Goodbye Barack, Good Luck Donald, and Forza Schumi!

My thoughts of Michael Schumacher's career with Ferrari are book-ended by two memories, neither of which involve him actually doing anything in a race car. The first comes from before he had even turned a wheel of one of the scarlet cars in anger, and the second follows his retirement from his penultimate race with the team. Schumacher joined the Scuderia in 1996 having left the Benneton team as a two time world champion. Arriving at Madonna di Campiglio in 1996 for Ferrari's winter retreat/press event, he stunned the Italian media by addressing them in their native language. In the interim following his signing with the team in late summer, finishing the current season, winning a World Driver's Championship, transitioning to a new team and maintaining his rigorous personal fitness regimen and sponsorship responsibilities, he had managed to find the time to learn Italian. Broken, untrained, and heavily accented Italian, but Italian nonetheless. Thus began a love affair with the Italian media that, despite a contract dispute or two, continues to this day.

Flash forward to 2006. Ten years and 5 World Championships later. Suzuka, Japan. The fourth-gear Degner Curve, specifically, for those who care about such things. Even on points with Fernando Alonso. Leading by over 8 seconds with 16 laps to go. His retirement already announced and only one race left in the season and his career. As the smoking Ferrari coasted to a stop, V8 engine blown along with his championship hopes, there were none of the radio outbursts that we've come to expect from drivers over the last few years. As Fernando Alonso wound down the laps, the World Championship all but his, there were no shots of a stony faced Schumacher glaring from beyond the Armco, cursing his luck at his first engine failure since 2000 (that would be at Magny-Cours, back when there still was a French Grand Prix, for those who care about such things). There were no shots of Schumacher walking briskly through the paddock, ignoring his team, too indignant to face the creators whose creation had let him down at the most crucial time. We were treated to none of the scenes we've come to expect from sullen and disappointed race drivers because Schumacher did none of those things. Instead, the world feed director cut away from a coasting Alonso to show us Michael Schumacher as he made his through the Ferrari garage, mechanic by mechanic, engineer by engineer, embrace by embrace. Steve Matchett later said that Schumacher's display of gratitude towards the Ferrari mechanics during the most crushing loss of his career had left the team with tears in their eyes, shaking their heads and asking each other "where in the world are we going to find another one like that," along with the inevitable melancholy that followed the unanswerable question.

As I watched Barack Obama handle his final turkey pardon today with grace, class, inimitable self-deprecating wit and presidential demeanor (at least compared to what's following) I found myself reminded of that hypothetical question the Ferrari mechanics asked themselves that day in Japan. I don't know what the next four years have in store for our country, and while I'm hopeful, and thankful, I can't help but think that we're starting a little below the mark, but there's certainly a lot of room for improvement. Regardless of how we feel this Thanksgiving, I hope we all have more to be thankful for next year.

#keepfightingmichael

Rick Sanchez' Childish Assessment of Terry Jones' Quran Burning

Of all of the irritating traits that emanate from the far left, the two most disagreeable have to be intellectual snobbery and liberal guilt. For better or worse, Rick Sanchez will never be accused of the former.

In his piece on Huff Post "Burning the Quran Is No Childish Game", (suggesting that book burning is best left to serious minded adults) the former CNN anchor who was fired for his anti-Semitic remarks, rambles on for 645 words talking about a basketball game between his son and daughter (heartwarming, but striking one as an anecdote inserted only because it fit the title of the piece), a mock court case, and his previous interview with Jones, before finally saying,

As much as I dislike giving Jones any more attention and a 16th minute of fame, silence and inaction in the face of bigotry don't work. Worse, they can unfortunately -- and incorrectly -- signal approval or at the very least acceptance.

There we have it. Rick Sanchez with his complete array of faculties and firing on all intellectual cylinders is hardly an archetype of lucidity, but when he allows himself to be completely blinded by guilt, here's what slips out...

Jones needs to realize that his words and actions make him the very thing he despises: He is no better than the fringe of Muslims who hate.

This comparison is nothing short of obscene. This is as close to a concession to sharia that one could possibly make, and shows exactly why fundamentalist Islam and western democracy are, and will always remain, absolutely irreconcilable.

Sanchez' ignorance is on display again when he writes,

The lesson he needs to learn is that he has every right to express his opinion about Islam or to disagree with Muslims, but he doesn't have to spit in their faces to do it. He didn't need to desecrate a book that one and a half billion people hold sacred in order to make a point. He shouldn't needlessly put the lives of our armed forces at greater risk.

I assume he's speaking metaphorically here. Why should we care about pissing these guys off? Why should we capitulate to these maniacs? Why should we infringe upon the first amendment rights of our citizens, bought and paid for with the blood of patriots, to kowtow to a bunch of backwards, ninth century barbarians? For safety? I thought we learned that lesson, again, after 9/11. Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." People who are burning up the blogosphere with calls for Jones to be charged with murder, saying he needs to be stopped, and that he's no better than a bunch of murdering jihadists need to know one thing: Stopping someone from burning a Koran won't make them like us. It will simply be the first in a long line of capitulations. You'll have to allow them to stone unveiled women in Afghanistan. And while you're at it, don't tell them they can't throw acid in schoolgirls' faces in Kandahar, or they might get mad at you. And for heaven's sake, don't ask them not to kill cartoonists in Denmark for printing satire on the prophet Muhammad. Because, at the end of the day, what appeasers like Rick Sanchez fail to realize, is that burning a book is protected speech, burning an book's author is not.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it
-Evelyn Beatrice Hall

Chewbacca: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!
C-3PO: He made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you.
Han Solo: Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.
C-3PO: But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.
Han Solo: That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.
Chewbacca: Grrf.
C-3PO: I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the Wookiee win.

They're Back! 2011 F1 Season Starts Today

Well it would have started 2 weeks ago had it not been for the unrest in Barhain and Bernie Ecclestone's penchant for doing business with corrupt theocracies, but better late than never.

How Well Do We Know The Libyan Rebels?

In his latest piece in Slate, Christopher Hitchens makes a case for intervention in Libya, saying

The stand of the "realist" school, and its objections to further or faster involvement in the Libya crisis, can be fairly summarized as follows:

1) Libya contains too many unknowns for us to be sure whom we would be supporting. We thus run the risk of breaching the principle of primo non nocere, or "first do no harm."

2) The relative calm of Tripoli, when contrasted with the upheaval in Benghazi, points to a historic east-west divide between the former provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which predates the formation of the modern Libyan state and might itself be destabilizing. The West might inadvertently ignite a sectarian regionalism culminating in fragmentation or partition.

He says these points assume the "persistence of power of the Qaddafi clan" and counters them, pointing out that Quaddaffi has reached his Ceausescu moment; a one-way, full blown descent into "paranoia, megalomania, and delusion," and warns of the consequenseces of the regime falling with Quadaffi still in charge. Far be it from me to disagree with Hitchens, except perhaps to emphasize that Ceaușescu lived only 4 days after his "moment" before being executed, but in the interest of knowing exactly who we're supporting, lest we regret it later, here's an editorial from the Barutiwa Daily Times by Baruti M. Kamau

The murder and rape of Black African migrants in Benghazi (East Libya) reduces the value of anti-Qaddafi rebels' claim to justice. An old friend of mine commented that the revolution going on in North Africa and the Middle East is patterned on the Civil Rights movement of Black America in the 1950's and 60's. I vociferously disagree with my friend's comment. The contemporary protest of Arab civilians against their "oppressive" governments does not deserve such lofty comparison because they lack certain liberation virtues that Black Americans enjoyed and thus translated into a high success story. The struggle of the Black Americans during and after slavery received significant help from White Christians and Jews because there were liberation virtues, a spirit and principles in the Black American struggle. In contrast, the Arabs have allowed their peaceful protest to turn into bloody violence, sexual assault on black and white women and the taking up of arms against the state, ie. Libya and Yemen. Black Americans did not engage in revenge rape and murder of White Americans nor did "We" take up arms against the state because that would have destroyed "our" movement for freedom and democracy. The Arabs are trying to gain the sympathy of the Western world for assistance against their oppressive governments. The Western world is primarily made up of White Christians and Jews. They will not respect any move degrading into activities that counter the people's claim to freedom and democracy. The efforts of the Benghazi rebels, in our opinion, are unfounded due to the assaults carried out against Black African civilians in East Libya. Thus, we argue that the Obama administration is in error for supporting the Benghazi rebels against Muammar Qaddafi. The Benghazi rebels are like the Egyptians in Tahrir Square who brutally raped Lara Logan, a well-known International journalist.

Julie Burchill, referring to the Egyptian revolution in The Independent, wrote

It would be wonderful to think that what replaces Mubarak will be better. But here's the thing about Middle Eastern regimes: they're all vile. The ones that are "friendly" are vile and the ones that hate us are vile. Revolutions in the region have a habit of going horribly wrong, and this may well have something to do with the fact that Islam and democracy appear to find it difficult to co-exist for long.

Red State concludes

But meanwhile, the Libyan Rebels remind us of why war must be carefully planned and thoroughly researched prior to opening the latches that secure Hell’s gates. Barack Obama failed to plan. He had a (redacted) tee-time or something. Taking his adorable children to see Mayan Pyramids was far more important than getting American foreign policy right. Our finest jet aircraft and Tomahawk Missiles fly in support of bigots, rapists and reprobates hunting down Black Africans. It makes one fine legacy for America’s first African-American President.

I still support his decision to intervene, however belated, aimless, and irresolute it may be. However, in a presidency plagued by hasty and clumsy decisions, I hope that this "Kinetic military action" doesn't result in even more unintended consequences. Getting fooled by Andrew Breitbart is bad enough. If the coming weeks and months show him to have been fooled by rapists in Benghazi as well, can Chavez and Ahmadinejad be far behind?

Burger King Spring Break BK Bikini Brawler

“We tore the Burger King up. I don’t play no games.” - Kimesa Smith

Describing herself as a “first time spring breaker,” Smith, a mother of four, said she had traveled Friday to Florida with friends and three of her children, the youngest of which is two and has cerebral palsy. In anticipation of a night of drinking, Smith, said she went to the Burger King to “get something in my stomach.”

I wonder why these things don't happen in Arizona or Texas.

Read the rest at The Smoking Gun here

National Organization For (Spiteful, Bitter, Liberal) Women (Finally) issues statement on Bill Maher's insult of Sarah Palin ‎

From Joe Newby at Spokane Conservative Examiner

After being called out by conservatives for refusing to speak to Fox News about Bill Maher's vulgar insult of Sarah Palin, Lisa Bennett, Communications Director for the National Organization for (Liberal) Women issued a statement that failed to condemn Maher, and instead attacked conservatives for daring to notice their silence on the issue.

Her statement starts by asking progressives to "please" not use vulgar slang the way Maher did:

Listen, supposedly progressive men (ok, and women, too): Cut the crap! Stop degrading women with whom you disagree and/or don't like by using female body terms or other gender-associated slurs. OK? Can you do that, please? If you think someone's an idiot or a danger to the country, feel free to say so, but try to keep their sex out of it. Sexist insults have an impact on all women.

Read the rest here

A couple of observations. First of all, for someone who holds the title of Communications Director, Lisa Bennett is an appallingly bad writer. Secondly, where was NOW when Palin was receiving death threats? For that matter, where were they when it came time to defend Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick, to name the recipients of just one democratic President's indiscretion. Perhaps they were too worn out from their attempts to prevent the confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee who made jokes about pubic hair to be bothered with the possibility of something so banal as a rapist in the White House.

Oh I almost forgot about Bill Maher. What can you say about someone who conjures up something stupid, attributes it to someone else, and then proceeds to make fun of that person's intelligence for what he is pretending that person said, and then uses a derogatory, sexist term to refer to that person? I would guess that puts him in the same league as Letterman, Behar, Garafalo, and all the other cheap shot artists.

I'll leave it to Christopher Hitchens to offer some more perspective on Maher and his audience.

Keith Olbermann To Bill O'Reilly: I'm 'Still Here' - Oh Wait, Maybe I'm Not

NBC has suspended Bathtub Boy indefinitely without pay for contributing the maximum amount to democrat candidates for the house and senate. Or maybe Comcast was sickened by listening to Matthews and Olbermann giggle like schoolgirls as they insulted Republican candidates.

"Honor Killing" Dad Secretly Taped Daughters

From Fox News

On New Year’s Day 2008, two Texas teenagers Amina and Sarah Said were shot dead, their bloodied bodies left in a taxi cab. The alleged shooter: their father Yaser Said.

In fact, Sarah appears to identify her Dad as the murderer in a 9-11 call – her dying words.

For more than two years the Fox News Reporting team has been following this story and the search for Yaser Said, who vanished the night of the murders.

Although perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists on nearly every continent and for myriad absurd reasons, ironically, all "Honor Killings" seem to be comprised of two key elements: The part where they brutally murder innocent women or children, and then the part where they run away. Am I alone in thinking that it's a curious sense of "honor" these guys seem to possess?

Rachel Maddow Exposes Her Desperate Pro Abortion Agenda

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Whether it's attacking John Boehner for his "nuking an ant" referece regarding Dodd's bailout bill masquerading as finance reform, or now Sharon Angle's lemonade from lemons analogy, Rachel Maddow illustrates exactly how desperate the left has become. Unable to discredit the message, they turn to attacking the metaphors their opponents use to get their message through to an electorate long conditioned by the mainstream media. Here's the full quote from Angle, which I give credit to Maddow for showing (even though she must not have read it), which you won't see on most left wing blogs.

ANGLE: I think that two wrongs don’t make a right. And I have been in the situation of counseling young girls, not 13 but 15, who have had very at risk, difficult pregnancies. And my counsel was to look for some alternatives, which they did. And they found that they had made what was really a lemon situation into lemonade. Well one girl in particular moved in with the adoptive parents of her child, and they both were adopted. Both of them grew up, one graduated from high school, the other had parents that loved her and she also graduated from high school. And I’ll tell you the little girl who was born from that very poor situation came to me when she was 13 and said ‘I know what you did thank you for saving my life.’ So it is meaningful to me to err on the side of life.

First of all, it's pathetic how the left keeps bringing up the rape and incest factor every time abortion is discussed. Only a fraction of one percent of rape and incest victims become pregnant. That means that for every abortion for rape or incest, there are 25,000 for convenience. It's like a football coach losing sleep over which play he'll have to call in case his fourth string left tackle ever has to play quarterback.

Most importantly, Angle counseled young girls to look for alternatives. Alternative is defined by Merriam-Webster as "offering or expressing a choice; different from the usual or conventional." Offering a choice. Hmm...choice...where have we heard that word before? Oh yea, pro-choice. Looking for alternatives, isn't that what being pro-choice is all about? Evidently not. Just as Bart Stupak almost single-handedly disproved the myth of the pro-life democrat (while at the same time proving himself a fool), Rachel Maddow proves once again what we've known for years; that pro-choice is pro-abortion. But it's easier to attack a metaphor when the political position you've defended so long for becomes exposed for the deception it truly is.

Debbie Halvorson - Will County Unemployment has Increased 24% on Your Watch

Unemployment in Will County has increased 24% since Debbie Halvorson was sworn in. She talks about bringing jobs back to Illinois and empowering small businesses, but her votes on Obamacare, cap and trade, the Dodd-Frank taxpayer funded bailout, and her support for card check, will do nothing but put even more Illinois families out of work.

The Gravel Trap KO's Keith Olbermann

Here's a little exchange that I had with Keith Olbermann via Twitter. It started when redbloodedgirl called him out the hypocrisy of blaming Andrew Breitbart for Shirley Sherrod's firing, when the Obama Administration is the one that fired her, and ended when I asked for proof of his claim the Breitbart edited the video.

redbloodedgirl - @KeithOlbermann You're a joke. Breitbart airs the story so bears the blame, even though it is THIS ADMIN that FIRED HER based on story?

KeithOlbermann - @redbloodedgirl Breitbart reedited the tape, slandered this good woman, you and WH fell for it. But Breitbart has the original sin.

mtjamesium - RT @Keitholbermann Breitbart reedited the tape / So I'm assuming you have proof of this, right? #tcot #gop #teaparty #Sherrod

Keitholbermann - @mtjamesium If he didn't, he simply disseminated tapes dishonestly edited by others, without checking. So he's either a miscreant or a fool.

mtjamesium - @KeithOlbermann Don't backpedal. You said @andrewbreitbart edited the tapes. Do you have proof or not? #tcot #gop #teaparty #sherrod

At which point bathtub boy decided to take his toys and go home and blocked me. Evidently nothing at Cornell ever prepared Olbermann for the eventuality that someone might actually ask him to provide proof for his ridiculous claims. Olbermann's whole existence is about making unfounded attacks and habitually engaging in the exact type of behavior that he falsely accuses others of doing. Is anyone surprised that he rarely has any guests on who disagree with him? His entire show can be summed up as "Hi, I'm Keith Olbermann. I really hate Sarah Palin. And now, here's someone who agrees with me." The only practice he gets debating people are when Chris Matthews or Joe Scarborough prove him wrong, which, as I discovered, is almost disappointingly easy to do. He's turned into a sad, pathetic, bitter parody of himself so much that even Bill O'Reilly has stopped picking on him. But it doesn't stop his fellow libtards trashing him though. Daily Caller just released some more Journolist leaks with members calling Olbermann “sexist” and “misogynist,” mainly over his treatment of Carrie Prejean and Hillary Clinton. Some highlights:

The Nation’s Katha Pollitt began the group’s rant. “He and Michael Musto did this whole long riff about beauty contestant Carrie “opposite marriage” Prejean’s breast implants, stupidity, breast implants, tacky clothes, earrings, breast implants. They went on and on about how she was “part plastic” and pathetic. You’d think they were celibate vegans who spent their lives zen meditating. It was just a whole TV humiliation of her, and it made me feel sorry for her, which wasn’t easy,” Pollitt said.

…Julian Zelizer, a Princeton professor and CNN contributor, said Olbermann’s root problem is his misogyny. “I can’t take him anytime. I think to write off his mysogyny as limited to Musto is just not accurate. That very much defined much of how he talked about Clinton as well as others.”

Not the Face!! Not the Face!! Cleric Offers Common Sense Advice on Wife Beating

"America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings."

"My job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect. I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect."

"Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world."

-Barack Hussein Obama

Muslim Cleric Puts Cartoonist Molly Norris on Execution Hit List

From The New York Daily News

A CHARISMATIC terror leader linked to the botched Times Square car bomb has placed the Seattle cartoonist who launched "Everybody Draw Muhammed Day" on an execution hit list.

Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki - the radical who has also been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers - singled out artist Molly Norris as a "prime target," saying her "proper abode is hellfire."

FBI officials have notified Norris and warned her they consider it a "very serious threat."

In an English-language Al Qaeda magazine that calls itself "Inspire," Awlaki damns Norris and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of the Prophet Muhammed. The other cartoonists, authors and journalists in Awlaki's cross hairs are Swedish, Dutch and British citizens.

The 67-page terror rag is seen by terrorism experts as a bald new attempt to reach and recruit Muslim youth in the West.

Read the rest.

Debbie Halvorson Tries to Attack Adam Kinzinger's Military Service Record

From the Southtown Star
Dirt won't stick to clean captain

July 20, 2010

In war, truth is the first casualty. - Aeschylus. It's full-on warfare. Adam Kinzinger should know that. The young Air Force pilot is battling for a seat in the U.S. Congress, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-11th) isn't going down without a fight.

But yes, we do believe there must be rules of engagement.

And because these particular attacks are specious, we think that Kinzinger, a 32-year-old captain in the Air Force Reserve, deserves a little defense after his opponent tried to explode him with a Mark Kirk hand grenade.

The issue of military credentials, you'll remember, first blew up earlier this summer when U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-10th) was found to be overstating his military honors.

So Halvorson's campaign took out its own magnifying glass in search of cracks in this captain's clean veneer.

Here's the e-mail from Halvorson campaign manager Travis Worl looking for some dirty stuff:

To: Campbell, John E CIV USAF AFSOC AFSOC/A1

Subject: Captain Adam Kinzinger

Sir - Thank you for speaking with me.

I am researching Cap. Adam Kinzinger who on his public bio claims to serve with the Air Force Special Operations Command as a pilot. There seems to have been some contradictory statements so I am just looking for clarification.

In January of this year, he publicly stated that in a questionnaire:

"I now serve as a captain in the United States Air Force Special Operations Command flying reconnaissance aircraft." Is that correct? If so, did he fly reconnaissance aircraft? If not, was he ever attached to AFSOC to fly other kinds of aircraft? If so, what kind?

And the answer:

From: AFSOC/PA Public Affairs

Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 2:11 PM

Mr Worl,

This is in reference to your request to verify information on Capt Kinzinger. ...

Although the statement as it's written below is incorrect, Capt Kinzinger supported AFSOC assigned to the 745th Special Operations Squadron from March-June 2008 and March-May 2009 in Iraq in which he did fly reconnaissance aircraft.

So here's the "incorrect" part:

After flying more than 100 special ops missions the past two years, he came home again, likely temporarily.

Like a union painter on a furlough - can she call herself a painter? Like a teacher in the summer - can he call himself a teacher? Like a freelance rhino writer in between trips to Africa - can he call himself a National Geographic contributor?

And as so often happens in contemporary work and warfare, eventually the "is" turned to "was" in the course of this campaign. And Kinzinger says he has nothing to defend.

He said the biography listed on his campaign Web site was accurate when it was written. And if he were to be called back up again it's likely that same work would resume.

"Going from an honorable military servant to a fraud ... they're trying to place that seed in people's minds, and there's no reason to do it. It's absolutely wrong," Kinzinger said.

We agree. Kinzinger's military record is impressive, it's solid, and it deserves respect, not denigration.

Halvorson should battle for the issues she believes in, not drag a worthy opponent through the muck and mire.

Anyone who has followed Debbie Halvorson for any length of time is familiar with her contradictions. She boasts how she will stand up to Obama, then caves on cap and trade. She proclaims constituent service to be her main focus, yet refuses to meet with her constituents. She said she wouldn't vote for a health care bill that added to the deficit, yet she relied on budget gimmickry and ignored the CBO confirmation that the “doctor fix” will add billions to the deficit. She agreed to debates and is now back in hiding. Given that she is always boasting how she's the only Representative from Illinois to sit on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, should we be surprised at her attempt to discredit Adam Kinzinger's impressive service record? The answer, sadly, is no. Debbie Halvorson is simply doing what Debbie Halvorson does best; saying one thing in her district, and doing something entirely different when she returns to Washington.

Edit - Hey Travis, the correct abbreviation for Captain is Capt. not Cap. It's an officer in the United States Military, not the first name in a sugary breakfast cereal. But I'm sure Debbie Halvorson's reelection bid is still safe in your hands. As long as you can pronounce corpsman correctly.

Reuters; Race Issues Beset Obama's "Post-Racial" Presidency

The sad, predictable facts are that everyone involved with this ordeal that ended with the firing of Shirley Sherrod acted completely in character and exactly how you would expect. Breitbart released an edited video with out of context quotes. Fox News, deeming the story to be newsworthy, ran with it. The NAACP showed weak leadership. The Obama Administration acted impulsively and without taking the time to gather the facts, unjustly fired Shirley Sherrod. In a CNN interview, Sherrod said USDA deputy undersecretary Cheryl Cook called her and told her to pull over and submit her resignation on her Blackberry because the White House wanted her out. Her anger (rightfully so) is focused on the administration which acted rashly and "Cambridge police-like", a knee jerk reaction from a White House afraid of being caught on the wrong side of the racial payback atmosphere we find ourselves in. For a man praised for having a cool and collected temperament, Obama seems to be able to do only one of two things when faced with a crisis; ignore it and hope it goes away, or impulsively overreact. Let's hope we're not soon faced with a situation where our success or survival is dependent on his leadership and ability to make a decision under real pressure.

From Reuters

Many supporters of Barack Obama hoped his election as America's first black president might herald an era of post-racial politics, but race has been an issue his administration just can't seem to avoid.

Division and tension between black and white Americans has cropped up repeatedly over Obama's 18 months in office, hurting his popularity and distracting from his political agenda.

The issue surfaced this week when the Agriculture Department pushed a black official to resign after allegations she discriminated against a white farmer, only to apologize a day later for acting too quickly and without the facts.

Here's a sobering thought; If Obama can be fooled so easily by Andrew Breitbart, what chance does he have against Putin, Chavez, or Ahmadinejad?

Obama Replaces McChrystal, Affirms Committment to Afghan War

In making what is probably the best speech of his presidency, Obama lavished praise on McChrystal, restated the mission and made a compelling case for why we're in Afghanistan, and picked the best man for the job in naming General Petraeus as McChrystal's replacement.

I’ve just told my national security team that now is the time for all of us to come together. Doing so is not an option, but an obligation. I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division. All of us have personal interests; all of us have opinions. Our politics often fuels conflict, but we have to renew our sense of common purpose and meet our responsibilities to one another, and to our troops who are in harm’s way, and to our country.

We need to remember what this is all about. Our nation is at war. We face a very tough fight in Afghanistan. But Americans don’t flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks. We persist and we persevere. We will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorists who want to destroy Afghan security from within, and launch attacks against innocent men, women, and children in our country and around the world.

So make no mistake: We have a clear goal. We are going to break the Taliban’s momentum. We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly apply pressure on al Qaeda and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same.

That’s the strategy that we agreed to last fall; that is the policy that we are carrying out, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We have just witnessed a historically significant moment in the Obama presidency,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). “It’s a decisive show of leadership.”

From Politco

And his replacement, Gen. David Petraeus, is virtually guaranteed a quick and easy Senate confirmation to take over the Afghan war. As Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), put it, Petraeus’s confirmation “may be the fastest in the history of the Armed Services Committee.” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), added: “I believe he is the right person to take over this command.”

Now about that withdrawl date...

O'Reilly Continues to Trounce MSNBC; Olbermann Renders Desperate, Nonsensical Response

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What Olbermann fails to mention is that the 11 pm rerun of the O'Reilly Factor had 1.1 million viewers, compared to 800,000 for Olbermann's 8 PM Countdown. As to Olbermann's Lady Gaga quip, evidently Olbermann is just jealous after getting shot down by has been porn stars.

Debbie Halvorson Exploits Gulf Spill Disaster for Campaign Money

From the Morris Daily Herald

In her June 16 news release, Halvorson said that, although communities around the Gulf of Mexico have come together to begin cleaning up the massive disaster, Washington Republicans are “plotting to hand you the bill and let BP off the hook.”

“Join me in standing up to Washington insiders who want to let their friends in big oil get off without paying the price,” she noted in asking in the release for campaign contributions.

“Donate $5, $10, or even $25 to help me keep the pressure on BP to finish the cleanup and put our fellow Americans back on their feet.”

She's taken the familiar and misguided liberal strategy of "rather than fixing the problem, lets throw money at it" to a new level. Not content simply telling us where to throw the cash, she's telling us to give the money to her, so she can throw it. Correction, misguided and arrogant. If you're really interested in helping, instead of giving your money to Halvorson to light on fire, try one of these guys first: Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, or the United Way.

Being too lazy to serve her district is one thing, but using the largest environmental disaster our country has ever seen to shamelessly raise campaign funds is another thing entirely. Whether it stems from desperation, ignorance, or plain greed, she should apologize to residents of the 11th district and gulf coast inhabitants affected by the disaster for her callous plea for your hard earned cash.

Liberal Media Turns on Obama After Oval Office Address

From RealClearPolitics

Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Howard Fineman react to President Obama's Oval Office Address on the oil spill. Here are the highlights of what the trio said:

Olbermann: "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days."

Matthews compared Obama to Carter.

Olbermann: "Nothing specific at all was said."

Matthews: "No direction."

Howard Fineman: "He wasn't specific enough."

Olbermann: "I don't think he aimed low, I don't think he aimed at all. It's startling."

Howard Fineman: Obama should be acting like a "commander-in-chief."

Matthews: Ludicrous that he keeps saying [Secretary of Energy] Chu has a Nobel prize. "I'll barf if he does it one more time."

Matthews: "A lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk."

Matthews: "I don't sense executive command."

Here are some more reviews of this train wreck...

Huffington Post; JUNK SHOT Obama's National Address Panned: Short On Details, Failed To 'Go Big'
Jason Linkins: What Was The Point Of That Terrible Speech?
Obama's Speech: An Enormous Wasted Opportunity
Dan Froomkin: What Obama Is Overlooking...
TIME 'It May Be Time To Bury Cap-And-Trade'
The Atlantic; Obama's Disappointing Speech Michael Crowley; Obama's Spill Speech: Calling for Courage, But Showing Little
Gulf of Mexico oil spill: 'The Committee is ready for you....' Obama's uncertain 'battle plan'
Obama's speech falls short of the mark Lynn Sweet; Obama makes nice Oval Office speech, but is the BP well capped? President Obama's BP speech was almost lousy enough to make you miss George W ... CBS News; President Obama Treads Water and Oil in the Oval Office Obama Offers Strong Words But No Magic Formula Reuters; Analysis: Obama speech short on energy San Francisco Chronicle; Carter: "The malaise speech", Obama: "The oil spill Hail Mary prayer speech" Baltimore Sun; Obama's Oval Office message: Let's have a debate

Obama Goes Street - Looking To Kick Ass

"I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf. A month ago I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be. And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."

Everyone from Frank Rich to Spike Lee has been calling on Obama to show some emotion and "go off" and get angry over the oil spill. And he responds with this vulgarity. First we had Rahm Emanuel's "f---ing retards" gem then Joe Biden's F-bomb slip, and now Obama's looking to find out "who's ass to kick", something that seems strangely difficult to do while reading a teleprompter. Evidently liberal parents don't get tired of having their children learn vulgar words from their highest officials. Kind of makes you long for a good old fashioned Bill Clinton joke.

Which bring's me to the story below...