Members of the Black Press not Happy with President Obama

I have some very different feelings than you think about this story, I will explain below…:

After the first black president completed his first prime-time press conference, the black press was red hot.
“We were window dressing,” said Hazel Edney, a reporter with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, also known as the Black Press of America. “We were nothing more than window dressing.”
As the media filed into the stately White House East Room on Monday night, the reporter was shocked to find herself in the front row. Alongside her were the top news agencies, Associated Press, Reuters; also up front, 86-year-old Helen Thomas, who started covering presidents 50 years ago.
Alongside the most prominent journalists in America was Tiffany Cross from Black Entertainment Television. Like Miss Edney, she didn’t know why she was in first-class while all the television networks – every single one – was exiled to the steerage compartment.
“I really don’t know why I’m up here,” Miss Cross said with a shy smile.
While most on the front row got to pose a question to President Obama, the two reporters from the black press did not. Nor did any other black-press reporter, for that matter.
“This was like Reagan, when he’d put all the blacks up front,” said another prominent but visibly peeved black-press reporter who asked to remain anonymous. “He oughta’ be ashamed.”
via Washington Times – CURL: Obama snubs black press.

As I said above, I have mixed feelings about this report; I tend to believe that this report is one those “Let’s stir the pot and see what happens,” kind of reports. President Obama, to his credit, did not run a “Black Power” Presidential campaign, if he had done so, the American people would have been turn off and President Obama would not have made it out of the Primary.

As much as I respect the reporting of the Washington Times and their Conservative stance, I believe that this story is nothing more of the rattling of the race baiting sabers that the Far Right Wing bunch are known for. Yes, that is correct, I am a moderate Conservative and I am admitting that there is a certain bit of reverse race baiting that goes on in those circles. It is a sad fact, but it is the truth.

The Road to European Socialism just got a bit shorter

Via the New York Times, it seems that the economic socialist stimulus plan has passed a procedural vote:

Senate Democrats on Monday advanced the $838 billion economic stimulus bill, clearing a major procedural hurdle by a razor thin margin with the help of just three Republicans. A vote on final passage of the bill is expected on Tuesday.
The Senate vote, by 61 to 36, to close debate on the stimulus, symbolized the partisanship that still grips Congress despite President Obama’s call for new cooperation. It also highlighted the rising power of the centrist Republicans who cast the critical votes. Under Senate rules, it takes 60 votes to invoke cloture and usher a bill to a vote.
Those votes, by Senators Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, along with the 56 Democrats and two Independents who regularly vote with them, followed a succession of floor speeches by Republicans criticizing the stimulus as a bloated, wasteful spending bill.
But supporters of the measure said that a good, bipartisan effort had been made at drafting a compromise bill.
“I am proud of the bipartisan work that we have done during the last 10 days,” said Ms. Collins, who supplied one of the three crucial Republican votes. “As with any major legislation, this bill is not perfect, but it can go a long way toward creating jobs and addressing the dire economic crisis facing our nation.”
The majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, said: “The United States senators from both parties met the seriousness of the economic crisis with an earnest approach to solving this emergency.”

Well, as you can see, the Republican Party, the part that is supposed to be the party of small Government and low taxes, has once again capitulated to “The One.” Remember this come election time.

Colorado McCain Staffer picked up on Child Molestor Charges, Liberal Blogs fawn over story

Here’s the new Meme for the Liberal Blogsphere for the weekend or this day at least.

Via the Colorado Liberal Independent:

Police arrested the former manager of Sen. John McCain’s Pueblo presidential campaign office Wednesday on charges he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy left in his care so the boy’s mother could attend a rally for McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, The Denver Post’s Howard Pankratz reported Thursday afternoon.
It’s the second arrest on charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in position of trust in a week for Jeffrey Claude Bartleson, 52, who has faced similar allegations at least five times since 1982 without being convicted of a crime, according to the Pueblo Chieftain’s Nick Bonham.
Two detectives have been assigned full-time to the investigation and are looking into allegations Bartleson lured victims through church groups, his work as a sponsor at a hospital drug rehab unit, and during involvement in political work.

I just have to ask, do you think that if President Barack Hussein Obama’s Campaign Manager had been picked up for oinking some kid, that the media would be all over it, like this?

I somehow very highly doubt it. 🙄

…besides that, why wasn’t this kids Mother watching her son more closely?

Whoops! Republican Representive Blows Security Cover

Um, Ooops!

A congressional trip to Iraq this weekend was supposed to be a secret.
But the cat’s out of the bag now, thanks to a member of the House Intelligence Committee who broke an embargo via Twitter.
A delegation led by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio, arrived in Iraq earlier today, and because of Rep. Peter Hoekstra , R-Mich., the entire world — or at least Twitter.com readers—now know they’re there.
“Just landed in Baghdad,” messaged Hoekstra, a former chairman of the Intelligence panel and now the ranking member, who is routinely entrusted to keep some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets.
Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons. A few media outlets, including Congressional Quarterly, learned about it, but agreed not to disclose anything until the delegation had left Iraq.
Nobody expected, though, that a lawmaker with such an extensive national security background would be the first to break the silence. And in such a big way.
Not only did Hoekstra reveal the existence of the lawmakers’ trip, but included details about their itinerary in updates posted every few hours on his Twitter page, until he suddenly stopped, for some reason, on Friday morning.
Since it’s already a matter of public record, here are some of Hoekstra’s twitter dispatches, typos and all, delivered in just 140 characters or less:
“On the way to Andrews Air Force base.12 hour flight to mid east. Be back on Mon instead of tues. Votes mon. I’ll keep you posted,” he wrote on Feb. 4
In his last dispatch today, he wrote: “Moved into green zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace. Headed to new US embassy Appears calmer less chaotic than previous here [sic].”
via CQ Politics | Congressman Twitters an Iraq Security Breach.

Had a Democrat done this, Michelle Malkin would have went into meltdown mode. Heckuva Job Pete! 🙄

(speaking of “Whoops!”… Corrected stupid grammar error… D’oh!)

Dreadfully and Painfully True

I don’t think I could have put this any better myself.

Prosecute Bush? Libertarians have long understood that criminals don’t prosecute fellow criminals, which is why so many libertarians have concluded that government per se is a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization as defined by the RICO Act of 1970, no matter how many checks and balances are checked and balanced or how separate the separation of powers are, and needs to be banned entirely. Which is why so many libertarians are anarchists at heart.
And perhaps, in the future, after the current president has had his run, having turned the United States into a third-rate Eastern European style Marxist hellhole, his former star struck extremists will scream, “Prosecute Barack Obama!”
You may disagree, but if you look at actual history vice the fairy tales that pass for history in our politicized government-run schools, you’ll discover the true nature of governments everywhere and everywhen.
And then you’ll puke.
Read the rest at: Dallas Libertarian Examiner — Prosecute Bush? Good luck!.

So true. This is why I do not vote Republican or Democrat any longer. Because anymore, they’re just two sides of the same damn coin. Been that way since the 1970’s.

(via National Review – The Libertarian Journal)

Frum makes a good point

For a change, I agree with this guy. (Mark your calendars, it does not happen often!)

The first is that the social and cultural basis of American conservatism remains very much alive and active. Conservatives may have lost their majority, but that is not the same thing as disappearing outright.
The second is that conservative ideas continue to be relevant – and will soon re-emerge more relevant than ever. The current US administration and congressional majority seem determined to forget every economic lesson learned in the years since 1966. They are rapidly expanding social spending in the name of “stimulus.” They are redirecting investment from high productivity to low productivity uses in pursuit of “green jobs.” They are toying with “buy American” protectionism while repudiating “hire American” enforcement of immigration laws. They are so eager to restore the dominant liberalism of the 1930s that they cannot see that they are repeating their own errors of the 1970s.
via The New Majority.

I hate to say it. But Frum’s right on the money there.

Japan could serve as a lesson to the United States

Barack Obama could learn a lesson from Japan. There’s a very good article in the New York Times today, on the mistakes made by the country of Japan in the 1990’s to fix their failing economy:

The Hamada Marine Bridge soars majestically over this small fishing harbor, so much larger than the squid boats anchored below that it seems out of place.
And it is not just the bridge. Two decades of generous public works spending have showered this city of 61,000 mostly graying residents with a highway, a two-lane bypass, a university, a prison, a children’s art museum, the Sun Village Hamada sports center, a bright red welcome center, a ski resort and an aquarium featuring three ring-blowing Beluga whales.
Nor is this remote port in western Japan unusual. Japan’s rural areas have been paved over and filled in with roads, dams and other big infrastructure projects, the legacy of trillions of dollars spent to lift the economy from a severe downturn caused by the bursting of a real estate bubble in the late 1980s. During those nearly two decades, Japan accumulated the largest public debt in the developed world — totaling 180 percent of its $5.5 trillion economy — while failing to generate a convincing recovery.
Now, as the Obama administration embarks on a similar path, proposing to spend more than $820 billion to stimulate the sagging American economy, many economists are taking a fresh look at Japan’s troubled experience. While Japan is not exactly comparable to the United States — especially as a late developer with a history of heavy state investment in infrastructure — economists say it can still offer important lessons about the pitfalls, and chances for success, of a stimulus package in an advanced economy.

The Lesson to be learned here is:

“It is not enough just to hire workers to dig holes and then fill them in again,” said Toshihiro Ihori, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo. “One lesson from Japan is that public works get the best results when they create something useful for the future.

But the real lesson to be learned here is the follow and pay special close attention to what is said here:

In the end, say economists, it was not public works but an expensive cleanup of the debt-ridden banking system, combined with growing exports to China and the United States, that brought a close to Japan’s Lost Decade. This has led many to conclude that spending did little more than sink Japan deeply into debt, leaving an enormous tax burden for future generations.

Gee, is that not what Ron Paul said ALL ALONG, while he was running for President of the United States? For Ron Paul’s troubles and hard work he was slandered, maligned and marginalized by the Neo-Conservatives who hated him and the Liberal Democrats who were sacred to death of him.

I highly suggest that you read the rest of this article. The United States could learn much from this lesson that Japan had to learn. We could very well end up causing more harm than good to our economy.

Others: Glenn Thrush’s Blogs, Hot Air, A Blog For All, Cafe Hayek, Weekly Standard and QandO

Senate seeks to Revise Stimulus Bill

This is an encouraging sign:

Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill as currently written and said that to gain bipartisan support, they will seek to cut provisions that would not provide an immediate boost to the economy.
The legislation represents the first major test for President Obama and an expanded Democratic Congress, both of which have made economic recovery the cornerstone of their new political mandate. The stimulus package has now tripled from its post-election estimate of about $300 billion, and in recent days lawmakers in both parties have grown wary of the swelling cost.
Moderate Republicans are trying to trim the bill by as much as $200 billion, although Democrats working with those GOP senators have not agreed to a specific figure.
The Senate’s first vote on a stimulus amendment, a failed effort yesterday to add more infrastructure spending to the package, signaled the change in course. For weeks, the measure has grown to meet a worsening economic crisis with the largest possible infusion of government cash. Despite warnings of dire consequences if Congress does not act boldly, Republicans have become resolute in their opposition to what they view as runaway and unnecessary spending in the legislation. And as the total in the Senate version climbs to $900 billion, unease also is stirring among moderate Democrats.
via Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus – washingtonpost.com.

I am glad to see that the Republicans and some of the more saner elements of the Democratic Party are ridding this Economic Stimulus Bill of unnecessary pork. I think that it is a shame that the Far left wing of the Democratic Party would use this economic downturn to try and further their socialist agenda. I think the voters should remember this when they go to the polls in 2010.

Others: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Megan McArdle, Marginal Revolution, Balance of Power, Free exchange, LiberalOasis, The Washington Independent, The Plum Line, Associated Press, Reason, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, The Corner, The Plank, D-Day, Gawker, Wonk Room, Outside The Beltway, AMERICAblog News, Wizbang and Shopfloor

(via Memeorandum)

Are the Democrats secretly attempting to bring back the fairness doctrine?

This is a very dangerous thing, Conservatives and Republicans ought to be raising the roof about this.

Despite the absence of any action pending to re-enact the so-called “Fairness Doctrine,” congressional Republicans have nonetheless introduced legislation to prevent its passage, insisting that Democrats are advancing a quiet agenda to silence conservative talk radio.
Whether Americans realize it or not, say Republican lawmakers, “Free speech is under attack.”
For their part, several Democrats have denied there’s any attempt underway to reestablish the “Fairness Doctine,” insisting the GOP is trumping up paranoia that amounts to “much ado about nothing.”
So which is it?
In 1949 the Federal Communications Commission adopted a policy that required broadcasters to devote airtime to the public interest and to air opposing viewpoints when discussing controversial and political issues. The FCC abandoned the policy in 1987, paving the way for talk radio to explode from fewer than 150 stations nationwide to more than 3,000.
The majority of the country’s talk radio programs are politically conservative, prompting some, as WND has reported, to long for a more “balanced” menu.
“For many, many years, we operated under a Fairness Doctrine in this country,” Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., told Albuquerque radio station KKOB last year. “I think the country was well-served. I think the public discussion was at a higher level and more intelligent in those days than it has become since.”
Former broadcaster Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., however, sees the policy as an attack on First Amendment rights.
“Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would amount to government control over political views expressed on the public airwaves,” Pence has said in opposition to the policy. “It is a dangerous proposal to suggest the government should be in the business of rationing free speech.”
via Is there sinister plot to squelch talk radio? — WorldNetDaily.

Let me give you my opinion. That is what Blogs are all about, political opinion and discussion. I believe that the “fairness doctrine,” is nothing more pure communism. Control of free speech in America. FDR instituted it during World War II to control dissent towards the War. It was called Communism at that time, by many Conservatives of that era and it still IS communist in nature as far as I am concerned. The reason I say this, is because it is the same thing that Hitler did in Germany and what the Soviets did in Russia, they controlled freedom of speech to quell dissent. (Yes, I know, Hitler was not a communist!)

However, on a more practical level. I do not believe that the Democrats will succeed in bringing it back. Why? Because the Government does not have the resources to enforce such a law. Heck, the FCC has been cutting down staff since the 1980’s, because the high costs of maintaining the huge staff. Examples, The FCC has basically turned over the examination process of the Amateur Radio Service over to the Amateur Radio community themselves. The enforcement is there, but you have to be doing something rather obnoxious to get a visit from the FCC anymore. The Amateur Radio Service is essentially self policed. So, I seriously doubt that even something like this was even passed, that the FCC would even bother to enforce it. I also believe that it will never get to a vote, because there would be a push back within the FCC to stop it, because of the lack of enforcement funding.

So, while I believe that this is a huge political issue, and that Conservatives everywhere ought to stay on top of it. I just do not believe that one; it will ever pass and two, that the FCC would even bother enforcing it.

The Democrats have a new negro to kick around

I used that title for a reason, because the Democratic Party has a new threat to their propaganda machine. A black Republican Party leader.

The Democratic Party’s Racist roots come out. Check it:

via Talking Points Memo | Straight Outta Hooverville:

It gets better. The latest from RNC Chair Michael Steele: “Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job.”
This is such transparent nonsense it’s hard to know where to start; but I guess it builds on the DeMint nonsense. Has Steele ever heard of government road building? Defense spending? NASA? We don’t even need to get into the many ways that government spending on many things has spin-off effects in terms of heightened economic productivity either because of technological innovation or transportation efficiencies, or whatever. How we doing on the spending on research and initial deployment that created the Internet?
Wolf Blitzer was doing the interview. I guess he didn’t realize this is a false statement? I’m worried about Wolf. He needs some help.

Wow. I have not heard this much chutzpah out of the Democratic Party. The Spirit of George Wallace, a Democrat; lives again! I have never, ever heard this sort of tenor of criticism towards Mike Duncan, at all. Before you know it, the Democrats will be dragging out the old Klan outfits and burning crosses on this man’s front lawn. (anyone that really knows their history, like I do; knows what I am referring to.)

You see a black Republican leader is a threat, a threat to the Liberal Black Propaganda machine, that the Republican Party is the Party of the “White Rich Man”. So much for that idea! It also nullifies the very stupid notion that the White Republican Party is out to get, or is oppressive or hostile towards the Black man.

I also noticed that the Democrats are ridiculing Mr. Steel for not having much of a resume. Well, the last time I check, that floppy-eared Marxist in the White House doesn’t have much of a resume either! So much for experience argument eh? Between the one above and this douche nozzle here, the next four years ought to be very interesting.