Rush Limbaugh Quote of the Day 6/30 & The 22nd Amendment

I'm not sure I want "Rush Limbaugh Quote of the Day" to become a regular theme of our blog, but Limbaugh keeps opening his mouth. I am convinced that every time Limbaugh opens his mouth, God kills a kitten.

I have provided the full quote in all of its glory.

You have to wonder if Obama is just trying to lay a foundation for not being a hypocrite when he tries to serve beyond 2016. I wouldn't be at all surprised if in the next number of years there is a move on the 22nd Amendment, which term limits the President of the United States. He may not do it that way, he may not openly try to change the Constitution. But there might be this movement in the country from his cult-like followers to support the notion that a democratically-elected leader who is loved and adored has carte blanc once elected. Just serve as long as he wants because the people demand it, because the people want it, because the people love it.

And I wouldn't put it past Obama to be plotting right now how to serve beyond 2016 and I think the way he's reacting to what's happening in Honduras - Look, they've got a constitution, they're a democratically-elected set of officials down there and you had a guy running the country, Mel Zelaya, who was just going to basically rip that country's democracy to shreds and the country moved in to stop in him from doing it and Obama sides with the guy who wanted to rip up the constitution. He sides with other dictators in the region. Regardless, I mean, one thing is clear here: Obama is nothing if not a hardcore liberal. Always, always more sympathetic, appearing to side with the bad guys on the world stage.

And I'll tell you folks, this business about running beyond 2016, you know, the thing that when you look at Obama's followers - and we've discussed it here - they are a cult-like bunch and their attachment to him is not political, it's not ideological, it is not issue-wise, it is cultish. It includes a wide percentage of minorities, by the way, who for different reasons, who will come to think that he simply cannot be replaced. Let him succeed with amnesty, for example, and all the illegal aliens who are instantly made citizens. He'll be too important. Just like right now he's too big to fail as far as the drive-bys are concerned, he's too important to be replaced. No one else can lead the nation, they will say. And they won't care a whit about the legalities that might be trampled. Half of the legalities if they don't even know about them because they haven't been properly educated. I think this situation in Honduras is very instructive. Anybody who thinks that he intends to just constitutionally go away in 2016 is nuts ... These are people who seek power for reasons other than to serve. They seek to rule.

Incredible. Obama isn't half a year into his first term and Rush is already accusing him of wanting to run for a third term. When asked to respond to this claim Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, refuted it. Nice try Mr. Gibbs, but Rush and I are on to you and your little games.

Until we meet again, you stay classy America.

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News Dumpage!

So, Kyle is finally done with school, so after a month of no blogging, Kyle is back. Not in black, however, as I am shirtless at the moment. Let that image sink in. As Kavi would say..."ooh..kinky!"

Anywho, so what has happened politically in the last month? A whole frickin' ton of poo has happened, that's what.

Cuba has come an inch closer to being with the rest of the world, as North Korea has taken a plunge in the opposite direction. The list of those pissed at North Korea includes: South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, the USA, the EU, the UN, Chuck Norris, and the rest of the world. Somewhere Kim Jung Il is laughing to himself because he doesn't have any friends.

Obama gave another big speech. He seems to do that a lot. The one I am talking about was on new Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor...or was it on his new health care plan? Oh no, this one was on Israel and the Middle East. He had some stern words for Israel.

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides with the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

Oh wait, I think I got Obama confused with Samuel L. Jackson again. He actually said something about Israel needing to stop putting settlements in the West Bank. Benjamin Netanyahu just said he was okay with that, but Netanyahu is kind of a hard-ass, so don't get too excited. I need to see the goods first before I'm sold.


In other news, Sarah Palin is in a vicious verbal brawl with comedian David Letterman. While I don't think Letterman's jokes were very funny, Palin is trying to play the victim at a point when nobody cares. Here is a little taste of the fight:

She also said Letterman’s joke that she looked like a “slutty flight attendant” as “pretty pathetic”. Letterman in the above response said he thought the flight attendant joke was actually pretty good.

I promise this is the first of many new posts to come. Have a great day!

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WOAH

So I was about to come out with a new senate ratings update when all of a sudden something crazy happened. It was one of those things I never could have predicted happening and never saw coming. Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched sides and became a Democrat today...holy kamole batman.

Specter was going to have a difficult time surviving in the Republican primary because most of the moderates in Pennsylvania registered as Democrats last year. The Republicans in Pennsylvania are actually really conservative and were probably going to select wing-nut Pat Toomey. Now Specter will run as a Democrat and face Toomey (should he still run) in a statewide election with all of his former support available, along with the forces that are the Democratic Party and Barack Obama. Obama has already called him pledging his full support. Apparently Joe Biden was talking to Specter trying to convince him to switch parties. And oh how well it worked.

This is symbolically huge, however, because it just gave Democrats their sixtieth seat (assuming Al Franken is seated, which he will be). 60 is a magic number in the Senate because 60 votes are needed to stop a filibuster. This is really only symbolically important because the Democrats were fairly successful in getting either Specter, Susan Collins of ME, or Olympia Snowe of ME to vote with them already.

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Important News Dump

News Dump # 2

Gay marriage is now legal in four U.S. states

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday in a unanimous and emphatic decision that makes Iowa the third state — and first in the nation's heartland — to allow same-sex couples to wed.

I remembered reading about this last November and thinking that late March/early April would never come. However, I forgot all about it until the ruling came.

Then, yesterday, a fourth state legalized gay marriage.

MONTPELIER, Vt.—Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage.

The state legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others.

This has been a very good three weeks for supporters of gay marriage. Whose next?


UPDATE: Surprise! Some conservatives are angry!


Iran reform candidate says open to US negotiations

What better to follow up news about gay marriage with news about Iran, which, according to Ahamdinejad, doesn't have any homosexuals...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The leading reformist candidate in upcoming Iranian presidential elections says if elected, he would negotiate with the U.S but not over Iran's nuclear activities.

Mir Hossein Mousavi said at a news conference Monday that he would talk with the United States, if Iran is "not required to pay a heavy cost," such as giving up its nuclear program.

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian use only.

The U.S. and its allies charge Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Mousavi also condemned the killing of Jews in the Holocaust, a much different stance than current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who in 2005 called the Holocaust a myth.

Mousavi is seen by many as the candidate with the best chance of defeating Ahmadinejad.

I think Ahmadinejad has a good chance of being defeated, and Mousavi would appear to be an improvement over Ahmadinejad. It is refreshing that he is willing to sit down, although who knows what that will lead to. It is very good, however, that he condemns the Holocaust. I commented once that the shortest class ever would be The History of the Holocaust taught by Ahmadinejad. I don't think Admadinejad actually believes it didn't occur, but instead denies it occurs because he doesn't want to give legitimacy to Israel. I'm scared of an eventual Iran/Israel showdown, so this would be a nice development.

UPDATE: Ahmadinejad cautiously agreed to meet with the U.S., and now the U.S. will join the United Nations security council in talking to Iran about nukes.


Obama: Turkey, US can be model for East-West ties

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Barack Obama says the U.S. and Turkey can be a model for bridging the East-West divide.

During a news conference in Ankara with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Obama said Monday the most promise in building stronger ties between the U.S. and Turkey lies in being able to create a modern, international community that is respectful, secure and prosperous.

He says the Muslim and Christian countries have a strong foundation to build on, because they both believe in religious freedom.

Obama said the U.S. doesn't identify with a single religion, instead considering itself a nation bound by a set of ideals and values. And, he says, Turkey holds similar principals.

And following the strain of the Iraq war, Obama says he hopes to bolster relations with Turkey.

also...

(Obama) Stands by his 2008 claim that Ottoman Turks carried out Armenian killings early in the 20th century, without saying the word "genocide."

Says at Monday presser with Turkish President Gul: "Well, my views are on the record and I have not changed views."

Gul responds by saying historians, not politicians, should decide how to label what happened nearly a century ago.

also...

Obama supports Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

I feel this trip to Turkey was pretty important. Obama extended a huge olive branch to Turkey, so it will be interesting to see how relations between the two countries develop.


New Mexico Bans Capital Punishment

New Mexico became the newest state to outlaw the death penalty when Richardson signed a bill into law.

"Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime," Richardson said in a statement Wednesday.

He noted that more than 130 death row inmates have been exonerated in the past 10 years, including four in New Mexico.

"Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps society safe," he said.

The death penalty is a tricky issue. Personally, I don't think I'm against the death penalty for those who commit heinous crimes, but I am scared of putting people to death who don't deserve it. I think New Mexico and Gov. Bill Richardson did the right thing.


I spy a Putin

A picture has emerged apparently showing Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his former days as a KGB officer.

The 20-year old photo depicts two world leaders - US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev - in Moscow.

But, according to the man who took the photo, it also captures Mr Putin disguised as a tourist.

The photo was taken by Pete Souza, who worked for Reagan and is currently Obama's official photographer.

In an interview, Mr Souza recounted being surprised at the "pointed" questions these supposed tourists asked the US leader.

They included searching enquiries on the state of human rights in the US.

Cool story.


North Korea Launches Rockets

North Korea launched rockets into the Pacific Ocean, which violated a good number of agreements. Obama is peeved. Asia is scared. The U.N. doesn't know what to do. And this man is probably going to be even more ronery.



Arggghhhh....Somali Pirates hijack American ship

Remember when Somali Pirates took over the Ukrainian arms ship? Well, they took over an American ship now. They held the crew hostage, but now the crew has been released and the crew has retaken control of the ship. However, the pirates, who left on a lifeboat, apparently have the captain hostage. Maybe I should liveblog it?


Have a good day!

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Obama and the Judicial System

Current Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told law students in Boston that there would be an opening in the court "soon." The comments are interesting coming from someone who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month. She made no mention as to when an opening might come or who it would be for.

This started me thinking about how Obama will be making appointments for any openings in the Supreme Court or any federal courts. This opens up an opportunity for him to alter the ideology of the judicial system in America. Due to the fact that three of the last four Presidents have been Republicans, the judicial system currently has a conservative tilt to it. However, Obama may change that.

(Taken straight from my law notes) There are four general factors which determine whether chief executives can obtain a federal judiciary that is sympathetic to their political values and attitudes.

1. Presidential Support for Ideologically Based Appointments – President must have a deep commitment to do so. Sometimes justices are chosen not for ideology, but for loyalty.

2. The Number of Vacancies to be Filled – the more judges a president can select, the greater the potential of the White House to put its stamp on the judicial branch.

3. The President’s Political Clout – the scope and degree of presidential skill in overcoming any political obstacles. One such stumbling block is the U.S. Senate. The president’s personal popularity is another element in the political power formula.

4. The Judicial Climate the new Judges Enter – the current philosophical orientations of the sitting district and appellate court judges with whom the new appointees would interact. New judges must respect the controlling legal precedents and the constitutional interpretation that prevail in the judiciary at the time they enter it, or they risk having their decisions overturned by a higher court.

In regards to Obama, the presidential support factor is entirely up to him. I expect he will end up choosing liberal leaning judges. The number of vacancies are out of his control, although he is aided by the fact that the majorities in the Senate and the House belong to the same party. He is more likely to get more nominations through. In terms of political clout, Obama entered the Presidency with a clear mandate, has high popularity, and has proven to be more political savvy than pretty much anyone else. As for the last factor, the current conservative nature of the court is an issue, but if Obama can get more liberal judges on the court this problem can go away.

Appointing judges is a very important power the executive branch holds. Some may not agree with this power, but it is what it is. As former conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist said, there is no reason for the President not to. He has the power and he has a mandate behind him.

Have a good (and possibly more enlightened) day.

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Preview of what is to come

What will the press be talking about in a month or so???

3. Repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

Don't Ask Don't Tell was put into effect in the 90's under President Clinton. It bans openly gay individuals from serving in the armed forces. It is a stupid ban. Obama promised to repeal it during the campaign season. It will be one of the first steps towards equal rights for homosexuals under the Obama administration. Polling has showed that most Americans support repealing the law, so it is a fairly safe first step. Expect a futile outcry of nonsense and bigotry nonetheless.

2. Obama speaking in an Islamic country?

Obama will speak in a month or so in Turkey. He will be addressing the Islamic world. I can't wait. Honestly, I wouldn't miss this speech for anything. Expect the entire world to be watching.

1. Health Care Reform

If you thought the stimulus bill was divisive and time consuming, health care reform is going to be absolutely nuts. I expect the plan to be unveiled in a month or so and be voted on during the summer. This will make or break Obama's presidency. He has to do it soon, while he still has a clear mandate and public approval on his side. When I say health care reform, by the way, I don't mean any minor reform. He is going to overhaul the entire system. Nationalization anyone? Actually, they won't call it nationalization, though. They will be realistically in control, but will maintain the current companies so as to keep the visage of privatization. Basically, it will be publicly owned private companies. Make sense?

Have a good day.

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Election Night from Grant Park

I finally got around to uploading videos from my camera. I forgot that I had taken a few videos of the pandemonium in Chicago the night Obama was elected president.

The first one takes place while Kyle's friends and I were walking to Grant Park before results began to release. You get a sense of how many people were on the streets that night. Plus, Kyle does an awful Borat impression.




This next video is pretty lame and dark until the very end, when the Pennsylvania results are displayed and someone shouts a humorous expletive in the background.



This is Kyle's impeccable prediction for the Democratic nominee in 2012 (I mean 2016). And he gets the name wrong too. It's ok, emotions were high that night:


Kyle sure is excited. The sarcastic comment is targeted at Kyle's ex, who is a conservative:



This is known as mass hysteria:


The chant. You can see a lot of Kyle's friends here. Yes we did, Kyle. Yes, we did.


The next two videos are at a drum circle that just kind of opened up on the streets. Kyle's wearing the purple shirt and our friend Taylor is right next to him.

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Political News Dump

This post is exactly what the title says it is - a place where I dump a ton of different news stories and write briefly about each one.

Report: Obama Continues Strikes Inside Pakistan

Front-page NY Times: The president has expanded its covert war attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government. There's been two missile strikes within the country over the past week.

Obama is using the CIA for this, and I feel it is important for everyone to know about it. Click here for the full story.

Ayers: Obama Presidency Could "Burn Up in the Furnace of War"

The former Weather Underground member and Obama acquaintance tells Fox News sending more troops to Afghanistan is a “colossal mistake.”

“I fear that this brilliant young man, this hopeful new administration, could easily burn their prospect of a great presidency in the war in Afghanistan or elsewhere.”

Full interview to air Monday at 9 pm ET on “Hannity.”

I found it interesting that Ayers is appearing on Fox News for two reasons: (1) I didn't think he would want to be on Fox and (2) I didn't think Fox would want him on. As for what he said, I think he has a good point.

Clooney, Biden to Discuss Darfur

The two will meet in Washington Monday evening to discuss the conflict and the actor's recent travels in the region.

I am happy that the administration is looking into the situation.


Holder Headed to Gitmo

Obama's AG will visit the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay Monday as the administration weighs what's needed to shut it down.

Please, please shut this place down. However, it is important that we don't put so much focus on Gitmo that we forget about other similar camps, like one being currently built in Afghanistan.

Rice to Ink Trio of Memoirs

The former Secretary of State signs a three-book deal with Crown Publishers reportedly worth at least $2.5 million. The first book is planned for 2011, will focus on years in White House.

I won't read them.

Debate Begins on D.C. Representation

Senators start debate Monday on a bill that would give the 600,000 residents of Washington, D.C., their own voting member of the House.

Adding a Democrat would be offset by giving red Utah another seat, bringing the House to 437 members.

I hadn't heard anything about this, so it surprised me. I've always felt that D.C. should have representation, although I find the Utah part of the proposal odd. I understand that there should be an odd number in the House, but why Utah now? I think this should wait until congressional redistricting in 2010, in which case the new seat would go wherever it was needed most.

Bunning Apologizes for Ginsburg Remark

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning (Republican) has apologized after making some pretty awful comments.

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning predicted over the weekend that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months.

During a wide-ranging 30-minute speech on Saturday at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, Bunning said he supports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg ... has cancer."

"Bad cancer. The kind that you don't get better from," he told a crowd of about 100 at the old State Theater.

There may be a reason why nobody likes him and he is likely to lose re-election if he makes it out of the Republican primary. Meanwhile, Ginsburg is now back on the bench.

Bobby Jindal's Big Moment

Politico: When the Louisiana Governor delivers the GOP response to the president's message to Congress, most Americans will see him for the first time.

A lot of people like Jindal and compare him to Obama. I think they do this because he is a minority and is young. I really don't think Jindal is anywhere near the skilled politican Obama is.

GOP Governors Split on Stimulus

A rift among Republicans over the spending plan goes on full display on Sunday's TV shows. Schwarzenegger: "I think it's terrific and will help us." Crist: “It’s a matter of helping the people." vs. Sanford: "We're digging yet another hole for ourselves." Jindal: "We should be unafraid to stand up on principle...." NY Times: Debate "will go a long way toward shaping how the national party redefines itself...."

Schwarzenegger (CA) and Crist (FL) represent a more moderate wing of the party. Jindal (LA) and Sanford (SC) represent the stubborn right wing of the party. Whether they like it or not, the stimulus money will help their constituents a lot. I don't think the citizens will appreciate this very much. Meanwhile:

Empire State Senators (Schumer and Gillibrand) call on Obama to give their state the stimulus money that several GOP governors say they don't want.

“If any governor -- Democrat or Republican -- leaves stimulus money on the table, then we respectfully request that funds be distributed to New York.”

Schwarzenegger made a very similar comment. If you don't want it, please, let us take it off your hands.

Schwarzenegger Heads Back to the Big Screen

The California governor will make a cameo in the upcoming Sylvester Stallone film "The Expendables." Will be his fourth movie appearance since being elected.

Cool.

Sebelius: No Talks on HHS

The Kansas governor says she hasn't had any talks with Obama on taking over the Department of Health and Human Services. "There really isn't anything to tell. I haven't had any meetings about the position."

Believe her if you will.

Rulings Diminish Coleman's Chances

A series of court rulings have dealt the Republican long odds for overturning Franken's lead. And/But: He could still be laying the ground for another appeal.

I've been reading about Coleman suffering setbacks for over three months now. This is ridiculous, as is this:

RNC Gives $250,000 to Coleman Recount

FEC reports show the party has invested a quarter of a million dollars in the fight over Minnesota's contested Senate seat. The funds were given to the Republican Party of Minnesota on Jan. 26.

It must be so frustrating to live in Minnesota.

Citigroup Possibly Headed For Nationalization

WSJ: Citigroup is in talks with federal officials that could result in the government substantially expanding its ownership of the bank.

Meanwhile: NYT reports Obama aides will begin taking a hard look at the financial condition of the country’s 20 biggest banks this week.

Plus: Federal regulators deny plans to nationalize any bank but announce they will launch an effort to get more money to banks on Wednesday.

Citigroup is dead. My guess is that the federal government is going to have to nationalize some banks, turn them around, and try to privatize them again as quickly as possible.

Alright, that was a massive dumpage. My apologies. Have a nice day.

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My Night With Bill Ayers

I have a cool post for you guys today. One of my jobs at Northwestern is to do sound and lights at one of the auditoriums on campus. Last fall I was able to do the sound for a speech by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright (the picture is one I took of Wright and Ayers together in November, and yes, I met and talked with them both). Well on Wednesday I did the sound for Bill Ayers. If you don’t know who Bill Ayers is, let Wikipedia help you:

William Charles Ayers (born December 26, 1944) is an American elementary education theorist who was a 1960s anti-war activist. He is known for the radical nature of his activism in the 1960s and 1970s as well as his current work in education reform, curriculum, and instruction. In 1969 he co-founded the violent radical left organization the Weather Underground, which conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings during the 1960s and 1970s. He is now a professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, holding the titles of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar.

Ayers became a huge name during the Presidential campaign as some Republicans did their best to link Ayers with Obama because they live in the same neighborhood and served on an education panel together some years ago.

Anyway, here are the juicy details of the event:

The Muslim-cultural Students Association Presents:
Peaceful Progress: A Discourse on Affecting Change
Wednesday, February 4th 2009

With:
Bill Ayers – a distinguished professor of education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ayers helped shape Chicago’s school reform program and in 1997 was awarded Citizen of the Year by the city for his work.

Bernadine Dohm – a professor of law at Northwestern University. Ayers and Dohm were involved in the radical left organization Weather Underground in the 1970s, but since then have become prominent educators and social activists in Chicago.

Rami Nashashibi – is the Executive Director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN). Nashashibi has lectured across the country on a range of topics related to the American Muslim identity, community activism and social justice issues. He was also a recent recipient of the LISC Community Hero Award and the National Housing Service Community Leaders Award.

I will only give a summary of the speech by Bill Ayers, although the whole event was interesting. This won’t flow very well, since it is more in the form of notes, but you guys will get the overall picture.

A Discourse on Affecting Change with Bill Ayers

Central Station, which is a movie from Brazil – Lady in Rio de Janeiro is paid one hundred dollars to pick up a ten year old boy, bring him across town, and give him to an American couple who is going to adopt him.

She does the deed, takes the money, and buys a television and takes it back to her modest appointment. A neighbor visit and asks her where she got it. She tells her the story.

Dora, are you that stupid? He wasn’t being adopted; he was being sold into the international market for organs. He is going to die. He may even be dead now.

Before she understood what it was, she was living her normal life. There was no question of right or wrong. Then someone pried her eyes open and she saw life differently.

This is the beginning. This is what we need.

Book – Blindness by José Saramago

Starts out with man in a city. He suddenly becomes blind. He is helped from his car and then his car is stolen. He is taken to a hospital and he joins a large group of other blind people. The blindness spreads. Slowly everyone in the society becomes blind.

They start to pray with each other, but then they do terrible things to each other. Just as it seems like there is no hope, the first man regains his sight. Slowly they all regain their sight.

Why did we do these things? Why did we go blind, and why can we now see?

Maybe we were already blind. We had the power of sight but were blind. We only saw what we wanted to see.

We all are against slavery…right? Of course we are.

But would we have been in 1840? We would have been against the law, against convention, against our friends. Why would we have been?

When you are 60 years old and you have a granddaughter she will ask if you were in Chicago when that fine young black man was elected.

Yes, I was there.

Were you in Grant Park?

Yes, of course.

Were you at the inauguration.

Yes, I was in the first row, practically on the stage.

Is it true that it cost him half a billion to be elected?

Really? I didn’t hear about that part.

And you thought that was democratic?

Well…he raised it on the Internet.

Is it true that when you were at Northwestern there were 2.2 million Americans in prison?

Really…I don’t remember that.

I’m not saying these are the things that matter, but you must exile yourself from convention to see what you are not seeing. What is out of balance?

There is a good scene in the Monty Python movie Life of Brian.

A reluctant messiah is up on a rampart. Saying to the crowd below:

I am not the messiah.

CROWD: You are not the messiah!

No, no, no you have minds of your own!

CROWD: We have minds of our own!

MAN IN CROWD: It’s funny, I don’t feel like I have a mind of my own.

CROWD: Shut up! You have a mind of my own!

In reflection, you become a better activist, a better citizen. Open your eyes, doubt, act, repeat. Light one candle, challenge the darkness.

Love your own life enough to take care of your children, the elders, to enjoy a sunset. Love humanity enough to put your shoulder on history’s wheel and create change.

- The End-

Quote of the Night by Rami Nashashibi:

“The election of Barack Obama as president did not destroy white supremacy, but it did give it a black eye.”

Have a nice day!

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Obama Approval Ratings

SurveyUSA has job approval ratings for Obama in 14 states.

SurveyUSA
1/20-21/09; 600 adults, 4% margin of error (for each state)
Mode: IVR

14-States Job Approvals

Alabama: 60%
California: 77%
Iowa: 68%
Kansas: 62%
Kentucky: 62%
Massachusetts: 78%
Minnesota: 64%
Missouri: 65%
New Mexico: 65%
New York: 78%
Oregon: 68%
Virginia: 62%
Washington: 69%
Wisconsin: 70%

While obviously Obama has been in office less than a week at this point and these numbers most likely won't stay this high...

These numbers are great. Obama has a pretty clear mandate right now. Republicans may not be wise to prevent this stimulus package right now.

Have a good day!

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Is Obama Being Hypocritical?

Yes, he most certainly is.

“Shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama issued ethics requirements prohibiting individuals from working for government agencies they have lobbied in the past two years.”

Good requirement in my mind. I’m glad he put it in place. There is a conflict of interest.

However,

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man nominated to be the Pentagon's second-in-command [William J. Lynn] could make at least a half-million dollars next month with vested stock he earned as a lobbyist for military contractor Raytheon.

Wait, Obama nominated a lobbyist?

As a Raytheon lobbyist, Lynn worked on matters with far reach across the Pentagon, including contracting policy, the military's use of space, missile defense, munitions and artillery, sensors and radars, and advanced technology programs.

Obviously due to Obama’s new requirements, Lynn can’t take office…right?

But last week, the Obama administration gave the Senate Armed Services Committee a waiver exempting Lynn from two specific sections: a two-year prohibition on employees from participating in decisions related to their former employers and a more specific section banning individuals from taking jobs in the agencies they recently lobbied.

Instead, Lynn's dealings at the Defense Department will be subject to ethics reviews for one year.”

D'oh! What the hell? Tssk tssk Obama. I’m not very happy that you went against your own regulation. Carl Levin voiced his approval for Lynn. McCain isn’t very happy with the ethics violation. I have McCain’s back on this one.

Have a good day.

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Obama's First Three Days In Office

Obama's First Three Days

Day-yam! The man gets to work fast!

Day #1. Obama becomes President of the United states.

I found it interesting that the Vice President is sworn in to office before the President.

Rahm Emanuel (Chief of Staff) signs a memorandum ordering all agencies and departments to stop all pending regulations until a legal and policy review can be conducted by the Obama administration.

This deals with regulations that Bush put into effect during the last few weeks in office. Law allows sixty days before these can go into effect. Obama wants to stop these last minute deals.

Controversial late rules by the outgoing Bush administration include allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in some national parks and prohibiting medical facilities from receiving federal money for discriminating against doctors and nurses who refuse to assist with abortions or dispense contraceptives based on religious grounds.

It may be hard for him to do this, but it is possible. Possible ways include:

1. Passing a law that allows an incoming President to have say on last-minute regulations.
2. The Senate can pass a law that overrules the President's orders. Basically, they would pass a law making illegal what an order allows.
3. I believe the Senate can get rid of these orders with a 2/3 vote, but I'm not sure. Truthfully I am a little confused on this entire subject.

The Obama administration also requested a continuance in the military commissions trials scheduled for this week. Basically this stops the trials of Guantanamo detainees for 120 days, which gives the administration time to change the way detainees are put on trial. He wants them in U.S. Courts instead of military coutrts, so as to give them their due process. Tuesday morning the judges granted the request.

Oh ya, click here for a picture of his new ride...THE BEAST!

Day #2. Ethics Reform Day

Obama started the day by calling foreign leaders, including many Middle Eastern leaders.

He also issued some regulations.

1. He will freeze his White House senior staff pay at current levels to the full extent allowed by law ... The President and his staff recognize that in these austere times, everyone must do more with less, and the White House is no exception.

2. In the Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel, the President, first, prohibits executive branch employees from accepting gifts from lobbyists. Second, he closes the revolving door that allows government officials to move to and from private sector jobs in ways that give that sector undue influence over government. Third, he requires that government hiring be based upon qualifications, competence and experience, not political connections.

3. The President instructs all members of his administration to operate under principles of openness, transparency and of engaging citizens with their government. To implement these principles and make them concrete, the Memorandum on Transparency instructs three senior officials to produce an Open Government Directive within 120 days directing specific actions to implement the principles in the Memorandum. And the Memorandum on FOIA instructs the Attorney General to in that same time period issue new guidelines to the government implementing those same principles of openness and transparency in the FOIA context.

4. This order ends the practice of having others besides the President assert executive privilege for records after an administration ends. Now, only the President will have that power, limiting its potential for abuse. And the order also requires the Attorney General and the White House Counsel to review claims of executive privilege about covered records to make sure those claims are fully warranted by the Constitution.

That last one is key because it no longer allows members of President Bush's administration to claim executive privelege when they are put on trial, which is what they have been doing with the justice department scandal. Basically, they will have to give over documents and be more transparent with what happened.

Day #3. Guantanamo Must Close!!!!!! Waterboarding Must Stop!!!!!!

More regulations!! These ones I love.

1. Close the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay within a year and establish a process by which the U.S. government figures out what to do with the remaining detainees.

2. Create a task force to recommend policies on handling terror suspects who are detained in the future. Specifically, the group would look at where those detainees should be housed since Guantanamo is closing.

3. Require all U.S. personnel to follow the U.S. Army Field Manual while interrogating detainees. The manual explicitly prohibits threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding, a technique that creates the sensation of drowning and has been termed a form of torture by critics. However, a Capitol Hill aide says that the administration also is planning a study of more aggressive interrogation methods that could be added to the Army manual - which would create a significant loophole to Obama's action Thursday.

Obama also met with military officials to talk about the process of withdrawing from Iraq, which he pledged to do within 16 months while he was on the campaign trail. I won't forget your campaign promises Obama.

In other administration news, the following cabinet members have been confirmed by the Senate:

Steven Chu as energy secretary
Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary
Ken Salazar as interior secretary
Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security
Peter Orszag as head of the White House budget office
Hillary Clinton as secretary of state

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Mr. President

Barack Obama officially became the 44th President of the United States today.

"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God."

Indeed, so help you God Mr. Obama because this job is no small task and will take every ounce of energy, but I believe in you. In fact, the entire nation wants to believe in you. By my estimate Obama will begin office with the highest approval ratings for any incoming President. In the latest poll he was two percentage points below JFK, but he will undoubtedly have a strong post inaugural bounce that will put him ahead.

After taking the oath of office, Obama gave his inaugural address. My three favorite parts of the speech were:

"The people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."

Seeing as I want to work in developing nations, it comes as no great surprise that I liked that part.

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

Obama will be tested by foreign nations. He must be strong.

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship."

In words reminiscent of JFK, Obama asks for a call to service.

For the full text of the speech, click here.

While I don't expect Obama to save us from all of our problems, for it is hard to save us from ourselves, I believe he will be a great improvement from the last eight years, and maybe even the last fifty years. I will set the bar high for him, as any voter should do for their representative. To settle for less than one believes is to hardly believe in anything at all.

In conclusion, I welcome our new President and say farewell to the old President. May the door not hit you too hard on the way out George.

Have a nice day.

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Obama's Stimulus Plan

Obama is a smart man.

Many people have heard about Obama’s stimulus recovery plan. There are two basic tenets to the plan: (1) the liberal approach – government spends, spends, spends, and (2) the conservative approach – tax cuts. While this is an extremely condensed version, it is fairly accurate.

Obama’s stimulus plan included 300 billion dollars in tax cuts, even though his economic team came out with a report showing that tax cuts are only two-thirds as effective in creating growth as increased spending is. While he had more money going towards spending, it isn’t as much more as one would expect. Why is this?

Over the last couple weeks there has been some public outbursts about his plan. Where did these come from? Republicans? No, but instead they came from Democrats. Mitch McConnell (the Republican Senate Minority Leader) didn’t make a peep. Instead, John Kerry and other Democrats demanded increased spending, especially on “green industry.”

Obama then met with Senate Democrats and agreed to their wishes, giving the appearance of working with the Senate, while improving his plan and still keeping Republicans content with the 300 billion dollars in tax cuts.

This is smart for four reasons:

1) Obama isn't going it alone. People love checks and balances.

2) It will pass through the Senate, I think, fairly easily.

3) If it doesn't pass for some reason, people will blame the Senate.

4) If it passes and then fails when it is implemented, Obama isn't solely responsable.

Have a good day.

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