Late last night we asked “Is Obama preparing to cut the defense budget?” All we had to work with at the time were personal observations by some who had seen a Fox News report that the president had asked the Pentagon to slash defense spending by 10%. The story had not yet been posted on the FNC website at that late hour.
Is Obama preparing to cut the defense budget?
Ace says he saw it on Fox News, but at this hour, there’s nothing about it on the FNC website. The best source Ace could find is the pay-per-view site InsideDefense.com NewsStand, the services of which I haven’t paid to view. But there’s been considerable speculation that Obama will make cuts in defense. In fact, he has promised to do so. If he intends to make good on his campaign rhetoric, then it’s just a question of when the cuts will come.
Gitmo detainee problem solved!
Now here’s the best idea I’ve heard all day:
With the President ordering the closing of Guantanamo Bay, the question arises: what to do with the prisoners there?
Of course, there are some on the left that think they need to be released. This, despite ongoing reports of former detainees returning to terrorism.
However, let’s assume that the administration recognizes that the bad guys are bad guys and need to be kept locked up somewhere.
Some states are saying they don’t want them.
Basil’s solution?
Journalists lie down with Obama, wake up with fleas
What happens when a campaign media operation designed for message control moves into the White House, from which accurate and timely information is expected?
Media FAIL
The Obama administration has more problems than just with whitehouse.gov, the official White House website. The press office got off to a rocky start on day one, and day two wasn’t any better. Then there were e-mail problems, followed by a dustup over access for press photographers. Obama’s administration, it seems, prefers for its official White House photographer to have exclusive access to the sort of events the press photogs are accustomed to covering as they have under previous administrations. Things have gone pretty much downhill since.
Sarah Palin in the eye of the beholder
Since the debut of SarahPAC yesterday, there’s been renewed speculation that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin intends to make a run for the White House, perhaps as early as 2012. If such a run is indeed in the cards, where will the pundits place her on the political spectrum? The answer to that question depends on which pundit you choose to believe.
Palin has NOT filed for a 2012 presidential run
How do we know? Well, we actually bothered to call the FEC for confirmation of what this page on its website is all about. Some folks were getting a little carried away on the web over this.
She got PAC: The latest on Sarah Palin
Gov. Sarah Palin now has a political action committee. It’s called, naturally enough, SarahPAC. The PAC’s website, SarahPAC.com, just went up on the web.
Government giveth, government taketh away
One campaign promise that Detroit’s struggling automakers were hoping that Obama would not keep was his pledge to allow individual states to set their own fuel economy and vehicle emissions standards. Unfortunately for the once-big three, it appears that the president will grant California and at least a dozen other states the authority to put their own restrictions on tailpipe emissions and set individual requirements for fuel economy.
Citing two anonymous Obama administration officials, The New York Times reports that Obama will order the EPA to reconsider the Bush administration’s denial of a waiver to California that would allow the state to set its own standards. But it wouldn’t just be car crazy California setting its own standard. The worst-case scenario would see fifty states, each with its own standard. But many states will simply adopt whatever standard is decreed by California. Even if there were only a few standards among the fifty states, it would spell trouble for the automakers.
“I don’t believe that people should be able to own guns.”
You would think that a president who taught constitutional law would understand one of the most basic constitutional concepts. But a look at the Obama Administration’s version of the White House website whitehouse.gov reveals that this may not be the case.
In the section of the site under Our Government —> The Constitution, there is a brief discussion of the Bill of Rights, and then each of the first ten amendments is listed, but not in the original language of the constitution itself. Instead, an interpretation of what each amendment means in the view of the Obama administration is presented.
Take at look at how Team Obama describes the second amendment on the White House website:
“The Second Amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms.”
What is wrong with this picture?
Army throws native WWII vets under the bus
There are only 26 surviving members of the Alaska Territorial Guard, a unit composed of mostly Native militiamen which was established to guard the territory of Alaska from the threat of Japanese attack during World War II. The militia was deemed necessary because Japan had made incursions into the Aleutians and occupied some of the islands in 1942.
Now the Army, in its bureaucratic wisdom, has decided to cut off retirement pay for these patriots, most of them now in their eighties. They stand to lose as much as $557 in monthly retirement pay at the end of this month. Another 37 of the militiamen have had their applications for retirement pay suspended.
At Libertarian Republican, Eric says the Pentagon’s decision could be “a first sign that the incoming Obama administration may be planning retribution for the State of Alaska.”
Media Wars: The Bampire Strikes Back
The newly-minted president took some shots at congressional Republicans Friday. When they expressed their concerns about his stimulus package, he basically told them what they could do to themselves. In not so many words, the messiah/president told them to perform an act which is socially unacceptable and physically impossible.
Then Professor Obama proceeded to lecture the rebel scum, advising them that they should stop listening to conservative talk radio if they know what’s good for them. Apparently it’s the Chicago Way or the highway if the other party wants to play with Democrats and his administration:
“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.”
Confirming that the president actually made such an audacious remark, a White House official explained that The Great Unifier was just trying trying to make a point:
“There are big things that unify Republicans and Democrats. We shouldn’t let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done.”
But unity, as defined by The Bamperor, obviously means Republicans should just STFU and let the Democrats push the republic Mr. Franklin and his colleagues founded over a cliff.
Alaska: Palin freezes hiring, urges spending restraint
Governor Sarah Palin delivered her third State of the State address before the Alaska legislature Thursday night. She announced a hiring freeze for state jobs (exempting public safety) and restrictions on all non-essential state purchases, while urging the legislature to practice spending restraint:
“These actions reduce the draw on savings as we monitor revenue for the rest of 2009,” Palin said. “For too long, Alaska’s economy has struggled with fluctuating revenue due to global commodity prices. In a volatile economy, numbers are not fixed, but principles are.”
Gov. Palin’s address to be live streamed tonight
Governor Sarah Palin will deliver her State of the State address at 7 p.m. Alaska time (10 p.m. CST) tonight. The ADN Political Blog says there were rumors around Juneau that the governor hired a professional speechwriter to draft what will be her third State of the State presentation.
Palin communications director Bill McAllister says that is not the case, but some friends did volunteer some of their own time to help with the first draft.
Wounded Vets Walk Out on Onaugural Ball
Tuesday night marked the latest in a series of missteps with the military for a new president (whose need for on-the-job training is painfully obvious) and/or his supporters:
An inaugural ball honoring U.S. military veterans ended in a kerfluffle as several veterans walked out when a musical act’s attempt at humor backfired.
During the Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball honoring the nation’s veterans, a vocalist with George Clinton and the P. Funk All-Stars held up a white towel with large block letters saying “[Expletive] GEORGE,” perturbing many audience members who walked out after the display, interpreting it as a jab at the outgoing commander-in-chief, George W. Bush.
You have to ask “What were they thinking?” when this type of musical act was booked for a formal ball where the attendees would include many who laid their lives on the line for their country:
Obama outrages on his first day at the office
President Barack Obama, on his first full day in the office, has managed to draw the ire of family members of those killed on September 11, 2001, and in other terror attacks. The rookie president’s executive draft order Wednesday calls for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year and halting any war crimes trials in the meantime. In response to the Obama order, a judge halted the case against a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, and issued a 120-day continuance in the case.
Stupid Terrorist Tricks
It has been reported that at least 40 al-Qaida terrorists have died from the plague in a training camp in Algeria. The report begs the question of how they contracted the deadly disease, which is believed to have been dormant for at least five years. Only relatively isolated outbreaks of the plague have been reported since The Third Pandemic in the middle of the 19th century, when the disease spread to all inhabited continents, killing millions.
An Inconvenient Poll
Bad news for Nobel laureate Al Gore and his not-too-merry band of tree huggers. Rasmussen Reports has released the results of its latest opinion poll, and for the first time, a majority (51%) of Americans are not buying into the Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) myth:
Forty-four percent (44%) of U.S. voters now say long-term planetary trends are the cause of global warming, compared to 41% who blame it on human activity.
Seven percent (7%) attribute global warming to some other reason, and nine percent (9%) are unsure in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
A bold new energy plan
Sarah Palin is receiving praise from some unusual quarters lately. Some environmental groups are saying positive things about the conservative governor’s announcement of her statewide energy plan, which proposes that 50 percent of Alaska’s power be produced from renewable resources by 2025. Pat Lavin of the National Wildlife Federation described the governor’s announcement as “a defining moment in Alaska’s history.” Alaska Conservation Alliance director Kate Troll characterized Gov. Palin’s energy proposal as “a very forward-thinking energy plan.”
Is this the same Sarah Palin who, as governor of a state rich in oil and natural gas resources, advocates drilling in ANWR and has pledged to support oil companies who want to drill in Alaska’s coastal waters? Is she the same Sarah Palin who, as the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate, inspired enthusiastic crowds on the campaign trail to chant, “Drill, baby drill?” Indeed she is. What many have overlooked is that nearly every time Gov. Palin said, “Drill, baby, drill,” she also said that drilling is just one component of her “all of the above” approach to domestic energy production. And it is an energy policy which draws on diverse energy resources which the governor promotes as the pathway to U.S. energy independence.
Learning From Lee
Being something of a civil war buff, one of my heroes and role models has been Robert E. Lee, one of the greatest generals to ever map out a strategy. The general was the epitome of what used to be known as a Christian gentleman. Lee was an Episcopalian, long before that denomination’s liberals made it so difficult for the rest of us to remain in the fold. Despite his strategic brilliance and the uncommon affection the men under his command held for him, Lee had no illusions of grandeur, telling one preacher, “I am only a poor sinner trusting in Christ alone for salvation.” A fierce and cunning warrior, General Lee was gentle in spirit and manner when the guns fell silent.
It has been said that sometimes the greatest testimonials to a man are those given by his enemies. The nature of Robert E. Lee is revealed in a true story. After presiding over the final defeat of the Southern cause, one for which he took the full responsibility, Robert E. Lee and some of his officers rode past Cemetery Ridge, site of the most intense fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. A Union soldier lying wounded on the ground recognized Lee and shouted in defiance, “Hurrah for the Union!” As the soldier wrote in his journal:
“The General heard me, looked, stopped his horse, dismounted and came toward me. But as he came up he looked down at me with such a sad expression… that all fear left me, and I wondered what he was about. He extended his hand to me, grasping mine firmly, and looking me right into my eyes, said, ‘My son, I hope you will soon be well.’ There he was defeated, retiring from a field that had cost him and his cause almost their last hope, and yet he stopped to say words like those to a wounded soldier of the opposition who had taunted him as he passed by! As soon as the General had left me, I cried myself to sleep there upon the bloody ground.”
Robert E. Lee lived his life according to his Christian principles. Writing to his son Curtis, he offered this advice:
“I am opposed to the theory of doing wrong that good may come of it. I hold to the belief that you must act right, whatever the consequences.”
Even during his darkest days and following the painful loss of a beloved child, Lee never lost his faith in God or blamed Him for for his suffering. When news of the death of his daughter Annie reached the general in the winter of 1862, his secretary saw him take the sad report without change of expression, as he did the scores of other messages that day. But when the aide returned unexpectedly a few minutes later, he saw Lee with his head on his camp desk, sobbing. Though stricken with unbearable grief, the general wrote his wife about Annie’s death, urging her to rely upon God’s benevolence and to maintain faith in His goodness.
A carrot for our rookie president
While Barack Obama and his supporters party in the nation’s capitol, in places far away from the celebration there are those who are putting the finishing touches on their plans to test him. As Joe Biden is on the record as saying:
“The next four years are going to determine what it looks like 25 years from now because we either get this right internationally or we’re in trouble,” he said, citing the Korean peninsula and Pakistan as potential hot-spots.
A long line is forming to test the rookie president-to-be as soon as he takes the oath. Many of the usual suspects have staked out their places in the queue, from such diverse locations as Moscow, Caracas, Kabul and elsewhere. But one of the first in line will be a man from Pyongyang.
