Breaking News – Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says that Roland Burris has got to go!

I knew this was coming, but it is a slow news day and I’m going with it:

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said Friday that Roland Burris should resign from the United States Senate and the vacancy should then be filled by a special election.

Quinn joins a chorus of state legislators and two Democratic House members in calling on Burris to resign, saying his Jan. 8 answers before a state legislative committee defied the public’s trust about the appointment.

via Governor calls for Burris to resign – Politico.com.

Calling Bobby Rush! Time to run interference for the fellow Brother!

Bobby?

*crickets*

Oh, Wait. Roland has been kicked to the curb.

HELL FREEZES OVER! Andrew Sullivan says something nice about Ron Paul

Holy Moses ‘n Aaron! I never thought I’d see this day, ever!

I do not know these things. But I do know that a serious engagement with the ideas and principles of a non-Keynesian approach to economics – of the kind Ron Paul talks about – is worth having again. At some point the right will have to govern again; and reminding people of the dangers of excessive government, excessive debt, and printing money will be necessary. The groundwork needs to start now. And it needs to be free of partisan cant and ideological posturing.

via The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (February 20, 2009) – A Conservative Of Doubt.

I agree with Sullivan; for a change. I feel so Odd, and like I need to shower. 😉

Quote of the Day

Partisans of President Bush may blame Obama for presiding over a strategic retreat, but it is the Bush administration that assured and accelerated such a retreat.

As Robert Pape of the University of Chicago writes in The National Interest: “America is in unprecedented decline. The self-inflicted wounds of the Iraq war, growing government debt, increasingly negative current-account balances and other internal economic weaknesses have cost the United States real power in today’s world of rapidly spreading knowledge and technology. If present trends continue, we will look back at the Bush administration years as the death knell of American hegemony.”

Pape’s harsh verdict is rooted in his reading of history, that the “size of an economy relative to potential rivals ultimately determines the limits of power in international politics.”

In other words, when a great nation’s share of world product shrinks, the nation’s strategic position follows. Between 2000 and 2008, the U.S. share of world product plunged from 31 percent to 23 percent, and is expected to fall to 21 percent by 2013 — a decline of 32 percent in 13 years. China’s share of world product over the same period will more than double to 9 percent.

Pape went back to the 19th century to correlate the rise of the great powers like Britain and the commensurate growth in their share of world product. He found the Bush decline had no precedent.

“America’s relative decline since 2000 of some 30 percent represents a far greater loss of relative power in a shorter time than any power shift among European great powers roughly from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to World War II. It is one of the largest relative declines in modern history. Indeed, in size, it is clearly surpassed by only one other great-power decline, the unprecedented internal collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.”

With an economy still three times that of China, America continues to be the world’s most powerful nation, fully capable of defending all of its vital interests. We can no longer, however, defend every ally to whom we made a commitment over the six decades since NATO was formed.

Obama’s assignment: Rebuild U.S. productive power, and execute a strategic withdrawal from non-vital commitments.

Regarding the New York Post's apology

Regarding the New York Post’s Apology and the other stupidity.

I dunno, what ya’ll think?

So, like Michelle said; Sue me.

Other likemided people: Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, Pat Dollard and JOSHUAPUNDIT

Yeah, I know what I wrote here. I still feel that way too. But this is not about Racism, this is about the Liberal Democrats controlling Conservatives right to free speech. The, ahem, chimps Liberal Black Democrats want to control what we honkey White Conservatives write, and I think it is a bunch of bullshit.

So, bring it on, there Mr. “Interloper”. I dare ya.

Chris Muir also weighs in here:

Uh……Oh…….. – Iran's got enough uranium for a Nuke

Oy… It goes from Bad to Worse….:

Iran has now built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.

They said Iran had now accumulated more than one tonne of low enriched uranium hexafluoride at a facility in Natanz. If such a quantity were further enriched it could produce more than 20kg of fissile material – enough for a bomb.

“It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb,” said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

The new figures come in a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, released on Thursday.

This revealed that Iran’s production of low enriched uranium had previously been underestimated.

via FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society – Iran holds enough uranium for bomb.

I just wonder, will Barry still want to kiss up to these idiots? 🙄

Others: The Corner, Hot Air and Reason

(H/T Drudge)

Updated headline. I hate it when I do stupid stuff like that! D’oh!

CNBC's Rick Santelli goes off on a rant about the Bailouts and the Stimulus

Sometimes I just wuv BreitBart. This has to be one of the best things I’ve ever seen on MSBC/CNBC.

Exit Question: I just wonder how long it is before Rick Santelli gets terminated for not embracing the politics of hope and change?

Manufacturing Suffers

Some more grim news… 🙁

Via the Economist:

$0.00, not counting fuel and handling: that is the cheapest quote right now if you want to ship a container from southern China to Europe. Back in the summer of 2007 the shipper would have charged $1,400. Half-empty freighters are just one sign of a worldwide collapse in manufacturing. In Germany December’s machine-tool orders were 40% lower than a year earlier. Half of China’s 9,000 or so toy exporters have gone bust. Taiwan’s shipments of notebook computers fell by a third in the month of January. The number of cars being assembled in America was 60% below January 2008.

The destructive global power of the financial crisis became clear last year. The immensity of the manufacturing crisis is still sinking in, largely because it is seen in national terms—indeed, often nationalistic ones. In fact manufacturing is also caught up in a global whirlwind.

Industrial production fell in the latest three months by 3.6% and 4.4% respectively in America and Britain (equivalent to annual declines of 13.8% and 16.4%). Some locals blame that on Wall Street and the City. But the collapse is much worse in countries more dependent on manufacturing exports, which have come to rely on consumers in debtor countries. Germany’s industrial production in the fourth quarter fell by 6.8%; Taiwan’s by 21.7%; Japan’s by 12%—which helps to explain why GDP is falling even faster there than it did in the early 1990s (see article). Industrial production is volatile, but the world has not seen a contraction like this since the first oil shock in the 1970s—and even that was not so widespread. Industry is collapsing in eastern Europe, as it is in Brazil, Malaysia and Turkey. Thousands of factories in southern China are now abandoned. Their workers went home to the countryside for the new year in January. Millions never came back (see article).

This is what happens when you create an economic bubble, by loosening up regulations to sell mortgages to those who cannot afford them. The whole world suffers. Our American companies suffer, the World manufacturing sector suffers. It is a domino effect. The problem is, that the United States is going about this all wrong. Instead of changing the way our economic system works. They are simply trying to reinflate the broken bubble. It is like trying to tape up a busted air ballon and trying to put air back into it again. It works for a while, but ends up breaking again.

Rat in the mouse house?

Well, something like that:

You’ve heard a lot about the astonishing spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, signed into law this week by President Barack Obama. But you probably haven’t heard about a provision in the bill that threatens to politicize the way allegations of fraud and corruption are investigated — or not investigated — throughout the federal government.

Photographers take pictures of the economic stimulus bill after President Barack Obama signed the document during a ceremony at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The provision, which attracted virtually no attention in the debate over the 1,073-page stimulus bill, creates something called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board — the RAT Board, as it’s known by the few insiders who are aware of it. The board would oversee the in-house watchdogs, known as inspectors general, whose job is to independently investigate allegations of wrongdoing at various federal agencies, without fear of interference by political appointees or the White House.

In the name of accountability and transparency, Congress has given the RAT Board the authority to ask “that an inspector general conduct or refrain from conducting an audit or investigation.” If the inspector general doesn’t want to follow the wishes of the RAT Board, he’ll have to write a report explaining his decision to the board, as well as to the head of his agency (from whom he is supposedly independent) and to Congress. In the end, a determined inspector general can probably get his way, but only after jumping through bureaucratic hoops that will inevitably make him hesitate to go forward.

When Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime champion of inspectors general, read the words “conduct or refrain from conducting,” alarm bells went off. The language means that the board — whose chairman will be appointed by the president — can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject. Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target.

via The RAT hiding deep inside the stimulus bill – www.dcexaminer.com.

Sounds like Communism to me. One must report the fuhrer before he can exercise his authority. Hope and change? I hardly think so. More like control and tyranny.

Others: JustOneMinute, Riehl World View, Hot Air, protein wisdom, Wizbang, Cold Fury and Sister Toldjah

uh-oh – Nearly One-Forth of the House got donations from corrupt firm connected to Murtha

I suspect there will be some sort of fallout from this here:

More than 100 House members secured earmarks in a major spending bill for clients of a single lobbying firm — The PMA Group — known for its close ties to John P. Murtha , the congressman in charge of Pentagon appropriations.

“It shows you how good they were,” said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “The sheer coordination of that would take an army to finish.”

PMA’s offices have been raided, and the firm closed its political action committee last week amid reports that the FBI is investigating possibly illegal campaign contributions to Murtha and other lawmakers.

No matter what the outcome of the federal investigation, PMA’s earmark success illustrates how a well-connected lobbying firm operates on Capitol Hill. And earmark accountability rules imposed by the Democrats in 2007 make it possible to see how extensively PMA worked the Hill for its clients.

In the spending bill managed by Murtha, the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriation, 104 House members got earmarks for projects sought by PMA clients, according to Congressional Quarterly’s analysis of a database constructed by Ashdown’s group.

Those House members, plus a handful of senators, combined to route nearly $300 million in public money to clients of PMA through that one law (PL 110-116).

And when the lawmakers were in need — as they all are to finance their campaigns — PMA came through for them.

According to CQ MoneyLine, the same House members who took responsibility for PMA’s earmarks in that spending bill have, since 2001, accepted a cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from PMA’s political action committee and employees of the firm.

via CQ Politics | Firm with Murtha Ties Got Earmarks From Nearly One-Fourth of House.

I will simply say this, that ALL of the members of the House and Senate involved with this should resign immediately. This is a disgrace to the political system and should be dealt with harshly; that goes for Democrats AND Republicans.

Update: Here’s the list of people with their hands in the cookie jar:

Bold = Member Did Not Receive PMA Money between 2001 and 2008
* = No Longer Serving in the House
# = Member of House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the 110th Congress

Democrats

Requesting Member	State	$ Secured Solo	$ Secured w/Others	Total Credited	PMA campaign $ since 2001
Peter J. Visclosky#	Indiana	$21,400,000	$2,400,000	$23,800,000	$219,000
John P. Murtha#	Pennsylvania	$31,705,000	$2,400,000	$34,105,000	$143,600
James P. Moran#	Virginia	$8,400,000	$2,400,000	$10,800,000	$125,250
Norm Dicks#	Washington	$11,330,000	$800,000	$12,130,000	$91,600
Bill Pascrell Jr.	New Jersey		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$73,200
Mike Doyle	Pennsylvania	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$69,400
Loretta Sanchez	California	$3,200,000		$3,200,000	$60,118
Tim Holden	Pennsylvania	$3,200,000		$3,200,000	$57,275
Tim Ryan	Ohio	$1,000,000		$1,000,000	$54,250
Michael E. Capuano	Massachusetts	$2,000,000	$800,000	$2,800,000	$54,000
Chet Edwards	Texas	$6,040,000		$6,040,000	$48,734
Silvestre Reyes	Texas	$800,000		$800,000	$42,300
Christopher Carney	Pennsylvania		$5,900,000	$5,900,000	$38,500
Paul E. Kanjorski	Pennsylvania	$1,600,000	$3,200,000	$4,800,000	$37,150
Marcy Kaptur#	Ohio	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$34,500
Carolyn McCarthy	New York	$1,000,000		$1,000,000	$31,500
Patrick J. Murphy	Pennsylvania	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$29,250
Allyson Y. Schwartz	Pennsylvania		$800,000	$800,000	$25,000
Jason Altmire	Pennsylvania	$2,600,000		$2,600,000	$24,500
Brad Sherman	California	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$15,500
Susan A. Davis	California		$800,000	$800,000	$13,750
Allen Boyd#	Florida	$6,400,000	$2,200,000	$8,600,000	$12,000
Sanford D. Bishop Jr.#	Georgia	$1,200,000	$2,400,000	$3,600,000	$10,500
Jane Harman	California	$2,400,000		$2,400,000	$10,500
Jim Matheson	Utah		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$10,000
Steve Israel	New York		$1,600,000	$1,600,000	$8,500
Jerrold Nadler	New York	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$8,500
Joe Sestak	Pennsylvania	$1,280,000		$1,280,000	$8,500
Jim Marshall	Georgia		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$7,000
Mark Udall*	Colorado		$2,000,000	$2,000,000	$6,533
Michael H. Michaud	Maine		$800,000	$800,000	$6,500
Tom Allen*	Maine		$1,800,000	$1,800,000	$5,750
Danny K. Davis	Illinois	$295,000		$295,000	$5,500
Robert E. Andrews	New Jersey		$1,500,000	$1,500,000	$5,000
Gene Taylor	Mississippi	$800,000		$800,000	$4,750
Nancy Pelosi	California	$2,000,000		$2,000,000	$4,500
David E. Price	North Carolina		$800,000	$800,000	$4,000
Steven R. Rothman#	New Jersey	$800,000	$2,400,000	$3,200,000	$4,000
Brian Higgins	New York		$3,400,000	$3,400,000	$3,000
Brad Miller	North Carolina		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$2,250
Brad Ellsworth	Indiana		$1,600,000	$1,600,000	$2,000
Ed Perlmutter	Colorado		$1,600,000	$1,600,000	$2,000
Phil Hare	Illinois		$6,800,000	$6,800,000	$1,500
Martin Meehan*	Massachusetts		$2,800,000	$2,800,000	$1,500
Howard L. Berman	California	$800,000		$800,000	$1,000
Carolyn B. Maloney	New York	$3,200,000		$3,200,000	$1,000
Ben Chandler	Kentucky	$2,400,000		$2,400,000	$250
Shelley Berkley	Nevada		$2,400,000	$2,400,000
Dan Boren	Oklahoma		$2,000,000	$2,000,000
Leonard L. Boswell	Iowa		$1,650,000	$1,650,000
Baron P. Hill	Indiana		$1,600,000	$1,600,000
Gwen Moore	Wisconsin		$400,000	$400,000
Christopher S. Murphy	Connecticut		$400,000	$400,000
Mike Thompson	California	$1,000,000		$1,000,000

Republicans

Requesting Member	State	$ Secured Solo	$ Secured w/Others	Total Credited	PMA campaign $ since 2001
David L. Hobson*#	Ohio	$3,500,000		$3,500,000	$70,050
Jerry Lewis	California	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$8,000,000	$34,649
Rodney Frelinghuysen#	New Jersey	$2,500,000	$4,800,000	$7,300,000	$29,129
Ander Crenshaw	Florida	$1,000,000		$1,000,000	$27,300
Zach Wamp	Tennessee	$2,800,000		$2,800,000	$23,900
Todd Tiahrt#	Kansas	$5,000,000	$2,000,000	$7,000,000	$21,250
Tom Reynolds*	New York		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$12,000
Jack Kingston#	Georgia	$4,000,000	$2,400,000	$6,400,000	$11,500
H. James Saxton*	New Jersey	$2,000,000	$1,500,000	$3,500,000	$11,500
Jo Ann Emerson	Missouri		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$11,000
C.W. Bill Young#	Florida	$16,000,000	$4,400,000	$20,400,000	$10,750
Howard P. “Buck” McKeon	California	$1,000,000	$4,000,000	$5,000,000	$9,500
Heather Wilson*	New Mexico		$6,500,000	$6,500,000	$9,000
Jim Walsh*	New York	$2,400,000		$2,400,000	$8,500
Mark Steven Kirk	Illinois	$390,000		$390,000	$7,750
Todd Akin	Missouri		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$7,500
Ray LaHood*	Illinois		$7,800,000	$7,800,000	$7,450
Jeff Miller	Florida	$1,600,000	$2,200,000	$3,800,000	$7,000
Duncan Hunter*	California	$15,200,000		$15,200,000	$6,500
Chris Cannon*	Utah		$1,600,000	$1,600,000	$6,000
Kay Granger	Texas		$3,600,000	$3,600,000	$6,000
Joe Knollenberg*	Michigan		$2,800,000	$2,800,000	$6,000
David Dreier	California	$3,000,000		$3,000,000	$5,000
Jim Gerlach	Pennsylvania		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$4,500
Tom Latham	Iowa		$5,150,000	$5,150,000	$4,500
Joe L. Barton	Texas	$2,400,000		$2,400,000	$4,000
J. Dennis Hastert*	Illinois		$1,600,000	$1,600,000	$3,500
Roscoe G. Bartlett	Maryland		$400,000	$400,000	$3,000
Peter Hoekstra	Michigan		$3,700,000	$3,700,000	$2,500
Howard Coble	North Carolina		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$2,000
John T. Doolittle*	California	$2,400,000		$2,400,000	$2,000
Kenny Hulshof*	Missouri	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$2,000
Steve Pearce*	New Mexico		$6,500,000	$6,500,000	$2,000
Bill Shuster	Pennsylvania	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$2,000
Frank A. LoBiondo	New Jersey		$1,500,000	$1,500,000	$1,500
Rob Bishop	Utah		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$1,000
Geoff Davis	Kentucky		$6,800,000	$6,800,000	$1,000
Virgil H. Goode Jr.*	Virginia		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$1,000
Doug Lamborn	Colorado		$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$1,000
Kenny Marchant	Texas		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$1,000
Christopher Shays*	Connecticut	$1,600,000		$1,600,000	$1,000
John Sullivan	Oklahoma		$2,000,000	$2,000,000	$1,000
Tom Tancredo*	Colorado		$1,600,000	$1,600,000	$1,000
Michael C. Burgess	Texas		$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$500
Ralph M. Hall	Texas		$2,400,000	$2,400,000
Doc Hastings	Washington	$1,600,000		$1,600,000
Sam Johnson	Texas		$1,200,000	$1,200,000
Todd R. Platts	Pennsylvania		$4,400,000	$4,400,000
Rick Renzi*	Arizona		$2,400,000	$2,400,000
Pete Sessions	Texas	$1,600,000	$4,800,000	$6,400,000

Wow. Can’t wait for the fallout.

Others: The Swamp, NPR, Outside The Beltway, The Washington Independent, Liberty Street, Right Wing Nut House, Betsy’s Page, Hot Air, Wizbang, Taegan Goddard’s …, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin and QandO

Racism, Race Baiting and the Stoking of Racial Resentment

Here my latest entry, to my column called Slightly Right:

I am writing this because it needs to be written, especially from someone of my political leanings. Today was quite the interesting day when it comes to race relations. Earlier in the day, our Country’s new Attorney General; Eric Holder, castigated the United States of America, by saying that we were a “Nation of cowards,” when it comes to race relations. I found this to be quite the interesting remark considering that the United States of America just elected an African-American as the Nation’s 44’th President, not to mention the fact that Congress just confirmed Eric Holder to be the first African-American Attorney General. This is a form of race baiting, not to mention that fact that it is a form of stoking the racial resentment in this country. Conversely, this is what the Democratic Party promotes and even encourage within the Party. In the Democratic Party, it always seems like it is still 1964, before the civil rights act was passed. The Democratic Party does this, so that they can control the people and keep them around for the votes come election time. Someone who is a bit nastier than me would refer to them as “useful idiots,” However; I am not that kind of a person.

What I just wrote about is just one of the many culprits of racial disharmony in this country and is commonly found in the Liberal circles. Another culprit that is, in this writer’s opinion, just as bad a race baiting and that is abject racism. A sick example of that is the cartoon that was published in the New York Post yesterday. The cartoon was supposedly, and I use that term in the strongest way possible, a piece of satire. The problem is the only person or persons that were laughing, was the man who drew the cartoon and the editorial staff at The New York Post. The rest of sane rational America was standing with their arms folded and toes tapping wondering just what were the New York Post thinking, when they allowed this cartoon to published?

As I have written on my blog many times, racism is just plain wrong, as is Race Baiting and this continual stoking of the racial resentments in this Country. I will be the first person to admit, that the Liberals do the stoking, just as much as those of the Conservative side of the political fence. It is this writers opinion that the only thing worse than a race baiter, who continually attempts to stoke the resentment between the races by continually waving the victim flag every time someone says something that is considered out of line or politically incorrect. That is the person in the Anglo-Saxon race that says or does something intentionally offensive to cause those of the African-American race to have a knee jerk reaction. This is more of that stoking of the flames of the historic racial resentment.

The cartoon that was published yesterday by the New York Post was classless, tasteless and downright offensive, considering that this Nation just recently took a major step, in a long list of steps of burying this nations past of ugliness towards those of the African-American race. The only purpose of that cartoon was to stoke the flames of the resentment between the Black and White races in the country. Furthermore, the response of the New York Post Editorial board when pressed about the issue was the typical arrogant demagoguery position of that paper.

Frankly, I am quite shocked that Rupert Murdoch, a man who is supposedly a born-again Christian and himself a immigrant from Australia would even allow this sort of tripe to be published in one of his newspapers. I do truly believe that in the quest to strike a humorous home run, the New York Post unfortunately stuck out, and quite horribly so.