J's Cafe Nette

Harry Smith of CBS News had a colonoscopy done live on his show this morning. Katie Couric, whose husband died of colorectal cancer, observed. She also had a colonoscopy done several years ago when she was on the Today show.

It’s important that we get this done to make sure anything that could become cancer is removed then. When I had mine done they found 3 polyps which were snipped off at the time. I felt a pinch, but apparently the anesthetic was wearing off since I had also had an endoscopy done before that.

What I see that’s different is that Harry was allowed to keep his dignity. I was turned over on my left side and the open part of the hospital gown was wide open.

The prep for a colonoscopy is not fun because you have to empty out the colon the night before the procedure, and you go to the bathroom a lot of times.

I encourage all people over 40 to get a colonoscopy done and then do the follow-up procedures when the doctor says you need to have it done again.

Here’s Harry’s colonoscopy:

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…I do not think it means what you think it means.

On March 4, Reuters’ Chrystia Freeland explained the administration’s rationale for its renewed health care offensive: “The reason … we have the moral authority to do this is Massachusetts was just an act of God,” she related. “We had that seat; we got profoundly unlucky. … This election wasn’t scheduled to happen normally, so we shouldn’t allow this to knock us off course.”

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Bill Whittle defines in quiet, concise words “why” The Declaration of Independence should be held dear by every American, no matter political persuasion, race or religion.

(Yes, a ten minute video seems long by today’s standards, but I promise you, this one is well worth watching.)

Just a few blocks away is Ford’s Theater, and across the street, the Peterson House where Abraham Lincoln spent his final eight hours of agony. To go from that dingy, cheap little flophouse and then to the marble temple at the far end of the Mall produces a profound reaction in the human heart. But nothing I saw affected me as did the Declaration of Independence. I expected to be filled with reverence and awe. Instead, I was overwhelmed with despair.

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Last night Sue and I had a nice telephone conversation, discussing me eating lobster, our families and politics.

I suggested that we have as much experience as Obama and could do a better job running the country than many of the potential candidates if we have the right liaison to Congress.

Sue will run for president and I will be her running mate. In addition to being vice president I would also be Secretary of State since Joe Biden has already admitted the vice president doesn’t do anything.

We chose Sue to also be our Treasury Secretary because she can handle money very well, Sue’s husband to be the Secretary of Defense and my husband (because he likes to stay quiet and in the background) to be the faith-based initiative person.

We still need to work on other cabinet positions but we think we would have a great team. We decided to get Newt Gingrich to be our congressional liaison since he knows the ins and outs of congress and could advise us on how to get our programs passed.

My job as vice president and Secretary of State would take me to the Mid-East, where I would tell Israel we will give her whatever she wants and not to give in to the blackmail of the rest of the world. We would tell Ahmadinejad to give up his nukes in 24 hours or we will make Iran a parking lot. I would then tell Saudi Arabia to pound sand because we would have a Republican congress that would finally allow us to “drill, baby, drill!” Sarah Palin would be our energy secretary since she has had experience in dealing with energy and energy companies.

This is just the first week of our administration and already we will have achieved world peace and solved a huge domestic problem.

After that, we should be able to fix the economy and get companies to hire again, giving us full employment. By then our first 100 days would be finished and our job would be done.

We would definitely carry a big stick, but I doubt we would speak softly.

With the right advisers we could bring us back from this nightmare we are now experiencing. We both know how to pinch pennies since we had to when we were first married and still do now, although I tend to spend faster than Sue. That’s why she would be President and Treasury Secretary.

Our deficit would be reduced and any bill that includes even one piece of pork would be vetoed. Of course, we would expect her veto to be upheld.

And if we step out in public we will be dressed professionally and not like Obama who likes to wear the shirt and jacket sans tie.

Two grandmothers and a couple of grandfathers and we can turn this thing around. Are you willing to give us a chance? We won’t use any money to campaign. It will be a whisper campaign. No point in spending money that could go to help our debt on running for office.

Since INC is a teacher we would make her the Secretary of Education. Her husband can be the economic adviser since he has an accounting degree. Actually, all our husbands have accounting degrees so we would use all of them for double duty as our economic team.

Your ideas are welcome. Be sure to pay attention to the category I’ve used for this post.

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What do our government and Schlitz beer have in common?

Glenn (Instapundit) Reynolds, via the Washington Examiner:

Each incremental decline was imperceptible to consumers, but after a few years, people suddenly noticed that the beer was no good anymore. Sales collapsed, and a “Taste My Schlitz” campaign designed to lure beer drinkers back failed when the “improved” brew turned out not to be any better. A brand image that had been accumulated over decades was lost in a few years, and it has never recovered.

The federal government, alas, finds itself in much the same position. The political class sold its legitimacy off in drips and drabs. As “smart politics” has come over the past decades to mean not persuasion but the practice of legerdemain, the use of political deals, cover from a friendly press apparat and taking advantage of voters’ rational ignorance, the governing classes have managed to achieve things that would surely have failed had the people known what was going on.

Read more.

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It was a pleasure to watch Celtic Thunder on our local PBS network this past weekend.

Not only were their voices magnificent but their performance was surprisingly diversified as exhibited in the videos below:

Lots of fun and highly recommended for viewing!

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In my first post titled, The Health Care Vote: Smoke, Mirrors and Brass Tacks, I go over Jim Geraghty’s vote counting this week.  Jay Cost, in Counting the Heads of House Democrats / Updated 3-5, has gone over the list of the 37 Democrats who voted No on health care in the fall to trace any potential flips to Yes. He did another update late this afternoon in which he wrote:

Eric Massa’s planned resignation takes him off the list. There are now 37 Democrats who voted nay in November who will be Democrats when (if?) the next vote occurs. With the House vacancies being what they are now, Speaker Pelosi will need 216 votes to pass the bill.

He has taken the names and grouped them into three categories.  In his “Very Hard to Persuade” list he counts 24 House members.  The “Hard to Persuade” list has 7 names and the “Persuadable” list has 6.  Bart Gordon, who was mentioned by Jim Geraghty as the closest he has seen as a possible flip to Yes, is in Cost’s “Persuadable” group.

Next Cost lists goes over the list of 8 Democrats who voted Yes in the fall, but have indicated they may not vote Yes on the Senate bill.  One on this list is Bart Stupak.  Cost finishes by going over an additional 11 Democrats he considers to be “Stupak Democrats”.  That’s 19 who voted Yes who are possible/probable flips to No.  Jay Cost’s conclusion:

Bottom line: Democratic leaders have a tough road ahead.

I highly recommend reading Cost’s column and looking at his rationale in sorting the Representatives into the various groups.  He writes that he will continue to update, and I’m sure Geraghty will as well.

If all the names and numbers make your head spin, print out their columns and read carefully through them and compare lists.  Bookmark the pages and check those names against the continuing saga of spin brought to you by Obama, Pelosi and Reid.  Don’t let the froth and frenzy of the blogosphere cause panic.  We should be marked be resolve and determination.

It’s not over ’til it’s over, and it’s not over yet!

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H/T: Real Clear Politics.

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Maybe it’s the math teacher in me, but when I hear hype and hollering I want to know the facts.  Years of training of doing proofs and being taught not to advance to the next step without a sound logical reason, leave me always wanting to find the original source and reason behind the analysis or propaganda.  While politics and blogs feed on drama, the rumors and lies of smoke and mirrors should not cause panic or despair.

So, let’s get down to brass tacks with the health care votes. Jim Geraghty and Jay Cost have gotten down to some specifics of who is voting how.  In this post I’m going to look at what Jim Geraghty has written, and in Part II, I’ll summarize Jay Cost.

Jim Geraghty of The Campaign Spot has been doing an excellent job of keeping up with the yeas and nays of health care.  Earlier this week he wrote a column titled, Pelosi’s Suicide Squad, in which he surveyed the possibilities of nine Representatives who previously voted No on health care and who have been considered to be wavering.

Here are the six non-retiring members who previously followed their constituents by voting “no” but who now are apparently uninterested in continuing their service in Congress and are instead contemplating joining Pelosi’s Suicide Squad:

Rick Boucher of Virginia…
Suzanne Kosmas of Florida…
Frank Kratovil of Maryland…
Michael McMahon of New York…
Scott Murphy of New York…
Glenn Nye of Virginia…

He also mentioned the three retiring Democrats who might join Pelosi’s Suicide Squad:  Bart Gordon, John Tanner and Brian Baird. Of all nine, he placed only Baird in the near certain category.  In his blog he has continued to count noses and quote statements as he keeps tabs on the votes: here, here, here, here, here, here and here.  Yesterday he concluded:

There are quite a few Democrats who seem certain, or near-certain, to vote no without the Stupak language. Among then, Bart Stupak of Michigan, Dennis Cardoza of California, and Jim Oberstar of Minnesota.

Other Democrats have made comments that they’re not satisfied enough with the current legislation to vote for it, including Shelley Berkley of Nevada, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, and Michael Arcuri of New York. Then again, they might just have brothers who would like to be federal judges.

Meanwhile, none of the nine Democrats who were mentioned as potential members of Pelosi’s Suicide Squad have indicated they’re willing to switch from “no” to “yes.” Three have indicated, either publicly, to other members, or to constituents, they’ll be voting “no” again: Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Michael McMahon of New York, and John Tanner of Tennessee.

In short, at this moment, if every wavering Democrat votes yes, and all of the pro-life Democrats vote yes, the bill passes. If any one of them flips, and none of the previous “no” votes flip, it’s game over, the bill can’t pass the House.

Yesterday the Susan B. Anthony List released their poll results of eight Democrats who voted for the Stupak Amendment last fall.  Geraghty looks at the numbers. Beside each name I’ve placed in brackets if the Representative voted Yes or No on health care last fall.

They asked, “Would you be more likely or less likely to vote to re-elect Congressman/Congresswoman [name] this year if (s)he votes for healthcare legislation that includes federal government funding of abortion?”

The percentage who said less likely, in each district:

[Yes] Steve Driehaus, Ohio’s 1st district: 55 percent.
[Yes] Charlie Wilson, Ohio’s 6th district: 64 percent.
[Yes] Marcy Kaptur, Ohio’s 9th district: 47 percent.
[No] John Boccieri, Ohio’s 16th district: 62 percent.
[Yes] Brad Ellsworth, Indiana’s 8th district: 65 percent.
[Yes] Baron Hill, Indiana’s 9th district: 61 percent.
[No] Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania’s 4th district: 58 percent.
[Yes] Paul Kanjorski, Pennsylvania’s 11th district: 53 percent.

“Makes no difference” scored between 10 and 13 percent in every district; “more likely” ranged from 14 percent in Boccieri’s district to 24 percent in Kanjorski’s district.

Last time, Driehaus, Wilson, Kaptur, Ellsworth, and Kanjorski voted yes; Boccieri and Altimire voted no. Of course, last time the bill included the Stupak language, which restricted private insurers participating in the exchange from offering abortion coverage as part of their policies. There is little to no chance the legislation will include these limits this time around.

Of the five who voted Yes on the bill in the fall, three might be in serious trouble in the 2010 election if they don’t vote No now because of the abortion language in the Senate bill. Kaptor might survive a Yes, but from these numbers Kanjorski would have a harder time squeaking out a win.  I am unfamiliar with other demographics of the districts that also might come into play.

Today Geraghty writes that the closest he’s seen to a flip from no to yes has been in a statement by retiring Congressman Bart Gordon.  He also notes that  Eric Massa, who voted No last fall, will retire on Monday.

In my next post, I’ll summarize Jay Cost’s vote count on health care.

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H/T: Wikipedia, NRO, The Campaign Spot, Susan B. Anthony List.

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Full body scanning machines are being deployed to all American airports now because of the latest bombing attempt on the flight to Detroit.

I have seen photos of the full body scans and it is quite easy to pick out the body parts of the people in the scans. Supposedly the scans are destroyed and no one else can see them later, but it’s the idea of being figuratively stripped naked in front of strangers that turns me off to the idea.

Every time I fly anywhere I seem to be the lucky one chosen to be taken aside to remove my shoes and be checked by hand up and down my person. Because I obviously fit the description of a terrorist (almost all gray hair, old, short, grandmother) I most probably would be chosen to have a full body scan and everyone would be able to see all my sags. As you get older things drop on the body.

I was raised to be modest about my body, and unless it is a family emergency I doubt I will voluntarily fly commercial any longer. It may take longer to drive to my destination and my bones may ache a bit more, but at least I’ll be able to take a full bottle of shampoo with me and a bottle of water or other beverage (soft and diet please) if I care to do so.

Seriously, we really don’t know who might or might not be a terrorist, and just because I look like and am a senior citizen does not mean I or someone who fits my profile could not be a terrorist. I understand the rational behind the idea, but I am not willing to strip in front of complete strangers, and outside of doing that this is the closest thing. Then there’s the problem of my husband having trouble with his left arm and he’s not able to raise it fully. He’ll see the doctor today and will discuss that problem with him and hopefully get rehab done to fix that problem.

When I had therapy for that one of the exercises was to take a cloth and do circles on a door. Maybe I can get him to wash and clean all the interior and exterior doors as therapy.

I will be traveling by car in the future. I can take more luggage without the extra fee, take what I want and even take our dogs with us if we decide to do that. Heck, if I decide to light up a cigar I can do that without people acting as though I’m a criminal. Not that I smoke cigars.

But, sooner or later, my husband and I will be too old to drive long distances and will be forced to strip in front of body scanners or stay closer to home.

Younger relatives, come see me instead of me going to see you. If you don’t mind the body scanners I’ll even pay your airplane ticket.

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The comment section of this piece at The Strata-Sphere provided a link to this information:

Michele Bachmann asks “What in the world is going on in the White House?” and then proceeds call for an independent investigation into the White House for offering a judgeship to the brother of a member of Congress and then asking that member for their vote on health care.

Leaves one longing for a Republican administration when the press did their job, doesn’t it?

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Mahalia Jackson.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

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As Obama and the Democrats defy the opinion of a majority of Americans in their attempt to ram their health care bill through Congress in an abuse of the budget reconciliation process, abortion, ironically, may be the stumbling block that shatters their machinations.  It would be eminently appropriate to see them hoist with the petard of one of their most defining tenets.  Today in Abortion still the stumbling block for ObamaCare, Ed Morrissey quotes an NPR column that states:

Of the remaining issues with the potential to bring down the entire health overhaul effort, the one that lawmakers fear most is abortion.

Abortion is such a politically hazardous issue that sponsors of both the House and Senate health bills have said their object was to maintain the status quo….

But keeping the health bills abortion-neutral has proved impossible. And now the abortion language in the Senate-passed bill in particular could threaten the strategy Democratic leaders hope to use to get a final measure to President Obama’s desk for a signature….

…the way they are hoping to finish work on their health overhaul is for the House to pass the Senate’s bill — abortion language and all. Then they plan to pass a second bill that will incorporate a number of compromises between the House and Senate. For that they’ll use the so-called budget reconciliation process that only requires 51 Senate votes.

But as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged Tuesday, those compromises probably won’t include a change in abortion language. “In order to be in part of the budget bill, it has to be central to the budget. That’s the rule. And it’s a very strict rule,” she said.

Which means anti-abortion House Democrats who originally voted for the House health bill will likely face this choice: Vote for a Senate bill that’s more lenient on abortion or vote against health overhaul. And it will make it that much harder for House leaders to get the majority they need to pass the bill.

This afternoon Jim Geraghty has posted on health care vote counts, The Weekly Standard makes conjectures, and AllahPundit has this on Pelosi scrambling for votes in the House:

And the status quo, thanks to the pro-life objections of Stupak et al., means she’s probably 10-12 votes in the hole at the moment.

Tomorrow the Susan B. Anthony List will release poll results from districts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana that are represented in Congress by Democrats who voted for the Stupak Amendment last year.

Respondents were asked whether they would “be more likely or less likely to vote for Congressman if he votes for healthcare legislation that includes federal government funding of abortion.”

“Votes have consequences,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony List, “and representatives in Congress who ignore the will of their constituents do so at their own peril. These poll results will drive our investment in the next wave of pro-life grassroots mobilization in the Midwest.”

Abortion’s impact on the health care bill has implications for certain Republicans as well.  In December, Jennifer Rubin made this observation:

…we have heard a lot in the last year from some snooty ostensibly-conservative pundits who would like to rearrange the conservative coalition and dump social conservatives overboard. However, the health-care bill is as good an example as we will find as to why this is politically idiotic. Here we see that it is social conservatives who remain the last men and women standing against liberal economic- and social-engineering projects. The numbers may just not be there for Stupak to disrupt the juggernaut, but it is instructive that the final battle is likely to be over abortion subsidies, not taxes or any other economic issue. Perhaps it’s not a good idea for conservatives to tell some of their most stalwart allies to get lost.

Principles and morality are not just matters for philosophical discussion; they are the foundation for actions that have consequences for the vigor or demise of a society.  The choices Congress makes on health care continue to reveal their beliefs about life and liberty.   In December, Ben Nelson revealed what he truly believes about the value of the life of an unborn child as well as his beliefs about integrity.  Through their manipulations the Democrats have written in large letters the manifesto of their beliefs about liberty.

In these final days of their determination to force our nation onto a path of unwanted government control of our health care, I am reminded of the ending of the book of Deuteronomy.  After setting forth His commands to Israel, God tells them,

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Congress is faced with a literal choice of life or death, and their choice has consequences for our present citizenry and for those who are yet unborn.

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H/T:  Human Events, Hot Air, NPR, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Christian News Wire, Commentary Magazine, Bible Gateway.

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We haven’t made a post in several days, but we have both been busy. I with grandchildren and concerts, appointments and other things such as trying to neaten up my house for spring.

Sue has been busy shoveling snow at least once a week and taking care of her grandchildren, taking them to school and picking them up etc. as we do too.

We haven’t forgotten you, but life seems to have gotten in the way these past few days. Continue to come back and pretty soon you’ll see something.

I also have writer’s block. I can’t seem to decide what I want to write and what I want to say with all the things going on. In the end, it doesn’t make a bit of difference in the way the world turns.

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While growing up on an Indian reservation in Old Town, Maine, throughout the fifties and sixties, it was not unusual to see a shiny, black car with State Troopers driving it pulling up to our house and the distinguished gentleman inside get out and come to our door.

Other kids would ask what was going on and we would just tell them the governor was there. No big deal. Everyone has the governor come to their house, right? And our congressmen always go to your houses too, right?

Well, that’s what I thought. No big deal. It happens all the time. Sometimes I’d put my ear down at the keyhole in one of the living room doors that were now closed and see if I could hear any of the conversation by the “grown-ups” in that room. If I heard it didn’t interest me enough to remember it now.

These visits occurred shortly after our island reservation was finally connected to the mainland by a one-lane bridge. This bridge saved many lives. I vaguely remember when it was being built and I have at least one memory of riding to the mainland by the ferry operated by one of our fellow tribesmen.

The bridge saved many lives because many lives were lost when Indians on our reservation would attempt to cross the river to the mainland in the spring or just after the ice started forming on the river in the winter. The ice was there but wasn’t thick enough to safely walk on it—yet it was too thick to just paddle a boat or canoe through it. If anyone from our community wanted to cross to the mainland to shop, conduct business or just see a movie, he or she had to take a chance on the ice giving out while crossing in each direction, until the ice all melted in the Spring or froze solid in the Winter.

I come from a family of very strong women. Most of them had to be strong because they were either widowed or unmarried and had to support the family, including grandchildren, nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews. They gained respect in the “white community” enough for people to know they were trustworthy and good people who were firm in their convictions.

Many members of my family were instrumental in seeing to it that they lobbied the state legislators and the governor until we were finally able to convince the Republican leaders in Maine that we should be able to purchase a bridge with our own money so our people would be safer. It was our money but we had to put our hand out to the state because we were still considered “paupers” by the state and didn’t get the right to vote until the 1950’s. We were good enough to serve in the armed forces and die for our country, but we were paupers to the state and entitled to no rights.

It was through this lobbying effort, made possible by years of building a relationship with the lawmakers, that our family became acquaintances with the political leaders in our state. That’s why we saw them at our home. If they were in the area they stopped by and chewed the fat over politics, I suppose.

As hard as that struggle was, I think the struggle for the very soul of America is even harder. Last year at this time it seemed as though God had removed His blessing entirely from this country. And who could blame Him? We’ve kicked Him out of every facet of our public lives since Madeline Murray O’Hare got the Lord’s Prayer out of schools. How many of you remember reciting the Lord’s Prayer just before the Pledge of Allegiance in public school? Fortunately I was in high school before the prayer became forbidden and I did miss it when it was taken from us.

Last year I felt as though this country was headed for disaster that could never be repaired. Then came the tea party in April and another one in July, followed by the town halls held all over this country in August and September, followed by more peaceful demonstrations by grassroots Americans who just wanted what is best for our country. Each of these events made me get a glimmer of hope, and when I saw Sen. Arlen Specter getting torn to bits verbally by some of his constituents in Pa. I began to realize I wasn’t in the minority of opinion in this country anymore. They didn’t harm anything but Specter’s feelings, or any other senator’s or congressperson’s. It was the words they didn’t like and tried to tamp down, but the people would not have it.

We had gone through TARP, Stimulus, the House passing Cap and Trade, and watching Congress rush every large spending bill through without taking the time to study the consequences, while spending trillions of our dollars. No one really knew what was in the bills unless it was the staff of the Congresspeople or Senators. Yet they voted to pass these huge spending bills because they were “crises” and as Rahm Emanuel said, “We can’t afford to waste a good crisis.”

Now they were screwing around with our health care and we finally had had enough.

Since August the Congress has known we want no part of the current health bills passed by the House or Senate. We all agree it would be good to reform some things in our health care system, but we do not want the federal government stepping in and making a huge bill that will never be able to be fixed. We want it done incrementally and studiously, so we know our money is being spent responsibly. Many things such as the “undercover patients” mentioned by doctor and Senator Tom Coburn at Thursday’s pow-wow with Democrats will cost little, if anything at all. Of course it will cost something because Congress will create a separate department along with a bureaucracy for that purpose. Reforming our tort laws will cost nothing but the plaintiff’s attorneys’ support to the Democrats in government. No money lost to the taxpayer.

The point is not to create a massive bureaucracy in Washington, but to create a good bill with the least amount of disruption to our lives and the least amount of funds to do it properly. Slim government instead of bloated government. Surely we cannot address every problem in our health care system in one huge bill. Even a blind man can see that. Go in “baby steps” as Obama calls it.

Now the Democrats have decided they will take six weeks, ostensibly for the Republicans to give them “new ideas” and work out a bipartisan health care bill, or the Democrats will go to reconciliation if they cannot get the required 60 votes to pass a bill in the Senate.

I saw a headline at Politco.com awhile ago that says Democrats are “feeling out the next step” for the health care bill. This bill has had more lives than Morris the Cat, and like a fire you think is out, keeps coming back to bite you in the butt. Just when you thought it was safe, they go at it again.

Thursday’s “summit” was nothing but a group of grouchy, majority Democrats, barely hiding their contempt (if at all) at the Republicans who were at last invited to sit at the same table with them and discuss their ideas on health care reform. You know, the ideas the Democrats have claimed they didn’t have. They had some good ideas and came ready to discuss the legislation. Naturally, if you are going to discuss something that is in writing you are going to take the text to the meeting to reference it while speaking. At least that’s what Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia thought. Obama put him straight, though, when he told Cantor he was bringing “props”. Cantor had actually marked pages to flip to so he could do his presentation, and when accused by Obama of bringing a prop for political purposes told Obama that he thought since they were discussing the Senate bill it was only appropriate to have said bill in their presence.

The Republicans brought their A team to the meeting, while the Democrats seemed as though they had decided to just go through the motions and didn’t bother to prepare to speak about the language. Instead, they seemed to have been in some sort of contest to see which one could come up with the saddest story about people who have to pay insurance premiums or who cannot afford insurance. The winner in this contest (at least in my mind) was the ridiculously off-topic statement by Rep. Louise Slaughter of NY, when she told of one of her constituents who was wearing her dead sister’s dentures because she couldn’t afford her own. I don’t know about anyone else, but dental health has nothing to do with health insurance policies. I have dental insurance which is separate from my health insurance. By her reasoning I guess we should get the government to pay for our life insurance, car insurance, homeowner’s insurance and renter’s insurance if you rent. It’s about as related to health care as dental insurance.

Try to go to an eye doctor to get a regular eye exam and try to pay for it with your Medicare. You can’t do it. I was at the eye doctor’s office in January to get my yearly diabetic exam (paid for by my health insurance after a $30 co-pay) and another lady came in to have her eyes examined and asked if Medicare would pay for it. When she was told no she just hauled out the check book and wrote a check, so I know for a fact it is not covered by Medicare. You can’t get an exam for your vision with health insurance either. For that you either use the eye care insurance and come back another day for the same exam, except they’ll refract your eyes, or you can pay the cost of the refraction separately and not fool with your eye care insurance if you do not wish to have the same eye exam twice in one week.

We hear Obama and the Democrats bemoan the fact that 30 million Americans (I guess they’re all legal citizens) do not have health insurance, but you never hear them mention the 280 million or so Americans who do have health care insurance, or can afford it but think they’re invincible so they don’t get it.

Why can’t we go back to the innocent days of my childhood when saying no meant no? Not now. Not ever. Pelosi, Reid and Obama do not recognize that word or the will of the people. Obama is willing to throw out his congressional majority for his legacy legislation, and Pelosi and Reid are gullible or power hungry enough to help him. Remember, his last words were something to the effect that they could pass the bill and if the people didn’t like it that’s why we have elections.

Ah, the days of my childhood….to be so innocent and trusting as I was then.

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If this doesn’t make you laugh then hopefully it will at least make you smile!

Enjoy!

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In this instance our judicial system moved swiftly to protect citizen’s rights:

A Pennsylvania school district has been ordered to disable equipment allowing officials to watch students using cameras on their laptops.

The order, issued Wednesday by a federal judge, will prevent school administrators from turning on cameras installed on students’ school-issued laptops remotely.

The move arrives at the request of a Lower Merion family, which claimed school officials were wrong to activate the camera, snap a photo of their son and confront him about its contents.

The school district told reporters on Wednesday it would comply with that order. Part of that directive includes a temporary gag on all communications regarding the family’s privacy lawsuit.

The security technology installed in Lower Merion’s school-issued computers permits administrators to activate cameras remotely, primarily as a way to ensure the laptops are not stolen.

Technicians said they have activated the technology 42 times this year to take photos of suspects believed to be damaging laptops or otherwise committing wrongdoing — precisely the reason they turned it on the case of the 15-year-old Harriton High School student now pressing charges.

There is never a good reason to damage property, but in the case of the young man involved in the lawsuit, it is alleged the school district believed he was involved in drugs (either distributing or consuming).

If the suit proves itself out, the fifteen year old was eating Mike and Ike candy. Big difference, especially now that your name and that of your parents has been publicized in not only local Pennsylvania newspapers but on nationwide news programs.

Shame on the disgrace this school district has brought upon itself.

Background, here.

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Jeanette mentioned to me earlier today that Hannity had a very interesting program last evening which featured the Generation Zero film makers.

The following video provided by Breitbart walks us through what the creators of the film believe led to the recent American financial crisis.

Have a look and determine if you agree with their theories (fast forward through the Hannity-guest chat if you wish and just take in the meat of the documentary):

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Sunday afternoon the telephone rang. I looked at the caller ID to see who it was because I had a disturbing call of similar nature a few months ago and don’t answer the phone if it says it’s unknown name and the number is all zeroes. This call didn’t show any information for three rings, and since we have voice mail I picked up the phone to keep it from going into voice mail in case it was someone we know.

A male voice with a heavy accent asked if I was at home. He had my name. I answered it was I. He then identified himself as being with the FBI but also worked for some sweepstakes company. I decided to play along for a few minutes. He immediately said he wanted to verify my name and address and began to repeat it. I told him I wasn’t going to verify anything, thanked him and hung up.

A couple of minutes later the phone rang again, this time showing “private caller”. Since our daughter has a private number I answered the phone. It was the same man and he wanted to know why I had hung up on him since I had hung up on a chance to get either $1.5 or $2.5 million.

I interrupted him and told him he was not with the FBI, that his accent gave him away, and he was not going to give me any sum of money but this was a scam much like the same type of scams received in spam email. I told him not to call me again and said good-bye. As I was taking the phone from my ear to hang up he yelled, “FU!” except he used the full word. Only the “u” in that word actually sounded like an “o” as in rhymes with “hawk”.

This is exactly the same scenario I had experienced a few months ago when I got the unidentified call. So, beware of these calls and don’t be taken in by them. If you don’t know of anyone who has a private, non-listed number put a block on your phone to prevent those callers from reaching you without putting in the code to display their number. I won’t do it because our daughter has a non-listed private number and it would be confusing for them to have to call us, especially the kids who have us on speed dial.

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One of the hardest things for any person to rebut is the accusation such person(s) is(are) racist. When confronted with that accusation the accused just looks like a deer in the headlights. How do you prove you are not a racist if the charge is made? You can’t prove it with words, but only with your real-life actions. It’s one of those accusations that is a damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of situation.

Defend yourself and it just seems deeper because there is no defense in words. Ignore it and be called a racist over and over again.

The tea party group in Dallas, TX, has made a video challenging Keith Olberman to visit their one year anniversary meeting and see for himself how diverse the group is. In the meantime, the group made an excellent point about the lack of diversity with the on-air lineup at MSNBC. Does this mean MSNBC is racist? No. No more than Olberman’s words mean any group or person is racist.

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Today Barack Obama is supposed to post his latest and greatest version of Health Care “Reform” on the internet so the locals like you and I can read it in readable English rather than in Congress-speak.

From what I have read and heard Obama’s bill will be language plucked from the stalled Senate language. Other sources were quoted earlier as saying it would be a combination of the House and Senate versions of health care “reform”.

So, Obama intends to place his favored bill (the one he thinks can pass) on the internet three days before he has his supposedly “bi-partisan” campaign appearance meeting in the White House. There he is supposed to monitor a discussion about health care “reform” and will not be political. And if you believe that I have a bridge to nowhere to sell you.

He has invited Republicans and says he will listen to anything reasonable from them and will consider their suggestions. I’m sure the Republican leadership in Congress is all for doing this meeting since Obama, Pelosi and Reid have shown so much bi-partisanship on this bill, and others, in the past year. If anyone has half a brain he knows this is a ruse to “catch” the Republicans in awkward statements etc. so it can be shown in campaign commercials during the upcoming elections.

If he really wants the input of Republicans then why hasn’t he paid attention to numerous bills and amendments proposed by them in the past year instead of going with an all-Democrat plan that hasn’t worked and will not pass? If he really wants their input then why does he already have his own proposed bill? This seems to me to be saying “This is what I want. Take it or leave it. I won.”

When Republicans mention Tort Reform or access to insurance across state lines, he’ll say it all sounds good, but how can it be implemented and how much will it cost? He’s never worried about the cost of anything else in the past year, so why change now?

It can all be done, and done efficiently, if we just take out all the pork, try to fix what is agreed upon as being broken and go from there. But why settle for 85% when you think you can get 100% and stuff it down the throats of the populace who say they do not want what you are selling?

John Boehner has said the way to go into this meeting is with a blank piece of paper. I agree. Or at least go in with a list of things you would like changed, a solution to the problems addressed, and prepared for a discussion of give and take to get the best bill for the American people you can get.

No one disagrees that the health care system in this country needs improvement. The disagreement is with the amount of fixing it needs and the proposed fixes to the problem.

We can all agree we should have tort reform, insurance sold across state lines, the need to guarantee protection even if one has a pre-existing condition, and help for those who need it the most. Medicare needs to be made solvent and cutting the amount of money paid to medical providers will not help the health care crisis in this country one bit. All it will do is force doctors to turn away Medicare patients or to have to see twice as many patients as seen currently, thereby reducing the quality of health care provided to patients.

We have all seen first-hand how “emergency” or “urgent” legislation has affected us over the past year. The old saying from childhood is “haste makes waste”. It would be wise for Congress and Obama to remember this little ditty when trying to change such a large part of our economy, that is sputtering along backwards as we speak.

Instead of going through the proper legislative channels to pass a bill that is so polarizing, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama are prepared to ram it through as a “reconciliation” bill, just as budget bill would be handled.

Take out the things that are unable to get a consensus across the aisle and work on what is common ground. There’s always time to address the other issues in a more sane manner. Just because someone declares it all an “emergency” does not mean it is an emergency. I can declare I’m beautiful but it doesn’t mean I am.

I’m so fed up with this health care “reform” debate that seems to have no end, that I am fatigued with it. All the arguments have been made, all the political points have been made. Why bother with another meeting that is intended to accomplish absolutely nothing? So the Democrats can say the Republicans are the “Party of No”? Well, I’d rather belong to the “Party of No” when it comes to recklessly turning my country into a European-style semi-socialist state where everyone is subsidized and no one is required to work unless he wants to.

Let me give you an example. I am acquainted with a French man who lives in France after having lived in Australia and a short time in Florida.

This man is about 55 years old and has never had a job since I’ve known of him. Now he calls me from France because he is lonely and has no one else to bother in the middle of his night.

He tells me he has a subsidy from the government of about $400 a month, plus a subsidy for housing, utilities and food. In addition, he pays almost nothing for medical care but also says the taxes in France are outrageously high. When asked how long this can go on because at this rate there will not be enough tax-payers to subsidize everyone, he agrees but still thinks he is owed these things.

Where I was raised, I was taught to do what I could for myself and if, after trying everything else, then turn to the family for help. If there was no help there then you could go to the church or other organizations, and as a last resort ask the government for help, but only temporarily. Always look for ways to be independent.

I realize we are in hard economic times and that we need to help those who need the help. Most of us are willing to do that. It’s just that we don’t want someone reaching into our wallets and spending our money on things they think are important. Someone else’s abortion is not as important to me as feeding a living child, wherever that child may be. Feeding and providing for a family in need is more important to me than providing methadone to people who are supposed to be recovering from drug addiction. Why do we give drugs to someone trying to get off drugs at a cost that would be prohibitive if the addict had to pay for it himself?

Well, if you’ve been able to wade through this convoluted post, I just want to say this started out to be a post about the fatigue of fighting the same battle on health care, and ended up giving my general opinion of the state of affairs in our beloved republic these days. May God continue to give us some blessing because we seem to be doing everything wrong otherwise.

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General and former Secretary of State Alexander Haig has died at the age of 85.

His family says he died from complications of an infection.

Our condolences to his family, loved ones and friends.

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Life is getting in the way of doing the proper research to post on current events so email links have become my best friend over the course of the past week.

I hope you enjoy the relaxing, beautiful music provided by the Taiwanese leaf flute player.

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I haven’t given you an update on Belle, our Youth Minister’s and his wife’s two year old daughter, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer some many months ago.

Belle and her mother have been at St. Jude Children’s Hospital (which is thinking of using Belle in a commercial) for nearly four months now.

It’s easy for us to pray for them all the time, but we aren’t the ones going through the fire. Although I have confidence that God will heal this baby, there are always those human doubts.

On Tuesday, Kelley (Belle’s mother) seemed to be a bit down and exhausted. Some of the women they know well from the church (our veterinarian’s wife in particular) have taken at least monthly trips to be with Kelley and Belle and to help with anything they can to make their lives a little more “normal” and “easy” if normal and easy are possible when your entire world has been turned upside down.

I want to give you Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s posts from Belle’s CaringBridge Journal:

First is Tuesday’s, which I found to be terribly difficult to read and yet inspiring at the same time. It’s been a long time away from the Dad and the other three children, although they do get to Memphis every few weeks.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 1:04 PM, EST
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Heb. 12:1-3

In 2 days, we will have been gone from home for 4 months; I am tired. Although this is a remarkable place, I am tired of the day to day life of St. Jude. The labs, the waiting, the clinic visits, the waiting, the medicine room, and more waiting. Vital signs, blood and platelet transfusions, bags of fluid, IV poles, dropping counts, low magnesium, flushing lines, toxins being put into my little girl’s body in an effort to rid her of the horrific cancer that still remains, and the list goes on.

Why was this the race marked out for me, for Belle, for David, Taylor, Emily and Jack? I do not know, and it is not my place to question a Supreme, Almighty, Powerful God that has everything under His control. So, I will run the race with perseverance, fixing my eyes on Jesus, knowing that He endured far more than I have had to. I will not grow weary, and I will not lose heart.

I am not the same person I was 4 months, and I can’t say that I want to go back to being the person that I was. I am a more insightful, caring, compassionate, appreciative and patient person than I was a few months ago. I was snapped out of my “comfy” little world with just 2 words, “brain tumor.” I would not wish this on anyone, but this is now my race and I will run it the very best that I can knowing that my strength comes from the Lord.

Please continue to pray that Belle’s counts would rise; that David and the kids would remain healthy for their upcoming visit, and that we would see miraculous results on Feb. 26th. Thanks for your prayers, it is where our strength comes from.

Love,

Kelley

Where does she find the strength to go on in this mission to save their daughter’s life? She finds it from God and from the members of the church, who are constantly praying for them. Friends of people of the church, all over the country, are also lifting them up in prayer.

We pray for them, which is the best thing we can do even if we could be there, and we ask others to pray for them and we all wait, with the faith she will be healed. But, what if God sees fit to take this child Home with him? This little girl I have come to know only from the journal entries since I have no youth of ours in the church.

As a human I feel so helpless in my own powers to do anything to help these people, except make a meal for the family still here in town, volunteer to watch the children if David goes alone to visit his wife and daughter, but I haven’t done that yet as I do not know David, but telling him I’m a member of First Baptist Church would certainly mean he would be welcoming of at least a meal and help in doing the mundane chores of cleaning the house and doing the laundry, grocery shopping etc.

I can’t help with the children because they don’t know me and it would be tough for them to be around someone they don’t know, but God has been good and has touched the hearts of everyone in our church congregation so that people who do know them–teenagers and their parents especially, plus the other ministers and their families have been able to fill that gap.

If I were a betting person I would bet they even buy the family groceries without charge to David, although my husband did run into David at the grocery store recently.

When Belle was first diagnosed David had a high deductible insurance plan he chose because he thought with a young family he wouldn’t need something more. I’m sure he changed it since then since the church benefits offer a variety of insurance plans. Back then there was an extremely high deductible and co-pay for the Mitchells and it would have made a huge dent in their finances.

The congregation was notified, the church gave some to help with the expenses, and a lot of us pitched in with gifts so that in the end they had their deductible met, relieving them of one more worry. Maybe it’s time for us to donate more money, as these trips to Memphis, even if David takes the kids by car, are expensive.

Let me tell you an anecdote: Last week Jack, their son, and then David came down with strep throat. David and the other children were to have gone to Memphis to visit Kelley and Belle that weekend. Because they were sick and because Belle can’t afford to be around anyone sick David asked the airline if he could change the tickets for the trip. The airline said they could change the tickets but it would cost $150 per ticket to change. That’s $600, probably the same price as the ticket, if not more.

Word got out and people began to pray that God would work this out. There are some in our congregation who could have, and probably would have, given them the $600 as a love gift, but people began to pray about the situation.

You may think we are crazy, but the Lord sent about 3 or 4 inches of snow on that Friday night, and it was enough for the airline to change the tickets at no additional charge! They will be flying to Memphis this weekend, with everyone so far still healthy! God works in mysterious ways, and now we are calling it our answered prayer for the Mitchell family. The snow melted quickly the next day. Three inches of snow in this area of the country is enough to shut everything down for days.

Now for Wednesday’s entry in the Journal:

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 2:35 PM, EST
Belle’s counts are up today! Her hemoglobin, platelets and magnesium were all good; and her ANC was 6,000! She is napping right now and looking forward to playing with Haley when she wakes up! Continue to pray that her counts would remain high and that David and the kids would stay healthy. We are looking forward to a great weekend with them! Thanks for your prayers and the encouraging messages.

Love,

Kelley

What a difference some numbers make in the weariness of the mother, who misses her husband other children, and is worried to death about her youngest child.

For daily updates and to offer your encouragement I urge you to go to Belle’s CaringBridge Journal

For those of you who do pray and believe in our God I ask you to pray that when Feb. 25 gets here and Belle has tests to see if there are any tumors in her back or anywhere else, there will be none and Belle will be able to go home with her family and get her medication in pill form.

It’s been a long 5 or 6 months for this family. Please lift them up in prayer and ask God to perform the miracle that is necessary to keep this child alive and cancer-free.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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Each time the Olympics rolls around I ask myself the same question.

Why is it that many of these “news” folks and years gone by commentators relish pointing out the “failures” or missteps of these hard working, gifted athletes?

Win or lose it is befitting to congratulate all the athletes who compete in a venue which includes the best the world has to offer in their particular sport.

Just sayin…

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From my email box:

‘I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $20.00.

‘Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won’t be long before $2, 000.00 will only buy a used one.

‘If cigarettes keep going up in price, I’m going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.

‘Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter

‘If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.

‘When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we’d be better off leaving the car in the garage.

‘I’m afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.

‘I read the other day where some scientist thinks it’s possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas ..

‘Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the President.

‘I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.

‘It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.

‘It won’t be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.

‘I’m afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.

‘Thank goodness I won’t live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.

‘The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.

‘There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel.

‘No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it’s too rich for my blood.’

‘If they think I’ll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.

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From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary: Main Entry: 1ag·nos·tic
Pronunciation: \ag-?näs-tik, ?g-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek agn?stos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gn?stos known, from gign?skein to know — more at know
Date: 1869

1 : a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god
2 : a person unwilling to commit to an opinion about something Emphasis mine–Admin

For purposes of this discussion, definition 2 is the applicable definition.

Barack Obama has declared himself agnostic as far as a tax increase on the middle-class goes.

The Obama administration once again is sparking speculation that the president may break a key campaign pledge, after he was quoted saying he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on those making less than $250,000.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported that President Obama made the comment in an interview discussing ways to rein in the soaring federal deficit.

The president’s apparent inclination to keep all options on the table, though, stands in stark contrast to the string of pledges he made during the campaign to shield households making less than $250,000 from any tax.

“Let me be clear — if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year … you will not see your taxes go up,” he said in July 2008 at a Springfield, Mo., town hall meeting — it was a statement he repeated across the country.

So is the president abandoning his promise? The White House insists the answer is no. Aides say Obama is merely giving a deficit reduction commission he will soon establish room to maneuver.

“The president doesn’t believe our economic growth … should be predicated on raising taxes on middle-class families. But that being said, the president’s just not going to get in the game of prejudging the outcome of a commission,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday when asked about the “agnostic” remark.

Even so, it sounds more and more like Obama is girding for some very tough budgetary choices ahead.

“The reality of our fiscal challenge is not subject to interpretation. Math is not partisan,” Obama told reporters Tuesday during a surprise press conference.

This isn’t the first the time the durability of Obama’s middle-class tax promise has come into question.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and top White House economist Larry Summers stirred fears of its demise last summer. At the time, Geithner said in a Sunday-show interview that the nation would have to “do what it takes,” while Summers said the country should not “rule things out no matter what.” Those comments were made in discussions about how the government could control the deficit and pay for health care reform.

A politician these days should have learned from President Bush 41 that breaking a pledge to raise taxes will insure you will be a one-termer.

Anyone, a Democrat especially, who claims he will not raise taxes as a campaign pledge is playing with fire. When faced with the realities of governing he must explore all options in order to satisfy Congress in order to pass the legislative agenda he is proposing, and Obama has promised a lot of programs that will cost a lot of money to implement and run.

No matter how Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tries to dance on the head of a pin, the news is out that Obama has said he is an agnostic, or unwilling to commit to an opinion about tax increases for people making less than $250,000.

Bush 41 was played like a fine violin by the Democratic Congress he had when he agreed to a tax increase in exchange for a budget deal with said Congress. They infamously used his pledge against him as soon as he did their bidding and the rest is history.

I can remember being in Union Leadership training when his pledge was broken and the 1992 election was a month away. In the hallways at the college where I was staying, and where the other union leaders were also staying, were the people laughing and joking “Read my lips…no new taxes.” They had gotten what they wanted and as a result Bill Clinton was able to capitalize on it, even though he ended up raising taxes on Social Security (did we have Social Security taxes before Clinton?), and of course, gasoline taxes.

Think about that every time your Social Security payment is received or every time you fill your car up with gas. Of course, the gas taxes have gone up since then, but part of that tax was implemented at that time.

When the government taxes anything, even if they claim it is temporary, you can bet it will never go away. For a perfect example look at the federal tax on your telephone bill, which up until a few years ago was said to pay for the Spanish-American War, that ended over 100 years ago. Every time it was supposed to expire Congress would extend it. A few years ago they finally rescinded it, but probably just renamed it.

Taxing while in a downward economic period is not the answer to improving the economy. People and businesses need more money in their pockets at these times so they can purchase goods or supplies to keep other companies and people working. When that money is removed from the pockets of the people or the businesses it is less money to go toward reviving the economy.

Tax cuts have been proven to get the economy out of the rut before and to get us into a growing economy.

If Obama seeks to raise taxes on those he promised so frequently would not have tax increases, he will do so at his own peril. The electorate is already fed up with his governing style and his Democratic majority Congress, and if he thinks doing a tax increase now will be forgotten by 2012, I’m afraid my experience in watching politics shows the American electorate’s memory is longer than he is giving it credit for being.

Obama has no loyalty to anyone, and we can see now that he is fully in campaign mode against Congress, and will throw members of his own party under the bus if it saves his own political neck. People are beginning to talk about that in unnamed interviews and in comments sections of news sites.

You can fool some of the people…..

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Good news.

NEW YORK — Former President Bill Clinton was recovering at his suburban home with his wife on Friday after leaving a Manhattan hospital where he underwent a heart procedure.

Three black SUVs with tinted windows arrived around 7:45 a.m. Friday and pulled through the high gates at the house. The Westchester County hamlet of Chappaqua is about 35 miles north of New York City.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was also at the family’s home.

Clinton adviser Douglas Band said in a statement that Clinton left New York Presbyterian Hospital “in excellent health.”

“He looks forward in the days ahead to getting back to the work of his Foundation, and to Haiti relief and recovery efforts,” it said.

We wish the former President well as he recuperates from his recent medical procedure.

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Not only does Vice President Biden apparently believe that the current administration is responsible for the successes achieved in Iraq, but the administration is also pushing the mantra that the Vice President is responsible for the country securing free and fair elections:

Gibbs said that “the vice president’s been deeply involved in fixing the political process there so that elections can be held and so that our troops can come home as scheduled this summer.”

Gee, I wonder what this was that took place on January 30, 2005?

For Iraqis, 2005 was a year in which they participated in two elections and a referendum. They voted on January 30, October 15, and December 15. The first vote, on January 30, was held despite the explicit warnings from Al Qaeda in Iraq not to attempt this step toward democracy. Looking back at the reports being filed in the weeks leading up to the election, one notes that no one was optimistic about the outcome, often with good reason. According to Dexter Filkins of the New York Times, he and his colleagues had started an office pool to see who could predict the percentage of Iraqis who would vote; the precentages being considered were between fifteen and twenty-four percent. By the end of the day, however, all observers were impressed by the courage of the Iraqi citizens and the long lines of Iraqis who walked to the polling stations to vote. Estimates of the actual turnout vary between fifty and sixty percent. The photos of Iraqis with purple fingers, inked at the voting centers to show that they had voted, were spread around the world.

Fast forward to October and December of 2005:

On October 15, Iraqis went to the polls to vote on a referendum for the new Constitution; it was ratified by a wide margin. And then, on December 15, there was a general election to seat the new 275-member Parliament. The United Iraqi Alliance ticket won 128 seats, the largest share of any of the parties, followed by the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan with 53, Iraqi Accord Front with 44, and the Iraqi National List with 25.

This administration must consist of miracle workers.

These are the same individuals who told the American people that the surge in Iraq would fail yet with a wave of their magical imaginary wands, they have now won the war and will bring the troops home on the same timetable agreed upon before former President Bush left office. Wow, impressive.

November 9, 2009:

Under a security agreement drawn up between Iraq and the United States last year, all U.S. military forces have to withdraw by the end of 2011.

If all goes according to plan, U.S. combat operations will end by August 31, 2010, although 50,000 troops will remain until 2012 to train Iraqi security forces and conduct targeted counter-terrorism operations.

Here is Senator Biden, (in his own words in 2007):

Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the day before hearing the testimony by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, already dismissed the results. “I really respect him, but I think he’s dead flat wrong,” Biden said about General Petraeus on September 9, 2007. After two days of testimony, Senator Biden was still not persuaded that the new strategy was working. In an interview a few days after the hearing, Senator Biden said, “I give the strategy no chance of succeeding. Zero.”

How about the former Senator from the state of Illinois?

July 2007:

“Here’s what we know. The surge has not worked. And they said today, ‘Well, even in September, we’re going to need more time.’ So we’re going to kick this can all the way down to the next president, under the president’s plan.”

This game of sleight of hand which is being played out in Washington is beyond reproach. Barack Obama was elected and poof, the world became a safer place immediately. All the accomplishments of our military personnel occurring prior to January 2009 vanished. After all, if success was acknowledged someone else, anyone, might have to receive credit.

Given everything above, prior and current statements , the belief this administration must have that their magic dust will cloud the memory of American citizens, and the self delusional talk of how they somehow they stabilized Iraq by nothing more than their presence,
there is one thing they seem to have forgotten.

The war in Iraq was not won by any politician (standing up a viable government in Iraq withstanding) in Washington. The country was not secured by armchair generals or television pundits.

Citizens in Iraq are free to vote, to attend school, own and operate businesses, receive medical attention, no longer live in fear of torture or mass murder and speak their mind without intimidation due to our military and the allies who fought by their side.

You can provide all the strategy in the world, but without those who execute orders, there is zero chance of success. It is my belief former President Bush understood that fact. In today’s environment of make believe, not so much.

Credit where credit is due:

*All emphasis in the above post- admin.

(Update): Wish I would have seen this before I wrote the post above. It’s less than 2 minutes, delivered by a member of our Special Forces (Retired), and it says it all. *Warning, Strong Language

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I’m sure the death of his father has something to do with it, but Patrick Kennedy becomes the fourteenth House Democrat to announce he will not seek re-election, with eighteen Republicans making the same decision for themselves.

It seems the incumbents are getting the message that they are unelectable.

When Republican Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy’s old seat last month, the younger Kennedy told reporters that it was a sign that voters were out for “blood.” He complained that his party was not doing a better job of selling its health care overhaul to the American people, and he called the Democrats “the most undisciplined party there is out there.”

Although Kennedy never faced a serious threat in his overwhelmingly Democratic district, he was looking ahead to what may have been his toughest race yet this fall. Republicans are poised to nominate John Loughlin, an Army veteran and member of the Rhode Island legislature who raised more than $246,000 last year, putting him on pace to out-raise Kennedy’s recent challengers. Source.

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I posted the other day that the Haitians should free the ten American missionaries.

A Haitian judge has agreed that they did not have criminal intent and should be set free.

A Haitian judge recommended Thursday that 10 American missionaries detained in Haiti be released.

The missionaries were arrested for taking 33 children and trying to transport them out of the country, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed judicial source.

The missionaries have been jailed in Haiti since Jan. 29, after being stopped at the Dominican Republic’s border with Haiti.

“One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions on the part of the people involved and there is nothing that shows that criminal intention on the part of the Americans,” the source told Reuters.

The prosecutor has the right to appeal Judge Bernard Saint-Vil recommendation, but the judge has the final say.

So, I suppose after a legal battle the judge will set them free, and that’s only right as they were just trying to help out what they thought were orphaned or abandoned children.

Maybe they’ve learned a lesson and will be sure to have the legalities worked out before they attempt to do something like this again.

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