Hypocrite Obama Backtracks On Lobbyist Ban

NYTimes.com:

The Republican National Committee criticized the Obama administration for violating this new standard in some of its appointments. Mr. Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, has been a lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, and his nominee for deputy secretary of health and human services, William V. Corr, lobbied for stricter tobacco regulations as an official with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, conceded the two nominees did not adhere to the new rules. But he said that Mr. Lynn had the support of Republicans and Democrats, and would receive a waiver under the policy, and that Mr. Corr did not need a waiver because he had agreed to recuse himself from tobacco issues.

“When you set very tough rules, you need to have a mechanism for the occasional exception,” this official said, adding, “We wanted to be really tough, but at the same time we didn’t want to hamstring the new administration or turn the town upside down.”

Barack campaigned on making sweeping changes condemnations regarding lobbylists, said he wouldn't accept money from them, much less would they have a place in his administration. Who knew he was lying?

Obama Pisses Off Black Christians

The half-white, Mr. Please Everybody, uber-liberal Commander-In-Chief apparently didn't get the message that most of his rabid, overzealous, black, liberal base--many of whom view him as literally being The Second Coming--also happen to be Christians:

Not everyone was happy with President Barack Obama's nod to nonbelievers and non-Christians in his inaugural address. And some of the stiff criticism about Obama’s religious inclusiveness is coming from African-American Christians who maintain that no, all faiths were actually not created equal.

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness," the new president said. "We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth," he also said. Nothing too controversial, proclaiming that America's strength lies in its diversity.But between those two statements, the new president got specific: "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers."

By mentioning, for the first time in an inaugural address, the 16.1 percent of Americans who check "no"’ when asked about religion, Obama turned it into the most controversial line in his speech -- praised by The New York Times editorial board and cited by some Christians as evidence that he is a heretic, and in his well-spoken way, a serious threat.

With that one line, the president "seems to be trying to redefine American culture, which is distinctively Christian," said’ Bishop E.W. Jackson of the Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, Va. "The overwhelming majority of Americans identify as Christians, and what disturbs me is that he seems to be trying to redefine who we are.’"

Earlier this week, Jackson was a guest on the popular conservative Christian radio show 'Janet Parshall's America,' where a succession of callers, many of whom identified themselves as African-American, said they shared the concern, and were perplexed and put off by the president’s shout-out to nonbelievers.

Maybe, just maybe this will wake some Black libs to the fact that BO is a politician and not a saviour. But I doubt it-Black libs are too naive and gullible for that. What's really funny is how despite his voting record as Senator, Barry O is now trying pass himself off as a unifying centrist as President--tells you a lot about what he thinks about the intellect of the average voter.

Kirsten Gillibrand Is Not As Conservative As Liberals Would Like You To Think

Bloomberg.com:

New York Governor David Paterson designated U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Senator Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state in the Obama administration.

Paterson chose Gillibrand, 42, a Hudson Democrat whose sprawling mostly Republican district is near Albany, bypassing better-known Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The twice-elected congresswoman has opposed gun-control legislation and the $700 billion financial bailout bill -- positions at odds with Paterson’s.

Gillibrand was an upset winner in the 2006 congressional elections when she defeated four-term incumbent Republican U.S. Representative John Sweeney, 54. Her appointment takes effect Jan. 25, Paterson said.

“I believe I have found the best candidate to become the next senator from the state of New York,” Paterson said. “She is dynamic, she is articulate, she is perceptive, she is outspoken.”

Gutsy move by Gov. Paterson who clearly picked Gillibrand in the hopes of winning over GOP and conservative voters in upstate New York when he runs for re-election in 2012. Of course, being pro-gun has all-or-nothing liberals upset with Paterson's pick, which is good, but Gillibrand isn't nearly as conservative as the leftwing loons would like you to think. Indeed, Gillibrand is pro-gay marriage and pro-abortion, so don't buy the liberal spin that she's conservative just because she supports gun rights. However, to be fair, Gillibrand has proven to be strong on illegal immigration as well. All in all, considering this is New York, Gillibrand looks to be the best pick a conservative like me could get.

Suddenly Barack Has Me Feeling Less Safe

HNIC Obama caves to the wishes of leftwing loons who care more about terrorists more than they do the safety of American citizens:

On his second day in office, President Barack Obama moved quickly yesterday to reshape U.S. national-security policy, ordering the Guantanamo Bay prison camp closed within a year, forbidding the harshest treatment of terror suspects and vowing a strong focus on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“We have no time to lose,” he said at the State Department as he welcomed newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help him forge what he called “a new era of American leadership” in the world.

He said his administration is committed to lead. “We can no longer afford drift, and we can no longer afford delay, nor can we cede ground to those who seek destruction,” he said.

By ordering shut the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, closing any remaining CIA secret prisons overseas and saying “without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture,” Obama said he was signaling that the United States would confront global violence without making “a false choice between our safety and our ideals.”

Bad move. Does Obama even care that one of the detainees is 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammad? Or that another detainee, Ramzi bin al Shibh, recently declared on Monday that he was "proud of Sept. 11"? Or again, how about the Pentagon revealing just the other day how 61 former Gitmo detainees have resumed their terrorists ways since their release? Indeed, prisoners in Gitmo aren't even wanted in their own country. But Barack, having made promises over and over that he'd close Gitmo on the campaign trail, wants to make sure he keeps his word to a fringe crowd that mostly wanted Hillary to win the primaries. Republicans and conservatives in general need to step up and publicly slam this dumb, backwards decision.

Barack Obama's Million Ghost March

NewsBusters:

I doubt it would surprise anyone here that the media would go to their best lengths to over-estimate the number of people at Obama's inauguration. But just how far? Try a million people.

ASU journalism professor Stephen Doig took it to the satellite image to get an accurate count of the crowd. His tally, after even accounting for those still in route to the event: 800,000. Now let's look at how the working Obamalists portrayed that to the public.

Baltimore Sun: "Inaugural crowd is estimated at close to 2 million"

Boston Globe: " The National Park Service says it will rely on a media report that says 1.8 million people attended President Obama's inauguration."

MSNBC: "Oh, and some guy named Barack Obama. Along with millions of regular folk, celebrities swarmed to DC to celebrate the Inauguration." (from the same page: "Could Inauguration Crowd Reach 4 Million?")

LA Times: "Crowds surged in previously unseen numbers today for the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, making it seem increasingly likely that the gathering would reach the record-setting mark of 2 million."

Here's where it gets good.

Washington Post: "the official estimate released by the District yesterday is 1.8 million, a figure that would make the gathering the largest ever on the Mall."

Backstory on that "official estimate released by the District" that the Washington Post is writing about.

AP: "Park service spokesman David Barna said the agency did not conduct its own count. Instead, it will use a Washington Post account that said 1.8 million people gathered on the U.S. Capitol grounds, National Mall and parade route, he said."

And that is especially interesting because if you follow the jump on the Washington Post story you'll find this nugget of info: "The Washington Post's analysis of the image concluded that about 1 million people were on the Mall." And the first page of the article mentions the parade route "was supposed to accommodate 300,000 people at its height". Fuzzy math, a journalist staple.

President Bush Gets Warm Welcome Home

Lost amongst all the sensationalism of the Obama inauguration was the great welcome that President Bush received upon arriving home in Texas:

Taking the stage in front of a sea of red, white and blue “W” signs and more than 20,000 supporters, George W. Bush traded a cold and uninviting Washington on Tuesday for the warm embrace of this West Texas oil town.

There was no talk here about historically low poll ratings, disappointment, regret or change — just a hero’s return to the place where it all began for Mr. Bush and the opportunity for him to offer a mild rebuttal to his critics.

“I never took an opinion poll to tell me what to think,” Mr. Bush said to roaring cheers in Centennial Plaza, where he began his first inaugural journey in 2001.

“When I walked out of the Oval Office this morning, I left with the same values that I took to Washington eight years ago; when I go home tonight and I look into the mirror, I’m not going to regret what I see.”

If the wild celebration of President Barack Obama’s swearing-in contained an implicit rebuke of Mr. Bush’s presidency, there was no acknowledgment of it here — and no bitterness about it, either.

“Today was a great day for America and a good man took the oath of office, and we all offer our prayers for his success,” Mr. Bush said, receiving more-than-polite applause.

Class and dignity, unlike liberals who presented themselves as bitter fools on Bush's inauguration days. I haven't seen a single, major conservative VIP or pundit yet get bent out of shape over Obama being the new Prez--instead we seem to be taking a collective wait-n-see approach, constructive criticism along the way, but nowhere any sort of Derangement Syndrome that the Left has carried for years regarding President Bush and still holds onto despite a new guy now being in office.

Caroline Kennedy Takes Herself Out Of Senate Bid

NYTimes.com:

Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York, according to a person told of her decision.

On Wednesday she called Gov. David A. Paterson, who will choose a successor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her concerns about Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s deteriorating health (he was hospitalized after suffering a seizure during President Obama’s inaugural lunch on Tuesday ) prompted her decision to withdraw, this person said. Coping with her uncle’s condition was her most important priority, a situation not conducive to starting a high profile public job.

Mr. Paterson had indicated to her that the job was hers if she would accept it, the person said.

She was planning to issue a statement on Wednesday evening.

Good. She wasn't at all qualified to be Senator, sounded like a second-grader when she spoke publicly and came out of nowhere so she sneak in on the back her last name, a surname that's inexplicably treated like its royalty by liberals. But then it's outrageous that Caroline Kennedy was even considered for the job, New Yorkers should remember that when David Paterson comes up for re-election.

Ok Barack's The HNIC, Now What?

TheTZI.com:

WASHINGTON — Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday and promised to “begin again the work of remaking America” on a day of celebration that climaxed a once-inconceivable journey for the man and his country.

Mr. Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, inherited a White House built partly by slaves and a nation in crisis at home and abroad. The moment captured the imagination of much of the world as more than a million flag-waving people bore witness while Mr. Obama recited the oath with his hand on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used at his inauguration 148 years ago.

Beyond the politics of the occasion, the sight of a black man climbing the highest peak electrified people across racial, generational and partisan lines. Mr. Obama largely left it to others to mark the history explicitly, making only passing reference to his own barrier-breaking role in his 18-minute Inaugural Address, noting how improbable it might seem that “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

I watched some of the inauguration and oath today and while I didn't get a "tingle up my leg" like some people, I could respect the tremendous moment of a Black man taking the oath of President for the first time ever. Despite all the screw-ups it was still cool to watch. However, almost as significant was BO's speech....some might call it somber, but his tone seemed to be more upset than anything, taking some subliminal shots at President Bush and just coming off in general like his "shine" of being the first Black president got ruined by all the actual work he'll have to do as President (can't call in "absent" too often now, peeps will kinda notice).

In a sense you got the feeling that Barack already knows that his honeymoon is just about over, all his talk of "hope" and "change" gets thrown out the window because now he has to actually "be" about it. Sure, his leftwing minions and the press will continue to "Blame Bush" for everything that's wrong with this planet, after all they have nothing else to fall back on. But the rest of us know full well that Bush has left the building now, Democrats control the House and Senate and a one-term Senator with little experience at anything is in charge--downright scary. Will all the yahoos who expected Obama to come in the White House and wave a magic wand to fix everything be patient enough to give him a chance? Or will the angry wolves turn on him the minute he fails (think Billary wouldn't run again in '12? you're kidding yourself)? Ok, so we finally have the first Black president. Now what?

Thank You For Everything President Bush!

After 8 years the Bush presidency comes to an end today and I'm already missing him. I also have a good feeling that history will be much kinder to him his contemporaries are now (remember that Harry Truman also left office low in the polls, but his stature has improved immensely since). For most conservatives President Bush's legacy is mixed, for liberals the hate continues and will continue till eternity (it's just their way). Me? I'll be forever grateful for keeping me and my family safe, for sticking to his principles and for being an outstanding American citizen that we all can take inspiration from. Sure President Bush made some mistakes along the way, but he never wavered from the fact that any decision he made was made in the best interests of our country. That resolve should serve him well as he leaves the White House.

So with this time I just wanted to say Thank You Mr. President:

Thank You for making sure America would not have another terrorist attack on its soil after 9/11.

Thank You for toppling the treacherous reign of Saddam Hussein and bringing a functional democracy to Iraq.



Thank You for the successful No Child Left Behind act which holds schools and teachers more accountable for our children's education.

Thank You for appointing two superior, conservative judges, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, to the Supreme Court.

Thank You for your taking on and defeating so much of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan to the point that they're largely marginalized.

Thank You for having the fortitude to ignore the naysayers in our own country who preached nothing but hate against you, wished for your downfall, lied about you and cheered your every misstep.

Thank You for your standing on your principles by restricting stem-cell research.

Thank You for 52 straight weeks of job growth.

Thank You for giving more aide to Africa than any President before you, it's estimated that you've saved over 10 million lives with the programs you instituted to fight malaria and AIDS.



Thank You for strengthening our ties globally, with Eastern Asia and India in particular.

Thank You for getting the Taliban out of Afghanistan.

Thank You for championing freedom in Latin America with your Millennium Challenge Account.

Thank You for the support and love you always showed our troops, meeting with grieving families, visiting wounded soldiers.



Thank You for having the fortitude to defeat the likes of Al Gore and John Kerry in elections, each of whom would've certainly ran our country into the ground if given the chance.

Thank You for adopting the Infant Adoption Awareness Act which has matched over 3000 children with parents.

Thank You for signing the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.

Thank You for promoting abstinence.

Thank You for passing on the global-warning friendly Kyoto Treaty.

Thank You for the Best First Lady ever in Laura Bush.



Thank You for stopping federally-funded cloning by vetoing two liberal-sponsored bills.

Thank You for all your efforts to protect and help those in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.

Thank You for the enhanced methods of interrogating terrorists.

Thank You for enacting the successful Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.

Thank You for the surge.



Thank You for reaching across party lines in an attempt to combat our nations illegal immigrant problem.

Thank You for bringing honor & integrity back to the White House.

Other's Expressing Thanks: Dee @ Conservatism With Heart, Astute Bloggers, Curt @ Flopping Aces, Pasadena Closet Conservative, The Anchoress, Blonde Sagacity, Rivka @ Right Think

Good luck and Godspeed Mr. President!

President Bush Does Right By Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean

CNN.com:

On his final full day in office, President Bush issued commutations for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted in 2006 of shooting and wounding an unarmed illegal immigrant -- suspected of drug smuggling at the time -- and then covering it up.

The prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will now end March 20.

Ramos had received an 11-year prison sentence; Compean had received a 12-year term. They began serving their sentences in January 2007.

The Office of the Pardon Attorney was still reviewing the clemency request when Bush made his decision, Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said.

"The president has reviewed the circumstances of this case as a whole and the conditions of confinement and believes the sentences they received are too harsh and that they, and their families, have suffered enough for their crimes," a senior administration official said.

"Commuting their sentences does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes. Ramos and Compean are convicted felons who violated their oaths to uphold the law and have been severely punished," the official stated.

"This commutation gives them an opportunity to return to their families and communities, but both men will have to carry the burden of being convicted felons and the shame of violating their oaths for the rest of their lives."

Good job by the President. Funny that despite many liberals predictions that he would, the President still hasn't commuted the sentence of or pardoned "Scooter" Libby.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 1/19/09

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream Also Included Economic Justice

Obama Has Little In Common With Abraham Lincoln

Future Of Abstinence-Only Funding Under Obama Is In Limbo

Gay Bishop To Give Inaugural Prayer

Having Babies Is....SEXIST!!!

Wealthy Men Give Women More Orgasms

Nancy Pelosi Fighting Obama To Kill Tax Cuts, Wants Bush Investigated

Hugo Chavez: Obama Has 'Stench' Of Bush

Obama-Loving HBO, Will Ferrell Team Up To Bash Bush On Broadway

FISA Court: Warrantless Wiretaps Are Legal

Maryland Democrat Senator Lisa Gladden Doesn't Care If Her State Goes Broke

Senator Lisa Gladden (D-Maryland) is the perfect example of what happens when liberal pols become obsessed with race and start getting stupid:

Liberal Newsweek May Have To End Weekly Circulation

Newsmax.com:

Battered by a one-two punch of declining readership and ad pages, Newsweek magazine is getting an extreme makeover this year that will include a large circulation reduction, deep cuts in operating costs, and a new effort to attract advertisers by concentrating on an elite audience.

According to The New York Times, executives at Newsweek say the retooled magazine will focus on being a "thought leader" that focuses on telling readers how to think about news, rather than telling people what happened in the last week. The plan, similar to the editorial outlook espoused by The Economist magazine, is aimed at helping the newsweekly better compete in the face of competition from cable TV and the Internet. The transformation will likely include more analysis, commentary, and news-related feature articles.

Good. Newsweek had long become a joke to objective journalism. Instead it's now a tabloid for left-wing propaganda which, in turn, makes it totally irrelevant. Hopefully, the way things are going it'll be out of business sooner than later.