Yet More Change

When Obama's Change.gov website was criticised for its mandatory volunteerism, the site was changed to remove that language. Over the past day or so, a few of us have begun to comment on his intent to introduce a permanent "assault weapons" ban. Thanks to a blogger at Daily Kos (now there's something I never thought I'd write), it appears that the Obama camp has caused a little more change- and removed all references to the AWB.

He does realise that the election is over, right?

My only guess is that they are trying to prevent Republicans geting up a head of steam now in their battle against some of these policies. Waiting until January will leave them on the defensive.

Either that or the team responsible is incompetent and has no clue whatsoever what his policies are. Which is odd because on his official Barack Obama website- you know, the one where he outlined his policies to potential voters- the language remains,

They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

I would love to think that he has reconsidered the plan- truly a sign that he was going to be more moderate- but I have my suspicions that this is the case.

Obama's Replacement

Obama has named his replacement as Senator- long-time friend Valerie Jarrett. She's not someone I'm familiar with at all but here's what I came up through Google.

Since 1995, Jarrett has been a high ranking executive at Habitat Co., a real estate firm tasked by a federal judge to ensure the CHA ends segregation in public housing.

Under the Plan for Transformation, the city has lost more than 13,000 housing units for the poor at a time when low-income families face one of the worse housing crises in recent history. After years of neglect and abandonment, many residents doubt that Jarrett and CHA officials have their interests at heart.

Jarrett has pushed to integrate new developments by limiting the number of residents, mostly poor and black, who can live in the new communities. From the beginning, that stance clashed with efforts by residents and housing advocates to ensure the number of units set aside for the poor was as large as possible.

And this-

Jarrett has been part of Obama's inner circle since his days as an Illinois state senator. She identifies herself as a Chicago businesswoman, but according to Obama campaign advisers, she is much more than that.

She is Iranian-American, for one thing, and the Obama campaign has sought to keep her ties to Iran from press views, as it has also sought to keep her political background and deep and tangled business and personal relationship to the Obama family from sight. For example, while it's true that Jarrett is a business executive, she also has been a well-known political operative for Chicago Democrats back to her days working in the background as an adviser to late Chicago mayor Harold Washington, as well as the Daley family.

"She knows where are all the bodies have been buried in the past 30 or so years of Chicago politics and she knows all the tricks," says one longtime Democrat political consultant in Chicago. "If Obama had a political and financial godmother, it would be Valerie."

Jarrett is the chief executive of Habitat Co., which developed and managed large housing projects in and around Chicago -- and in Obama's state legislative district -- that were subsidized by federal and state housing dollars, and which were ultimately seized by federal authorities for what were unlivable conditions. While overseeing the company that managed these housing facilities, Jarrett also worked with long-time Obama friend and convicted felon Tony Rezko in raising money for Obama's political career.

Some more from Marathon Pundit. And from Doug Ross.

Ideologically Offensive

Looks like Obama's much-hoped-for swing to becoming a moderate once he's in the White House is not going to materialise.

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

Obama will be able to undo much of what Bush has put in place without even having to go near Congress.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

You know, when you put it in those terms it sure sounds a lot like Obama's going to be a centrist, moderate President. Right? I mean, a moderate, middle-of-the-road kind of President is sure to consult with liberal advocacy groups (sure sounds like lobbyists to me, but what do I know) to change orders deemed to be "ideologically offensive".

It sure looks like America is going to get a heapful of change.

As an after-thought (and in no way am I comparing Obama to Hamas), remember how pundits claimed that Hamas would act completely out of characer and stop being so radical once they came to power. Look how that worked out.

Obama Derangement Syndrome

Since the election I've read a number of conservatives posting on-line about how those on the Right need to take a chill pill and stop being so mean to Barack Obama. The general consensus seems to be that many who are vocally opposed to Obama are being completely unreasonable and are either suffering from, or on the verge of contracting, Obama Derangement Syndrome. The argument seems to be that you can't possibly continue to point out Obama's history and his stated policies because he's about to be President. He won the election and voila! he's turned over a new page.

Relax, they say, stop being such Barack-bigots. Let's just be nice because criticising Obama just makes you look like those morons on the Left who spent the past eight years making jokes and conspiracy theories up about George Bush, Dick Cheney and the rest of the administration.

Well, I for one am totally and utterly in favour of polite and reasoned discourse. It's been a pleasure here to occasionally engage in just that with those who disagree with me. In fact, I welcome it. However, and here's where I have a problem with these commentators, there is a difference between an unwillingness to forgive Obama his flaws and ODS. Personally I hold the view that he is a man of low character and I will not apologise for that- it's not deranged or unreasoned to come to that conclusion. Simply holding a job in the White House does not change a man's nature or his past. I do, or course, wish the best for America- whether a Democrat, Republican or Independent is at the helm.

Anyway, the latest of these "stop criticising Obama in case you go crazy" pieces is at Pajamas Media. Here's the comment I left-

I agree that ODS must be avoided but it’s not to early to start protesting an Obama administration and the plans he has for it. There’s plenty of evidence to use for this, including his own bill the “Global Poverty Act” which will tie US taxation to UN demands- and it’s projected to cost billions of dollars.

Not to mention the policies he’s stipulated he intended to carry out- among them a permanent “Assault Weapons” Ban.

Then there’s the incredible secrecy surrounding his transition team-
“There are some people who have been with us from the beginning who are clearly political liabilities or who won’t be able to qualify for a job, say, because they can’t get a security clearance,” says another aide, who was unaware of the unique Obama transition project’s tax status.

There’s no need to resort to the “ChimpyHitlerHalliburton” nonsense of the Left when we can- perfectly reasonably- be outraged by Obama’s long association with a man who declared war on America and who discussed the genocide of 25 million Americans.

I’ve read a lot of posts lately warning conservatives not to submit to ODS, some even going to far as to declare Obama- who has lied, cheated (his campaign donations) and involved himself with racists (Wright) and terrorists (Ayers and PLO-spokesman Khalidi)- a good and decent man. I personally disagree. He may be President-Elect but that does not, in my eyes, wipe clean the slate of his past.

The big difference between conservatives and liberals is that the latter camp have not only ridiculed and insulted the President for the past eight years, they have done the same to their country. Conservatives recognise the difference between the man holding the office and their nation. See all the stories about liberals, for the first time, flying the Stars and Stripes. Furthermore, we’ve heard endless stories and rants about Bush’s intention to establish re-education camps, install a Christian theocracy, etc, etc, etc. That would be the derangement part- it’s an unfounded, paranoid hatred of Bush.

On the other hand, the criticism on the right regarding Obama is, from what I’ve seen on blogs, based entirely on his avowed intentions and his factually established history. We don’t need to imagine an Obama presidency weakening the Constitution because he has stated in public that he intends to promote judges to the Supreme Court who will rule not on the Constitution but on their own, personal sense of fairness.

If the right does start to get a little deranged, I’m sure that there will be a good number of blogs- just like this one- who will point out that fact. Until that starts to happen however I’d appreciate it if some members of the conservative blogosphere stopped yelling at people (who thus far have couched their opposition to Obama in terms of his own plans for America rather than “that guy’s a jerk”) and accusing them of being unreasonable crazies.

I should also have pointed out that while conservatives are- and will- be opposed to the policies of an Obama Presidency, they will not lose faith in their country. Those afflicted with BDS, on the other hand, had no problems in attacking their own nation. They thought nothing of disparaging the troops at war (no conservative will do the same no matter how unpopular a war Obama sends them on) or of openly praising the enemies of America (see any of Zombie's photo reports for evidence of that.

Global Poverty Act Revisited

Now that Obama's won the election it seems prudent to go over some of the campaign promises and proposals he's made. One, an actual piece of legislation that McCain-Palin never once mentioned, is the Global Poverty Act.

The legislation would commit the U.S. to spending 0.7 percent of gross national product on foreign aid, which amounts to a phenomenal 13-year total of $845 billion over and above what the U.S. already spends. ...

There's nothing really obvious in the bill itself to cause alarm- but it makes reference to United Nations Millennium Development Goals. And it is implementing those goals which will cost the American taxpayer dearly.

The Pain of Govt. Healthcare

A warning about what nationalised health care actually results in- it's not free healthcare, it's a rationed system.

Thousands of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have been denied effective NHS treatments on the basis of cost. The move – by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) – withdraws currently available treatment options.

The decision has been branded ‘a prescription for pain’ by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA), a campaigning umbrella body which represents the views of arthritis charities, including the Arthritis Research Campaign.

At the moment there are three different types of treatment available to rheumatoid arthritis patients. When they are given it, it is necessary in 50% of cases to switch from one type to another as the treatments affect different people in different ways. Before starting the treatment there is no way of telling which will work best. Thanks to NICE (an Orwellian choice of name if ever there was one) if you aren't lucky enough to get it right first time then you're out of luck. Destined to remain in pain knowing that there's a treatment out there for you but which the NHS won't give you.

This, by the way, is all you need to know about NICE-

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which has been widely criticised for banning drugs from NHS use as too expensive, squandered £4.5million on 'communications' last year.

This was £1.1million more than the £3.4million the controversial organisation spent on assessing new medicines.

And this, dear reader, is how the NHS has fared under Labour in the UK-

NHS productivity fell by 2.0 per cent a year between 2001 and 2005, according to the Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity, the ONS unit that monitors public spending. That was the period of the biggest funding increase in NHS history.

From 2005 to 2006, productivity fell less quickly, by 0.2 per cent.

From 1995 to 2006, the NHS annual budget more than doubled from £39 billion to £89.7 billion.

A doubling in the budget- and more increases planned- but a few thousand people are being denied the only effective treatment available to them because it costs too much.

There is no cure for RA, but anti-TNF therapy can slow and sometimes even halt the progression of the disease, effectively freezing it in its tracks, while also controlling the pain it causes.

Government Growth

Under Obama's Presidency it looks like the government is going to grow even more bloated and become radically more expensive. How this alone fits into his plans to reduce taxes I don't know.

President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps ...

He's talking about an increase from current levels of 75,000 to 250,000 for Americorps alone in addition to doubling the size of the Peace Corps.

...and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps.

Interesting to note that- in addition to the changes made to the America Serves page noted below, more changes have been made. Now most of the details are just missing. It would seem that screen-capping his website is in order.

Not to mention his plans- which he doesn't seem to be publicising on his website- for a civilian national security force funded to the same extent as the Army and, perhaps more worryingly, "just as powerful, just as strong".

It would have been nice if he'd been asked about the creation of this incredibly expensive and disturbingly powerful entity just once during election season.

Evidently this is why he's going to require service- because otherwise they wouldn't seem to be enough people to volunteer for all of these new organisations. Don't forget- he's also planning on increasing the Army by 65,000 and the Marines by 27,000.

The Democrat Draft

I thought something looked a little different last night- LGF captures the changes that the Obama team are making to their website.

Before-

Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.

After-

Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free.

Of course, simply removing the word "require" doesn't change his plans just the presentation of them. We can always remind people what Michelle Obama warned them about-

“Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation and that you move out of your comfort zone. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed – you have to stay at the seat at the table of democracy with a man like Barack Obama not just on Tuesday but in a year from now, in four years from now, in eights years from now, you will have to be engaged.”

There we have it again- Obama will require it of you. Not ask but require and demand. Not "you should" but "you will have to".

See also this post.

UPDATE - He might have scrubbed this language from his .gov website but the material still exists on his Barack Obama website. Screen cap below. There's also a pdf of his service plan hosted at the campaign site.

Symbols of Authority

As has been noted Obama seems to be breaking the rules again with his .gov registered Change website. Despite the fact that there's no such thing as the "Office of the President Elect" Obama's colossal ego has created one. He seems to be obsessed with self-aggrandizement and these symbols of authority- the fake seal, the Greek Temple, heck, even the choice of location for his acceptance speech during the convention. There was even his seat on his campaign jet and reporters having to remind his staff that, way before the election, he wasn't yet in the Oval Office.

And now, as well as the imaginary office and unofficial .gov website, he's even giving press conferences with a pretend office placard.

Am I the only one who finds it a little juvenile and quite a bit narcissistic of him to do all this stuff?

Quote of the Week

Bill Whittle's articles are always a pleasure to read. This one stands out among all the post-election Republican analysis. Of course, it's Whittle so go read it all, but here's one passage which really stands out-

So consider this, my fellows in arms: On Tuesday, the Left — armed with the most attractive, eloquent, young, hip, and charismatic candidate I have seen with my adult eyes, a candidate shielded by a media so overtly that it can never be such a shield again, who appeared after eight years of a historically unpopular President, in the midst of two undefended wars and at the time of the worst financial crisis since the Depression and whose praises were sung by every movie, television, and musical icon without pause or challenge for 20 months . . . who ran against the oldest nominee in the country’s history, against a campaign rent with internal disarray and determined not to attack in the one area where attack could have succeeded, and who was out-spent no less than seven-to-one in a cycle where not a single debate question was unfavorable to his opponent — that historic victory, that perfect storm of opportunity . . .

Yielded a result of 53 percent.

Folks, we are going to lick these people out of their boots.

Inmates Running The Asylum

Telling the truth banned by courts. Nope, this isn't one from The Onion.

Arizona’s Supreme Court Justice has agreed to enforce the Hispanic Bar Association’s demands of banning the terms “illegal” and “aliens” in all of the state’s courtrooms.

Claiming that the terms are inflammatory, the president of Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association, (known as Los Abogados) has asked state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor to stop using them at trials or hearings because they create perceptions of judicial bias.

In a strongly worded letter to the chief justice, Los Abogados’ president says attaching an illegal status to a person establishes a brand of contemptibility, creates the appearance of anti-immigrant prejudice and tarnishes the image of courts as a place where disputes may be fairly resolved.

It further points out that no human being is illegal and that a national Hispanic journalism association has roundly criticized the reference for dehumanizing a segment of the population. The letter goes on to criticize the state’s High Court for using the term “illegals” in at least two opinions and the term “illegal aliens” in dozens of others.

It concludes with a list of acceptable and unacceptable terms relating to illegal immigration. Among those the group wants banned are; immigration crisis, immigration epidemic, open borders advocates, anchor babies and invaders. Among the acceptable terms are foreign nationals, unauthorized workers and human rights advocates.

We can't possibly use the word "illegal" in a court of law, can we? And now, you're no longer allowed to call someone a pro-illegal immigration activist. The replacement term is human rights advocate.

I feel like I'm in The Twilight Zone.

Obama On Security

Obama on Homeland Security-

Prepare the Military to Meet 21st Century Threats: Barack Obama will not hesitate to use military force to take out terrorists who pose a threat to America. Obama will ensure that our military becomes more stealthy, agile, and lethal in its ability to capture or kill terrorists. He will bolster our military's ability to speak different languages, navigate different cultures, and coordinate complex missions with our civilian agencies.

Note the facets of the US military that he wants to improve. Now watch this-



He's going to slow America's development of future weapon systems but he wants to improve the Army's ability to navigate different cultures?

I don't know what to say.

Change Is Coming

David Codrea at War On Guns notices a detail on Obama's Change.gov website that Second Amendment advocates should be aware of. And a startling illustration of the staggering hypocrisy of anti-gun politicians.

Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

Unless of course, your name is Barack Obama, in which case, assault weapons- real ones not the lookalikes the bill would actually ban- are perfectly justified on the streets.

Obama- in favour of assault weapons in the hands of his 24/7 security detail to protect him en route to the gym. Opposed to law-abiding Americans possessing semi-auto rifles to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Hypocrisy you can believe in.

Obama And Decency

I've noticed a big difference between this election and the last. This time we have conservatives explicitly stating their respect for the office of the President, even while vowing to oppose those policies they think harmful to the nation. Last time, moonbats were so distraught they needed psychological counselling.

After reading AllahPundit's declaration that Dean Barnett thought Obama was "a good guy and a decent man", I felt like I should chime in. Given that I don't have the shackles that Obama is going to be my President, I don't feel that it's necessary to try and delude myself about these issues. I didn't do so at the time but then this morning I stumbled upon Patterico's argument "On Obama and Good Men." Now, to be fair, I understand completely where he's coming from- like it or not, Obama is President-Elect, and Patterico has declared an admirable intent not to succumb to the low abuse that characterised the Left while Bush was in office.

All fair and good. However, beyond this- and beyond being willing to engage in reasonable debate- he goes on to state-

So far, as I’ve said, I see him as a basically good and decent man who, like many politicians, has engaged in some highly questionable behavior in the pursuit of power.

And here's another point he made just a few sentences earlier-

Many here are calling him a bad man because he has done some bad things and associated with some bad people. It’s true, he has, and I can respect the people who write him off for that reason.

So, Patterico is in effect stating that Obama has done bad things, associated with bad people and also engaged in highly questionable behaviour but he is nevertheless a good and decent person. From where I'm sitting there is no logic to that. Sure, Barack's done bad things, he hangs out with bad people but he's still good and decent. What sense does that make?

I understand that he's trying to take the high road, to respect the office of President and to avoid the pitfalls of BDS. However, this goes beyond the stated goal of "it’s possible to disagree without being disagreeable". He could just as easily have said, "he's going to be our new President come January- let's not be asses about our opposition to his policies".

Good and decent people don't do bad things and associate with bad people- they don't spend their entire adult lives in the company of radicals and murderous terrorists (Ayers and Dohrn), they don't have dinner regularly with members of foreign terrorist groups (Khalidi and his wife), they don't attend a racist, hate-filled, anti-American church for 20 years and expose their children to same, they don't abuse their authority to attempt to shut down speech critical of them, they don't repeatedly lie about their associations and policies for the sake of their ambition- and good and decent people don't become the only Senator to have voted in favour of infanticide.

A commenter attacked Patterico over his "praise" for Obama on just this issue. He replied,

To this person, and many others, the fact that someone believes in partial-birth abortion means that they are a Bad Person. I consider the practice horrific, and it’s not overstating it to say I believe it is evil. For some people, it’s an easy step from that to saying that anyone who supports it is evil.

But Obama- who is more radical on these issues than all of the pro-abortion camp in Congress- is not, in his opinion, evil too- or even just a bad person. Perhaps I'm not nuanced enough but when a man takes actions to enable evil acts to occur, he does not remain untarnished. Obama is a man who had the power to speak out, to write a bill, to vote. By his actions he could have tried to prevent- in Patterico's own words- evil acts from taking place. Not only did he do nothing, he has taken deliberate steps to enable these evil acts to keep happening. Good and decent men do not stand by when it is within their power to prevent evil. Now, you could make an argument that not only failing to prevent an evil act but encouraging more to occur is not evil in and of itself. I might be able to accept you believe that line of reasoning- but I do not accept that you can go from that, from being a willful accomplice to acts you yourself have admitted are evil, to calling that same person a good and decent man.

Let's not beat about the bush- Obama is, in my opinion, a terrible choice for President. He has no experience other than promoting himself (and wasting over a hundred million dollars on so-called educational reforms that failed to improve education in any way) but more than that- he has not been straight with the electorate. He has gone to great lengths to obscure, obfuscate and outright lie about who he is. A good and decent man doesn't do that.

A good and decent man does not expose his children to the vile, racist bile of Rev. Wright every Sunday.

A good and decent man doesn't befriend a terrorist who planted bombs in the United States and who plotted to murder Army personnel and their girlfriends at a dance.

Would Patterico be so quick to label someone who spent a decade working closely with- and whose career was promoted by- an Al Qaeda terrorist who hated America, who declared war on the nation, who planned to overthrow the government and install a dictatorship, who discussed murdering 25 million Americans who he thought would to accept his ideology, who planned to bomb American soldiers a "good and decent man"? I don't think so.

People try to excuse Obama's troubling past by calling his associations political convenience. Sure, he befriended corrupt slum-lord Tony Rezko but that was just so he could advance his own career. He's still a good and decent man.

People try to excuse his membership of a racist, hate-filled church because that church isn't unique! So what if he listened to anti-white, anti-American sermons week after week and year after year- and took his children along too? Those are just the crazy things that some folks come out with- and besides did you know that some other black churches are just as racist and hateful too? Why, of course, Obama's a good and decent guy.

I will note however that a good number of black churches which teach the tenets of Christianity rather that Jeremiah Wright's black theology will take offense at being tarred with that same brush.

People try to excuse his association with terrorists. Hey, that was just bad judgement on his part, he didn't really think about what it meant to befriend and work alongside a notorious America-hating terrorist for years on end. And those friendly dinners he had with a PLO spokesman? Well, Mona Khalidi (who also worked for the PLO) is such a good cook- he mustn't have been thinking about the victims of Arafat's reign of terror. He's still a good and decent man.

But the simple fact of the matter is that there is no excuse. Obama is an adult- and apparently quite an intelligent one. He chose of his own free will to get involved with these people. He chose to vote in favour of infanticide- even though it goes beyond what most other pro-abortion politicians choose. He, and he alone, is responsible for his actions. And it is those actions he must be judged upon. They cannot be ignored or brushed aside simply because he has won an election.

In all good faith I cannot accept that a good and decent man would behave in the way Barack Obama has. On the contrary, he seems to me to be a man of exceedingly low character.

Dept of Change?

Ed Morrissey has some comments to make about Obama's new website-

However, this site has a .gov top-level domain (change.gov). That is reserved for “qualified government organizations and programs”. The incoming administration technically has no status as a government organization or program until January 20, 2009. The “Office of the President-Elect” doesn’t exist within the government. Furthermore, the use seen at the site is clearly promotional for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and should have been kept at their own campaign domain rather than set up as an official US government site.

Another instance of Obama's ego- just like his faux Presidential Seal?

He also notes this odd fact-

Why does the government need to collect e-mails and addresses from citizens in order to share their stories with the President-Elect? What purpose does the OPE have for this information? Are they hoping to build a list to sell to political allies, or perhaps just to telemarketers to help pay off the deficit? Since this is hosted as a government site, I think they need to explain what official use they will make of this information.

Which of course made me think of this comment from Zombie-

But most disturbingly of all: The Obama campaign knows the name, phone number and address (as the assistant told me) of each person called; and we volunteers do in fact mark down the voting preferences of each individual. So, through phone banks like these, should Obama in fact become president (and even if he doesn’t), he and his team will have a pretty extensive list of everyone who voted against him.

Creepy, no?

The Resurrection Project

A scientific development I can get behind.

Japanese scientists said Tuesday they had created a mouse from a dead cell frozen for 16 years, taking a step in the long impossible dream of bringing back extinct animals such as mammoths.

But the researchers said tough challenges remain ahead in terms of how to restore extinct animals, which would require breeding with animals that are still alive.

To revive a mammoth, researchers would need to find a way to implant a cell nucleus of a mammoth into the egg of an elephant and then implant the embryo into an elephant's uterus, it said.

The elephant is the closest modern relative of the mammoth, a huge woolly mammal believed to have died out with the Ice Age.

But Akira Iritani, a mammoth expert at Kinki University in Osaka, said it was only a matter of time before researchers could find a mammoth for a resurrection project.

Any other megafauna they can bring back I wonder?

One For The Kids

Hey kids! Now that super-cool rock-star Barack Obama has won the election it's time for you to start working for him. For free! Isn't that wonderful?

Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.

Yep, you get to do 50 hours of mandatory unpaid work every year, rising to 100 hours during college. So put away those books and forget about earning some cash to pay your bills! Obama has more important plans for you.

You know, they used to have a word for forcing someone to do work they don't want to do for no pay. What was it again?

Disappointment

I'm still struggling to grasp that Obama supporters haven't quite grasped this point-

Give Obama his due: It is an exceptional politician who can win the support of Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, and Kenneth Duberstein, former chief of staff to President Reagan; of William Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist and Christopher Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, founder of modern conservatism; of Rashid Khalidi, an Israel-hater, and Edgar Bronfman, former head of the World Jewish Congress. Here's a not-very-bold prediction: A year from now, someone is going to be sorely disappointed.

Promising so many things to so many people- for example, he's for coal but he wants to bankrupt the industry- would signify to rational people that Obama wasn't being honest with someone.

There's going to be some serious buyer's remorse going around the Blue States in the next four years.

Hussein

Have you noticed how the press is now routinely referring to the President-Elect as "Barack H. Obama"?

The same people who would have you branded an intolerant racist just a few days ago for mentioning Obama's real given middle-name and who have never, before Nov. 4th, indicated in any way that Obama even had an "H." in his name

People really are strange.

The Fight Starts Now

Some advice from The Corner.

Imposition of some form of the Fairness Doctrine likely will be one of the Democrats' agenda items for the first 100 days of the new administration. It's important that conservatives begin working now to stop it.

And the important point here is not to wait until it's too late.

Waiting until Inauguration Day to get geared up is too late. By that time the Fairness Doctrine Express will be at full steam— wavering Democrats will be pressed to support the new Democratic president, weak-kneed Republicans will want to display comity, the mainstream media will not be saddened to see talk radio annihilated and much of the public will be too enraptured by Obama's Camelot inauguration to notice or care.

The model for conservative activism (no oxymoron) on this is the immigration debate of 2007. Conservatives must contact senators now before the congressional holiday recesses. Email, call, write. If you're in D.C, go to the House and Senate offices. You likely won't get to talk to a senator or congressman but you can corral members of their staffs. If you're not in D.C., go to the district offices. Make sure GOP senators hold fast. Let Dem senators know that this is a major issue.

One of the points I made about this election is that the media is no longer afraid to show its bias, they have happily thrown the principles of journalism aside for the benefit of their candidate. Winning elections is more important to them than presenting the people with the truth of the matter. They got away with it once- so I fully expect them to be more aggressive next time. If Republicans ever hope to win a national election again then they must vigorously defend talk radio from this terrible assault on free speech. Liberals are free to implement their own talk radio - Air America anyone?- and Americans should be free to listen to the shows they want to. The government, particularly a government opposed to your political philosophy, has no business in regulating talk radio.

The time to fight is now. Spread the word- and then contact your Senator.

Things To Come

Not so much hope and change to be found here.

Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.

A sign of things to come?

Cracks In The Facade

It's happened already. Obama campaigned on re-focusing the battle against jihad terrorism (though goodness knows he never used that term) from Iraq to what he claimed was "the central front" on the war on terror- Afghanistan.

Well already the moonbat brigades, in this case the Code Pinkos, are demanding an end to the war against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and assorted jihadis in Afghanistan.

What do we want from an Obama Administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress? We want an end to the occupation of Iraq and reparations for its people. We don't want the troops from Iraq shipped straight to another losing war in Afghanistan. We want a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan.

We've seen time and again how easy it is for Obama to lie about holding one position or another. Was he telling the truth to the people of America about his resolve to defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Or was he simply telling middle America what they wanted to hear?

A Real Loss

I've just learned that Michael Crichton has passed away. He has been battling cancer.

Popular sci-fi author Michael Crichton died Tuesday of cancer. He was 66 and was battling the illness privately, according to his family.

Crichton was author of several blockbuster novels, including The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, and also created the hit TV series ER.

"Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand," his family said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to his prolific and successful career as a writer, his works were translated into a number of wildly popular movies including The 13th Warrior, Westworld and, of course, Jurassic Park. The breadth of his work is an indication of the incredible talent he possessed. He also deserves credit for his well reasoned attack on global warming. More important than any of that though, is this-

"While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us - and entertained us all while doing so - his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes."

A man couldn't ask for finer words than those. May he rest in peace.

Obama's Check List

Obama made a whole lot of promises during the election. Michelle Malkin has some thoughts on that. Jake Tapper noted some of these promises a few days ago, under the heading of Obama Claus. That's because there are quite a few claims in there. I'm going to quote it so that come January we can look back and see how Obama's doing on fulfilling those promises-

Just today in Sarasota, Fla., the Democratic presidential nominee said that he'd:

• "give a tax break to 95 percent of Americans who work every day and get taxes taken out of their paycheck every week";
• "eliminate income taxes on Social Security for seniors making under $50,000";
• "give homeowners and working parents additional tax breaks";
• not increase taxes on anyone if they "make under $250,000; you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime –- not your income taxes, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax";
• "end those breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas";
• "give tax breaks to companies that invest right here in the United States";
• "eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-up companies that are the engine of job creation in this country";
• "create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, and bridges, and schools -- by laying broadband lines to reach every corner of the country";
• "invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create five million new energy jobs over the next decade";
• "reopen old factories, old plants, to build solar panels, and wind turbines";
• build "a new electricity grid";
• "build the fuel efficient cars of tomorrow";
• "eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in 10 years";
• "lower premiums" for those who already have health insurance;
• "if you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves";
• "end discrimination by insurance companies to the sick and those who need care the most";
• "invest in early childhood education";
• "recruit an army of new teachers";
• "pay our teachers higher salaries, give them more support. But ... also demand higher standards and more accountability";
• "make a deal with every young person who's here and every young person in America: If you are willing to commit yourself to national service, whether it's serving in our military or in the Peace Corps, working in a veterans home or a homeless shelter, then we will guarantee that you can afford to go to college no ifs ands or buts";
• "stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq whole the Iraqis have a huge surplus";
• "end this war in Iraq";
• "finish the fight and snuff out al Qaeda and bin Laden";
• "increase our ground troops and our investments in the finest fighting force in the world";
• "invest in 21st century technologies so that our men and women have the best training and equipment when they deploy into combat and the care and benefits they have earned when they come home";
• "No more homeless veterans"; and
• "no more fighting for disability payments."

This on top of his 30-minute infomercial last night, and the myriad other pledges and promises he's made throughout the last 21 months.

It will be interesting to see which is the first to go under the bus. I'm betting the middle class- which Obama talked about continually the last few weeks- are going to be the first to fell that shove on the back. Bill Clinton made similar claims during his campaign and then acted all hurt and confused that anyone was upset when he went back on his word. His excuse, if I remember correctly, was that his tax cuts weren't a major part of his campaign and so could easily be jettisoned.

What's Obama's excuse going to be?

Post-Election Punditry

There are a great many lessons learned from the election.

Democrats have proved, yet again, that if they lie a sufficient number of times about their opponents real policies the public will believe it. McCain didn't fight back enough against the distortions coming from Obama.

Another mistake was that he didn't attack Obama enough. The moment the economy became an issue, McCain should have hammered Democrats for their enabling the mess- and attacked Obama for taking so much money from them and for hiring Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines. He instead tried to act like a leader- but he blew that too with the bipartisanship talk. He should have scuttled the deal, telling the American people that if the bailout really was that urgent then it wouldn't have been filled with pork.

One other point I want to make is about the role of the media. It's undeniable that they were in the tank for Obama, practically acting like the PR wing of his campaign. The problem for conservatives is that they succeeded. Their bias cloaked Obama's past and helped to dictate the narrative of the race. The LA Times suppressed video evidence which would likely have damaged Obama. This is a major issue that the American people need to be made aware of.

Now that they've done their part and seen the effects, the problem for Republicans is that they will do it again. The media have abdicated their responsibility to truth in favour of partisan electioneering. Any future Republican candidate needs to have a huge war-chest to spend on advertising to get out the issues that suit him, to counter Democrat lies about his or her positions, and finally to attack, attack, attack.

Perhaps the last lesson is that Obama might have hammered a stake through the heart of public financing.

Be Happy?

A list of ten reasons to be happy about the election. Here are a couple of my favourites-

1) Democrats now must take responsibility for every mistake and downturn in our society

They have skated for the past four years on everything they've done, blaming Bush. That excuse won't float now- the only place all those Representatives and Senators have to place blame to save themselves is on the White House. Obama's White House.

Hillary, are you listening?

Republicans need to start taking notes now for the next election. Start building a portfolio of every misstep and mistake and bad decision Democrats in Congress and the Obama White House makes.

7) We will no longer be forced to defend indefensible RINOs, including John McCain.

If there's one thing the GOP takes away from 2008, it should be this- put forth a real conservative candidate next time.

Fred probably isn't interested in running again then but might I be the first to suggest Palin-Bolton. The latter has the foreign policy experience for the ticket and we all know he isn't afraid of speaking his mind. He'd demolish the opposition in the VP debate.

Any other suggestions?

Too Late

I'm getting an awful lot of traffic (for me anyway) today from the search terms "Obama CV" and "Obama's private army" and "Obama gun control".

I can't help but think that it would have been better to research the guy before the election took place.

An Ayers Victory

So, McCain lost- and given the radical, inexperienced opponent he faced, that's quite an achievement. Where's Fred when you needed him?

Obama's victory sends a chill down my spine and here's why- he's a radical. He is a man who has lived his adult life immersed in bitter, anti-white racism and in the vilest anti-American hatred. His victory is a victory for the SDS, for the Weather Underground, for ACORN, for Jeremiah Wright. America just elected a president whose career has been nurtured by Bill Ayers. Bill Ayers, the man who declared war on the United States of America and who carried out a campaign of terrorism while his comrades discussed not only delivering parcels of the nation to communist dictatorships but also re-education camps for those who would not submit to their regime. Who discussed murdering 25 million of their countrymen in the name of their hateful ideology. What does it tell you about Obama that Ayers supports him and actually had a hand in boosting his political career?

Obama might have sounded reasonable and even hopeful to middle America but he- with a complicit press- has sold them a false bill of goods. And they don't even know it yet- thanks to TV and the press with their stubborn refusal to place the good of the nation ahead of their candidate of choice. Don't believe me- welll then, imagine if, during the Primaries, the press had delved into Obama's past they way they did with Palin. Hillary would have trounced him- and, goodness knows, she would have made a better President than Obama. On this cold, wet autumn morning I can only hope that America, as we know and love it, survives the attacks on its very foundations that this man will launch.

In that spirit, I'm going to quote John Derbyshire-

All right, I'm sour. The most liberal member of the U.S. Senate! And that shakedown-artist of a wife, with the permanent frown! And Joe Biden! …

I'm sour about the GOP too. What did it all get us, those 8 years of pandering and spending? If GWB had turned his face against new entitlements, closed the borders, deported the illegals, held the line on calls to loosen mortgage-lending standards, starved the Department of Education, and declined those invitations to mosque functions, would the GOP be in any worse shape now?

What won this election was the packaging skills of David Axelrod, the swooning complicity of the media, the ruthless opportunism of Barack Obama, and the unprincipled thuggishness of his supporters.

What lost this election was the cloth-eared cluelessness of George W. Bush, the timid squeamishness of John McCain, and the deep lack of interest in conservative principles among Republican primary voters.

Sour? You bet I’m sour. Where was conservatism in this election? Where was restraint in government? Where was national sovereignty? Where was liberty? Where was self-support? And where are those things now? Where are they headed this next four years? Down the toilet, that’s where. Pah!

Now is the time to call your Representatives and your Senators- and let them know that concervatives may have lost the big game, but the fight is not over yet. If they value their jobs, it's time for Republicans in Congress to grow a back-bone and stand up to Obama and the Democrats there. Make them fight tooth and nail for every last word of every new piece of legislation.

Election Coverage

At the moment I'm watching-

Hot Air

NRO

Real Clear Politics

and

CBC

The latter seems to be the less inclined to call early. At the moment Hot Air is showing New Mexicon for Obama. CBC has it McCain by 58 to Obama's 40%. Also interesting to note that on Hot Air Georgia hasn't been called yet but NRO has it for McCain and CBC is saying McCain 59% to 39%.

There couldn't be any bias there, do you think- calling for Obama at the hint of a victory but holding back a McCain win for later?

Whatever the polls say, there's only one thing conservatives or those who value the US Constitution can do right now- and that is either vote for McCain-Palin or vote against Obama-Biden.

The Guessing Game

Guessing who has won various states before the actual votes have been counted or, in some cases, before voting has even finished is a screwy way of doing things.

At the moment the NRO map is showing Wyoming for Obama. CBC on the other hand, is calling it for McCain- 64.5% to 32.6%.

Someone is obviously wrong.

And everyone is calling Pennsylvania for Obama with only 12% of precincts reporting.

Minnesota is being called for Obama with 2% of precincts reporting- and when you click on the state it shows Obama has 26.2% of the votes with 72% going to McCain.

I realise that the news media has to have something to do on election night- but can't they just wait until they have, you know, actual news to report rather than guesstimate the results? Wouldn't their time this evening be better served actually covering whatever regular news is happening rather than reporting exit polls and trying to influence the outcome of the election play this silly guessing game.

Another Link In The Chain

Another link between Obama and the Weather Underground and its predecessor, the SDS.

Obama’s first fulltime employer, Business International, had substantial SDS ties in the 1960s. After graduating from Columbia in 1983, Obama’s first fulltime job was to work for an international business newsletter firm, Business International. From all accounts (including Obama’s), it appears that this company was business-oriented and mainstream politically, unlike his other fulltime employers before law school.

For that reason, it is a strange coincidence that in the 1960s, Business International also appears to have had closer ties to the SDS than any other American business firm.

Such a "coincidence" that Obama went to college not far from Ayers, a period he refuses to discuss, and then spent his professional adult life connected to the man and his associates. As I've previously pointed out, in addition to his work with Ayers at CAC and the Woods Foundation, Obama chose a specific law-firm to work for when he graduated Harvard- one that just happened to be run by one of Bernardine Dohrn's class-mates.

Steve Diamond, who has put more work into his story than the legions of investigative reporters the MSM has on their payroll, asked some time ago, who sent Obama? The answer seems to be plain enough now- Bill Ayers and his network of anti-American radical associates.

As it turns out, there are other ex-SDS types around the Obama campaign as well, including Marilyn Katz, a public relations professional, who was head of security for the SDS during the disaster in the streets of Chicago in 1968. She is close (politically) to Carl Davidson, a former vice president of SDS and longtime Fidelista, who is webmaster for a group called Progressives for Obama, that is headlined by other former 60s radicals like Tom Hayden and the maoist Bill Fletcher. Davidson and Katz were key organizers of the 2002 anti-war demonstration where Obama made public his opposition to the Iraq war that has been so critical to his successful presidential campaign. Davidson apparently moved into the maoist movements of the 70s after the disintegration of SDS.

Another question needs asked now- where has the media, or as Bill Ayers likes to call them "the corrupted Northamerican media", been on this? They have singularly failed in their duty to report on the facts concerning Obama's professional and personal links to men and women who espouse hatred of America.

The Future?

Orson Scott Card on Obama's reckless plan to bankrupt the coal industry.

Obama would freeze us where we are. Literally.

Our electrical system would be rationed, or as intermittent as in Saddam's Iraq or today's Nigeria -- oil-rich countries that did such a poor job of providing electricity to their citizens that it might go away for weeks, and when it comes back on, it's only for a few hours a day.

The poor would be hardest hit. When that electric bill is bigger than your house payment, something's got to go. What do you turn off? The fridge? The stove? Using the microwave is out of the question. Hair dryers? Gone. And you can forget watching DVDs or television.

It's Obama's first album: America Unplugged.

But the harm to the poor wouldn't stop with their inability to afford to use the appliances that the rest of America gets to use. With energy costs soaring to assuage Obama's god, people will have less money to spend. The cost of manufacturing everything would soar.

Let's see -- higher prices, less income. Do you see vast unemployment following?

Not only will the poor be worse off, there'll be a whole lot more of them.

If he wins today, this could be the future of America.

Ignore the Exit Polls

Mark Steyn has some important advice for this election day- advice that Republicans should be sure to spread far and wide-

So remember: In about 15 hours or so the rumors and leaks are going to start – It’s an Obama landslide! Exit polls show him winning North Carolina by 15 points! In Vermont, McCain will be the first major party candidate not to break into double digits…

It’s all rubbish. Exit polls skew Dem. In 2004, they overstated Kerry’s support by 5.5 points. Which doesn’t sound a lot. But, given that there were only ten states where the margin of victory was less than 5%, that was enough to make Kerry briefly appear the winner. The point of all the afternoon leakage is to depress turnout in the Florida panhandle and points west. Don’t fall for it.

In an ideal world the media would be banned from conducting exit polls, particularly ones which depress voter turnout. Can you imagine the outcry from Dems if this kind of polling favoured Republicans and was used to convince Democrats not to bother to vote?

Obama has explicitly promised to make electricity prices sky-rocket, he's vowed to bankrupt an entire industry, his statements on taxes lately have been sliding down from $250,000 to $120,000 (and before this campaign got under way he swore to increase taxes on those earning $70,000 a year), he's promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule not on the Constitution but on their own personal sense of fairness, and he's stated in no uncertain terms that he views the checks on government power initiated by the Constitution as an obstacle to his Marxist goals of redistributing wealth. And that's not even beginning to touch on his lifelong associations with anti-American radicals- including a terrorist who conducted a bombing campaign in an effort to overthrow the US political system and install a communist dictatorship in its place. I've covered all these stories and more this election cycle while the US media has obfuscated Obama's true nature from the people of America.

Obama would be bad not just for America but the world- his policies will destroy the American economy and tumble the world markets, his foreign policy will appease dictators and terrorists causing an increase in aggression by the enemies of freedom and democracy, and his efforts to dismantle what America means will, perhaps irrevocably, dim the glow of the beacon of freedom that is the USA.

MKH On Obama

This election cycle it's referred to as "change you can believe in". Last time round it was simply flip-flopping. Mary Katherine Ham has put together a "greatest hits" if you will. Here's Barack Obama in his own words.

Over-Confidence

Obama is confident all right- even Michelle "he's done nothing" Obama agrees:

"He thinks he can really do anything — he does. With his own power and will, he can fix it," she said.

He's so confident of winning that he told a reporter he wouldn't discuss his policy until after the election.

JT: What would you tell your Treasury Secretary to do differently with the $700 billion?

BO: We’re on a tarmac.

JT: Why don’t you have a press conference?

BO: I will. On Wednesday.

In his mind, he's already won.

If ever there was a candidate so arrogant and presumptuous, I haven't heard of him. If for no other reason than this, to see Obama lose would be awesome.

Obama Kills An Industry

Obama again- this time promising to bankrupt the coal industry.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches.

The only thing I’ve said with respect to coal, I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.

It’s just that it will bankrupt them.

As the video points out, coal is what produces more electricity in the US than anything else. Obama really wasn't joking when he said that under his Presidency, Americans were going to have to reduce their electricity consumption. He's going to use his power as President to drive an entire industry into ruin. People were surprised when Joe Biden came out against coal plants, wondering why he was going "off message" when Barack supposedly supported coal.

I guess this is another case of Obama using some "overheated" rhetoric to lie to voters.

And you, the American people, are going to have to pay for it with a reduction in available power and radically increased electricity prices.

And here's more evidence of Obama's insane desire to destroy the industry that provides the bulk of the nation's electricity-

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

In tough economic times, he wants to massively increase the cost of electricity and limit its availability- never mind the effect that will have on consumers, what's it going to do to businesses? Sky-rocketing costs- his term remember- will mean less money goes into the economy, possibly driving this recession into a full-blown depression.

Unbelievable.

Obama Will Change Your Behaviour

Change you can believe in- Obama has an idea of how to change your behaviour, and he's going to do it by increasing costs by using "price signals". That's higher taxes and punishing fees aimed at companies- fees he knows they will pass on to ordinary Americans. In short, he's going to raise your electricity bills- and the cost of anything else he doesn't think you should be using.

The Vampire Hunter's Gun

A little late for Halloween but worthy nonetheless. Now, when I think of a vampire hunter's gun, I immediately picture the Reeder Vampyre Slayer custom 1911. There is a new kid on the block though, courtesy of Guns and Ammo.

The Vampire Exterminator Gun is a highly decorated Colt Detective Special-

As its name implies, its motif is in keeping with the legends of Dracula, himself. Engraved in 1975 by Colt master engraver Leonard Francolini, who claimed the gun was undertaken on the order of one Dr. Abraham van Helsing, the gun is entirely silver-plated. Decorations include elaborate scroll engraving that includes such designs as bats, dragons and tangled foliage of the type one might find on the weathered battlements of some Transylvanian fortress. The muzzle through which the bullet must pass is emblazoned with a cross, further strengthening its effect against the unholy undead. Even the traditional rampant colt is depicted as standing on a coffin. The smooth ebony grips are capped off by a silver band and lanyard ring and have two small bats inset into the lower left panel—presumably trophies of some successful anti-Nosferatu foray.

It's quite a piece. Vampires beware!

Obama The Producer

An imaginary review of Obama's one-term Presidency from the press in 2012-

Another advisor compared Obama to Max Bialystock, the con man from the Mel Brooks' film "The Producers." In the movie, Bialystock sells 100% ownership of the play to dozens of investors. "Barack Obama sold 100% shares in his presidency to every constituency imaginable and they all thought they were at the front of the line after inauguration day."

You know, I don't think that's too far from the mark- and the astonishing thing about Obama's campaign has been the outlandish declarations he's made. Quite apart from the messianic "the seas no longer rising" nonsense are the proclamations that electing him will cause events quite beyond his control to suddenly come to pass. And not a single member of the press corps thinks to ask, "but how are you going to ensure that 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012 when that depends on technological advances not currently in sight?"

Investing millions of dollars of taxpayers' money doesn't necessarily mean that new, reliable technologies can not only be developed- and in a manner which makes them economically feasible- but also deployed on a practical, large scale.

Here's another one - Obama says he wants to tax oil companies’ windfall profits and use some of the money to help motorists pay for more expensive gasoline.

So oil companies are going to be forced to pay higher taxes so that money can be passed on to motorists to pay for gas- in short Obama is ensuring that gas prices rise even higher as the oil companies charge more to make up for the shortfall in their profits. They aren't going to just pay those taxes without finding a way to offset that cost- it's not going to come from their profits in other words. And given that millions of Americans have money invested in 401s and the like, what's this tax and the artificially increased price going to do to their share prices, their retirement plans?

Or, how about this- how is Obama, who is not a scientific genius I hasten to add, going to invent hybrid cars which get 150mpg and then ensure that 1 million of them are sold- all within the next seven years? Does he have some secret invention up his sleeve which enables this outlandish fuel efficiency? To put it in perspective, the current crop of hybrid cars generally get in the region of only 30-4ompg. Obama seems to think that just getting elected with make these cars not only become incredibly more efficient but they'll get that way without significantly rising in cost too.

One more, moron genius Obama makes this declaration - Finally, I will call on businesses, government, and the American people to meet the goal of reducing our demand for electricity 15% by the end of the next decade.

One small question- where does he think the energy to charge all those hybrid cars he wants people drive is going to come from? So, how is he going to reduce consumption (note he doesn't call for an increase in efficiency of products) while mandating policies designed to significantly increase consumption? We'll not even go into how he expects his green job revolution to come off if businesses are limited in how much electricity they can use for manufacturing.

Does he think that because he says it must be so that it can magically be done? If so, his impressions of what a President can accomplish are wildly over-inflated.

And these claims and policies should be enough for most people to question his supposed intelletual superiority that we're always hearing about.

Flight of Fantasy

An astonishingly awesome sketch from Adam Hughes from Wonder Woman Day, an event held each year to raise funds for domestic violence shelters and a women's crisis line. With thanks to Comic Art Fans, the Internet's best resource for comic art.

Obama's Selfishness

Remember back in August when Obama and McCain were interviewed at the Saddleback Forum?

Obama declared then that America's greatest failing was its selfishness. Never mind that it's not true- what he actually meant, it seems clear now, is that they aren't taxed enough by his kind of government- one which knows best how to spent your hard earned dollars.

I think America’s greatest moral failure in my lifetime has been that we still don’t abide by that basic precept in Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me, and that notion of — that basic principle applies to poverty. It applies to racism and sexism. It applies to, you know, not having — not thinking about providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class. There’s a pervasive sense, I think, that this country, as wealthy and powerful as we are, still don’t spend enough time thinking about the least of us.

He also spoke of his own selfishness, stating-

So — but look, you know, when I — when I find myself taking the wrong step, I think a lot of times it’s because I’m trying to protect myself instead of trying to do God’s work.

An interesting revelation when you put it in light of the news on his Aunt Zeituni. There she is, an illegal immigrant- a deportation fugitive apparently too- living in poverty in Boston.

Millionaire Obama, who just happens to live in a mansion in Chicago, has done nothing to help lift her from this poverty-stricken life. Would it have been so hard for him to have moved her in some place nice, helped an old lady out of a hard life and given her some ease in her later years? Let's not even get started on his half-brother living in even worse poverty in Kenya or the poverty-stricken school named in his honour he promised he would help. Those folks didn't get a penny, so what chance does a mere aunt have?

Obama has spent months chastising America for not spreading the wealth around to help the less fortunate. It's selfish not to want to pay higher taxes, don't you know! Never mind that the Obama campaign thinks it fitting to blow $700,000 on stage settings in Germany- or that he thinks it's appropriate to waste over $5 million on a single night.

Imagine if he's come out and said this instead-

"You know, we were going to spend $5.3 million on this crazy Greek temple stage- not even bother to use the facilities we spent over $14 million on- and then I thought, no, that doesn't make any sense. I'm going to live by all the "America is selfish, you people don't do enough for the poor" crap ideals I've been flinging around all campaign season. Besides, I feel guilty that I'm a millionaire and I donate less to charity than the average American household. I'm going to give that $5 million to charity and demonstrate my commitment to all the campaign rhetoric you suckers voters have been listening to for so long."

Anyone think that his poor aunt is still living like that because he believes that helping her might harm his political career? Isn't that selfish, to put his ambition above the welfare of his elderly, beloved aunt?