I learned an important lesson during Obama’s socialized medicine press conference the other night.  I discovered that pediatricians remove healthy organs from children for cold, hard cash.  My kids’ pediatrician said she got into it because getting peed and pooped on is inevitable in medicine and it was much more tolerable when coming from a child, not an adult.  Little did I know, this seemingly caring facade was masking her profit-crazed pillaging.  Come to think of it, I should look to see that my girls still have their tonsils lest they be harvested without my knowledge.  How can Bam protect us from these vultures in Sesame Street Scrubs? He’s said we’ll pay for the quality of health care, not the quantity.  I like the idea of separating medicine from a compensation system that has some  fee payment schedule that pays doctors for the services they provide.  Patients should be given the treatment they need, regardless.  Of course, we can’t have vagabond pediatricians roaming the streets (that may make them even more savage) so they should be provided a salary to live on.  I can’t be the first one to come up with this great idea, there’s probably a name for it.  Obama alluded to the principal underlying his health care plan in an interview when he said, “that’s part of being a community.”  This was shortly after the tragic suicide (or assassination by pediatrician) of TOTUS so Bam got the last two letters wrong.  We learned from tonsilgate that the Bamster will even stoop the the level of accusing pedatricians of being mercenary barbarians in order to justify turning America into a place where everyone works according to his abilities and is paid according to his needs.

In case you’re not a golf fan, 59 year old golf legend, Tom Watson, captivated even the mildest of sprts fans over the weekend with a great performance in the British Open, golf’s oldest major.  The likeable Watson missed an 8 foot putt that would have given him the title (and made him the oldest golfer to win a major) and went on to finish 2nd after a 4 hole playoff.  What was almost as remarkable as Watson’s performance was the irony of a recent decision by the Royal and Ancient club (the British Open governing body) to lower the age restriction for tournament players from 65 to 60.  It seems, in the interests of competitiveness, the R&A calculated that a 60 year old would be too old to make an impact on the tournament so the slot should be reserved for someone better able to compete. 

The tournament ended and with Monday morning, the news cycle began again with Sotomayor, Obama administration apologies, and health care “reform.”  The Obama health care bill includes a provision to cut costs by counseling seniors on how to die more efficiently.  How can government healthcare justify spending taxpayer dollars to treat older patients who may die soon anyway?

Perhaps now that the R&A has seen Tom Watson’s story, they’ll reconsider their position that a golfer over 60 isn’t worth a spot in the British Open.  In that case, perhaps this story might bring the grand pooba’s deciding how Americans will avail themselves of medical treatment to reconsider their cold cost-cutting calculations.  My grandfather is 96 years old and in great health for his age.  He requires a doctor’s attention from time to time but he has lived and continues to live a rich life. 

He called me a few weeks back looking for the phone number for the pizza place because he was planning on putting on a movie and throwing a pizza party for some octogenarian wipper-snappers in his assisted living community. I’m glad that our two daughters are able to know their great-grandfather.  Our 1 year old recognizes him but isn’t old enough to understand her relationship to grandpa or how much he has sacrificed during his life for his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  Last weekend, just after Watson’s amazing tournament ended, we were visiting with grandpa.  Little Annie came into the room, her head immediately turned to the sofa were her great grandfather likes to sit, she toddled a beeline to him, climbed onto the sofa, and gave him as big a hug as a 1 year old could muster.  I don’t think this will weigh into Obama’s calculation when he is pursuing health care efficiencies.  Nor will grandpa’s service to this country in our epic struggle against naziism, fascism, and totalitarianism.  Empathy is helpful when it allows you to ignore the rule of law, but not as an insight into the fundamental value and dignity of every human being. 

You see, all golf fans would have missed a real thrill if the R&A had decided that Watson was already too old to have an impact on the Open.  We all will lose much much more if theObama administration and his Congressional lackeys decide that the elderly are an inconvenient and inefficient waste of healthcare expenditures.

I read today that Teddy’s memoires are about to be released.  1,000 leatherbound special edition copies will sell for $1,00 each.  The title?  “True Compass”  Does anyone else see the irony in Teddy dedicating his culminating literary work to a navigation device?  If only I had On Star, I wouldn’t have taken the wrong turn off the bridge.

No, this is not about drinking too much coffee.  This is about Americans being able to drive the cars they love.  Americans love big cars.  They allow us to haul our families, our cargo, and even our sense of freedom where ever the open road leads.  There is a great sentimental attachment to big cars but very practical reasons as well.  My family SUV is nearly overflowing when loaded with 2 adults, 2 car seats with munchkins, and the necessary luggage for a simple overnight trip.  Big cars are safer too.  Studies by Harvard and the Brookings Institution found that for every 100 lbs you shave off an auto, 780 more people die each year in auto accidents.   The lefty Prius apologists argue that once everybody is driving a Styrofoam matchbox green car, big SUV’s will no longer pose a threat to the eco-friendly.  However, at highway speeds, your green conscience will not save you from tractor-trailers, jersey walls, trees, or the edge of the bridge on your way home from Chappaquiddick. 

More and more Americans will have to drive the green deathtraps in the near future since Obama mandated stricter CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards by 2016.  For every SUV an auto maker sells, they’ll have to sell more green deathtraps to bring the average mpg down to Obama mandates.  Let’s apply some basic economics to figure out how this all plays out.  Americans want big cars but supply will have to remain low in order to meet CAFE standards.  Demand for little green deathtraps will remain low even though car makers need to sell more to meet the standards.  Apply basic supply and demand principles and large cars will be priced much higher (high demand low supply) and green deathtraps will have to be priced much lower (high supply low demand).  Most automakers will probably have to absorb much of the cost of the costly-to-produce green deathtraps except GM and Chrysler who will still be getting Govt subsidies. 

Obama’s Earth-friendly policies will mean that more poor and middle-class Americans, who can’t afford to bid on the few large cars still on the market, will die at a much higher rate in auto accidents than wealthier Americans.  It’s certainly change, but I’m not sure where the hope comes in.

The supply and demand analysis will change if Obama engineers higher gas prices to make green deathtraps seem more appealing but he’s still making bigger, safer cars cost prohibitive to the average American so the net result is the same.

The law school I attend just added a required course in “Rich Latina Experiences.”  Since Judge Sonia Sotomayor says that the richness of her experiences asa Latina woman makes her a better judge than a White male, the school is simply trying to elp those of us who don’t match Judge Sotomayor’s demographic group overcome this deficiency.  Of course, only current and future law students will benefit from the course.  My reccomendation is that Roberts, Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito and all the other White male judges out there try to improve themselves as jurists with some rich Latina experiences.  They could start by watching “Maid in Manhattan” starring Jennifer Lopez.  If that doesn’t do the trick, I’ll try to come up with a list of rich Latina experiences for anyone looking to be better at what they do (I assume Sotomayor’s pronouncement is not limited just to judges but applies to top notch business women, doctors, teachers, and auto mechanics with rich Latina experiences).

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel stated on Sunday that “thwarting Iran’s nuclear program is conditional on progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.” Iran just gained a powerful accomplice in it’s efforts to eliminate Israel. Similarly, Hammas gained a significant advantage in it’s alternating negotiations and jihad over disputed territories in Israel.  Hammas can simply make demands and wait for Israel’s acquiescence as the nuclear countdown ticks. What must leaders in Poland, the Ukraine, Japan, Taiwan, and Colombia be thinking as they see the Obama administration insist that one of our strongest allies turn over her territory and security in order for America to lift a finger to stop nuclear armed maniacs? What must leaders in Russia, North Korea, China, Venezuela, and Iran think as we lean on, rather than come to the aid of, our allies when they face international threats? Our allies will come to the reasonable conclusion that we cannot be relied on and our enemies will realize that Obama will choose the easy way out in the face of adversity. If this sounds familiar, you must have watched “Black Hawk Down” recently. The movie was based on the 1993 US military operation in which 2 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and crewmen brutalized a week before President Clinton withdrew American forces from Somalia. Osama Bin Laden noted that it was at that point that Islamic radicals around the world realized “that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat.” Obama’s simple-minded effort at pressuring our ally to make a self-destructive, destabilizing “peace” agreement weakens Israel in the short term by forcing Her to choose between destruction from within or destruction from without and weakens America in the long term by inviting another attack on an America currently unwilling to show strength.

In announcing the pending retirement of Supreme Court justice, David Souter, President Obama said the primary quality he was looking for in a new justice was empathy.  Since the Code of Hammurabi, civilized societies have used written law to bring about social stability and see that the coercive power of government was applied fairly and uniformly.  This nearly four thousand year old doctrine is apparently to be abandoned in favor of a system that smiles on the party with the saddest sob story. At least when Ginsburg and Breyer eschew the US Constitution in order to impose their own personal policy preferences, they have the decency to search for some corresponding international law in order to keep up appearances.  The majesty of the Supreme Court will be transformed into  a circus sideshow as the parade of victims is pathetically marched through the chambers, complete with neck braces, orphans, lost dreams, and Tiny Tim crutches. On the other hand, this development presents new commercial opportunities.  Disadvantaged Hitmen LLC will be open for business shortly. You pick thet target, we do the crime, no one does the time because our [fill in the blank disadvantage] tugs at the heartstrings. Is this the change we’ve been waiting for?

Barack Obama had his “Ground Zero moment” with the Somali Pirate incident, falling just short of a “dead or alive” show of bravado.  I’m struck by the inconsistency of an administration that has forsworn the phrase “war on terror” for the more morally equivalent “overseas contingency.”  The Somali pirates were a few kids looking to shake down some shipping companies for cash.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled our SEALs gave them the room temperature treatment but it seems a little imbalanced.  If the swashbucklers had detonated some IED’s or killed some women and children, they’d be sent to a job training center in Jack Murtha’s district instead of having their skulls ventilated.  Maybe they had an “abortion stops a beating heart” bumper sticker on the back of their dinghy and were identified by Janet Napolitano as an extremist threat.

We recently discovered the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (here) burried deep in the text of the stimulus plan. The agency would promote cost effective medical treatment by establishing mandatory guidelines for medical treatment. A formula based on the cost of treatment, and number of years the patient would benefit from treatment to determine whether or not the treatment is cost effective. So here’s my question, what if your nearing in on your 79th birthday (you’ve already passed the average life expectancy) and you’ve got a brain tumor (high cost of treatment, low chance of success)? Will Obama’s new health Gestapo decide it’s more cost effective to send flowers to your family?

Recently, Fairfax County Board Chairman, Gerry Connolly (also the Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District) was involved in a hit and run case. Connolly acknowledges that he hit the car of a pregnant woman while driving in the Tyson’s Corner area and drove away. Connolly opted for a hearing before a judge rather than trial by jury. The judge found Connolly not guilty because he had been convinced that, “Connolly’s] position and his duties have caused him to be oblivious to what is going on in his car.” Many jurisdictions are passing laws to disallow driving while engaging in such distracting activities as talking on cell phones. Should a new law be passed in Virginia to prohibit Driving While a Very Important Politician (DWVIP) in order to keep menaces like Connolly off the road? We count on teenagers to preform stressful tasks like yielding the right of way. Connolly is too stressed and distracted to abide by traffic laws but he wants to be our voice on such issues as economic growth, national security, energy independence, and dealing with illegal immigration, just to name a few. I don’t think the motorists of Fairfax or Connolly himself can safely allow him to shoulder such a burden.

Connolly’s behavior does shed some light on his political positions. He promises an immediate “phased withdrawal” from Iraq. I think he’s trying to appear centrist by calling for a moderate retreat (we’ll lose the game one quarter at a time). Is it a surprise that a guy who does not feel bound by his responsibilities as a driver also dos not want to fulfill our responsibility to the people of the fledgling democracy in Iraq to keep the troop presence necessary to maintain the success of the surge and keep Iran and Al Qaeda in check.

I recently read that VA Republican Congressman and House Deputy Whip Eric Cantor was being considered by the McCain team as a runningmate. This after news that VA Gov. Tim Kaine is the front-runner for Obama Veep. Why all this attention to my state which is supposedly in play but has only voted Dem in one presidential election since 1952? If it’s a calculation that a Virginia running mate will help the ticket pick up Virginia’s 13 electoral votes, I think the calculation is in error. I like Cantor but if McCain wins VA (and I think that he will) it won’t be because of Cantor. He’s from the western foothills, not the most prosperous and populous part of the state, the DC suburbs in Northern VA. Northern VA is like a separate state from the rest of the Old Dominion; politically, economically, and culturally. Northern VA voters would feel no greater loyalty toward Cantor than they would to a vp from the Carolinas.

As for Tim Kaine, he’ll will provide neither an electoral boost for the democratic ticket nor any great expertise or skill at governing (maybe VP is the place for him). Tim Kaine has proven fairly ineffective as governor. I can’t think of a single signature issue that he can tout as an accomplishment. Kaine recently called a special session of the general assembly to deal with transportation problems and nothing was accomplished. Kaine’s transportation bill did not receive a single vote in the House of Delegates, not even one loyal Democrat would support him. Besides, even though Virginia has gone Democrat in a few recent statewide elections (2 governors and a Senator) thanks to rapidly bluing Northern VA, I don’t think the trend will put VA in the Obama column this Fall. On impostant life or death issues like crime and punishment or national security, Virginians have voted consistently for Republican presidents and Attorneys General. Virginia will be red this Fall, regardless of whose name is on the bottom of the ticket.

Barack Obama said yesterday, “we purchase $700 million worth of oil every single day from some the world’s most unstable and hostile nations – Middle Eastern regimes that will control nearly all of the world’s oil by 2030.” [http://thepage.time.com/prepared-remarks-of-obamas-energy-speech/]. In truth, America imports only 19% of its oil from the entire Persian Gulf region which includes some more moderate nations. Canada and Mexico alone contribute 28% of our oil imports. Maybe it wasn’t the hostile Canadians and Mexicans he was refering to, but even if we did get the majority of our oil from the tyrants of the Middle East, what’s wrong with buying oil from the despotic regimes that Obama wants to sit down and have tea with?

I recently heard an elected Democrat grumble over the rise in oil prices during George W. Bush’s years in the White House. The argument that gas prices increased during the Bush administration therefore Bush caused gas prices to increase distorts and conceals the truth regarding gas prices during the Bush years.
When President Bush was inaugurated in January of 2001, a gallon of regular grade unleaded gasoline cost an average of 150.9 cents per gallon according to US Department of Energy statistics for January 22, 2001. The following six years included the September 11 terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and nuclear saber – rattling by Iran and North Korea.

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