Side Tracks

I was never a huge Airplane/Starship fan but for some reason this song came to mind today..



Not that Halloween made me think of Grace Slick or anything. Anyway, speaking of which...



Happy Halloween, all..

















(from a carved pumpkin)

Forcing the Issue?

The WaPo is out with a story that can't be comforting to the general who asked for more troops in the Af-Pak theater several months ago:

President Obama has asked the Pentagon's top generals to provide him with more options for troop levels in Afghanistan, two U.S. officials said late Friday, with one adding that some of the alternatives would allow Obama to send fewer new troops than the roughly 40,000 requested by his top commander.

The careful deliberation is not surprising, since many in the left intelligensia either believe he's being set up by the DoD (using his own tough rhetoric against him) or they are trying to scare everyone again like they did in Iraq, just to fill their own selfish coffers or somesuch. Some on the right believe this is all about health care and/or figuring a way to juxtapose any military actions with the Nobel. Speculation is just that, though.

But assuming there are no nefarious neocon plots by the general, the DoD, or the military industrial complex, or the NATO allies who've embraced the request, why would he be satisfied with a half measure when he's already on record of saying we needed a minimum of 40K (and as many as 60K) or face losing the mission? Is this just a Washington CYA posture on everybody's part (including the general) or are we seeing the seeds of a change in "leadership" as the new strategy trickles out? It seems the top commander may be left with either soldiering on or soldiering off.

Friday Dumparama

It was certainly a good day for dumping. Documents, that is. Two items hit the late news wires--the released White House visitor logs and the Cheney FBI interview (about Valerie Plame). Oh, and of course that other trivial thing earlier in the day. Feel free to question the timing.

The logs are interesting but the Cheney interview will more distract the lefty beast. Darth used the ole "I do not recall" weasel answer a lot in his FBI interview, which lawyers instruct clients to use when faced with a formidable question where anything less than a perfect recall can spell trouble (or if they want to lie, whichever). So the left will have their field day.

Oh, and of course we can all count on the Obama-approved AP to not mention Richard Armitage again.....


Firefox's control-F function is so neat! But hey, Joe the VP called Cheney "irrelevant" today so it's time to move on, Firedoglake.

As to the visitor logs, a ticklish subject since administrations should be able to get unvarnished advice from people without the worry of a news story (and wild speculation) the next day. Even today there was wild speculation. HuffPo was initially in a huff about the list, which showed a bunch of names that sounded like CEOs from Wall St. while the right was ripped about people named Bill Ayers, Malik Shabazz, Rev Jeremiah Wright, George Soros, and Michael Jordan. Well, nobody was really ripped about MJ, just curious.

Allahpartypooper was quick to shoot down any Friday fun with this--according to the White House there are false positives--people with the same names as the famous folks who were just there on tours but got swept up in the request. The White House site seems to back up that explanation, with the Ayers name part of a group of 220+ people on a tour. Or maybe that's how they had to get him in, then he snuck away from the group later! Just kidding, of course, apparently like Christopher Andersen's book. Ayers hardly knew Obama and he was forced to launch O's career in his living room.

But there are no mistakes about SEIU Andy Stern and John "Center for American Progress" Podesta (and his lobbyist family). Speaking of CAP, no hits for anyone visiting Van Jones either.

MORE 10/30/09

The dump was bigger than I gave it credit. Also included were the Stimulus jobs 'saved or created' (the corniest political stunt in the history of stunts but accepted by the Obama -approved media) and another instance of the administration invoking State Secrets. It's interesting that after the Zazi arrest (and several others) the TSP program is suddenly not so draconian under the new owners.

Obama Art

Power Line commented on the blog post of the current chief of the National Endowment for the Arts (it's doubtful anyone calls them a chief over there). For context, here's the comment..

This is the first president that actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln. If you accept the premise, and I do, that the United States is the most powerful country in the world, then Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar. That has to be good for American artists.

..and here's Power Line's. And for fun, another view.

But that's not the meat of the article. Reading further on this site--which by the way is a dot gov site--reveals a bit about the recent firing/demotion/relocation of the NEA's Yosi Sargent over the telecon with various artists designed to promote a hopenchangey volunteerism:

Am I starting to sound like an advocate? Well, that seems to be a touchy subject. Some quote-unquote “journalists” have recently accused this agency of losing its independence and becoming a propaganda machine. While I want to state in no uncertain terms that the NEA is not a political agency and that when art becomes propaganda I lose all interest in it, I also want everyone to know that the days of a defensive NEA are over. We have a plan and we are going to, quote, “advocate” for it.

The quote unquote journalist(s) are Andrew Breitbart and Glenn Beck, the former who is indeed in the news business and the latter who is not a journalist, which should be even more embarrassing to the real journalists who weren't going to cover the story had it fallen into their laps. Context is important though--this is another example of a government employee overtly taking a jab at a private media figure and a website called "Big Hollywood". Your tax dollars at work! Continuing:

Remember, please, that the NEA is an unusual agency within the federal government. We have always been considered the champions of the arts and artists in the public sector.

That's nice, but that's not what the quote unquote journalists were complaining about. The complaint was about the NEA advocating for Obama, which is what got Sargent demoted.

We are grantmakers, not a regulatory or enforcement agency. And will we “advocate” for the President’s agenda as well? If it’s a particular program – e.g. health care reform – no, of course not. But the President picked me for a reason and I decided to go to Washington and sign on with a federal bureaucracy – ugh! – for a reason. And that reason is that within the ethos of this White House, where words like change and hope and aspiration have real meaning, the arts can play a starring role. Whatever might be said on television, radio or blog sites, I have no intention of walking away from the compelling themes of this presidency and a historic opportunity in arts policy.

Emphasis added to point out that change and hope are euphemisms for policy positions and changes. Oddly, that's not what he seemed to suggest back in September, when he was last trying to defend the conference call:

Landesman nevertheless defends the call, saying it "was not a means to promote any legislative agenda and any suggestions to that end are simply false. Rather, the call was to inform members of the arts community of an opportunity to become involved in volunteerism."

He goes on to say that the "call was completely unrelated to NEA’s grantmaking" and that "favoritism or political affiliation plays no role in NEA grantmaking."

Yet now he's saying he's there to promote hopenchange, and oh by the way, he controls the grant money. OK. Well, if there's any notion of a quid pro quo, ie, receiving a grant in exchange for partisan activities that promote a presidential agenda (as opposed to simply promoting the arts, which most Americans favor as long as it's not something like piss Christ) then it should be a no-no. Simple. Not rocket science. Just imagine Karl Rove calling artists and asking them to draw something other than Bush Chimpy murals. OK, that really doesn't work as an analogy.

But seriously--we already have the president out there trying to dictate which cable news outlet is "real", now we have one of his subordinates also making a comment about real journalists while adamantly saying he'll advocate for hopey change in his public position no matter what the fake journalists say. Just sayin...

Fore! Left!

Don't get me wrong--I don't begrudge the president a little time on the links. Golf is like therapy for many folks, providing a few hours of complete distraction from the problems of the world (focusing them all on the little white ball from hell).

But c'mon. Had W Bush delayed a troop request from a general along the central front in the war on mancausers while unemployment teetered around 10 percent the press would have gone ballistic had they caught him in the White House yard practicing his chipping.

Maybe that's why the press is now Obama-approved. He must be laughing on every tee box.

Northwest 188

This is freaky:

The co-pilot of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport by 150 miles says he and the pilot weren't asleep and they weren't arguing.

"But other than that, I cannot tell you anything that went on because we're having hearings this weekend, we're having hearings on Tuesday. All that information will come out then."

Cole said there's been "a lot of misinformation that's going on. Things are being said that didn't happen, but I can't go into any details."

Well, let's see. According to the details printed in the Obama-approved media they never changed frequencies leaving Denver Center, otherwise this wouldn't make sense:

Ultimately, controllers contacted two other Northwest planes, asking them to try to reach Flight 188 through its last known frequency. One of those planes succeeded, prompting the pilot to contact Minneapolis, Church said.

So their defense seems to be they just missed the assigned frequency and forget to check back in with ATC for 90 minutes. Recall in the Buffalo crash the late 40-ish pilot was engaged in a conversation with his early 20-ish female co-pilot and also lost 'situational awareness'. Since both of these guys were 50-somethings the sleep apnea thing sounds more plausible, although the first officer seems adamant it was only a radio foulup:

"I can tell you that airplanes lose contact with the ground people all the time. It happens. Sometimes they get together right away; sometimes it takes awhile before one or the other notices that they are not in contact."

Right, but that doesn't explain losing awareness of position in the sky--the loss of radio contact doesn't render a flight blind. Something was preoccupying this crew before they reached the standard terminal arrival route into the MSP airport, about a hundred miles west of the airport or in the least they weren't watching their navigation instruments. Let's hope such things aren't more common that we know.

Or maybe we should make something out of the fact one of the pilots is named Cheney. Hmm. Guess we'll find out more on Tuesday.

MORE 10/26/09

Not sure this is enough to explain things, nor will it calm the fears of nervous fliers:

"Neither pilot said he was aware of where the plane was until a flight attendant called the cockpit about five minutes before the plane was to have landed and asked their estimated time of arrival, the report said.

"The captain said, at that point, he looked at his primary flight display for an ETA and realized that they had passed" the airport, it added.

If the FA called the cockpit "five minutes" before scheduled landing time and the pilots suddenly noticed they had passed the airport at that moment, then they couldn't have been very far past the airport, although to be fair, an airplane at 37,000 feet flying at 500 mph could cover 150 miles in a little less than 20 minutes, so maybe they had a strong unforecast tailwind and the pilots thought they had more time to play around.

Still, it's hard to imagine a pilot with 20,000 hours losing full situational awareness to a laptop while in flight to the point of ignoring ATC, other traffic, and standard arrival procedures. Since laptops tend to leave tracks this excuse should be pretty easy to confirm.

Side Tracks

Here's to the 80s..



Not sure that was completely live, but do love the Gibson. And now ladies and gentlemen, a Flock of Seagulls..

A Change of Tactics?

As health care D-Day draws near the administration appears to be pulling out all the stops. After getting everyone in a tizzy with their weirdo war on Fox News, a new direction seems to be emerging.

Several days ago Secretary of Human Services Kathleen Sebelius appeared before Congress looking as if she'd come from a barroom brawl. Turns out her eye was swollen because she'd just had a cancer procedure, one she hopes everyone will have access to one day through the public option. She was essentially using herself as a prop.

Then yesterday the White House released their family portrait. It really was a picture of Americana--four smiling, happy people who just happen to inhabit the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Who could find fault with it other than photo buffs (who blasted Leibovitz's composition, reminiscent of the lousy photographer on Scare Force One photo mission), racists, or general haters, the latter two providing more fodder for the administration to exploit.

Now today the HuffPo reports that David Axelrod, the guy most responsible for dragging Fox through the media mud last week, will be opening up about his daughter's epilepsy on 60 Minutes. There's even a link for donations at the bottom of the page. We all hope for a cure one day, so hit the tip jar if you can.

But if these warm fuzzies are actually more than a coincidence--indeed a strategy play--then the goals might perhaps be two-fold: keep the focus on nationalized health care down to a human level while immunizing the top officials from criticism through personal stories that render any tough political criticism on health care as not just standard opposition, but mean-spirited hate. This post might even qualify, for instance.

These guys come from Chicago. Ask yourself--what would Blagojevich do?

A Safe and Restful Sleep

Random thoughts...


Obama told NBC News he 'wasn't losing sleep' over running the war on Fox News. OK, but he looks like he could get a few more Z's based on this screenshot from the same interview..



Speaking of losing sleep, a Northwest Airlines A320 overshot the MSP runway by 150 miles this evening. When the crew was questioned they said they were engaged in a heated discussion about company policy and lost track of where they were. Let's hope it wasn't a liberal-conservative thing. Meanwhile the NTSB will be checking into sleep apnea as a probable cause.

Just a few weeks ago the FAA patted itself on the back profusely for its campaign to decrease "runway incursions", otherwise known as near misses on the ground, which actually decreased them by 50 percent (bravo). So what happens next? A Delta 767 lands on a taxiway at Atlanta Airport, the ultimate of incursions and something never before recorded there. Good thing it was early.

Finally, one last war story, the war between Dick Cheney and Robert Gibbs. The White House called out their nemesis last week by claiming they needed a mop to clean up the mess BushCheney left them in the great contingency operation, prompting the Emperor to come out and accuse Obama of dithering, prompting Gibbs:

"I think it is a curious comment," Gibbs also said, "I think it is pretty safe to say that the vice president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan. Even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House including the vice president's for more than eight months - a resource request filled by President Obama in March."

Uh yes, partly because the incoming administration asked them not to move on it and keep it quiet so they could get the credit. But is he trying to use what he'd call bad behavior on the war (not paying heed to requests for troops) by the Vice President to justify President Obama's dithering for political reasons? Wasn't paying more attention part of the "change"...



cheers..

Financial Idealism

Huffpo has a feature with the TARP czar, Elizabeth Warren, discussing the coming financial industry regulation with Mikey "I hate capitalism even though I got rich off it" Moore. Amidst some sensible talk (not from Moore) there's also some naive utopian drivel mixed with tasty irony.

Before dropping the hammer on her it's worthy to note that Ms. Warren seems like a perfectly nice woman and none of the criticism to follow is personal. Like others in the administration and on the left in general, she seems an idealist bent on challenging O'Reilly for the prize of "looking out for us". It's likely she'll be just as effective.

Granted though, it's hard to disagree with her take on credit card companies, mortgage lenders, and car loan companies. Many are loaded with unscrupulous land sharks who'd sell their mother a bad loan if it improved their annual bonus by ten cents. Sean Hannity needs to take off his Kool Aid costume and get real on this--it wasn't just sub-prime loans that caused the financial meltdown--greed knows no political boundaries when the regulatory boundaries are removed.

But insinuating that everyone in that business is bad because they work with money is ludicrous to the extreme. Most are decent people trying to make a buck and get ahead, which used to be called the American way. And why pick on this industry alone? Has this woman ever tried to get her car repaired? Why not go after the unscrupulous car repair outfits, including some Chevy and Chrysler dealers getting taxpayer bailouts? Obviously there are deceptive practices in just about every other business in America. The old saying, "let the buyer beware" didn't just float down from heaven on silver wings during the Bush years.

The irony begins with her portrayal of the typical 30 page credit card agreement being too hard for even a law professor genius to understand, then suggesting she can fix it with a new federal bureaucracy. Good grief, has she even discussed this with Joe Biden yet? After all, he's from Delaware, where most of the these evil card companies are headquartered (the fundie Muslims must hate those usury laws). Maybe she's scared to mess with Joe, who knows.

While she's at it why not a consumer fraud protection agency for the voters? Perhaps politicians should come with a warranty or some counseling. What's the over/under on politicians even reading her financial protection bill in its entirety even if it's the same length as her credit card agreement?

But the final irony is the notion of a bunch of liberals complaining about the investment business when so many have made fortunes off it. How about the little guy, who she claims to be representing in Washington, getting a crack at some of that Hillary Clinton cattle futures action for a change!

MORE 10/23/09

Another view on Warren, from the left, with a suggestion for 2012. The frost is definitely off the pumpkin.

Obama Media Rating System

A recommendation for Anita Dunn in her inglorious pursuit of media truth..


It's the ultimate in viewer protection.

President of the Message Board

Forget the commie scare, in many ways Obama and his gang are operating more like message board cowboys these days than totalitarians bent on world conquest. For those who've fought the board wars think about the attack on Fox News a sec-- isn't the term "Faux News" popular with lefty commenters on most political boards? Don't they question the network's very existence in the very same manner the White House is doing now?

Another popular message board trend is the ad-hominem attack. Anectodally speaking, it seems more common for the far left posters to use this dredge first even if both sides engage in it far too much. They must think that by first assassinating their opponent's character their argument will be that much easier to assassinate later.

But it quite often fails epically, resulting in a horde of other posters attacking the attacker for the attack. If bad enough the horde will also include some on the same 'side' as the attacker, which is exactly what we're seeing now with in the Fox thing with unlikely supporters such as Helen Thomas and the New York Times cropping up.

Here's another clue--the word 'obtuse'. In a story today carried on CNN an administration official, when discussing troop levels in Afghanistan, was quoted as saying:

"Afghanistan is not Iraq," one senior administration official said. "To say that we can take what we did in Iraq and Xerox it and send it to Afghanistan is obtuse."

This is not a commonly used word amongst the commoners. Nobody I know uses "obtuse" in daily conversation, most would think it has to do with geometry, but I'd guess a lot of Olbermann and Maddow viewers use it quite often since it's popular on the boards.

Now, it's unlikely the White House will get "banned" by the moderators for violating the terms of service, unless the moderators are the voters and banning represents the bouncing of some of the players in 2010 and 2012 . Anyway, it would be fun to know what the Journo-Listers think about all of this.

The Iran Suicide Bombing and Other Things

Shouldn't be a big surprise. This area is largely Sunni and has long had issues with Tehran. Some even believe they supported Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war. A'jad himself was almost taken out there during a visit in 2005.

As to Iranian claims of our clandestine alignment with Jund'allah, color me skeptical as well, especially with the man of peace prize in office. Too much potential for blowback.

Meanwhile the dithering on any decision to surge troops continues. One might say Obama's chickens (tough campaign rhetoric) are coming home to roost but that's really water under the bridge now. The question is whether he'll be able to make any decisions before the decisive health care bill moves. Everyone knows he'd like health care to become his legacy, not warfare.

That's why the Peace Prize and Oslo acceptance speech in December are key--it would look rude to surge troops before accepting a peace prize award, which certainly represents interference in American foreign policy by globalist elites, which is certainly why the award should be turned down immediately.

Since that idea is clearly preposterous perhaps he's planning an announcement sometime around Christmas. Maybe he figures with fighting at an ebb over the winter he can take the battle to the republicans on health care and global warming and make people temporarily forget, although the Taliban and AQ may have other ideas. It's not cold and snowy everywhere.

By the way, wonder if anyone in the White House is taking note of Times reporter David Rohde's intelligence journal of his captivity by the Taliban and their long term goals? Sounds like the enemy is in to win but take heart America--at least team Obama still has the passion to defeat the real, real enemy.

No Coincidence?

Some believe in God. Others believe everything just happened by accident. Scientists have been laboring for years to prove one belief or the other. A recent discovery--the mapping of the theoretical 'heliosphere'--an envelope of magnetism surrounding and protecting the solar system--sparked the following reaction from a researcher:

One important clue: The ribbon runs perpendicular to the direction of the galactic magnetic field just outside the heliosphere, as shown in the illustration at right.

"That cannot be a coincidence," says McComas. But what does it mean? No one knows.

Certainly, explanations that belie a coincidence will come forth soon. But if it's not a coincidence it sure seems a rather miraculous random occurrence.

Side Tracks

The Allman Brothers Band..



Greg sounds good on this one, and Derek Trucks is an apt replacement for brother Duane, it seems.

Maldives Cabinet Stunt

Gotta hand it to these guys--they know what drives the media boat:

With fish as witnesses, the president of Maldives and his Cabinet wore scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting to highlight the threat climate change poses to the archipelago nation. The Maldives declaration will be presented at a U.N. summit on climate change in December.

The Maldives are a small group of beautiful islands in the Indian Ocean. But they aren't the only small group of islands playing the global sea level rise card. Tuvalu, a map dot in the south Pacific, were the trailblazers:

Tuvalu has limited resources, and so their main source of income is foreign aide.

To the left is one of the Tuvalu islands. Not surprisingly they hold western governments responsible for causing the purported sea level rises due to carbon emissions, even if science might not always agree with them.

Greenpeace was most probably behind promoting the Tuvalu cause as they clearly saw the potential for a white man's guilt factor, ie, Americans driving to the corner market in the SUV could be seen to cause the drowning of poor Tuvaluans.

So it's no wonder the Maldive government has pulled this stunt before Copenhagen since guilt and it's resulting cure--"spreading the wealth around", is the root of most environmental platforms from a political perspective. White man's greed, etc.

Speaking of the Climate Summit in Copenhagen, somebody needs to put in an order for warmer temps during next year's MLB playoffs. Seriously though, Anthony Watts' place was jumping yesterday based on what Lord Monckton said in a recent speech about the pending treaty. Watts has it, and commented thusly:

Skimming through the treaty, I came across verification of Monckton’s assessment of the new entity’s purpose:

38. The scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention will be based on three basic pillars: government; facilitative mechanism; and financial mechanism, and the basic organization of which will include the following:

World Government (heading added)
a) The government will be ruled by the COP with the support of a new subsidiary body on adaptation, and of an Executive Board responsible for the management of the new funds and the related facilitative processes and bodies. The current Convention secretariat will operate as such, as appropriate.

To Redistribute Wealth (heading added)
b) The Convention’s financial mechanism will include a multilateral climate change fund including five windows: (a) an Adaptation window, (b) a Compensation window, to address loss and damage from climate change impacts [read: the "climate debt" Monckton refers to], including insurance, rehabilitation and compensatory components, © a Technology window; (d) a Mitigation window; and (e) a REDD window, to support a multi-phases process for positive forest incentives relating to REDD actions.

With Enforcement Authority (heading added)
c) The Convention’s facilitative mechanism will include: (a) work programmes for adaptation and mitigation; (b) a long-term REDD process; © a short-term technology action plan; (d) an expert group on adaptation established by the subsidiary body on adaptation, and expert groups on mitigation, technologies and on monitoring, reporting and verification; and (e) an international registry for the monitoring, reporting and verification of compliance of emission reduction commitments, and the transfer of technical and financial resources from developed countries to developing countries. The secretariat will provide technical and administrative support, including a new centre for information exchange [read; enforcement].

Kind of sensational, but read the comments for a balanced and thought-provoking discussion. Seemingly not in dispute is the notion that Obama is aligned with other world leaders about 'spreading the wealth around', and global climate might work as a convenient vehicle. Not to say there might not be some good reasons, such as fending off future regional wars and terrorism due to diminishing resources in an age of WMDs (something they probably discuss over cognac and caviar at Davos and der Bilderberger) but it would be much nicer to approach the problem honestly. Americans have always been generous folks.

Nevertheless, it seems the politicians would rather approach this from a sneaky direction, which begs the question--can a system designed to protect individual liberties survive in the shrinking world of the 21st century? And how are such clandestine plans any different than the neocons' vigorously derided PNAC proposal?

Balloon Boy and other Celestial Weirdness

Their 15 minutes is almost gone but before they slip into obscurity (or until they show up on another reality show) it might be prudent to point out that balloon boy's dad, a man described as a meteorologist (he's not) and inventor, was a former business partner of another weather guy named Scott Stevens.

And who is Scott Stevens? Well, this was Mr. Stevens before he became interested in chemtrails, aliens and EMP weapons controlling the weather. Here he is now. This same guy told ABC News "I didn't want to be a part of that" in reference to Heene's crazy ways.

MORE 10/17/09

From this it sounds like he wants to be the Steve Irwin of science. Funny though, nowhere in that story did it prove the Friday episode was planned--the writer didn't even know it was about to occur.

The Limbaugh Rams Thing

While troops die in Afghanistan defending the true front in the overseas contingency operation...and as we teeter on the brink of socialized medicine and federal taxes on air the country is embroiled in a silly argument over whether Rush Limbaugh should have the right to own a pro football team. Pretty whacked.

My one cent thought is that the racist stuff, besides showing signs of overcoming our national cowardice, is a McGuffin to hide the true argument of whether someone as controversial and provocative as Limbaugh should be part owner of a team. My view is no, he should not--from a business standpoint only. His presence would likely tick off about half the patronage the same as would Michael Moore, Olbermann, or Hannity's.

The media coverage is more interesting. Here's a common Rush image seen lately and taken sometime in early Spring, used by ABC News with the title "Bum Rushed":

And here's a more recent Rush from his website:

...after losing considerable amounts of weight. Compare it to their hero with the halo or that Fred Astaire grin. The little things do count.

Blame it on Biden

The Times has a "Biden is pessimistic on Afghanistan" story up, detailing the Veep's glass-half-empty view of a war he once enthusiastically endorsed when Bush was losing Iraq. There are a few dropped hints about how the base might somehow affect the coming decision, such as this:

“I think a big part of it is, the vice president’s reading of the Democratic Party is this is not sustainable,” said Bruce O. Riedel, who led the administration’s review early this year. “That’s a part of the process that’s a legitimate question for a president — if I do this, can I sustain it with political support at home? That was the argument the vice president was making back in the winter.”

Hmm, would the president actually decide whether or not to surge troops based on party politics? Well, to not surge and please the base would be hard to rectify considering his fiery rhetoric about Afghanistan being the central front of the overseas contingency operation. Then again, if he surges before the health care bill and the bill flames out, his left base will implode over such a dichotomy. There's also the December acceptance speech in Oslo to consider.

On the flip side if he delays, then gets health care passed and ends up not surging it will mainly be Fox News complaining, which is probably why the administration is doing what they're doing right now.

Obama has some time--the snows are coming and fighting will soon be ebbing for the winter (in Afghanistan). But if he wants to get the extra troops out there in time for Spring he can't wait too much longer to decide. The question is whether Biden's pessimism holds any clues? As Ricks pointed out, Joe has been wrong on nearly every single military strategic issue since the Gulf War so they can always attach the decision to him and let the chips fall (even if you're technically not supposed to mess with Joe). Cynical? Yes. So here's hoping domestic politics aren't as much in play as it would seem.

Weird

Over Moscow...



Clearly an optical effect, but caused by what? The illuminated area appears to be a hole feature in the overcast. I've heard of 'hole punch clouds' produced by airplanes, but since it's Russia, who knows for sure? Or it could be Rove just messing with Putey Poot.

Denial Isn't Just a River

That's the old joke. But from watching the latest SNL skit the old joke might be pretty close to reality here in the year of Obama, 2009.

The Nobel peace prize might have been shocking to some but it was simply the cherry on top of a massive cake of denial that has been baking these past nine months (but in the oven much longer). As the SNL actor said correctly, Obama won because he's not George W. Bush. Why is that funny, though? Did Bush not want peace?

To many in the liberal intelligensia, mainstream media, and Democrat political circles Obama likely represents more than just peace but that always gleaming star of hope for Utopia on earth, a concept strongly under-girded with an irreligous institutional denial at many levels. The very definition of a conservative is to NOT believe in such a concept, so it's little wonder most conservatives immediately reacted negatively to this award (aside from pettiness and racism, which must be considered). The idea of a pre-emptive award for creating peace just doesn't compute in a rational mind. For Christians (and Muslims, presumably) it's close to blasphemy. There can only be one Heaven, and it ain't gonna be here.

So, it's little wonder conservatives reacted as they did and little wonder liberals were unable to readily understand that reaction and therefore saw it as hate or partisanship.

Don't misunderstand--the world needs dreamers. But dreams are still just dreams until put into practice. The collectivista seems to have a hard time with the hard men who make up the terroristas, which is why Obama figured he could change behavior by simply calling the GWoT the "overseas contingency operation", or proclaiming we don't torture, etc. Rather than face reality it's easier to assign a convenient bogeyman, in this case George W. Bush and his sidekick Dick.

That's why Obama ran against McCain using Bush's failure in Afghanistan. The left probably never figured Obama would devote very much much time to it, certainly nowhere near the domestic issues they really care about. Besides, his mere presence would calm the waters and cool the hostilities even if he did nothing. Nobel was confirmation of that that thought process. Michael Moore laid it out pretty well in a recent piece:

We are weary, weary of war. The trillions that will have gone to these two wars have helped to bankrupt us as a nation -- financially and morally. To think of all the good we could have done with all that money! Two months of the War in Iraq would pay for all the wells that need to be dug in the Third World for drinking water! Obama is moving too slow for most of us -- but he needs to know we are with him and we stand beside him as he attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around. Who could do that in nine months? Superman? Thor? Mitch McConnell?

Moore is an idiot but he's not stupid, yet he's apparently stupid enough to allow a delusion that America ended up on two battlefields because of Bush and not because terrorists have been escalating their jihad on America since the Gulf War ended. If only Bush would have given AQ universal health care with a public option they would have become our BFFs.

On the same token denial also caused the 9/11 truther movement (by no means an exclusively liberal population although more libs than conservs). It was a way to assign blame for that horrible reality on something other than reality; something that was easily removable--like a president. Get rid of the president and the problem goes away. The libs feel the same way sans the conspiracy part.

Despite his followers Obama is far too smart to be a Utopian dreamer. He says the right things to the right audiences at the right times to get what he wants. He works the system. His voice even changes depending on what crowd he's speaking to, listen for the subtleties (Bush did this as well with the Texas accent but he didn't morph into different ones). Obama knew America was tired of wars, ran on it, and it worked like a charm.

Unfortunately for him the enemy didn't go away. The Taliban attempted to take over the Pakistani Army HQ this past weekend and a new round of North Korean nuke tests is at hand. Iran is still Iran. AQ is still AQ. Mullah Omar is still revered. Nothing has changed since Bush left except the poll numbers.

The Nobel committee can see this and perhaps picked Obama to help artificially throw some global love on the man before reality bites his ass clean off. They are attempting to affect his decision-making yes, but Obama was likely going there anyway. Already the doves are defining any retreat as "peace in Afghanistan" (as if we're the ones responsible for war) and professors and pundits will spin it even worse. The man on the street will know the score--we lost--whether in Queens or Kandahar. But losing isn't a word allowed in Utopia.

This windy rant is in no way meant to impugn anyone's patriotism or hopes for peace. In the long run Afghanistan might indeed be a trap and there's no need to think that increasing troops will make it end successfully. Sure, it could end the same as Vietnam but history teaches us a loss will not be like Vietnam nor any other conflict in the past. We retreated from Lebanon, Somalia, and Kuwait but our reward was 9/11. Both bin Laden and Saddam said as much. Pretending only makes people feel better--the enemy felt no different back when the former first black president was in office. Matter of fact they wanted to assassinate him because he was an infidel, just like Bush, just like Obama.

But here we are. During the Bush years liberals took pride in calling themselves the 'reality-based community'. Reality appears to be a little fuzzy after nine months and little change so maybe Obama was given the peace prize to clear up that fuzzy picture again, to reinforce the notion that peace can come without tough men fighting back against hard enemies or by politicians calling a spade a spade. All they are saying here is give peace talk a chance. Sure, it fails almost every time it's tried but what a great world it would be if only.

Pan Am 281 Hijacker Surrenders

Here's CNN:

Soltren "will finally face the American justice system that he has been evading for more than four decades," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.

Yes, thanks to our friendly southern neighbor Fidel. Here's the New York Murdoch Post with a bit more:

"He wanted to get this behind him," a source said.

The State Department arranged for security personnel to accompany Soltren early yesterday morning on a flight to Kennedy Airport.

And here's the Gray Lady:

Last month, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District, filed a request in United States District Court asking that the case against Mr. Soltren be activated, explaining: “The government believes that the defendant will be returning to the United States shortly.”

The Times goes on to say there's no word on whether the Cuban government played any role in his return. How could they not? There were State and FBI personnel aboard the plane. It's unlikely our recently unclinched fist allows US personnel to fly into Cuba and snatch dissidents now, nor would Fidel allow them to casually leave of their own accord. So please. The real question is how deep their involvement was and why. Keep in mind this man was a Puerto Rican terrorist.

As to Soltren's motivation, there's no doubt he probably wanted to 'get it behind him' and see his family again. But at 66 wouldn't he naturally assume that getting it behind him might mean only seeing his family during prison visitations? Was that enough (maybe) or was this perhaps calculated based on the current Attorney General and his past history with Puerto Rican terrorists in general, banking on some kind of humanitarian sentence or outright pardon at some point?

Regardless, the Cuban angle seems the most intriguing part of this story.

Play Snowball!

28 degrees and they're finally playing baseball in Denver. Mercy, they're gonna have to make those fans honorary football fans now. Meanwhile as Cardinal blues settle over the heartland it's been cool here as well following a cool, rainy summer.

Good thing Obama's being pressured to do something about this pesky climate change, and fast..

The Nobel committee's announcement Friday that Obama won the Peace Prize was a fresh reminder that much of the world expects him to lead the way toward a global climate pact. The committee cited his "more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges."

Suddenly three hard liberals and two moderates on the Nobel Committee speak for the entire world? Who knew! Notice they seem to be using Chicago politics on Obama as well, wanting something out of their award, which is more than a tad ironic. As this was occurring another Nobel Laureate, the infamous Dr. No (debate), is still trying to cool the planet singlehandedly by fending off scientific sunshine.

What's a man of peace prize to do? Well, this story also came out of Colorado over the weekend so maybe Obama better stick with health care for now....or at least until American Indian Summer kicks in.

Side Tracks

A German playing the blues..



And Shocking Blue, from the Netherlands. This was the flip side to the international smash hit "Venus"..



Bert Kaempfert, writer of "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes", has long since departed, and singer Mariska Veres passed away in 2006.

The Fate of Saad bin Laden

Since his 'house arrest' in Iran in 2003 Osama's jihadi son has been a relative mystery. Shortly before Obama's victory reports said he either 'escaped' or was expelled into the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, whence followed reports of his death in June this year due to a Predator missile strike. Al Qaeda, fond of making martyrdom announcements, has issued nothing.

Why does this matter, if as suggested by officials Saad was an unimportant small fish with a big name? It may not, but it may matter quite a lot depending on the fish story one chooses to believe. Obama is currently pondering his decision on Afghanistan. If Saad bin Laden is alive and well in that country (one of the estimated 100) then it might say something about the state of AQ there and their relationship with neighboring states like Iran, recently accused by unnamed US commanders of helping the Taliban.

Of course, some claim the unnamed commanders are named Dick Cheney. And that's the problem with all of this stuff, it's hard to separate the information from the disinformation. Maybe that's why it's taking Obama so long to move.

Looking around the web for information produces mostly opinion, but some of it is interesting. Here's a purported friend of bin Laden the elder saying Saad's still alive, among other things:

Intelligence officials said bin Laden’s third-oldest son played an active role in establishing a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

That would have been a neat trick from his jail cell in Iran. Or house cell, whatever. Here's another morsel from binny's friend:

He said he thought it was likely that Saad was leading al-Qaeda from Iran.

"I agree that he played an important role in Iran. He has good relations with Iranians and he speaks very good Persian. Plus, he has the trust of his father as well as Ayman al-Zawahiri and Sheikh Aboul-Yazid, the second and third men in al-Qaeda, respectively," he explained.

Saied said he believed Saad is currently in Afghanistan since the situation is improving there and there would be no need to remain in Iran.

Which is to say Iran was involved with AQ, or at least the Iraq branch. Sensational and all, but it could easily be disinformation by a radical Sunni designed to set up western attacks on Iran.

Here's another expert who believes poppa Osama is still alive, and his son might be alive, too:

Unless Pakistan or the U.S. provides proof I would question this report. While the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies use phones and walkie-talkies, they, and Pakistan, are expert in the art of dissembling. The Taliban know when Predators appear overhead. They know the U.S. listens in on their conversations.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban fight together, but the Taliban are in charge. Contrary to what Petreaus says, al Qaeda is still in Afghanistan. Saeed bin Laden could have been there.

Ouch, that would be an inconvenient truth but very close to most of Obama's talking points from the campaign through August.

After Saad's reported death Time magazine scrounged up some 'western intelligence officials' to weave a tale about how Bush refused to swap Tehran some MEK terrorists for Saad and other AQ types. It's a murky article, every bit as believable as the ones above, but it quotes Peter Bergen with the following:

(capturing Saad bin Laden) "would have been a great propaganda victory" for the U.S., greater than his death could be. Adds the Western intelligence official: "Think of how Americans would feel about Guantánamo if one of Osama's sons was among the detainees."

Well yes, but think about how they'd feel about Gitmo had Saad been captured or swapped in early 2009. Would Obama be able to close the facility with a bin Laden present? He must have known quite a bit.

Assuming the Time story is Bush-bashing bunk does that mean this kind of thing could be real?

Saad served as a messanger between his father and the Quds Force of Iran. al-Qaeda used verbal messangers to avoid communication through cell phones and the internet.

OK, assuming Saad didn't leave back in 2006 to do contract work for Hizballah why would the Iranians cut loose an AQ guy acting as a human connection between Mahmoud and bin Laden? Seems risky. Yet recent reports of his departure have not come from bedoin blogger but from none other than Mike McConnell, the stoic former director of National Intelligence. Some of his parting words:

Saad bin Laden "has left Iran," said Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell at a farewell press briefing. "He's probably in Pakistan."

He suggested that Saad bin Laden's likely new location would make it easier for the United States to catch him because U.S. intelligence officials have better relations with Pakistani leaders. Postings on a jihadi Web site have also suggested Saad bin Laden has returned to Pakistan.

Wonder if Dennis Blair and crew still believe it? Or wait, Saad was killed on their watch. Problem solved.

Anyway, so we're told Saad is dead, just like his father died back in 2002, back when analysts were speculating that Saad himself had taken command of AQ.

If you've come this far it's fairly obvious we've been going 'round in circles here. Exactly how this relates to Obama's decision about Afghanistan and Pakistan, as opined upon above, is perhaps beyond the scope of common understanding. Surely some uncommon folks in high places understand it very well, though, and we can all hope one of them is Barack Obama, peace prize be upon him.

The Nobel Burden

That Obama now shares the same award given to Yasser Arafat should not be surprising--both possess(ed) notable skills in the art of BS'ing people, which is the root of all diplomacy. Neither accomplished enough to earn their awards, although Arafat probably had a thicker resume. But such is liberalism--it's the thought that counts (and apparently pays).

Two questions. One, can he legally or ethically accept this award? Two, if he does will it color his decision-making in any way? Actually another question might be whether the Nobel committee was intentionally trying to affect world events by saddling a US president with a pre-emptive peace award? Obama must reject this thing. He must, right?

Well, the Volokh guys probably know the legal answer because their server is down right now (following this link) but hypothetically speaking if he accepts the award Obama cannot help but think "but I'm the Nobel Prize winner" during every decision. Like whether to put more troops in Afghanistan--or even to authorize a Predator strike in Pakistan of suspected HVTs. Or to bomb Iran. Or in dealing with Israel after they bomb Iran.

But what happens if he does turn it down then proceeds to bomb or render or keep KSM locked up through next year without trial? Does he then become a warmonger overnight? Seems an awful heavy burden.

Yet it might help him on the things he really cares about--health care and global warming. Who wants to argue with a peace prize winner against helping the sick and the poor while saving mother Earth?

Alinsky's Rules for Fox News

Alinsky Rule 5:

"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

CNN's story about the White House's ongoing campaign against the one network actually doing their job (and no, fact-checking Saturday Night Live doesn't count for CNN):

Now, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn is questioning whether Fox is in the news business at all. "It's opinion journalism masquerading as news," she told Time of the news network, in an interview released Thursday. Dunn also made it clear this won't be the last White House blast aimed at the network: "They are boosting their audience. But that doesn't mean we are going to sit back."

Perhaps someone can explain for Ms Dunn why it is that Michael Moore isn't afraid of Sean Hannity but the world's most powerful man, who walks around with an uncliched fist towards our enemies, is. After all, didn't the boss remain open to the suggestion of having that beer one day? It's not like he actually murdered Colmes or even roughed up an old Harvard prof or anything.

But hey, maybe someone can do some old fashioned journalism regards this White House 'sweetie' named Anita Dunn, who's married to Obama's personal lawyer Robert Bauer, himself a partner in the northwest law firm Perkins-Coie, long involved with Democratic politics. In places like Alaska. And Minnesota.

A Bombshell at the Airport?

It seems a chance airport encounter between a conservative blogger and Billy the flag stomping neighborhood acquaintance of the president has caused the "Ayers wrote Dreams" saga to reappear again. This time the heretofore ambivalent Hot Air has decided to weigh in--here's Cap'n Ed trying to explain why it doesn't matter:

But there’s a larger problem with the argument. Even if Cashill and the advocates of this position prove their case or get an admission — a real admission — what does that change? It will show what we already know about Obama and Ayers, a relationship that got plenty of New Media coverage in the campaign, and also show that Obama hired a ghost writer. Neither of these issues are relevant now that Obama is in office.

Maybe, but gee, if true it also might prove the man at 1600 told a fib about his literary talent and past relationship with the washed up terrorist (and his radical agenda for education reform). It would also bring up the obvious question of how long the small-c communist has actually known the president, not to mention exonerating Sarah Palin after all the criticism or her criticism. Maybe it would also call into question why the elite media allowed Ayers to hide in plain sight before the election.

But why the relative silence on this? Cashill adequately explains the mainstreamers:

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Alger Hiss will always be innocent in their eyes. Margaret Mead's Samoa will always be a sexual paradise. Rachel Carson's science will always be sound. Alex Haley's Kunta Kinte will always be real. Edward Said will always be a Palestinian refugee. And Obama will always be a literary wunderkind. Those who choose to say otherwise do so at their peril.

Does anyone think the same news hounds that chased Bush around with the fake Rather documents wouldn't still be digging if Palin were linked with a reformed neo-nazi? Just look at the reaction to her book, or put another way, the idiot from Wasilla needs a ghostwriter while the Kenyan savant can crank out a masterpiece without practice proving his genius. But how likely is that?

Not very. In the immortal words of Danny DeVito in "Throw Momma from the Train", "writers write, always". Obama has refused to release materials from his college days, which could have provided an insight on his talent. Cap'n Ed surely knows such revelations could be relevant in light of current policy being pursued.

But their cautious silence makes a lot of sense in a risk-reward fashion. Had they bitten on the story and it later turned out false their lefty counterparts and the elites would never rest in comparing them all to Glenn Beck. Every future story would be couched in that framework, diminishing their impact. Cashill indeed has a checkered record of success in his past exposes and many consider him an outright kook based on his TWA 800 work (usually those without much knowledge on it), so there's that.

By reporting the encounter in a slightly condescending manner they satisfy their readers' thirst for a post without taking a hardcore stand. Then if the story takes off as true (and Backyard Conservative now has many incoming links from smaller bloggers meaning a grassfire, or maybe prairie fire, has started) they can go along for the ride and nobody is the wiser.

Now, if someone can truthfully explain the Fox News angle on this in light of the Glenn Beck show that would be great!

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN? 10/7/09

Speculation is free, and usually worth every penny paid. But here goes.. Ayers reminds me of a guy who likes to play head games with people. It's possible he realized she was a righty blogger and immediately told her what he knew she wanted to hear, being his sarcastic self. The bit about Michelle telling Obama to see Ayers was in the book. Simply denying the charge would not have satisfied the blogger, after all, so he immediately told her what he thought she wanted to hear.

But does that make it absolutely false? Sometimes people just blurt out the truth in a snide manner hoping people will think they're lying because it's so sensational.

There are a few definitive ways to prove this but like the birth cert thing none of them will ever happen. Nevertheless -- have Obama produce his book notes and college records, That would show how much editing was done, and whether he was a skilled and gifted writer or not. They could also locate the sources Andersen used, which is far-fetched because they wish to remain nameless. It's entirely possible Ayers was actually one of Andersen's sources, in which case it would be hard to prove he wasn't yanking Andersen's chain by furthering the myth.

Then there's the white girlfriend mentioned in Dreams who seemed to share a similarly laid-out home as that of Ayers' late girlfriend Diana Oughten. Good luck with that one, too.

MORE 10/8/09

Maguire is the go-to on this today. Go there and you'll find a timeline of how his surrogates have explained the Ayers-Obama relationship, which have been less impressive than the explanations about Wright.

Then there's Charles Johnson (can't resist). His effort is predictably negative, even using the codeword "wingnuts" much to the delight all the moonbats he once loathed who now use his site to score debate points. He mocks Backyard Conservative without providing any evidence that she's wrong on her facts.

He also refers to the whole thing as a conspiracy theory without mentioning Andersen's book. Perhaps he's been too busy calling people racists to notice, but Jack Cashill is the conspiracist--Andersen is the biographer. The charge of ghost writing was dredged up by the latter, so that's where the bombs should be directed. And sure, Ayers is having fun with this just like all self-important narcissist head-gamers would. But he hardly needs any help from LGF.

After all there was a time...not too far distant...when posts about the washed up professor would rank as "exclusives":

You may have read about this book, or seen it mentioned on Hannity and Colmes, but you cannot appreciate how radically insane and violent it is until you read it for yourself.

And here's another one chastising old Billy for his bombings. Of course these random posts don't mean Johnson has changed his mind about the importance of the relationship between the former Weather Man and the present president, but applying LGF logic---past associations portend present behavior, no matter what--well it sure makes him one of the biggest wingnuts on the block.

No Fist Bumps for Dalai in DC

Not even a meeting:

It means Mr Obama will become the first president not to welcome the Nobel peace prize winner to the White House since the Dalai Lama began visiting Washington in 1991.

Would that represent a clinched fist or an open hand? The realpolitik nuance escapes me.

Oh, as to the 'fist bump', just another silly claim to fame for Memphis, TN, that's all.

Allied for Afghan?

Britain's Army Chief Sir David Richards seems to be sending a message:

"If al-Qaeda and the Taliban believe they have defeated us – what next? Would they stop at Afghanistan? Pakistan is clearly a tempting target not least because of the fact that it is a nuclear-weaponed state and that is a terrifying prospect. Even if only a few of those (nuclear) weapons fell into their hands, believe me they would use them. The recent airlines plot has reminded us that there are people out there who would happily blow all of us up."

Obama once seemed to agree whole-heartedly. Does he still? When in Copenhagen he gave his Afghan theater commander Stan McChrystal less time than he gave the OIC members, so we'll see what they decide, whenever they decide to decide.

One thing is for sure--the Brit Chief is correct. Even the perception of a loss in that region will provide years of horrible dividends for the west (not just America) regardless of whether heath care passes or the liberals successfully blame everything on Bush.

MORE 10/3/09

Pfc Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and trotted out on video in late July but after a slightly encouraging story a few days afterward there hasn't been much news since. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since the military usually keeps a low profile on these things. But the enemy side usually gets all the value they can out of their prisoners so it's somewhat odd subsequent videos haven't been released.

Assuming his capture was on the up and up there are many possibilities, including the group who took him selling him deeper into captivity or waiting to see what Obama does first before releasing any more propaganda. Performing brutality on a US soldier on video can be risky though, not to mention driving home the point of the enemy's complete disregard for Geneva Convention protocol.

Hopefully This Isn't an Omen

Dove Doesn't Make it Through Peace Day - Watch more Funny Videos

On Peace Day. Come to think of it, maybe Obama should withdraw after all.

Side Tracks

In the news lately, so why not...



And weirdly, singer Robert Lamm could almost pass for Rod Blagojevich if that mop was darker.

This Seems Important..

As the Senate takes up a new climate pollution control bill (tentatively titled, "Senatorial Hubris; Or How we think Mankind Can Actually Change Earth's Climate on a Global Scale through Taxation") perhaps they should have Steve McIntyre come into the chamber and explain his article challenging Dr. Keith Briffa's proxy tree ring data for Siberia used in the IPCC's report, which appears to single out tree rings that show warming for proxy use. Or perhaps they could just click over to WUWT and read about it.

Off to Denmark

Well, the sacrificing seems to be going well. Only a few more hours of suffering to go.

As for Barack's trip, I realize other heads of state have stepped into the fray over the past few years to get the Olympics but dammit Jim, this is America. Since when do we have to beg?

Besides, isn't it just maybe a tad ostentatious for an American POTUS to fly into Copenhagen on Scare Force One and waltz into the proceedings, effectively upstaging everyone in the room including the leaders of Spain, Japan and Brazil? Is this part of a nuanced plan to make the world like us again?

Being too negative, right? Sorry, can't help it. Just guessing at Obama's speech it will probably contain a healthy dose of Bush apologies and heck who knows, maybe he'll even apologize for Mark Spitz, Dave Walden and the 1980 hockey team. Those Continentals would really eat that up. In reality of course he needs to apologize for the failed state of Chicago and noted luminaries Ayers, Daley, Rezko, Blago, Burris and various gang members wielding 2X6's, but such is the twisted dream of a teabagger.

CNN says there's been some furious lobbyin' behind the scenes via Michelle and Oprah, which begs the question as to what they could possibly be offering these bureaucrats other than the brutal truth. Well, we await the thrilling fist-bump moment later today...

...along with perhaps a few of uncomfortable or embarrassing news releases slipped from the White House and Congress amidst all the commotion. It is a Friday, after all.

WRAP-UP 10/2/09

Well, quite a few of us intrepid pundits had it wrong--the fix was not in after all. Obama paid his money (our money) and took a chance, and lost. It's not a good day for America and there's no reason for celebration.

A few things straight--

1. Obama set the stage for this being political and invited criticism by getting involved. He brought it on. Any charges of the criticism being 'unpatriotic' is typical lefty misdirection.

2. Most conservatives probably wanted the Olympics here or didn't care. But they didn't like Obama elbowing his way into the IOC and trying to score crony points for the Chicago political machine, which was clearly a side benefit. Why wasn't he seen as the 'ugly American' again? Or maybe he was, just not by our press.

3. Some conservatives are a little too giddy over the news. Shame on them, but we all sin. Even David Letterman.

4. The media still hasn't reported on the Ayers claim in Andersen's book (just a friendly reminder).

5. Of all the rumors flying around the most nauseating ones are those blaming Bush. If the IOC is indeed punishing us for Iraq then all I can say is, how dare they! Can anyone imagine the games being played in Saddam's Iraq?

Some Ideas for the Owners

...of the Empire State Building management [in case you didn't see this]:

The Empire State Building shone in red and yellow lights over New York City on Wednesday night to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the bloody communist takeover.

Love the way Fox put that. Hey, wonder if the State Building's management company has marked their calendar for the Cuban and Iranian revolutions as well? And too bad Bush deposed Saddam or they could have celebrated Iraq Revolution day this past July. They couldn't go wrong with a splash of deep red for all.

Don't go too hard on these folks though. At least they don't have the distinction of signing a Beijing company as the first tenant of the new "Freedom Tower". A pandering sign of the times, no doubt.