1.27.12
Friday

Good afternoon...

The weekend is here at last!!! Happy Friday!!!

I'm out riding my bike...

I rode to Baptist Pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions and then I rode over the bridge to downtown to have lunch and watch the parade of babes...

I watched the debate last night which was here in Jacksonville at the University of North Florida...

I thought Wolf Blitzer acted like an asshole...

He didn't ask any questions about issues which are important to Americans...

Even the audience started to boo him... CNN is in the bag for Barack Obama...

Mr. & Mrs. Cranky Pants!!!

So, it turns out that the cool cat billed as “No Drama Obama” by his sycophants is actually quite the drama queen.

While the White House publicly pretends to ignore conservative detractors of his administration, Chief Touchy-Touchy seems to be personally consumed by our critiques. Yes, mine included.

On Wednesday, the president had himself a mini-”Toddlers and Tiaras”-style meltdown with Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer after landing in Phoenix for a post-State of the Union dog-and-pony show.

As Brewer told pool reporters on the scene, Obama took umbrage at Brewer’s recent memoir. She minced no words on the cover: “Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical Politicos to Secure America’s Border.”

And she minced no words describing her impressions of Obama as they sparred over her state’s tough immigration enforcement law, which is now the subject of a Justice Department witch-hunt. Brewer called Obama “patronizing” and “condescending.” I’d say she was excruciatingly polite.

According to Brewer, “He was a little disturbed about my book. … I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president. The book is what the book is. I asked him if he read the book. He said he read (an) excerpt.”

In the shadow of Air Force One, Obama complained that Brewer hadn’t “treated him cordially” and then stalked off while she was responding mid-sentence.

Photogs captured the fracas on film. The civility police gasped at Brewer’s “disrespectful” finger-pointing. On cue, one progressive commentator insinuated the gesture was a “racist” jab tantamount to lynching.

The president was singing a more laid-back tune last summer. As debate on Capitol Hill over the debt ceiling and spending sizzled, Obama bragged to reporters: “I’m not trying to poke at you guys. … I generally don’t watch what is said about me on cable. I generally don’t read what’s said about me even in The Hill (newspaper), so part of this job is having a thick skin and understanding that a lot of this stuff is not personal.”

Uh-huh. At least two other Republican governors — Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana — have recounted similar presidential snit fits on the tarmac.

He sulked over a letter Jindal wrote to the administration about food stamps for Gulf oil spill victims; he bolted after a half-minute meeting with Perry at an Austin airport over border security issues.

You know those “petty grievances” of “Washington politics” that Obama has long condemned? Now it can be told: He knows whereof he squawks.

As New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor’s new book, “The Obamas,” reveals, the president and his inner circle spent even more time carping about conservative influence on public opinion.

“He wanted the media to be more of a referee; to put unfair Republican charges to rest,” Kantor discovered. “He could brush off the wildest, most baseless attacks themselves, he told (senior adviser and Chicago pal) Valerie Jarrett, along with (campaign finance bundler and treasurer) Marty Nesbitt and (bundler and finance mogul) John Rogers, at lunch in the little dining room next to the Oval Office.”

But what “galled him,” the book observed, “was when they gained mainstream credibility despite distortions of truth.”

Kantor then dutifully served as a pro-Obama referee:

“Rogers had just noticed a new book by the conservative columnist Michelle Malkin called ‘Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies.’ Among many other allegations, Malkin wrote that Michelle Obama — the president’s ‘bitter half’ — was secretly running the country in Lady Macbeth-like fashion.

Malkin even took a hatchet to long-dead Fraser Robinson (Mrs. Obama’s father), arguing with no evidence that his job at a water plant made him part of the ‘Chicago political corruptocracy.’ The book debuted at number one on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and stayed there for weeks.”

The facts? It was a former alderman in Chicago, Leon Depres, who provided evidence that Robinson’s job in the city water department was a reward for loyalty to the Daley political faction.

It was Washington Post writer Liza Mundy who reported that the department was “a renowned repository of patronage jobs.”

It’s the Illinois press that has long documented Mrs. Obama’s ties to the Chicago machine. It’s Kantor herself who spotlighted the first lady’s internecine warfare with her husband’s Cabinet.

And from her meddling in everything from the AmeriCorps inspector general firing case to her aggressive, Big Labor-backed push for a publicly subsidized food police corps, Michelle Obama has been openly expanding her East Wing fiefdom in Marie Antoinette-like fashion.

How long before we see a FLOTUS tarmac tantrum?

We did get two divas for the price of one. As longtime observers of the royal Obamas have long observed: Mr. and Mrs. Cranky Pants’ problem has never been the color of their skin. It’s the thinness.

Michelle Malkin

Have a great weekend!!!

1.24.12
Tuesday

Good afternoon...

I don't want to sound like a broken record but I am out riding my bike again...

I met with my surgeon this morning... Surgery in two weeks... Then three more rounds of chemo a month after that... Then I should be okay...

State of the Union?

President Barack Obama will take the podium tonight at 9:00 p.m. and deliver his third State of the Union address to tens of millions of Americans.

According to an official White House preview video released a few days ago, the President will essentially build on the themes of his Osawatomie, Kansas speech -- concentrating on topics ranging from economic inequality to education reform.

“In a lot of ways my address on Tuesday will be a bookend to what I said in Kansas last month about the central mission we have as a country and my central focus as president,” he said. “That’s rebuilding an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded and an America where everyone get a fair share shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

“This is a make or break moment for the middle class,” he continued. “We can go in two directions. One is towards less opportunity and less fairness, or we can fight for where we want to go -- building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.”

Indeed, an estimated 43 million people watched his State of the Union address in 2011. And, considering this is an election year, the stakes will be even higher tonight. Republicans, of course, are expecting a speech that is unapologetically populist, as the President tries to paint himself as an advocate for the middle class by denigrating “millionaires and billionaires” and calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.

Certainly, he will use the spotlight to deflect attention away from his failed economic record, most likely opting instead to engage in the politics of envy and class warfare.

To be sure, the President will offer a number of proposals to jumpstart the economy tonight. According to the White House, he will speak at length about the importance of bringing manufacturing jobs back home from overseas and lessening our dependence on foreign oil by investing in alternative energy resources.

Moreover, he will discuss ways to make middleclass Americans more competitive in the marketplace -- underscoring the need for federal jobs training programs and education opportunities for all.

And yet, for what it’s worth, there are number of things to watch out for tonight.

First, the President will almost certainly make an unambiguous pitch to court Independents.

All recent polls suggest that droves of voters under the age of 30, for example, are disenchanted with the Obama administration’s failure to grow the economy and create jobs.

The youth vote, after all, was crucial to his victory in 2008 – and in order for the President to secure his reelection – he will be forced to make a direct and nuanced plea to a different, albeit equally important, constituency.

As might be expected, I suspect he will also craft a campaign narrative pitting himself against a do-nothing and uncompromising Congress. While his approval ratings have soared to as high as 48 percent recently, the approval ratings of Congress have sunk to historic lows.

By accentuating this contrast, I think, President Obama can shape his populist argument for reelection, and therefore, put the Republican nominee and Members of Congress on the defensive come November.

Above all, however, this will first and foremost be a campaign speech. Until now, perhaps, President Obama has been unable to speak to such a large and engaged audience of likely voters.

His address, in other words, will likely tout his accomplishments and include a litany of reasons why he deserves four more years in the White House. (Incidentally, this speech could be excruciatingly painful to watch!)

Daniel Doherty

Time to ride my bike...

1.23.12
Monday

Good afternoon...

I'm out riding my bike...

I didn't ride over the weekend... I was chillin' out and watching NFL football...

I have a consultation with my surgeon tomorrow morning to go over my surgical procedure...

I'm a little nervous...

The March for Life 2012!!!

7,000 babies were aborted in Jacksonville last year... There is no excuse for that...

I am voting today!!!

I am voting for Newt Gingrich!!!

Have a good day!!!

1.20.12
Friday

Good afternoon...

Happy Friday!!!

The weekend is here at last!!!

I'm out riding my bike... Imagine that!!!

I had lunch downtown... Shrimp Scampi...

I'm going to ride out to Riverside!!!

The Land of Obama Make-Believe!!!

Where did President Obama go after killing off thousands of Keystone XL pipeline construction and manufacturing jobs? Why, Disney World, of course. Sabotaging work is hard work for Goofy and his pals.

And where’d he head after that? Why, up to Manhattan for more high-priced campaign fundraisers charging up to $38,500 per partier. The business of wining and dining politically connected donors ain’t child’s play, you know.

Obama touted a White House foreign tourism initiative on Thursday with Cinderella’s castle as his backdrop. “America is open for business,” he proclaimed chirpily to the rest of the globe.

Tell that to the Keystone managers in Canada whom Obama and his State Department rebuffed — after years of planning and review — in order to appease militant environmentalists and Hollywood celebs.

The Animatronic Divider robotically lambasted Republicans for pushing him to make a decision this week. But Senate and House Democrats issued the sharpest rebukes to White House obstructionism:

“President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline is a major setback for the American economy, American workers, and America’s energy independence,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said.

“The rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline permit is a missed opportunity to drastically turn this economy around. This pipeline would have created thousands of new jobs and helped to ensure our energy independence,” Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., lamented.

“This delay is just playing politics with American jobs and American energy security,” Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, pointed out.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle scratched their heads as the job-snuffer-in-chief bolted to Orlando’s fantasyland to promote economic growth.

But there’s no more fitting place on Earth for the man whose escapist administration occupies the land of make-believe and no consequences. (Bonus moment: Obama got to shake hands with Mickey Mouse, who infamously turned up on a Florida ACORN voter registration form in 2008. Constituent outreach at its most surreal.)

On the very same day he quashed Keystone, Obama released his first campaign ad of 2012 — hyping his stellar record on energy jobs.

It’s Opposite Day at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 365 days a year. Even more comically, the ad touted his exemplary ethics record by quoting a moldy three-year-old endorsement from left-leaning Politifact.

And as bipartisan Capitol Hill outrage over the half-billion-dollar Solyndra solar stimulus bust mounts, Obama had the nerve to sprinkle his inaugural campaign spot with — wait for it — solar panels.

Instead of supporting new infrastructure jobs in America through an energy independence-enhancing project that has bipartisan legislative support on Capitol Hill, the president flew to Disney World to peddle looser visa restrictions in China and Brazil by executive order.

He also will expand the Visa Waiver Program (a security loophole-ridden program that was suspended temporarily after the 9/11 terrorist attacks) to speed foreign travel.

In case anyone needs reminding, it was the relentless drive of the tourism industry and kowtowing State Department bureaucrats that led to the Bush-era Visa Express Program, which relaxed visa policies, eliminated in-person consulate interviews and opened the door to the 9/11 hijackers. Brazil is just the latest base for al-Qaida and other Islamic jihadi groups.

It does not consider Hezbollah or Hamas terrorist groups, and it disbanded its anti-terrorism force in 2009.

The Visa Waiver Program and other efforts to expedite the tourist visa process also pose continuing security risks because — as the Government Accountability Office itself admitted last year — there is still no comprehensive, systematic way to track the 70 million-plus foreign visitors who enter the country on tourist and other short-term visas.

Indeed, half of the nation’s estimated 20 million illegal aliens are visa overstayers.

How many of the new Disney foreign tourists whom Obama is touting as America’s economic salvation will fail to return to their home countries after their Obama World visas expire? We’ll likely never know. And Team Obama doesn’t care.

In his opening campaign ad salvo, Obama accuses his opponents of being “untethered to facts.” But this is an administration that believes lowering visa standards and risking homeland security to pump up Disney foreign tourism is a better path to economic recovery than supporting direct American job creation and enhancing energy security.

Like the Disney characters he posed with this week, our cartoonish president is wholly untethered to reality.

Michelle Malkin

Time to ride like the wind...

1.19.12
Thursday

Good afternoon...

I'm out riding my bike under the big blue sky...

I feel great!!!

I had lunch downtown and I'm headed back to San Marco later this afternoon...

Out of control spending? You're kidding!!!

Obviously what I’m about to list above isn’t going to make or break us as a nation in terms of monetary outlay.

Each taken individually is but a drop in the sea of $16 trillion dollar debt we now float in.

But the fact remains that each is an indicator of why we’re in that deep of a hole. Each points to another area where government has no business, especially spending taxpayer, or more likely borrowed money.

Or it points to an expenditure not made on its reasoned merits, but on bureaucratic inertia, lack of control or monitoring or any of a great number of reasons the payment shouldn’t have been made.

Now, on with the show:

~The U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S. AID) spent $30 million to spur mango production and sales in Pakistan—and failed utterly. Yup, mango production … in Pakistan.

~The Air Force spent $14 million to switch three radar stations to wind power; poor planning forced cancellation of one turbine and consideration of the same for the other two. Because we all know windpower is proven and reliable and … what do you mean “put our national security at risk?”

~The Federal Aviation Administration devoted $6 million to subsidize air service at small, underused airports. Market smarket … we’ll just create one. Until the money runs out, of course.

~A federal grant for $765,828 went to—I am not making this up, to quote Dave Barry—bring an International House of Pancakes franchise to Washington, D.C. Because bringing IHOPs to DC is a primary function of the United States government and worthy of every dollar spent.

~The Department for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided a $484,000 grant to build a “Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers” restaurant in Texas. Because it is not the market’s job to decide what restaurants should exist in a certain area, it’s the job of government.

~Another HUD grant, this one for $1 million, went to a foreign architectural firm to move its headquarters from Santa Monica to Los Angeles. Because we knew you’d want us to do it. You need to move? Tough cookies.

~NIH gave the University of Kentucky $175,587 to study the impact of cocaine on the sex drive of Japanese quail. Because we’re sure Japanese quail are the next target of drug dealers. Or something.

~The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) gave $916,567 to underwrite horse-drawn carriage exhibits and survey shipwrecks in Wisconsin. Because, well, we couldn’t think of anything else to do with the money.

~The Oregon Cheese Guild received $50,400 to promote cheese. Because obviously the Oregon Cheese Guild wouldn’t be able to promote cheese without this.

~Uncle Sam spent $111,000 to send brewery experts to conduct classes in China. Because the folks making Tsing Tao obviously couldn’t handle that.

~The ever busy NSF devoted $300,000 to developing a dance program to illustrate the origins of matter. Because without it … oh nevermind.

And my personal favorite:

~Washington helpfully gave almost $18 million in foreign aid to China—money effectively borrowed from China. The circle is complete. Borrowing money to give money back to the entity from which we borrowed it while still owing the principle.

Brilliant.

Your government at work.

The Case Against Liberal Despair...

Time to ride my bike...

1.18.12
Wednesday

Good afternoon...

My PET scan yesterday was good!!! The solitary FDG-positive midline, retroperitoneal lymph node has been resolved... In other words the cancer is gone!!!

Retroperitoneal lymph nodes are lymph nodes located in the retroperitoneum. The retroperitoneum is an area at the back of the abdomen behind the intestines.

Lymph nodes are small structures located all over the body around blood vessels and are a part of the lymph system of the body.

Lymphomas are a group of cancers of the lymph system. It can affect any lymph nodes and retroperitoneal lymph nodes are affected in many lymphomas.

All my other organs are good!!!

The next thing I will face will be non-invasive surgery to remove the dying and shrinking tumor and the stent in my sigmoid colon...

The Bank of (Democratic Party) America!!!

Well, isn’t this rich? And I do mean rich. President Obama, man of the people, will deliver his presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. — so that Democratic Party fundraisers can reward big donors with skyboxes and other lavish perks.

As usual, the White House and its allies are trying to camouflage naked partisan money-grubbing in populist garb.

“I think this would be a great opportunity to have tens of thousands of North Carolinians and others outside of the state to see and participate in the convention process,” one North Carolina Democratic Party flack told the Charlotte Observer.

But it’s the heavyweight contributors, not the hoi polloi, to whom convention organizers are catering as they struggle to raise some $37 million to cover the coronation celebration’s costs.

The self-proclaimed Party of the 99 Percent is reportedly busy creating special-access VIP packages for the 1 percent — under the illusion of throwing open its doors to the masses.

DNC officials refuse to disclose fundraising updates until after the convention, even as they champion their own “openness and accessibility.”

And no doubt, Obama will use his stadium-size pulpit to “stand up” to the very same “fat cats” who’ll be watching him while sipping Courvoisier in their DNC-appointed luxury seats.

Michelle Malkin

Obama just doesn't get it!!!

The State Department will announce the decision on Keystone XL pipeline is "no," as early as Wednesday, an industry source told Fox News, suggesting that the department will say 60 days is inadequate time to do the required environmental impact assessment on the path of the coveted pipeline.

But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in her afternoon briefing that she had nothing to share.

"As of 30 seconds before I walked in, it was my understanding that a decision had not yet been made," she said.

For three years, the State Department has been reviewing the initial proposal to run a pipeline from Canada down to Texas through a sensitive Nebraska aquifer -- authority it has because of the transnational path the route takes.

The pipeline had been through several other federal, state and local approvals, but the department backed away from signing off on the plan last year after environmentalists complained.

Industry workers and Republicans contend the project would create thousands of jobs, and Canada's prime minister has warned if the U.S. can't get on board, the North American nation will look to team with China.

"Unfortunately Prime Minister Harper of Canada just this week said because of the volatile indecisiveness on the part of this president, that they feel they are being held hostage and they will take their energy elsewhere specifically to Asia and China," Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, told Fox News Radio.

In December, Congress attached to the payroll tax cut a deadline of 60 days for the State Department to determine approval for an alternative route. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner pointed out that the legislation doesn't permit the State Department to reject the plan, only President Obama.

The language says if he rejects the pipeline, Obama must then issue a report to Congress "that provides a justification for determination, including consideration of economic, employment, energy security, foreign policy, trade and environmental factors."

On Tuesday, Obama's own jobs council suggested that it agrees with the pipeline concept. While not specifically mentioning Keystone in a report out Tuesday about improving competitiveness, the council said that when it comes to energy projects in general, the government needs to "expeditiously, though cautiously, move forward on projects that can support hundreds of thousands of jobs."

"We think this all-in energy strategy can create significant economic growths and significant job creation," said Lewis Hay, NextEra Energy CEO and a member of the president's job council.

Obama has noted his environmental concerns when it comes to energy exploration but insisted Tuesday that a balance could be found.

"I think the recommendations are sound. We see enormous potential in production of traditional fossil fuels," he said without mentioning Keystone.

As oil prices rose Wednesday on fresh signs the U.S. economy was improving, which could lead to stronger demand for gasoline and other energy products, the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, argued that the pipeline doesn't make the U.S. anymore energy secure just because it would get oil from a close neighbor and friend.

Instead of carrying common crude oil, the Keystone XL pipeline would carry thick, toxic bitumen for refining in the Gulf states, effectively transporting pollution from Canada to the United States," reads the NRDC report.

"It is not in the national interest to lock the United States into supporting an expensive and dirty form of oil for many years to come. Also, additional capacity for tar sands oil perpetuates America's addiction to oil, and undermines the clean energy alternatives that would bring genuine energy security," the NRDC report continues.

But Gerard said the president's refusal to approve the pipeline is a "clear abdication of leadership." House Speaker John Boehner also accused the president of trying to put off a politically difficult decision until after the election.

"This is not good for our country," Boehner said. "The president wants to put this off until it's convenient for him to make a decision. ... The president's got an opportunity to create 100,000 new jobs almost immediately. The president should say yes."

Racist!!!

So I’m reading the op-eds in the Sunday New York Times and the headline catches my eye: “What’s Race Got to Do With It?” I roll my eyes and say to myself, Here we go again.

The column is by Lee Siegel, an opinion writer of the liberal persuasion, whose main point is – and these are his exact words – “Mitt Romney is the whitest white man to run for president in recent memory.”

“Of course,” he says, “I’m not talking about a strict count of melanin density. I’m referring to the countless subtle and not-so-subtle ways he telegraphs to a certain type of voter that he is the cultural alternative to America’s first black president.”

Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Just kidding.

Romney’s “whiteness,” says Siegel, is “grounded in a retro vision of the country, one of white picket fences and stay-at-home moms and fathers unashamed of working hard for corporate America.”

Sounds good to me. But Siegel’s not-so-subtle point is that this was also racist America.

So what’s he getting at? Simple, that Romney offers “millions of Americans” who are unwilling to accept Mr. Obama as someone who legally and morally deserves to sit in the White House “the white solution of the problem of a black president.”

Bernard Goldberg

Time to ride my bike!!!

1.16.12
Monday

Good afternoon...

I went to the MLK Parade...

It was huge!!! Lots of pretty black women... : )

I'm out riding my bike...

Tomorrow I meet with my Oncologist to go over my PET Scan after six rounds of chemo...

I anticipate good results but I'm prepared in case it's not favorable...

And now some sundry items for your reading pleasure...

The MLK Whitewash...

This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day finds our nation rightly united in honoring the man who challenged America to live up to the promise that all men are created equal.

But it’s also worth remembering that it was not always this way.

King was widely reviled in his lifetime, attacked as a troublemaker, a liar, a con man and a communist.

These smears are part of his legacy as well. They remind us that even American icons were once demonized and derided.

And when we whitewash history into simplicity, we lose a sense of the real struggle that can inspire endurance today.

Freedom is fading in the United States as Obama disses the Constitution!!!

Every year that Barack Obama has occupied the Oval Office, the United States has fallen lower in the Economic Index of Freedom compiled annually by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

America was fifth in the ranking in 2008 (surpassed only by Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and Australia), then dropped to sixth in 2009, eighth in 2010, ninth last year, and now 10th.

The index measures, according to its authors, 10 categories of economic freedom: labor, business, trade, fiscal responsibility, government spending, monetary policy, investment, financial regulation, property rights, and absence of corruption.

Scores in these categories are averaged to create an overall score for each of all 184 nations.

Unfortunately, because so many other nations have followed approaches similar to the failed policies Obama has stubbornly refused to abandon in the U.S. (most notably, 31 of the 43 European nations), America was far from the only country in which economic freedom declined in the 2012 index.

As the editors noted, "rapid expansion of government, more than any market factor, appears to be responsible for flagging economic dynamism.

Government spending has not only failed to arrest the economic crisis, but also -- in many countries -- seems to be prolonging it.

The big-government approach has led to bloated public debt, turning an economic slowdown into a fiscal crisis with economic stagnation fueling long-term unemployment."

Time to ride...

The Messenjah

Bike Babe of the Week

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