Monica Crowley wrote a thought provoking comparison of George W Bush and Barack Obama that was recently published at http://politicalmavens.com/ She makes her points both eloquently and succinctly and it deserves to be read we have included excerpts below:

Former President George W. Bush re-emerged with his memoir, “Decision Points.” He’s been making the television rounds, and I’ve caught him on Oprah, the Today show, and with Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. In every interview, he is open, warm, honest, engaging, funny, charming—and wise. Yes: wise.

Then she compares the two presidents:

Bush is secure in his decisions, because he believes he was championing individual freedom, both here and abroad. You may take issue with how he did it, but you can’t argue with the man’s fundamental belief that advancing and protecting individual freedom is a noble enterprise.

Obama is secure in his decisions, because he’s a major league narcissist who believes he’s always right, you’re always wrong, and the Nanny State, run by him, knows how to live your life better than you do.

Bush believes in America’s greatness, and not only did he never apologize for it, but he did what he thought best to enhance it.

Obama doesn’t believe in America’s greatness; in fact, he believes the opposite: that we’ve been a force for ill in the world, for which he should profusely apologize and attempt to make “amends.”

When you put Bush next to Obama, the contest isn’t even close. Obama isn’t even in the same league as Bush.

Bush made mistakes. Obama is making cataclysms.

Bush was honored to have been elected president. Obama thinks he’s doing us a favor.

Bush is a class act. Obama is graceless.

In a tale of two presidents, I think the better president—and the better man—is pretty clear.

Please read the entire article at: A Tale of Two Presidents

Approval of Obama drops to 28 percent in new Arizona poll

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Obama Family Dog Flies on His Own Private Plane

The Morning Sentinel, a small paper from the state of Maine, has a travelogue story of the Obama’s vacation in and about Maine today. It has a very interesting little tidbit in it that should enrage every American. It is something that really shows Barack Obama’s arrogance and his obviously assumed air of noblesse oblige.

Among the exciting details of the Obama’s visit to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor is this tidbit:

Arriving in a small jet before the Obamas was the first dog, Bo, a Portuguese water dog given as a present by the late U.S. Sen Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.…

As the rest of us toil on the unemployment line, as millions of Americans find their retirement accounts dwindling, their hours at work cut, and their pay scale trimmed, King Barack and Queen Michelle are flying their little doggie, Bo, on his own special jet airplane for his own little vacation adventure.

Well, it must be nice to be able to afford to fly your doggie about the country whenever you feel like it. It must be nice to hire people to act as your dog’s escort. It must be comforting to know that you have the power to arrange such luxury for a dog.

Please Read More Here…

I am having a very difficult time understanding many of my “fellow Americans”.

I look around me and see the “American Way” quickly becoming something I am less than proud of.   I see that corruption in our federal government has risen to extreme levels that I never thought possible.

Radicals, socialists, communists, crooks, thugs and automatons pervade the highest levels of our government.

I see a huge power shift from the people to our corrupt government.

I see Black Panther bullies given a pass for outlandish intimidation of voters at a polling place.  By the way, my concern has NOTHING to do with race, it has only to do with America and our law.  I wonder how Mr. Holder would have handled guys in white sheets intimidating black voters in Mississippi?  (I would hope he would stow them under the jail as he should have done with the Panthers. Now I have insulted both the panthers and the clan.)

I see a health care law enacted that creates many more problems than it solves and a US Army unit training in Georgia to handle “domestic unrest” with in our own borders.

I see terrorists being called ill instead of hateful and Americans who cherish traditional American values being ridiculed and mocked.

I see presidential promises broken with a wink instead of an apology (and America winks back).

Speaking of apologies, I see POTUS apologizing to the world for everything that is good in America.

I see our government trashing our relationships with our closest allies and sucking up to those who hate us.

I see our economy being trashed and our children’s future being squandered.

I see what has been a worthless media, rising up and becoming a malignant force that seems to be bent on our destruction.

And our congress! when did it become the enemy of America?

I feel like Rip Van Winkle!

It seems that bad has become the new good and good has become outdated, uncool, and stupid. (Props to Isaiah the Hebrew prophet for warning us this would happen)

The point is, I see these things and think: Germany, circa 1936, Argentina, circa 1955 (or North Korea, circa today).  Whereas, millions of my fellow citizens, see a great new hero who is leading America to its glorious destiny.

And, when I try to talk to one of these citizens who refer to themselves by the euphemism “progressives”,  I begin to see how much trouble we are really in.  Trying to talk to these “progressives” about our founders and the constitution or freedom and its price, is worse than trying to talk to a fence post.  At least the fence post can generally be counted upon to be free from body odor and refrain from spitting on you or clubbing you to death with nonsensical sound bites and mantras.

It is more like trying to teach a pig to fly.  It is a complete waste of time and it annoys the pig.

In reading this, you may conclude that I hate Mr. Obama, but that is not the case.  I hate what he is doing to the America i grew up in.  The one that was created and preserved by the blood and sacrifice of my ancestors.  The one that I have served and struggled to pass on to my posterity.

But I do not hate Barack Obama.

I believe he is simply being himself and doing what he sincerely thinks is best for himself and those he cares about.  There are no surprises with Mr. Obama.  He is exactly what he seemed to be before he was elected and he is behaving exactly as he told us he would (for example: why should he prove he is ineligible for this great job when he can get a pass and keep feeding at the trough?).

When he reminded Republican law-makers that “Elections have consequences” shortly after his inauguration, he was simply setting the tone for his presidency.  He brought his friends and associates with him to Washington just as Jimmy Carter (the last president whose stupidity we almost didn’t survive) did.  It just so happens that rather than being a bunch of “crackers” (and I mean that in the kindest possible way.  Some of my best friends are from Georgia) Obama’s cronies are a bunch of thugs, crooks and radicals (ooops, now I have insulted Chicago).

I don’t hate Barak, I just want the USA to survive him and get back on track.

And I should say this:

Our country has been off track since long before Mr. Obama bounded onto our stage.  In fact, we have been the proverbial “frogs in a pot” for decades.

We have been steadily pursuing a slide down the slippery slope we started in 1962 when prayer was first banned in schools.  This slide was certainly accelerated in the decade beginning in 1965 during which we sacrificed 50,000 American lives in a futile war in Vietnam for which we had no clearly defined objective and no commitment to “win” (whatever that meant to the politicians), then again in 1973 when Roe v. Wade paved the way for the legal slaughter of over 40,000,000 unborn babies so far.

I thought the slide was over when Ronald Reagan was Elected in 1980.  Unfortunately, that merely just a pleasant delay, but it made me feel optimistic about our country again after the Carter fiasco…er… administration.

When you think about it, If the Obama regime serves as a wake up call to a sleeping American populace (who have been enjoying the warming water in the pot for at least five decades) before we actually boil to death, Mr. Obama could be the best thing that has happened to America in fifty years!

Columnist Larry Elder published a thought provoking article at http://www.JewishWorldReview.com entitled: “President Obama, Make the Case for Afghanistan — or Get Out”.  In it, he makes THE important point regarding any war to be fought by US troops:  If the US is not TOTALLY committed to win a war, it is immoral to ask the youth of our nation to leave their homes and risk all to pursue it.

Evidently, we did not learn that important lesson for which we paid 50,000 precious American lives (not to mention most of our country’s global credibility) in Vietnam.  Our government owes the American people, particularly those who are sent to fight this war:

1. A clearly defined objective  What does “winning” this war actually mean?
2. A total commitment to “win” this war as quickly possible with the minimum loss of American lives.
3. Or, in the alternative, Immediate withdrawal.

Excerpts from Mr. Elder’s commentary:

We need “a warrior,” not “a flower child.”
The anguished mother of an American soldier killed in Afghanistan said this about President Barack Obama. She objects to the rules of engagement, which she feels caused her son’s death. The recent Rolling Stone piece on the former Afghanistan commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, showed widespread troop disapproval of these rules, designed to minimize civilian casualties but which increase the danger to coalition soldiers in the field.
But this is the mindset of Obama.

As a candidate for president, Obama criticized President George W. Bush for “wrongly” taking the nation to war in Iraq and thus “neglecting” Afghanistan. Then President Obama spent months deciding whether to agree to the 40,000 additional troops requested by McChrystal, whom Obama appointed after firing his successor. Reportedly, the general wanted 80,000 more troops but scaled it down after fierce resistance. And Obama agreed to a goal of recruiting and training approximately 250,000 Afghan troops and police, well short of the 400,000 requested by McChrystal.

Finally agreeing to an increase of 30,000 troops, Obama simultaneously announced that in July 2011, troops will begin coming home. Afghan political analyst Ahmad Sayedi predicted this announcement would embolden Afghan terrorists: “When the USA sets a timeline of 18 months for troop withdraw, this by itself boosts the morale of the opponents and makes them less likely to take any step towards reconciliation.” Sen. John McCain recently said, “You cannot tell the enemy when you’re leaving in warfare and expect your strategy to be able to prevail.”

The “war of necessity” became the schizophrenic war.

How stupid can one administration be????  Commit or get out!

Please enjoy the full article at:

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/elder070110.php3

Thomas Sowell, as usual, cuts through the political demagoguery and CYA positioning surrounding the Gulf oil spill. In a pair of articles published at http://www.JewishWorldReview.com entitled “Oil and Snake Oil” and “Degeneration of Democracy” he calls us back to reason and establishes the central issues for our consideration.

I, personally, find it interesting that through all the rhetoric and finger pointing (which reminds me of my second grade class when our very stern looking teacher steps back into the room after a brief absence and stands glaring with her arms crossed) no one has presented one iota of evidence that BP has done anything illegal. Until that happens, BP must be considered the unfortunate victim of a terrible accident.  (What a concept: innocent until proven guilty!) In which case they are being crucified to help compound their misfortune and provide political currency.

The big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is bad enough in itself. But politics can make anything worse.
Let’s stop and think. Either the government knows how to stop the oil spill or they don’t. If they know how to stop it, then why have they let thousands of barrels of oil per day keep gushing out, for weeks on end? All they have to do is tell BP to step aside, while the government comes in to do it right.
If they don’t know, then what is all this political grandstanding about keeping their boot on the neck of BP, the Attorney General of the United States going down to the Gulf to threaten lawsuits— on what charges was unspecified— and President Obama showing up in his shirt sleeves?
Just what is Obama going to do in his shirt sleeves, except impress the gullible? He might as well have shown up in a tuxedo with white tie, for all the difference it makes.
This government is not about governing. It is about creating an impression. That worked on the campaign trail in 2008, but it is a disaster in the White House, where rhetoric is no substitute for reality.
If the Obama administration was for real, and trying to help get the oil spill contained as soon as possible, the last thing its Attorney General would be doing is threatening a lawsuit. A lawsuit is not going to stop the oil, and creating a distraction can only make people at BP start directing their attention toward covering themselves, instead of covering the oil well.
If and when the Attorney General finds that BP did something illegal, that will be time enough to start a lawsuit. But making a public announcement at this time accomplishes absolutely nothing substantive. It is just more political grandstanding.
This is not about oil. This is about snake oil.

~~~~~AND~~~~~

Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.
And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Many among the public and in the media may think that the issue is simply whether BP’s oil spill has damaged many people, who ought to be compensated. But our government is supposed to be “a government of laws and not of men.” If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion– or $50 billion or $100 billion– then so be it.
But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without “due process of law.” Technically, it has not been confiscated by Barack Obama, but that is a distinction without a difference.
With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution.

If you believe that the end justifies the means, then you don’t believe in Constitutional government. And, without Constitutional government, freedom cannot endure. There will always be a “crisis”– which, as the president’s chief of staff has said, cannot be allowed to “go to waste” as an opportunity to expand the government’s power.
That power will of course not be confined to BP or to the particular period of crisis that gave rise to the use of that power, much less to the particular issues.

Please enjoy both commentaries in their entirety at:

Oil and Snake Oil

and:

Degeneration of Democracy

Nationally syndicated radio host and bestselling author, Monica Crowley, has published a thought provoking article at politicalmavens.com entitled “McChrystal Goes Rogue — Again”

Shortly after President Obama assumed the Commander-in-Chief duties, he retired the existing commanding general in Afghanistan and hand-picked his successor: General Stanley McChrystal. McChystal was always known as a brash and outspoken military man, an expert in counterinsurgency, greatly respected by the troops under his command, and as having little patience for fools.

His requirement to have to answer to Obama, then, was a trainwreck waiting to happen.

Last year, McChrystal made no secret of his desire to have as many as 80,000 additional troops to press the fight in Afghanistan. He went to the press to state that objective and to dismiss those, like VP Joe Biden, who opposed any kind of surge.

…while McChrystal was right on policy (never commit militarily to an operation without committing overwhelming force and having a clear plan), he was wrong to go public …

Today… McChrystal is being recalled  … to explain disrespectful comments he and his aides made to Rolling Stone magazine about Obama, Biden, other top national security officials, and the war strategy. Once again, McChrystal is right on policy (Obama is a destructive, disengaged, uninterested fool whose withdrawal timetable and ridiculous hamstringing rules of engagement are costing us lives and progress), but he was wrong to go public with that criticism.

~~~~~

But there are 2 big points to consider as this story unfolds:

1. McChyrstal is a four star general, graduate of West Point, has extensive combat experience and a chest full of medals. In other words, he knows what he’s doing. This was NOT a mistake. These comments were not “off the cuff” or limited to just one or two flippant remarks. And the interview was deliberately given to far-Left, anti-war Rolling Stone. None of this was a coincidence.

That can only mean one thing: that McChrystal is playing a game of chicken with Obama. He was daring Obama to respond. Obama runs a huge risk if he fires him. If the war goes under, it’ll be Obama’s fault for firing an insubordinate and prickly but effective general. If he doesn’t fire him, he may look weak and McChrystal will likely feel freer to do what he needs to do to win on the battlefield. Either way: McChrystal has made his point.

2. Many are asking today: Does Obama still have the necessary trust and confidence in McChrystal? I think the more appropriate and important question is: Does McChrystal have ANY trust and confidence in the Commander-in-Chief?

Please read the entire article and other interesting commentary at:

http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2010/06/22/mcchrystal-goes-rogue-again/

Obama on Oil Spill: ‘There’s Been a Relentless Response to This Crisis From Day One’

Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Burning should have started a week ago, former NOAA official says

Obama too slow to act in dealing with oil spill

U.S. Missed Chances to Act on Oil Spill

Obama the top recipient of donations from BP

Obama’s Katrina: an Illustrated Timeline

Despite plan, not a single fire boom on hand on Gulf Coast at time of oil spill

BP: Accident Caused by ‘Failed Piece of Equipment’

Holder Dispatches Team of Lawyers to Oil Spill

Obama Administration Presses BP to Settle Oil Spill Cleanup Costs

Obama Jumps Into 2010 Race With Appeal to Latinos, African-Americans, Women and Youth

President Obama left white, middle-age male voters in his rear-view mirror Monday in launching his first midterm election pitch, calling on “young people, African Americans, Latinos and women” to deliver for Democrats in November.

In a video to supporters, Obama urged those who helped get him elected in 2008 not to abandon Democrats in an election year that is shaping up to take a chunk out of the Democratic majority in Congress.

Please Read More Here…

The President’s “loopy logic” regarding the criteria for judging the success or failure of health reform circles back to bite him in the glutes. First, he talks about the critics saying:

The same folks who were hollering about it (Health Care Bill) before it passed, they’re still hollering about how the world will end because we passed this bill. This is not an exaggeration. John Boehner called the passage of this bill Armageddon.

He had others who said, “this is the end of freedom as we know it.” So after I signed the bill, I looked around. I looked up at the sky to see if asteroids were coming. I looked at the ground to see if cracks had opened up in the earth. You know what, it turned out that it’s a pretty nice day. Birds were still chirping. Folks were strolling down the street. Nobody had lost their doctor. Nobody had pulled the plug on Granny. Nobody was being dragged away to be forced into some government run health care plan.

He jokingly says that “after I signed the bill, I looked around” and observed that the world was not yet ending. His point here is that nothing bad had happened yet.

Then he says,

But the thing is though, you have to love some of the pundits in Washington. Every single day since I signed the reform law, there’s been another poll or headline said, “Nation Still Divided on Health Care Reform.”

Polls have not changed yet. Well yea!… it just happened last week. It’s only been a week.

His point to his critics here is that it’s only been a week; that you have to wait until we see the benefits.

To sum it up, the President says give the health care bill enough time to work while at the same time he claims that Armageddon has not happened yet, Granny is not being unplugged, etc.

To that we say, “It’s only been a week, Mr. President; give it some time to fail.” Granny, don’t relax yet!

You can watch the video here:

Cato Experts Analyze the State of the Union

Erick Erickson posted the following for redstate.com

Barack Obama LIED!:

Tonight, Barack Obama said, “To close that credibility gap we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; and to give our people the government they deserve.

“That’s what I came to Washington to do. That’s why – for the first time in history – my Administration posts our White House visitors online. And that’s why we’ve excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions.”

Maybe this explains why his national security policies are so weak. He put William Lynn in the Pentagon as Deputy Defense Secretary. Mr. Lynn was a lobbyist for Defense Contractor Ratheon. I guess the Deputy Defense Secretary is not a policy-making job.

But it is not just Lynn.

• Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm [now confirmed].
• Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.
• William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.
• William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.
• David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.
• Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.
• Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.
• Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.
• Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
• Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.
• Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.
• Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

After Obama rips lobbyists, K St. insiders get private briefings

A day after bashing lobbyists, President Barack Obama’s administration has invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday’s State of the Union.

The Treasury Department on Thursday morning invited selected individuals to “a series of conference calls with senior Obama administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of the Union address.”

Please Read More Here…

“K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. known for the numerous think tanks, lobbyists, and advocacy groups that exercise influence from its location.” Source: K Street (Washington, D.C.)

Less mouth, more math: Obama’s State of the Union is proof he needs to look at the numbers