It's now a bit more than 100 days into the Obama Administration. During this period, the Republicans in Washington have fought almost everything Obama has favored. And the Fox News conservatives that oppose anything related to Obama started forming Tea Parties a few weeks into the administration (after a rehearsed, televised rant by some rich guy on CNBC yelling at some other rich guys at a Chicago stock exchange about the government bailing out people other than their rich friends).
Many conservatives oppose Obama because they say he weakens America. However, conservatives should remember that in the 100 and some days since Barack Obama was inaugurated as President, America has not been attacked, we have not retreated from Iraq (a/k/a "The War on Terror"), we are not paying $10/gal for gas, abortion rates are not skyrocketing, people are not losing their guns, etc.
I don't think anyone in modern history could have handled the presidency during this most recent period any better than Obama. Therefore, my question is specifically what would be better now or in the future if McCain won?
Arlen Specter was elected as a Republican to the US Senate in 1980. Nearly 3 decades later Specter has announced that he is changing parties.
According to the Washington Post, President Obama learned Tuesday morning of Specter's decision from a note by White House counsel Greg Craig. While Obama was probably a bit surprised by the news, Vice President Biden had reportedly been in regular contact with Sen. Specter about changing parties. A press conference with Obama and Specter is scheduled for Wednesday.
Whether Specter changed parties to increase the likelihood of reelection in 2010 or because the GOP has become a minor party comprised of a far right-wing constituency, the fact is that Specter has left the Republican Party to become a Democrat.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Specter's primary concern is reelection or the future of our country? I believe that this 79-year-old cancer survivor is a courageous man that is getting away from a mutated derivative of a Republican Party to work as a Democrat for a better future.
For several weeks the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party has promoted April 15, 2009 as a day for protests against the evil Barack Obama's immoral tax plan. The Tea Party has garnered a great deal of exposure in light of endorsements from Newt Gingrich, the American Family Association and Fox News.
Newt Gingrich, a probable candidate for President in 2012, warned recently that a third party might have a strong foothold in next election if the GOP doesn't get its act together. At the moment he is the featured video on the group's website. It is apparent that Gingrich's sole purpose of promoting the Tax Party, is to be it's leader, if the Republicans remain historically unpopular and if the Democrats are unable to pull the country out of recession by the next presidential election. In any case, this is a calculated move from Gingrich.
Last month, Donald E. Wildmon, chairman of American Family Association/Radio said" we find it immoral to pile debt on our great-grandchildren. It appears that this situation is above the pay grade of President Obama and Congress, whose only solution is to spend more money on the problem." Two things strike me about the preceding statement. First, it is evident that Wildmon is greedy, in less than 2 sentences the man refers money 4 times. Second, is Wildmon suggesting that because his pay grade is substantially higher than Obama's that he is the one to fix this "situation"?
And now Fox News is blatantly promoting and encouraging membership in this anti democrat/pro republican protest. Therefore, the fair and balanced network is not only promoting but also encouraging membership in an unfair and unbalanced Republican pep rally.
I have never met a person that said they like to pay taxes. And I would bet that you and everyone you know don't like to pay taxes either. So, it is safe to say that no one likes to pay taxes, not just Republicans or the "Tea Party".
So, what do you think of the GOP's latest gimmick - The Tea Party?
This week, Israeli newspapers published inaugural photos of Benjamin Netanyhu's cabinet minus the two female cabinet members. The Associated Press reports that "Ultra-Orthodox newspapers consider it immodest to print images of women."
Yated Neeman, a daily newspaper published the altered photo above and Shaa Tova, a weekly newspaper simply blacked the women out. In contrast, mainstream Israeli newspapers published the original photo and one newspaper published both pictures with the headline "Find the lady".
Most people would probably not suggest that Playboy needs to be available on newsstands for a society to be normal. However, removing the highest ranking women in a society from pictures is, at the very least, abnormal. "Blacking out" and "photoshopping" women sounds like something from North Korea, not from a US ally.
It's taken several months, but the GOP is finally starting to reveal its true feelings about its 2008 VP nominee. In summarizing the GOP sentiment, Fox News produced one of today's interesting headlines... "Republicans Disinvite Palin to Major Fundraiser".
Two weeks ago all reports indicated that Palin would be the keynote speaker at an annual Senate-House Dinner in Washington on June 8. With today's announcement that Newt Gingrich is replacing Palin, suddenly Palin's underlings are arguing that she never committed to the event.
The future of the GOP appears dim with leadership from Limbaugh, Steele or Jindal. And the future of the GOP appears even dimmer with prospects of leadership from Palin. In the Alaska Governor's few months as a nationally recognized politician, Palin was as polarizing as any politician in recent history. For example, she appeared to have even stronger convictions, and even less knowledge on those convictions, than George Bush. At least she read a teleprompter better than Bush.
Is Sarah Palin only a part of the GOP's past... what are your thoughts?
Multiple news agencies are reporting that General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is resigning, after being asked by the White House, the day before another announcement about about billions of dollars in loans to GM and Chrysler.
This is a tremendous move towards restoring GM to profitability. A couple of days after the University of Kentucky's basketball was fired after 2 seasons, it's interesting to observe another high profile "firing".
Some people might argue that this appears to give too much direct power, or endless influence at the very least, to President Obama. I would argue that Obama is responsible to taxpayers, and if taxpayer dollars are almost solely responsible for sustaining a multibillion dollar corporation, then the leader of our country should have the power to "fire" anyone not helping the company.
It is convenient for Hannity, Limbaugh and others to assert that the media treated Bush with a great deal of disdain while it treats Obama with endless respect. However, it is evident through magazine covers during Bush's early presidency that the news media respected him... despite winning a highly controversial election the media demonstrated the same respect for Bush that they've demonstrated for Obama, a winner of a landslide.
Bush's first years yielded many magazine covers among them...
Feb. 19, 2001 "Tax Cuts & You"
Dec. 3, 2001 "Where We Get Our Strength"
Nov. 18, 2002 "Top Gun"
Is Obama's media coverage fair relative to George Bush's early media coverage? What are your thoughts?
Early last week, Fox News presented a 6-month-old clip of Joe Biden quoting John McCain. McCain's words "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" were presented as Biden speaking his own words in March 2009. The YouTube video below shows the Fox News segment and then the original video of Biden.
Late last week, Fox News suggested that an Obama speech resulted in the Dow Jones dropping 56 points - when in fact, the DJIA increased by 6 points during the speech.
CNN is not perfect, but Fox News is a sorry excuse for a news network. Fox News is as "Fair and Balanced" as Limbaugh and Hannity.
In 2008, the nation was introduced to a new GOP "star" - Sarah Palin. Earlier this week, with the Republican response to The State of the Union Address, the nation was introduced to the next GOP "star" - Bobby Jindal.
During his speech, Obama spoke to his listeners as though he were speaking to adults. Jindal spoke to adults as though he were speaking to children of the 19th century. During Jindal's response to Obama, he also claimed that he worked in the trenches to combat Hurricane Katrina. He even made reference to a deceased sheriff with whom he supposedly worked. Jindal has now retracted this claim, because it is not true.
Regardless of Jindal's lie, it is evident that the GOP appears to believe that finding an "ordinary" person to lead is a priority for the future of its party. However, the fact is that the United States would have probably never been established had it been left to ordinary people like Palin and Jindal. It was visionaries like our current president that made this country into what it is.
Pop quiz... Which of the following people were average? A. Abraham Lincoln B. Henry Ford C. Martin Luther King, Jr. D. Ludwig van Beethoven E. Albert Einstein F. Benjamin Franklin G. None of the above
Obviously the answer is "G". The most influential people in history have not been average, they have been extraordinary. Change any of the people listed above to "average" and our world would be a much different place and likely a much less desirable place to live.
By historical standards, the Democrats have an extraordinary person with Barack Obama. While the GOP is still convinced that it needs Mr. or Ms. Ordinary.
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