Hopefully the July 4th Tea Parties aren't losing steam, but there doesn't seem to be as much of a buzz two weeks out as there was for Tax Day Tea Party.
Fox News just doesn't seem to be as energized about it as they previously were. Could they be gun shy after being labelled as being behind the Tea Parties? Hopefully not. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe they're just lying in the weeds for now. Not a bold strategy though, if that's the case. And this from blogger RightKlik - some bad news about Atlanta's Tea Party being shut down.
On the other hand Memphis is still a go, and it looks like the focus is on Tax and Spend and the deficit. Focused. I like that. Dayton has fireworks. Cool. And sites like TeaPartyDay appear to have things somewhat organized.
But the sense of size of this next set of impending protests seems somehow diminished, when in fact you'd think the opposite would be true. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am.
June 22, 2009
Obama Foreign Policy: Debacles
Just a quick recap. Remember a couple of months back, all those media reports about how wonderful Obama's foreign trips and speeches apologizing for America were? In truth it was bad. And now it's gotten worse. Obama's been leveraging his community organizer past to try to organize a world community. He's got his "we're all in this together" philosophy and he's trying to share it with Hamas and Chavez, and Ahmadinejad and others.The problem is - we aren't all in this together. There are those who would gladly see the US destroyed, or Israel wiped off the map. That is not together-hood. The do not see a chance for reconciliation - they see weakness and reluctance, and they are taking advantage of it.
Let's do a little exercise in comparing Obama then to Obama now.
THEN:
(Just a sample)
-We've got to close Guantanamo
-Saying during the apology tour, that the US has committed acts of arrogance
-We should not have gone into Iraq
-We need to go further in Afghanistan
-Not following the proper etiquette with the Queen of England
-Bowing before the King of Saudi Arabia
-A feeble response to North Korean nuclear tests and rocket tests
-Joe Biden will be my foreign policy guy
AND NOW:
-Thugocracy in Iran killing protesters in the streets and a weak response from the leader of the free world
-North Korea missiles aimed at Hawaii and they're threatening to harm the US if attacked (including apparently, having the sanctions enforced while they try to sell illegal arms to others).
-North Korea missiles aimed at Hawaii and they're threatening to harm the US if attacked (including apparently, having the sanctions enforced while they try to sell illegal arms to others).
-Chinese ships playing chicken with American ships.
-China and Russia trying to take the US dollar off the world stage as the world's currency reserve.
-Al Qaida admitting they would use nuclear weapons on the US if they could just get their hands on them in Pakistan
Guess what Mr. President, it's a dirty world and there are same bad, bad people out there who don't have your country's best interests at heart. To call your foreign policy anything other than a debacle would be being generous.
Let's do another quick compare and contrast:
-Bush managed to free Iraq from the oppression of Saddam Hussein. Obama's premature withdrawal has sparked an uptick in violent action in the country
-Bush removed the Al Qaida supporting Taliban from power in Afghanistan, Obama's going to try a surge to prevent them from regaining power in the region, in this case by taking parts of Pakistan and their nuclear weapons.
-Bush tried to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians. Obama is trying to dictate the conditions to it's ally.
-Bush kept Americans safe from attack after 9/11 for over 7 years. Obama has done so for 5 months. So far so good, but it's got a long way to go to prove his approach will be effective as President Bush's approach actually was.
Those who had derided Bush's foreign policy stance as arrogant or 'cowboy diplomacy' can not argue with the relative successes of Bush compared to Obama. And the excuse that Obama inherited a mess won't wash - EVERY President has inherited a very difficult and often dangerous foreign relations situation because the world is a dangerous place; always was, always will be.
To try to not take ownership 5 years in is no longer acceptable. You won the job Mr. President, the responsibilities are yours now. So just do your job and stop the PR tour, stop the blame game. Just do your job.
June 21, 2009
Obama De-Indexed
Rasmussen reports today that Obama has fallen below zero in the Presidential Approval Index result. That means that more people strongly disapprove than strongly approve of his performance in the role of President.
It's starting to look a little bit like GM's stock price - in inescapable decline. If Obama's approval rating were a stock they might get de-listed before 2010.
It's starting to look a little bit like GM's stock price - in inescapable decline. If Obama's approval rating were a stock they might get de-listed before 2010.News Flash: Rush Limbaugh to stay popular
Newsmax interviews Michael Harrison, who explains the landscape of talk radio, and also predicts Rush Limbaugh's continued and future success.
June 20, 2009
Iran: Horror, yes. Change? Hopefully.
Horror in Iran.
Gateway Pundit has some very graphic and yet moving content on the violence in Tehran. Gateway Pundit has proven an excellent source of details. So has YouTube,
and of course Twitter. The point is, you can't follow this crisis closely through these media, and not be moved to want the protests to succeed. But it's tough to succeed without outside help.
Change? Hopefully. THAT would be 'change we need'. There are protests around the world. There are continued protests in Iran. If they continue to gain momentum perhaps they can affect a regime change.
It's important to realize that the crisis over the election came about as a result of a devastated economy - in turn a result of an over-reaching government domestically in Iran, and of course sanctions imposed by some in the West. This did not come from an Obama speech. This is a natural, homegrown uprising against a corrupt regime. It's a country where 60% of the population was not born when the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979. It's a country that because of modern technology simply couldn't remain in a Muslim dark ages because they could see the Internet. They can talk to those beyond their own borders.
Too many people are still saying that the US is right to stay as far on the sidelines as possible. That this was a endemic uprising is all the more reason to support the validity of the uprising and to condemn the government for any violence against the people. There's a huge difference between bombing Iran and condemning evil. If this had occurred in Iraq in 1991, as President Bush (41) had urged, things in that country would have gone entirely differently than they ended up going.
These protesters deserve worldwide support. They are in a VERY tough situation - they aren't armed for a rebellion. They are ruled by an autocratic and repressive mullahocracy. They are quite brave to protest. Some strong language is more than desired - it's required.
Gateway Pundit has some very graphic and yet moving content on the violence in Tehran. Gateway Pundit has proven an excellent source of details. So has YouTube,
and of course Twitter. The point is, you can't follow this crisis closely through these media, and not be moved to want the protests to succeed. But it's tough to succeed without outside help.
Change? Hopefully. THAT would be 'change we need'. There are protests around the world. There are continued protests in Iran. If they continue to gain momentum perhaps they can affect a regime change.
It's important to realize that the crisis over the election came about as a result of a devastated economy - in turn a result of an over-reaching government domestically in Iran, and of course sanctions imposed by some in the West. This did not come from an Obama speech. This is a natural, homegrown uprising against a corrupt regime. It's a country where 60% of the population was not born when the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979. It's a country that because of modern technology simply couldn't remain in a Muslim dark ages because they could see the Internet. They can talk to those beyond their own borders.
Too many people are still saying that the US is right to stay as far on the sidelines as possible. That this was a endemic uprising is all the more reason to support the validity of the uprising and to condemn the government for any violence against the people. There's a huge difference between bombing Iran and condemning evil. If this had occurred in Iraq in 1991, as President Bush (41) had urged, things in that country would have gone entirely differently than they ended up going.
These protesters deserve worldwide support. They are in a VERY tough situation - they aren't armed for a rebellion. They are ruled by an autocratic and repressive mullahocracy. They are quite brave to protest. Some strong language is more than desired - it's required.
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