Um What?

Uproar Over Federal Drilling Leases Next To Parks

SALT LAKE CITY -- The view of Delicate Arch natural bridge -- an unspoiled landmark so iconic it's on Utah's license plates -- could one day include a drilling platform under a proposal that environmentalists call a Bush administration "fire sale" for the oil and gas industry.
Late on Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of Arches National Park and two other redrock national parks in Utah: Dinosaur and Canyonlands.
The National Park Service's top official in the state calls it "shocking and disturbing" and says his agency wasn't properly notified. Environmentalists call it a "fire sale" for the oil and gas industry by a departing administration.
Officials of the BLM, which oversees millions of acres of public land in the West, say the sale is nothing unusual, and one is "puzzled" that the Park Service is upset.

So what, we can't build anything NEAR parks now? Why? Cause we can't ruin "the view". I could understand if this was in the park or something, but saying that "it can be seen from the park" is irrelevant. The park is the only protected land...the other federally owned lands are not.

Why do we care what the parks department thinks about this? Clearly Kansas should get a say in Missouri matters which are "close" or "within vision" or "within a mile" or whatever of their border. Maybe they should even have a say in Kansas City, MO, since it has their name.

Of course, it's just one more excuse for environmentalists to oppose growth, or "that thar evil oil". It's one more excuse for the beaurocracy of the Parks department to grow and get more power. And it's one last excuse for the left to call Bush a nazi monster on his way out.

Um What?

Tolerance on Display

Sad that a 14 year old gets it when so many adults don't:

As the media keeps gushing on about how America has finally adopted tolerance as the great virtue, and that we're all united now, let's consider the Brave Catherine Vogt Experiment.
Catherine Vogt, 14, is an Illinois 8th grader, the daughter of a liberal mom and a conservative dad. She wanted to conduct an experiment in political tolerance and diversity of opinion at her school in the liberal suburb of Oak Park.
So just before the election, Catherine consulted with her history teacher, then bravely wore a unique T-shirt to school and recorded the comments of teachers and students in her journal. The T-shirt bore the simple yet quite subversive words drawn with a red marker:
"McCain Girl."
"I was just really curious how they'd react to something that different, because a lot of people at my school wore Obama shirts and they are big Obama supporters," Catherine told us. "I just really wanted to see what their reaction would be."
"People were upset. But they started saying things, calling me very stupid, telling me my shirt was stupid and I shouldn't be wearing it," Catherine said.
"One person told me to go die. It was a lot of dying. A lot of comments about how I should be killed," Catherine said, of the tolerance in Oak Park.
One student suggested that she be put up on a cross for her political beliefs.
Other entries in her notebook involved suggestions by classmates that she be "burned with her shirt on" for "being a filthy-rich Republican."
Some said that because she supported McCain, by extension she supported a plan by deranged skinheads to kill Obama before the election.

The Politics of Tolerance has been illusory at best. And all of us who have not supported the messiah have been slandered like this.

Since Barack is a "new" politician, any criticism of him has been labelled "divisive", "mean", or downright "raaaaaaacist". His supporters have been fanatics in exporting his "change", by force if neccessary!

Behind each one of these violent little Obama "change thugs", is a big violent Obama supporting "change thug" no doubt. Political stupidity in children comes from political stupidity in parents.

We have 4 years of this crap to look forward to.

Why is This News?

In a dog bites man story:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) – Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but lives as a man in Oregon after surgery and hormone treatment, is expecting a second child, Beatie has told Barbara Walters in an interview set to air on television on Friday.
Beatie, 34, who is legally a man but kept female reproductive organs when he had a sex-change operation 10 years ago, is in his first trimester of pregnancy, he told celebrity interviewer Walters for the ABC news program "20/20" that will air on November 14. Walters highlighted the interview on her daytime chat show, "The View," on Thursday.

When you cut through all the politically correct BS...what you have is "Woman Gets Pregnant". But because she had her breasts removed, we act like it's a medical miracle. Ridiculous.

Some Things Just Make You Shake Your Head

What the hell is wrong with some people?

To the state's surprise and embarrassment, more than half of the 31 children legally abandoned under the safe-haven law since it took effect in mid-July have been teenagers.
But state officials may have inadvertently made things worse with their hesitant response to the problem: The number of drop-offs has almost tripled to about three a week since Gov. Dave Heineman announced on Oct. 29 that lawmakers would rewrite the law.
...
The safe-haven law was intended to save "Dumpster babies" by allowing desperate young mothers to abandon their newborns at a hospital without fear of prosecution. But lawmakers could not agree on an age limit, and the law as passed uses only the word "child."
All states have safe-haven laws, but in every state but Nebraska, the law applies to infants only.

The law of unintended consequences strikes again!

Lawmakers were warned what would happen when this law passed, but, in typical politician fashion, they thought they knew better. As often happens, when politicians try to solve a problem, they end up making things worse.

But the money quote:

"These are largely families at a point of incredible desperation," said Wayne Sensor, chief executive of Alegent Health. "They aren't bad parents or bad kids. They simply don't know what services are available out there."

Yes, Mr. Sensor. These ARE bad parents. There's something wrong with our society when we refuse to condemn a parent who abandons their child as a bad parent.

So What About that Bin Ladin Guy?

Apparently, he's been pretty effectively marginilized:

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Osama bin Laden remains deeply isolated and has been forced to devote much of his energy to his own security, while his Al-Qaeda terror network remains resilient, CIA Director Michael Hayden said in a speech on Thursday.
"He is putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security. In fact, he appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he nominally heads," said Hayden, referring to the Al-Qaeda network.
He suggested that bin Laden was hiding somewhere in the remote Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, where he said Al-Qaeda has regrouped and bolstered its organization.
Hayden described "the sheer challenge of surveying every square mile of that inhospitable and dangerous region," and said "part of the explanation for his survival lies in the fact that he has worked to avoid detection."

The article is a mix of good and bad news, but the important thing to note, which I've said for years, is that taking out Bin Ladin will do virtually nothing in the fight against terrorism. He's been hiding for years, devoting all of his resources to running from the reaper....constantly looking behind to make sure we haven't caught up with him. He has little, if any, real role in the operations, or even the propeganda, of the organization. Yet, they are doing fine without him. Even rebuilding.

Bin Ladin is mostly a figurehead. Yet we've gotten it into our heads that this guy is the be all, end all of terrorism. Finding and killing him would be a huge moral victory for us. But it would also do little to stop terrorism. We were all a twitter when we killed Zarquawi, about how this would be a huge blow to al Quida. And it was...for a day or two. Then they sent in the Egyptian al Masri, and redoubled their efforts. The reality of our fight is complex...but people want simple answers. So we've told everybody that Osama Bin Ladin IS al Quida. It's not even remotely true.

We'd do better getting rid of Zawahiri, al Masri, or al Iraqi. But that's complex, and messy...and people don't have the time or patience for all that.

The Death of the Politics of Change

Not that any of us expected Barack Obama to be an agent of real reform, but the speed at which he's distanced himself from his supposed platform of "hope and change" is amazing.

Within a day of winning the election, Obama picked ultra-partisan Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. In 2006, his message to the Republicans said it all, "Since my kids are gone, I can say it. They can go fuck themselves." Reportedly after Clinton was being investigated, Emanuel stood at a table listing Clinton "betrayers", and jamming the knife into the table after each name, screaming "Dead". Even in the dirty world that is Washington politics, Rahm stands out for his nastiness, for sending rotting fish to his political enemies to make a statement. Both as a Clintonista, and then again as a member of the House, he has been a ruthless, cutthroat advocate for the Democrat party, trying to bury Democrat scandals while overhyping Republican misdeeds. It was under his leadership that the Democrat party rallied around "Cold Cash" Jefferson.

Not to mention, Emanuel was a part of Freddie Mac, one of the government backed agencies that had to be bailed out due to blatant fraud. After leaving the Clinton camp, he had been given this position as a political favor. With Rahm Emanuel's support of the ultra-corrupt Richard Daley, he has helped continue the corrupt "Chicago machine, shaming donors into giving more money and getting his seat as a political kickback, tit for tat. Some have even charged that Daley helped bully Emanuel into power. "The mayor brought out the pay rollers to make sure that Emanuel steamrolled his opposition. I happen to live in the district and I remember the fellows on the sidewalks outside the polling places on Election Day. Beefy boys with thick necks and fat bellies, they passed out palm cards that pretty much said, 'Vote for Emanuel -- or else!'"

Politics of change? Hardly. Emanuel is the epitomy of what everyone hates about Washington.

To be fair, Emanuel could've been a nod to the party, a way to shore up support among the left. Either way he was a poor choice. But in the week he's been in power, it was hardly his only one.

Obama has been strongly considering Robert Kennedy Jr. for the EPA. He has called reporters Glenn Beck and John Stossel who disagree with global warming "corporate toadies." They are "committing treason. They are traitors." He accuses anyone who disagrees with him of being a "paid representative for the oil industries." He has repeatedly demonized those who are in favor of repealing the ban on DDT as "collaborate in drafting legislation to dismantle federal health, safety and environmental laws." For
years, Kennedy blamed Mercury for an increase in autism, citing any study that showed ANY negative effect for mercury. Whether it was narcolepsy or insomnia, autism or ADD, retardation or superhuman intelligence, the study went into a massive pile meant to overwhelm people with more evidence than they could ever go through.

Kennedy is hardly a bi-partisan guy. He's the type who screams fascist, traitor, or murderer at any who even questions (they don't even have to disagree) his narrative. In short he's the kind of guy who the left have been complaining about for years...but he's OK, because he's on their side. Politics of change? Not even close. Kennedy is another partisan hack, as extreme as you get. Not the type to build bridges across the aisle that Obama promises he'll be.

And the hits keep coming. No sooner had the leaks about Kennedy surfaced than it was learned Obama was considering Jamie Gorelick for Attorney General. Gorelick is the poster child for corruption and cronyism, and, if appointed, stands as a rebuke to every promise Obama made in his campaign to "fix Washington". Gorelick has been blamed, unfairly or not, for creating the wall of seperation between FBI and CIA during her role as Deputy Attorney General, which some have charged enabled 9/11. Whether true or not, such involvement should've precluded Gorelick's inclusion in the 9/11 commission. Yet she covered up any involvement of her own while on the committee. Including it's original intention of shielding the Clinton administration from investigation into illegal campaign contributions. Despite having absolutely no financial experience, Gorelick was appointed Vice Chair of Fannie Mae. The financial dealings of Fannie are extremely hard to understand, but the books were extremely cooked. How much of a hand Gorelick had in it, and how extensively she worked with Franklin Raines (another Obama advisor) is hard to tell, but it's not believable that she had no role in the widespread fraud and corruption of Fannie Mae. While Republicans were trying to reform the two government backed industries, Gorelick lied to the American people about the stability of Fannie. Then she walked away, right before a major accounting scandal, with 800 thousand obscenely bulging her pockets. Her overall earnings were 24 million. (17) While many complain about CEO bonuses, ironically, her name never comes up.

To most Americans, it might sound insane that someone with a direct role in the collapse of the housing market, which threatens to kill our economy, would be rewarded. Yet that's exactly what's happening here, as Barack wants to make her one of the most powerful women in the world, after her incompetant and downright criminal actions in the past.

Kent Conrad has also been tapped to have a position. This despite his own set of problems, being involved with Countrywide Mortgages scandal. In return for a special VIP loan, Conrad, along with Chris Dodd, steered a lot of taxpayer money to the corrupt organization. He also backed the bailout bill which partially went to Countrywide.

If that wasn’t enough, as Joe Lieberman fights to keep his committee chair against the Democrat party, angered that he backed John McCain, Obama has kept mum. Is this the spirit of cooperation Obama has promised? Refusing to stand up for a fellow Democrat who simply disagrees on Iraq and Israel? What hope do actual opponents have of hearing
their voice heard by Obama if he won’t even reach out to a man who votes with him about 75-85% of the time?

Refusing to reach out to moderates in his own party? Rejection of those who disagree? Surrounding himself with incompetents, cronies and partisans? He promised us a brand new kind of politics, and instead we get a rehash of the cronyism and corruption of the Clinton years, mixed with the blind partisanship of the far left Pelosi-Reed wing party of the past 8 years. I doubt any of us actually bought into all his promises of hope and change, but I, for one, at least expected him to keep up appearances until he got into office.

But Don't Question Their Patriotism

Even if they refuse to give a soldier a room

A hotel that refused an injured soldier a room, forcing him to spend the night in his car, was backed into issuing a grovelling apology yesterday after receiving a barrage of abusive phone calls.
The Metro Hotel, in Woking, Surrey, called the police as its phone lines were flooded with angry and threatening calls from the public.
The attack on the switchboards came after it emerged that Corporal Tomos Stringer, 24, had been told that it was company policy not to accept members of the Armed forces.
A soldier since the age of 16 and veteran of multiple tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, Corporal Stringer had travelled to Surrey to help with funeral preparations for a friend killed in action.
The corporal, who was not in uniform, presented his warrant card when asked by the hotel for proof of identity. After being refused a room, he had to bed down in his car, with his wrist, broken during a convoy ambush, encased in plaster.

That it's the hotel's policy to shun veterans is shameful. Good for everyone who called in to shame the hotel into an apology.

The Worst Attack on Palin So Far

Not Surprisingly from Planned Parenthood

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As news of the pregnancy of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol makes the headlines, she is coming under attack from backers of pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama. But few have gone as far as former Planned Parenthood president Gloria Feldt, who suggested Palin is making her daughter keep the baby.
"She probably feels powerless right now," Feldt said on Tuesday responding to the news about Bristol Palin.
Feldt said Governor Palin’s pro-life views may have made it so she and her husband Todd prevented Bristol from getting an abortion.
"Because of her family's attitude she probably doesn't feel that she has a choice in terms of what will happen to her,” Feldt said.

Not only is Palin not a woman, she's forcing her child into slavery! /sarcasm

What a twisted worldview. Assuming that the girl looks at her child as a burden and her family is forcing her to have it is a sign of sickness. As the article nicely sums up:

“In Gloria Feldt’s bizarre world, families that cherish children are toxic. If the goal is to reduce the number of abortions, surely the first step is to allow families to love and embrace their children, not reject the weak and inconvenient,” Wright said.

But the goal of Planned Parenthood has never been to reduce abortions. If abortions stop Planned Parenthood goes out of business. These are twisted people who see babies as a curse. As Obama said "I don't want my daughters 'punished' with a baby.

The Question I'm Tired Of Hearing...

Why Not Mitt Romney?

As McCain ran up to his announcement for VP, one of the most absurd demands made on him was that he draft Romney as his vice. Even before the pick was announced, this was a weird rallying cry for conservatives "Romney or bust", but now AFTER the pick, it's utter insanity.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not some huge Palin fan, but Romney? Please.

In order to shore up support with the conservative base that hates him, McCain was going to pick the one man who was to his left on almost every issue? That'd inspire hope in conservatives. And would've ushered in the first ever Democrat 49-1 state sweep ever.

While Romney is charismatic and likable in debates, he's got a record to rival Hillary Clinton in the liberal department. Matched up to Palin, the man looks like a conservative lightweight.

Romney ignored his faith to become the only pro-choice Mormon in history. His support of gay marriage is pretty well documented. He was in favor of McCain's amnesty plan and has never been serious about illegal immigration. His record on taxes is mixed at best, with him STILL refusing to endorce the Bush tax cuts.

And most importantly, while all of his supporters love to credit his private industry successes...as a public official, he almost bankrupted his state with the ridiculoud "Romneycare" proposal, that put Hillary care to shame.

Romney wasn't the worst candidate in the bunch, but any honest supporter has to realize that Romney and McCain was a losing ticket to at least 4 years of Obama.