout that would occur if a real investigation took place. I'm sure there are ample campaign staffers would would fall on their swords for Obama.

We the people should demand a full accounting and a full investigation of this grotesque fraud. And liberals should be leading the parade demanding accountability. Alas, I'm in a tiny minority.

The worst part of this evil is that it was totally unnecessary. Barack Obama would have easily won the election if he had followed reasonable security measures.

While I blogged about this numerous times before the election, here is my primary blog entry, "Can the Presidency Be Bought?"

Tea Leaves

Wouldn't it have been nice for politicians of all stripes, the media and the public to be able to take a few days off and bask in the glory of Barack Obama's election to the office of President. We should all be pleased and proud of this historic election. Absolutely everyone, including McCain supporters should take a bow.

Alas, the politicians, the pundits, the mass media and the blogosphere hardly missed a beat, dissecting every breath from everyones mouth. Talk about "much ado about nothing." Even Joe Scarborough was reduced to using the infamous "F-Word" live and on the air when discussing "Rahm 'F--- you' Emanuel." It's a hot video over on You Tube. I'm guessing no one ever heard the word before.

And, oh my god, the hysteria about Sarah Palin! What the hell is that all about? I don't believe she was elected to anything. Did I miss something? Let's see here. We elect the first African American President in history and the media is obsessed with Sarah Palin. So is the blogosphere. The #1 topic today at The Huffington Post, based on the number of times a tag is used is Sarah Palin!!!! Talk about a rock star.

So here I am reading all the posts about everything, which are, in reality, little pieces of nothing.

We are all reduced to reading the tea leaves, trying to find a sign. And I did find one especially good sign today. It seems Barack Obama wants Senator Joe Lieberman to remain in the Democrat caucus in the US Senate. Obama has sent a sign to Senate Majority Leader Reid to "back off." and let Lieberman remain, with his chairmanship in tact.

It seems President-elect Obama really does want reconciliation. And he may well just recognize Lieberman's value to the party and to the country.

It's a good sign.

Can The Presidency Be Bought?

This story ought to be the top headline in every newspaper in America. It ought to lead every network news broadcast. And, frankly, this story ought to thoroughly disqualify Barack Obama from the Presidency.

The Obama for President campaign has purposefully allowed and encouraged illegal campaign contributions from large donors, corporations, foreign countries and even illegal aliens. It is probable that these contributions were made with the full knowledge of the Obama campaign staff and management. It is possible that Barack Obama knew himself.

If the major news media wasn't so thoroughly in the tank for Obama the investigation would be in full force. It will take paid reporters to dig out the facts and ask the important questions. And it will eventually happen. The only question is when.

Right now only a few newspapers are beginning to ask the key questions. One real leader is Investors Business Daily who wrote in an editorial on Thursday:

Barack Obama has turned a blind eye to the use and abuse of prepaid credit cards. It's just one way he hides who his contributors are and just how much they're giving. When Steve and Rachel Larman of North Kansas City, Mo., opened their credit-card bill recently, a strange charge appeared on their statement — a $2,300 donation to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. This was odd, they thought, since they had not only not made the donation, they were planning to vote for John McCain. It was one more piece of evidence that the unprecedented flow of cash to and through the Obama campaign is not entirely legit. In any campaign, bogus or unwanted contributions can slip through the cracks. But team Obama has deliberately created a chasm of credibility. In addition to noncontributors being charged for contributions, at least $218 million has been received by the Obama campaign from donors of under $200 whose names it is keeping secret, according to FEC spokesman Robert Biersack. Fact is, team Obama has deliberately encouraged credit-card fraud by deliberately turning off the online safeguards normally used by sites receiving contributions or payments. There is no checking of names, addresses or card numbers done on the front end. According to the Washington Post, "Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged." Campaigns can accept donations of under $200 without disclosing contributors' names. McCain, who accepted public financing while Obama did not, has made his full donor database available on the Internet. Of the $150 million Obama claims to have raised in September, some $42 million was raised from secret contributors and listed under a single line, "Donors, Unitemized." Obama's deliberate lack of finance vetting allows the use of largely untraceable prepaid credit cards. These can be purchased at a local drugstore and used under any name, allowing anonymous donors to exceed limits on contributions and even foreign donors to funnel money to Obama's campaign. A Newsmax report noted a separate FEC database, of more than 11,500 foreign contributors to the Obama campaign, totaling $33.8 million. It was the largest influx of foreign money into a campaign since the Clinton-Gore campaign took millions of dollars of unregulated soft money from donors with ties to Chinese military intelligence. Typical is Viktor A. of Lagos, Nigeria, who gave $500 to Obama in May. State abbreviations accepted by the Obama campaign include IT (Italy), FR (France), GR (Greece), NZ (New Zealand), JP (Japan) and GA (Gaza). According to Newsmax, 2,372 donors gave their state of residence as "ZZ" with addresses from Beirut to Kiev to Shanghai.

I hate to sound like a paranoid right winger, but can you imagine the uproar if the roles were reversed and McCain had encouraged and accepted illegal campaign contributions and overlooked basic security? The press would have gone ballistic! And with good cause. No matter who does this kind of illegal activity, it should be investigated. And it should not be tolerated.

What Barack Obama has done is placed America for sale to the highest bidder. Elections shouldn't be bought and sold on the Internet.

Barack Obama should not be allowed to purchase the Presidency with illegal campaign funds.

Paranoia?

As I surfed around the blogosphere today I detected two distinct feelings that dominate the conservative and Republican blogs, panic and paranoia. The first is certainly understandable. Most tracking polls and virtually all reasonable pundits see an Obama victory as an absolute certainty. McCain supporters are panicking. They are looking for any tiny ray of sunlight as they head into the long dark night of defeat.

As a side note, I often must simply laugh out loud at the reporting over on the Fox News Channel. Over on Fox the polls are tightening and McCain is on the verge of victory. If you live exclusively inside the Fox News bubble, they will convince you McCain is winning. Just don't change that channel.

In the real world we are also witnessing a creeping paranoia among the folks on the right and a few on the left over the possibility of Barack Obama being elected Emperor and Chief, king god guru and messiah for life.

Even Obama has admitted he has a rather large ego. And Obama is acting is a rather partisan and vengeful in these last few days. Just ask Joe the Plumber who has felt the stinging abuse of governmental power or the reporters from The Dallas Morning News, The New York Post and The Washington Times suddenly left off the campaign planes.

But is there any validity in the paranoia? Let me direct you to Rick Moran's long and highly detailed column today, ‘WE DIDN’T KNOW” WILL NOT BE AN ACCEPTED EXCUSE.

Moran is hardly a reliable conservative. He is a strong opponent of George Bush and the War in Iraq. He often frustrates his fellow conservatives with long, rambling leftist essays. For a while many wondered if he would even support John McCain. But today Moran launched a withering attack on Barack Obama and left virtually no stone un-thrown. Here is an example. You need to read the entire column.

As clearly as many conservatives saw the way that the welfare state was designed would lead to eventual catastrophe, I will base the following on my life experience and more than 40 years observation of politics and government; a Barack Obama presidency will result in a radical diminution of American wealth, American power and prestige, and inevitably, a loss of liberty. Barack Obama is not qualified to be president of the United States. He has little interest in the nuts and bolts of how government works (yes, one can say the same of George Bush and look at us now). Unlike a Clinton or Bush #41 who enjoyed fiddling with the levers of government, enjoining the bureaucracy and Congress to bend to their wills, Obama literally doesn’t have a clue. He will be eaten alive by the striped pants set in the State Department. He will be gobbled up whole by the poverty lobby. And since he has little or no ideology or principles, he will sway with the political winds tacking hard left and then hard right until he angers everybody.

I strongly believe we can, should and even must elect John McCain president. This country needs McCain's strong leadership and logical approach to the problems we face. Barack Obama would (or will) be a complete disaster for the economy. We need McCain's simpler and more logical tax plan and we don't need Obama to expand the welfare state.

But..... should we really fear an Obama Presidency? I'll admit to a little paranoia myself. There is a grain of truth in Moran's rantings. Mostly I fear Barack Obama's ego. I fear he really does feel mightily superior to all us little people. I believe if the people of Ohio, Michigan and middle America knew Obama's real opinions of them, he couldn't be elected dog catcher.

Are a lot of people beginning to fear another Imperial President? Will Obama abuse his power to attack his opponents? Why hasn't he roundly condemned the horrific attack on Joe the Plumber?

Will Obama actually stifle the speech of his opponents? His team has attempted to do it in the campaign. And now Obama is removing reporters from newspapers who endorsed McCain from his campaign airplane.

Still, Is the loss of liberty Rick Moran writes about above a possibility? Is Obama that frightening? That concern is really showing up today among bloggers on the right.

John McCain: You Can Win! Here's How....

I don't think John McCain is reading my blog. And I rather suspect his advisers are too busy, too. But, if you are out there John, you can still win (easily).

How? Simply return to the full and open press availability that was the hallmark of your earlier campaigns. Your advisers (or should we call them "handlers") are giving you really bad, bad advice. Sarah Palin knows it. And, in your heart, you know it too.

You'll never close the 3% to 4% gap in the polls following your current plan. It's not possible. Barack Obama is out spending you in paid advertising 20 to 1. His 603 million dollars dwarfs your 87 million dollars.

O.K., accepting public financing was a huge mistake. But you can't fix that one now.

Barack Obama is completely hiding from the press. He hasn't had a press conference in ages and refuses more than two to three (carefully controlled) questions, and only on some days. And Obama has a lot of reasons to hide. More importantly, the press is finally starting to return to real journalism. They've been shamed into it.

And Joe Biden.... well, Biden is a disaster.

Sarah Palin is now the only available candidate and it's working. But you are the pro! You cannot match Obama's spending. But you can absolutely dominate every news cycle. Trust your instincts and return to the open, honest, available, candid, funny, controversial, folksy, trustworthy candidate that got you here in the first place.

John McCain, you can win. Talk to the press every hour of every day. And encourage Sarah Palin to continue to do the same thing.

The Manchurian Candidate

Is Barack Obama The Manchurian Candidate?

If somehow you are not familiar with Richard Condon's best selling 1959 novel or the 1962 blockbuster movie of the same name starring Frank Sinatra or even the rather sluggish and strange 2004 remake starring Denzel Washington, the "Manchurian Candidate" is a charismatic candidate who runs for President only to be the puppet of another, much more sinister, power. In the novel and 1962 movie that unseen power was the communist Chinese (hence the name). In the 2004 version the hidden villain was updated to be a domestic corporation, replacing our cold war fear of communism with the more politically correct (and rather prophetic) fear of Wall Street greed.

So is Barack Obama the real Manchurian Candidate? Do we have a man who has one very charismatic public persona, but a radically different personal and political agenda for the country once he takes office? We really don't know.

And this is EXACTLY what happens when the bulk of the Main Stream Media decides, in mass, to simply stop doing their jobs. When the main stream media (most importantly the print media) decides to elect one candidate instead of reporting the news and investigating the facts, the real electorate is left with a lot of questions and a whole lot of fear. That is where we are today.

The right wing blogosphere is erupting with the story of a video tape they claim is so explosive it could and would, by itself, cost Barack Obama the election. The LA Times has admitted it has the tape and has had it for months. They claim it's nothing, certainly not news. But, so far, they refuse to release it. Now that does strike me as odd. And it's the stuff conspiracies are made of.

All agree the tape in question does show Barack Obama at a party for radical Islamist Rashid Khalidi along with the left wing anti-war group Not In My Name, the Electronic Intifada, and the ex-Weatherman domestic terrorists Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. Supposedly Obama gave a speech heaping high praise upon Khalidi and, according to others, spoke harshly of Israel and the jews.

Except we don't really know, because absolutely no one in the media has bothered to lift a pencil in reporting this relationship, or the event in question.

Much worse malfeasance on the part of the MIA MSM is their failure to look into the money flow (called money laundering by many on the right) into Obama's campaign. It has been proven that Obama's campaign has turned a blind eye toward the source of the massive cash inflow, reportedly 150 million dollars last month. It is entirely possible that the hundreds of millions of dollars Obama has used to swamp McCain came from one single individual or a small group of individuals or even a foreign country or terrorist group.

All this happened (whatever may have happened) with the willful cooperation of the Obama campaign which disabled the normal name and address verification procedures for credit card donations. These are the facts we do know.

What is stunning is that the Main Stream Media has completely ignored what might be the biggest story of any election in history.

While the media was completely enraptured with front page story after front page story about Sarah Palin's wardrobe, not one single reporter was looking into this gross and now proven (thanks to the bloggers who investigated themselves) violation of campaign fund raising procedures. The MSM is still trying hard to ignore the story.

I don't think for a minute that Barack Obama is the pawn of either Islamic militants bent of the destruction of Israel or he is the pawn of George Soros or a small cabal of liberal kingmakers. Although I am certain his campaign is grossly violating campaign fund raising laws.

But we don't know. We just don't know. Because the adoring press won't or can't ask any tough questions. Not of Obama or anyone on his team.

The Sinking of the MSM Titanic

There are a few others, mostly conservatives, in both the traditional media and the blogosphere who clearly see the complete unraveling of the Main Stream Media. Chris Muir, cartoonist writing the Day by Day strip certainly gets it. If you have any trouble reading the above cartoon, please link over to the Day by Day Website for a full sized version.

Faced with the dilemma of choosing between the ethics of journalism and their dedication to the man they genuinely believe must become President of the United States, these pseudo journalists are consistently choosing politics over professionalism.

Make no mistake about it, these people genuinely believe that Barack Obama must become President. This isn't some vast left wing conspiracy to deprive the world of real news.

Instead these are zealots who have convinced themselves they are doing the right thing. A kind of "group think" mentality sets in that allows people who were at one time idealistic journalists to begin to overlook their ethics and their responsibilities. Stories get buried. Reporters are never assigned to certain stories. Key questions simply are never asked. Words and phrases are changed.

But the results are extremely serious. I have another entry coming up on this later today or tomorrow.......

Sarah Palin is Very Qualified to be President

We have only a few days until we cast our votes for President and Vice President. In fact many of us have already voted.

I have so much I would like to write between now and November 4th, but I also have real world duties and obligations.

Before I do anyhing else, let me thank those who read and comment here. I do really appreciate the dialog discussion following the last several posts. I deeply appreciate the quality, the wisdom and the honest and civilized debate.

I have started and then discarded several columns outlining and defining my endorsement of John McCain and Sarah Palin for President and Vice President. They will receive my vote, although I still believe that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will win. It would be a huge upset if McCain and Palin pull this one out.

I certainly do not think for even one second that anything I write here will change a single vote. The world isn't waiting on the wisdom of the Wizard for their instructions.

I've looked at dozens of different issues in making this decision. In some areas, like health care, I feel that Barack Obama has the best program. In other areas, most notably foreign policy, I feel McCain is more correct.

There are two defining areas that tipped the scale in favor of McCain and Palin. The first is obvious, and that is that John McCain and Sarah Palin have the real world experience to hold the offices they seek. And while the same can be said of Joe Biden, it cannot be said of Barack Obama.

I've said often that Obama has never made a single tough decision in his entire life and it is tragically true. He has literally voted present his entire life and throughout his public career. Such a record is actually helpful when running for President because you have no history, no paper trail. There is nothing for the press to check (as if anyone in the press was actually looking at Obama's record). You can claim to stand for anything and no one can disagree. The bottom line is Obama gives great speeches. That's it.

Compared to Barack Obama, Sarah Palin is experienced, tested and ready. She has made the toughest decisions and handled intense and detailed negotiations and faced difficult situations. She has created and submitted budgets. She has worked with the legislature in order to get things done, get laws passed. And she excelled in every single effort, building a stunning 80% approval rate. She has been wildly successful in handling a damned tough job.

Obama, by contrast, can not point to a single accomplishment throughout his entire career beyond winning a Senate seat against only token (no offense intended) competition. He can't even point to any legislation. There is no McCain-Feingold anywhere in Obama's past.

Obama has good ideas and we should not diminish his wonderful ability to communicate. But we do not know what he really stands for, at least not from any real world examples.

Now the press and the left have been grossly unfair in handling Palin. Her mistreatment is stunning, yet she has rarely objected or complained. And recently, all the networks have noted, Palin has been the most available and most interviewed of all four candidates with more press availability every day than Obama, McCain and Biden combined. And she looks and sounds good.

I've read, heard and watched literally hundreds of news stories, articles and blog posts that criticized (or more correctly defamed) Governor Palin. I've not read a single one of importance, substance or credibility. Only those rare posts that discussed Palin's policies or positions were reasonable and fair. It is certainly fair to oppose her over issues like abortion rights or sexual rights or gay rights. I applaud those who support Obama and disagree with Palin because of those issues.

Now, before I depart this evening, I want to also mention the second deciding factor in my decision to endorse John McCain. I feel McCain has the best plans to handle the economy, taxes and Washington special interests. I will be writing a full and detailed column on this issue in the next few days.

What McCain Needs to Say.....

You can add me to the long, long list of bloggers who are already second guessing John McCain's performance even before the debate has begun.
I am deeply distressed that Senator McCain cannot gain traction against Barack Obama. Obama is a terribly flawed candidate, one who certainly should not be elected President.

I remain absolutely convinced that Barack Obama will win and win by a landslide. Can John McCain do anything tonight to stop the train wreck? No. So what McCain should do is simply argue policies and facts. He should leave William Ayers and Rev. Wright at home.

Two recent Wall Street Journal articles point out the road Senator McCain needs to follow. First is Obama's 95% Illusion which clearly point out the flaws and absolute fantasy of Barack Obama's constant claim of a tax cut for 95% of all Americans, and a tax increase only on the rich. Like the Journal, I remain stunned that McCain and the Republicans haven't blown this house of cards up before now. It is, quite simply, a lie. And it's a huge lie.

Obama's plan actually is a dramatic increase in welfare. And his plan increases welfare in a way that will dis-incentivize people from working or improving their job or salary. If people get a better job, they will actually lose money.

Worse, it's a plan that will institutionalize poverty. Obama's plan will pass out a lot of checks to people who pay no taxes. But the checks will be too small to lift people out of poverty. Yet his program actually penalizes those who try. We will create the largest underclass in history, permanently on the dole.

Second McCain needs to genuinely attack Barak Obama on his absolute failure to lead during the fight for legislation that could have saved the world from this huge Banking Crisis. Again, I'll reference a Wall Street Journal article, Obama Voted 'Present' on Mortgage Reform

I must also reference my own essay from October 11th, We're About to Elect a Good Listener When We Need a Strong Leader which covers all the same facts. I can only assume, since my essay preceded the Journal article by 4 days, that they are reading my stuff...... O.K., probably not.

The Journal article is much better and much more complete than my own. You need to read every word to really understand why this collapse happened and how it was that the Democrats, and not Republicans, authored "the only banking deregulation in recent years." We are reffing to the Democrats deregulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage lenders who caused the subprime disaster.

While Barack Obama wasn't the only villain in this meltdown, he could have personally stopped it. And, worse yet, he clearly saw the disaster in the making and yet he did nothing.

The Journal writes, "In the summer of 2005, a bill emerged from the Senate Banking Committee that considerably tightened regulations on Fannie and Freddie, including controls over their capital and their ability to hold portfolios of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities. All the Republicans voted for the bill in committee; all the Democrats voted against it. To get the bill to a vote in the Senate, a few Democratic votes were necessary to limit debate. This was a time for the leadership Sen. Obama says he can offer, but neither he nor any other Democrat stepped forward."

"Instead, by his own account, Mr. Obama wrote a letter to the Treasury Secretary, allegedly putting himself on record that subprime loans were dangerous and had to be dealt with. This is revealing; if true, it indicates Sen. Obama knew there was a problem with subprime lending -- but was unwilling to confront his own party by pressing for legislation to control it. As a demonstration of character and leadership capacity, it bears a strong resemblance to something else in Sen. Obama's past: voting present."

These are just two of the real issues Senator McCain needs to address. There are several others, but Bill Ayers is not among them. Senator McCain, you cannot win. So you need to fight with class and bring the real issues of the election to a public that, frankly, does not want to see them.

Are We All Going to Put the "N" Word on Our Tee-Shirts Now?

It's official. Respect for women is over. Hundreds of years of fighting for equal rights and equal respect, lost in a just a few days.

And those who we expected to protect our freedom have sold us into slavery.

If you actually believe in the inherent worth of all human beings, you are worthless yourself.

If you actually believe in freedom of a woman to chose, you must be ridiculed for making a choice.

If you actually believe in the freedom of religion, you must be damned for all eternity in the most vile manner possible.

If you actually believe in the dignity of all women, you must be denied all dignity.

If you are a woman today, any woman, you are nothing more that an object. You are a possession. You are a sexual outlet. You are to be used and then discarded. You are scum. You are nothing.

I have proof. But I will provide no images. I will provide no copy. I will merely point you to this link: Obama Supporters T-Shirts

And this link: Obama's Supporter's Vile T-Shirt Prominently Displayed on Barack Obama's Own Website

I've already signalled my support for John McCain for President. I can hardly threaten Barack Obama. He is hardly afraid of losing my vote. But if he doesn't specifically condemn what his supporters are doing (exactly as John McCain has done several times over the last few days), I will certainly lose all respect for him. Now and forever.

This is not an option. If the man cannot condemn this debasement of all women, he does not deserve to be President. It is this serious.

America Burns while McCain Fiddles

Sad to say my time machine is broken. But I would love to travel back in time to the stock market crash of 1929 and listen to the discussions President Herbert Hoover had with his Cabinet and advisers. Do you suppose he was just a clueless as Barack Obama and John McCain are tonight?

I'm betting he didn't realize what the stock market crash meant. He thought it would recover. He didn't see the Great Depression coming.

Neither did a vast majority of the population. But the economic landslide was relentless.

But tonight most Americans are starting to realize they have lost 1/3 of their life's savings and/or their retirement fund. Folks that thought they could retire at 59 or even 65 now realize they may need to work the rest of their lives. Retirement is no longer an option.

People on fixed incomes or living today off their 401K's realize they are moments away from losing their homes or worse.

And they realize that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain will have the money to institute their proposed Medical Programs.

And many people really fear they might be laid off before Christmas. Those fears are well founded.

The current disaster is far worse than the stock market crash of 1929.

John McCain is genuinely clueless. He actually believes this election is about Barak Obama's relationship with distinguished University of Illinois at Chicago Professor (and unrepentant radical terrorist) William Ayers.

Wake the hell up, John. Americans couldn't give a rat's ass about Ayers. In fact Americans would overwhelmingly elect Ayers if they thought he could solve this financial mess.

And America is already scared as hell of Barack Obama. Trust me, we are terrified. And it doesn't have anything to do with Ayers. So give us an alternative. Show some real leadership.

I realize that you must attack Obama. It's part of the campaign mix and negative ads so work. So hit Obama where it will really hurt: Barack Obama's total lack of experience and timid decision making. Obama hasn't ever managed his way out of a Senate cloak room. He generally refused to make decisions. He's inexperienced and weak.

Give America an alternative. But if you continue to ignore the 8 trillion ton gorilla in the room, we are all going to lose.