The American Spectator : The Collapse of Obama's Hot Air Balloon

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A Further Perspective

The Collapse of Obama's Hot Air Balloon

What we're seeing is a quick case of buyer's remorse.

What we're seeing with Obama's plummeting poll numbers is a quick case of buyer's remorse.

More broadly, Gallup reports that conservatives now outnumber liberals in all 50 states, with more Americans self-identifying themselves as conservative than at any time in the past four years.

Gallup surveys from January 2009, the month of Obama's inauguration, through June 2009, show that 40% percent of respondents described themselves as conservative -- 31 percent "conservative" and 9 percent "very conservative." Only 21 percent of respondents described themselves as liberal ---16 percent "liberal" and 5 percent "very liberal."

That 2-to-1 margin is big news even if the New York Times doesn't see it as newsworthy. Or to rephrase an old question, if liberalism crashes to the ground and the Times doesn't report it, does that mean it didn't happen?

"You know this is important polling news, because the establishment media is pretending it doesn't exist," wrote Tom Blumer last week in the Wall Street Journal. "You can't find a relevant reference to it in searches on 'Gallup' at the New York Times, AP.org, the Washington Post, or the LA Times."

What went wrong for Obama is everything.

It started with the $800 billion non-stimulating stimulus bill, overstuffed with pork by Congressional Democrats. The idea was to give a fast "jolt" to the economy, speedily create millions of jobs and quickly end the hardships of the unemployed. So important was the speed that legislators didn't even take the time to read the bill.

Now, half a year after the rushed enactment of the Democrats' idea of "shovel-ready" stimulation, 90 percent of the money is still stuck in the political pipeline, waiting for politicians to decide which pothole to fix or which nephew to hire, and three million more jobs have been lost since January.

In the latest USA Today/Gallup survey, the majority of respondents say that the stimulus package is having no impact on the economy or making it worse.

What would have worked better and faster at getting people back to work is a cut in personal income taxes -- personal consumption expenditures account for most of the spending and job creation in the U.S. economy -- and tax cuts for small business, the sector that's produced 60 to 80 percent of the new jobs per year in the American economy over the past decade.

Instead we got billions in slow-moving pork, more bailouts for bloated state governments and calls from Obama for higher taxes and more federal mandates on businesses that are already struggling to maintain their current levels of employment. Plus Obama's push for card-check, i.e., unionism without elections, so a grievance chairman and victimology advisor could be assigned to watch over any entrepreneurial type who still has any semblance of self-reliance and independence remaining in his soul.

Then came Obama's record-smashing federal budget with a deficit now projected at $1.85 trillion, four times larger than George W. Bush's largest deficit. Plus another trillion or so in projected costs for Obama's cap-and-trade scheme in order to slow down the "crisis" of global warming, disregarding the fact that things have been cooling down for a decade.

Add the trillions we're on the hook for in the Troubled Assets Relief Program and the Congressional Budget Office's estimated price of $1 trillion-plus for Obama's health reform plan over the next decade and it looks like we're going to be floating on a massive flood of red ink into a full state of peonage.

Or as Investor's Business Daily recently put it: "Eventually, the total take by government at all levels will be well over 50 percent of GDP -- enough to sink the U.S. economy into a state of semi-permanent stagnation, a socialist stupor."

And what about the kids and grandma in this collectivist utopia? There won't be as many.

Obama's new science czar, John Holdren, declared in his book co-authored with the environmental Cassandra team of Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich that "compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution." Just put people like Sotomayor on the Supreme Court, the historic figure who couldn't see anything wrong with throwing out employment tests when too many pale-faced gringos score at the top.

As for Grandma, Obama health advisor Ezekiel Emanuel, Harvard-produced bioethicist and brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, explained the "shovel-ready" final solution: No medical treatments for anyone falling short in their required role as "participating citizens," as defined by the central committee.

About the Author

Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (61) | Leave a comment

Marc Jeric| 8.25.09 @ 6:28AM

Obama may be an empty suit but let us not under-estimate him. He is following exactly the path to absolute power as designed by Lenin and applied to American conditions by Davis and Alinsky. He already has his local soviets (community organizations under ACORN brownshirts, financed by the $9 billion in the stimulus bill); he has government employee union thugs ready for revolutionary action (SEIU and teachers and university activists getting ready in the Feminist and African-American "studies"); now he only needs the military and National Guard soviets to complete the recipe.

Appleby| 8.25.09 @ 7:31AM

The end is near. Anybody who cannot see this at this point is willfully blind.

Mattled| 8.25.09 @ 7:54AM

The MEDIA is still covering for him.

Now "wee-wee'd up" is a presidential term much like in the days of Jackson and Jefferson. What a bunch of DNC hacks.

They need to be crushed---without them, he is proverbial toast.

Help end the MSM-----help end the Obambi administration.

Melvin| 8.25.09 @ 8:05AM

There is one thing for certain, all of this will come to a head and it will happen in the not so distant future. It will be the likes of something that this country has never seen.
Leaders who thirst for absolute power do not give it up willingly. When the system does collapse be prepared for the worst.

mark| 8.25.09 @ 8:09AM

http://voices.washingtonpost.c.....l?wprss=44

Louis Jenkins| 8.25.09 @ 8:21AM

The "rats" who assisted Obama with his Nov. win are scurrying for cover! Several acquaintances who said they voted for the man have expressed regret, they have realized as often said elections do have results. I now keep those "friends" at arms length because of their deficiencies in judgment. Vindication? Hardly. Just thankful I know a phlem-phlam man when I see one. Melvin- keep your cards close to your vest and your eye on the horizon.

jack| 8.25.09 @ 8:21AM

We are in this position because the media for whatever reasons did not challenge Obama during the campaign. We know why NBC and MSNBC supported him, GEs entire business is designed to take advantage of Obamas spending orgy,but the rest I just dont get. The media never vetted this guy when it was public knowledge he had no experience at anything,had never held down a real job,never released college records,spent 20 years at the knee of a hate mongering racist Rev Wright,and surrounded himself with many anti capitalist anti american friends. Many of these lunatics are now Czars in Obamas shadow government.
I also wonder why no one in media has connected the dots on the release of Libyan terrorist. Obama treated GB like trash when he returned stature of Winston Churchill,he gave the queen an ipod,and the PM the cold shoulder. The man is a complete fool.

Papa Swamp| 8.25.09 @ 8:28AM

Though I agree, Obama's policies (and Congressional spending) are disasterous...they are merely an accelerated version of the Bush and Republican controlled congress habits of massive overspending and pork projects. Neither party nor administration has acted fiscally conservative or responsible. Republicans should not get a free pass on their previous behaviors. Fiscal conservatives need to bring the hammer down on both parties only then can we hope to turn around the economic spiral this country is in.....it's time to make congress go "cold turkey."

Alan Brooks| 8.25.09 @ 8:28AM

I like Obama much more than Dubya. And if the GOP nominates Jeb Bush in 2012, then Obama deserves to be president for life.
Why is it the Repuglicans follow up a winner like Reagan with Bob Dole and Dubya and McCain?
But we'll give Bush '41 the benefit of the doubt, he helped end the Cold War-- which was WWIII. The current war is WWIV-- but there is no end in sight. We'll be in Iraq for five years; in Afghanistan forever.

Alan Brooks| 8.25.09 @ 8:31AM

...there is no such thing as winning a war in Afghanistan.

Bob| 8.25.09 @ 8:35AM

Obama is not going to pull off a Communist revolt, people.

The military is strongly Conservative. The country is strongly, and widely, conservative. Obama controls only the cities, something clearly seen by looking at the 2008 County-by-County electoral map. Cities are the source of the "blue cancer".

The people in the cities aren't going to be able to enforce a Red regime on rural America.

Read some Machiavelli, I recommend "Discourses on Livy". People used to being free are much, much harder to subjugate than those cities used to living under tyrannical rule. Obama may pass legislation, but he's not going to have armed revolution. Let him pass the laws.

Whatever has been done by man may be undone by man.

And vote in 2010!!!

Libertarian 2010. :-)

WRTolkas| 8.25.09 @ 9:05AM

Gentlemen,

We have heard the "midnight cry" warning us of the arrival of tyranny. We are ready. The wisdom of our country’s founders is again confirmed as they knew that day would arrive and so installed within the Constitution the citizen’s defense clause against an overstepping government – The Second Amendment. Concerning the Reserves and the National Guard, these citizen soldiers are our friends, neighbors, and family. If there is a power grab from someone highly placed in washington d.c. (I use lower case to express my contempt), there will be a huge surprise awaiting the potential tyrant. Also remember, the Obama administration labeled these patriots possible terrorists. Finally, I do know that G_d is ultimately in charge and guiding my future and our country's destiny. That is the most important fact the liberals and socialist have yet to comprehend.

“Give Them Watts, Boys”

Regards,

WRTolkas

Howard| 8.25.09 @ 9:06AM

I would be more worried, except BHO and his minions are so bumbling. They are sort of a "March of The Light Brigade". However, they do control much, and if they were more competent, they could really F things up.

Appleby| 8.25.09 @ 9:07AM

If Obama thinks he's "not going to have armed revolution" then why are his Chicago thugs preparing concentration camps and noticing the significant uptick in militias and gun purchases?

He may not be planning to START an armed revolution -- but he may end up having one started by someone else. And the one thing people like Obama never count on but is always true: there are more of Us than there are of Them. Not that it takes more of Us to get something going.

1Freeman| 8.25.09 @ 9:35AM

For you non-military folks (it's not for everyone, no slight intended here) you need to know a few things:
1) The military is about 80% conservative. Puting your life on the line for the love of family, country and duty breeds a deep respect of freedom.
2) The military is a smarter force today than it ever has been historically. We read history, analyze the facts and work hard to keep our nation free. We are not patsies of the government but rather citizens dedicated to keep our country free. We love our children and are educated... many of us hold graduate degrees.
3) That whole oath thing about defending the constitution against all enemies forign and domestic... yup, we really take that oath. We mean it, too.
4) Don't think for a minute that some liberal General is going to stand up and ask his troops to attack Americans and that the troops will just blindly follow. This is not Kent State, we are armed with our own intelligence. Any Field grade officer (senior leader) who has somehow missed that fact won't do well if those orders were given.

The only way to fix the military for Obama would be to massacre them like the communists did to their own military and population in the early days of 1900's: http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM

Or what they did to Poland: http://culture.polishsite.us/articles/art281.html

We learn from history: rounding up thousands of military leaders in the night to lead them to slaughter would be a risky, dare I say a deadly endeavor. It would fail and the revolution would be full-on.

Bottom line: The US military is not a pawn of the liberal and will not become jack-booted thugs kicking in your door. We will kill to defend you and the constitutional rule of law. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Don L| 8.25.09 @ 9:57AM

Once you realize you've been taken in by a charlatan (whether or not he sports a nice halo) it isn't that you will no longer trust him with your money or your healthcare -it is that you wont trust him with anything.

We hopefully (in the spirit of Rush)may have the earliest lame duck (quack) president in history.

By elevating the unions to national thuggary status -he may have driven the final nail in their "made in America" hypocrisy coffin.

Who will trust a government doctor dispensing free blue pills?

Who can any longer trust the mainstream media in its complicity with this socialistic blitzkrieg?

Who will blindly trust the voting process?

Who will blindly trust any corporation?

Who will blindly trust any Marist or racist professor?

Louis Jenkins| 8.25.09 @ 10:00AM

Dear 1Freeman:

I'm too chatty today on this blog, but thanks for your words. So far Obama has bungled the Domestic Defense Force he promised last year in Colorado. (Isn't that how the Gestapo came about? ) While you and your comrades are willing to kill to defend the populace and the Constitution, be aware that you will have assistance though the competency of the assistance may be questionable. Your values are widely held by many people. Pray for peace, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

JAH666| 8.25.09 @ 10:12AM

It can be said that this article is excellent, and it is, but it's old news. The bloggers on AS and many other sites just rehash the same info to us day after day. What we need from the great minds that run these sites (which are very much appreciated) is IDEAS to stop the Socialist Drift in this country. And don't tell me "just wait till 2010 and vote the bums out". That never seems to happen. Whether it's due to crooked elections or just stupid electorate doesn't matter. The same bums get reelected term after term. The rare instance when an incumbent gets the boot, the newly elected politician goes to DC and is almost immediatly infected with the "beltway disease" and it starts over.

Papa Swamp above is right, the Republicans are just as culpable in the progression of Socialist Drift as are the Democrats. None are ever held to account.

Appleby posts about armed revolution, please let it not come to that. There must be another way for our country to see the light other than through the haze of gun smoke and blood.

To all the great writers and intellectuals at American Spectator (and other sites), WE NEED IDEAS! We need ways for the frustrated masses (of which I am an example) to make a concrete difference in slowing the progress of Socialist Drift in America, with the goal of reversing this destructive course. Just talking on these forums (while cathartic) will not stop The Left. THEY have a plan, are patient and dedicated. I'm not an intellectual or an historian, but I and millions like me want to save this wonderful country from the disease of liberalism.

Michael L. Hauschild| 8.25.09 @ 10:38AM

Many here allude to “revolution,” “resurrections,” and “revolt” but before any of those scenarios occur it is far more likely that the “fourth branch” of government will be imposed. It is usually quite bloodless and is personified by those South American generalissimos’s with the high brimmed navy style hats respondent with all the scrambled eggs. Should it come to that, and I doubt the reality of the “uprising” will be any more disruptive than a few people being sodomized by their own batons in 2010, the civilian public will simply be spectators to the reinstatement of the written constitution under military fiat.

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.25.09 @ 10:39AM

1Freeman
JAH

Thank you guys for your thoughts.

1freeman: There is one place Veterans are gathering that I know of...where SERIOUS, RESPONSIBLE, MEANINGFUL ACTION is being launched. I.E. T.E.A.M. AMERICA.

JAH666, You are precisely correct above. The "old news and rehash", has turned into a static group therapy session in the comments sections.
I was exactly in your mindset some three months ago...frustrated, feeling helpless, enjoying the tea parties and the sense of comraderie...but what could little i do?
With the help of some commenters here, it dawned on me about concrete "ACTIONS" could be implemented ...right the hell now...with the force of a hurricane! They named it "TEAM AMERICA"
I hope you two guys will join.
the website URL is www.myteamusa.org
It will be going live on the internet in the next couple of days.
Here is one glimpse I have been given to pass along before the debut:

We are Americans

We fall into two overlapping groups.

We are small business owners or officers of small businesses, and our valued employees... and some of us are armed forces Veterans. Perhaps the common denominator among us is that all of us are our own men and women.
We small business people, our employees, and veterans pay 80% of the darned bills in our country, and we are going to take our country back!

All of us engage in a business that requires us to live off of our training and know how. Some of us are medical doctors in private practice, and some of us are engaged in some of the other 'professions'...in private practice. Some of us are simply darned good at providing a world of products and services to fellow Americans.
Many of us have employees who count on us every day to make decent, rational, decisions. Those employees have thrown in their lot with us, hoping that Together, we can navigate the rapids of our world..

(We found each other due to the splendid people at "The American) (Spectator". They allow free comments upon the articles they write.)
Today, we are all facing a future where our 'public servants' plan to be our masters, and we here....................... refuse.

We believe that in these days, our 'public servants' are trying to turn everything upside down in our country. Instead of listening to 'we the people', and trying in good faith to defend our constitution at the same time, they are throwing our freedom away for the votes of people they can buy with a welfare check or a bribe.

We as a T.E.A.M. can stop them!
contact us: kbjudgeroybean06@gmail.com

John Navratil| 8.25.09 @ 10:49AM

If there is a silver lining in the GOP trashing its own brand it is that now many more people distrust the government.

Real Hope| 8.25.09 @ 10:49AM

Think about this: a LOT had to go wrong for the democrats to get 53% of the vote.

JimJam| 8.25.09 @ 11:15AM

Don't underestimate the forces behind the Throne. There won't be any bloody revolution coming down the pike. Instead, Obama and his puppetmasters will implode America. They are doing everything now as fast as possible to swindle and bankrupt the country. Most Americans do not and cannot understand the depth of rot already taken hold of this country. Obama is a straw man. Soon, new laws already ramrodded through Congress will take effect and the police, National Guard, etc. will have no choice but to enforce them. The MSM will continue to serve as the Socialist's propaganda machine. The 2010 elections are most important. The amount of fraud and abuse by Obama's hired thugs during the next election cycle will be just a prognosticator of bigger manipulations to come in 2012 (if elections are still held by then). Republicans will, as usual, be caught sleeping at the wheel and hasten their own demise through incompetence and inaction.

Pete| 8.25.09 @ 11:23AM

Any election from this point forward that is at all close will be stolen in the courts by lawyers for the Democrats. And I fear that the billions in funding sluffed off to ACORN will ensure that the elections are closer than they ought to be given the outright corruption and incompetence of our current ruling class. Sadly, the spike in ammo/weapons purchases may be prescient.

Paul from SA| 8.25.09 @ 11:45AM

This statement:

"In the latest USA Today/Gallup survey, the majority of respondents say that the stimulus package is having no impact on the economy or making it worse. "

...has to be driving the liberals crazy and asking themselves, "But how can that be? We've never said that. How can they think that?"

LarryK| 8.25.09 @ 11:47AM

"Appleby| 8.25.09 @ 7:31AM

The end is near. Anybody who cannot see this at this point is willfully blind."

Yes but which end?

Dustoff| 8.25.09 @ 12:29PM

Only GOV could make this type of a mess.....
*********************************

Federal economic stimulus cash was handed out to cons behind bars in Bay State prisons after a bureaucratic snafu resulted in $250 checks being sent to some inmates - and now red-faced feds want it back.

“Taxpayers already believe the inmates are running the asylum in Washington,” U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said in a statement. “Now it appears they are being compensated for their efforts.”

Not only did the feds send the cash to incarcerated cons, but they failed to respond to state officials who sounded the alarm about the inmate windfall - now the subject of a national probe.

wbheff| 8.25.09 @ 12:39PM

In re red and blue: Why have we got the red and blue designations backward in this country? Everywhere else in the world, red is the colour of the left. It is the colour of communism, of socialism, of labour parties, of Red China, who's anthem is "The East is Red." Blue is the colour of the right, of tories, of conservatives. Does anyone think it an accident that the media decided to associate blue with the extreme left democrat party and red with the (wimpy) republicans?

gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com| 8.25.09 @ 12:59PM

Pete is on target with his 11:23AM comment, and anyone who does not understand just how scary his words are should simply consider two things: 1) stuart smalley is now a senator from minnesota after a highly dubious vote count, and 2) obumassiah is taking over the 2010 census and subcontracting it to his acorn buds.

I recommend that everyone check out and heed Old Texican’s 10:39AM comment. I also recommend that everyone buy a gun and learn how to operate it properly. If the crooks in power have their way with us, the only chance we will have just might be an armed revolt. The Founders were wise indeed, because this is exactly why The Second Amendment was written and ratified. Remember, from the British point of view, our Revolution was a civil war. However, before taking that drastic step, I recommend we try going Galt first. There is some sort of March on Washington coming up in a few weeks, but many of us, for good reasons, are unable to join the fun. But we can go on strike. I am the last person qualified to ask hard working Americans to dam their money stream for any reason. I certainly would not pass judgement on anyone choosing to not participate. But a strike is certainly a viable alternative to a coup d'état. I think October 1 is a good date for such a peaceful attempt to take back Our Country from its domestic enemies.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
Don’t Tread on Me!!

FeralCat| 8.25.09 @ 1:55PM

When Granny's sent home with some pills in a plastic bag
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Obama will give her a hearty high five then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The Emanuels will cheer, the Kevorkians will shout
The eugenicists they will all turn out
And the old folks will all be dead by Christmas time next year!

Get ready for the Ezekiel Emanuel Jubilee
Hurrah! Hurrah!
He’ll give Herr Obama three times three
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The Doctor of Life and Death degree is ready now
To place upon Herr Obama’s Godly brow
And he will feel so happy and gay
When Pallbearers carry Grandma and Grandpa to the funeral home

Al Adab| 8.25.09 @ 2:34PM

From the sound of many posts above, it seems as though we are discussing various Supra-Constitutional means of defending and preserving that Constitution.

Are we actually worried about a "President for Life" ? Clearly tyranny has indeed raised its head through the bailouts, Cap and Trade, Health care, hate crimes and the other legislation emanating from the leftist/statist wolkenkukkuksheim.

How so many can be so self delusional is beyond belief. Yet it seems that the Congressional leadership and the administration are rushing to "solve" problems which only they perceive.

The danger for us all is that apparently there is no compunction against using the coercive power of government to take property (money) from certain individuals and allocate it at their whim to other fovored ones. This is not equality.

Can the Citizens reclaim their legacy of freedom under the Constitution or ... what indeed is the alternative?

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.25.09 @ 2:59PM

Al Adab
The perfect question!
Contact me at kbjudgeroybean06@gmail.com

Oh yeah! We found the alternative...at last.

Many "incumbents" are now fired for incompetence...or for being a traitor. They will know that for a fact in the next several weeks.

They have nothing else to gain .....(except their pensions forever). They are going to be fired and sent home in disgrace.
Best regards

John| 8.25.09 @ 3:26PM

Blue was the color of the Republican party in 1980 I know. Youtube Reagan's campaign speeches. I used to call that shade of color Republican blue. The media switched it around when we weren't looking.

Conrad Spiracy| 8.25.09 @ 3:33PM

Hard to disagree with many of the posts on this thread; only a couple that I reject outright (no names). I also heartily agree that the path to be taken will depend upon the circumstances that will exist when we cross the presumably inevitible rubicon. Not that this is a laughing matter, but remember Yogi Berra's famous quote, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

More seriously, consider Alexander Hamilton, writing under the pseudonym Publius, in Federalist No. 1 (they are all available on line at The Avalon Project in the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School):

"... and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the forbidden appearance of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government. History will teach us that the former has been found a much more certain road to the introduction of despotism than the latter, and that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants."

EXCELSIOR!

Con Spiracy

Conrad Spiracy| 8.25.09 @ 3:38PM

Forgot. The National Tea Party on the Mall is Saturday, September 10th. Would be pretty cool to have way more red-blooded, America loving Patriots there than the number of drugged out, socialist, hippies (read as: future D-Administration employees) that protested against Vietnam, eh?

Conrad Spiracy| 8.25.09 @ 3:40PM

Oh how I love seeing my name in print! I think I'll change it to Obama.

Strike the date above - it's Saturday, September 12th. Sorry. :o(

Alan Brooks| 8.25.09 @ 3:43PM

Bob,
Libertarianism is as pernicious an influence as Communism and Fascism are; libertarianism is totalitarian anarchism.

SoCon| 8.25.09 @ 4:00PM

1Freeman, you made me cry. Thank you for your post. I appreciate your words more than you'll ever know.

I'm a mother of four and have never been in the military, but damn straight, if asked, I would give my life in defense of my fellow patriotic Americans.

The memories of all our courageous fellow Americans who've fought and died for our freedom run deep in this American girl's veins.

Like so many of us, I don't want a fight and wouldn't start one--but if it does happen, I promise I will help finish it.

I will always be my father's daughter.

1freeman| 8.25.09 @ 4:35PM

SoCon,

I appreciate your kind words. Just back from Afghanistan about a year ago. Your appreciation and the freedon for my family (the kids especially) are what it is all about. I hope we won't have to fight side by side but, if we do, I will be glad to see you there. Your father should be proud!

Chad| 8.25.09 @ 4:45PM

Please hang in there everyone. Many of us just never payed that much attention until it began to get this bad. I, like many, just had been doing my thing working and paying the bills. A number of us are just waking up & for this I am sorry. However this is one mistake that I and many like me will be correcting in the upcoming elections. Obama was right about ONE thing. CHANGE is coming.

Angel| 8.25.09 @ 4:46PM

God bless you, 1Freeman. Thank you for your timely counsel--it is most welcome. People like you make me proud to be an American.

Thank you for your service, too.

nyp| 8.25.09 @ 5:10PM

This is a a disguisting attack on a distinguished oncologist. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel. He has never said or written anything that would imply that he favored withholding medical treatment from anyone. You should be ashamed of yourself for invoking Holocaust metaphors to characterize Dr. Emanuel's positions.

Lisa| 8.25.09 @ 5:36PM

Don't defend the indefensible, libtard. Get your head out of your backside so you can see the light.

Robert Rosencrans| 8.25.09 @ 8:04PM

It would be unfair to characterize Obama as a total failure based on strict financial accounting. It would be easy to prove but unfair to simply focus on the financials alone. I prefer to believe that Americans are tired of the incessant and never ending stream of lies and deception coming out of Washington. The internet has had unintended consequences of helping Obama get elected, then making it easy to see through his hyperbole, hubris and hucksterism.

Obama is becoming a victim of that which he defies so readily, the truth.

Stephen J. Gray| 8.25.09 @ 10:33PM

The “Great” O-Scam-a

The “great” O-scam-a arrived in a blaze of glory
Change was his only story
Clever words with no real meaning
Had the media in adulation screaming

One person in the media compared O-scam-a to a God
But, the media is notorious for being a fraud
Propaganda merchants beyond compare
They produce an abundance of hot air

Many of the masses were also overcome
Change was a magic word for some
O-scam-a spoke and many were fooled
Now the people will be ruled

“An empty vessel makes the most sound”
And the crowds bayed praise out loud
O-scam-a, O-scam-a our lord and master
But, others thought this guy was a disaster

But hey, at least he will bring change
And the peoples' lives he will arrange
They will pay for this political trauma
Because they elected the “great” O-scam-a

Stephen J. Gray

Sue| 8.25.09 @ 10:39PM

Did Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel work with two other scientists to design the "complete lives" theory for processing vaccine distribution networks and scarce medical resources or not?
I say he did. If he didn't, why isn't he upfront with the American people and denying it? It would be easy enough to do.

Is he being paid to advise Obama about health care reform and how rationing of services would be conducted under a nationa emergency or not?

Obama has all of these "advisors" being paid with taxpayer money, but no ever hears them speak in public or Obama speak about them in public.

Mike| 8.26.09 @ 12:44AM

For the folks commenting about the red and blue on the election map. This one is not on the media, and I am one that believes that the media is not just incompetent but complicit in the blatant attempt to sieze control of our beloved country.

By my recolection the original map was put together by someone supporting George Bush during the unpleasantness of the Fall of 2000. Why they chose red to represent the counties going Republican is one of life's great mysteries.

Along with many of you here I am gravely concerned about the course of events unfolding since November. Although I pray that it does not come to this I have "preserved" a few implements of my former trade 300 meters into the woodline (by my old pace count) on a 220 degree azimith from the SW corner of the house. Sure hope I don't need that compass but it is ready if I do.

Mike Johnston
SFC USA (RET)

Missy| 8.26.09 @ 1:07AM

Red is the color of courage--I like it just fine! Screw the commies.

Dave Lincoln| 8.26.09 @ 1:16AM

"By my recolection the original map was put together by someone supporting George Bush during the unpleasantness of the Fall of 2000. "

No, Mike, it goes back farther than that. The red=R and blue=D theme was put on the election night results maps back in 1996. However, it was switched at some point from red=D, blue=R sometime around 1992, and that's what I would really like to find out about, if someone could remember this.

The red=D thing was hitting a little too close to home for the commies, and someone at one of the big-3 (at that time) networks pulled a switcheroo by '96.

Anyone with more information on when this switch took place?

Anyone...

Bueller?

Dave Lincoln| 8.26.09 @ 1:27AM

"....explained the "shovel-ready" final solution: ..."

Oh, that's good, Ralph! I made my above post before I read all of your article. You are not afraid of a good turn-of-phrase. Nice work.

"A single-payer, shovel-ready, death-panel-supervised, National Health Plan"*

Coming right up. Here's your Hope and here's your change (throws 2 dollars in pennies across your desk).

* TM, Dave Lincoln, partial licensing fees payed to Ralph Reiland (the check's in the mail, I told you last week!)

Dave Lincoln| 8.26.09 @ 1:31AM

BTW Mike, why give directions? All someone would have to do now is figure out who you are.

Was that 220 deg. magnetic or true? No reason, just asking. ;-)

SoCon| 8.26.09 @ 4:50AM

What about "Reagan Red?" It was his favorite color and the one Nancy always wore for him.

Blue is frigid and lifeless--like libtards; I'd rather run hot!

Simon Templar| 8.26.09 @ 4:54PM

Bob says, Obama is not going to pull off a Communist revolt, people.
>>Memo To: Bob and all the others who have yet to be awakened...I suggest you read Piven and Cloward and a few works by Saul Alinsky..and do it in a hurry cause we are running out of time here waiting for you to catch up. EVERYTHING that is happening right now is straight out of these playbooks and they are tailored revolutionary models for America. No, they do not look like some movie you saw like Red Dawn or the Russian revolution of 1917. This is all really amazing to me. I used to be a far left winger, studied sociology at the university, read the same books, and marched in these groups. You people are in for a unbelievable rude awakening in the years ahead. You really do not have any idea what you elected. I think most of you just think its politics in America as usual with all the name calling and extreme hyperbole and rhetoric.

Simon Templar| 8.26.09 @ 5:12PM

"...they are merely an accelerated version of the Bush and Republican controlled congress habits of massive overspending and pork projects.."
....This is what I am talking about..this is a conventional wisdom that is so far from reality it is really sickening. Unfortunately, it is very common. This person does not have a clue and has failed to realize what happened in last election as well as the last 40 years of American progressivism. You better wake up to the fact that America is not immune to left wing facism or the same rotten ideologies and philosophies of Europe. If you think that its going to look like what you have seen in a movie or be so obvious that its can not be mistaken for anything else, then you really need to start reading the same books that our great leader has.or start making plans...

Mike| 8.26.09 @ 9:09PM

Dave Lincoln

Thanks for the update on the map. I don't recall it going back that far but I will deferr to your superior knowledge..

Of course the directions are in code and I didn't preserve all of my tools!

Mike Johnston
SFC USA (RET)

Nobama| 8.27.09 @ 2:45AM

Simon, you obviously didn't read all of the posts. The military guys who post here understand quite clearly what's happening.

I know Obama is not a continuation of Bush--I know he's a marxist. I knew it a long time ago.

Listen to Rush or Beck--they know, too.

I'd take my military vets over the scuzzoids on the left any day. I guess we'll see pretty soon, huh?

Also, A-Hole Bob is a troll--part of Axelrod's astroturf misinformation gang. Ignore the dirtbag.

Nobama| 8.27.09 @ 2:48AM

Simon, you do realize that millions of Americans are armed, right? People won't roll over.

Dave Lincoln| 8.27.09 @ 5:09AM

Mike, just good long-term memory (on some things). It has bugged me for a long time about the switcheroo red/blue to blue/red. I can visualize watching the fiasco of 1992, and I think that's when red still represented the commies (D) - made total sense - that's why they changed it.

CanDoc| 8.29.09 @ 11:30AM

Dr TOM COBURN- Paragon of Integrity and Courage -our present day Lincoln, with Jeffersonian intellect and wisdom. Best cost saving healthcare Plan S 1099 Patient Care Choice Act. COBURN for President 2012