Another Week, Another Faux Pas

And so it goes.

More presidential nominations withdrawn. More international offenses given (this from the President who was going to 'revitalize' (or should we say 'reset') our relations overseas). Perhaps the mistranscription of the the Russian word for 'reset' as 'overcharge' is highly appropriate, especially in light of the 'stimulus' porkage, er , package. One wonders which heads rolled over that. At least Hillary had grace under pressure, and made a laugh of it (at Obama's expense?).

The lapdog 5th Estate is beginning to get a tad uneasy. As are a number of prominent Democrats. And if the Republicans can either transform Steele or discard him and find someone to better serve, then they may truly become a phoenix rising from the ashes. Time will tell. Between Obama's seeming lack of competence and Steele's foot in mouth disease, one wonders (and remember, I hailed the selection of Steele!). Maybe the education revolution that moved away from the three R's and competition is bearing it's bitter fruit in our 'rising, new' national leadership? Lots of self esteem and no common sense and poor judgement to boot. But wait, it'll all resolve after the commercial. Isn't every (TV) problem solved in 48 minutes of air time, or less?

In the meantime, North Korea has moved to a war footing, and other than one day of alarming press coverage...who is taking notice?

Stay tuned.

M.C.

SPOON Fed!

New ideas! Change! In spite of President Obama's promises for changing the way 'Washington' does business, even I never imagined he'd go this far!

Pundits galore declaim how aweful (sic on purpose) the last two weeks have been for our new President, as nominee after nominee comes up with undisclosed tax problems.

One wonders: "How can Team Obama be doing such a lousy job of screening the candidates? How embarrassing for the President!"

Except- they aren't/it isn't. It's part of The Plan to stimulate the economy. Known as:

Stimulus Plan of Obama Nominees- SPOON.

Get it?

How wonderfully inventive and out of the box. Look at all the hundreds of thousands of dollars the President has pumped back into the economy by deliberately selecting candidates who have past tax liabilities, that, upon public disclosure, have to be paid up as a price of admission to whichever position they have been nominated for.

Brilliant!

Except...

It hasn't quite worked out that way, nomination wise---tax collection wise yes, but...

Bill Richardson should have been a warning shot across the bow that the 'strategy' needed some fine tuning. But, in spite of 'tax issues', the President got a few past the nomination process, then the whole thing went on the rocks. Great idea, although, it's more the quantity and frequency that is 'new' for this type of 'problem'. On the upside, the SPOON extends even to family members (Hilda Solis's husband). And the Daschle approach (tax on 'freebies') was really a nice touch.

But, hey...isn't this a variation on pay to play? We guess the Washington version isn't working any better than the Chicago Way.

Let's see how "Treasury Tim" plays out...maybe he is leading by example? (Irony detectors on, please).

MC

New World Order

Well, shortly, it will be out with the Trilateralists and the like and in with...what? According to recent press reports, it appears that President-Elect Obama is building a coalition government. But this coalition is unlike any seen before in this country.

Carol Browner, the Obama Climate Change 'Czar', formerly DEP Secretary in Florida a few administrations ago and subsequently EPA Secretary in the Clinton administration, has been revealed as a member of the Socialist International! Any mention of this was immediately disappeared down the memory hole by removal of Ms. Browner's name from the SI website once the 'word' was out (although there is still a picture on the site, as of yesterday, of Ms. Browner receiving an award). Interestingly, references to Ms. Browner also disappeared from the Gore and Audubon websites. The old Clinton memory hole is at work in these modern times! Tepid efforts at mitigation were mentioned in some reports, such as "even Tony Blair" is a Socialist. Interesting. The mention is sanitized from the SI and fellow traveler websites but, then the now 'non-existent' Socialist membership is defended. Mixed signals and opinions, one supposes.

Further to the point, Hilda Solis, Labor Secretary nominee has apparently been outed as either a member of, or associated with, the CPUSA. That's right- the Communist Party of the United States. Hmm, sorta makes sense, Labor Secretary and all that. Marx would think it apropos.

And, in the related and always interesting field of Democratic nominees gaffes and slip-ups*, it turns out that Obama's nominee for the Treasury post failed to pay quite a few years of self employment taxes until just before he was nominated. This is however not expected to be a problem since he paid them (and the Democrats are in the majority, after all). One wonders---did he not have the money to pay the taxes, and if so, where did the money suddenly come from? Or, if on the other hand, he didn't think he HAD to pay the taxes, what does that say about him as the Treasury nominee? (* Were this a Republican nominee, charges would be
proferred ever after withdrawal---and of course, the Republican nominee would withdraw!)

Of course, Bill Richardson had to withdraw as a nominee due to a 'hiding in plain sight' lingering investigation that the "Obama vetting team" couldn't "see" ( there is more here than meets the eye, don't believe for a second that the Chicago candidate's team didn't know about this!).

One would think that 'nomination confirmation hearings' would imply a fact gathering process and suspension of final opinions or the taking of positions on the matter until the hearings are at least underway, yes? Not for some prominent REPUBLICANS who felt compelled to announce yesterday and today that they will not oppose Eric Holder's nomination as AG. I guess that will be a pro forma hearing? So much for 'Advise and Consent'! I guess 'Loyal Opposition' emphasis on loyal, i.e. lapdog loyal, is the trend with 'pubbies these days?

And one last note, in the 'why was that questions asked department'. Why did Senator Kerry ask Hillary Clinton in her confirmation hearing what she could say to detail how she would ensure (or words to that effect) that the troops are withdrawn, expeditiously, from Iraq?

Isn't her nomination for Secretary of State, not Defense?

Actually, we think her trajectory will be quite a bit different from the current expectations, over time. Keep an eye on Biden and his fortunes, there's a cross current there that will become more apparent as time goes by; more on this topic, another time.

Next time---how so many science fiction novels in the 50's and 60s have scored direct hits on their 'forecasts' for our times! And more of course.

And, so it goes.

Stay tuned.

M.C.