Michelle Obama's Ten Billion Dollar Beat-Up

Tweaks to children's diet can make a positive difference in their health, Michelle Obama told CNN's Larry King. Image Credit: CNN

Michelle Obama's Ten Billion Dollar Beat-Up

Let's be honest, we did not vote for Michelle Obama when we elected Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States. We only agree to allow her to live off of our public monies as the wife/spouse of the person we elect into this office. But something has changed with the approach to our understanding of how our elected ... and now, unelected positions ... that occupy our executive branch of Government.

On Tuesday, February 9th, 2010, the President of the United States signed an executive order establishing and funding to the tune of $10,000,000,000 (that is ten billion dollars or using a population number of 300 million people, a tax donation of $33.33 for every man, woman, and child in the United States) the "Let's Move" campaign that seeks to increase awareness and solve the problem of childhood obesity with a comprehensive approach that will encourage families and communities, schools and states, doctors and coaches, private industry and not-for-profits to work in a coordinated effort to attack childhood obesity on multiple fronts simultaneously. “We think that this has enormous promise,” the president said. Turning to his wife, he added, “It’s done, honey.”

Michelle Obama called for overhauling many federal laws and guidelines, including adding $10 billion over the next decade to “update” the Childhood Nutrition Act, which feeds 31 million children at school and would add funding to feed more children.

At this time of expansive Government debts, why can't the first lady issue a simple Public Service Announcement (PSA) and work through existing agencies and not-for-profit organizations without taking an additional $33.33 out of each and everyone's pocket (a family of four will be expected to pony up $143.33)? After all, doesn't this crowd have enough control over our lives?

This excerpted and edited from NEWSWEEK

Michelle Obama's Childhood-Obesity Plan: Reaching Out to America's Moms
Patrice Wingert, The Human Condition - NEWSWEEK - Posted Tuesday, February 09, 2010 3:26 PM

When Michelle Obama became first lady, she stressed that her "No. 1 job" would be "first mom." Following through on that focus, today at the White House she elevated her personal concern for her own kids' health and eating habits into a massive national campaign aimed at solving the U.S. epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation.

Calling the issue "one of the most serious threats to their future," Obama noted that childhood-obesity rates have tripled in the past three decades, and that the excess weight kids are carrying these days increases the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma. As a result, Obama said, she had "great concern" that too many of today's kids were on track to live shorter and less healthy lives than their parents, even though the problem is "so imminently solvable."

President Barack Obama signs the executive order giving Michelle Obama $10,000,000,000 of federal tax money for the "Let's Move" campaign that will be run out of the office of the first lady. Image Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais

"This isn't like a disease where we're still waiting for the cure to be discovered, we know the cure for this," Obama told an audience packed into the White House's State Dining Room. "This isn't like putting a man on the moon or inventing the Internet—it doesn't take some stroke of genius or feat of technology. We have everything we need, right now, to help our kids lead healthy lives ... so let's move to solve it."
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Not only did she call on schools to provide their students with healthier meals and more active playtime, but she said she would work to encourage communities to promote farmers' markets and recreation, pediatricians to write prescriptions for more vegetables and exercise, and the USDA to identify and eliminate "food deserts," often located in poor neighborhoods, where grocery stores don't exist and residents have little option but to buy junk food at convenience stores.
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And even though she has gotten flak for previously talking about how she struggled with this issue with her own kids, she didn't back away from expanding on her personal experiences, noting that childhood obesity is "an issue of great concern to me, not just as a first lady, but as a mom."
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But these days, she said, parents often work longer hours and can't always eat together as a family. The cost of fruits and vegetables has risen 50 percent faster than other foods in the past 20 years, making some of the healthiest foods more expensive. While government, private industry, and philanthropies can do some things to help, she stressed that the main responsibility for making healthy decisions for kids ultimately rests with adults, and encouraged parents, particularly, to lead the way by doing simple things, like replacing soda with water or skim milk, encouraging kids to walk places, cutting back on portion size.
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"Our kids didn't do this to themselves ... no matter how much they beg for pizza, fries, and candy, ultimately, they are not, and should not be, the ones calling the shots at dinnertime. We're in charge. We make these decisions. But that's actually the good news here. If we're the ones who make the decisions, then we can decide to solve the problem."

While the plan she laid out Tuesday was ambitious and multilayered, in the end, it may be her attempts to talk mom-to-mom that may make the biggest impact.
Reference Here>>

If it actually is "her attempts to talk mom-to-mom that may make the biggest impact" as this article suggests, then why doesn't Michelle Obama just issue a PSA as opposed to having her husband issue an executive order creating and funding with uncollected taxes, the ten billion dollar "Let's Move" campaign?

We can not afford the money or the "paid for" parental beat-up by this, or any, First Lady!

Bond Vigilantes In The Age Of Obamanomics

"The Vigilante", a masked government agent, is assigned to investigate the case of the "100 Tears of Blood", a cursed string of rare blood red pearls sought by a gang led by the unknown "X-1" that may have been smuggled into the country. Image Credit: Columbia Pictures

Bond Vigilantes In The Age Of Obamanomics

In a free and open market society, many forces come forward to protect against bad decision making and the folly of idealism.

Bond Vigilantes are an economic force that are beginning to rise up and bring economic reality to the Obama Administration's Government expansion through spending policies and the printing of money.

If the public feels powerless to reel-in this one-party Big Government push to socialism ... free market Bond Vigilante forces just may step in and allow this process to take a breath here in Carter' Second Term.

"The Vigilante - Fighting Hero Of The West" Image Credit: Columbia Pictures

This excerpted and edited from LaissezFaireLounge.com -

A Giant Economic Boycott
Pia Varma, LaissezFaireLounge.com - Friday, May 29, 2009

In these turbulent times when the government is going on an unprecedented spending spree, raising money and increasing its involvement in the economy, many of us have been wondering...who is going to save the day? Enter bond vigilantes. The bond vigilantes are a group of international investors who demanded higher Treasury bond yields from the late 1970’s through the 1990’s whenever there were fears about inflation and hyperinflation. During the credit expansion, the bond vigilantes disappeared but now that the government has been printing, spending and borrowing money like crazy and flooding the economy with dollars to beat the recession, the vigilantes are back with a vengeance.

What essentially happens is the bond vigilantes will short or sell US Treasury Bonds, which will cause the US government to pay higher rates to borrow money, forcing it to rein in spending. This is what happened when Clinton first got into office with idealistic government plans and huge spending initiatives. The bond vigilantes staged an economic boycott or protest against these initiatives by shorting Treasuries.

But who are these bond vigilantes? They seem like a group of pirates scouring the coast looking for trouble. Or a band of cowboys keeping a watchful eye on the world. In reality, they are just a bunch of savvy investors who understand that unbridled spending leads to massive borrowing, which causes interest rates to increase.
Reference Here>>

Somali Pirate Or Enemy Combatant – What’s The Difference?

Crew members of the Maersk Alabama celebrated after hearing that their captain, who had been held hostage by Somali pirates, had been rescued. Image Credit: Roberto Schmidt/AFP — Getty Images

Somali Pirate Or Enemy Combatant – What’s The Difference?

All this last week and Easter weekend, the world media attention was affixed upon the events surrounding the assault, attempted takeover, and kidnapping of a captain of an American flagged container ship. The leadership and action shown by our military that ended the internationally illegal action and saved the container ship captain, Capt. Richard Phillips, was exemplary.

While our President ducked questions from the media (and diplomats from the State Department negotiated with Somali Klan Elders via satellite phone) about the assault and kidnapping happening in the Indian Ocean off of Somalia, the military was preparing for action, then acted under direct orders from the on-scene commander.

President-elect Barack Obama at a press conference on December 7, 2008. Image Credit: Scott Olson, Getty Images

This excerpted and edited from WXYZ-TV Detroit –

Obama declines to answer question on piracy
wxyz.com - Last Update: 4/09 10:37 am

President Barack Obama has declined to answer a question about the hostage situation off the coast of Somalia.

The president was asked about the incident as he met with U.S. homeowners about refinancing mortgages. At the close of a Roosevelt Room event, the president was asked by a reporter if he were concerned about the piracy incident.

Obama responded: "Guys, we're talking about housing right now."

Reporters were then ushered out of the room as they usually are after such events.
Reference Here>>

This is the new leader of the Free World and he can not even address the terrorist and illegal acts of pirates on an American vessel. I would have hated to see what President Barack Obama’s reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor would have been if he were in place on 7 December 1941.

Last March, the Obama Administration decided to remove the term “Enemy Combatant” from the terminology used by the American Government in dealing with people who committed acts of war but were not controlled or governed by any organized country. A term was needed after 11 September 2001, to deal with people who caused acts of war, mass murder, and were not governed by an organized country after hijacked passenger jets were flown into the World Trade Center Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C..

Why don’t we just call them Pirates?

Pirates are not governed by any country, they terrorize, disrupt a culture, murder and profit from their uncivilized and illegal acts just as “Enemy Combatants” and the international laws of piracy are clear and the punishment is harsh … first offense can get one life in prison!

We suggest that we call “Enemy Combatants” (EC’s) … “Pirates” (P’s) during this Carter's Second Term. At least Obama didn't try to micro-manage this hostage situation as Carter did during his problem with enemy combatants in Iran (oops! that is an organized country).

EC’s and P’s are all working to disrupt the way life is carried out because of some perceived nonnegotiable grievance. EC’s and P’s all will use what ever means to achieve their ends that include violence, kidnapping, theft, and destruction. With EC’s and P’s, the war never ends until they choose not to act, otherwise all of these acts must be dealt with at the time they happen and harshly … these acts should never be appeased.

It is time to end ... Piracy, once and for all!

Circular Logic Defines Obama’s Turn At President

Leaders of the White House economic team and the Senate's top Republican bellowed about bonuses at a bailed-out insurance giant and pledged to prevent such payments in the future.From one Sunday talk show to the next, they tore into the contracts that American International Group asserted had to be honored, to the tune of about $165 million and payable to executives by Sunday, even as the company has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue. Image Credit: KOMO News

Circular Logic Defines Obama’s Turn At President

Here we are only about 57 days into the 44th Presidency of the United States and what we find doesn’t match up with what was promised.

Barack Obama ran on an overriding theme of ushering a new era of responsibility, yet all this administration can do is put forward and hire people, Timothy Geithner, to oversee our economy and its pursuit of increased taxes, that cheat on their responsibility to actually pay taxes.

Case in point:

The Obama administration blames this economy and the Government solutions put in place to correct its downturn on the previous executive administration of George W. Bush, yet this administration fights to keep most of the same people, policies, and level of oversight in place from the previous administration.

This administration decided to give a third round of additional TARP fund billions of dollars to its largest troubled financial institution, AIG, without pre-condition (again) while upping the Government’s ownership (80%) in the company … then becomes outraged (only after the disclosure of the bonus plan) when the company honors its employment contracts with many of its top executives by issuing $165 million dollars in bonuses – averaging $500,000 to each.

Obama economic chief Larry Summers: AIG bonuses 'outrageous' but government can't stop them. Image Credit: Associated Press via KDRV-TV

This excerpted and edited from NationlJournal.com –

Hotline After Dark -- Resident Evil?
March 17, 2009 8:50 AM

"World News" led with AIG bonuses. "Evening News" led with AIG bonuses and featured a taped interview with special inspector gen. for Iraq Stuart Bowen Jr. "Nightly News" led with AIG bonuses.

Last night's TV coverage was dominated by Pres. Obama's announcement that he asked Treas. Sec. Tim Geithner to use all legal tools to block the AIG exec bonuses. Among the reaction:
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Weekly Standard's Ham: "There's nothing that brings people in Washington together from both sides of the aisle faster than the need to get on the right side of a populist backlash" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 3/16).

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ): "None of this should have surprised any of us. ... And it was actually out there also for Secretary Geithner to understand coming into this, as well. ... So it's only now that it's making headlines that the president is coming back and basically second-guessing his own treasury secretary on this. Why Secretary Geithner didn't raise this when he first understood it is beyond me" ("NewsHour," PBS, 3/16).

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), asked if he's satisfied with the responses from the WH: "I'm not satisfied. ... They have to renegotiate their contracts. There is no reason why when the federal government is poised to do another $30 billion that, in fact, we can't insist that those contracts get renegotiated, and renegotiated in such a way in which those bonuses simply don't take place." ("1600," MSNBC, 3/16).
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FNC's Hume: "... it is a big problem for the president. He has already added substantially to the bailout money previously provided to AIG and to others and will almost certainly need to add more, much more to address the continuing credit crisis. ("Special Report," 3/16).
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Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA): "The boneheads are the people in the previous administration and this administration who gave out over $170 billion of our money and did not, in fact, do what anyone else giving money does, which is ensure that the money is not a conduit for simply paying out bonuses" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 3/16).

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer: "This is not so much an economic issue as a psychological and a political issue. Economically, if you add up all the bonuses, it's less than 1/10 of one percent of the bailout to AIG alone, so it's lunch money. Psychologically, it's important because there's outrage in the country, and ... unless there's an appeasement in the anger in the population who are going to have to support the next bailout, which is going to be a trillion dollars, the money won't be made available, Congress will deny it. So that's why you get the president heaping opprobrium on these miscreants who made the bad deals and now are getting the bonuses."

More Krauthammer: "I'm all in favor of keeping this heaping opprobrium. I would deny them the bonuses if possible. I would be for an exemplary hanging or two. Have it in Times Square, invite Madame Defarge. You borrow a guillotine from the French and we could have a party. If that's what it takes to maintain popular support, let's do it. But it's not going to change anything economically" ("Special Report," FNC, 3/16).

CNN's Dobbs: "I'm calling for Liddy to be fired. I'm calling for the Board of AIG to be fired here tonight, and looking forward ... we can't afford in this country any longer to tolerate corporate leaders who don't understand the basic values of this country ... ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," 3/16).
Reference Here>>

Why is anyone surprised? Barack Obama never was an executive in charge of anything throughout his entire career.

He became educated, earned a law degree, edited a law review publication, worked as a foot soldier for ACORN (an organization that is funded, in part, by the federal government to support socialism projects to people who look for handouts as opposed to a hand up on which one can become self-sustaining), became friends with a group of radical educators and priests, taught constitutional law at a college, ran for and secured a state senate office in Illinois, then waged an uncontested campaign to become a Senator from the state of Illinois to the federal government, where he served 144 days before he declared and ran for President of the country full time until he became elected.

And now, as President, with the help of a Democrat political party lead congress and three Republican political party Senators, he has been successful at committing each and every household to an additional $18,500+ in spending debt. He has defined his presidency by throwing taxpayer money at continuing, and historically, self-correcting economic problems while re-labeling our effort to stop islamofascism created violence that continues to kill thousands of innocent citizens … from an act of ongoing war to a police action.

The economy has lost over 40% of its value since he was voted into office (over 15% in these last two months), South Korea and Iran threaten to launch rockets and make nuclear bombs, Russia is moving to control the flow of oil out of their region of the world while President Barack Obama reverses the opening up of off-shore drilling activity in our own country, Riots are breaking out in Pakistan, and Barack Obama pledges $900,000,000 (nine-hundred million dollars) of United States taxpayer money to rebuild infrastructure in Hamas (a recognized islamofascism ideology based terrorist organization) controlled Gaza.

All of this chaos and we have only witnessed this President’s first two months in the office of executive leadership.

Circular logic … dizzying, isn’t it?

Obama - Really Does Put A Different Twist On "Lipstick"

Obama - Really Does Put A Different Twist On "Lipstick"

With the Obama*Biden campaign in full meltdown (some polls are showing a 20 percentage point swing in some key demographics since the beginning of the political convention season), Barack Obama is beginning to smell like Bob Dole.

Talk about a classless and unimaginative approach on an issue less political attack ... we have a totally ill-advised comment. He was calling the candidate for Vice-President of the United States on the Republican ticket, Sarah Palin, a pig.

How classy, intelligent, progressive, and totally Soros Wing-Daily Cos Democrat Political Party like was the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.

With this statement as an exhibit as a standard of political discourse ... the Democrat Party can forget seeing the Executive Branch of government for at least the next four years!

This act by Barack Obama shows us all a different "twist" on sexism.

This excerpted and edited from the Wall Street Journal -

Obama Puts Different Twist on Lipstick
Amy Chozick, WSJ - September 9, 2008, 6:23 pm

Lebanon, Virginia - What’s the difference between a more hopeful kind of politics and old-fashioned attacks? Lipstick.

Barack Obama says the John McCain-Sarah Palin policies don’t represent change, they’re “just calling the same thing something different.”

“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” Obama said during a town-hall style event here Tuesday night.

The comment played on Republican vice presidential candidate Palin’s joke during the Republican National Convention that the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom was lipstick.
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“You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change,’ it’s still going to stink,” Obama said. “After eight years, we’ve had enough of the same old thing. It’s time to bring about real change to Washington and that’s the choice you’ve got in this election.”

This isn’t the first time in a 24-hour period that lipstick has become an issue. As he was introducing Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, Missouri Rep. Russ Carnahan said Palin had “zero experience in national government, zero experience in foreign affairs. There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.”

Republicans struck back, calling the attacks on Palin old-style Washington attacks that run counter to Obama’s promise of change. “Sarah Palin’s maverick record of reform doesn’t need any ‘dressing up,’ but the Obama campaign’s condescending commentary deserves some dressing down,” says RNC spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson.
Reference Here>>

I heard the audio ... Trent Lott got clobbered for less!

As soon as I heard it,, I said to myself - "That's gonna' leave a mark!"

... and the mark will not be left on PALIN!

Jumping the "Pig" may just become a new reference when an event, performance, show, and, yes ... a political campaign is OVER!

Barack Obama just "Jumped The Pig!"

Just maybe, this signals the end of a run to install a Carter's Second Term.

Obama - No Conflicts? … So, No Military … “that’s the ticket”

Barack Obama struggling to answer a question that was asked by a viewer (who wrote in) of ABC News, 'This Week' on the Sunday interview show (Ctrl-Click to launch video). Image Credit: ABC News website

Obama - No Conflicts? … So, No Military … “that’s the ticket”

The neat thing about listening to Barack Obama speak when he is off-prompter (where a speech is written out for him to read directly from an image projected on to a reflective glass surface), is that it is really easy to tell when he is unprepared to respond to a particular issue or question that is asked – just listen.

He, the junior Senator from Illinois, is usually very smooth in his speaking style – clear, succinct, and directly to the point – especially on subjects he is well versed on and/or he is reading from a Teleprompter. When Barack has to answer a question he hasn’t thought about … and has to come up with an answer that he thinks will “sell” his “everyman” image, he puts a lot of unnecessary I’s, and’s, and ah’s which usually NEVER make it into a transcript of the answer that he gives.

On the Sunday political interview program aired on ABC-TV, ‘This Week’ with George Stephanopoulos, a question came up that illustrates the point quite clearly. The answer is so labored that it almost causes one to think back on the comedy sketch routinely played by Jon Lovitz where he floats an obvious bogus answer to a question posed --- and then mutters to himself, “Ahhh, that’s the ticket!”

This found at ABC News -

Obama’s Full ‘This Week’ Interview
Presidential hopeful chats with George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview.
09/07/2008

Watch FULL Video Here>>
-01:25 from the end

George Stephanopoulos asks, “One of our viewers wrote in, you talk about “Service”, and asks - Brenda Gottfried Bryant - Murietta, Georgia, “Did you ever consider joining our armed services to protect and serve our country, and if not, why?”

“You know, I actually did,” Obama said. “I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii. And I had - (ah) - friends who, whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, (ah) military bases there.

“And (ah) I actually always thought (ah) of the military as (ah) some ennobling (ah) and, and, you know, honorable option. But keep in mind that I (ah) graduated in 1979. (ah) The Vietnam War had come to an end. (ah) We weren't engaged (ah) in an active (ah) (ah) military conflict at that point. (ah) And so, it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.”

Barack Obama continues to answer on talking points that he has previously thought about and he resumes a smoother delivery in his answer.

We, at MAXINE, wish we could get a dollar for every (ah) that Barack Obama utters on answers to questions that are genuinely out of the socialist/progressive character template that Obama holds.

Just on this last exchange alone, we would get enough money ($13.00) to catch a fish taco lunch at the local Islands café, and have enough left over for a couple of beers!

Add the unecessary "And's" that mostly begin the sentences ($5.00), and one could invite a friend.

Ahhhh, that's the ticket!

Your Guns Will Be Safe In Carter’s Second Term

In an attempt to decrease the amount of drug-related violence plaguing their streets, Mexican police are offering to Xboxes to anyone turning in a gun. The program started Tuesday in Tepito, which police spokesman Ricardo Olayo called "a symbol of crime." Police raided Tepito last month, storming a tenement referred to as "The Fortress," supposedly a major cocaine and marijuana distributor. Scary stuff (pictured). Image Credit: Mohsin Raza/Reuters via WIRED - GAMELIFE

Your Guns Will Be Safe In Carter’s Second Term

So says the nominated leader of the Democrat Party for President of the United States, Barack Obama.

In his first appearance before a hand-picked crowd in a “town hall” setting at SCHOTT North America Inc., a glass factory in Duryea, Pa., Barack Obama spoke off-prompter and “ahhhh-ed” and “you know-ed” his way through a question he was not expecting.

In a response heard on the Hugh Hewitt talkradio program this afternoon, the audio response to the question about guns did not come across with a high level of confidence by the people in attendance … let’s just say most people were skeptical.

Obama was nervous and off the teleprompter, one can tell because he says “and”, “ahhh”, “you know”, and other ticks … a lot. He promised not to take our guns away … really.

This excerpted and edited from The Swamp -

Obama: 'Not going to mess with' guns
by James Oliphant - Posted September 5, 2008 1:49 PM

DURYEA, Pa.--At a campaign event here Friday, Barack Obama ran headlong into the one of the issues that dogs him in this battleground state.

"There are rumors going around that . . . you're going to take away our guns," said Joan O'Neil, a resident of tiny Susquehanna in northeastern Pennsylvania, a big-time area for hunting.

This gun issue that Obama has tried to deftly navigate throughout this long campaign and one that damaged him here in his primary fight with Hillary Clinton. And it's one that could do even him even further harm in the general election, as he is matched against a pro-gun ticket that includes a vice-presidential nominee who has been photographed firing an assault rifle.
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"I believe in the Second Amendment, and if you are a law-abiding gun owner you have nothing to fear from an Obama administration," Obama said. "This has been peddled again and again. Here's what I believe: The Second Amendment is an indvidual right. . . people have the right to bear arms. But I also believe there is nothing wrong with some common-sense gun safety measures."

GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, now likely the most famous moose-hunter in the country, mocked Obama's stance on guns during her nomination speech Wednesday, when she accused him of talking "one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," -- a reference to Obama's now infamous comment about some people in America who "cling to guns or religion."
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"That kind of thing is common sense and has nothing to do with the guy who has got his rifle and wants to go hunting," Obama said. "Now the NRA -- I'll be honest and I'm sure there are NRA members here -- their general attitude is that we don't want anything, and if you even breathe the words 'gun control' or 'gun safety' then you must want to take away everybody's guns. Well, that's just not true."
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At the campaign event Friday, Obama said that there are "two realities about guns" in the United States, one including lawful gun owners, hunters, and sportsmen and a second that involves the flow of illegal handguns and automatic weapons into cities such as Philadelphia, where they are used by "teenage gang-bangers."

"Surely, we can come up with a system that protects lawful gun-owners, but at the same time tries to do something about kids getting shot," he said. "That is, I think, the job of the president is to reconcile this tradition of gun ownership in this country, with some basic public safety concerns.”
Reference Here>>

Obama really steps in it here in that the responsibility of the Executive Branch, the top office Barack Obama is running for, is to uphold the laws that exist … not “to reconcile this tradition of gun ownership in this country, with some basic public safety concerns.” … THAT is the job of the Legislative Branch of our government, the Branch the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, is currently a member of.

And this excerpted and edited from the Wall Street Journal -

Obama: ‘I’m Not Going to Take Your Guns Away’
Christopher Cooper, Wall Street Journal - September 5, 2008

The Obama campaign talks a lot about new ideas and expanding the political map, but in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which the campaign has focused on almost exclusively since the Democratic convention, old-school issues still rise to the fore.
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A woman in the crowd told Obama she had “heard a rumor” that he might be planning some sort of gun ban upon being elected president. Obama trotted out his standard policy stance, that he had a deep respect for the “traditions of gun ownership” but favored measures in big cities to keep guns out of the hands of “gang bangers and drug dealers’’ in big cities “who already have them and are shooting people.”

“If you’ve got a gun in your house, I’m not taking it,’’ Obama said. But the Illinois senator could still see skeptics in the crowd, particularly on the faces of several men at the back of the room.

So he tried again. “Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress,’’ he said. “This can’t be the reason not to vote for me. Can everyone hear me in the back? I see a couple of sportsmen back there. I’m not going to take away your guns.’’
Reference Here>>

So, if we are to trust and take a “President Obama" serving his tenure of a President Carter second term at HIS word ... that if he actually HAD enough votes in Congress, he would NOT try “to reconcile this tradition of gun ownership in this country, with some basic public safety concerns.”

Really, do ya’ think?

Obama's Ethereal Experience Vs. Palin's Reality Of Accomplishment

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Obama's Ethereal Experience Vs. Palin's Reality Of Accomplishment

This election cycle for President of the United States is really fun and is beginning to feel like a ride in a “Bumble Ball” (if riding in a Bumble Ball were possible).

Take the recent media reaction to Senator John McCain’s pick for Vice-President of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin – WOW.

All of the pundits on radio and television (especially cable news television) seem to be making arguments for or against the wisdom of any potential candidacy based upon past “Experience” while the real measure of anyone’s experience actually lies in the value of their “Accomplishment”.

Even Barack Obama doesn’t get it … when confronted with Sarah Palin’s years of experience in chief executive decision making office positions (on the city council as Mayor of a city and then as Governor of the State of Alaska) he sites as a comparison his function as the leader of the Barack Obama campaign for President of the United States.

This excerpted from CNN and the Anderson Cooper 360 show –

Anderson Cooper interviewed Barack Obama Monday
From CNN Political Producer Ed Hornick - September 1, 2008 - Posted: 07:10 PM ET

Barack Obama defended his experience in dealing with natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, and took a swipe at newly minted GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In an interview on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, Obama was asked about whether his experience in the U.S. Senate dealing with weather-related situations compares to Palin’s executive experience running the state of Alaska and as the small town mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

(YouTube type video of AC360 interview of Barack Obama by Anderson Cooper - Ctrl-Click photo to launch)

“My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We've got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,” Obama responded.

Our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the past couple of years and certainly in terms of the legislation I’ve passed in the past couple of years, post-Katrina.”
Reference Here>>

What is truly striking about the response and position that Barack Obama stakes out in his response to Anderson Cooper’s query is the depth of the ignorance that he has about the value of accomplishment in decision making a city manager and/or Mayor has in the lives of the people who actually live in a city or town … let alone a State – ANY State.

Banner graphic from the city of Wasilla website

Let’s examine for a minute the online Budget for 2005 published by and for the city of Wasilla, Alaska (Wasilla – for the Sarmatian god of the same name, see Wasilla (god)) – the city that Sarah Palin served for a period of two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996, then won two terms as mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002.

The city hall of Wasilla ... the one that pundit James Carville describes as looking like a "bait shop" in Louisiana. Image Credit: City of Wasilla website

It is not the amount of money that is managed, it is the 256 pages of description, on where the money comes from and how it is used to the betterment of the community this organization is formed to serve, that concerns itself with the issue of accomplishment.

So, where does the money come from and what community does the campaign for President of the United States does the Barack Obama for President organization serve?

Is there any infrastructure upon which people are able to fly an airplane, drive to the city for goods and services, get help in an accident, report a crime, prosecute a criminal, get married, get an education, and have the trash picked up long after decisions are made on how to use the municipalities collected tax money?

A political campaign organization asks for money to be donated so it can be spent on activities promoting the candidate, Barack Obama, himself.

The money is spent on cardboard signs, printed paper with gum/glue on the back so that the paper could be affixed to a car or telephone pole, video production services so that YouTube and Television ads can be made and promotional time can be bought to play them, leased jet airplanes so that the candidate and his staff can be flown anywhere/anytime foe events where the candidate can be heard and seen by people at a gathering … and more.

All of the investment of donated money and the effort it pays for is designed so that the candidate, Barack Obama, can put himself in a place where he can make decisions for the betterment of the community he wants to serve – a place he has never been before as a community organizer in Chicago, a senator in the state government of Illinois, and finally as the junior Senator for the state of Illinois in the United States Senate.

Sarah Palin has been in a place where her decisions resulted into accomplishment for the better part of 10 years in a city community environment and for the state community for two and a half years as she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004 while also serving as Ethics Supervisor of the commission, and as the governor of Alaska, becoming the first woman and youngest person to hold the office.

Barack Obama really does not know what he doesn’t know and to prove this fact here are a couple of facts about the state of Alaska that Barack Obama would not and could not compare his political campaign to.

Alaska is a fairly large state economically, for example; the state ranks as #6 in Gross Domestic Product Per Capita on the list of all 50 states (behind Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and ahead of California in #7 – Illinois by comparison ranks #17)

This excerpted from Wikipedia (pretty easy to find) –

Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled a contract for the construction of an 11-mile (18 km) gravel road outside Juneau to a mine. This reversed a decision made in the closing days of the Murkowski administration.[70] She also followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet purchased (on a state government credit account, against the wishes of the Legislature) by the Murkowski administration for $2.7 million in 2005. In August 2007, the jet was sold on eBay for $2.1 million.[71]

In June 2007, Palin signed into law a $6.6 billion operating budget—the largest in Alaska's history.[72] At the same time, she used her veto power to make the second-largest cuts of the construction budget in state history. The $237 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects, and reduced the construction budget to nearly $1.6 billion.[73]

In 2007, the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an unprofitable state-owned business. Palin objected, citing concern for dairy farmers and a recent infusion of $600,000 in state money. Palin subsequently replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation.[74] The new board reversed the decision to close the dairy. Later in 2007, the unprofitable business was put up for sale. No offers met the minimum bid of $3.35 million,[75][76] and the dairy was closed. In August 2008, the Anchorage plant was purchased for $1.5 million, the new minimum bid. The purchaser plans to convert it into heated storage units.[77]
Reference Here>>

So again, let’s look at the off-the-cuff comment and comparison by Barack Obama while he was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN –

“My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We've got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,” Obama responded.

As Governor of Alaska for the last year, Sarah Palin ran the going concern that operated on an approved budget of 6.6 billion dollars, was the commander-and-chief Alaska’s National Guard, is aware on a daily basis the politics of Russia and Canada where the State of Alaska shares a border with both countries and the state and municipal government employ a total of 8,500 people to carry out the people’s business.

It is an insult to begin to compare the ethereal nature of experience to the reality of accomplishment an executive position in government begets.

What is even more odd is that the junior Senator from Illinois, who is running for the top executive governmental position in the United States, takes the time to compare himself in background and experience with the competitive choice for the back-up position for the same top executive governmental position.

I guess Sarah Palin said it best in her speech at the RNC Convention in St. Paul, MN when described what the job of a small town mayor was like --- "Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

The person at the top of the ticket choose right for the good of the country and with the choice of Sara Palin as his running mate, John McCain had this to say in his speech that closed the RNC Convention:

"Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming."

The Democrats are scared folks; they are scared that Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden's “experience” does not stack up to Senator John McCain’s and Governor Sarah Palin’s accomplishments and with good reason.

It's Official - Obama Is The Democrat Party Candidate

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/its-official-obama-democrat-party-candidate-maxineCan you spell F-I-A-S-C-O (with Obama for President logo), I knew you could. Graphic Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

It's Official - Obama Is The Democrat Party Candidate

A month ago, Barack Obama held a 15 point lead in the national polls while he was the "presumptive nominee" for the Democrat Political Party to be their candidate for President of the United States.

This afternoon, with Barack Obama and running-mate Joseph Biden holding down a 2 point deficit (that is a 17 point downturn) in the national polls made history while they became the official nominees for the Democrat Political Party to be their candidates for President, and Vice-President of the United States.

Hillary Clinton put an end to the roll-call vote procedure by having the process move to make the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, be made the nominee by Acclamation!

This from NowPublic -

Obama is NOMINATED! By Acclamation!
by politisite August 27, 2008 at 03:24 pm

Obama is NOMINATED! By Acclamation! Obama will accept publicly Thursday.

Video - Barack Obama Nominated by Acclamation

This is History, Many folks are being interviewed who suffered as people of color are in tears and never thought a moment like this would occur in their lifetime. An African-American has been nominated to a major Democratic party. I must note here that Cynthia McKinney, an African-American woman was nominated to the Green party earlier. 2008 will be remembered as a historical date in the history books.

Update: 5:30 pm ET - Hillary Clinton has just been put into nomination and seconded. They then went on to Nominate Barack Obama by using a Iraq War Veteran Republican Medic who said that he wants a President that will consult with his enemies.

Update: 5:35 pm ET - Ken Salazar of Colorado has risen to Second the motion to nominate Barack Obama for President, says that Bush has truned his back on America and McCain will do the same.

Update 5:39 pm ET - Congresswoman Rep. Wasserman-Schultz of FL seconds the second. Says not to believe McCains ads. He will continue the failed policies of Bush. She reminds delegates that McCain wants to overturn Row v. Wade and who voted against the Equal Pay for woman (note he votes against any bill that has earmarks)

Update 5:44 pm ET- US Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama seconds, the seconds, second tp place Obama nomination.

Update 5:48 pm ET - Pelosi: "We will now proceed to the roll call of the states." Roll call will continue untill they have a nominee.

Update 5:50 o ET Alabama - 48 Obama 5 Clinton

Alaska 3 Clinton 15 Obama

American Somoa - 9 votes Obama

Arizona - 40 Obama, 27 Clinton

Arkansas - 47 Obama

California- Passes

Colorado - 55 Obama, 15 Clinton

CT - 38 Obama, 21 Clinton

DE-23 votes Obama

Abroad 2/12 votes for Clinton, 8 1/2 Obama

Note: the reason that California passed is that it did not want Clinton to lead Obama at any time and thus they passed so that would not occur

DC - Wants equal representation, 33 Obama, 7 Clinton

FL - 136 Obama, Clinton 51, 1 abstain

Barack Obama has currently a total of 452.5 votes (Clinton has 131.5). A total of 2,210 are needed for the nomination.

GA- 18 Clinton, 82 Obama

GUAM 4 Obama, 3 Clinton

HI - 26 Obama, 1 Clinton

ID - 3 Clinton, 20 Obama

IL- Passes - probably to be the last to push Obama over the needed delegates

IN- 75 Obama, Clinton 6

IA - 48 Obama, 9 Clinton

KS - 6 Clinton, 34 Obama

KY- 24 Clinton, 36 Obama

LA- 43 Obama, 7 Clinton

ME- 24 Obama, 7 Clinton

Barack Obama has currently a total of 844.5 votes (Clinton has 216.5). A total of 2,210 are needed for the nomination.

MD- 94 Obama, 6 Clinton

MA- 52 Clinton, 65 Obama

MI- 27 Clinton, 125 Obama

MN - 8 Clinton, 78 Obama

MS- 8 Clinton, 33 Obama

MO- 6 Clinton, 82 Obama

Barack Obama has currently a total of 1,321.5 votes (Clinton has 323.5). A total of 2,210 are needed for the nomination

MT- 7 Clinton, 18 Obama

NB- 31 votes 3 Clinton 28

NV - 8 Clinton, 25 Obama

NH- 30 Obama

NJ-127 Obama

NM- Yelded to IL

IL- Yelded to NY

NY- Clinton is on the floor will motion to end the vote, there needs to be a second, and an I vote, Obama is nomintated! by Acclimation.

Obama has accepted the nomination and will give his acceptance speech Thursday.
Hillary really moved the audience to tears and cheers. She concluded this in such a classy manner. It appears that it will bring the party together as they concluded in a great way.

The first African American EVER nominated by a Major party.
Reference Here>>

This all happened on a day that news about the connection of Barack Obama to the American Terrorist William Ayers was beginning to come out.

This on a day when pictures of the stage that Barack Obama plans to make his acception speech tomorrow at Invesco Field in front of an estimated 70,000 people. The backdrop features a larger than life Greek Architecture Acropolis type of structure and it causes a pause to many who see it ... is it over the top?

"The Barapolis" - Obama Stage Setup At Invesco To Resemble An Ancient Greek Temple - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple. /// The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos’ National Football League team plays. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (MAXINE) 2008

Will this type of event have Obama and Biden connect with the middle America fly-over conservative Democrats or will this venue have the same effect as Barack Obama's trip to Europe which caused much of the decline of his popularity in the polls?

Here, at Mr. Obama's neighborhood in the Democrat Party ... Can you spell F-I-A-S-C-O?

... we knew you could!

"The SICKO" Gets Sicker On Election 2008

14 February, 2008 - MICHAEL MOORE’S PROGRESSIVE PATRIOTISM - Andy Newman @ 11:08 am – “On Monday our Socialist Film Club in Swindon showed Michael Moore’s “Sicko”, there were about 15 people there including two GMB officials, and three members of the Green Party.” Caption Credit: socialistunity.com - Image Credit: SICKO poster via socialistunity.com

"The SICKO" Gets Sicker On Election 2008

We all know that if there is an election for the highest office in the land ... that the thoughts of Michael Moore could not be far behind.

A longtime agitator to all policies that insure freedom and capitalism (until these policies benefit him in being able to make boatloads of money by selling his films), Michael Moore weighs in again here in 2008, just before the Democrat Party Convention to be held in Denver August 25-28, 2008.

Michael Moore is afraid he might be on the wrong side of the political process ... again.

In 2007, Michael Moore bored us with his waste-of-effort movie about socialized medicine, SICKO (in 119 days / 17 weeks, the movie only posted receipts of $35,767,758), now intends to lecture us on his opinion about the upcoming election for President of the United States.

He honestly believes that a majority of Americans think that our Government is unconscious about the environment, should favor and bestow special rights of mothers over the rights of the life they bring onto this planet, goes to war for no reason at all, should dictate to all businesses the value of unskilled work, and eliminate the choices as well as reduce the options we have when we need to have our health condition addressed given the construct of the insurance plans that are available to all.

Gotta’ love those socialists! ... especially the ones that are worth millions and millions of dollars.

So, with the backdrop in the last two years of congressional leadership under Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ... the Pull Our Troops Out, No-Surge, NO-DRILL twins ... Michael Moore muses, “The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even lose when they win!”

Maybe it is the political positions the Democrat leadership cleave onto in the face of the drive for self-reliance and freedom - do ya' think?

Depiction of Michael Moore, F.A.G., from the movie “Team America” - Image Credit: Team America via firstfriday.wordpress.com

This excerpted and edited from the upcoming issue of the Rolling Stone -

How The Democrats Can Blow It ... In Six Easy Steps
A blueprint for losing the most winnable presidential election in American history
By Michael Moore / Rolling Stone – To Be Posted Aug 21, 2008 9:09 AM

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty.

So you would think the Democrats would be cleaning up, election after election.
----
So when you hear Democrats and liberals and supporters of Barack Obama say they are worried that John McCain has a good chance of winning, they ain't a-kidding. Who would know better than the very people who have handed the Republicans one election after another on a silver platter? Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.

In an effort to help the party doofuses and pundits — and the candidate himself — spare all of us another suicide-inducing election night, as the results giving the election to the Republican pour in, here is the blueprint from the Democrats' past losing campaigns. Just follow each of these steps and you, the Democratic Party establishment, can help elect John Sidney McCain III to a four-year extension of the Bush Era.

1. Keep saying nice things about McCain.
----
Keep reminding a country at war that he, and he alone, is a war hero. That he's been "good on global warming" and campaign finance. Say that enough, and you know what happens?
----
That way, if you keep praising him, you can send a mixed message to the less informed, who are simply not going to figure it out. When they walk into a voting booth, they will see two names on the ballot:

☐ BARACK OBAMA
☐ WAR HERO

Trust me, this ain't Sweden you're living in. War Hero wins every time.

2. Pick a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican.
Yes, it will seem like smart politics at first. Shore up Obama's lack of military experience with a hawk.
----
Make a pitch to the purple states of Virginia and Indiana by putting one of their own on the ticket. Or make the red state of Ohio happy by handing the vice presidential slot to its governor. Just so long as Obama's running mate screams "same old, same old," making it harder for him to attract the new voters he needs to win.
----
But when I hear pundits say things like, "He has to pick a Catholic," well, John Kerry was a total Catholic, and the Catholic vote went to Mr. W. I mean, here's one of the largest groups in the country — 66 million Catholics — and they/we have only allowed one Catholic to be president in 219 years. You would think they would have been flocking to Kerry in 2004. THAT IS NOT THE WAY PEOPLE THINK. IT IS THE WAY PUNDITS THINK. Keep listening to them and you can help elect John McCain the next President of the United States.

3. Keep writing speeches for Obama that make him sound like a hawk.
Here's what Obama said in front of the American-Israeli lobbying group the day after the final primaries:

"The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat."

And: "Let there be no doubt — I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel. Sometimes there are no alternatives to confrontation."

Sounds like a speech McCain would give. Sounds like he's ready to invade Iran.
----
The implied message of all of this is that the Republican plan is a good plan. So why would voters want to elect the candidate imitating the Republican when they can get the real thing?

4. Forget that this was a historic year for women.
Obama should be making a speech about gender like the brilliant one he gave on race back in March. Millions of people, especially women, had high hopes for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Attention must be paid.
----
But within weeks of the end of the primary season, the handlers stepped in to deal with the "Michelle problem."

What problem? She speaks her mind?
----
Her biggest sin, according to the punditocracy, was to say that, as a black woman, this may be the first time in her adult life she's been really proud of her country.
----
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both lost the white-male vote but won the White House. They did so by winning the black, Hispanic and female vote. That HAS to be Obama's strategy to win. Otherwise, Cindy McCain will be our new First Lady.

5. Show up to a gunfight with a peashooter.
Convince yourself that the Republicans are just going to roll over and play dead because there is simply no life left in their party. Convince yourself this one is in the bag! Convince yourself that if you play by the rules, the Republicans will too.
----
Believe that the truth shall prevail, that good people will see what the Republicans are up to.
----
If they say you should quit your church, quit your church! If they explode over your speaking the truth about the anger and despair of the white working class, take it all back! If they ask you to stand on your head and do the hokeypokey, snap to it and do it with a smile on your face — and don't forget to apologize for not doing the hokeypokey earlier; you meant no disrespect, and please don't take it as any indication that you do not love your country, your flag and your Christian God.
----
Maybe they'll pick up a six-pack on the way. Maybe there's a new episode of Deal or No Deal on tonight. That would be nice. The girls are pretty, especially the blonde in the third row. Wait, they're all blond. No, not that one — THAT one! Oh yes, I see her. She is pretty. But the Man in the Booth has picked up the phone! He's calling down to you. Deal? Or no deal? No deal! No deal! Don't do it! Hey, I'm outta beer! Why didn't I pick up a case? Now I gotta spend eight bucks on gas to go buy more beer! Aaaaarrrggggghhhhhh!!!! HOWIE MANDEL ISN'T WEARING A FLAG PIN!! U-S-A! U-S-A!

6. Denounce me!
Obama, at some point, might be asked this question: "Michael Moore has endorsed you. But he recently said (fill in the blank with some outrageously offensive line taken out of context). Will you still accept his endorsement, or do you denounce him?"

And he better denounce me, or they will tear him to shreds.
----
I remember poor John Kerry not even being able to admit, when asked by Larry King, if he had seen Fahrenheit 9/11. "No," he said, "I haven't. . . . I don't plan to, right now." But he had indeed seen it. I sat there watching him say this, and I just felt sorry for him and for the election he was about to lose.
---
So Barack, by denouncing me, you can help McCain get elected. Because when you denounce me, it's not really me you're distancing yourself from — it's the millions upon millions of people who feel the same way about things as I do.
----
Elections have been lost by just 537 votes. I don't want that to happen to you.
Reference Here>>

We all know that in Michael Moore's mind, this whole article was written because of step #6; but alas, he does not have a movie to promote so he is left with just promoting himself.

Maybe Michael Moore must have gotten a hold of the memo from the DNCC, the one that said - Do not let Michael Moore sit in the Presidential box at the convention in Denver, especially not the seat next to Jimmy Carter!

America, follow these steps and, thankfully, we will not have to endure Carter’s Second Term.

Obama’s Hell Or High Water Moment

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-s-hell-or-high-water-moment-carters-second-termSeven Army former POWs greet the media from the balcony of their hospital ward at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Landstuhl, Germany, at noon, local time, on Friday, April 18, 2003. Image Credit: Melvin Tarpley, Visual Information Services Europe, 2d Signal Brigade - wikimedia.org

Obama’s Hell Or High Water Moment

Barack Obama, by most any measure, had a very good trip overseas in which his campaign for President of the United States got the much needed “Optics” for Barack Obama on international relations.

There are great photos and video of Barack Obama on the ground in a warzone, standing and walking with the top United States military leaders, shaking hands with political leaders of nations in conflict throughout the Middle East, talking in very friendly circumstances with major ally European national heads of state (Germany's Merkel, France's Sarkozy, Great Britain's Brown), delivering a speech in front of a large crowd in a major public square in Berlin … one could not hope for a better photographic record result.

The problem with this trip is what it exposed about the character of the presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party for President of the United States.

Pretty much, if a camera and a couple of reporters can not be with him as he went about his tasks he felt that were important for the day, then that activity would be scrubbed.

There are some activities, however, that are beyond the camera and of greater importance than a photo-op.

Activities that are directly related to being a standing United States Senator, and potential Commander and Chief of the United States military forces by becoming President of the United States … such as visiting our troops, wounded while carrying out military operations in support of United States interests, would be one such “Hell Or High Water” moment.

On this test of character and follow through of planned intention, Barack Obama failed miserably.

LANDSTUHL, Germany (June 14, 2007) - Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates presents the Purple Heart medal to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brent A. Homan at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on June 13, 2007. Image Credit: Cherie A. Thurlby - arcent.army.mil

This excerpted and edited from Reuters via The New York Times -

Obama Defends Scrubbing Visit to Wounded Troops
By Caren Bohan, editing by Vicki Allen - REUTERS - Published: July 26, 2008 - Filed at 10:36 a.m. ET

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday defended his decision to cancel a visit with U.S. troops at a military hospital in Germany because of concerns it would be viewed as a political event.

Obama had intended to stop at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Friday morning, the day after delivering a speech on transatlantic relations in Berlin as part of his trip to the Middle East and Europe.

But the campaign issued a statement saying the Illinois senator decided to drop the visit from his schedule after an adviser was told it would be perceived as political.
--
"That triggered then a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political," Obama said. "And the last thing that I want to do is have injured soldiers and the staff at these institutions having to sort through whether this is political or not and get caught in the cross-fire between campaigns."
----
The Pentagon said it never told Obama he could not visit Landstuhl, only that he could not do so with campaign staff and reporters there.

The Obama campaign countered there was never any intention to allow reporters and that Gration was to be the only adviser to participate in the visit with the senator.

The U.S. Defense Department has long-standing policies that prohibit military personnel and military facilities from any association with partisan political campaigns and elections.
----
He was completing a tour that included Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Germany, France and Britain.
Reference Here>>

This question is begging to be asked, if the Barack Obama campaign (or Barack, himelf) never intended to take cameras and reporters along to the planned trip and visit of our wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) – Why scrub the trip?

It comes down to a matter of character. Barack Obama knew in his heart that this trip and the effort and money expended upon this international show, was for the OPTICS of the campaign. If there was to be NO return upon the investment in any activity that was planned into the trip, scrub the activity.

Barack Obama passed his “Hell Or High Water” moment as it relates to protecting the investment of his campaign, however, he failed this moment as it relates to his duties as a standing United States Senator and presumptive candidate for President and the installment of Carter's Second Term.

Barack Obama And His Perfect Storm Of Peace In Iraq

Senator Barack Obama and Terry Moran of ABC News - "I've always reserved the right, uh, to say---let's say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again---I've reserved the right to say---I don't--I'm not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring.”, said Barack Obama. Image Credit: ABC News via my.barackobama.com

Barack Obama And His Perfect Storm Of Peace In Iraq

In an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran for Nightline (July 21, 2008), Barack Obama showed why he really isn’t ready for “Primetime” let alone “Nightline”.

Junior Senator Barack Obama will not say he was wrong about his assessment of the Bush Administration’s implementation of the military operation that has become known as “The Surge”. This is the operation where an additional 30,000 or so United States soldiers were placed in Iraq in order to stop the strengthening growth of anti-Iraq insurgent (Al Qaeda) combatants and provide security for the newly elected government of Iraq to begin to operate.

Eighteen months ago, it was estimated that there were 12,000 armed combatants working throughout the country to disrupt the newly formed government of Iraq. Today, the estimate is that there may be 1,200 armed combatants holed up in the western provinces of Iraq. One year ago in June 2007, we lost over seventy soldiers to violence and IED roadside bombs throughout Iraq … June 2008 saw that number drop to five.

Moran noted that Obama had claimed that the surge "would not make a significant dent in the violence."

Barack Obama insists that the reason the violence is down in Iraq is due to a convergence of factors that he could not anticipate happening … OH, and some “terrific work by our troops”.

The Perfect Storm of factors the junior Senator sites are disturbing ---

“… but the Sunni awakening in which a whole host of Sunni tribal leaders decided that they had had enough with Al Qaeda, in the Shii’a community the militias standing down to some degrees. So what you had is a combination of political factors inside of Iraq that then came right at the same time as terrific work by our troops. Had those political factors not occurred, I think that my assessment would have been correct.”

Sorry Barack, the Sunni tribal leaders could not have “had enough” and say so if the additional 30,000 troops were not on the ground to provide security and combative strength. The Shii’a community mailtias would not have stood down if there wasn’t a very capable and ready force (bolstered by 30,000 United States military troops on the ground) aligned against their violent power grabbing agenda.

Further, Barack Obama had this to say as it relates to what HE would do if he were President and the military was pulled out of Iraq … and the violence began to increase inside the country ---

"But," asked Moran,"if the country had pursued your policy of withdrawing in the face of this horrific violence, what do you think Iraq would look like now?"

Obama said it would be hard to speculate. "The Sunnis might have made the same decisions at that time. The Shii’as might have made some similar decisions based on political calculation. There was ethnic cleansing in Baghdad that actually took the violence level down," he said.

Obama also told Moran that there were circumstances under which he could revise his instruction to U.S. generals to begin withdrawing combat brigades at the pace of one-to-two per month.

"I've always reserved the right, uh, to say---let's say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again---I've reserved the right to say---I don't--I'm not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring. I'm not going to stand idly by if vital United States interests are at stake. Um, so in that sense yes, I retain the flexibility anyone who in the job of commander in chief is constantly reassessing facts, risks, and so forth."

--- So, basically Barack Obama advocates that our military go back to Iraq and start a third war insde Iraq.

This scenario actually would be an insult to Jimmy Carter and the suggestion that a Barack Obama presidency would result in a second term for the Carter Administration.

Actually, a Barack Obama Administration would be of a greater failure than a Carter’s Second Term.

By the way, the "Surge" has ended.
Resources Here, Here, and Here>>