While surfing the internet last night during the Fox News/Google Republican President Campaign Debate, I noticed that, besides Romney and Perry, the one name Conservatives on the web kept bringing up was someone who has not even entered the race…yet.

During the debate, Romney refudiated Perry on Social Security,  Perry showed that he is clueless about Conservatives’ opinion on illegal immigration, by defending his pro-Dream Act stance:

If you say that we should not educate children who come into our state [ILLEGALLY] for no other reason than that they’ve been brought their through no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart. We need to be educating these children because they will become a drag on our society. I think that’s what Texans wanted to do. Out of 181 members of the Texas legislature when this issue came up [there were] only four dissenting votes. This was a state issue. Texas voted on it. And I still support it today.

However, after last night’s dog and pony show was over, there was still one voice that a lot of Conservative Americans were anxious to hear from.

By now you’re saying:

Oh, HER.  C’mon, KJ.  She can’t win.  She’s been savaged by everyone from Saturday Night Live to the Elite of the Republican Party.  Why, if she got in, she wouldn’t stand a chance and we would wind up with 4 more years of Obama.  She would probably hunt moose on the White House lawn.  Besides, she sounds funny.

Well, as someone born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and living in Northwest Mississippi, I resemble that remark.

More to the point:  If she’s as worthless as her detractors claim that she is, why is she the subject of so much heated conjecture and  phony, gut-wrenching concern?

By now, you’ve heard of Joe McGuiniss’ new book The Rogue:  Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, written by a talentless hack, who was so desperate to get dirt on Palin and her family, that he rented the house next door to her.  In his tawdry book, he claims, among other things,  that Palin had an affair with [now professional] basketball player Glenn Rice.

Well, yesterday, Andrew Breitbart, on his website, bigjournalism.com, told us the real story:

The awful launch week for the over-hyped, expected bestseller The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, by controversial author Joe McGinniss, just got worse. Much worse.

After a week of universally scathing pans from the reflexively anti-Palin establishment media, McGinniss now faces the fight of his literary life: the accusation that he seems to have knowingly submitted a book to his publisher, Crown/Random House, that was filled with unproved “tawdry gossip” and rumors that lacked “factual evidence.”

In the email below [featured here], sent in January of 2011, McGinniss reveals that his manuscript, then under legal review at Crown/Random House, could not prove its most headline-grabbing allegations. And yet, many of these “salacious stories” that lacked “proof” (in McGinniss’s own words) ended up in the book, and on televisions everywhere during the author’s current media tour … without proper sourcing, and without any apparent new evidence to support them.

McGinniss’s panicked state is evidenced by the identity of the recipient to whom he sent his email of distress. Jesse Griffin was the author of an obscure, low-rent, and now-defunct anti-Palin blog that obsessed over Trig Palin’s maternity–claiming, without any evidence, that Sarah Palin was not Trig’s mother.

Was Random House aware that its prized author was making a desperate overtime bid to save face? And if so, why did it allow him to come forth with most of those tawdry accusations without proof or proper sourcing?

This would not be the first time McGinniss has found himself in trouble over accusations of unethical journalism. In 1987, McGinniss agreed to pay $325,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the convicted murderer who was the subject of McGinniss’s book Fatal Vision. He has also admitted to having surreptitiously distributed a competitor’s manuscript about Palin that was handed to him by his own publisher. The leak allegedly damaged the commercial viability of that book.

In 2003, Random House released a larger-than-life, massive bestseller by James Frey entitled A Million Little Pieces. Later, it was revealed that the book was a fantastical literary hoax that made its way past some of the highest-paid and most respected editors and lawyers in the literary world. Doubleday/Random House felt compelled to offer full refunds to those who had bought the book.

Has history repeated itself?

Mr. McGinniss has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for him to call you back, Mr. Breitbart.

In  light of last night’s debate, let’s step back a moment and look at the two front runners among the declared Republican Presidential Candidates:

1.  Mitt Romney – Never saw an aisle he did not want to reach across.  Has flip-flipped on major issues so many times, fish out of water are embarrassed for him.  RINO extraordinaire, he showed up with four Secret Service agents at Corky’s Barbeque Restaurant in Memphis on Tuesday afternoon this week, after a Republican Fundraiser, so he could appear “down-home”.

2.  Texas Governor Rick Perry – Never saw the child of an illegal immigrant whom he did not want to reward.  Is more of a Conservative than Romney, but, then again, so is Joe Lieberman.

So, there you have it.  As of this moment, either Mitt Romney or Gov. Rick Perry will be the Republican Nominee.

Unfortunately, as Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) quipped in Master and Commander:  The Far Side of the World:

One must always choose between the lesser of two weevils.

It sure would be nice to have another choice.

Speaking to world leaders at the opening of the UN’s general assembly session yesterday, United States President Barack Hussein Obama proclaimed that a lasting solution to the long-running conflict would not be reached through “statements and resolutions at the United Nations”:

There is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace is hard work.

Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians – not us – who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security, on refugees and Jerusalem.

Peace depends upon compromise among peoples who must live together long after our speeches are over, and our votes have been counted. That is the lesson of Northern Ireland, where ancient antagonists bridged their differences. That is the lesson of Sudan, where a negotiated settlement led to an independent state, and that is the path to a Palestinian state.

Of course, this 180 degree turn by Obama is nothing but an attempt to win back Jewish American voters, who are deserting him en masse.  But, I digress…

Obama went on to laud the “extraordinary transformation” brought by the Arab spring.  According to him, at the same event a year ago Tunisia, Egypt and Libya were all represented by authoritarian leaders now rejected by their people.

About those wonderful results of the Arab Spring, Scooter:

The first elections since the Arab Spring uprisings will be more about holding back change than expanding political freedoms: voting in three Gulf nations that poses no threat to old guard rulers or their efforts to unite against calls for fast-track reforms.

None of the planned elections this month will even slightly loosen the hold of rulers — the central aim of the street protests that have toppled leaders from Tunisia to Egypt and threaten to do the same in Syria and Yemen.

Yet each of the voting rounds — a stopgap parliamentary election in violence-battered Bahrain and tightly controlled balloting in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — tells a different story about the upheavals and the chances for change among the region’s wealthiest and most entrenched royal houses and ruling families.

“Each one, in their own way, reflects the new environment that the entire region faces,” said Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.

All three elections are bit players in the wider drama across the region. But any movement toward the ballot box takes on greater significance with the election process still unclear in Egypt and Tunisia, and Libya’s new leaders locked in fights with the remnants of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.

And thanks to the wonderful aftermath of the Arab Spring, Netanyahu and Israel have more to worry about that just the Palestinians, per haaretz.com:

Shortly after the masses began crowding into Cairo’s Tahrir Square earlier this year, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a senior official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to prepare for a dramatic change in the relations between Israel and Egypt.

The adviser estimated that the nascent Egyptian protest movement would not stop at regime change, and told his counterpart in Jerusalem that if the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories continued, the new Arab world would show the Israelis that solidarity with oppressed brothers is not exclusively a Jewish tradition.

The Palestinian adviser warned that the day after the United Nations vote on recognizing Palestinian statehood, waves of anti-Israel protests would wash over the capitals of Arab and Muslim states.

It is unclear whether Israeli official passed this message on to the prime minister, or if he kept it to himself.

So, let me get this straight.  Israel is surrounded by mortal enemies.  The UN wants them to give up half of their country to a nomadic people who have never had a country of their own, basically the Gypsies of the Middle East.  And when Israeli Prime Minister tries to take a stand,

UN leader Ban Ki-moon urged him yesterday

…to act with “restraint” and “wisdom” over the Palestinian bid for full state membership of the United Nations.

Israel has angrily rejected the Palestinian campaign, threatening unspecified diplomatic reprisals. “The secretary general urged the prime minister to act with responsibility, wisdom and restraint towards the Palestinian approach to the United Nations,” said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

The Palestinian Authority announced Wednesday that it won’t push for an immediate vote in the Security Council, because it doesn’t have enough support for its statehood bid…yet.

American diplomats will use the delay to lean on council members to change their vote and to stop the Palestinians.

According to Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath:

We will give some time to the Security Council to consider first our full membership request before heading to the General Assembly. If we fail, we will keep knocking on the door. We do not have a time limit.

The fact is, an admissions committee representing all 15 Security Council members can be set up to deliberate on the matter for days, weeks, or even months.

Next, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will speak at the UN General Assembly and then, will formally submit his letter of application to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.  Moon will then give it to Lebanon, the country which presides this month over the Security Council.

Lebanon? Oy vey!

It’s the only Arab country in the 15-member body and supports the Palestinian bid.

Can you say…stacked deck?

Have you ever heard of the Teapot Dome Scandal?

Three naval oil fields, Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills in California and Teapot Dome in Wyoming, were tracts of public land that had been set aside as emergency underground supplies of oil to be used by the navy only when the regular oil supplies were running low. The Teapot Dome oil field received its name because of a rock resembling a teapot that was located above the oil-bearing land. Both politicians and private oil interests had opposed the restrictions placed on the oil fields, asserting that reserves were unnecessary and that the American oil companies could provide for the U.S. Navy.

When Senator Albert B. Fall became Warren Harding’s Secretary of the Interior in 1921, he convinced Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby to turn the control of the oil fields over to him. Fall then, in turn. leased the Teapot Dome to Harry Sinclair’s Mammoth Oil Company and the Elk Hills reserve to Edward Doheny’s Pan American Petroleum Company.  For his efforts, Fall received bribes from the oilmen totaling $400,000.  Fall then drew attention to himself with a new lavish lifestyle, causing the scandal to go public in 1924 after findings by a committee of the U. S. Senate.

A series of civil and criminal suits sprang forth from the scandal, lasting throughout the 1920s.

In 1927, the Supreme Court ruled that the oil leases had been obtained illegally, invalidating the Elk Hills lease in February of that year and the Teapot lease in October of the same year. The navy regained control of the Teapot Dome and Elk Hills reserves.  Albert Fall was found guilty of bribery in 1929, fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison. Harry Sinclair refused to cooperate with the government investigators and was charged with contempt, receiving a short sentence for tampering with the jury. Edward Doheny was found innocent in 1930 of attempting to bribe Fall.

Even though the Teapot Dome scandal was not a victory for either political party in the 1920’s, it still became a major issue in the presidential election of 1924. However, neither party could claim full credit for exposing the scandal.

Teapot Dome became synonymous with government corruption in America.

Yesterday, thehill.com broke the following story:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that his committee plans to investigate government loan programs to private corporations in light of allegations of improper dealings between the White House and failed energy company Solyndra and wireless start-up LightSquared.

“I want to see when the president and his cronies are picking winners and losers… it wasn’t because there were large contributions given to them,” the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Tuesday morning on C-SPAN.

Issa said the committee was looking at whether it was improper for members of Congress or White House staff to select companies eligible for subsidized government loans when those companies could give campaign donations. Loan programs have been a popular tool to provide funding for popular industries — like tech, green energy, and American auto companies — at more favorable terms than could be secured privately.

Per businessinsider.com, the administration may have something to worry about concerning Solyndra:

When Solyndra went bankrupt last month it blew the lid off a scandal that had been simmering for months — and now threatens to ensnare the administration in months of hearings and bad headlines going into the 2012 election.

There is no evidence, nor is it likely, that Obama had any ties to the controversial $535 million loan, but already senior advisors are under fire for their roles in assisting the struggling company — which had strong ties to a key Obama donor.

George Kaiser, whose Argonaut Private Equity was a major backer of Solyndra, raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for Obama’s 2008 campaign, though the White House denies this was why it maintained close ties to the company.

ABC News reported that administration officials sat in on Solyndra board meetings as observers in the months leading up to the company’s bankruptcy.

Even before the loan was approved in September 2009, auditors raised serious doubts about the company’s finances, Bloomberg reported — enough to write that the “problems raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

But as they were conducting due diligence on the loan, officials from the Office of Management and Budget said they felt pressure from the White House to conduct their analysis quickly.

The Washington Post reported today that senior officials from OMB raised specific concerns about the company’s finances — and the consequences of it failing — as early as January 31, 2011.

“The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad,” one OMB staffer wrote to another. “If Solyndra defaults down the road, the optics will be arguably worse later than they would be today. . . . In addition, the timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up.”

As far as LightSquared is concerned, again, businessinsider.com gives us a concise summary of the situation:

LightSquared, a Virginia-based start-up, has received support from the Obama administration for its nationwide broadband initiative.

However, LightSquared’s business is still on hold because it has to receive Federal authorization.

That’s because the Pentagon has raised concerns about the LightSquared venture possibly interfering with the satellite GPS system that the U.S. military uses.

Four-star Air Force General William Shelton recently dropped a bit of bombshell on the Falcone-backed project, officials told The Daily Beast.

In a classified briefing, Shelton apparently revealed that the White House asked him to change two things in his testimony.

From The Daily Beast:

According to officials familiar with the situation, Shelton’s prepared testimony was leaked in advance to the company. And the White House asked the general to alter the testimony to add two points: that the general supported the White House policy to add more broadband for commercial use; and that the Pentagon would try to resolve the questions around LightSquared with testing in just 90 days. Shelton chafed at the intervention, which seemed to soften the Pentagon’s position and might be viewed as helping the company as it tries to get the project launched, officials said.

However the content of the general’s testimony is unknown.

There’s definitely smoke there.  But, is there fire?  Will this be this Administration’s Watergate or Teapot Dome?  Or will it be just a bunch of sound and fury, signifying nothing?

The jury’s still out.  Although… Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday that the Administration still plans on closing Gitmo.

A preemptive strike, perhaps?

A spark from the firestorm known as the fight for a Palistinian State has come to our shores.

No.  It’s not quite time for the UN vote, yet.  More about that in a moment. This war concerns New York City subway billboards.

Per nydailynews.com:

The dispute began with posters urging an end to U.S. military aid for Israel, prompting a City Council member to demand an end to the ads – and spawning an upcoming series of counter-ads.

“This is a highly political campaign with a controversial underlying anti-Israel message,” Councilman Lewis Fidler (D-Brooklyn) wrote MTA President Thomas Prendergast.

“I would urge you to disallow and/or remove these advertisements.”

The group behind the ads, the Westchester County-based WESPAC Foundation, said the subway spots are intended to encourage dialogue and not dissension.

“If the councilman thinks they’e anti-Israeli, he should say why,” said Felice Gelman, a member of the group. “I have family in Israel. They deserve peace. And U.S. policies are not helping.”

Israel was slated to receive roughly $3 billion in military aid this year from the U.S. The ads – with the tagline “End U.S. military aid to Israel” – appeared in 18 stations beginning Sept. 5.

The pro-Israel group Stand With Us said it planned to counter the WESPAC campaign with a series of ads appearing in stations later this month.

“We didn’t ask for a billboard war,” said the nonprofit group’s CEO, Roz Rothstein. “But the group putting them up wants a response, and we have to give them a response.”

The answering ad shows two small boys with their arms over each other’s shoulders. “The Palestinian Authority Must Accept The Jewish State & Teach Peace, Not Hate,” the copy reads.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it had no problem with the ads.

What’s causing all this?

Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas explains (grab your waders):

The Palestinian Authority will be seeking full United Nations membership in its statehood bid later this month, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas said Friday.

“I’m going to the UN in order to demand our legitimate rights and secure full membership for the state of Palestine,” the Palestinian president said in Ramallah. “We hope to secure full membership.”

“We are going to the Security Council,” Abbas added, but then made it clear that “all options are open” and that a final decision has not been made yet.

Abbas said the Palestinians will be aiming to “secure independence in the 1967 borders and its holy capital, Jerusalem.” He also urged his countrymen to avoid violence, saying “we must avoid force.”

“We are the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and we intend to keep going until we secure full independence,” he said.

Abbas added that the Palestinians are proceeding with their United Nations statehood bid in September because US President Barack Obama said previously he wanted to see a Palestinian state.

‘We don’t want to isolate Israel’

Yeah, right.

President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) spoke to the nation last May, announcing the push to move Israel back to its 1967 Border in a move designed to form a separate Palestinian Country.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his response, told all those involved that the moving back to the 1967 Borders would make Israel indefensible.

Of course, Bibi was right.

If Israel were forced back to those lines, their country would be exactly 8 MILES WIDE at one point. In this supersonic age, that’s not enough air space to do anything about an enemy attack.

Now, a few days before the showdown at the UN, Obama and his Administration have changed their minds.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, speaking last Monday to a Christian Science Monitor Banquet,  said that:

A showdown in New York could have adverse negative consequences for the Palestinian people and for our partners and allies at a time when things are already fragile.

She said that, instead, that Israelis and Palestinians must come together for peace talks.

Per politico.com:

If there is a vote, Rice said, the effect on Palestinian “relations with the United States is for the president and the Congress to decide.”

Rice said that “steps to try to circumvent” peace talks, such as a U.N. vote on statehood, “are ultimately counterproductive and self-defeating.”

If there is a vote approving Palestinian statehood, “This isn’t one day of hoo-ha and celebration … and then everybody goes home,” Rice said.

Countries that would vote for Palestinian statehood would “have a responsibility to own the consequences of their vote,” she said. A U.N. resolution wouldn’t create borders, improve the economy or otherwise set Palestinians on a path to true statehood.

The Obama administration has mounted an intense campaign in recent days to head off the Palestinian initiative. U.S. Middle East peace envoy David Hale and National Security Council adviser Dennis Ross met with Abbas in Ramallah last week, urging him to ditch the effort. In addition, the U.S. has been working with its three partners in the so-called quartet — the European Union, Russia and the U.N. — to craft an alternative proposal to restart peace talks.

There would be “real-world implications” of a U.N. statehood vote, Rice said, and U.S. diplomats are having “very plain discussions” about the potential fallout with countries — including a majority of General Assembly members — that are seen as favoring the Palestinian resolution.

The U.S. has pledged to veto a statehood measure in the U.N. Security Council. However, the U.S. lacks any official power to prevent the broader General Assembly from upgrading the Palestinian delegation from its current status as a nonvoting observer “entity” to a nonvoting observer “state.” With that enhanced status, the Palestinians could take some actions against Israel, including filing cases in the International Criminal Court.

My, how things have changed since last May.  You don’t think that the Jewish uprising in New York’s 9th Congressional District, resulting in underdog Republican Bob Turner’s victory and the fact that only 60% of American Jews still support Obama and the Democrats, has anything to do with this change of heart toward the UN vote on the part of the Obama Administration, do you?

Naw.  Of course not.

 

 

 

Like many of you, some of my happiest times as a child were spent eating hambers and fries with my parents at McDonald’s. Of course, back then, there was only one McDonald’s in Memphis, Tennessee and their hamburgers were 25 cents a piece.

But, I digress….

Yesterday First Lady Michelle (Moochelle) Obama, in her crusade to reduce childhood obesity, appeared at an Olive Garden Restaurant to announce that the company that owns the Olive Garden, Red Lobster and four other popular restaurant chains has pledged to cut the calories and sodium in its meals and change its kids’ menu to make it more healthy.

Darden Restaurants Inc. has pledged to reduce the calories and sodium in all its meals by 10 percent over five years, and by 20 percent over 10 years. It will now require an adult’s supervision for a child to have a Coke and an order of french fires.

Instead of fries, all kids’ meals will now come with a side of fruit or vegetables and eight ounces of 1 percent milk. An adult will have to ask for a substitute, according to Drew Madsen, president and chief operating officer of Orlando, Fla.-based Darden, who added:

We think it’s the most comprehensive health and wellness commitment in the industry.

Darden’s is a huge company, whose restaurants dish out over 400 million meals annually, with more than 1,900 locations nationwide. Besides Olive Garden, Darden’s also owns LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52. The Capital Grille and Seasons 52 do not have children’s menus.

Darden’s actions is part of a national movement spurred on by pressure from the Administration, in support of Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move” Program, an effort to get Pookie, Jr. off the couch and away from the video game.

Beginning last January, Moochelle and her Food Police have pressured McDonald’s, Burger King, Chili’s, IHOP, Friendly’s and more than a dozen other large and small chains into promising that they will begin replacing the French fries in their kid’s menus with fruit and will begin removing those evil pictures of french fries and less healthy foods from their menus.

According to government studies, one in three U.S. children is overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or other health conditions.  Mrs. Obama has made it her crusade to become “First Mama” and control what our children and grandchildren eat.

When she spoke a  year ago to the National Restaurant Association, Moochelle urged its  members to “actively promote healthy foods and healthy habits to our kids.”  According to her, Consumers spend half their food dollars on meals outside the home and eat one in three meals at a restaurant.  She told the restauranteurs that they needed to start serving low-fat milk and healthy sides like apple slices or carrots, while making French fries available only upon request.

White House domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes announced yesterday that Darden’s announcement amounts to a “full-throated endorsement” of the types of changes Mrs. Obama has asked the nation’s restaurant owners and operators to make.

But wait, gentle reader, there’s more.  Moochelle does not think that you have enough sense to take care of yourself, either.

In January, she stood  beside Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, as it announced that it would change the formula of thousands of products it sells to make them healthier and it would push suppliers to do the same.

This summer, the first lady beemed with self-satisfication as Walmart, Walgreens drug stores, and several regional grocers got in line and promised to eliminate “food deserts” by opening or expanding in rural and urban areas without easy access to healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

Moochelle is not only trying to control what our children eat, she wants to control the diet of American adults, as shown in this article, posted on latimes.com, on February 6th, 2011, as she was beginning her Let’s Move Campaign.

…as she uses her public platform to persuade children to eat healthier and exercise more, Mrs. Obama and her team are also quietly pressing the levers of industry and government. Over the past year she has become involved in many aspects of the nation’s dietary habits, exerting her influence over nutrition policy.

Her team has worked with beverage makers to design soda cans with calorie counts and is deeply involved in a major remake of the government’s most recognizable tool for delivering its healthy-eating message: the food pyramid.

Mrs. Obama persuaded Congress to require schools to include more fruits and vegetables in the lunches they offer, and she encouraged lawmakers to require restaurants to print nutrition information on menus, a provision that wound up in President Obama’s landmark health care law.

“They really want a cooperative relationship with the food industry, and they’re looking at industry to come up with ideas,” said Lanette R. Kovachi, corporate dietitian for Subway, the nation’s second-largest restaurant chain in terms of revenue. She said she had taken part in at least four conference calls with Mrs. Obama’s food advisers.

Still, Mrs. Obama has been treading carefully. As part of her anti-obesity campaign, she has called on food makers to design clear “front-of-package” labels to warn consumers about ingredients like salt, sugar and fat. But after months of negotiations with the White House, the companies insisted on a plan that would also spotlight healthy ingredients, like calcium or fiber.

Hey, Michelle…what part of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness don’t you understand?  What our children and grandchildren eat is our responsibility, not yours. 

What I consume, as a FREE American adult, is my business.  My parents passed away years ago.  I don’t need you or your Nanny-State trying to run my life.

By the way,as someone who has lost 30 pounds since January of 2010, first remove the log from your own eye ( or a more Southern Region) before you complain about the cinder in mine.

In other words:  KEEP YOUR EYES OFF MY FRIES!

The 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, has a problem (just one you ask?):  He’s unloved and in a downward spiral in his presidency that can only be called Jimmy Carter on steroids.

Yesterday just wasn’t a very good day for our boy, Scooter.  It all began with the news that underdog, Republican Tom Turner had won the NY-9 race, and will occupy disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner’s chair in the House of Representatives. (I sure hope he disinfects it first.)

On the heels of losing that largely Jewish District, Democrat Leaders are desperately working on a strategy to try to convince American Jews that Obama does not hate Israel, in spite of  his words and actions since he became president.

Speaking of Israel, Obama has Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and American diplomats trying to stave off a scheduled vote by the United Nations to split Israel in half, in order to give the Palestinians their own country.

Per guardian.co.uk:

The US is leading diplomatic pressure on Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to persuade the parties back to negotiations rather than risk a damaging collision in New York next week. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is in telephone contact with the three delegations in the region, who are co-ordinating their efforts.

Washington is keen to avoid carrying out a threat to veto a Palestinian request for full membership of the UN, a move likely to further damage America’s already battered reputation in the Middle East, particularly following its strong backing for moves towards self-determination in the region this year.

But some at the heart of the diplomatic manoeuvres [maneuvers] believe that it is now too late to stop the Palestinians taking their case to the UN and are concentrating on damage limitation by seeking a clear position for a return to the negotiation table after the world body meets.

The Palestinians insist that they will not be diverted from making a formal request at the security council for full member status, and that diplomatic interventions have come too late. They claim to be resisting pressure, which included President Obama this week describing their move as “counterproductive”.

…Israeli ministers have threatened retaliatory measures should the Palestinian bid succeed. They include tearing up the Oslo accords, under which the Palestinian Authority was given control of parts of the West Bank and Gaza, annexing the West Bank settlements and withholding tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA. The US Congress is also threatening to cut off financial aid to the Palestinians.

Continuing Obama’s very bad day, it became quite apparent as the day progressed, that barackobama.com’s newest feature, the page dedicated to turning in mean ol’ Conservatives, titled “Attack Watch”, has become the laughing stock of the internet.

Designed by Obama’s staff to implore Obama’s base to  “Get the Truth.  Fight the Smears”, the web page has been taken over by Conservatives who have bombarded the sight with gloriously snarky “Tweets”, such as:

I just saw 6 ATM’s in the alley attacking a job, I think it was a hate crime!

While all this was going on, Scooter was on the road again (hey, that sounds like a song cue) feverishly trying to push a jobs bill that nobody wants…including Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, who announced yesterday that if the bill came before the Senate, they would probably not pass it.

Later in the day, Reid altered his story during his very first Twitter town hall, saying that he won’t immediately take up Obama’s plan because the Senate must tackle other issues first.  However, Dinghy Harry was not specific as to which bills would receive priority over Obama’s Jobs Bill.

Don’t call us, Scooter.  We’ll call you.

Speaking of the president, he made an appearance yesterday in North Carolina.

While he was speaking to the raucous crowd, one fan shouted to Obama that he loved him, and in a standard response, left over from his 2008 campaign, he replied “I love you back”.  Then , he decided to speak without a teleprompter (and you know what happens when he does that).

Obama declared, sounding more like an amorous boyfriend, than a sitting president:

If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill.

That’s going to be an uphill battle, Scooter. 

Based on a 3 day rolling average, gallup.com shows Obama’s job approval rating holding steady at a dismal 40%, with disapproval at 52%.

That’s what happens when a politician , elected by a cult of personality, does not achieve the grandiose promises made to those who elected him.

Between a horrible domestic policy, resulting in basically 20 % of Americans being unemployed, underemployed, or just plain disgusted and giving up on ever working again, and a foreign policy consisting of apologizing to our enemies and alienating our allies, this out-of-control downward spiral that Obama is experiencing is one of his own making.

He’s been looking for love in all the wrong places.

In the middle of the White House Press Briefing on Monday, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell asked Press Secretary Jay “Jaybird” Carney about whether or not Obama‘s American Jobs Act tour is nothing but a political campaign. Carney decided to imitate Jon Stewart with a sarcastic quip that produced a minor guffaw from the normally-sycophantic press corps, saying:

You’re absolutely right, it is a campaign.  The President is campaigning…. [insert long pause] for growth and jobs.

Unfortunately for both Carney and his boss, the reporters were only partially laughing at Carney’s delivery. They were mostly laughing because they believed the first part of Carney’s statement and discounted the second as propaganda.

After hearing yesterday about this decidedly weak attempt at comedy by Jay Carney, I was immediately struck by how similar the rapidly devolving presidency of Barack Hussein Obama was to the classic movie “A Face in the Crowd”:

Andy Griffith makes a spectacular film debut in this searing drama as Lonesome Rhodes, a philosophical country-western singer discovered in a tanktown jail by radio talent scout Patricia Neal and her assistant Walter Matthau. They decide that Rhodes is worthy of a radio spot, but the unforeseen result is that the gangly, aw-shucks entertainer becomes an overnight sensation not simply on radio but, thereafter, on television. As he ascends to stardom, Rhodes attracts fans, sponsors and endorsements by the carload, and soon he is the most powerful and influential entertainer on the airwaves. Beloved by his audience, Rhodes reveals himself to his intimates as a scheming, power-hungry manipulator, with Machiavellian political aspirations. He uses everyone around him, coldly discarding anyone who might impede his climb to the top (one such victim is sexy baton-twirler Lee Remick, likewise making her film debut). Just when it seems that there’s no stopping Rhodes’ megalomania, his mentor and ex-lover Neal exposes this Idol of Millions as the rat that he is. She arranges to switch on the audio during the closing credits of Rhodes’ TV program, allowing the whole nation to hear the grinning, waving Rhodes characterize them as “suckers” and “stupid idiots.” Instantly, Rhodes’ popularity rating plummets to zero. As he drunkenly wanders around his penthouse apartment, still not fully comprehending what has happened to him, Rhodes is deserted by the very associates who, hours earlier, were willing to ask “how high?” when he yelled “jump”. Written by Budd Schulberg, Face in the Crowd was not a success, possibly because it hit so close to home with idol-worshipping TV fans. Its reputation has grown in the intervening years, not only because of its value as a film but because of the novelty of seeing the traditionally easygoing Andy Griffith as so vicious and manipulative a character as Lonesome Rhodes.

Just like Lonesome Rhodes, Obama was a charismatic figure who came out of nowhere to a place of national prominence.  Also like Rhodes, he represented something unique.

While Rhodes represented the common man, down on his luck, who pulled himself up by his bootstraps to achieve success, Obama, in turn, represented what was good and right (or so it seemed at the time to those who voted for him) about our country:  the fact that anyone, regardless of race and in spite of humble beginnings, could grow up to become the President of the United States of America.

And just as Rhodes was exposed for the vacuous, megalomaniac that he was, so has Obama been revealed for who he is, through burdensome legislation designed to make the American Proletariat dependent upon Obama’s Politburo, through ill-timed photo op-laden vacations,  and, finally, through his repetitive use of oratory laden with images of class warfare and apologies  to our enemies for the actions of our sovereign nation.

While Lonesome Rhodes reached out to the people through his radio program, Obama is a master at using the New Technology.  For example, his website Obama for America, later renamed Organizing for America, as it was known before his re-election campaign kicked off, was a collection of Blogs and propaganda designed to stir up his voter base and keep them involved.

And if that wasn’t enough, our petulant president has a new feature on that same website, barackobama.com:  Aware Watch, whose purpose is to gather information and report on all subversives who would dare question or criticize Obama.  Its sub-title reads:  Get the Facts.  Fight the Smears.

And here, for my 52 years, I’ve always thought that this was America.  Not Soviet Russia.

Meanwhile, Obama continues to insist that Congress rush through the passage of his American Jobs Act, even to the point of using a bunch of high school kids as an Amen Chorus, chanting “Pass This Bill!” during an appearance in Columbus, Ohio yesterday.

Obama knows that he has to hurry to complete his agenda…before he’s totally exposed to the public, as Lonesome Rhodes was.

Unfortunately for Obama, he’s too late.

Yesterday morning, President Barack Hussein Obama unveiled the fine print included in his new American Jobs Act, and Americans found out why he wanted it passed immediately…before everyone found out what was in it.

Porkulus II: Hope You Have Change Left:  If Scooter has his way and this bill passes through Congress, it would be funded primarily through tax increases that according to Republicans, would destroy jobs, not create them.

Per wsj.com:

Mr. Obama proposed limiting itemized deductions for families making $250,000 or more a year, ending tax breaks for oil companies and corporate jet owners, and cutting out a tax break for investment-fund managers. The White House says the tax changes would take effect in 2013 and estimates they would raise $467 billion in additional revenue over 10 years.

Republicans in Congress, who had been striking a more conciliatory tone about backing at least parts of the proposal the president unveiled last Thursday, disputed the White House contention that the plan would cause no additional job losses for the struggling economy.

“It would be fair to say this tax increase on job creators is the kind of proposal both parties have opposed in the past,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). “We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn’t appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit.”

Mr. Obama made a new pitch for his plan at the White House Monday and has said he intends to campaign against Congress and Republicans in 2012 if they don’t pass the bill.

“We’ve got to decide what our priorities are,” he said. “Do we keep tax loopholes for oil companies, or do we put teachers back to work? Should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or should we invest in education and technology and infrastructure?”

Despite Mr. Obama’s demand that Congress act on the legislation quickly, neither the jobs nor tax proposals are likely to be approved or take affect any time soon. Senate Democratic leaders are expected to bring the bill to a vote in the coming weeks, but it is not expected to pass.

Evidently, the public is not impressed either.  As of yesterday, per gallup.com, Obama ‘s Job Approval  Poll is sitting at 42% approval, 49% disapproval concerning the job he’s doing as president.

But, there’s no doubt the Obama can create jobs…especially for his political cronies.  Take a look at this list of Obama’s Czars (political positions which Obama has appointed):

Frank Ruggiero – Afghanistan Czar

A career civil servant and has served in several positions in the Departments of State and Commerce. Ruggiero has an M.A. in Middle Eastern Affairs from American University and has completed all requirements for a Ph.D. (but the dissertation) in U.S. Foreign Policy in Asia from the University of Virginia.

Ed Montgomery – Auto recovery Czar

Black radical anti-business activist. Affirmative Action and Job Preference for blacks. Univ of Maryland Business School Dean teaches US business has caused world poverty. ACORN board member. Communist DuBois Club member.

Jeffrey Crowley – AIDS Czar

A Gay Rights activist. Believes in Gay Marriage and especially, a Special Status for homosexuals only, including complete free health care for America’s gay population.

Alan Bersin – Border Czar

The former failed superintendent of San Diego . Ultra Liberal friend of Hilary Clinton. Served as Border Czar under Janet Reno – to keep borders open to illegals without interference from US

David J. Hayes – California Water Czar

Sr. Fellow of radical environmentalist group, “Progress Policy”. No training or experience in water management whatsoever.

Ron Bloom – Car Czar

(Left in August 2011) Auto Union worker. Anti business & anti nuclear. Has worked hard to force US auto makers out of business. Sits on the Board of Chrysler which is now Auto Union owned.

Dennis Ross – Central Region Czar

Believes US policy has caused Mid East wars. Obama apologist to the world. Anti-gun and completely pro-abortion.

Lynn Rosenthal – Domestic Violence Czar

Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Vicious anti male feminist. Supported male castration.

Gil Kerlikowske – Drug Czar

Devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal, Former Chief of Police in Liberal Seattle. Believes no American should own a firearm. Supports legalization of all drugs

Paul Volcker – Economic Czar

Head of Fed Reserve under Jimmy Carter when US economy nearly failed. Obama appointed head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board which engineered the Obama economic disaster to US economy. Member of anti business “Progressive Policy” organization

Carol Brower – Energy and Environment Czar

Political Radical Former head of EPA – known for anti-business activism. Strong anti-gun ownership.  Listed on Socialist International’s website.

Joshua DuBois – Faith Based Czar

Political Black activist-Degree in Black Nationalism. Anti gun ownership lobbyist.  Pentecostal pastor in his 20s.

Cameron Davis – Great Lakes Czar

Chicago radical anti business environmentalist. Blames George Bush for “Poisoning the water that minorities have to drink.” No experience or training in water management. Former ACORN Board member.

Van Jones – Green Jobs Czar

(since resigned).. Black activist Member of American communist Party and San Francisco Communist Party who said Geo Bush caused the 911 attack and wanted Bush investigated by the World Court for war crimes. Black activist with strong anti-white views.

Daniel Fried – Guantanamo Closure Czar

Human Rights activist for Foreign Terrorists. Believes America has caused the war on terrorism. Believes terrorists have rights above and beyond Americans.

Nancy-Ann DeParle – Health Czar

Former head of Medicare / Medicaid. Strong Health Care Rationing proponent. She is married to a reporter for The New York Times.

Vivek Kundra – Information Czar

Born in New Delhi , India . Controls all public information, including labels and news releases. Monitors all private Internet emails.

Todd Stern – International Climate Czar

Anti business former White House chief of Staff- Strong supporter of the Kyoto Accord. Pushing hard for Cap and Trade. Blames US business for Global warming. Anti-US business prosperity.

James R. Clapper – Intelligence Czar

Dubbed the “Godfather of Human Intelligence”  for championing interpersonal means of gathering intelligence, in addition to more technical methods like satellite photography and signal interception.

David Hale – Mideast Peace Czar

Previously, he was the State Department’s Director of the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, and Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State. Previous tours were at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Beirut, Amman, Manama, and Dhahran. He has held several staff positions in the Department.

Kenneth Feinberg – Pay Czar

Chief of Staff to TED KENNEDY. Lawyer who got rich off the 911 victims payoffs.

Cass Sunstein – Regulatory Czar

Liberal activist judge believes free speech needs to be limited for the “common good”. Essentially against 1st amendment. Rules against personal freedoms many times -like private gun ownership and right to free speech.

John Holdren – Science Czar

Fierce ideological environmentalist, Sierra Club, Anti-business activist. Claims US business has caused world poverty. No Science training.

Earl Devaney – Stimulus Accountability Czar

Spent career trying to take guns away from American citizens. Believes in Open Borders to Mexico . Author of statement blaming US gun stores for drug war in Mexico …

J. Scott Gration – Sudan Czar

Native of Democratic Republic of Congo . Believes US does little to help Third World countries. Council of foreign relations.

Herb Allison – TARP Czar

Fannie Mae CEO responsible for the US recession by using real estate mortgages to back up the US stock market. Caused millions of people to lose their life savings.

John Brennan – Terrorism Czar

Anti-CIA activist. No training in diplomatic or gov. affairs. Believes Open Borders to Mexico and a dialog with terrorists and has suggested Obama disband US military

Aneesh Chopra – Technology Czar

No Technology training. Worked for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals. Anti-doctor activist. Supports Obama Health care Rationing and salaried doctors working exclusively for the Gov. health care plan

Adolfo Carrion Jr. – Urban Affairs Czar

Puerto Rican born Anti American activist and leftist group member in Latin America . Millionaire “slum lord” of the Bronx , NY. Owns many lavish homes and condos which he got from “sweetheart” deals with labor unions. Wants higher taxes on middle class to pay for minority housing and health care

Ashton Carter – Weapons Czar

Leftist. Wants all private weapons in US destroyed. Supports UN ban on firearms ownership in America .. No Other “policy”

Gary Samore – WMD Policy Czar

Former member of the US Communist Party. Wants US to destroy all WMD unilaterally as a show of good faith. Has no other “policy”.

Obama has been superb at stimulating the pocketbooks of all of his cronies.

As far as his multiple promises to put average Americans back to work?

Words…just words.