It’s Obama vs Clinton in New Jersey’s 9th CD
I never really bought into the notion that there’s a friendly peace between the Obamas and the Clintons. Sure, Bill Clinton is campaigning for Obama, Hillary is the Secretary of State, and all appears to be tranquil in Democrat land. But I still don’t buy it.
I’m old enough to remember the political cage-match that was the 2008 Democratic primary, with its ugly charges of racism, the ‘pimping’ of Chelsea, the whole bit. Despite her bitter loss, Hillary still wants to be president, and I have no doubt that she will make another go of it. (I’ll leave the speculation as to whether she replaces Biden on the ticket this year or makes a solid run in 2016, for another time).
All that being said, there’s a literal endorsement battle between the two for Democrat candidates down ticket, one specifically in a congressional race here in New Jersey:
A top Obama campaign adviser is taking sides in a member-versus-member primary in New Jersey, with senior adviser David Axelrod set to campaign for Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), according to a national Democratic aide.
Rothman faces Rep. Bill Pascrell in a North Jersey district that was merged by redistricting.
[…]
Bill Clinton endorsed Pascrell this month, making this race the seventh in which he has supported a Hillary-endorsing candidate against an Obama backer.
The Pascrell campaign thinks so highly of Clinton, he made it to their latest campaign ad:
For what it’s worth, Pascrell’s district is a predominantly middle class, blue collar constituency, whereas Rothman’s former district included a sizable portion of the more affluent Bergen County which is closer to Manhattan, consisting of upper-middle class NYC commuters, and a growing immigrant population. Demographically, there’s a noticeable difference between the two, but both districts are solid blue Democrat.
And then there’s this–a source I know with knowledge of the Pascrell campaign implied that there was a financial strain on both camps because of the redistricting fight, but acknowledged the Pascrell got “a boost from the Clinton endorsement,” adding “…[Clinton’s] favorables are much better than Obama, even in the cities.”
The primary’s on June 5th, and I’m thinking Pascrell wins the district, based on the demographics I mentioned and it could very well be that the Clinton endorsement puts him over the top. I’d be interested to see how the other Obama vs Clinton endorsements in other CDs go, and I’m sure the Obama campaign will be keeping an eye on that as well.
The great Nor’easter of 2011
Okay, 2011 has seen many “great” storms, including the blizzards earlier in the year. But yesterday’s storm dumped about 3-4 inches of global warming onto central Jersey, and today was just warm enough to melt most of it away, creating miles of heavy, wet slush throughout the area. My friends and family in Northern Jersey were the hardest hit however, with over 6 inches in most areas (and over a foot in Sussex County).
With one of the earliest snowstorms on record (early being late October), piling snow onto trees which are still laden with leaves, which have only just recently begun to turn, the biggest danger we’ve had has been snapping trees and tree branches. Thanks to that, power is out all over the state.
During the warmer months, and into the fall, and before after daylight savings time, I usually forgo the gym for walking and hiking. I really enjoy the seclusion and austerity of an hour-or-so walk. Roosevelt Park is somewhat close to my home and one of its great features is a 3+ mile hiking trail, which includes a paved walkway for about a quarter of the trail, and forest trails for the remainder.
This morning I bundled up to take a walk in the brisk post-storm air (sunny and upper 40s most of the day today) to find that the Nor’easter did a job on the trail that would make any landscaper proud. The trail already took a hit with Hurricane Irene this past August, and now even more damage was done. I took some photos with my iPhone.
Upon entering the trail:
Amazing how this happened:
In the following shot, you can see a stream. Up until August, you couldn’t see it from the the trail path. After Irene, it was partially visible. This morning, it’s in plain sight:
More ruined trees:
Finally, you can’t make it out to well, but here is significant damage to the trail which all but blocked the path:
Harry Reid: Private sector employment is ‘fine’
The irresponsible leader of the irresponsible Democrat majority in the US Senate:
James Sherk clarifies:
Senator Reid is not just mistaken; he has his facts exactly backwards. If the recession has barely touched one sector of the economy, it is government. Since the recession began in December 2007 the private sector shed 6.3 million net jobs, while government payrolls are down by just 392,000.
That amounts to a 5.4 percent drop in private sector employment, while government employment has slipped only one-third as much (1.8 percent). Education-related government jobs have fallen even less, down 1.4 percent.
The majority of the American unemployed, those not employed by the public sector, will be glad to know that their Senate leaders are completely clueless about what’s going on in the real world.
More on Steve Jobs
He left a personal fortune of approximately $6 billion and, interestingly, the bulk of his net worth was not in Apple, but rather his holdings of Disney and Pixar.
And, he appeared to be a relatively practical individual:
Jobs did not part with money easily, as he showed in June when he rejected a Cupertino City Council request for something extra for approving Apple’s new headquarters.
City council member Kris Wang jokingly asked the mogul at the time, “Do we get free Wi-Fi or something like that?”
Jobs replied, “Well, see, I’m a simpleton. I’ve always had this view that we pay taxes and the city should do those things.”
Democrats have their Wall Street cake, and eat it too.
This is certainly not surprising to learn, but it is amazing that Democrats are always this brazen about their hypocrisy:
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said taking money from a group doesn’t equate to supporting them. “It’s what you fight for and how you vote, it always has been,” Kerry said in a recent interview. “It’s hard to run for office and not have somebody in some sector or some industry have contributed to you; but the question is, are you voting commonsense and values and for the interests of the people, broadly?”
See? It’s ok to pander for money from greedy, Wall Street 1%-types, who, say some OWS clowns, should be executed, and throw them under the bus while on the campaign trail at the same time.
It’s also OK for Senator Kerry to dock his boat in Rhode Island to avoid his state’s onerous luxury yacht taxes. It’s all for the betterment of Massachusetts voters, and Americans in general. So, when will you ignorant Tea Partiers stop being such rubes?
Remembering Steve Jobs
I’m still sifting through all of the remembrances and recollections about Steve Jobs since his passing last week, and here’s a bit of one that stuck out:
One of Jobs’s many gifts was that he knew what to give a shit about. He knew how to focus and prioritize his time and attention.
That would strike me as being true about most successful entrepreneurs and innovators.
This past weekend, I made a trip to the Berkshire mountains in western Massachusetts to take advantage of the long weekend, so I kind of unplugged myself from everything and tried to relax.
Yesterday, the Steve Jobs news really hit me upon waking into a Barnes & Noble, with all of this week’s news magazines were on the racks, with several of them featuring Jobs’ likeness on their covers.
Long weekend time
It’s a three day weekend, so me and the signifcant other are packing up the car and headed to western Massachusetts, the Berkshires to be exact. As of right now, we should be driving up I-95.
Normally it’s supposed to be in the 50-60 degree range up there, but this weekend is supposed to be sunny and unusually warm–more like low 70s. Hopefully, I can get to relax and recharge from an anxious, stressful few weeks. And some nice New England foliage won’t hurt. To wit:
Occupy Wall Street to lawmakers: “Time to kill the wealthy”
The leftist MoveOn.org/union-sponsored Occupy Wall Street crowd is doubling down on the anger:
Several influential New York lawmakers have received threatening emails saying it is “time to kill the wealthy” if they don’t renew the state’s tax surcharge on the millionaires, according to reports.
“It’s time to tax the millionaires!” reads the email, according to WTEN in Albany. “If you don’t, I’m going to pay a visit with my carbine to one of those tech companies you are so proud of and shoot every spoiled Ivy League [expletive] I can find.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos reportedly received the email, as did Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari. The governor’s office did not tell the New York Daily News whether the governor himself received the email.
The email, with the threatening subject line of, “time to kill the wealthy,” was detailed and disturbing.
“How hard is it for us to stake out one of the obvious access roads to some tech company, tail an employee home and toss a liquor bottle full of flaming gasoline through their nice picture window into their cute house,” wrote the author of the email.
The email references terminology that has been used in the “Occupy Wall Street” movement – that of 1 percent super-rich exploiting the remaining 99 percent of Americans. The angry message demanded that Albany politicians “stop shoveling wealth from the lower 99% into the top 1%” and “set aside your ‘no new taxes on anybody’ pledge.” […]
“You’re going to do [renew the surcharge], or we are going to sow the kind of choas [sic] you are unequipped to deal with,” the email said. “And you’re going to find yourself in a country where you and your wealthy friends are gonig [sic] to be hunted.”
But this is not class warfare. No. That’s legitimate protesting right there.
Question for those Democrats in Congress who have not yet supported this protest–will you be denouncing the vagrants at Occupy Wall Street now, or after blood is shed?
Andrew Sullivan can’t help himself
On a night when the news of Steve Jobs’ passing and Sarah Palin’s announcement not to run for president take place within two hours of each other, he chimes in comparing the two:
It’s a fitting comparison: achievement versus resentment, creativity versus narcissism, hope versus fear. I know which one will get the bigger headlines tomorrow. And there is some comfort in knowing it will pain her.
Yeah, Steve Jobs will be getting the headlines tomorrow, Andrew. The man just passed away after a life of changing the very fabric of our lives through technological innovations, the founder and leader of one of the most powerful companies in the world.
Palin merely announced she wasn’t running for office. One definitely takes precedent over the other in the news cycle. This, despite the importance that you, yourself, and your psychotic, obsessive ramblings about Palin and her uterus have placed on her.
The weed and the meds take its toll on the normalcy of the brain, Andrew. Stay classy.
Steve Jobs RIP
Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs had a vision and passion for his life and changed the world more than he could’ve imagined.
Senator Dick Durbin to Bank of America customers: “Get the hell out of that bank…”
Ladies and gentlemen, the second in command of the United States Senate:
Holding up a plastic debit card on the Senate floor this afternoon, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had some advice for Bank of America customers angry about the new $5 monthly fee: leave.
“Bank of America customers, vote with your feet, get the heck out of that bank,” Durbin said on the Senate floor. “Find yourself a bank or credit union that won’t gouge you for $5 a month and still will give you a debit card that you can use every single day. What Bank of America has done is an outrage.”
Durbin said consumers are rightfully outraged about last week’s announcement.
“It is hard to believe that a bank would impose such a fee on loyal customers who simply are trying to access their own money on deposit at Bank of America,” he said. “Especially when Bank of America for years has been encouraging their customers to use debit cards as much as possible.”
Most basic checking accounts at Bank of America will see a 40 percent jump in monthly costs and the bank says the debit fee will be waived for customers who upgrade to “premium” accounts that require higher minimum balances.
The Dodd-Frank financial law this month lowers “interchange fees” that banks can charge retailers for debit transactions. Fees for retailers will shrink from 44 cents to a cap of 24 cents, which has led some debit card issuers to seek other ways to make up that lost revenue. Some people have blamed Durbin for his amendment, which capped the so-called swipe fees that banks can charge retailers.
You read that correctly. Senator Durbin is encouraging a run on the largest holder of cash deposits in the country. Am I the only one that finds this disturbing? This, in addition to the fact that Dick Durbin is entirely to blame for the amendment to the Dodd-Frank monstrosity which forced the bank’s hand in the first place?
Is anyone surprised? This is class warfare–pitting one group of citizens against another. But then again, it’s part of the weaponry there at the Democrat party.
AG Holder lied to Congress on Fast and Furious
New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious guns operation as far back as July of 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.
On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, “I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.”
In Fast and Furious, ATF agents allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to cross the border and fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. It’s called letting guns “walk,” and it remained secret to the public until Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered last December. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene. And ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation.
Corruption abounds in this White House and the media is complicit in trying to hide it all.
Autumn is here
September is usually a month of cooling down, switching gears to the fall, which happens to be my favorite season right now. Since August however, the weather here in Central Jersey has been an alternating mix of hazy, muggy days and rain. Lots of warm rainfall.
Today we actually got a respite from that, as the midday temps dropped to around 70, and a cool, steady drizzle was falling as I write this. Today felt like fall (still no sun) and this morning, looking out from my porch, I saw this:
tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler, so here’s hoping that we maintain some fall-ish weather.
Speaking of fall, it was in the fall of 1966 that the Beatles embarked on a mini-vacation from being Beatles, and enjoyed time on their own for those two months. George Harrison took off to India for about four weeks. And speaking of George, here’s the trailer for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming biopic of my favorite Beatle, which looks nothing short of awesome:
The bell tolls for the Eurozone
The situation there is grim, and the financial and social systems there are buckling:
The worst nightmares of […] Euroskeptics have been exceeded. The United States carried the luxury-goods industries of France and Italy and the engineered-products industries of Germany on its back for decades, but it will not and cannot do it anymore. Decline is reversible; more complicated is a death wish as thoroughly installed in the attitudes and practices of whole peoples as that of most of Europe.
If Europe cannot spark a demographic renewal, with a work force comprising fully half the people, flexible labor markets, tax rates that encourage savings and investment, an end to stealthily galloping inflation, and a reactivation of the economic and military muscle that alone confer credibility, it will quietly perish.
These are the results of cradle-to-grave statism, and Euro-socialist economic policies. There is no reason why this cannot happen here in the United States, in fact it probably already is happening. The laws of economics and common sense apply in our country as well as in Europe.
Priebus sticks it to clueless Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, the Democrats and President Obama
His name definitely isn’t Michael Steele:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus mocked President Barack Obama’s 2008 election slogan Sunday, arguing it won’t pass the smell test with voters in 2012.
“It sounds like the new slogan is no longer ‘hope and change’,” Priebus said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “It’s, ‘Hey, it could’ve been worse’. Great bumper sticker, Debbie. I hope it works for you.”
Priebus was speaking to his counterpart at the Democratic National Committee, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was with him in the joint interview.
An aggressive Priebus also said that Wasserman Schultz’s talking points had already been proven false, referencing the recent GOP victory in New York’s special House election.
“This has already been tested in a Democratic district. These talking points have been tested, and they’re losing. They’re imploding,” he said during their animated exchange.
The exchange begins at about 4:15 in the following clip, but the whole thing is worth watching.
Notice how the Democrat plan of attack seems to have fallen back to blame Bush, then blame Bush some more. With a disastrous three years of Democrats running the federal government, this is all they have–there is no positive record to speak of, a fact that Priebus is willing to point out.
Keep in mind, Mrs. Shultz also said this earlier this year, which Republicans should be repeating over and over.
Moreover, its good to see some in the Republican party finally have the guts strike back at Democrats and their lame talking points, and go on the offensive.
Herman Cain wins Florida straw poll
Businessman Herman Cain won the Florida straw poll Saturday, beating Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the GOP presidential frontrunner who just two days earlier delivered a debate performance that was widely panned.
Cain finished with 37 percent of the vote, while Perry trailed with 15 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney followed with 14 percent while former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum drew 11 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul finished with 10.5 percent, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman finished with 2 percent.
Congratulations to Herman Cain, and to Jon Huntsman who came in with 2%–which is 1 point higher than Michelle Bachmann, whose campaign is all but finished at this point.
All joking aside, it ‘s an impressive result for Cain, but we can’t make much of it until further polling data confirms Cain’s actual standing among the candidates. I’m curious to see how the next few weeks pan out, but it seems as if Republican voters are sick and tired of the Romney vs. Perry bitch-fest. Romney is a non-starter for so many grassroots conservatives, and Perry’s star seems to flame out the more they learn about him. Nobody really knows at this point.
My guess is that voters are still not impressed with the current batch of contenders. No candidate is ever without flaws, but I’m getting the feeling that voters seem to think that these individual flaws are not mitigated by big enough plusses.
Nevertheless, a big congratulations is in order for Herman Cain–excellent work in making this silly season especially more entertaining.
Meanwhile, you know who this really helps? Stacy McCain. He hasn’t been on the Cain bandwagon—he’s been the coach driver.
End of the world?
Probably not, but a NASA satellite is about to come crashing down to earth:
The six-ton satellite circles the Earth on a tilted orbit, and as the planet turns each day, different locations pass underneath. The satellite’s orbit on Friday afternoon will not take it over any part of North America, but by Saturday, parts of the United States will again be in its path. […] At least 26 pieces, the largest 330 pounds, are expected to survive the plunge and land along a path 500 miles long.
Not to worry, as it’s happened before:
NASA satellites also receive considerably more attention when they come back to Earth than other debris of similar size. About one satellite five metric tons or larger re-enters the atmosphere every year.
For example, on a test flight of its Falcon 9 rocket in June 2010, the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation placed the second stage and a prototype capsule into orbit. That object, heavier than the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, came crashing back to Earth two and a half weeks later without causing a media ripple.
President to propose “millionaire’s tax” to help balance the budget
This is either scraping the bottom of the ideas barrel or the president is light years ahead of the rest of us, and knows something we don’t:
Mr. Obama, in a bit of political salesmanship, will call his proposal the “Buffett Rule,” in a reference to Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor who has complained repeatedly that the richest Americans generally pay a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than do middle-income workers, because investment gains are taxed at a lower rate than wages.
Mr. Obama will not specify a rate or other details, and it is unclear how much revenue his plan would raise. But his idea of a millionaires’ minimum tax will be prominent in the broad plan for long-term deficit reduction that he will outline at the White House on Monday.
So for the second time in a month, President Transparency proposes a literal blank slate of legislation, and is encouragin its passage. Kings have had harder times in mandating edicts.
What is this nonsense if it isn’t class warfare, and a desperate attempt to start discord among Republicans? After a disastrous few weeks for Obama and the Democrats, this is most definitely be his desired goal. The president knows that the proposed tax is dead on arrival in the House. He knows this. And anyone with a brain knows that this does nothing to create jobs, and is a drop in the bucket with regards to deficit reduction.
But Republicans will have to defend not endorsing it, and the administration, along with Democratic congressional leaders, will go on the offensive. But as the weeks drag on, and the government continues to pump out report after dismal report on the state of the economy (the September NFP report is out in a little over two weeks), it might not make a difference for the administration.
Sgt. Dakota Meyer gets the Medal of Honor
Moving into the village [of Ganjgal, Afghanistan], the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket propelled grenades, mortars, and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes above.
Hearing over the radio that four U.S. team members were cut off, Corporal Meyer seized the initiative. With a fellow Marine driving, Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner’s position in a gun-truck as they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U.S. team.
Disregarding intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle, Corporal Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns and his rifle, some at near point blank range, as he and his driver made three solo trips into the ambush area.
And it doesn’t end there. Click through and read the whole thing. Sgt. Dakota Meyer is a true American hero.
NY-9 race showing Mediscare tactics are not working for Democrats
With unemployment remaining over 9%, and Democrats providing nothing in the way of solutions, it’s no wonder voters are getting fed up:
[Democrat David] Weprin tried to adopt that strategy, warning that Turner would try to cut programs like Medicare and Social Security. But with unemployment still stubbornly high and voters upset with Washington over the debt ceiling negotiations, the pledge to protect entitlements was less resonant this time.
Democratic leaders trying to explain their bad night blamed it on the quirkiness of low-turnout special elections.
“The results in NY-09 are not reflective of what will happen in November 2012 when Democratic challengers run against Republican incumbents who voted to end Medicare and cut Social Security while protecting tax loopholes for big corporations and the ultra wealthy,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York.
So Democrats are still sticking to the same talking points, despite a big denunciation of those talking points. Sounds like they have no solution that doesn’t involve wasting more taxpayer money. That’s a great strategy. For Republicans.
UPDATE. Mickey Kaus echoes what I wrote earlier on the failure of Mediscare:
After decades of pledging not to touch the two sacred programs, it’s beginning to look as if Democrats can’t just suddenly agree to pull trillions out of Social Security and Medicare and expect voters to maintain their reflexive loyalties. […]
Scaring voters about Paul Ryan and the Tea Partiers’s entitlement cuts was what was going to save Obama’s party from being dragged down even if Obama himself goes the way of Jimmy Carter. Now it looks as if that life preserver won’t float. …
Read Kaus’ entire post. He’s citing a Dave Weigel piece, which includes this bit of tragedy for Dems:
It’s the start of a problem for Democrats, who have gone from attacking the Ryan plans for entitlement reform to vouching support for some undefined “everything on the table” entitlement reform. There might not be any way for Democrats to dodge this, and there’s no sign that they want to. And that leaves all of them in the position of Democrats in New York’s 9th. Their traditional base, weary of the recession, not sure what Democrats have to offer any more, are ready to be wedged.
[h/t: Ace]
Rick Perry’s Gardasil problem
That Rick Perry has emerged in recent weeks as the front-runner in the GOP race is not really surprising. There was a lot of pent-up feelings over the summer about whether he would throw his hat into the ring or not, and when he finally did, it felt like voters were relieved that there was a new face. Which only confirmed my suspicions that conservatives and Republicans weren’t that fond of this particular group of contenders.
With his rise in the polls, and the media lamenting his brash approach to politics, his outspoken demeanor, etc., conservatives began taking to him as the most electable candidate–the one most likely to beat Obama. And so began the inevitable comparisons to Ronald Reagan circa 1980.
I didn’t watch last night’s CNN/Tea Party debate, but I was glad to see that Bachmann landed some jabs at Governor Perry for his Gardasil debacle. If only because someone on the stage of contenders actually addressed the issue.
To conservatives who are embracing Perry with open arms, how do you reconcile his Gardasil law with your conservative values? The chief executive of Texas signed a law an executive order that mandated teenage girls receive a vaccination, whether they want to or not, whether their parents approve or not, under the penalty of law. That isn’t a conservative trait.
It’s certainly not the conservatism of the Tea Party, but more like a big government conservatism. Republicans have seen this movie before and it doesn’t end well for conservatives, and certainly not for the Republican party.
UPDATE. And just like that, Bachmann took any success she had with her Gardasil attack and flushed it down the toilet.
9-11
There’s nothing to say. Nothing really anyone can say. Just never forget.
The Solyndra scandal for dummies
For those who want a brief, succinct explanation of the stench of cronyism, the stench of political corruption that is the story of President Obama and Solyndra, here is a five-panel cartoon.
First one in the series:
[h/t: Instapundit]
August NFP report shows net zero growth in jobs, the “great goose-egg economy”
A dismal labor report Friday showed the economy added zero net workers in August, intensifying pressure on President Obama to unveil a major jobs initiative during his speech to Congress next week.
The Labor Department report showed the unemployment rate stuck at 9.1 percent. It was the weakest jobs report since September 2010.
In a nutshell, this is the great goose egg economy — a big zero, a big nothing — and this better be one hell of a speech next week. There is a plethora of bad news. You have what is going on in Greece, you have lawsuits potentially coming today or Tuesday against the banks. You have the Fed in a Wall Street Journal article overnight asking Bank of America if they are going to be OK if things get really bad. There are a lot of confidence issues in the marketplace, the jobs number only made things worse and people wonder about this jobs number and its correlation with Philly Fed. That is scary.”
The Hurricane Irene post
Totally obligatory.
Yesterday we rented a bunch of movies, and loaded up on water and some vino. This morning, I went out to get the paper and ran some errands, all the while it was about 80 degrees and a bit muggy.
The best part? This afternoon I was attempting to get some wind chimes down from the top of our patio, and awkwardly landed on my foot, apparently crushing my big toe. At least it feels like that. I’ve iced it down throughout the day, but that didn’t stop it from swelling to an uncomfortable purple color. And throbbing. I don’t think its broken, but whatever. Just another addition to the anxiety.
Right now (about 10:30 PM EST) there’s a light, steady rain, and winds blowing about 10-15 miles an hour. The Tee Vee tells me that Irene won’t touch New Jersey until sometime around 1 to 2 am tomorrow morning, and is not expected to leave until about twelve hours later. The only serious thing I’m expecting is loss of power, which would just really suck.
Nevertheless, I’m relatively safe, but not so comfortable thanks to my busted toe. To anyone reading this, hope all is well on your end.
And another Steve Jobs has resigned from Apple post
There are many, many people commenting on the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple, and not all of it is glowing.
Say what you want about the man, but he resurrected the company from being a laughing-stock in the industry, to one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Here is one of the more honest assessments of Jobs as I’ve seen so far:
Steve Jobs could be arrogant and unpleasant, a brutal man a sane person would not want to work for. But the products he created will be his monuments. And so will the memory of how he created those products.
Unlike those folks in Washington who dare not offend their favored constituencies—Republicans unwilling to raise taxes, Tea Party members who praise James Madison’s belief in small government but not his belief in checks and balances and compromise, Congressional Democrats unwilling to offend senior citizens or labor, a President unwilling to stick his neck out to endorse the work of the bipartisan budget-balancing commission he appointed—Steve Jobs has been a true leader.
Like Edison, he’s been an inventor and a man who has changed our lives.
Sounds like a real leader in a world where we have too few.
Maxine Waters: The Tea Party can go to hell
On Saturday in Inglewood, Calif., Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters had some harsh words for the tea party.
“I’m not afraid of anybody,” the California congresswoman told constituents in footage that appeared on ABC affiliate KABC in Los Angeles, not backing down from comments made about President Obama earlier in the week. “This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned — the tea party can go straight to hell.”
That proclamation was met with cheers from the audience, including attendees sporting purple SEIU T-shirts.
Tone down the rhetoric, indeed.
The Democrats thrive on hate and anger, and this story is just another example of that. And make no mistake, if it was up to progressives, Maxine Waters would be President and not Barack Obama. She’s right up their alley.
[Hat Tip: Memeorandum]
The thrill is gone
In total agreement with Jennifer Rubin here:
The chasm between the president’s agenda (and leadership skills) and the problems we face seems to widen with each passing day. The problem is not the Martha’s Vineyard vacation but the two and a half years that preceded it. The policy initiatives and the president himself seem too small for the challenges we face. He resorts to political stunts to fill the time and directs blame to Congress, the Republicans or whatever else he can think of.
People who complain about the vacation are missing the point. I hear a lot of conservatives complaining about this vacation, as the economy seems to deteriorate with each passing day, and world markets continue to melt, and that the President should be….um, well…I’m not exactly sure what they think he should be doing. Sure the optics look bad, and I honestly don’t think the President really cares. And, as the last four years have shown us, anything the Democrats propose to “help” the economy, is bound to be a disaster.
But more importantly, as Rubin notes, when he does come back from vacation, then what? Democrats, as always, appears to be out of bullets and have nothing to contribute.
[Hat Tip: Instapundit]
Sony will stream NFL’s Sunday Ticket to PS3?
Looking for someone to lead the way for conservatism
Signing a bill that mandates all 13-year-old girls receive a vaccination, produced by a company who has a lobbying relationship with someone in your administration, doesn’t really sound like something a conservative would do, does it?
But that’s just me.
More from Malkin here.
Gallup: 40% approval for Obama, lowest of his administration to date
Notice the disapproval rating is up to 52% as well.
Here’s an interesting bit from Gallup’s write-up:
The crucial period for Obama will begin after Labor Day, given the relative quiet on the political front that should be the case before then. Obama will generate some news coverage this week with his bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, but after that, he has a scheduled vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, during which he will be largely out of the news — barring some major crisis.
[…]
If the president is not able to turn around the negative momentum in his ratings during the fall months, it may be more and more difficult for him to do so as the presidential campaign begins in earnest next year.
The White House is getting the word out that a “jobs plan” is on the way. Sometime in September, after his vacation. There is no urgency here on the President’s part, as millions are without work. And any plan he has will probably include more spending, useless targeted tax credits and the like.
This administration and its ideology are out of ideas, and it shows.
DWS: Ten year incumbent Governor Perry deserves no credit for job creation in Texas
Of course, that distinction belongs to President 39%, who deserves all the credit:
“There is a dramatic contrast with the governor of Texas” when it comes to his record versus the president’s on job creation,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Not the least of which is that it is extremely difficult for him to deserve credit for that job creation when you have rising gas prices that created oil jobs that he had nothing to do with, when you had military spending as a result of two wars that created military jobs that he had nothing to do with, when you have the Recovery Act championed by President Obama that created jobs in Texas that he had nothing to do with.”
[…] “So it is way overblown to suggest that the job creation in Texas is squarely on the shoulders of [Perry’s] policies.”
Democrats, apparently, are born liars. If the Democrat party wants to campaign on the stimulus bill to scream about all of the wonderful jobs they have created, then so be it. Try selling that to the American people for the next 15 months.
Meanwhile here’s Ms. Shultz in Iowa this past weekend, preaching to getting booed by the Democratic faithful:
Oof.
If I was a Democrat, with unemployment over 9%, a historic downgrade of our country’s credit, a stalling economy with little or no growth, I wouldn’t exactly be too confident in my party’s outlook right about now. And having this uninspiring moonbat representing the party wouldn’t be helping matters.
[H/T: Memeorandum]
Don’t believe the White House hype on the July jobs report
The report came out this morning, and while the media and the White House give it the expected fluff, it was actually not so good news:
The economy in July generated 117,000 jobs and the unemployment rate declined from 9.2 percent to 9.1 percent.
This is nice until you remember that the economy needs to create about 150,000 jobs just to keep pace with the growing work force. The decline in the unemployment rate was not due to the new jobs, but to people giving up searching for jobs. They are then not counted as unemployed, since they are not even looking.
Now, July was better than June, and the numbers were better than expected. But overall, we’re in worse shape than we were.
As we’ve seen again and again, it’s not so much that the administration is ambiguous and outright deceptive about these economic reports, it’s that the media is complicit in their deception. Par for the course from the left.
New Tone: Wisconsin left-winger screaming “Sic Semper Tyrannis” at Governor Walker appearance
Sic semper tyrannis, means “thus always to tyrants” in Latin, but it’s primarily associated with John Wilkes Booth’s last words before assassinating President Lincoln, and were allegedly the words of Brutus before he stabbed Julius Caesar.
With that in mind, watch this Wisconsin douchebag protester screaming the phrase at Governor Scott Walker:
I believe this scumbag gentleman is encouraging violence against Governor Walker, don’t you? But it’s the Tea Party that induces violence and racism. Where is the media’s thought police on this?
Who’s talking…