Eternal Vigilance

Astroturf?

2009-08-28T22:59:00.003-04:00

"Some of the things you're about to hear are both shocking and hilarious."

Free speech in action

2009-07-11T11:47:00.002-04:00

The world continues to feel upside down and inside out, but dh found this online and I thought I'd take a break from the serious to share something funny.

This is a musician who flew United and the baggage handlers threw and broke his guitar (they were seen from the plane). He tried for months to get them to compensate him for the loss (it was an expensive guitar) and finally decided to write three songs about his experience. This just cracked me up. Apparently, United has since called him to try to make things right. Good for him.

TOTUS

2009-06-17T18:04:00.000-04:00

A little break in all the seriousness for something funny:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Schumer's at it again...

2009-04-15T05:10:00.005-04:00

It's starting to look like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are having some kind of contest to see who can be the MOST out of touch with everyday Americans.

Pelosi counters with this:

But let's not forget this gem from Schumer:

Meanwhile, according to Pelosi it's un-American to enforce our laws, but patriotic to break them. Hmm...

So who's more out of touch? They're both so far off the scale it's crazy, but between the two it really seems to close to call. What do you think?

I wish...

2009-04-01T23:12:00.004-04:00

Found on Tax Day Tea Party, originally from Suitably Flip:

If only this were true...

Speaking of Special Olympics

2009-03-21T15:02:00.002-04:00

Gov. Sarah Palin's address To The 2009 Special Olympics In Boise, Idaho (last month):

"You know what the difference is between a hockey mom and a Special Olympics hockey mom? Nothing." - Gov. Sarah Palin

H/T Worldmag.com

More on Obama's "Special Olympics" remark

2009-03-21T10:08:00.013-04:00

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, here are my thoughts.

In case you missed Obama's comments, the video is at the bottom of this post (click "read full post" below). Obama was telling Leno about bowling in the White House bowling alley.

"I bowled a 129," Obama told Leno.
"That's very good, Mr. President," Leno said sarcastically.
"It's like the Special Olympics or something," the president said.

Do I think that Obama meant to denigrate individuals with special needs? No, I don't think it was intentional. But that is precisely the problem. His remarks DID belittle those with special needs regardless of his intentions. And the fact that it was unintentional just points to his own underlying biases and stereotypes, which he is obviously not even aware of.

I've seen many comments online along the lines of, "lighten up, he was making fun of himself, not anyone else."

Yes, making fun of himself by equating himself with a person with special needs.

Look at what he says. He's saying he's bad at bowling. Ok, no big deal. He then goes on to say it was like the Special Olympics. The implication there is that he's SO bad at bowling that he's as "bad" as people with special needs.

Two problems with that. First, that he just assumes that the Special Olympics athletes are bad at bowling. To the contrary, I've seen many, many instances over the last day of Special Olympics bowlers who could embarrass Barry in a bowling match. Second, that comparing yourself to someone with special needs is funny. It's not funny, Mr. President. It's hurtful.

Even more hurtful - the fact that while he personally apologized to Tim Shriver, the Chairman of the Special Olympics board (and a Kennedy, so not someone that will give Obama a hard time about anything), he did not see fit to apologize directly to the American people. Instead, a staffer offered their opinion that he "didn't mean it." That does not constitute an apology to the special needs community, in my opinion.

Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling with Obama that the president's offhand remark was not meant to disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at the commander-in-chief's bowling skills.

"He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world," Burton said.

When he's speaking specifically on disabilities, Obama says the right things:

"We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination.... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities."

-- Barack Obama, April 11, 2008

But given that his own comment unintentionally serves to perpetuate stereotypes rather than overcome them, I can only wonder if his speeches are not indicative of his true feelings.

This isn't the first time Barry O. has given reason for concern about his regard (or disregard) for people with disabilities. He expressed regret for voting in support of efforts to protect the life of Terri Schiavo, a woman who was profoundly disabled due to brain damage but was not on life support or in a coma. Rather, she had a family who loved her, was taking care of her, and wanted her to live. The only reason her life hung in the balance in the courts, was because of her disabilities.

~~~~~~~~~

I have three sons with autism. We are considering letting our older two, who will be 8 this summer, compete in Special Olympics track & field because they love to run. To my knowledge, they haven't heard the President's thoughtless comment. But wouldn't it be great for them to be able to see in the President someone who respects them and people like them, rather than seeing them as a punchline for a joke.

Did the president mean to hurt countless children and adults with disabilities and their families? No, but that is precisely what he did. He then refused to apologize directly to those he may have hurt with his comment. And from the President of the United States, we expect and deserve better.

Obama insults special needs community

2009-03-20T09:20:00.003-04:00

Here's a link.

Apparently, giving TOTUS (his Teleprompter) the night off was not a good idea.

More on this later.

Memo to the White House

2009-03-19T21:53:00.006-04:00

Newsflash: The election is over. The campaign is over.

As you've so eloquently reminded us on several occasions, you won. So now it's time to stop galavanting around the country. (how much are all those trips costing the American taxpayer?)

While I'm relieved to hear that you got your tournament picks done, and that you've made time to visit with Leno, it would be great if you could just focus on more pressing issues. That is all.

Shopping in Texas?

2009-03-17T00:20:00.005-04:00

Found this on the912project.com, too funny.

LOL, I suppose that is why zombies don't attack Texas. Well, except for that one incident in Austin:

The gift of gaffe

2009-03-09T00:45:00.009-04:00

After 8 years of liberal hand-wringing over what the rest of the world thinks of America (what with our "cowboy" president and all), I'm sure we're all happy to see how much higher an opinion the world has of us with them in charge of things.

After all, the administration only managed to offend two countries this week.

Apparently, the Obamas' treatment of Gordon and Sarah Brown of Britain wasn't exactly what they are used to, and was actually taken to be quite rude. Typically they have a full press conference when they visit, this time no press conference was planned, but when they asked a small one was hastily put together. And the exchange of gifts... well, I can only wonder what in the world was Obama thinking?

The Browns gave the Obamas an ornamental pen holder made from the wood of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet, the sister ship to the HMS Resolute, from which the oak was used to make the desk in the Oval Office. In addition, they gave the Obamas a framed commission for HMS Resolute, a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert, and for the Obama children, nice dresses with matching necklaces, and six children's books by British authors. All very thoughtful gifts.

What did the Obamas give them in return? A box of 25 DVD's (including such titles as "Psycho," "Star Wars," and "ET." Niiiice. And for their sons? Little plastic Marine One helicopters. I'm sure the boys will like the toy helicopters, but it just doesn't seem to have the same thoughtfulness to it.

This story hasn't received much coverage in the U.S., but as you can imagine, it's all over the news in England. And now the question has been raised as to whether the DVD's were actually compatible with British DVD players, which apparently use a different format. LOL.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Hillary Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a red button. A red button. From us to Russia. Anyone see any symbolism there that we might not want to be bringing up??

Anyway, the point of the red button was to be a "reset" button to "reset" our relationship with Russia. Cheesy like a block of Velveeta even if it had worked out, but as it turns out, no one in the State Department could appropriately translate the word "reset" into Russian, so what she actually gave him a button that said, "overcharged." Huh? When he pointed out the error, she laughed and said, "Well, we won't let you do that to us." Groan.

The Obama administration isn't out offending everyone though, they're actually considering reaching out to the Taliban. Can't wait to see how that goes.

The teleprompter strikes back

2009-03-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

I heard on the radio yesterday about this article from Politico regarding Obama's "unprecedented" reliance on his teleprompter, not just for speeches but for even the smallest of announcements. Ever notice how he never looks straight at the crowd, but goes back and forth looking side to side as he speaks?

Then I saw this on Redstate, and it's just too funny not to share.

Broken Promises

2009-02-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

Sigh. I realize that broken promises go with politicians like chocolate fudge goes with ice cream, but come on. It's only been 25 days and seven promises from just this one speech have already gone by the wayside.

1. Make Government Open and Transparent
2. Make it "Impossible" for Congressmen to slip in Pork Barrel Projects
3. Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public
4. No more secrecy
5. Public will have 5 days to look at a Bill
6. You'll know what's in it
7. We will put every pork barrel project online

Let's see.

Impossible for pork to be slipped in? Almost the entire bill is pork! We're told there are "no earmarks" in this bill, and that's only because all the pet projects are just part of the bill and therefore no need to slip them in as earmarks. At least with earmarks, we'd be able to see who put each project in. But as it stands, we have no idea who is responsible for each of the "porky" projects. So while they're telling us it's more transparency, it's actually much less.

No more secrecy? The bill was written with no Republican input, much less public input. The final negotiations took place behind closed doors, with Republicans completely shut out (including the three who had promised to vote for it). They didn't have an "open" meeting until the negotiations were over.

Not only did the public not get access to the bill until the 11th hour, but Congress didn't even have access to the final bill until just a few hours before they were expected to vote on it. There was no time to actually read it, and they didn't get it in a web-based, searchable format, they got 8 inches of paper. Obama is set to sign it on Tuesday, the first business day after the House and Senate passed it.

So much for 5 days time for the public to review before it is signed into law, not to mention the 48 hours we were supposed to have to review before it was voted on.

And these are just the broken promises that are relevant to this one particular bill. We were promised a "new era of bipartisanship," the "most ethical administration in history," with "no lobbyists" in the administration.

What we got instead was Nancy Pelosi rewriting the rules of the House to bar the minority party from offering alternative bills, amendments to bills, or even having a guarantee of open debate.

What we got instead was one cabinet pick after another riddled by ethics issues.
- Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary - nonpayment of taxes (confirmed anyway)
- Tom Daschle, Head of HHS - nonpayment of taxes and conflict of interest (finally withdrew from consideration, but Obama was prepared to stand by him despite the fact that any other citizen with so much backtaxes owed would be in jail)
- Bill Richardson - Commerce Secretary, withdrew when the fact that he was under investigation for ethics violations surfaced
- Hilda Solis - tax issues & conflict of interest issues - confirmation hearings not yet complete
- Nancy Killefer - "Performance Czar" (newly created position) - tax issues
- Hillary Clinton - conflict of interest, confirmed anyway
- David Ogden - Deputy Atty General, has defended the porn industry and opposed a law that would protect children from predators on the internet.

As for the "no lobbyists" rule? Instead, he started filing for exemptions almost as soon as the rule was passed. What's the point in setting a standard if you have no intention of actually living up to it? Oh yeah, he's hoping no one is paying attention.

The so-called most "ethical" administration ever has been a big disappointment so far, and it's only been 25 days. It's going to be a long four years.

Is it just me, or...

2009-01-05T23:15:00.004-05:00

did anyone else wonder why BO's slogan sounded so familiar? I'm slow so ya'll probably made the connection long before I did, but it finally dawned on me a couple of weeks ago where I'd heard it before:

Yep, that would be Bob the Builder. "Can we fix it? Yes we can!" ROFL.

Next he'll be asking us to be "really useful engines" or accusing Congress of "causing confusion and delay" (ala Thomas the Tank Engine). Or punctuating his speeches with "fishpaste!" or "barnacles!" (ala Spongebob). Hehe, I think I'd prefer that to his "enough!" speech. Or maybe he'll replace that "office of the president-elect" sign with a big pawprint and invite us to play "Obama's Clues" to figure out how much his latest economic stimulus package is going to cost the American taxpayers. Get out your handy-dandy notebook...