Biden says stuff...again.

Where would we be without Joe Biden? I'll let his words go forth. Read the original here.

Biden: GOP Shields Rich, Lets Firefighters and Police Die
by KEITH KOFFLER on APRIL 3, 2012, 8:40 AM
White House Dossier

Vice President Biden Monday suggested Republicans favored low taxes for the wealthy over policies that would save the lives of police officers and firefighters.

Biden spoke at a dinnertime gathering at his official Washington residence, where he hosted more than 100 federal, state and local police officers and firefighters.

According to the press pool report from the event, Biden tied cuts in federal funding for local fire and police departments to a resistance to paying for the spending by raising taxes for the wealthy. The vice president was clearly referring to Republicans, who are regularly accused by the White House of unjustly supporting tax breaks for the well off.

From the pool report:

“You’re stuck in a God-awful mess, and so It doesn’t make sense to us that that would be happening at a time when the need for y’all actually would be increasing,” Biden said, adding that was why the administration pushed for added public safety spending in the first recovery act.

Biden referred to lawmakers who always vote against funding for local law enforcement. “At least they’re consistent,” he said, rapping those who stopped supporting the funding in tight fiscal times.

“They walked away because they didn’t like the way we were paying for it,” Biden said, referring to tax increases on the rich.

Biden suggested that the resulting decrease in hiring gets police officers and firefighters killed.

Biden said it’s a question of public safety, but also of first responder safety.

“There’s one thing we know: the more cops on the street, the fewer cops get killed. The more firefighters responding to a fire, the fewer injuries to the firefighters, because you have each other’s backs,” Biden said.

Biden also launched into a gratuitous attack on the rich, mocking them and saying they would suffer even more than others for what he regards as short-sighted Republican policies.

“The first guy who’s going to have a problem is the guy whose $3 million home is on fire and you can’t get a truck out there. The first guy that’s going to have a problem is the person who has real assets and finds their house burglarized or robbed, or their Porsche is stolen,” Biden said. “I’m not very subtle; I find it absolutely beyond my understanding.”

Though Biden’s remarks were partisan and clearly designed to curry political favor with firefighters and police, the gathering was billed as an official event and paid for by taxpayers.

Jimmy Carter is sad about Kim Jong Il

Seriously? Really Jimmy Carter? I suppose their is no action that he can give that he is out of step with the United States that he once was President of! Read the original here.

Ex-President Carter sends condolences to Kim Jong-un
By Victor Morton
Washington Times
December 21, 2011, 03:38PM

Former President Jimmy Carter has sent North Korea a message of condolence over the death of Kim Jong-il and wished “every success” to the man expected to take over as dictator, according to the communist country’s state-run news agency.

A dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Mr. Carter sent the message to Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s son and heir apparent.

“In the message Jimmy Carter extended condolences to Kim Jong Un and the Korean people over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il. He wished Kim Jong Un every success as he assumes his new responsibility of leadership, looking forward to another visit to [North Korea] in the future,” the KCNA dispatch read.

When contacted by The Washington Times for comment, the Carter Center provided an email contact to a spokeswoman who is out of the office until the New Year.

North Korea is routinely labeled as one of the world’s most oppressive governments under an eccentric personality cult surrounding the Kim family. Harrowing reports from defectors describe North Korea as a dirt-poor nation filled with concentration camps and Communist propaganda. Kim Jong-il ran the reclusive country according to a “military first” policy since the mid-1990s, after a famine that may have killed as many as 2 million people.

Mr. Carter has visited North Korea twice — including a 1994 visit for talks on nuclear issues that led to a deal in which North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear-weapons program in exchange for oil deliveries and the construction of two nuclear reactors. That deal collapsed in 2002.

The former U.S. president also downplayed a 2010 North Korean attack on a South Korean island and disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, saying the acts were merely “designed to remind the world that they deserve respect in negotiations that will shape their future.”

DNC Chair Denies Unemployment Has Gone Up Under Obama

via RCP, read the original here (with video).

DNC Chair Denies Unemployment Has Gone Up Under Obama
Posted on December 12, 2011

Gretchen Carlson, FOX News: Unemployment has gone up precipitously since he took office.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chair: That is simply not true. In fact, unemployment has now dropped below 9%. It's continuing to drop. He's been focused on --

Carlson: It's higher than when they promised the stimulus would lower it to 8%.

Wasserman Schultz: You see, that narrative doesn't work for you anymore, though, because --

Carlson: It's not my narrative. I'm just talking about facts.

Wasserman Schultz: You just said the unemployment rate is going up since Obama took office, and it hasn't.

Carlson: Is unemployment higher since President Obama took office?

Wasserman Schultz: What's happened since President Obama took office --

Carlson: Is unemployment higher than when he took office?

Wasserman Schultz: Unemployment is nearing right around where it was when President Obama took office and it's dropping. You just said it's been increasing and that's not true.

Quote of the Day

I'm not saying he shouldn't want his kids to be successful, as any father does. But as POTUS, shouldn't he be trying to make America successful? What message does this send to everyone whose last name isn't Obama? Read the original here.

December 1, 2011 11:19am
Obama: My kids will succeed, even if USA doesn’t
byJoel Gehrke Commentary Staff Writer
Washington Examiner
Follow on Twitter:

President Obama believes that Republican leadership of the country would ruin the United States as a land of opportunity, but he’s (justifiably) confident that his daughters will have plenty of opportunities, no matter what.

“Our kids are going to be fine,” Obama told supporters at a campaign event last night. “And I always tell Malia and Sasha, look, you guys, I don’t worry about you … they’re on a path that is going to be successful, even if the country as a whole is not successful. But that’s not our vision of America. I don’t want an America where my kids are living behind walls and gates, and can’t feel a part of a country that is giving everybody a shot.”

It is good to be the president.

I'm so glad Sean Penn speaks for conservatives

I'm not really sure what to say about this. Projection + Overcompensation = Hippie Actors preaching politics? Read the original here.

Sean Penn Calls Tea Party the ‘Get the N-Word Out of the White House Party’ Which Wants to ‘Lynch’ ObamaBy Brent Baker | October 15, 2011 | 01:39

Left-wing actor Sean Penn slimed the Tea Party as motivated by racism, charging on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight on Friday evening that an impediment to President Obama’s success is “what I call the ‘Get the N-word out of the White House party,’ the Tea Party.”

At a time when Herman Cain tops polls of Republican primary voters, Penn proceeded to allege, without citing any evidence, that “there’s a big bubble coming out of their heads saying, you know, ‘can we just lynch him?’” (video below)

In between Penn’s two jabs intended to discredit the Tea Party, Piers Morgan helpfully boasted of how actor Morgan Freeman, on his show three weeks ago, “was very passionate about that very subject, saying there are elements of the Tea Party who just, as he said, want to get the black man out of the White House. He said it on this show.”

Video: http://www.mrctv.org/videos/sean-penn-calls-tea-party-‘get-n-word-out-white-house-party’-which-wants-‘lynch’-obama
Audio: MP3 clip which matches the video

Indeed, Piers Morgan’s program has become the place for celebrities to disparage the Tea Party. As recounted by NB’s Noel Sheppard, on the September 23 show, Morgan Freeman asserted the Tea Party’s attitude is “we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.” The night before, actor Alan Cumming of The Good Wife, denounced the Tea Party as driven by “homophobia and racism.”

Of course, Penn is not opposed to all protest movements: “I applaud the spirit of what’s happening now on Wall Street.”

From the pre-recorded interview on the Friday, October 14 Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN:

SEAN PENN: I would love to see Barack Obama be Bulworth. I’d love to see what I’ve always wanted to see, somebody run as a one term President and show me that people aren’t stupid. They do care about each other. And when he does the right things and takes on the controversies, he’s going to win the next election.

And, and there, yet there’s another problem. You have what I call the “Get the ‘N’-word out of the White House party,” the Tea Party, this kind of sensibility, which is much more of a distraction-

PIERS MORGAN: Well, I had Morgan Freeman on, one of your movie colleagues, and he was very passionate about that very subject, saying there are elements of the Tea Party who just, as he said, want to get the black man out of the White House. He said it on this show.

PENN: I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. If you ask a representative of the Tea Party, “okay, Social Security, socialist, get rid of it,” they're going to get very confused. What the, what they're -- at the end of the day, there's a big bubble coming out of their heads saying, you know, “can we just lynch him?”

If we just focus on the basics, together, I think this is a country that if it -- if it -- if we kind of wake up and look at each other in a room, it's like the light's off. You turn the light on, people are good....

Read more: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2011/10/15/sean-penn-calls-tea-party-get-n-word-out-white-house-party-which-wants#ixzz1b2ynMSmm

About the AuthorBrent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Brent Baker on Twitter.

Pelosi's quote of the day

I swear, if Pelosi's, Biden's, Reid's, Durbin's, etc. quotes were actually true on what they accuse Republicans of, the GOP would be worse than a SAW movie villain. Read the original here.


Pay For Abortion, Or Women 'Die On The Floor'




House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., accompanied by House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., attend a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday Oct. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)




Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was essentially stripped of any formal input into the legislative process in last November's election. I heave a sigh of relief over this fact every time I see her say something like this:





She's talking about a bill that simply protects taxpayers from having to subsidize abortions through Obamacare. This is about just how out-of-touch progressives are on social issues. If you fail to show sufficient enthusiasm for paying to kill someone else's baby, it is a sign that you're heartless.

Roseanne: Judge, Jury, & Executioner? aka Quote of the Day

I love that the dollar amount Roseanne came up with is conveniently higher than what she has. At what point will celebrities realize that just because they're famous they don't have a special claim to dictate economic policy? Read the original here.

Roseanne Barr: Behead Bankers, Rich Who Won't Give Up Wealth

OCT. 1, 2011
RealClearPolitics.com

Actress, comedienne and now author Roseanne Barr shares her solution for dealing with the rich and how the banks could repay the money the U.S. government bailed them out with in 2008.

"Part of my platform is, of course, the guilty must be punished and that we no longer let our children see their guilty leaders getting away with murder. Because it teaches children, you know, that they don't have to have any morals as long as they have guns and are bullies and I don't think that's a good message," Barr told Russia Today (RT).

"I do say that I am in favor of the return of the guillotine and that is for the worst of the worst of the guilty.

"I first would allow the guilty bankers to pay, you know, the ability to pay back anything over $100 million [of] personal wealth because I believe in a maximum wage of $100 million. And if they are unable to live on that amount of that amount then they should, you know, go to the reeducation camps and if that doesn't help, then being beheaded," Barr said with a straight face.

Non-White House Quote of the Day

Where did this whole belief come from, that any money that I earn is not deserved by me, and that I have, only because the government allows me to have it? It seems to go against the tone of the founding fathers to me and seems rather statist. And why does it appear so prevalent in today's government?  Read the original here.

Schakowsky: Americans don't deserve to keep all of their money
Updated 9/14/11 9:51 a.m.
Posted 9/14/11 8:22 a.m.WLS Radio’s John Dempsey Reports
CHICAGO (WLS) - A lot of reaction Wednesday morning to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's interview with Don Wade and Roma.

Schakowsky said that Americans don't deserve to keep all of their money because we need taxes to support our society.

“I’ll put it this way. You don’t deserve to keep all of it and it’s not a question of deserving because what government is, is those things that we decide to do together. And there are many things that we decide to do together like have our national security. Like have police and fire. What about the people that work at the National Institute of Health who are looking for a cure for cancer,” Schakowsky said.

Schakowsky also says one reason the 2009 stimulus bill did not succeed was because it was not large enough.

Schakowsky also admitted there are questions about the Obama administration's connection to the now bankrupt Solyndra solar panel company.

The administration approved nearly $528 million in federal loans to the company, before Solyndra filed for bankruptcy.

Schakowsky sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee Investigations and Oversight Panel, which is holding hearings Wednesday into the matter. She said she and other Democrats want answers.

"You know, it certainly doesn't sound good. The Democrats are not going to shrink from actually, you know, from any kind of full investigation of that. If there is a problem we're certainly going to support the efforts to get to the bottom of this," Schakowsky said.

Schakowsky did say that even though public money was involved, the Solyndra controversy does not compare to the damage the Enron energy scandal inflicted on the U.S. economy.

Also in the interview, Schakowsky talked about the victory of Republican Bob Turner, in the Tuesday special election to replace ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner. Turner, who is Catholic, won in a district that is heavily Democratic and heavily Jewish, defeating an Orthodox Jewish Democrat.

Schakowsky, who is Jewish, denounced former New York Mayor Ed Koch, for getting involved in the race and criticizing President Obama's record on Israel.

"I thought it was really shameful in talking about Barack Obama as not good on Israel. He has provided more security for the state of Israel than any other president," Schakowsky said.

© Content Copyright 2011 WLS Radio 890AM and WLSAM.com. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Quote of the Day

Do you love the President? Read the original here.

Obama: If you love me, pass my jobs bill
Sep 14 01:54 PM US/Eastern

US President Barack Obama told fired up supporters Wednesday that if they loved him, they must help pass his jobs bill, injecting more urgency into his push for key legislation.

Obama hit another key 2012 electoral swing state, North Carolina, to hike pressure on Republicans over his $447 billion American Jobs Act which is designed to jolt the economy and ease 9.1 percent unemployment.

One supporter from the raucous crowd shouted to Obama that they loved him, and in a standard response from his 2008 campaign he replied "I love you back" then added a new twist.

"If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill," Obama said, repeating the line to more cheers.

Obama's appeal may work with his supportive political base, but will cut little ice with Republicans seeking to exploit his diminished job approval ratings which are at 44 percent in a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls.

The president, on the latest leg of what aides say will be a months-long tour to promote the bill, also complained that some Republicans were against the legislation because they wanted to deprive him of a political victory.

"Give me a win? Give me a break" Obama said, during his pared down stump speech which is peppered with demands that Republicans "pass this bill."

Republicans however are increasingly dismissing the jobs plan as a political stunt, complaining Obama proposes to finance it by reducing itemized deductions for Americans earning over $200,000 a year and closing corporate tax breaks.

They have said that they are interested in some aspects of the bill which is weighted towards payroll tax cuts and includes infrastructure spending, but may pass those pieces separately, not in the whole bill as Obama demands.


Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

Rhetoric or Slander?

Hmm...the age of post-racial politics and civility, huh. And I hardly think that exclaiming "You Lie" to a statement that was in fact admitted later to be false, is the same as saying that a political group want to lynch people. Read the original here.

By JAKE SHERMAN | 8/31/11 7:50 AM EDT
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62396.html#ixzz1Wc1QeRAJ

Andre Carson: Tea Party Wants Blacks 'Hanging On A Tree'

A top lawmaker in the Congressional Black Caucus says tea partiers on Capitol Hill would like to see African Americans hanging from trees and accuses the movement of wishing for a return to the Jim Crow era.

Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana who serves as the CBC’s chief vote counter, said at a CBC event in Miami that some in Congress would “love to see us as second-class citizens” and “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.”Continue Reading

Carson's quote, West's response

Carson also said the tea party is stopping change in Congress, likening it to “the effort that we’re seeing of Jim Crow.”

The explosive comments, caught on tape, were uploaded on the internet Tuesday, and Carson’s office stood by the remarks. Jason Tomcsi, Carson’s spokesman, said the comment was “in response to frustration voiced by many in Miami and in his home district in Indianapolis regarding Congress’ inability to bolster the economy.” Tomcsi, in an email, wrote that “the congressman used strong language because the Tea Party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing.

“The Tea Party is protecting its millionaire and oil company friends while gutting critical services that they know protect the livelihood of African-Americans, as well as Latinos and other disadvantaged minorities,” Tomcsi wrote. “We are talking about child nutrition, job creation, job training, housing assistance, and Head Start, and that is just the beginning. A child without basic nutrition, secure housing, and quality education has no real chance at a meaningful and productive life.”

Carson is hardly the first lawmaker to use heated rhetoric. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) yelled “you lie” as President Barack Obama was addressing Congress. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) yelled “baby killer” at former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) as abortion was being discussed during the health care debate.

Carson, who represents Indianapolis, is the second Muslim to ever serve in Congress. He has been in office since 2008, and took the seat that was held by his late grandmother — Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.).

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62396.html#ixzz1Wc1aRlES

Michelle Obama's Quote of the Day

Can you imagine the media treating the Bushes well enough to get that 'thank you'? Read the original here.

Michelle Obama: "Fortunately, We Have Help From The Media"

In an interview with CNN, First Lady Michelle Obama thanks the media for their "support" and "kindness."

CNN reporter: "How's the family ready for this [the election]? It's going to be quite vicious, isn't it? How do you prepare for that?"

First Lady Michelle Obama: "You know, it's … we're ready, you know. Our children, you know, could care less about what we're doing. We work hard to do that. Fortunately, we have help from the media. I have to say this: I'm very grateful for the support and kindness that we've gotten. People have respected their privacy and in that way, I think, you know, no matter what people may feel about my husband's policies or what have you, they care about children and that's been good to see."

Quote of the Day(s)?

"That's not part of his power, but this is part of the whole theory of George Bush that he can make laws as he goes along. I disagree with that. I taught the Constitution for 10 years. I believe in the Constitution and I will obey the Constitution of the United States. We're not going to use signing statements as a way of doing an end-run around Congress."

-Sen. Barack Obama 2008
view the original here.

"His concern was with what he saw as an abuse of the signing statement by the previous administration. So that the positions he took in signing statements on the budget bill entirely consistent with that position, you need to retain the right to, as president, to be able to issue those signing statements, but obviously they should not be abused,"

-White House press secretary Jay Carney, April 2011
view the original here.

The New Civil Discourse

Read the original here.

Republicans Will Make US 'Third World' Nation: Obama

CHICAGO (AFP) – US President Barack Obama accused Republicans of wanting to turn the United States into a "Third World" country as he rallied support for his reelection campaign.

The attack came a day after Obama savaged Republican budget plans and unveiled his $4-trillion deficit reduction drive that aims to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans in order to preserve key social services.

The debate over fiscal policy will prove critical to the 2012 campaign and Obama sought to frame it as a "stark choice" between investing in the future or watching the country fall apart.

"Under their vision, we can't invest in roads and bridges and broadband and high-speed rail," Obama told a select group of the Democratic faithful at the second of three fundraising events in his hometown of Chicago.

"I mean, we would be a nation of potholes, and our airports would be worse than places that we thought -- that we used to call the Third World, but who are now investing in infrastructure."

Republicans plans to shrink the reach of government is "not a vision that's impelled by the numbers" but a "choice" to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the rich rather than ask those who've been "blessed" to "give a little more."

Obama said his vision is of an ambitious, compassionate, and caring America "where we're living within our means but we're still investing in our future."

"If we apply some practical common sense to this, we can solve our fiscal challenges and still have the America that we believe in," Obama told supporters at Chicago's N9ne restaurant.

"That's what this budget debate is going to be about. And that's what the 2012 campaign is going to be about."

The events in Chicago were Obama's first fundraisers since he officially launched his bid for a second term on April 4 and were expected to raise about two million dollars.

Analysts predict Obama -- who raised a record $750 million ahead of the 2008 election -- will build a billion-dollar war chest this time around.

Money won't be enough to win, senior advisor and 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe told a crowd of 2,300 supporters gathered in a ballroom at Navy Pier ahead of Obama's speech.

"If only the people who normally vote in presidential elections vote in this election it will be too close," Plouffe said as he urged supporters to get more people involved in the campaign.

"You've got to get these people to get involved and to vote so we can make sure that we succeed in this election."

Obama established his 2012 campaign headquarters in Chicago, the first time a presidential reelection campaign was not based in Washington.

He told supporters it was so the campaign would be "rooted in your hopes and rooted in your dreams" instead of influenced by Washington pundits and powerbrokers.

Obama reminded the cheering crowd of the sense of hope and possibility they felt when they celebrated his election as the first African American US president in Chicago's Grant Park.

"And yet, even as we celebrated -- you remember what I said back then? I said our work wasn't ending, our work was just beginning," Obama said.

"We've still got business to do. We are not finished.

"We've got to reclaim the American dream for all Americans. That's the change we still believe in."

Barring a dramatic turn, no major adversary from within his party is likely to challenge Obama, who turns 50 in August.

As for who might run against him from the Republican Party's ranks, uncertainty reigns.

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney have taken the first official steps toward candidacy, while conservative former House speaker Newt Gingrich and even real estate mogul Donald Trump have hinted at challenging for the Republican nomination.

In less than a month, the 64-year-old Trump has jumped from 10 to 19 percent support among Republican voters, tying with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, according to a CNN poll released this week.

Republican officials worry that the crowded field of possible White House hopefuls could end up helping Obama, who could be vulnerable as the US economy sputters its way out of its worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Quote of the Day

From TheAtlantic:

"To a first approximation, every single voter who is benefitting from a government program right now not only wants to continue benefitting, but believes they have a moral right to do so. "

Quote of the Yesteryear

"I want to make it clear, and I made it clear to the President, that if he takes the nation to war in Iran, without Congressional approval...I will make it my business to impeach him.  And that's a fact.  That is a fact."


-Sen. Joe Biden, now Vice President Joe Biden, 12/14/2007.


(So, this is a very specific impeachment clause, having to do only with Iran and George Bush, with the necessary Barack Obama and Libya exemption?)

Rep. Woolsey (D-CA) accuses Gen. Petraeus of "Charlie Sheen Strategy"

Read the original here.

Petraeus accused of 'Charlie Sheen strategy' on Afghanistan war

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) on Wednesday sharply criticized David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and signaled agreement with an assessment from a Rolling Stone editor who likened the commander's performance to that of Charlie Sheen.
Woolsey said the Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Task Force held a briefing on Tuesday with Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone and other panelists, and on the House floor, she quoted Hastings as saying:
"General Petraeus is giving us the Charlie Sheen counter-insurgency strategy, which is to give exclusive interviews to every major network, and to keep saying 'we're winning' and hope the public actually agrees with you."
Woolsey complained specifically that while the July withdrawal date is rapidly approaching, Petraeus has offered only "bland and tone-deaf talking points" on how this might happen. Woolsey also said she does not see any sign that a massive troop redeployment is about to happen, and noted that officials appear to be walking back that timeline.

She noted that last year, Petraeus said July 2011 is the deadline for starting a process of returning control to the Afghans "at a rate to be determined by conditions at the time."

"With all respect to the general, Madam Speaker, that's an awful lot of weasel words," Woolsey said.
Petraeus was testifying in the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday morning.

Quote of the Day

Did he not realize what job he was running for?  I'm sure Joe Biden would be happy to take over if Mr. Obama is in over his head....hrmm.....I wonder why he would feel like it's too much?


Read the original article here.

President of China? | The Weekly Standard

“Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, ‘No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.’”

“Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East^[1],” The New York Times, March 11, 2011.

Mr. Obama is right.

If you’re president of China, people around the world who are fighting for freedom don’t really expect you to help. If you’re president of China, you don’t have to put up with annoying off-year congressional elections, and then negotiate your budget with a bunch of gun-and-religion-clinging congressmen and senators. If you’re president of China, you can fund your national public radio to your heart’s content. And if you’re president of China, when you host a conference on bullying in schools, people take you seriously.

Unfortunately for him and us, Barack Obama is president of the United States. That job brings with it certain special responsibilities. It’s a tough job—maybe tougher than being president of China. But Barack Obama ran for president of the United States. Maybe he should start acting as one.

§

References

1. ^{^} Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East (www.nytimes.com)

Quote of the Day

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/03/07/muslim_congressman_ellison_hearing_on_radical_islam_is_scary.html

"Well, it's a disturbing use of a Congressional hearing. I mean, there's awesome power associated with being Chairman of the Committee, being able to investigate and do oversight and to use it to essentially go after a religious minority group, I think it is a scary proposition. I would submit to all Americans that look, could be Muslims today, could be others tomorrow. This is a very bad precedent, and I have actually gone to Congressman King and asked him to broaden the scope of the hearings. He has so far declined,"

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) tells MSNBC.

Posted on March 7, 2011

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, Rep. King is holding Congressional hearings on Radical Islam.  Not Islam.  Radical Islam.  Hasn't the point always been that terrorism is not committed by Muslims, but instead by Radical Muslims?  How can anyone make progress toward the problem of Radical Terrorism, if you're not allowed to talk about it?

Notable Quotable

To summarize, Mrs. Clinton maximizes her chances of becoming president if she (1) does enough damage to Obama to snatch the nomination away from him, (2) failing that, does enough damage to him to bring about his defeat in November, and (3) gets herself on the ticket, whether he wins in November or not.

Some will say Mrs. Clinton is being disloyal to her party if she undermines Obama's chances of winning in November. But maybe she just practices a different kind of party loyalty. After all, if you can be a patriot while hoping your country loses a war, why can't you be a loyal Democrat while hoping your party loses an election?

-James Taranto, Wall Street Journal: Opinion Journal

Quote of the Day

"[T]he Democrats who run Congress have an 11 percent job approval rating. Let's just note that in my polling in 1995, O.J. Simpson was at 16 percent."

-- John Zogby