# "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments (merged)



## dcs2244

"&#8230;And so it begins&#8230;"

What better quote than that from Ambassador Kosh to describe our current predicament (h/t LC Draco at the Rott)? I am trying to be optimistic but am preparing for the worst. Let's have a glim at where we now stand:

*Freedom of Speech: *Given the president-elect's proclivity for silencing any and all critics, whether broadcast or printed, I think demonstrates what we can expect for the next four years. Too, the willful complicity of the "main stream media", such as it is, to promote his agenda (whatever that may turn out to be, he said with tongue firmly planted in cheek) will further obscure the truth of what is being done to us. Senator Schumer is already addressing the so-called fairness doctrine, comparing talk radio to pornography, which needs to be controlled. Make no mistake, this legislation will reappear and will further address the Internet and satellite radio. The only message that will get out is the one the government approves of.

*The Second Amendment: *Look for as much regulation as they can get away with: "assault weapons" and large capacity magazine bans to name a couple. The recent SC ruling regarding the 2nd puts a kink in their more grandiose plans, but look for them to find ways around that decision so as to disarm you. Perhaps, given the mood of a third of the population, "national security" will be invoked and firearms confiscated without a yes, no or how-de-do to the takings clause. 

*Economics: "*Redistribution of wealth" and "nationalization" of whole industries are the watchwords of the Era of Change. These goals were touted BEFORE the election. The rapid consolidation of banks over the past decade has played into the Marxists hand: we now have partial government control of these institutions. How long before this control is consolidated and broadened? What's next? Oil? Coal? Pharmaceuticals? Health Care? I'll wager "all of the above".

*Elections: *Please. See "Chicago Machine".

Resistance may be futile but resist we must. We owe our current discomfort to a group of intellectually lazy (or dishonest), morally bankrupt, plain old lazy or "entitled" citizens for whom the burden of self-government became too onerous. Samuel Adams said it best:

 "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, - go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands that feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"

Take due notice thereof, and govern yourselves accordingly.


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

*THE MEDIA WON

*They created Obama. They could have destroyed him in a minute if they had wanted to. Instead they promoted him, covered for him and used anything they could to discredit his opponents.

*What lies ahead*

One really has to ask the obvious question: If Obama's economic policies work so well, why isn't Detroit a paradise? In 1950, America produced 51% of the GNP for the entire world. Of that production, roughly 70% took place in the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The productive capability of this small area of earth staggers the imagination. Virtually everything that rebuilt the industrial bases of Europe and Japan came from those eight states. Cars, planes, electronics, machine tools, consumer goods, generators, concrete - any conceivable item manufactured by industrial humanity poured out this tiny region and enriched the world. The region shone with widespread prosperity. People migrated from the South and West to work in these Herculean engines of industry. The wealth, power and economic dominance of the region at the time cannot be overstated. Nothing like it has existed in human history.

Yet, a mere 30 years later, by 1980, we called that area the "rustbelt" and it became synonymous with joblessness, collapsing cities, high crime, failing schools and general hopelessness.

What the hell happened? Obama happened. Of course, not Obama personally but rather the same ideas that Obama espouses. What those ideas did to the Great Lakes states, they can do to the entire country. What did they do wrong?

First, unions: Without any serious economic competition, unions could force virtually any salary, benefits and pensions they wished from manufactures. Worse, however, they could set work rules and conditions, effectively dictating the organization of a business and what technology, processes and methods it used. Since increasing productivity, by definition, means doing more work with fewer people, unions froze companies into the methods used in the mid-1950s and refused to let them adapt. Companies rode high for over 15 years, but by the late '60s they faced increasing competition and needed to change and adapt. The unions blocked this.

In the end, however, strong widespread unions turned out for workers to be merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Unions got workers in factories better wages, but the people who built the workers' houses, cars, consumer goods and stocked their groceries also had strong unions and the price of everything went up. Strong public-sector unions kept taxes high and public productivity low, so workers' taxes went up. By the time they paid all the increased cost of union labor in everything they consumed, the unions gave them little if any real increases in income.

Second, invasive government: People who grew up during the New Deal and WWII believed that government could solve almost any problem, and they supported high taxes so that government could fix society. Unfortunately, the supposed benefits of an expansive state, good schools, solid public infrastructure, low crime, etc. failed to materialize while zoning and land-use restrictions drove up housing cost and taxes and crime destroyed small businesses. Strong public-sector unions blocked tax cuts and reforms that could have saved them.

By the early '70s the states that once served as the industrial engine for the entire planet began to fall apart. Then came double-digit inflation and the energy crisis (both caused by leftist policies). By 1980, the industrial heartland of America lay in virtual ruins. People called it the "rustbelt" in analogy to the "dustbowl" of the Great Depressions. Even today, nearly 30 years later, the region lags behind the rest of the country in job creation and is steadily losing population to internal migration.

It can happen just that fast. A worker who entered the factories in 1950 at the age of 25 saw 20 good years before things looked bad. At 45 he saw repeated layoffs, and by 55 he was out of a job and his children had little hope of finding one.

Obama clearly plans to try to extend the rustbelt model to the rest of the country. "Card check" will let unions use intimidation to control workers. High taxes on capital gains will slow investment. Environmental regulation will starve workplaces of electricity and mandate inefficient modes of production. Great new bureaucracies will arise to restrain the freedom and creativity of the people.

Obama has no concept of business as a creative and experimental endeavor. On some deep unconscious level, he assumes that material wealth is something akin to a natural phenomenon for which no group of humans can take credit. Therefore, he sees distribution as the only serious economic issue and ignores how politics interferes with the actual process of wealth creation. We may soon be living in a repeat of '70s and looking back at the years 1984-2007 as a golden era.

Source

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


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## CJIS

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

The Sheeple followed the Media Shepard.


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## Big.G

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

*Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!*


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

Could it be that the reason BO will not release his birth certificate to the public is because his real father is....

*Jor-El!!!!!!!!*


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## cj3441

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

Obama will certainly save us money immediately, just think; the man can simply walk over to Europe or Asia to give speeches as "President of the World" no more need for Air Force 1! It's an Obamanation and we're all living in it.


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## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

He has already boosted the economy....firearms sales have reached a record number...


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

A little note that I recieved today in the snail mail from
masscopguy with an Obama pin.

Once an a-hole always an a-hole you will never change
masscopguy and you can quote me on that.


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## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

Masscopguy..........


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## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

Masscopguy: snippy little queen


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## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

Let me guess Har, no return address for the prom queen right?


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

63 Tiger Tail Lane
Westwood , MA

But I doubt it is legit LOL


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## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

No hes making some sort of joke...he fancys himelf the Riddler.


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## Beowolf

*Where's the outcry from the Palin fans?*

Its been in the news that many of the McCain staffers are throwing Palin under the bus and blaming her for the campaign results and now they are saying Mccain and she never spoke much throughout the process.

I know this forum seems largely against obama but I thought those that supported McCain/Palin would come out against this. I guess we see where their true concerns are. Looks like the republicans are having internal riffs locally and nationwide. i wonder why...

Beo-


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid wages*

Indianapolis - 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.
The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.
"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

Full Story: http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=9299280

Bamalot: Obama Drafts Star-Studded Short List for Cabinet

President-elect Barack Obama has drafted a star-studded short list of cabinet candidates, with political heavyweights Caroline Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Colin Powell and John Kerry among the most notable names being eyed by his transition team.

Possible Picks for Obama Administration

Illinois Democrat Rahm Emanuel has already accepted Obama's offer to be the next White House chief of staff, reports NBC.
The President-elect is strongly considering Robert F. Kennedy to be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and is weighing Kennedy's cousin, Caroline, for the position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations -- a move that would please Sens. Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, Politico reported.

Full Story: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/elections/national/Bamalot_Obama_Drafts_Star-Studded_Short_List.html

Something else to think about

*Black Pope could follow Barack Obama's election, says US archbishop*

Richard Owen in Rome

The election of Barack Obama as the first African-American US President could pave the way for the election of the first black Pope, according to a leading black American Catholic. 
Wilton Daniel Gregory, 60, the Archbishop of Atlanta, said that in the past Pope Benedict XVI had himself suggested that the election of a black pontiff would "send a splendid signal to the world" about the universal Church.

Full Story:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5097668.ece


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## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*



"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

Click to expand...

*Today in front of the campaign HQ, Jan 20, 2009 in front of the treasury...


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## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

WE sorry your money has been given to the less fortunate


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

beowulf, the 'Rockefeller', or 'country club' Republicans are trying to destroy her for 2012...it's conservatives versus "we're-not-democrats-but-we-really-are" republicans (like John Kennedy Feingold McCain) for the soul of the GOP.


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## kttref

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Wolfman said:


> "Conservative" and "Republican" are no longer synonymous.


They haven't been for awhile.

I really wish this election had a conservative candidate...too bad the option wasn't there.


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Good observation, Kate...they haven't been since at least 2001, and probably earlier if you take into consideration the way the Republicans went to the Dark Side after they took control of the House. As far as conservatives in the election, Governor Palin is kind of a conservative, but more a populist in the mold of Harry Truman. Both were just regular folks; Harry the haberdasher and Sarah the fisherman. In light of FDR's health, they replaced VP Wallace, who was an out-and-out Communist, with Truman as they didn't expect FDR to make it to the end of his term. The party was just as dismissive of the haberdasher as the GOP was of Sarah. You can see how it worked out for Harry. Sarah would have been just fine if she had to step up to the plate.


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## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

She has 4 years to groom her politicking skills DC, I'd like to see SP back on the scene in 12'.
And if Mitt can make it look like he hadn't just spent $650.00 on a haircut, he could be a player too .
Mitt & Sarah in 12' anyone????? Jindal? Pawlenty? Michelle Bachmann? Please, no more grandfathers...


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I'll take a chance on Mitt...all the stuff they have been saying about Mitt, not a real conservative...et cetera, they said about Ron Reagan back in the sixties and seventies...


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## MARINECOP

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Todays youth.


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## kttref

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



dcs2244 said:


> Good observation, Kate...they haven't been since at least 2001, and probably earlier if you take into consideration the way the Republicans went to the Dark Side after they took control of the House. As far as conservatives in the election, Governor Palin is kind of a conservative, but more a populist in the mold of Harry Truman. Both were just regular folks; Harry the haberdasher and Sarah the fisherman. In light of FDR's health, they replaced VP Wallace, who was an out-and-out Communist, with Truman as they didn't expect FDR to make it to the end of his term. The party was just as dismissive of the haberdasher as the GOP was of Sarah. You can see how it worked out for Harry. Sarah would have been just fine if she had to step up to the plate.


Agreed. The only reason McCain got my vote was because of Palin. Her views are much more in line with mine than any other candidate. But, unfortunately, she wasn't ready for the big stage yet. Give her time...she'll be ok. But she has to be herself, not this made-up puppet that she ended up portraying this time around.


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama Addresses Presidential Plans For Economy*








President-elect Barack Obama speaks to the press on Nov. 7, 2008, in Chicago. 
Getty Images

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Barack Obama delivered his first news conference as president-elect on Friday, drawing attention to his steps toward healing a damaged economy as he forms a new administration in the face of a worsening crisis.

President-elect Obama said the hardships many Americans are suffering economically are an "urgent reminder" that the nation's leaders must act swiftly to stabilize the financial industry.

Obama noted the nation faced "the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime" and it won't be quick or easy for the United States "to dig itself out of this economic hole."

While noting President George W. Bush holds power until January, Obama called for a stimulus package to be passed before or after his inauguration.

"Immediately after I become president I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity," he said. "I'm confident a new president can have an enormous impact."

Obama echoed Bush's responsibilities regarding diplomatic overtures being made by Iran.

"We only have one president at the time," he said. "I am not the president, and I won't be until Jan. 20."

He said he also appreciated Bush's "commitment that his economic policy team keep us informed." He also said he was "grateful" that he has invited Obama and his wife, Michelle, to the White House on Monday.

He said he expected to have a substantive conversation with Bush at that time and that "I am not going to anticipate problems."

Obama spoke from the Chicago Hilton in his first formal appearance since his presidential victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park on Nov. 4. The Illinois senator has been holding private meetings in his home town as he reviews options toward building his White House cabinet of advisors.

Leaders of business, government and academia to meet with Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden include executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner Inc., Google Inc. and the Hyatt hotel company. Investor Warren Buffett was participating by telephone.

Exit polls showed that the economy was far and away the top issue for voters. More evidence of a recession came Friday when the government reported that the unemployment rate had jumped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.

Obama has been meeting privately with his transition team, receiving congratulatory phone calls from U.S. allies and intelligence briefings, and making decisions about who will help run his government.

His first choice, for White House chief of staff, was Rahm Emanuel, a fiery partisan unafraid of breaking glass and hurting feelings. The choice of Emanuel is a significant departure from the soft-spoken, low-key aides that "No-Drama Obama" surrounded himself with during the campaign. And transition chief John Podesta, like Emanuel, is a former top aide to President Clinton and a tough partisan infighter, though less bombastic than the new chief of staff.

The selections are telling for Obama, who campaigned as a nontraditional, almost "post-partisan" newcomer. People close to him say the selections show he is aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and knows what he needs to be successful as he shifts from campaigning to governing.

Friday morning, Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended a parent-teacher conference at the University of Chicago Lab School where their daughters, Malia and Sasha, are students. The couple planned to visit the White House on Monday at President Bush's invitation.

Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so he and his staff can rest after the grueling campaign and the rush of Tuesday night's victory. He is planning a family getaway to Hawaii in December before they move to the White House, and to honor his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died Sunday at her home there.

Obama, who bested Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, has made it clear he will rely heavily on veterans of her husband's eight-year administration, the only Democratic presidency in the past 28 years.

Podesta was President Clinton's chief of staff, and several other former Clinton aides are on Obama's short lists for key jobs, Democratic officials say. Some helped write a large briefing book on how to govern, assembled under Podesta's supervision.

Obama also is certain to bring to the White House a cadre of longtime aides like senior adviser David Axelrod and press secretary Robert Gibbs. Both have worked closely with Obama since he ran for the Senate in 2004.

http://wbztv.com/politics/obama.news.conference.2.858563.html




*I wonder why she ran to the most crooked state*
*during the elections ?????*

Obama's Aunt Leaves Boston For Cleveland

_By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press Writer_

BOSTON (AP) ― An immigration lawyer for President-elect Obama's aunt says she wants to fight a deportation order and stay in the United States.

The Associated Press found that *Zeituni Onyango* (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh) is staying with relatives in Cleveland after fleeing her public housing apartment in Boston. She had been living there for five years.

Onyango, who is Obama's father's half-sister, was ordered to leave the country in 2004 by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya.

Cleveland attorney Margaret Wong told the AP on Friday she is exploring legal options and may file a motion to re-open Onyango's case.

She said Onyango is upset because she believes someone leaked information about her immigration status to try to hurt Obama's candidacy.

http://wbztv.com/local/obama.aunt.boston.2.859105.html


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## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Office of the President-Elect?????


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Delta784 said:


> Office of the President-Elect?????


Yup that is what the sign said and he sounded like a babbling idiot
when he tried to answer questions.


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I heard this press conference today...President-elect Obama makes Dubya sound like William Jennings Bryan. Uh....duh....uuuuummummummmmm...

He sounded like a Mel Blanc characterization.


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## rg1283

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

http://change.gov/

I was hoping that Jay Severin was lying!

But he isn't

http://change.gov/americaserves/

Doesn't sound too bad, then they get the guns and clubs and knives out right in the middle!!!

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and 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. *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. *Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Its one thing if you set up and expand peace corp style programs. Fine, but to FORCE people to serve their community reminds me of CCCP AKA USSR!


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## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I dont even care about Obamas aunt...Ill take 30 of her if we could give back Obama...but in reality shes not going anywhere..


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Now children, don't forget to volunteer for your mandatory community service....


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## kttref

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Delta784 said:


> Office of the President-Elect?????


I thought the same thing!



rg1283 said:


> The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and 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. *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. *Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
> 
> Its one thing if you set up and expand peace corp style programs. Fine, but to FORCE people to serve their community reminds me of CCCP AKA USSR!


Wow...I thought the socialism thing was bad...Now he's a full out communist??? I can't take more of this bumbling idiot...I mean, "president elect"...ugh.

I can't believe I'm bringing a child into the world right now.


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I am reminding all of you to lube up your weapons,stock up on the amo,clean out that old bomb shelter and restock it,store up your batteries,re-dig your moat,check your drawbridge,it's going to be a long four years.


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



kttref said:


> I can't believe I'm bringing a child into the world right now.


I'm sure that Comrade President will have a space saved in the "Red Pioneers" for your child! Remember, "No Child Left Behind"!


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## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Dear Mr. Obama: With all the respect that is due you, go fuck yourself.


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## Beowolf

*Food for thought*

How long till we bail out and play socialist to the auto industry. So far Bush et al have socialized/nationalized banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies, etc.

The VA and social security are forms of socialism as we all know but on a beneficial one. Where is your outrage when Bush does it to the above??

I thought republicans were concerned about debt, we're now over 10t, formerly with reagan/bush 41 it was 7t.

Where has the true "fiscal conservative" gone????


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## Johnny Law

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



rg1283 said:


> The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and 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. *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. *Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
> 
> Its one thing if you set up and expand peace corp style programs. Fine, but to FORCE people to serve their community reminds me of CCCP AKA USSR!












Typical, nice pie in the sky thinking Douchama, but my kids ARE NOT doing any fucking community service because you say so. Didn't we hear something about civilian corp or some bullshit like that from Coupe Duval when he took office?


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## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



rg1283 said:


> http://change.gov/
> 
> I was hoping that Jay Severin was lying!
> 
> But he isn't
> 
> http://change.gov/americaserves/
> 
> Doesn't sound too bad, then they get the guns and clubs and knives out right in the middle!!!
> 
> The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and 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. *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. *Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
> 
> Its one thing if you set up and expand peace corp style programs. Fine, but to FORCE people to serve their community reminds me of CCCP AKA USSR!


If anyone tries to force my MINOR child to go anywhere without my consent, there will be violence. I won't let them go on field trips without me.

I went on Obama's website. You would have to drink 4000 gallons of Kool-Aide to think that there is going to be any $$ left in your paycheck when he is done...

If we are going to force anyone to do anything in this country then it should be through the military, where at least we know the values they will be learning. You can imagine the types of things they will be learning in Obama's National Service Corps...


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## BLUE BLOOD

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I heard the new civilian defense force is going to be called the Alien Task Force and a guy named Gordon Shumway is going to be in charge.


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*










*Hey Obama I am Ready*


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Got Cat?


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## kttref

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

My child WILL NOT be forced to volunteer. Kinda kills the whole volunteer aspect of volunteering!

Ultimately, it comes down to this:


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## Inspector

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Kids??? I hear all retired people will be required to give three years of service as a flag person.


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## kttref

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Got this is an email today:

PSALM 2008-2012

FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT

OBAMA IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT.

HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES

HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT

YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE, I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.

OBAMA HAS
ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES,

MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,

SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.

THE DEMOCRATS AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER IN A RENTED HOME.

BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,
I AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.
BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG
AND OBAMA WAS A TREE


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## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Very interesting that the wording under "America Serves" was changed today. Maybe that's why it's called change.gov

Now says:
"The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and 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. 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. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start."


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## kttref

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Still smells like crap to me.


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Hey, look on the bright side...at least we're getting an additional holiday every year: May Day.


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## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



NewEngland2007 said:


> Veterans Corps


He can kiss my ass, and I'm sure most other veterans agree.


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## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

A couple of things I think you should be aware of:

First, a group of "Obama Enthusiasts" out in Topeka (yep, the same Topeka as Tommy Dorsey's "Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe"...) want an annual holiday to celebrate "The Fresh Prez of Bill Ayers":

http://cjonline.com/stories/110908/loc_353922770.shtml

Second, a short dissertation by Nicki over at The Liberty Zone concerning your 401K and other private retirement accounts:

http://thelibertyzone.com

I have more, but I'll spare you all until you have had a chance to digest these...


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama to use executive orders for immediate impact... *
*'Big Bang'...*

*Spokesman: 'Obama Ready to RULE on Day 1'...*










*Biden booed at EAGLES Game...*

*Condoms Over Abstinence in Obama AIDS Policy...*

*First Bush-Obama Meeting: Hard Feelings and Hand Sanitizer...*

_*Farrakhan warns of racial tensions*_


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*


----------



## Barbrady

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



MARINECOP said:


> Todays youth.


What an odd looking duck...


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama Disses the Philippines

*(Manila, Philippines) It's arguably unwise to disrespect a geographically-strategic ally. Check out the views of Obama being expressed in Manila. 
In the first blush of victory, US President-elect Barack Obama accepted congratulations from nine presidents and prime ministers and returned their calls. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, one of the numerous early callers, was not one of the chosen few.

The favored world leaders were Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.​Besides chatting with those nine world leaders, Obama also received and acknowledged congratulations from President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Meanwhile, more than once, Philippines President Arroyo called to congratulate Obama and was told by Obama's team that her call was one of the first and he would call back. Inexplicably, no call was returned and the snub hasn't gone unnoticed. 
The sidelining of the Arroyo call gave a glimpse of the importance of the Philippines to the United States at a moment of change of administration.

It is clear that the Philippines stands on the outer perimeter of US concerns in world affairs.

The first telephone conversations reveal the Philippines is not within the charmed circles of the Obama administration. It is a leper outside looking in.

It is imperative that Manila should rearrange its priorities vis-à-vis Washington. Obama is not our friend.​Maybe it was all just an administrative glitch.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


----------



## chief801

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I'm usually very tolerant...but this is ridiculous! A Harvard educated black man gets elected and to you this means we all need to learn to understand ebonics? I suppose the national bird will be a fried chicken...you ignorant ass...


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



chief801 said:


> I'm usually very tolerant...but this is ridiculous! A Harvard educated black man gets elected and to you this means we all need to learn to understand ebonics? I suppose the national bird will be a fried chicken...you ignorant ass...


Agreed......not cool at all.


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Barack Obama's car could fuel more problems

President-elect Obama has stressed the need for energy independence - but he'll be chauffeured around in a gas-guzzling Cadillac SUV limo that could pose a symbolism problem similar to the car controversy that dogged his friend and ally, Gov. *Deval Patrick*.
Obama's presidential ride, dubbed "Cadillac One," will reportedly be a mammoth, custom-made Cadillac limo built like a GMC truck that sits on 19 -inch wheels. The vehicle will also have 5-inch-thick bulletproof windows, cell phone-jamming gear and blast-proof armor.
Presidents have been riding in Cadillacs - and some in Lincolns - for decades, going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson in the early part of the 20th century. But Obama's vehicle will reportedly be a much beefier version than President Bush's Cadillac DeVille stretch.
U.S. News and World Report reported that the vehicle shares "the same chassis and tires" as a GMC 2500 series truck, "indicating that it is far heavier than a civilian Cadillac."
Obama frequently spoke during the campaign of the need to slash reliance on foreign oil and pledged to put 1 million hybrid vehicles on America's roads by 2015. He personally drives a Ford Escape Hybrid.
But a standard Cadillac DTS limo, which is a low-level version of Cadillac One, gets just 12 miles per gallon in the city and 18 on the highway and costs $47,000.
Several political and automotive blogs have pointed out the vehicle's fuel inefficiency, including U.S. News and World Report, which called it "the most monstrous Presidential limousine yet."
"Fuel-efficiency clearly isn't on the mind of its designers," the publication wrote on its "Rankings and Reviews" Web site.
But *Boston College* political science professor Kay Schlozman said security concerns are likely behind the vehicle's design.
"I don't know if the president can get away with driving a hybrid vehicle like a Prius," Schlozman said.
Besides the gas-guzzling issue, Bay State Republicans said Obama should learn a lesson from Patrick, who took heat for upgrading the state's taxpayer-funded gubernatorial car from a Ford to a Cadillac during his first weeks in office. Patrick later decided to personally pay part of the vehicle's monthly lease.
"I think he's following a lot of Deval. They're both using the same playbook on a lot of things," state Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) said.
Added Massachusetts GOP spokesman Barney Keller: "If President Obama is going to copy Governor Patrick's words and his Cadillac, we assume next he'll copy Governor Patrick's tax hikes and reckless spending proposals."
A Patrick spokesman declined comment, while Obama's spokespeople did not return messages.

(13) Comments | Post / Read Comments

http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/2008/view.bg?articleid=1131749


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## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Chief - I don't know if it was intended to be bigoted or just a joke in poor taste, but it has been deleted. Had we noticed it earlier, we would have removed it sooner.

Folks - Wolfman made it clear in earlier posts, bigoted comments will be deleted as will your account if they are repeated.

We have plenty to talk about here without dragging the site into that kind of crap.


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## Big.G

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



KozmoKramer said:


>


I think I saw masscopguy in there...


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## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

It's the New New World Order Resq!
Re-education is on the horizon....


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## cpd4720

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I just moved into this neighborhood, who is this masscopguy you keep talking about?


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## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



cpd4720 said:


> I just moved into this neighborhood, who is this masscopguy you keep talking about?


An uber-liberal ex-member you just so happen to share an IP with...


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



KozmoKramer said:


> An uber-liberal ex-member you just so happen to share an IP with...


wow


----------



## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



KozmoKramer said:


> An uber-liberal ex-member you just so happen to share an IP with...


LOL for real!
And to keep my post on topic, fuck Obama. Oops, wrong thread. Oh well, fuck Obama anyways.


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## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



cpd4720 said:


> I just moved into this neighborhood, who is this masscopguy you keep talking about?


Your address would be 63 Tiger Tail Lane Westwood MA I Presume.


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Let's try to look at the silver lining of the dark cloud; Coupe Deval and John Kerry will be out of our hair (directly anyway) soon, and we have 4 years of Joe Biden blunders to look forward to.


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## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Would anyone be shocked if Obama had an epiheny and converted to mooslim in office?


----------



## caesar

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I have a feeling we will be stuck with Deval for a while.



Delta784 said:


> Let's try to look at the silver lining of the dark cloud; Coupe Deval and John Kerry will be out of our hair (directly anyway) soon, and we have 4 years of Joe Biden blunders to look forward to.


----------



## cc3915

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



justanotherparatrooper said:


> Would anyone be shocked if Obama had an epiheny and converted to mooslim in office?


He already is a muslim. Maybe not a practicing one, but one nonetheless.

He's the perfect "Manchurian Candidate".


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

MSNBC retracts false Palin story; others duped

NEW YORK (AP) - MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday. 
David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a Fox News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent. 
Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday. 
The Eisenstadt claim had mistakenly been delivered to Shuster by a producer and was used in a political discussion Monday afternoon, MSNBC said. 
"The story was not properly vetted and should not have made air," said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman. "We recognized the error almost immediately and ran a correction on air within minutes." 
Gaines told the Times that someone in the network's newsroom had presumed the information solid because it was passed along in an e-mail from a colleague. 
The hoax was limited to the identity of the source in the story about Palin-not the Fox News story itself. While Palin has denied that she mistook Africa for a country, the veracity of that report was not put in question by the revelation that Eisenstadt is a phony. 
Eisenstadt's "work" had been quoted and debunked before. The Huffington Post said it had cited Eisenstadt in July on a story regarding the Hilton family and McCain. 
Among the other victims were political blogs for the Los Angeles Times and The New Republic, each of which referenced false material from Eisenstadt's blog. 
And in July, Jonathan Stein of Mother Jones magazine blogged an item about Eisenstadt speaking on Iraqi television about a casino in Baghdad's "Green Zone." 
Stein later realized he'd been had. 
"Kudos to the inventor of this whole thing," Stein wrote. "My only consolation is that if I had as much time on my hands as he clearly does, I probably would have figured this out and saved myself a fair amount of embarrassment."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94DQU5O0&show_article=1

Another story on it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/arts/television/13hoax.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



> The story was not properly vetted and should not have made air," said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman.


Well no kidding genius... What the hell has happened to journalism in this country...


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama Gets Advice

*Here's a translation of an Arabic-language letter to President-elect Obama from the enemies of democracy in Iraq. 
"Your campaign promises were built on change and the time for it has come, and we say with that the time has come&#8230; therefore we ask for change and do not listen to those who tell you that a withdrawal from Iraq is a defeat. We say to you that a withdrawal will mean a triumph of reason and logic&#8230;

You must correct your mistakes and work with courage to pay compensation to all those who you have destroyed, their families or their house or their psychology.

And you must release all those you have as prisoners until the last Iraqi of them, and you must order the sectarian government to release all its prisoners and to return the balance of security to Iraq.

Without this we will not think that you will be coming with the change that you have promised, and if you do this you will be written down in history as the courageous one."​All that hopey-changey language has stimulated the enemy conclaves of religious fanatics to preach to the United States about reason and logic. I'd suggest that all intellectual and moral authority to preach about logic and reason was lost the first time a suicide vest was strapped on to one of their flock.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.

Comments (2)

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I enjoy The Jawa Report...


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



dcs2244 said:


> I enjoy The Jawa Report...


+1


----------



## kwflatbed

*Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes*

By JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer Jesse Washington, Ap National Writer - 23 mins ago









 
Sat Nov 15, 1:34

Signs hang on the office door of University of Alabama professor Marsha L. Houston, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as Houston posted a message against racism after someone defaced a previous poster of Barack Obama and his family with a death threat and racial slur.(AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

*Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.*
*Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.*
*From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.*
*There have been "hundreds" of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.*
*One was in Snellville, Ga., where Denene Millner said a boy on the school bus told her 9-year-old daughter the day after the election: "I hope Obama gets assassinated." That night, someone trashed her sister-in-law's front lawn, mangled the Obama lawn signs, and left two pizza boxes filled with human feces outside the front door, Millner said.*
*She described her emotions as a combination of anger and fear.*
*"I can't say that every white person in Snellville is evil and anti-Obama and willing to desecrate my property because one or two idiots did it," said Millner, who is black. "But it definitely makes you look a little different at the people who you live with, and makes you wonder what they're capable of and what they're really thinking."*
*Potok, who is white, said he believes there is "a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them."*
*Grant Griffin, a 46-year-old white Georgia native, expressed similar sentiments: "I believe our nation is ruined and has been for several decades and the election of Obama is merely the culmination of the change.*
*"If you had real change it would involve all the members of (Obama's) church being deported," he said.*
*Change in whatever form does not come easy, and a black president is "the most profound change in the field of race this country has experienced since the Civil War," said William Ferris, senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina. "It's shaking the foundations on which the country has existed for centuries."*
*"Someone once said racism is like cancer," Ferris said. "It's never totally wiped out, it's in remission."*
*If so, America's remission lasted until the morning of Nov. 5.*
*The day after the vote hailed as a sign of a nation changed, black high school student Barbara Tyler of Marietta, Ga., said she heard hateful Obama comments from white students, and that teachers cut off discussion about Obama's victory.*
*Tyler spoke at a press conference by the Georgia chapter of the NAACP calling for a town hall meeting to address complaints from across the state about hostility and resentment. Another student, from a Covington middle school, said he was suspended for wearing an Obama shirt to school Nov. 5 after the principal told students not to wear political paraphernalia.*
*The student's mother, Eshe Riviears, said the principal told her: "Whether you like it or not, we're in the South, and there are a lot of people who are not happy with this decision."*
*Other incidents include:*

*_Four North Carolina State University students admitted writing anti-Obama comments in a tunnel designated for free speech expression, including one that said: "Let's shoot that (N-word) in the head." Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect, authorities say. *
*_At Standish, Maine, a sign inside the Oak Hill General Store read: "Osama Obama Shotgun Pool." Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when Obama would be killed. "Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count," the sign said. At the bottom of the marker board was written "Let's hope someone wins." *
*_Racist graffiti was found in places including New York's Long Island, where two dozen cars were spray-painted; Kilgore, Texas, where the local high school and skate park were defaced; and the Los Angeles area, where swastikas, racial slurs and "Go Back To Africa" were spray painted on sidewalks, houses and cars. *
*_Second- and third-grade students on a school bus in Rexburg, Idaho, chanted "assassinate Obama," a district official said. *
*_University of Alabama professor Marsha L. Houston said a poster of the Obama family was ripped off her office door. A replacement poster was defaced with a death threat and a racial slur. "It seems the election brought the racist rats out of the woodwork," Houston said. *
*_Black figures were hanged by nooses from trees on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the Bangor Daily News reported. The president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas said a rope found hanging from a campus tree was apparently an abandoned swing and not a noose. *
*_Crosses were burned in yards of Obama supporters in Hardwick, N.J., and Apolacan Township, Pa. *
*_A black teenager in New York City said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four white men who shouted 'Obama.' *
*_In the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, a black man said he found a note with a racial slur on his car windshield, saying "now that you voted for Obama, just watch out for your house." *
*Emotions are often raw after a hard-fought political campaign, but now those on the losing side have an easy target for their anger. *
*"The principle is very simple," said BJ Gallagher, a sociologist and co-author of the diversity book "A Peacock in the Land of Penguins." "If I can't hurt the person I'm angry at, then I'll vent my anger on a substitute, i.e., someone of the same race." *
*"We saw the same thing happen after the 9-11 attacks, as a wave of anti-Muslim violence swept the country. We saw it happen after the Rodney King verdict, when Los Angeles blacks erupted in rage at the injustice perpetrated by 'the white man.'" *
*"It's as stupid and ineffectual as kicking your dog when you've had a bad day at the office," Gallagher said. "But it happens a lot." *
*___ Associated Press writers Errin Haines, Jerry Harkavy, Jay Reeves, Johnny Taylor and researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.*

*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081115/ap_on_re_us/obama_racial*


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



kwflatbed said:


> *"We saw the same thing happen after the 9-11 attacks, as a wave of anti-Muslim violence swept the country.**" *
> 
> *___ Associated Press writers Errin Haines, Jerry Harkavy, Jay Reeves, Johnny Taylor and researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.*


"We" did? I must have missed that wave...

Just keep repeating the lie, it will magically become the truth.


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

As disappointed as I was in this election, I sincerely hope that Obama is safe during his presidency. Any attempt on his life is going to be really BAD for the country.


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



5-0 said:


> As disappointed as I was in this election, I sincerely hope that Obama is safe during his presidency. Any attempt on his life is going to be really BAD for the country.


I agree; I want him to have the full four years to fuck things up. Perhaps by then the Kool-Aid will have worn off.


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Carterized before resur-Reaganed my boys, Carterized.....

So now what?
Obmanated before Romnification?
Obmanated before Gingrichnified?
Obmanated before Palinated?

Oh, but that's all dependent on whether or not we still have the freedom to vote in this country by 2012...
You know how restrictive the Constitution can be, Obamanation may want to do away with that pesky little triviality..


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Koz....please dont give him any ideas........Since he has become the " President Elect...he has insulted Nancy Reagan and Emanuels father insulted Arabs...nice start shitheads....

The only reason I heard this was because I had Fox News on at 0330 , no other stations have reported the comments...


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



KozmoKramer said:


> Oh, but that's all dependent on whether or not we still have the freedom to vote in this country by 2012...
> You know how restrictive the Constitution can be, Obamanation may want to do away with that pesky little triviality..


I predict right now that the subject of repealing the 22nd Amendment will be bandied about within the first year of Obamessiah's term.


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Yeah, but Bruce if that's true, imagine what would be going through old Slick Willies melon?
The messiah would have to hire food tasters for Gods sake...


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



KozmoKramer said:


> Yeah, but Bruce if that's true, imagine what would be going through old Slick Willies melon?
> The messiah would have to hire food tasters for Gods sake...


Clinton was mortally wounded by the Lewinsky fiasco; if he had kept it in his pants, you know he would have brought up the subject.

The last time it was publicly discussed, Reagan was in office, but it died pretty quickly when he made it known he wasn't interested in a third term, and he'd be out of office by the time it was ratified anyway.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I see the brides' allowed you guys to stay up late last night...

In any event, I hope that President-elect Obama will "live long and prosper." However, any tampering with the 22nd means...reset. I don't care if it were Reagan, Carter uc: ) or LBJ...we wouldn't likely be in this mess if there were term limits on ALL those elected idiots. By the way, those losers that were in student government in HS: they've just moved to Boston and Washington DC (and are having the "last laugh"...for now).


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Barack Obama is warned to beware of a 'huge threat' from al-Qaeda*

*Security officials fear a 'spectacular' during the transition period *










Tom Baldwin in Washington and Michael Evans, Defence Editor

Barack Obama is being given ominous advice from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to brace himself for an early assault from terrorists. 
General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, this week acknowledged that there were dangers during a presidential transition when new officials were coming in and getting accustomed to the challenges. But he added that no "real or artificial spike" in intercepted transmissions from terror suspects had been detected. 
President Bush has repeatedly described the acute vulnerability of the US during a transition. The Bush Administration has been defined largely by the 9/11 attacks, which came within a year of his taking office. 
His aides have pointed to al-Qaeda's first assault on the World Trade Centre, which occurred little more than a month after Bill Clinton became President in 1993. There was an alleged attempt to bomb Glasgow airport in Gordon Brown's first days in Downing Street and a London nightclub attack was narrowly thwarted. 
Lord West of Spithead, the Home Office Security Minister, spoke recently of a "huge threat", saying: "There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring this." 
Intelligence chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic have indicated that such warnings refer more to a general sense of foreboding than fear of an imminent or specific plan. 
Referring to the attacks in 1993 and 2001, General Hayden told a Washington think-tank on Thursday night: "For some people two data points create a trend line. For others, there may be more hesitation to call it that." He said that the chief danger comes from remote areas in Pakistan that border Afghanistan. 
"Today virtually every major terrorist threat that my agency is aware of has threads back to the tribal areas. Whether it's command and control, training, direction, money, capabilities, there is a connection to the Fata [Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas]." 
General Hayden said that al-Qaeda remained a "determined, adaptive enemy" operating "from its safe haven in Pakistan". He added: "If there is a major attack on this country it will bear the fingerprints of al-Qaeda." 
He said that the border region remained the base of al-Qaeda's leadership, which had developed a more durable structure and a deep reserve of skilled operatives. "AlQaeda, operating from its safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas, remains the most clear and present danger to the safety of the United States," General Hayden said. 
The hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "is very much at the top of CIA's priority list," he added. "Because of his iconic stature, his death or capture clearly would have a significant impact on the confidence of his followers." 
The CIA chief also suggested that the terror group was seeking to recruit Western-looking operatives who would not cause attention if they were standing in airport screening queues. 
Hours after he spoke, a suspected US missile attack killed 12 people in Pakistan, including five foreigners. Such strikes are hugely controversial, with Islamabad claiming that they fuel anti-American extremist groups. But Mr Obama has been clear that he wants to pursue al-Qaeda aggressively across the Afghan border. 
In Britain, security officials say that there is genuine concern that alQaeda will attempt a "spectacular" in the transition period, but suggest that it may be aimed more at Mr Bush than Mr Obama. 
"As far as we know there is nothing from the intelligence world to indicate that anything has changed dramatically in recent months to put us on alert for an attack at the moment," a source said. The present threat level is "severe", which is the second-highest alert status. But a senior counterterrorism official suggested last month that this should be regarded as "the severe end of severe". This would point to Britain facing a terrorist threat nearly as high as the period in the summer of 2005 when terrorists killed 52 people on London's transport network on July 7 and attempted a similar attack on July 21. 
Britain and the US are sharing all intelligence on suspected terrorist activity because of the high risk of a plot involving transatlantic flights. Al-Qaeda is understood still to be obsessed with mounting an attack using passenger airliners. There have also been warnings of al-Qaeda interest in developing a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) device. The US has anti-CBRN units on constant patrol in main cities. 
Al-Qaeda is known to be experimenting with biological agents, particularly anthrax, which they acquire from dead animals and then create cultures. The key man involved in these experiments is Abou Kabbah al-Masri, who was engaged in the biological trials including tests on rabbits that were uncovered in Afghanistan when the Taleban were overrun after the US invasion in 2001. 
James Lewis, a security expert with the Centre of Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that al-Qaeda may wish to provoke a reaction from the next US Administration designed to show the rest of the world that "America is still the evil crusader". 
Last month Joe Biden, the Vice-President-elect, told campaign donors: "Watch, we're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle [of Mr Obama]." 
Mr Lewis said that many Muslims were intrigued by Mr Obama's arrival in the White House and "there may be political downsides" in attacking America too early. "It is hard to fathom the level of sophistication of their operatives and whether the chatter we intercept is dissent or intent. If they are gong to do something, they may wait until after the inauguration. 
"At present there are policemen standing on policemen at possible targets. That won't be the case three months into the new administration."

*The arms race*

*1945* US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 
*1953* Russia tests its first atomic bomb 
*1962* US discovers Soviet Union building a nuclear missile base in Cuba. After seven days of intense talks a naval quarantine is placed around Cuba and is only removed once President Khrushchev agrees to dismantle the base 
*1983* President Reagan launches the Strategic Defensive Initiative - Star Wars. This would allow the US to detect a nuclear weapon being launched and, by using laser technology, give it time to launch its own weapon to destroy the enemy missile 
*1986* President Gorbachev proposes a 50 per cent reduction in the nuclear arsenals of both sides. The discussions finally dissolve with no agreement reached 
*2008* US strikes deal with Poland and Czech Republic on Missile Defence Shield. Russia retaliates on day that Barack Obama is elected US President by threatening to station missiles in Kaliningrad, near its border with Poland

_Source: Times archive _


Read all 93 comments


Have your say

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5158569.ece










*Feds called in to review landowner's sign*










_By KEITH KINNAIRD_

_News editor_ VAY - The U.S. Secret Service is being asked to review a sign a Bonner County landowner put up which suggests a "free public hanging" of President-elect Barack Obama and several other political figures.
The handmade cardboard sign also features a noose fashioned from a length of nylon rope.
"That's a political statement. They can call it whatever they want, a threat or whatever," said Ken Germana, who installed the sign on his property off Golden Gate Road in southwestern Bonner County.
Obama's name is the most prominent on the sign, although it also bears the names of former Democrat presidential nominee John Kerry, current U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and civil rights activist and former presidential candidate Al Sharpton.
Sheriff Elaine Savage said she is referring the matter to the Secret
Service, which is tasked with protecting the lives of presidents, presidential contenders and those who are in a presidential line of succession.
"I'm sure they will be looking into it," Savage said on Wednesday.
The Secret Service agent in Spokane, Wash., who was asked to review the situation was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force said it is outraged by the display.
"Everyone has the right of free speech, unless it advocates the killing or hurting of someone or incites violence, which violates the doctrine of human rights," Christine Holbert, president of the task force, said in a statement.
Holbert called the sign "hateful" and said its content is not protected under the First Amendment.
"I would not want to be in this man's shoes when the Secret Service interviews him," she added.
Germana said he poses absolutely no threat to Obama, but admits he would not lose any sleep if harm did come the president-elect's way. He said he made the sign to protest hypocrisy in two high-profile incidents involving effigies of Republican vice president nominee Sarah Palin and Obama.
The Palin effigy was erected in Los Angeles and the Obama effigy was put up at the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. Both incidents made headlines in the run-up to the general election, but Germana maintains they were treated differently by authorities and the press.
In Germana's view, nothing was done to the creators of the Palin effigy, while those who were involved with the Obama effigy were arrested.
"If other people can make political statements, so can I. Just because I don't live in California doesn't mean I don't have my rights, too," he said.
Germana calls any insinuation that there is a racial tone to his sign malarkey, emphasizing that its message is clearly equal opportunity.
"If these Katzenjammer cops want to pursue it, God bless 'em. But I've got my rights just like everybody else does," he said.

http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2008/11/14/news/doc491bc5ab04e78208338058.prt


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Here's a good article from the "Magnificent Bastard" himself regarding the future of the Republican Party:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/169173/output/print

The voice of reason, I think, and worth reading.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Why they hate Sarah










*_(Irrelevant comment: Wotta babe!)_

If it is generational change the electorate wants, some American conservatives are pinning their hopes on Sarah Palin. Unlike the recent crop of successful conservative leaders around the world, Palin is a bonfire lighter. She sparks a visceral hatred among her ideological opponents, more malign and more extreme than was the case even for Hillary Clinton, the previously most vilified politician since Margaret Thatcher. Note they are all women.

While race may no longer be an issue in post-partisan times, sexism is alive and well, but perpetrated most nakedly by the Aunty Alices of the media firmament. These are women who seek to ingratiate themselves with the dominant power group, even if it means trashing their own kind. They are to women what Uncle Tom was to black people.

And why? Mostly because of abortion, because as the American political analyst Michael Barone said this week, Palin did not abort her disabled baby. Barone later claimed he was joking, after being booed by journalists during a speech in Chicago when he reportedly said: "The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby. They wanted her to kill that child." Palin represents so radical a disruption of the cultural order that she just has to be smashed. The amount of mud being thrown at her now is a measure of how seriously the threat of a Palin presidential campaign in 2012 is taken.

Source. Non-editorializing report of her recent press conference here

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Secret Service Informed About Store's Obama Sign*

*Sign No Longer On Display*

*STANDISH, Maine -- *A sign at a Standish convenience store has attracted the attention of federal investigators.

A reporter for the Associated Press said he saw a sign at the Oak Hill General Store for the Osama Obama Shotgun Pool, soliciting bets about when President-elect Barack Obama would be assassinated.

The sign is no longer on display and the owner of the store denied any knowledge of it.
However Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion confirmed that he received a complaint about the sign and passed along the information to the Secret Service.

http://www.wmtw.com/politics/17991950/detail.html


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I was going to re-post the Dissident frogman video here...but why flirt with disaster?


----------



## OfficerObie59

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Delta784 said:


> I agree; I want him to have the full four years to fuck things up. Perhaps by then the Kool-Aid will have worn off.


Thanks for clearing that up. I had been wondering what they were drinking in the picture.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*After Obama's win, white backlash festers in US*

By Patrik Jonsson Patrik Jonsson - Mon Nov 17, 3:00 am ET

Atlanta - In rural Georgia, a group of high-schoolers gets a visit from the Secret Service after posting "inappropriate" comments about President-elect Barack Obama on the Web. In Raleigh, N.C., four college students admit to spraying race-tinged graffiti in a pedestrian tunnel after the election. On Nov. 6, a cross burns on the lawn of a biracial couple in Apolacon Township, Pa. 
The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center - a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool - one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element. 
Most election-related threats have so far been little more than juvenile pranks. But the political marginalization of certain Southern whites, economic distress in rural areas, and a White House occupant who symbolizes a multiethnic United States could combine to produce a backlash against what some have heralded as the dawn of a postracial America. In some parts of the South, there's even talk of secession. 
"Most of this movement is not violent, but there is a substantive underbelly that is violent and does try to make a bridge to people who feel disenfranchised," says Brian Levin of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. "The question is: Will this swirl become a tornado or just an ill wind? We're not there yet, but there's dust on the horizon, a swirling of wind, and the atmospherics are getting put together for [conflict]."
Though postelection racist incidents haven't posed any real danger to society or the president-elect, law enforcement is taking note. 
"We're trying to be out there at the cutting edge of this and trying to stay ahead of groups that are emerging," says Special Agent Darrin Blackford, a spokesman for the Secret Service, which guards the US president.
"Anytime you start seeing [extremist propaganda] floating around, you have to be concerned," adds Lt. Gary Thornberry of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a member of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. "As far as it being an alarmist situation, I don't see that yet. From a law enforcement point of view, you have to be careful, because it's not illegal to have an ideology."
After sparking conflict and showdowns in the 1990s - think Ruby Ridge, Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing - white supremacist and nationalist groups began this century largely splintered and powerless. Though high immigration levels helped boost the number of hate groups from 602 in 2000 to 888 in 2007, key leaders of such groups had died, been imprisoned, or were otherwise marginalized. 
But postelection, at least two white nationalist websites - Stormfront and the Council of Conservative Citizens - report their servers have crashed because of heavy traffic. The League of the South, a secessionist group, says Web hits jumped from 50,000 a month to 300,000 since Nov. 4, and its phones are ringing off the hook. 
"The vitriol is flailing out shotgun-style," says Mr. Levin. "They recognize Obama as a tipping point, the perfect storm in the narrative of the hate world - the apocalypse that they've been moaning about has come true."
Supremacist propaganda is already on the upswing. In Oklahoma, fringe groups have distributed anti-Obama propaganda through newspapers and taped it to home mail boxes. Ugly incidents such as cross-burnings, assassination betting pools, and Obama effigies are also being reported from Maine to Alabama. 
The Ku Klux Klan has been tied to recent news events, as well. Two Tennessee men implicated for plotting to kill 88 black men, including Obama, were tied to the KKK chapter whose leader was convicted in a civil trial in Brandenburg, Ky., last week, for inciting violence. The murder last week in Louisiana of a KKK initiate, allegedly killed after trying to back out of joining, came at the hands of a new group called Sons of Dixie, authorities say.
"We're not looking at a race war or anything close to it, but ... what we are seeing now is undeniably a fairly major backlash by some subset of the white population," says Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report in Montomgery, Ala. "Many whites feel that the country their forefathers built has been ... stolen from them, so there's in some places a real boiling rage, and that can only become worse as more people lose jobs."
In an election in which barely 20 percent of native Southern whites in Deep South states voted for Obama, the newly apparent political clout of "outsiders" and people of color has been unnerving to some.
"In states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, there was extraordinary racial polarization in the vote," says Merle Black, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta. "Black Americans really do believe that Obama is going to represent their interests and views in ways that they haven't been before, and, in the Deep South, whites feel exactly the opposite."
But for nonviolent secessionist groups like the League of the South, the hope is for a more vigorous debate about the direction of the US and the South's role in it, says Michael Tuggle, a League blogger in North Carolina.
Mr. Tuggle says his group isn't looking for an 1860-style secession but, rather, a model that Spain, for one, is moving toward, in which "there's a great deal of autonomy for constituent regions" - a foil to what is seen as unchecked, dangerous federal power in Washington.
"To a lot of people, the idea of secession doesn't seem so crazy anymore," says Tuggle. "People are talking about how left out they feel, ... and they feel that something strange and radical has taken over our country."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081117/ts_csm/aaryan;_ylt=AgVtsHLWQ7ScVjRKA8Wr3xOs0NUE


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Secessionist talk isn't coming from white supremists...it's coming from anti-communists who refuse to live in a collectivist, totalitarian USA. Look to the Republic of Texas for the future (if they secede, I'm doing a Davy Crockett: "...you all can go to hell....I'm going to Texas!" ).


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Well dang gone it, I'm with ya Uncle Jed!!


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I wiil drive the bus to Texas


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Don't y'all fergit yer squirrel rifle! A full set of teeth are, of course, optional.


----------



## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Dammit, I need to find myself a Mountain Man.


----------



## Andy0921

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



NewEngland2007 said:


> Dammit, I need to find my self a Mountain Man.


You could always pull a JAP and get yourself a goat.


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

 here you go NE2007.....Jeremiah Johnson....


----------



## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Andy0921 said:


> You could always pull a JAP and get yourself a goat.


Yah, but a goat can't save me from the Koolaid Commies. Unless it's a really talented goat.


----------



## Johnny Law

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



NewEngland2007 said:


> Yah, but a goat can't save me from the Koolaid Commies. Unless it's a really talented goat.


What a coincidence, my nickname is Goat. My more frequently used nickname is of course Tripod.


----------



## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Johnny Law said:


> What a coincidence, my nickname is Goat. My more frequently used nickname is of course Tripod.


It's not the size of the tripod that matters, what matters is the size of the self-sustainable compound hidden away in Montana. OK, the tripod matters a little, too.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Poland denies Barack Obama cannibal 'joke'

Poland has been forced to deny its foreign minister 'joked' that President-Elect Barack Obama's grandparents were cannibals.

By Matthew Day in Warsaw 
Last Updated: 2:30PM GMT 18 Nov 2008










Mr Sikorski denied he told a racist joke about Mr Obama Photo: Reuters

In an episode that could potentially strain relations between Warsaw and Washington, Radek Sikorski, an Oxford-educated politician who has lived in the US, was reported to have made the jibe by an opposition politician, Ryszard Czarnecki. 
Writing in his blog, Mr Czarnecki, an MEP, quoted the foreign minister as saying: "Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary." 
A spokesman for the Polish foreign office conceded that Mr Sikorski had made the controversial comment, but denied that the foreign minister had intended to insult Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan. 
"Mr Sikorski did not tell a racist joke," said Piotr Paszkowski, the spokesman. "He was only giving an example of the unpalatable and racist 'jokes' that surround President Elect Obama." 
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has made no comment on the affair. It appears that Mr Sikorski's position is not under threat despite calls from opposition politicians for an investigation to deter if the foreign minister broke anti-racism laws. 
The derogatory comment about Mr Obama's family may also have become common staple in Polish political circles. Wojciech Olejniczak, the leader of Poland's main Left-wing party, the SLD, alleged that he first heard it from Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a Right-wing former prime minister and twin brother of the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...Poland-denies-Barack-Obama-cannibal-joke.html


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

When made aware of the comment, President-elect Obama replied "Hey, at least we don't have screen doors on our submarines..."


----------



## jettsixx

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*PSALM 2008-2012*​
​
*FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT*​​
​
​
*OBAMA IS MY SHEPHERD,*​​
*I SHALL NOT WANT.*​​
​
*HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.*​​
​
*HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.*​​
​
*HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT.*​​
​
*YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGHT THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE,*​​
*I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.*​​
​
*OBAMA HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES,*​​
​
*MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,*​​
​
*SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.*​​
​
*THE DEMOCRATS AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER*​​
*IN A RENTED HOME.*​​
​
*BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,*​​
*I AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.*​​
*BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG*​​
*AND OBAMA A TREE.*​


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



jettsixx said:


> *PSALM 2008-2012*​
> *FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT*​
> *OBAMA IS MY SHEPHERD,*​
> *I SHALL NOT WANT.*​
> *HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.*​
> *HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.*​
> *HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT.*​
> *YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGHT THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE,*​
> *I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.*​
> *OBAMA HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES,*​
> *MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,*​
> *SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.*​
> *THE DEMOCRATS AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER*​
> *IN A RENTED HOME.*​
> *BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,*​
> *I AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.*​
> *BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG*​
> *AND OBAMA A TREE.*​


*Who do you like for President? (Merged Threads)* 
Views: *22,528* 
Posted By kwflatbed 
_Re: Who do you like for President? (Merged Threads)_

_First Book of Democrat!_

_This is great!! Have a good laugh!! jj_

_Sorry, I just couldn't help myself!!! _

I knew this looked like something I had Posted


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

It was worthy of re-posting!


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Meet Some Voters That Supported Barack Obama










I am considering supporting measures for revoking some American's citizenship and banishing them to North Korea, Iraq and Iran. Perhaps we should consider retroactive abortion.

There is a documentary film in production that explores extreme voter ignorance in America. Here is a clip from what we will soon see.

You will see how at least $600 million dollars can "educate" voters like this group before an election. Add the big three television networks that were running an Obama political campaign disguised as news and we get exactly what we have. We can only begin to wonder if these pathetic people should even be allowed to live and bear children.

I don't care what side of the political spectrum you come from these incredibly stupid people are an embarrassment to the human race.

http://howobamagotelected.com/

Video:




http://www.crimefilenews.com/


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*






Worth watching.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

***THIS IS AN EXCLUSIVE AND YOU MUST CREDIT AND LINK THE REAL KING O FRANCE*** 








I wish I'd been able too get this sooner, but _c'est la vie_ as that say in that snooty French restaurant in Annapolis.​
Most every trace of Obama's past is missing, "locked-up," or suspicious. In August I finished coding my document search software, which compares phraseology, nuance, spelling and word construction. against every document on the internets, against Obama's speeches and written promises. Billions and billions of documents. I call it Obama Bot, and sent it crawling the nets. Bingo. Last night it came back with a hit on Obama's _senior thesis!_ It was found on a computer in Pakistan, owned by a Sohale Siddiqi, and titled *"MAKING THE RICH PAY ME,"* and has over 184 matching points (stuff too complicated for you). Not only that, Siddiqi's companion diary notes that "_Barry worked on this every night we were room-mates. He had several variations_." To put it plaimly, it's a certified match.​
Aside from its historical significance, it gives us an early glimpse into the mind of this man who will be our President, and the foundation upon which his economic plan is based. This may be my Nobel!​
OBAMA'S MISSING THESIS 

*"MAKING THE RICH PAY ME,"*

http://curmudgeonlyskeptical.blogspot.com/

Real King of France


----------



## Big.G

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



justanotherparatrooper said:


> Worth watching.


Another one from the Honorable James David Manning. I want to give him a hug.


----------



## Inspector

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*BARKHAMSTED, Conn. -- *State police are searching for vandals who spray painted racist graffiti regarding President-elect Barack Obama on a billboard.The graffiti was found on a billboard along Route 44 in Barkhamsted.Police said the graffiti was found on an advertisement where someone had painted a picture depicting Obama last week with the words, "Yes we did.""I was driving by and couldn't believe my eyes, so I turned around to see what it's all about," said Ray Madsen, of Riverton. "It's disgusting, shocking, I just can't believe it."
THe vandals spray painted the N-word next to the picture of Obama.Police said both sets of vandals could face criminal mischief charges, but the racist comment could bring hate-crime charges for the second vandal.Detectives from the Western District Major Crime Squad took samples of the paint and are searching the area."Anybody's who come by the area, who's seen cars parked along the roads or kids walking, that's the type of information that we're looking for," said Trooper John Bement.The billboard company said it plans to replace the vandalized ad with one encouraging passers-by to read the Bible
WFSB


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

The Honorable James David Manning has been added to the list of men I greatly admire.
That is the kind of candid, thinking mans genuineness we need from black leaders.
Something tells me Mr. Manning isn't reliant on government for his or his families betterment.

Of course, I'm sure he's been labeled an Uncle Tom and likely by those who haven't a clue as to who Uncle Tom was or the kind of man Ms. Stowe depicted him to be in the novel.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Inspector said:


> *BARKHAMSTED, Conn. "..*.Detectives from the Western District Major Crime Squad took samples of the paint..." WFSB


The only major crime here is that an act of vandalism is being investigated by the "Major Crime Squad". Sure, if the incident involved a "black" church, I could understand the expense of manpower as a particular group was targeted. This is not the case here. I would suggest that this is an expression of free speech (hey, maybe the BB company is minority owned...but I bet it's not, as that would have been trumpeted at the beginning of the article).

To suggest that this incident is a "hate crime" leads to the concept of "Thought Crime". How long before an innocent statement leads to a person being charged with a "hate crime"...all because someone interpreted the statement to "signal" hatred against a particular group. Such is the case now with sexual harassment: it's the perception by the receiver, not the intent of the transmitter, that counts.

In any event, I'd have thought the MCS would have fatter fish to fry. Welcome to the brave new world.



KozmoKramer said:


> Of course, I'm sure he's been labeled an Uncle Tom and likely by those who haven't a clue as to who Uncle Tom was or the kind of man Ms. Stowe depicted him to be in the novel.


Just a short note regarding this subject: the open and gross ignorance of not only American literature, but Western literature in general, is breathtaking. I'm not speaking about Tom Clancy or Steven King novels, but those of the classic canon, whether they are histories, travelogues, philosophies, science or religious in nature, from Homer (not Simpson) through Ovid, Saint Francis, Cervantes, More, Dickens, Churchill and Clarke.

Know the past...or keep "relearning" the same lessons that have supposedly been taught before.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I found this linked over at Hotair:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/must-conservatives-rally-round-the-messiah/

Required reading for the loyal opposition.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Our Taxes At Work The Obama Circus

*Inauguration crowd estimate soars to 5 million...*

*Washington's Woodstock...* 
*

**Air patrols, security cameras to watch...*


----------



## PapaBear

*"change"*

"CHANGE" - The Obama cry to all of America.

Well, it would seem that the good President elect has begun the "Change" in his appointments. Change from the G. W. Bush administration right back to the William Jefferson Clinton administration.

Has anyone noticed the numbers of Clinton cronies who have been selected, appointed, offered and accepted cabinet positions with the new administration? Geez! What or where is the change.

http://change.gov/

Back to BJs, Big Macs and false ideals - touted but never fulfilled.

It is going to be an interesting four years.


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "change"*

Your preaching to the choir....we all knew he was a shithead....its the brainwashed sheeple that think he the best thing since the wheel....


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Once again, linked at Hotair, an essay by Victor Davis Hanson:

http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/ten-random-politicially-incorrect-thoughts/

This kind of addresses my lament inre: Kozmokramer's earlier post: broadly, the state of Western Civilization or "How Did This Happen To Us?"

Here is comment #3, regarding our failure to edjumacate our children:

#3 Mike:

"Dear Dr. Hanson:

May I take partial exception with your commentary about K-12 education? As a teacher of high school English, I often struggle with such issues, but one might want to differentiate between educational opportunity and outcome. There are indeed idiotic schools and school districts where self esteem overrides learning, but experience leads me to believe that most teachers and schools work as hard as past generations to provide a competent opportunity for students to attain education. The largest difference between the past and present generations is the breakdown of family structure and societal expectations.

Those of my students who take full advantage of the opportunity I provide find themselves advancing in real, useful intellectual ability. They can read, understand, write and critique with confidence and even a bit of style. Those who do not, and that's most of them-to varying degrees-accomplish far less. Surely, most kids do enough to get by, and with good teachers, they'll learn something, but not nearly as much as past generations. That far too many parents think their role is to be the friend of their offspring, and seem appalled at the idea of being a "parent," or acting as an adult, is a large part of our difficulty.

Perhaps the largest issue that bedevils all teachers is that we are raising a generation of non-readers, of those who cannot imagine anything that is not imprinted on their brains as a fast paced, full color, exploding and blood-spattered video image, accompanied by deafening sound pressure levels. Those who do not read cannot think, understand, write, speak clearly and well and soundly reason. They cannot recognize and defend logic and beauty.

And as a high school teacher offering an explanation to my collegiate colleague, may I suggest that you're seeing huge flocks of remedial freshmen because we have been highly successful in making it possible for virtually anyone to attend college, thus do we see hundreds of thousands of kids who, in generations past, would never have thought of setting foot on a college campus, reluctantly entering into an effort doomed before it begins. When colleges accept students who were within a point of two of not walking across the graduation stage, there is little room to complain about the lack of preparation of such students. A high school diploma has always been about far more than educational attainment.

Whew. I feel better too."

Nov 21, 2008 - 6:49 pm

Read the essay...the comments are instructive as well. Sorry for the seriousness on a weekend, but I think these issues are important for us to understand if we are to stop the de-evolution ("Are We Not Men?" ) of Western Civ.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*President Pelosi for Two Months

*In a New York Times opinion piece this weekend, the call has been voiced for President Bush to resign so that Obama could start governing. Here's how the scheme would work. 
_"Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We're desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she'd defer to her party's incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing."_​So, there you have it. A desperate, but not crazy, opinion maker proposes making Nancy Pelosi the President of the United States for two months while hoping that all changes come from President-elect Obama.

I'm certain that President Bush is giving the proposal its doo consideration.

(Apologies to all the doggies for the lousy pun.)

However, just for entertainment's sake, if Pelosi became President then she would logically have to resign from Congress and a replacement for Pelosi's seat in the House of Representatives would be chosen by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Just for fun, I recommend Cindy Sheehan be named the new representative for the San Francisco congressional district.

Just think. Come Inauguration Day, Pelosi would be relegated to sitting on her political legacy and the extreme leftists in San Francisco would have an incoherent, babbling Cindy Sheehan to represent them in the U.S. Congress. Good times!

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


----------



## jettsixx

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I apologize if this has been posted already but it gives you something to think about:

INTERESTING COMMENTARY FROM A FEMALE AIR FORCE VETERAN WHO IS NOW A TALK SHOW HOST.

Kit Lange is a lady (Former Air Force) who has worked tirelessly on the Hutchins case.




Subject: *My Predictions for the New Obama "Presidency"

*Now that America has shown us all that affirmative action even works
in politics, I've compiled a list of things that you can probably
expect to happen. These predictions are 80% gleaned from information
all of us have access to, and 15% gut instinct based on many years of research, historical study, and being glued to current affairs. The
other 5% is just anger at my countrymen's stupidity--I admit it.

-----

- Websites and mass emails offering "free grants," courtesy of the
government and "Obama's wealth redistribution." Actually, this one's a freebie, because I have an email with a date and timestamp of literally minutes after Obama was declared the winner, offering
exactly that.

- Israel will understand this election was the end of any type of
assistance, military or otherwise, from the U.S., and will stop
holding back their defense at the request of the American
administration. Look for a first strike on Iran soon, as well as
increased activity by the Israeli military in general. Israel is on
her own now, and God help us all because of it.

- Look for Iranian retaliation--against American targets. That goes
doubly for other terrorist organizations. We just elected a man with
the full endorsement of every major terrorist group in the world as leader of the free world. It's the political equivalent of hiring a
child molester to babysit your kids while you leave for the weekend.
Not only is HE going to have fun with your child, but he'll probably
sit and watch while his friends come over and do it too.

- Look for far-left justices appointed to the Supreme Court,
effectively tying up the entire government in a trifecta of liberal
humanism, the buzzwords of which remain empty platitudes like "hope and change," and the ultimate goal of which is socialism--and soon, sharia law.

- Military cases of troops being tried and convicted for killing the
enemy in combat will continue to rise--and the conviction/plea-
bargain rate will stay at nearly 100%, as the government seeks to use the best men and women this country has to offer as sacrificial lambs on the altar of global appeasement. Those brave and honorable men who currently reside in prison cells across the country, stripped of
their rank, their careers, families, and their good name, will not
taste free air again for many years. Their sacrifices and their
stories will be forgotten by the general public, remembered only by
those of us who continue to fight for them.

- Look for the slow but steady erosion of rights you have enjoyed for
your entire lives--all the while being told it's "for your own good."
Restrictions on gun ownership, home schooling, encouraged dependence on the ever-growing federal government. More nanny-state provisions will be put into place to protect the "disadvantaged" and the "poor," (read: lazy, uneducated, unwilling to better themselves) even while groups like the unborn, the mentally handicapped, elderly, and terminally ill are slowly pushed toward euthanasia. Of course, this will be done with feel-good phrases like "death with dignity," "not wanting to be a burden," and "merciful release from suffering," all of which ignoret he basic fact that we are killing people without their consent for the "good of the people." Before you tell me I'm crazy, let's just remember that Barack Obama was the ONLY senator in the Illinois state senate to vote against providing medical care for babies who were inconsiderate enough to survive an abortion. Also, look for taxes to go up. Yes, they'll go up.
You think the economy is bad now? Just wait. You'll have the most
expensive "free" health care ever. Bread lines aren't just for
Russians anymore.

We have traded experience for color, freedom for slavery--and the
irony is that the average American thinks their vote somehow
righted an ancient wrong, somehow ENDED the spectre of slavery and ushered in some beautiful era of liberty. In reality, we are about
to be less free than you ever thought possible.

I watched the faces of those crowded into the mob (excuse the pun) in Chicago. They stared at Obama like he was a God, an idol, a panacea to their every want and need. We have truly failed as a nation if we are at the point where we feel we must look to one man to take care of us all, to be our father figure and our sugar daddy. We have lost not only the "can-do" attitude of past generations, but the "MUST-do" attitude of our forefathers. We have allowed ourselves to become reduced from Patrick Henry's proud cry of "liberty or death" to the sniveling, whining idea that we are owed something. We have gone from being the honorable defenders of freedom, to being told we are the problem.

The eyes of Obama and McCain were also telling. McCain acted with
class and grace in his concession speech, offering the most honorable response I've seen yet. I don't agree with all of McCain's
positions, but it cannot be denied that the man has served his nation at permanent and severe detriment to himself--for half a century. His eyes were clear and sincere, honest. His speech underlined the very reasons why, of the two men offered, he was hands down the best choice.

On the other hand, Obama's eyes were cold, calculating. His manner
was smug and still carried the arrogance he has always had. His
facial expression was one of barely disguised disdain for everything
people like me believe in. His body language was smooth, polished--
too much so. He talked of patriotism as though it is a value he is
familiar with--and yet, his horrifying attitude toward the country he
now leads is as well-documented as his friendships with those who
seek its demise. He is charismatic to those who don't know what to
look for, and he is inspiring to those who cannot or will not think
for themselves. However, too many who voted for him are guilty of
the most dangerous kind of hypocrisy. You see, we are told daily
that we must not see color, just mankind. (We are all family, you
know--or so we're told.) And yet Barack Obama was handed the White House on a silver platter by a fawning media, a bevy of foreign donors (who, to this day and in violation of U.S. election laws, remain nameless and unaccounted for), and a populace who voted based color instead of right and wrong--even in the face of the most damning evidence against a Presidential candidate in many years, perhaps ever.

It is said that the people receive the government they deserve.
Sadly, I fear that's correct. We have become complacent, unwilling
to see the writing on the wall, content to frolic in the warm water
without bothering to notice that it's been getting hotter by the
minute. We are two seconds from a rolling boil--and perhaps it is
already too late.

So, liberals, enjoy your victory. Jump around. Have a party, file
for your free grants. Scream "Gimme my handout!" and make fun of
those of us who fought to make sure your "messiah" didn't get access to the most powerful position in the world. Just remember when it all comes crashing down: You own the White House, the Congress, and soon the Supreme Court. You have no one to blame but yourselves for the mess you just created.

As for me, I'm buying my handguns this week so I have an answer for those who will come try to take them.

Kit


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Despite Bells and Whistles, 'Office of President-Elect' Holds No Authority*

*The props that decorate the stage for the Office of the President-elect serve as just that, since Barack Obama will hold no actual authority in the Executive Branch until Jan. 20. *










Monday: President-elect Barack Obama introduces members of his economic team, including Timothy Geithner and Christina Romer (AP Photo).

FOXNews.com
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama is looking very presidential these days. When he makes an announcement, he is ringed by American flags and stands behind a lectern that has a very presidential-looking placard announcing "The Office of the President-Elect." 
But the props are merely that. Under the Constitution, there is no such thing as the Office of the President-elect. Technically, Obama will not even become the president-elect until the Electoral College convenes after the second Wednesday in December and elects him based on the results of the Nov. 4 general election, as stated in the Constitution.
So what is Obama's executive authority in the weeks leading to Jan. 20?
In the 11 weeks between Election Day and Inauguration Day, the next president must ensure a smooth transition by selecting political appointees to manage key agencies and offices within the Executive Branch, and by creating the policies that will define the new administration -- all while respecting the authority held by the current president.
The Presidential Transition Act -- created in 1963 and amended in 2000 -- establishes formal provisions for the transition period by outlining training and other assistance that the president-elect and his team of advisers can receive as they prepare to assume office.
The amended bill -- co-sponsored by lawmakers including former Sen. Fred Thompson, Sen. Joe Lieberman, and Sen. Dick Durbin -- calls for the "training and orientation of high-level presidential appointees," among other things, as well as more efficient background checks to ensure individuals are properly vetted and confirmed for office.
"New administrations face a series of hurdles they must overcome to accomplish this essential task before they can begin to govern," Lieberman told Congress in 1999 while arguing in favor of the amended legislation.
The original bill also allowed the president-elect and vice president-elect certain "services and facilities," like suitable office space to conduct transition operations, public funds to pay their staff's salaries and money to transport workers to and from Washington.
Obama has employed over 500 staffers to assist in his transition operations -- working from a nondescript office building in downtown Washington and from locations in his hometown of Chicago.
His transition team has received a budget of $12 million -- $5.2 million of which was allocated by Congress, and the rest from private donations of under $5,000.
As president-elect, Obama is also given the same highly classified intelligence briefings that President Bush receives on a daily basis. And Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden get full Secret Service protection, which Obama also received during the Democratic primaries and general election campaign.
But the "Office of the President-Elect," while critical in building the future government, has no official power -- which Obama himself acknowledged during his victory speech in Chicago on Election Night.
"It is an office -- it's just a quasi-government office for planning the takeover of the government," said Stephen J. Wayne, a professor at Georgetown University's department of government.
"Obama has no formal power as far as the existing government is concerned, but he has a lot of informal influence, which President Bush has encouraged," he added.
Wayne compared the function of the "Office of the President-Elect" to spring training in baseball.
"It doesn't count in the standings, but it does contribute to a team's ability to do well from day one," he said.
The extensive operations and considerable funding for Obama's transition office are not unique. President Bush received $8.5 million to fund his transition team -- a sum that was "unprecedented at the time," according to Georgetown University government professor Chris Hull.
"The Bush administration built their transition team a month before the election was over to make sure it would be a fully-functioning office on November 5," he said.
Despite its lack of formal power, some argue that the "Office of the President-Elect" must maintain an official and authoritative front -- even if just for show. This transition comes at a particularly vulnerable time for the U.S. government in protecting against terrorism -- as evidenced in 1993 when terrorists bombed the World Trade Center as former President Bill Clinton prepared to take office.
"President Bush and President-Elect Obama have stressed together that the times of transition are particularly perilous in terms of terrorist strikes," said Hull. "The President-Elect and his team must appear to maintain confidence."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/200...stles-office-president-elect-holds-authority/


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*RUSSIAN ANALYST PREDICTS DECLINE AND BREAKUP OF USA*

*A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily IZVESTIA published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."

The paper said Panarin's dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year's events.

When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: "It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world's financial regulator."

When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said: "Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia."

Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions."

He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.

Developing... *

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashrur.htm


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

The U.S. survived a horrific Civil War (which was our first, but unlikely to be the last), the Great Depression, the assassination of a very popular president in the 60's, Viet Nam, Watergate, and rallied after 9-11 (however fleeting).
Your words may not be completely hollow, but I wouldn't bet all your rubles on it either comrade.

Considering the USSR collapsed a mere 18 years ago and is embroiled in their own economic crisis, so to state "Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia" is specious to say the least.

Leave it to a Russian to smell blood in the water...


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

The Russkies have been predicting the downfall of the United States since the 1940's.


----------



## Killjoy

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

F*ck that stupid Russkie.

I can make a lot of predictions for the near future, some of them dire, but none as stupid as that.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

I'm willing to give PE Obama his opportunity...before I pack-up and move to the Republic of Texas....


----------



## CJIS

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama or McCain? [URL="http://digg.com/lbv.php?id=9749932&ord=12"]watch! *

*VIDEO* - _youtube.com -_ (US Elections 2008) submitted 1 hr 36 min ago

Interesting excerpt form the Howard Stern Show


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Careful Mack, Andy got mad and didn't speak to me for a week for re-posting that clip...


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama goes upscale in Hawaii for holiday*

By RITA BEAMISH 

President-elect Barack Obama, returning to his home state of Hawaii for the holidays, plans a beachside vacation at one of Oahu's most exclusive properties, according to an islander involved in the planning. 
Arrangements are being finalized for the Obamas and the families of two or three friends to stay at a Kailua beachfront location with three modern, multi-million-dollar homes. Each wraps around a lagoon-style swimming pool, with palm trees, grassy lawns and retractable glass walls for postcard views of the white sand and windsurfers. 
Obama and his friends plan to rent the privately owned homes for several days including Christmas, said the islander, a Democratic activist who spoke Thursday night on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal the details. 
The property is located across the island from metropolitan Honolulu, in a residential section of trendy Kailua. The 2.5-mile beach is popular with local families as well as tourists, and has been rated by travel magazines among the best beaches in the world. 
The property also has a sweeping view of the Koolau Range, a lush, forested ridge that forms the backbone of East Oahu. 
Obama's spokesman would not comment on his holiday travel plans. 
Gov. Linda Lingle indicated this week that that Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend and adviser who is co-chair of his transition office, would accompany Obama to the islands. Lingle said she intended to meet with Jarrett. 
The governor also invited Obama to meet with her, her spokesman said. 
Obama was most recently in Hawaii in October to visit his ailing grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who raised him for much of his youth. Dunham died Nov. 2 at the age of 86, two days before Obama won the presidency. While in Hawaii Obama also is expected to pay tribute to his grandmother, who was cremated, with a private family ceremony. 

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081205/D94SQ3MG0.html

*Obama campaign mulls what to do with $30M surplus*

Dec 5, 7:06 PM (ET)

By PHILIP ELLIOTT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats carrying significant campaign debt after winning a string of House and Senate races are grumbling about President-elect Barack Obama's financial reserves, saying the party's leader is sitting on a pile of cash while Democratic leaders are broke. 
Obama's organization retains some $30 million after his successful presidential bid, but it's unclear how the Democratic president-in-waiting might use the money. Members of his party are doing their best to appeal for the funds without appearing greedy, ungrateful or hostile to their new leader. 
"If I was a top adviser to the president elect, I wouldn't necessarily be advocating saving those dollars," said Raymond Buckle, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "It was critically important that we not repeat what happened in '93, '94," when President Bill Clinton held the purse strings and Democrats lost 54 U.S. House seats and eight senators during midterm elections. 
"We need the resources to build the national grass roots network for the Obama agenda. We need to make sure the president is successful and that the administration fulfills his promises," Buckley said. 
The Democratic National Committee is carrying about $5 million in debt, with almost $12 million cash on hand. DNC officials say they expect to have the debt paid by the end of the year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee carries some $19 million in debt and less than $3 million on hand. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is nearly $13 million in debt. 
Obama raised more than $745 million during his marathon campaign, more than twice the amount obtained by his rival, Republican John McCain. In his latest finance report, Obama reported raising $104 million in more than five weeks immediately before and after Election Day. 
"This is the first presidential candidate and president who has not been publicly financed in the general election," said Ken Gross, a former Federal Election Commission lawyer. "Every other president since Jimmy Carter has not had excess funds." 
Obama opted not to participate in public funding system. In exchange, he was able to continue raising money, while McCain accepted $84 million in taxpayer money, and the spending restrictions that went with it, through the public financing system. 
"The only example that comes to mind is John Kerry," Gross said. "He finished his primary campaign with a $15 million surplus. That created some grumbling, since he lost." 
Democrats blamed Kerry's loss, in part, on a campaign hierarchy that didn't spend wisely or aggressively. Kerry's own campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, called it "gross incompetence to hoard that money when the race was bound to be so close." 
Obama aides are aware of the stigma and don't want to appear inelegant or selfish. They are weighing whether to keep the money to build a massive grass roots program to support his agenda, or to cycle that money to the party apparatus. Both ideas have strong advocates, but it's unclear to those involved which way Obama will go. 
"We aren't in a position to announce what the next steps for our organization are today, but are continuing a dialogue with our supporters about their vision for how we move forward," said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. 
Party officials around the country say the campaign leaders have signaled they shouldn't expect the money to come to them directly, if at all. Instead, many party officials expect Obama to use his funds to advance his own priorities, to support his massive Internet-based organization and to have cache for special causes. With almost 4 million donors, Obama's fundraising list could prove golden for future Obama-backed drives. 
"Right now, it looks like the sky is the limit," Gross said. 
Obama aides emphasize the campaign expects to continue having expenses, along with tax obligations and political operations. They also say Obama has little interest in bankrolling state committees or individual candidates. Those involved say the logical option is the Democratic National Committee, although no one is pressing for a quick transfer. 
On Wednesday, Obama send a fundraising e-mail to his supporters asking them to help retire that debt by buying coffee mugs or fleece sweat shirts. Obama and Democratic aides alike say they would use similar efforts going forward, but were aware that asking too often could dilute the effectiveness of the list. 
Legally, Obama can donate the extra money to charity, transfer it to another political campaign, or dole it out in $2,000 increments to local candidates, Gross said. "That's not too attractive, but it's something," Gross said.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081206/D94SS5QO0.html

Fidel Castro says Cuba could talk with Obama

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro said on Thursday his country could talk to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, in Havana's latest overture to the incoming Democratic administration in Washington.
His remarks followed comments from his brother, President Raul Castro, who told a U.S. magazine he could meet Obama in a "neutral place" to try to end the Communist-run island's four-decade conflict with the United States.
"With Obama, talks could happen anywhere he wants," Fidel Castro, America's longtime Cold War enemy, wrote in the latest of a series of columns he has published in state-run media since falling ill in 2006.
"He should remember the carrot-and-stick approach will not work with our country," Castro wrote of Obama. "The sovereign rights of the Cuban people are not negotiable."
Fidel Castro, who took power nearly 50 years ago after an armed revolution, has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery for an undisclosed illness in July 2006. But he has met several state leaders and appeared in photographs.
Obama, who takes office on January 20, has raised hopes of improved U.S.-Cuba ties by saying he was open to talks with the Cuban government and has favored easing some U.S. sanctions.
He has said he will reverse the U.S. administration's policies restricting Cuban Americans from visiting Cuba and sending cash to their families. He is willing to talk to Castro but would keep the four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo as leverage to influence changes in the one-party state.
Raul Castro formally took over the Cuban presidency in February and has said several times Havana is willing to talk to the United States.
Before the U.S. presidential election last month, Fidel Castro praised Obama as intelligent and humanitarian in the columns that have become his main form of communication.
Raul suggested in the interview he could meet Obama in Guantanamo Bay, where the United States maintains a naval base, which Cuba considers a violation of its sovereignty.
(Reporting by Patrick Markey; editing by Todd Eastham)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081205/ts_nm/us_cuba_usa_obama


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Save the money, Barry. You're going to need it when people start waking up in 2012.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Don't Confirm Her!​
_Quin Hillyer _










I could double the list without using Google. 
" * Hillary Clinton was nearly fired from the Watergate Committee staff for outrageously unethical behavior.​
* Hillary Clinton was directly cited for false testimony by an independent counsel, who used prosecutorial discretion not to actually seek the indictment she deserved for prevaricating about her role in the White House Travel Office firings.​
* Hillary Clinton was the recipient of the moral equivalent of bribery (every bit as bad as the $100,000 apparent payoff to U.S. Rep. "Dollar Bill" Jefferson of New Orleans) in making off with just shy of a cool 100K in her preposterous dealings in cattle futures. For more on this issue, see the excellent work of Deroy Murdock as published earlier this year in The American Spectator's print edition.​
* Hillary Clinton probably deserved to be indicted in one of the facets of the Whitewater investigation, but the infamous Rose Law Firm billing records with her fingerprints on them mysteriously disappeared until produced, quite conveniently, just days after the statute of limitations had run out on the charges that could have stemmed from the clear evidence those records contained.​
* Hillary Clinton was caught on tape engaging in legally dubious coordination of campaign fundraising activities that led to charges against several others involved in the big Hollywood event at issue. For more, see "Hillary: The Movie," by Citizens United.​
* Hillary's roles in a plethora of scandals as she and her husband left the White House were so egregious that even liberal news organizations pronounced her positively "unfit" for office. For a voluminous record of her skullduggery since the beginning of 2000, read Spectator founder R. Emmett Tyrrell's 2007 book, The Clinton Crack-Up.​
* Hillary's presidential campaign was caught red-handed accepting huge sums of money bundled and/or donated from convicted felon Norman Hsu. In many ways the sneaky dealings with Hsu were reminiscent of other odiferous dealings with a host of other Asian donors and influence peddlers through the years, from the Riadys to Johnny Chung to John Huang to Pauline Kanchanalak to Charlie Trie.​
http://curmudgeonlyskeptical.blogspot.com/2008/12/secretary-of-satan.html


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Court won't review Obama's eligibility to serve



Play Video AP - Supreme Court won't review Obama's citizenship

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth - his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject - he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.
Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.
At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and the Hawaii secretary of state has confirmed. Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081208/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_obama


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



> Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit


A judge that was apponted by Clinton dimissed that case..what a surprise...


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Every stinking time the stock market goes up Odrama gets credit for it for his "innovative ideas" and "leadership".....funny how when it drops the next day his name isnt mentioned or its blamed on President Bush , I wonder why that is?


----------



## OfficerObie59

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



justanotherparatrooper said:


> I wonder why that is?


I don't. Two words: Liberal Media


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

My sarcasm apparently failed to come through


----------



## Domino99

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*

This is an interesting article, but it is almost 100% wrong. 
I don't understand why police officers can't actually live up to there saying- "To serve and protect" and start supporting the people of this great country, and not the corporate system. 
It almost as if they have fooled you into believing that the government and unions are to blame for everything that went wrong in the last 40 years. Well, you work for this government. And without you our streets would be in less safe and people would left to fend for themselves. If the police had a strong union they could demand the much high wages they deserve! 
I think an starting salary for a NYC cop is about 40,000. While corporate executives receive 10's of Millions. Do they perform a more important role in our society? NO #$% WAY!



kwflatbed said:


> *THE MEDIA WON
> 
> *They created Obama. They could have destroyed him in a minute if they had wanted to. Instead they promoted him, covered for him and used anything they could to discredit his opponents.
> 
> *What lies ahead*
> 
> One really has to ask the obvious question: If Obama's economic policies work so well, why isn't Detroit a paradise? In 1950, America produced 51% of the GNP for the entire world. Of that production, roughly 70% took place in the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.
> 
> The productive capability of this small area of earth staggers the imagination. Virtually everything that rebuilt the industrial bases of Europe and Japan came from those eight states. Cars, planes, electronics, machine tools, consumer goods, generators, concrete - any conceivable item manufactured by industrial humanity poured out this tiny region and enriched the world. The region shone with widespread prosperity. People migrated from the South and West to work in these Herculean engines of industry. The wealth, power and economic dominance of the region at the time cannot be overstated. Nothing like it has existed in human history.
> 
> Yet, a mere 30 years later, by 1980, we called that area the "rustbelt" and it became synonymous with joblessness, collapsing cities, high crime, failing schools and general hopelessness.
> 
> What the hell happened? Obama happened. Of course, not Obama personally but rather the same ideas that Obama espouses. What those ideas did to the Great Lakes states, they can do to the entire country. What did they do wrong?
> 
> First, unions: Without any serious economic competition, unions could force virtually any salary, benefits and pensions they wished from manufactures. Worse, however, they could set work rules and conditions, effectively dictating the organization of a business and what technology, processes and methods it used. Since increasing productivity, by definition, means doing more work with fewer people, unions froze companies into the methods used in the mid-1950s and refused to let them adapt. Companies rode high for over 15 years, but by the late '60s they faced increasing competition and needed to change and adapt. The unions blocked this.
> 
> In the end, however, strong widespread unions turned out for workers to be merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Unions got workers in factories better wages, but the people who built the workers' houses, cars, consumer goods and stocked their groceries also had strong unions and the price of everything went up. Strong public-sector unions kept taxes high and public productivity low, so workers' taxes went up. By the time they paid all the increased cost of union labor in everything they consumed, the unions gave them little if any real increases in income.
> 
> Second, invasive government: People who grew up during the New Deal and WWII believed that government could solve almost any problem, and they supported high taxes so that government could fix society. Unfortunately, the supposed benefits of an expansive state, good schools, solid public infrastructure, low crime, etc. failed to materialize while zoning and land-use restrictions drove up housing cost and taxes and crime destroyed small businesses. Strong public-sector unions blocked tax cuts and reforms that could have saved them.
> 
> By the early '70s the states that once served as the industrial engine for the entire planet began to fall apart. Then came double-digit inflation and the energy crisis (both caused by leftist policies). By 1980, the industrial heartland of America lay in virtual ruins. People called it the "rustbelt" in analogy to the "dustbowl" of the Great Depressions. Even today, nearly 30 years later, the region lags behind the rest of the country in job creation and is steadily losing population to internal migration.
> 
> It can happen just that fast. A worker who entered the factories in 1950 at the age of 25 saw 20 good years before things looked bad. At 45 he saw repeated layoffs, and by 55 he was out of a job and his children had little hope of finding one.
> 
> Obama clearly plans to try to extend the rustbelt model to the rest of the country. "Card check" will let unions use intimidation to control workers. High taxes on capital gains will slow investment. Environmental regulation will starve workplaces of electricity and mandate inefficient modes of production. Great new bureaucracies will arise to restrain the freedom and creativity of the people.
> 
> Obama has no concept of business as a creative and experimental endeavor. On some deep unconscious level, he assumes that material wealth is something akin to a natural phenomenon for which no group of humans can take credit. Therefore, he sees distribution as the only serious economic issue and ignores how politics interferes with the actual process of wealth creation. We may soon be living in a repeat of '70s and looking back at the years 1984-2007 as a golden era.
> 
> Source
> 
> http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*EXCLUSIVE: Obama's Web presence loses its luster*

*Stephen Dinan (Contact)*
*Tuesday, December 9, 2008 *









FADING: President-elect Barack Obama uses his YouTube videos as a tool to reach out to the American public.

*EXCLUSIVE:* 
Viewership for President-elect Barack Obama's weekly YouTube "fireside chats" has tanked, dropping more than 50 percent since his initial video three weeks ago. 
"I've heard a lot of puffed-up rhetoric about how this is going to change the face of politics and how it's going to be FDR's fireside chats. The data doesn't back it up," said David Burch, marketing manager for TubeMogul, which tracks YouTube video views.

The first video address, released four weekends ago, drew 789,868 viewers over its first three days and is nearing 1 million total, according to TubeMogul's figures. But the second video was viewed 451,077 times in three days, Thanksgiving weekend's video garnered 152,222 views, and this weekend's fourth installment had about 370,000 views as of Monday evening. 
Interest in Mr. Obama's postelection YouTube channel, ChangeDotGov, is down substantially overall compared with the heady days of his campaign, when BarackObama.com regularly cracked the top 10 channels and some of his videos drew more than 5 million views. 
The drop from Mr. Obama's campaign to the transition may have been inevitable, given what the campaign achieved. Mr. Obama compiled a list of e-mail supporters 13 million strong, raised money from about 4 million of them, and drew millions of them to BarackObama.com to look for videos, exchange ideas and generally express their admiration for the candidate. 
Now, he's no longer their candidate. Instead, he has to strike a balance as president that appeals to even those who didn't vote for him or weren't part of his movement. 
Mr. Obama's campaign didn't immediately have a comment on the numbers. But members of his new-media team, speaking at a symposium in New York last week, said the difference between a candidate and a president is affecting how the Web site is run. 
"The relationship is different," Joe Rospars, the campaign's director of new media, told the Alliance of Youth Movements summit. "In the campaign, we had a relationship between Barack Obama and a whole lot of people who supported him and his policies and his ideas and his vision for the country." 
"If you look at Change.gov ... that's focused more on transparency and accessibility and service and these kinds of things rather than implementing a legislative agenda and sort of having a political organization," Mr. Rospars said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/09/obamas-web-presence-loses-its-luster/


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Obama plans major address in Islamic capital: interview

Wed Dec 10,2008

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - President-elect Barack Obama plans to give "a major address" in an Islamic capital soon after taking office as he seeks to mend America's image in the Muslim world, a Chicago Tribune interview said.
"I think we've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular," Obama said in the interview published late Tuesday on the Tribune's website.
Obama promised an "unrelenting" desire to "create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of good will who want their citizens and ours to prosper together."
The world "is ready for that message."
While he described a fresh approach to diplomacy, Obama said his administration would not shrink from the struggle against terrorism, referring to the recent attacks on India's financial capital.
"The message I want to send is that we will be unyielding in stamping out the terrorist extremism we saw in Mumbai," said Obama, who gave the interview from his transition team's offices in Chicago.
The Tribune wrote that Obama "plans to give a major address in an Islamic capital as part of his global outreach" but did not quote him directly.
Obama also said he would be sworn on January 20 using his full name, Barack Hussein Obama.
During the presidential campaign, some of Obama's political opponents would refer to his middle name in an attempt to portray him as a secret Muslim.
But the Christian president-elect said he would follow tradition for the inauguration ceremony.
"I think the tradition is that they use all three names, and I will follow the tradition," Obama told the paper. "I'm not trying to make a statement one way or another. I'll do what everybody else does."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081210/pl_afp/uspoliticsobamadiplomacyislam_081210083044


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Huh. Now we're getting lectured by the pizza-guy...


----------



## Big.G

*Re: "...And so it begins..."*



Domino99 said:


> I don't understand why police officers can't actually live up to there saying- "To serve and protect" and start supporting the people of this great country


Contrary to popular belief, we're not your bitches...



Domino99 said:


> I think an starting salary for a NYC cop is about 40,000. While corporate executives receive 10's of Millions. Do they perform a more important role in our society? NO #$% WAY!


Not too long ago, they were starting at $25k.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

OOps, theyre reporting that Rahm Emanuel may be on tape talking to the Gov of Illinois relating to the empty SEnate seat.....


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



justanotherparatrooper said:


> OOps, theyre reporting that Rahm Emanuel may be on tape talking to the Gov of Illinois relating to the empty SEnate seat.....


Before even being sworn-in, Barry is already in ethical hot water. That's got to be some type of record.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Delta784 said:


> Before even being sworn-in, Barry is already in ethical hot water. That's got to be some type of record.


I wont get my hopes up but wouldnt it funny if Barry was arrested before Jan 20th....What a birthday presnt that would be


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Maybe instead of being the next Dhimmy Carter, he'll be the next Warren Harding....

"I'm a little teapot..."


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

AN AMERICAN MOMENT: Road to the inauguration
*In Utah, the Parowan Prophet predicts disaster will prevent Obama from taking office*









Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times​Leland Freeborn and 12 other survivalists meet every Monday at his home. The group believes Leland is a prophet and they come to hear his predictions.



'He will not be the next president,' Leland Freeborn warns those who will listen. He and his followers expect nuclear explosions this Christmas season.
By PETER H. KING 
December 13, 2008 
Reporting from Parowan, Utah -- Our trip to the Parowan Prophet began with a letter to the St. George Spectrum. It was set among missives proposing that oil companies bail out Detroit automakers, that county inmates be forced to winter in tents, that lawyers be barred from public office. A rough crowd.

This particular letter to the editor in the St. George, Utah, newspaper carried the headline " 'Prophet' shares grim forecast," and it was signed by one Leland Freeborn of Parowan, who wrote that he was known to many as the Parowan Prophet.

 
*Photos: The Parowan Prophet*

 
*AN AMERICAN MOMENT*

After establishing his bona fides as an international talk radio guest and proprietor of a survivalist website that has "passed more than 100,000 hits," Freeborn wrote:

"I think that you should hear what my opinion about the Obama election is: that he will not be the next president. I said on my home page in August that if he lost to expect to see the 'riots' that 2 Peter 2:13 tells us about. He didn't lose. But the story is not finished yet. I still think they may begin the riots before Christmas 2008, as I said."

These riots, according to his prophecy, will encourage the "old, hard-line Soviet guard" to seize the moment and rain down nukes on the United States, killing at least 100 million of us.

"Prepare now," Freeborn's letter concluded. "We are downwind from Las Vegas. I hope you can survive."

It took an hour to reach the prophet, a high-country drive through stunning red-rock formations, the color of which matches the politics in this corner of southern Utah. A freeway billboard, depicting a nuclear mushroom cloud, provided directions to the prophet's two-story house.

The frontyard seemed a staging ground for rapid flight -- two or three motor boats, a raft, a canoe, a recreational vehicle and an old sedan, parked with its engine running.

The man who answered our unexpected knock wore a cowboy hat with a big feather stuck in the band, and a beard suggestive of St. Nick. We asked to see the prophet. He said we had the right guy.

Freeborn hobbled out the door on crutches and eased into a wheelchair on the porch. As it turned out, he was heating the car not for rapid escape from a nuclear cloud, but to take a neighbor to the doctor.

"I only have nine minutes," he said.

It was enough time to sketch out his history -- a Mormon of substance, a father of 12, he had crashed his airplane in 1975 and fallen into a three-week coma, during which he went through "to the other side" and emerged a prophet.

Freeborn, now 66, took "a plural wife," as he put it, and parted ways with the church. He forfeited his wealth, spreading word of his prophecies. He appears to live now mainly on sales of newsletters and survival information packets advertised on his website.

Asked for examples of successful prophecies, he offered O.J. Simpson's murder acquittal and Al Gore's winning of the popular vote in 2000. But his core insight has been a repeated dream of seeing nuclear flashes to the west while shopping at a Wal-Mart during Christmas season.

And this, he warned, appears to be the year.

As Freeborn rose to leave, he said he would be hosting a weekly religious meeting that night. He urged us to come.

"If you can write a story," Freeborn said, "you can save a lot of lives in L.A."

There were about a dozen believers in the two front rooms, men and women of all ages, squeezed together on couches and dining room chairs.

All of them had broken with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over polygamy and other departures from what they believe was the original vision of the church founder Joseph Smith. And all said they regarded Freeborn a prophet.

The cluttered room was filled with Bibles and religious tracts, government maps depicting potential nuclear targets, and framed photographs of mushroom clouds.

For 90 minutes -- while two boys played on the carpet with a calculator and a marked-up Book of Mormon -- the adults read aloud selected biblical verses, passages from Smith's biography and text pulled from an unidentified website.

After each reading, they discussed how these fragments all pointed to a singular end: nuclear destruction brought on by the Lord's wrath.

Freeborn sprawled in a stuffed chair, directing the discussion and sometimes correcting his acolytes. It was a congenial group, but not much given to small talk. As the night wound down, Freeborn returned to his core prophecy.

"I really believe we are out of time," he said. "I really do."

Freeborn conceded that he'd issued similar warnings many times before, and still the world kept spinning. Prophecy, he said, is not an exact science.

"I've been at it for 30 years, and I have always really believed it," he said. "Now, if we go on, that's great. Maybe we can get some more people to repent."

He seemed weary, referring to himself as a "gimpy old crippled guy from Parowan." He described going on radio and, mocked by the host, receiving not a single request from the audience for survival information. He said he has been shunned in town, his property vandalized. He recited from memory a scriptural passage about "scoffers."

The prophet's eyes reddened, and I could sense his frustration as he sized us up as two more likely nonsubscribers. As he dropped his head in contemplation, it occurred to me: How terrible it must be to believe what this man truly appears to believe, and yet have so few willing to listen.

Perhaps for our benefit, the group volunteered some secular support for Freeborn's prophecy. Perhaps economic meltdown would trigger the riots. Maybe there would be an uprising over an automaker bailout.

"One thought you might have," came a voice from somewhere behind me, "is that we don't have any leadership now until January. See what I am saying? We are in limbo. If they do something tomorrow, who is going to decide?"

The night's last word belonged to the prophet.

"Everything is coming together," Freeborn said, "and it fits right now."

He presented us with brown medicine bottles filled with iodide crystals -- to ward off the effects of radiation.

"I don't think you are going to finish your trip back East," the Parowan Prophet said, urging us to reconsider our journey to the inauguration.

Nonetheless, with our little brown bottles of iodide, we will press on. The rest of you are warned.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-moment13-2008dec13,0,2231803.story


----------



## Barbrady

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Koo-Koo..Koo-Koo


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Barbrady said:


> Koo-Koo..Koo-Koo


He may be but I sure hope the hell he is RIGHT


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Obama Team Has Forged Another Link With Clintons

WASHINGTON - It's official. The old Clinton gang really is back together again. Answering the phones these days for the co-chairman of President-elect Barack Obama's transition, John D. Podesta, is none other than Betty Currie.

 
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
Betty Currie at her desk at the White house in July 1995 with President Bill Clinton and Anthony Lake, the national security adviser.

Emerging from retirement in southern Maryland to volunteer at Obama headquarters, Ms. Currie was the personal secretary to President Bill Clinton, who became caught up in an independent counsel investigation into his trysts with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Since leaving the White House, Ms. Currie, 69, has shied from publicity and kept a low profile in Hollywood, Md., where she lives with her husband, Bob, and Socks, the presidential cat, which she took with her after Mr. Clinton left office. 
Ms. Currie, who works with local nonprofit organizations and serves on the Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary's County, declined to discuss her work for Mr. Obama or her recent life, citing a transition office policy against volunteers giving interviews. 
Compelled to testify to a grand jury five times about Mr. Clinton's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, Ms. Currie is widely admired in Clinton circles for her loyalty and effectiveness.
Mr. Podesta, who was Mr. Clinton's last White House chief of staff, said it was natural for him to call Ms. Currie back to service.
"Of course I asked her because in the 30 years we have worked together, I have never known anyone with more grace, dedication and public spirit than Betty," he said. "And she has one mean Rolodex."
Ms. Currie is the latest familiar face from the Clinton era to assist Mr. Obama's team. In addition to Mr. Podesta, Mr. Obama's chief of staff, his White House counsel and his economics, energy and environmental advisers all served in the Clinton administration. So did most of the cabinet officers he has chosen and many of the transition aides conducting agency reviews. And the newly designated secretary of state is Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A longtime secretary in agencies like the Peace Corps, Ms. Currie left government to work for Democratic presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 before joining Mr. Clinton in 1992. She then served in Mr. Clinton's transition until he picked her to be his secretary. She stayed through all eight years, calmly managing the intersection of power and policy.
Other Obama aides said they expected Ms. Currie to help out through the transition but not to return to the White House after the inauguration.
Ms. Currie has kept in touch with the Clintons and donated $750 to Mrs. Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination this year. When she ran into Mrs. Clinton last spring, she told a writer from Southern Maryland Newspapers, Mrs. Clinton asked about Socks. 
U.S. News & World Report has reported that Socks, now 19, has cancer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/us/politics/17currie.html?_r=1


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Stars of Hollywood, high-tech open wallets for Obama party

Stars of Hollywood including Halle Berry and Steven Spielberg and bosses of high-tech giants like Google and Microsoft are opening their wallets to help fund Barack Obama's inauguration party.

Obama, in keeping with his vow to purge US politics of influence peddling, has ordered that the names of all inauguration donors, withheld by previous presidents, be published on the Internet. 
Lists of those stumping up for the inauguration on January 20 show that Spielberg and his wife, Kate, each gave the maximum 50,000 dollar donation. 
Actress Halle Berry, listed as working for her Bumper Inc. production company, also gave 50,000 dollars, as did comedian and actor Jamie Foxx. 
A Sharon Stone, of California is also on the list with a 50,000 donation. 
Obama's inauguration fund is also attracting big contributions from titans of the US Internet and software industry.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who served on Obama's campaign economic advisory board, gave 25,000 dollars, as did Google co-founder Larry Page and Google vice president Marissa Mayer. 
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft gave 50,000 dollars, as did his wife, Connie. 
Former basketball star and businessman Earvin "Magic" Johnson also gave 25,000 dollars and five members of the family of billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros racked up 250,000 dollars between them. 
The fund is required to pay for the long list of balls and other commemorative events on and around inauguration day. Big money donors can expect special ticket privileges and VIP access to events. 
The list of fundraisers is detailed on the Presidential Inaugural Committee website at http://www.pic2009.org/donors. 
Obama's committee, in contrast with previous inaugural committees, has already said it will not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labor unions, registered lobbyists or non-US citizens. 
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081226215353.s7atgz17&show_article=1


----------



## fra444

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Every time I think about this election and our pres I hear only one song in my head!

Its the end of the world as we know it! It is the end of the world as we know it! and I feel fine! REM


----------



## Guest

*Obama in yet another scandal*

Has there ever been a President-elect implicated in so many scandals before he was even sworn-in?

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1231082hsu1.html

*Obama And That Other Ponzi Scheme*

*President-elect's name may emerge in Norman Hsu fraud trial*








DECEMBER 31--As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme (no, the other massive Ponzi scheme). In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the "extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 letter, a copy of which you'll find below, Cohen also noted that Hsu was already "notorious for his political activities" and that it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--will be introduced at trial." Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws. Unswayed by Cohen's argument, Marrero declined to delay the trial, which will begin a week before Obama's inauguration. (6 pages)


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

No one will even give a shit...


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



7costanza said:


> No one will even give a shit...


I will. But it won't matter a bit.


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

More good news for Obamessiah;

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/04/report-richardson-drops-bid-commerce-secretary/
*Bill Richardson Withdraws Nomination as Commerce Secretary*

*Bill Richardson, the commerce secretary-designate, has withdrawn his nomination because of an investigation into whether he exchanged New Mexico state government contracts for campaign financing. *

Bill Richardson has withdrawn his nomination to be commerce secretary.
Richardson, who will remain governor of New Mexico, is facing a federal grand jury investigation into whether he exchanged government contracts for contributions to three Richardson political committees.

Richardson denies any wrongdoing but the investigation won't be finished before he has to go to a Senate confirmation hearing.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," Richardson said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

Obama said he was accepting Richardson's request to withdraw with "deep regret."

It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time," the president-elect said in a statement. "I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration."

The Associated Press reported last month that a grand jury is investigating whether the California firm CDR Financial Products paid to push through a contract with the state of New Mexico.

State documents show CDR was paid a total of $1.48 million in 2004 and 2005 for its work on a transportation program.

CDR and its CEO, David Rubin, have contributed at least $110,000 to three political committees formed by Richardson, according to an AP review of campaign finance records.

The largest donation, $75,000, was made by CDR in June 2004 -- a couple of months after the transportation financing arrangement won state approval -- to a political committee that Richardson established before the Democratic National Convention that year.

Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh told FOX News that with the cloud lingering over the Obama transition because of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempts to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat, the Richardson nomination would have been another unwanted distraction.

Richardson "was going to have a very difficult time getting through this nomination," Marsh said. "People really haven't looked at the Richardson situation and the more they looked at it, the more they realized" confirmation was going to be a problem.

Richardson, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination last year and later endorsed Obama, is currently in his second term as governor of New Mexico. He served seven terms as a U.S. representative and was energy secretary and U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Clinton administration.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Dow is down 400 pts in 2 days...Odrama error is coming soon


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



> Dow is down 400 pts in 2 days...Odrama error is coming soon


Firearms sales are up..


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



justanotherparatrooper said:


> Dow is down 400 pts in 2 days...Odrama error is coming soon


I got my deferred comp statement the other day, and I think I'd do better if I just tossed the money into my roaring fireplace. :uc:


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Odramamessia day, the market has been open an hour and dropped 100 pts...going to be a long 4 years


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Nothing but DOOM and GLOOM is forecast.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

U.S. Stocks Slide in Dow Average's Worst Inauguration Day Drop

Email | Print | A A A

By Elizabeth Stanton









Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks sank, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its worst Inauguration Day decline, as speculation banks must raise more capital sent financial shares to an almost 14-year low. 
State Street Corp., the largest money manager for institutions, tumbled 59 percent after unrealized bond losses almost doubled. Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. slumped more than 23 percent on an analyst's prediction that they'll need to take steps to shore up their balance sheets. The Dow's 4 percent slide was the most on an Inauguration Day in the measure's 112-year history, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and the Stock Trader's Almanac.


----------



## fra444

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

And so it begins!!!!


----------



## CJIS

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Gee off to a great start! It's going to be a long 4 years.. thats if we are all still here.


----------



## 8MORE

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



CJIS said:


> Gee off to a great start! It's going to be a long 4 years.. thats if we are all still here.


Yea, an ugly,Very long four years


----------



## BennyBulldog

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Yeah, that last four years have been great under Bandar Bush. The stock market's in the toilet and we're up to our eyeballs in debt to the Chinese while we continue to transfer all our wealth to the oil producing states (i.e. Bandar's friends in Saudi Arabia). Yep, Obama's gonna be a lot worse.


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



BennyBulldog said:


> Yeah, that last four years have been great under Bandar Bush. The stock market's in the toilet and we're up to our eyeballs in debt to the Chinese while we continue to transfer all our wealth to the oil producing states (i.e. Bandar's friends in Saudi Arabia). Yep, Obama's gonna be a lot worse.


We were never attacked after 9/11, and it wasn't for a lack of trying. Methinks Obamessiah is going to miserably fail in that department, because he really seems to think you can talk to and reason with terrorists.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

It sounds like BennyBulldog is kneeling at the throne


----------



## caesar

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



kwflatbed said:


> It sounds like BennyBulldog is kneeling at the throne


Coolaid drinker. Check the market today after the inauguration and it's much worse than it has been.


----------



## TopCop24

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



Delta784 said:


> We were never attacked after 9/11, and it wasn't for a lack of trying. Methinks Obamessiah is going to miserably fail in that department, because he really seems to think you can talk to and reason with terrorists.


The old saying goes takes one to know one.....so maybe nobama knows something the rest of us don't


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



kwflatbed said:


> Nothing but DOOM and GLOOM is forecast.


Hence my avatar. :yes:


----------



## BennyBulldog

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Maybe sitting on the throne and reading a newspaper which is my favorite past time, but never kneeling to the throne.


----------



## HiredGoon

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*










*President Obama chooses Arab network for first TV interview...*

*'All too often the United States starts by dictating'...*


----------



## Johnny Law

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

What a douche.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

That pretty much sums it up, Johnny...


----------



## jettsixx

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Saudi-owned, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel.

Speak for your self ass wipe. As far as I'm concerned they are the enemy. Maybe not all muslims are terrorist but every terrorist on Sept 11 was muslim. I think the fact that he chose this as his first speach proves that he may have been elected by a slim majority in this country but his true roots lie with them.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



jettsixx said:


> "...Maybe not all muslims are terrorist..."


I do not share your largess concerning those who worship the moon-god. Any mooselimb may convert to the religion of their choice...or die. Failure to fight the "radical element" of their "religion" makes them the enemy.

CLUE for everyone here: Islam IS what the "radicals" practice. That form is the result of their "Reformation". Kill, or be killed or enslaved.

Your choice. Period.
:-k


----------



## jettsixx

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

dcs, you will notice I did say "maybe". But no one can in good conscience can deny that all of the terrorists so far have been muslim.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

True, you did say maybe...I prefer to play it safe...those who maintain they aren't terrorists...are lying.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*


----------



## bigguy78

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

was the Oklahoma bomber,a muslim,he was a terrorist right?


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Iowahawk Rules!


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



bigguy78 said:


> was the Oklahoma bomber,a muslim,he was a terrorist right?


Nope he was a home grown asshole like Obama and his liberal sheeple.:fu2:


----------



## EH466

*Barry O to cut the military*

Here's a big surprise, we all said it would happen however I had hoped that he would leave defense alone during a time of two major wars for our country.



> January 28, 2009
> The Virginian-Pilot
> WASHINGTON -- Defense spending, particularly for expensive new weapons such as the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship and the F-35 fighter, is going down and the Obama administration is preparing to make hard choices to end programs that exceed their budgets, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.


http://www.military.com/news/article/defense-cuts-coming-gates-testifies.html

Hard choices, how about you fix Medicare and SS that will free up enough money to cover the budget deficit, or maybe cut the obscene social welfare in this country..

I predict the military is going to get bent over and receive a Clinton style fucking while we are fully engaged in two fronts.


----------



## caesar

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

He's too busy funding ACORN 4.1 billion dollars and giving away our money to the "arts" programs. Thats part of his stimulus package.


----------



## Guest

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

It took almost all of Reagan's first term to unfuck the damage to the military caused by the Carter years, and whoever takes over in 2012 is going to face the same challenge.


----------



## 8MORE

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Read last week,(cannot find link yet, Will try), The messiah wants to ban space weapons. Leave the U.S totaly at the mercy of all our enimies.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

*Obama Space Weapon Ban May Be Tricky*

Speaking of dangerous buffoons.

Even Reuters feels obligated to give Mr. Obama cover in case he wants to re-think his dangerous pledge to do away with our missile defense system and other 'space weaponry':

*







*

*Challenges loom as Obama seeks space weapons ban*

Sun Jan 25, 2009
By Andrea Shalal-Esa - Analysis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge to seek a worldwide ban on weapons in space marks a dramatic shift in U.S. policy while posing the tricky issue of defining whether a satellite can be a weapon.
*Moments after Obama's inauguration last week, the White House website was updated to include policy statements on a range of issues, including a pledge to restore U.S. leadership on space issues and seek a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites*&#8230;
Watchdog groups and even some defense officials welcomed the statement, which echoed Obama's campaign promises, but said it would take time to hammer out a comprehensive new strategy.
*Enacting a global ban on space weapons could prove even harder*&#8230;
*Two years ago, China used a missile to destroy one of its own satellites in a test that raised worries about a new arms race in space. The incident may have created thousands of pieces of debris. Last year, the United States also destroyed one of its own satellites, saying its toxic fuel tank could pose a danger if it fell to Earth*&#8230;
A defense official, who also asked not to be named, said the Obama administration had not yet held briefings for top officials working on military space issues, but *it was clear that the focus would shift toward more diplomatic initiatives*.
*Work on classified projects involving an "active" military response to attacks against U.S. satellites might be halted in favor of more monitoring and passive protection measures*, he said. He declined to give any more details.
*The Obama administration also faces tough decisions on many multibillion-dollar satellite programs facing cost overruns and schedule delays, particularly at a time when rapid increases in military spending are grinding to a halt*.
"There's still a lot of wiggle room" in the administration's statement on military space, said analyst Victoria Samson with the private Center for Defense Information. "But just the sheer fact that they are discussing it represents a real shift from the Bush administration." &#8230;​As we often note, history may not repeat itself, but stupidity sure does.
We have gone down Obama's road numerous times before. The Russians, the Chinese and the rest of our enemies, simply do not abide by such treaties. 
Instead, they see such bans as an opportunity to increase their own efforts. So that these pacts achieve exactly the opposite of their putative purpose.
By the way, note the moral equivalency Reuters draws here:
Two years ago, China used a missile to destroy one of its own satellites in a test that raised worries about a new arms race in space. The incident may have created thousands of pieces of debris. Last year, the United States also destroyed one of its own satellites, saying its toxic fuel tank could pose a danger if it fell to Earth&#8230;​Normally, one might chalk up such proposals to naiveté. But given Mr. Obama and his advisors, we suspect it is more sinister.
After all, they hate the fact that the US is the most powerful nation in the world. And they have long since promised to do something about that.

Video:http://sweetness-light.com/archive/reuters-risks-of-obama-space-weapons-ban

But we can't say he didn't warn us.
The Obama administration also faces tough decisions on many multibillion-dollar satellite programs facing cost overruns and schedule delays, particularly at a time when rapid increases in military spending are grinding to a halt.​You see, government spending that actually helps protect our nation and develop our technology cannot be allowed.
That money needs to go to more important needs, such as the teachers union and community organizers.

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/reuters-risks-of-obama-space-weapons-ban


----------



## 7costanza

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

So for now my PU-36 Acme Space Modulator is safe..


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

And my 40 watt plasma rifle...

plasma rifle


----------



## NewEngland2007

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



caesar said:


> He's too busy funding ACORN 4.1 billion dollars and giving away our money to the "arts" programs. Thats part of his stimulus package.


Karen Finley needs her chocolate!


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

House passes economic stimulus, prodded by Obama

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent - 17 mins ago

WASHINGTON - In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night with spending increases and tax cuts at the heart of the young administration's plan to revive a badly ailing economy.
The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimous in opposition despite Obama's pleas for bipartisan support.
"We don't have a moment to spare," Obama declared at the White House as congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
The vote sent the bill to the Senate, where debate could begin as early as Monday on a companion measure already taking shape. Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's signature by mid-February.
A mere eight days after Inauguration Day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday's events heralded a new era. "The ship of state is difficult to turn," said the California Democrat. "But that is what we must do. That is what President Obama called us to do in his inaugural address."
With unemployment at its highest level in a quarter-century, the banking industry wobbling despite the infusion of staggering sums of bailout money and states struggling with budget crises, Democrats said the legislation was desperately needed.
"Another week that we delay is another 100,000 or more people unemployed. I don't think we want that on our consciences," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and one of the leading architects of the legislation.
Republicans said the bill was short on tax cuts and contained too much spending, much of it wasteful and unlikely to help laid-off Americans.
The party's leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, said the measure "won't create many jobs, but it will create plenty of programs and projects through slow-moving government spending." A GOP alternative, comprised almost entirely of tax cuts, was defeated, 266-170, moments before the final vote.
On the final vote, the legislation drew overwhelming support among Democrats while all but a few Republicans opposed it.
The White House-backed legislation includes an estimated $544 billion in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses.
Included is money for traditional job-creating programs such as highway construction and mass transit projects. But the measure tickets far more for unemployment benefits, health care and food stamp increases designed to aid victims of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Tens of billions of additional dollars would go to the states, which confront the prospect of deep budget cuts of their own. That money marks an attempt to ease the recession's impact on schools and law enforcement. With funding for housing weatherization and other provisions, the bill also makes a down payment on Obama's campaign promise of creating jobs that can reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
The centerpiece tax cut calls for a $500 break for single workers and $1,000 for couples, including those who don't earn enough to owe federal income taxes.
The House vote marked merely the first of several major milestones a for the legislation, which Democratic leaders have pledged to deliver to the White House for Obama's signature by mid-February.
Already a more bipartisan - and costlier - measure is taking shape in the Senate, and Obama personally pledged to House and Senate Republicans in closed-door meetings on Tuesday that he is ready to accept modifications as the legislation advances.
Rahm Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman who is Obama's chief of staff, invited nearly a dozen House Republicans to the White House late Tuesday for what one participant said was a soft sales job.

This lawmaker quoted Emanuel as telling the group that polling shows roughly 80 percent support for the legislation, and that Republicans oppose it at their political peril. The lawmaker spoke on condition of anonymity, saying there was no agreement to speak publicly about the session. 
In fact, though, many Republicans in the House are virtually immune from Democratic challenges because of the makeup of their districts, and have more to fear from GOP primary challenges in 2010. As a result, they have relatively little political incentive to break with conservative orthodoxy and support hundreds of billions in new federal spending. 
Also, some Republican lawmakers have said in recent days they know they will have a second chance to support a bill when the final House-Senate compromise emerges in a few weeks. 
That gave an air of predictability to the proceedings in the House, as Democrats defended the legislation as an appropriate response to the specter of double-digit unemployment in the near future. 
Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, sought to strip out all the spending from the legislation before final passage, arguing that the entire cost of the bill would merely add to soaring federal deficits. "Where are we going to get the money," he asked, but his attempt failed overwhelmingly, 302-134. 
Obey had a ready retort. "They don't look like Herbert Hoover, I guess, but there are an awful lot of people in this chamber who think like Herbert Hoover," he said, referring to the president whose term is forever linked in history with the Great Depression. 
___ Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Liz Sidoti and Ben Feller contributed to this story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_go_co/obama_economy


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Hill Republican: Stimulus aids illegal immigrants











*Jan 29 12:02 PM US/Eastern*

_By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS_
_Associated Press Writer_

_WASHINGTON (AP) - The $800 billion-plus economic stimulus measure making its way through Congress could steer government checks to illegal immigrants, a top Republican congressional official asserted Thursday. _

_The legislation, which would send tax credits of $500 per worker and $1,000 per couple, expressly disqualifies nonresident aliens, but it would allow people who don't have Social Security numbers to be eligible for the checks. _
_Undocumented immigrants who are not eligible for a Social Security number can file tax returns with an alternative number. A House-passed version of the economic recovery bill and one making its way through the Senate would allow anyone with such a number, called an individual taxpayer identification number, to qualify for the tax credits. _
_A revolt among GOP conservatives to similar provisions of a 2008 economic stimulus bill, which sent rebate checks to most wage earners, forced Democratic congressional leaders to add stricter eligibility requirements. That legislation, enacted in February 2008, required that people have valid Social Security numbers in order to get checks. _
_The GOP official voiced concerns about the latest economic aid measure on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly. _
_Republicans have already blasted the package for including what they argue is wasteful spending and omitting tax cuts for wealthier people and businesses they say are needed to jump-start the anemic economy. Not a single Republican voted for an $819 billion version of the plan when it passed the House on Wednesday. GOP senators arranged a midday news conference to voice their concerns. _

_http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D960U4HG0&show_article=1_


----------



## fra444

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*



7costanza said:


> So for now my PU-36 Acme Space Modulator is safe..





dcs2244 said:


> And my 40 watt plasma rifle...
> 
> plasma rifle


Enjoy them now boys and wait for that knock at the door from THE MAN who is sent to take them from you!


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Obama touts middle-class task force led by Biden

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer - 6 mins ago

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama signed a series of executive orders Friday that he said should "level the playing field" for labor unions in their struggles with management.
Obama also used the occasion at the White House to announce formally a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans. He named Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman.
Union officials say the new orders by Obama will undo Bush administration policies that favored employers over workers. The orders will:
_Require federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.
_Reverse a Bush administration order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.
_Prevent federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.
"We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests," Obama said during a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution," he said. "You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement."
Signing the executive orders was Obama's second overture to organized labor in as many days. On Thursday, he signed the first bill of his presidency, giving workers more time to sue for wage discrimination.
"It's a new day for workers," said James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who attended the ceremony with other union leaders. "We finally have a White House that is dedicated to working with us to rebuild our middle class. Hope for the American Dream is being restored."
Of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families, Obama said, "We're not forgetting the poor. They are going to be front and center, because they, too, share our American Dream."
He said his administration wants to make sure low-income people "get a piece" of the American pie "if they're willing to work for it."
"With this task force, we have a single, highly visible group with one single goal: to raise the living standards of the people who are the backbone of this country," Biden said.
Obama set several goals for the task force, including expanding opportunities for education and training; improving the work-family balance; restoring labor standards, including workplace safety; and protecting retirement security.
The president and vice president said the task force will include the secretaries of commerce, education, labor, and health and human services because those Cabinet departments have the most influence on the well-being of the middle class. It also will include White House advisers on the economy, the budget and domestic policy.
Biden pledged that the task force will conduct its business in the open, and announced a Web site, http://www.astrongmiddleclass.gov, for the public to get information. He also announced that the panel's first meeting will be Feb. 27 in Philadelphia and will focus on environmental or "green jobs."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_labor


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*


----------



## kwflatbed

*And So It Begins Part 2*

*Hope-Change-Hide

*President Obama has taken action to block Google and other search engines from accessing White House web pages.

I guess transparency and openness have been redefined by the Obama administration.

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


----------



## StbbrnMedic

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Why am I not surprised.


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



StbbrnMedic said:


> Why am I not surprised.


Neither am I, comrade.


----------



## MCADPD24

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

I can't wait for 2013....


----------



## CJIS

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



MCADPD24 said:


> I can't wait for 2013....


thats if we make it till then


----------



## OfficerObie59

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



MSP75 said:


> Neither am I, comrade.


In related news, today President Obama created a new division of the Homleand Security Department named The Minstry of Truth.


----------



## StbbrnMedic

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*


----------



## MCADPD24

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

I hope we can make it. I just hope he doesn't get elected for a 2nd term. People should wake up and see how unqualified he is to be president.


----------



## fra444

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Thats great! MCADPD & Stbbrn!


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

*Obama seeks assessment on gays in military*

*No rush to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'*

By Bryan Bender

Globe Staff / February 1, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is telling the Pentagon and gay-rights advocates that it will have to study the implications for national security and enlist more support in Congress before trying to overturn the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law and allow gays to serve openly in the military, according to people involved in the discussions.

DiscussCOMMENTS (13)

They said Obama, who pledged during the campaign to overturn the law, does not want to ask lawmakers to do so until the military has completed a comprehensive assessment of the impact that such a move would have on military discipline. Then, the president hopes to be able to make a case to members of both parties that overturning the 1993 law would be in the best interest of national security.
Obama is hoping to avoid the missteps of the Clinton administration when it tried to open the ranks to gays and lesbians, only to be confronted by fierce resistance from lawmakers and commanders. Early in his presidency, Bill Clinton signed an order allowing gays to serve but was forced to back off. A compromise made it illegal for gays to serve openly, but also restricted investigations into service members' sexual behavior.
"The Clinton experience makes a lot of folks [in the administration] apprehensive," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund, which represents gay military personnel discharged under the current policy. Sarvis, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, recently met with Obama advisers on the subject.
At the Pentagon, officials say they have been told not to expect the administration to seek to lift the ban quickly. One senior officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, said staff officers for Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been told it will be several months at the earliest - possibly not even this year - until the top brass will be formally asked to weigh in on a change in policy.
And even then, he said, the military has been assured it will have wide latitude to undertake a detailed study of how a change in the policy would affect the military.
Mullen told reporters earlier this month that he is aware of the president's "intent to do this," but "there are no more specifics with respect to when." When the time comes, he said, he will give the president "my best military advice" on "the impact of what a potential change could be."
During the campaign, Obama signaled his intention to allow gays to serve openly in the military, but did not commit to any timetable.
Last April, Obama told the Advocate, a national gay and lesbian newsmagazine, that he believes there is "increasing recognition within the armed forces that [don't ask, don't tell] is a counterproductive strategy."
As recently as Jan. 15, his spokesman made Obama's ultimate intentions clear. "You don't hear politicians give a one-word answer much," Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, responded when asked whether the new president would take action to overturn the 1993 law. "But it's 'Yes.' "
But in addition to winning over the military, Obama and allies in Congress will also have to convince lawmakers in both parties that reversing the policy is necessary, according to several Capitol Hill sources involved in the deliberations. Only legislation approved by the House and Senate and signed by the president can reverse "don't ask, don't tell."
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts and a senior member of the Armed Service Committee, is preparing to introduce legislation to lift the ban, but not until he can get a Republican co-sponsor, according to a congressional aide. The aide said Kennedy's office is lobbying several GOP colleagues to join him, including Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, John McCain of Arizona, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Some powerful members of his own party also appear unconvinced.
"I still think we have significant issues with a lot of the Midwestern Democrats being on the fence," the aide said, adding that some Democratic senators are considered "shaky." Some of those include Evan Bayh of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska - all representing states with significant conservative constituencies. All three declined to provide their views.
The House of Representatives, with a larger Democratic margin than the Senate, is considered more likely to vote for overturning the current law when a companion bill is introduced by Representative Ellen Tauscher, Democrat of California, whose office confirmed that she is drafting legislation.
Still, Democratic boosters in the House face hurdles of their own. For example, Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, the chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee that would have to vet any such legislation, "isn't there yet," said the congressional aide.
Lauren Dealy, a spokeswoman for the committee, said Skelton supports "don't ask, don't tell" but added that he also believes the panel has a responsibility to reassess the policy at some point.
In the meantime, longtime opponents of repealing "don't ask, don't tell" are preparing to fight any efforts to allow gays to serve openly. Elaine Donnelly, president of the conservative Center for Military Readiness, has testified before Congress on the issue and says that open homosexuality in the military would severely weaken discipline. "Such a policy would impose new, unneeded burdens of sexual tension on men and women serving in high-pressure working conditions," Donnelly said in an interview.
"I think the burden of proof is on those why say the [don't ask, don't tell] law should be repealed," she added.
Advocates for lifting the ban say such arguments are outdated because national attitudes have changed considerably since the law was passed.
And supporters of lifting the ban are arming themselves with a different argument they hope will tip the scales: that allowing gays to serve openly will improve the military.
Government reports show that many of the servicemembers who have been discharged under the policy had critical skills, such as foreign-language proficiency, that are in short supply for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - a point Obama raised in his April interview with the Advocate.
Gay-rights groups also point to research by the University of California, Los Angeles that suggests allowing gays to serve openly would draw tens of thousands of additional recruits - patriotic Americans who have not enlisted because the current policy is perceived as hostile to gays.
To help make their case they have also enlisted more than 100 retired generals and admirals who say the law should be changed.
But Nathaniel Frank, a researcher at the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara that has studied the issue, believes there is good reason for the Obama administration to move cautiously on the issue that harmed Clinton's relationship with the military. Yet Frank also said waiting too long could jeopardize the entire effort: "A delay could let opposition fester and build."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/w...1/obama_seeks_assessment_on_gays_in_military/


----------



## csauce777

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



StbbrnMedic said:


>


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Iran says Obama's offer to talk shows US failure

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency. 
"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added. 
After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist". 
In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama. 
Iranian politicians frequently refer to the US administration as the "global arrogance", "domineering power" and "Great Satan". 
Tensions with the United States have soared over Iran's nuclear drive and Ahmadinejad's vitriolic verbal attacks against Washington's close regional ally Israel. 
Former US president George W. Bush refused to hold talks with the Islamic republic -- which he dubbed part of an "axis of evil" -- unless it suspended uranium enrichment, and never took a military option to thwart Tehran's atomic drive off the table. 
The new administration of Obama has also refused to rule out any options -- including military strikes -- to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. 
Iran denies any plans to build the bomb and insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at peaceful ends.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.073ba2ee2f1f00668848a4655420fedc.411&show_article=1


----------



## MCADPD24

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*


----------



## 8MORE

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Jimmy Carter must be thinking to himself " At least I will not be the worst President in history any more".


----------



## StbbrnMedic

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



> US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday


Of course it does!!!! He basically said to them, listen, I don't want to fight anymore... You win. Can't we just shake hands and play nice?
What an asshat!!! Who exactly did he think he was dealing with?? Did he honestly think if he said sorry it would make all these years go away and all those lives lost would not be for nothing??


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*


----------



## rg1283

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

I still can't believe that the old school democrats (The people who think the democrat is for the working people, etc.) think this guy is an old school classic democrat like your grandparents like. WTF

This quote is the best one by JFK:

" And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country."

Everyone can do something for their country, weather its a small thing or a big thing. I am not into the Obama BS, I believe the conservative mantra, by teaching a man to fish, vs. giving him a fish everyday and cooking it for him.


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



rg1283 said:


> This quote is the best one by JFK


JFK was a LOT closer in political philosophy to Ronald Reagan than Obamessiah; he realized that lower taxes mean people spend more, which in turn brings in more revenue.

Can you imagine Obamessiah handling the Cuban Missile Crisis? :uc:


----------



## Kem25

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

Screwed Up....Totally Screwed Up!!!!
Next thing you know Obama will apologize for so called crimes! 
Romney/Palin (or anybody else who is not Obama) 2012


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



> "*This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed,"* Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.
> "Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.
> After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".
> *In response, Iranian President **Mahmoud Ahmadinejad** launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.
> *


 This is one of the DEEP challenges that we face with WEAK people who don't understand the psychology of a PREDATOR. We are not dealing with people who cherish and respect an open dialogue based off common goals. We are dealing with people who respect power, and violence. The problem is that people who spent all of their time in college, debate clubs, and congress; have never had to face down someone that sees things not in 'shades of grey' or even black and white for that matter. They see things in BLACK. There are some people and governments that will view any foreign policy diplomacy as capitulation.


----------



## Hawk19

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



5-0 said:


> This is one of the DEEP challenges that we face with WEAK people who don't understand the psychology of a PREDATOR. We are not dealing with people who cherish and respect an open dialogue based off common goals. We are dealing with people who respect power, and violence... ...They see things in BLACK. There are some people and governments that will view any foreign policy diplomacy as capitulation.


One of the big feelings that I had after 9/11, seeing those Al Qaeda videos, was that those terrorists really believed America had become so complacent that we would never go over there and tear things up. Nothing wrong with letting the opposition know you've prepared to make life uncomfortable.

Uncomfortably short, that is.


----------



## spdawg0734

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

The one mistake the framers of this country made is not making it a requirement to have served in the military in order to be President. If you are not willing to give your life for this country at some point, you *should not* have the right to send others to do so for you.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



rg1283 said:


> "...Everyone can do something for their country, weather its a small thing or a big thing. I am not into the Obama BS, I believe the conservative mantra, by teaching a man to fish, vs. giving him a fish everyday and cooking it for him."


"Build a man a fire, and keep him warm for a night. Set a man afire and keep him warm for the rest of his life." -anonymous policeman.



spdawg0734 said:


> The one mistake the framers of this country made is not making it a requirement to have served in the military in order to be President. If you are not willing to give your life for this country at some point, you *should not* have the right to send others to do so for you.


I agree with Bobby Heilnlein: In order for the franchise to be of value to a citizen, it must be earned. The franchise is earned by serving in the military. No service, no vote. Period.

Oh, and not just "I fix-radios-fly-airplanes-play-computers-drive-trucks-fix-tanks" kind of service: EVERYBODY FIGHTS. All enlistment is Infantry. Period. One would then be able to bid for the support/technical/skilled jobs after earning their CIB, or equivlant: pilot, engineer, mechanic, radio et al...

So then, in review: two ways to enlist: Army or Marines. Period. (did I mention this is all volunteer? NO CONSCRIPTS.)

Lastly, all public service jobs like policeman, fireman, mayor, senator, president, judge, prosecutor or public defender: Veterans ONLY need apply. The same with public school administrators (those who set educational policy and curriculums); tenure for rank-and-file teachers would be a thing of the past.

Didn't you ever wonder why a great story like "Starship Troopers" was never made into a movie before the abortion filmed in the 90's? "Dangerous Ideas", that's why.


----------



## Irish Wampanoag

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*









=OBALIN

Obama + Stalin


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



spdawg0734 said:


> The one mistake the framers of this country made is not making it a requirement to have served in the military in order to be President. If you are not willing to give your life for this country at some point, you *should not* have the right to send others to do so for you.


I don't know about that....there's been some pretty good Presidents who never served in the military. Abraham Lincoln comes to mind immediately.


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## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Didn't Abe serve in the Illinois militia?


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## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Obama stimulus plan includes billions for cops

By Matt Apuzzo 
Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Barack Obama wants the government back in the policing business, big time.
Obama's huge stimulus plan includes about $4 billion to resurrect grants that put tens of thousands of police on the streets during the 1990s. The programs were all but eliminated during the Bush administration amid criticism that their results didn't justify the hefty price tags.
The grants are popular with Democrats, and restoring them was central to Obama's campaign plan to combat rising violence. By tacking the money onto the stimulus plan, Obama avoids having to defend the spending during the normal budget process.
The proposal allocates $3 billion for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, a program that has funded drug task forces, after-school programs, prisoner rehabilitation and other programs.
Another $1 billion in stimulus money is set aside for the Community Oriented Policing Services program begun under President Clinton. The program, known as COPS grants, paid the salaries of many local police officers and was a "modest contributor" to the decline in crime in the 1990s, according to a 2005 government oversight report.
President George Bush slashed both grant programs over the past eight years, citing a series of reports questioning their efficiency and oversight.
But the programs remain popular among many lawmakers, who often used the grants to steer money to their home districts. Mayors and police chiefs love them, particularly during lean economic times.
In New Bedford, Mass., a port city of about 92,000, Police Chief Ronald Teachman said a new round of grants would put police on the streets at a time when experts expect crime to rise with the unemployment rate. With the mayor warning of city layoffs, Teachman said grants would keep him from having to move detectives and school resource officers into patrol cars to fill shifts.
And it would mean jobs, he said, which is why the stimulus was written.
"Any dollar they spend in New Bedford is going to be used better than one they spend on Merrill Lynch or others on Wall Street," Teachman said. "I'm not going to hold the money back and not tell you where I'm spending it."
The House passed the stimulus bill, but the version that makes it out of the Senate is expected to be different.
But because Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder strongly support the grants - and Democrats control Congress - the programs will likely be resurrected even if they don't make it into the final stimulus bill.








_Wire Service_


----------



## MCADPD24

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Stimulus Without End: In which President Obama expands the fedral government (after the grown-ups have retired)...

Hydra.


----------



## rg1283

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

I think I will get all my credit cards that I just payed off and buy a bunch of things that I need. Then cry and flip out when I can't pay the min. balance.

Pretty much what Obama is doing with this stimulus.


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



rg1283 said:


> I think I will get all my credit cards that I just payed off and buy a bunch of things that I need. Then cry and flip out when I can't pay the min. balance.
> 
> Pretty much what Obama is doing with this stimulus.


Send the bills to the great Obama for payment.


----------



## spdawg0734

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Sorry Delta I do love your posts but check your facts. I stand by my statement, if you want to be COMANDER AND CHIEF with the power to send your fellow citizens to war, you should at some time in your life must have been willing to make the sacrifice your self. I am not as hardcore as Army or Marines only, I value the service of all the services. In a time of war any citizen wearing the uniform of the United States irregardless of the branch has my respect and bears the same honor. Not everyone can be a Marine, or have the privalge and honor to be a parent of one.

Abraham Lincolns Military Service;
During the Black Hawk War, Abraham Lincoln of New Salem, Illinois served three enlistments. Each enrollment lasted for approximately 30 days. 
His first enlistment was as elected captain of a company in the 4th Regiment of Mounted Volunteers, of Gen. Samuel Whiteside's Brigade. Lincoln enrolled on April 21, 1832, and mustered out with his company at Fort Johnson (Ottawa) on May 27, 1832. The company served at Beardstown, and reportedly Lincoln's company helped bury the dead of "Stillman's Run"- although this occurrence is still under investigation. Along with the muster-out of Lincoln's company was the general muster-out of what became known as the "First Army" of Illinois. While a new army was being raised and organized, Illinois enlisted and mustered in a 20-day interim regiment (the so-called "Second Army") and the only defense the State of Illinois had until the so-called "Third Army" could be brought into the field. 
Lincoln re-enlisted on the same day he mustered out of his old company, and was mustered in on May 29 as a private in Captain Elijah Ises' Company, Twenty-Day Interim Regiment. He actively served with the company when General Henry Atkinson detached Captain Iles' command to ride north from Ottawa along the Kellogg Trail and reopen communications with Galena-- which had been out of touch with the rest of the world since the Felix St. Vrain Massacre. As part of this movement, Iles' company (including Lincoln) spent an overnight at Apple River Fort... about a week before Black Hawk's attack against that strongpoint later in June. Once this ride was completed, the service of Iles' company was essentially at an end. On June 16, Lincoln was mustered out. 
Lincoln's third enlistment was as a private in Captain Jacob M. Early's "Spy Company." This unit mustered in approximately June 20, 1832, and served as part of General Atkinson's army as it moved north through present-day Beloit, Janesvilles, the Storr's Lake encampment (west of present-day Milton, Rock County, Wisconsin) and on to the "Trembling Lands" east of present-day Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Atkinson's food supply dwindled, and his solution was to muster out most of his militia. Accordingly, Early's company (along with Lincoln) was mustered out and discharged on July 10, 1832 near present-day Coldspring, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. The story goes that Lincoln had his horse stolen, so he and companion George Harrison (not the Beatle) reportedly walked and canoed several hundred miles back to New Salem.

No this is no Audie Murphy service, buy he did enlist in what was required at the time, he could have just as easy just hid in the mountains of illinois and avoided service. At anyrate he has a more extensive military carreer than Clinton or Obama. ​


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



spdawg0734 said:


> Sorry Delta I do love your posts but check your facts.


Fair enough, but Franklin Roosevelt never served in the military, and he guided the country through the second-bloodiest war in its history. While Truman made the decision to drop the A-Bomb, there would be no bomb to drop without FDR (Truman didn't even know about it until he became President).

Being a veteran myself, I of course have great respect for other veterans, but it's not a deal-breaker for me. I would have much preferred Mitt Romney as President than John McCain.


----------



## KEVDEMT

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



dcs2244 said:


> So then, in review: two ways to enlist: Army or Marines. Period. (did I mention this is all volunteer? NO CONSCRIPTS.)


sorry, just trying to get an handle on your viewpoint.

you're saying that Naval and Air Force veterans are of lesser quality than Army and Marines? or that thier service is somehow less important or worthwile?

im really trying to see things from your point of view, but im a little husky and i cant actually get my head that far up my ass so if you could explain it to me a little better id appreciate it.


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Ditto the Mittster...


----------



## spdawg0734

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Point taken, and Jimmy Carter was a LT in the Navy and he sucked as president, I understand that and for the record 12 presidents did not have military service, it is just my opinion specialy in this day and age, to me its speaks of the character of the person who wants to call himself commander and chief and make decisions with the lives of those willing to shed them, that he or she believes in the country enough to serve and in so willing to make the sacrifice.


----------



## pahapoika

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

being a non veteran i have no reference point to use whether military service makes for a better commander in chief.

having first hand knowledge of how a military functions is helpful , but having preconceived ideas of an organization's limits may keep a leader's vision short sighted

on the other hand it would help be keeping their expectations more realistic too

perhaps it's a man's character that means the most and the present occupant in the whitehouse has none.

for the record i have no problem with veterans preference or benefits for veterans. maybe the only way to solve the issue would be mandatory service.

although i believe the draft wasn't too successful in this country


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Obama: 'I screwed up' - Daschle nomination gone

By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent - 11 mins ago

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama on Tuesday abandoned his nomination fight for Tom Daschle and a second high-profile appointee who failed to pay all their taxes, fearing ugly confirmation battles that would undercut his claims to ethical high ground and cripple his presidency in just its second week. "I screwed up," Obama declared.
"It's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules - you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes," Obama said in one of a series of interviews with TV anchors.
"I'm frustrated with myself, with our team. ... I'm here on television saying I screwed up," Obama said on NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams." He repeated virtually the same words in several other interviews.
Hours earlier, the White House had announced that Daschle had asked to be removed from consideration as health and human services secretary and that Nancy Killefer had made the same request concerning what was to be her groundbreaking appointment as a chief performance officer to make the entire government run better.
Daschle said in a brief letter to Obama that he refused to "be a distraction" from the new president's drive for health care reform. Obama said neither he nor Daschle excused the former Senate Democratic leader's tax errors but that he accepted his friend's decision "with sadness and regret."
Unsightly personal tax problems had been piling up for the new administration. Last week, the Senate confirmed Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary, but only after days of controversy over the fact that the man who would oversee the Internal Revenue Service had only belatedly paid $34,000 in income taxes.
Bill Richardson bowed out, too, though his difficulties didn't involve personal taxes. The New Mexico governor, who was Obama's first choice for commerce secretary, withdrew amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.
Questions about Daschle's failure to fully pay his taxes from 2005 through 2007 had been increasing since they came to light last Friday. Daschle overlooked taxes on income for consulting work and personal use of a car and driver, and also deducted more in charitable contributions than he should have. To resolve it, he paid $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest last month.
Daschle, chosen to lead the administration's push for sweeping health care reform, also was facing questions about potential conflicts of interests related to speaking fees he accepted from health care interests and about the advice he provided to health insurers and hospitals through his work at a law firm.
Killefer, an executive with consulting giant McKinsey & Co., had been chosen by Obama to serve in two roles: as the first chief performance officer in a White House and as a deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget.
When Obama announced Killefer to much fanfare in early January, The Associated Press reported that the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home in 2005 for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help. She resolved the tax error five months after the lien was filed. Since then, administration officials had refused to say whether her tax problems extended beyond that one issue.
By Tuesday, the tax questions had reached critical mass.
"This is a self-induced injury that I'm angry about, and we're going to make sure we get it fixed," Obama said on ABC's "World News."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the choice to step aside was Daschle's alone and that the former senator "did not get a signal" from the White House to do so. Daschle and Obama spoke Tuesday, and the president was surprised at the news, said White House senior adviser David Axelrod.
Democratic lawmakers were surprised, too - and disappointed. Axelrod rushed to Capitol Hill to soothe frayed nerves.
"I was a little stunned. I thought he was going to get confirmed," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the panel that would have voted on Daschle's nomination. "It's regrettable."
Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Daschle's former Democratic colleagues had leapt to the former Democratic leader's defense. And it seemed that the clubby way that senators treat one of their own was likely to help Daschle survive the controversy.

But particularly after the divisive Geithner debate and vote, it apparently became too bitter a pill. Tax issues are easy for the public to understand, and also particularly easy to resent in wealthy officials at a time of widespread economic crisis. 
They also created an opening for a drumbeat of criticism from Republicans and on newspaper editorial pages that Obama was engaging in a double standard: proclaiming his administration to be more ethical, responsible and special interest-free than his predecessors' and yet carving out exceptions almost daily. 
GOP Sen. John Ensign of Nevada said Daschle was going to be faced with tough questions from committee members, among them how the wealth he amassed from a lobbying firm - while not technically registered as a lobbyist - "passes the smell test." 
"I think he saved the president from being embarrassed next week in a public hearing," Ensign said. 
But even while Obama aimed to stave off potentially crippling problems in one corner with the withdrawals, he created some new ones. 
Obama has promised that moving toward universal health care coverage is one of the pillars of first 100 days agenda - a heavy lift that many believed Daschle, with his long experience in Washington, was uniquely qualified for. Daschle was going to wear two hats for Obama, as White House health czar on top of the post leading the Health and Human Services Department. 
"We're going to do health care reform," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said flatly after the nomination withdrawal. But others reacted differently. 
"It really sets us back a step," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Because he was such a talent. I mean he understood Congress, serving in the House and Senate he certainly had the confidence of the president." 
Among those considered for the post before it went to Daschle was Howard Dean, the physician-turned-politician who ran for president in 2004 and recently left as head of the Democratic National Committee. Other possible replacements include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. 
___ Associated Press writers Michael J. Sniffen, Ron Fournier, Liz Sidoti, Charles Babington and David Espo contributed to this story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_failed_nominees


----------



## fra444

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



> Obama: 'I screwed up'


Get used to hearing that people!


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

*The pot smoking idiot is showing his true side.*

*DEA continues pot raids Obama opposes*

*President vowed to end policy*

*Stephen Dinan and Ben Conery, THE WASHINGTON TIMES *
*Thursday, February 5, 2009 *

Drug Enforcement Administration agents this week raided four medical marijuana shops in California, contrary to President Obama's campaign promises to stop the raids.

The White House said it expects those kinds of raids to end once Mr. Obama nominates someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by Bush administration holdovers. 
"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. 
Medical use of marijuana is legal under the law in California and a dozen other states, but the federal government under President Bush, bolstered by a 2005 Supreme Court ruling, argued that federal interests trumped state law. 
Dogged by marijuana advocates throughout the campaign, Mr. Obama repeatedly said he was opposed to using the federal government to raid medical marijuana shops, particularly because it was an infringement on states' decisions. 
"I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," Mr. Obama told the Mail Tribune newspaper in Oregon in March, during the Democratic primary campaign. 
He told the newspaper the "basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely appropriate." 
Mr. Obama is still filling key law enforcement posts. For now, DEA is run by acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, a Bush appointee. 
Special Agent Sarah Pullen of the DEA's Los Angeles office said agents raided four marijuana dispensaries about noon Tuesday. Two were in Venice and one each was in Marina Del Rey and Playa Del Ray -- all in the Los Angeles area. 
A man who answered the phone at Marina Caregivers in Marina Del Rey said his shop was the target of a raid but declined to elaborate, saying the shop was just trying to get back to operating. 
Agent Pullen said the four raids seized $10,000 in cash and 224 kilograms of marijuana and marijuana-laced food, such as cookies. No one was arrested, she said, but the raid is part of an ongoing investigation seeking to trace the marijuana back to its suppliers or source. 
She said agents have conducted 30 or 40 similar raids in the past several years, many of which resulted in prosecutions. 
"It's clear that the DEA is showing no respect for President Obama's campaign promises," said Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, which advocates for medical marijuana and for decriminalizing the drug. 
California allows patients whose doctors prescribe marijuana to use the drug. The state has set up a registry to allow patients to obtain cards allowing them to possess, grow, transport and use marijuana. 
Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group in California, called the raids an attempt to undermine state law and said they were apparently conducted without the knowledge of Los Angeles city or police officials. 
He said the DEA has raided five medical marijuana dispensaries in the state since Mr. Obama was inaugurated and that the first took place on Jan. 22 in South Lake Tahoe. 
"President Obama needs to keep a promise he made, not just in one campaign stop, but in multiple speeches that he would not be spending Justice Department funds on these kinds of raids," Mr. Hermes said. "We do want to give him a little bit of leeway, but at the same time we're expecting him to stop this egregious enforcement policy that is continuing into his presidency." 
He said he is aware that Mr. Obama has not installed his own DEA chief but that new Attorney General "Eric Holder can still suspend these types of operations." 
The Justice Department referred questions to the White House

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/05/dea-led-by-bush-continues-pot-raids/


----------



## CJIS

*White House will end medical marijuana raids!*

White House will end medical marijuana raids! 
_washingtontimes.com -_ "The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.


----------



## Guest

*Re: White House will end medical marijuana raids!*



CJIS said:


> The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws,


Except those he doesn't agree with.


----------



## StbbrnMedic

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

My God I hate hearing/reading his name!! My bloodpressure goes up every time I do.


----------



## MCADPD24

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



StbbrnMedic said:


> My God I hate hearing/reading his name!! My bloodpressure goes up every time I do.


Couldn't agree with you more Medic


----------



## Hawk19

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



StbbrnMedic said:


> My God I hate hearing/reading his name!! My bloodpressure goes up every time I do.


Even when you see his cabinet members get exposed for the hypocrites they are, and go down in flames?


----------



## ddp335

*Re: "...And so it begins..." After Election Comments*

Thats what happens when illigals and the people who live off the welfare system cast their votes so they can continue to not work, continue to have their paychecks handed to them, and continue to be the cause of most of the crime in this country.


----------



## SinePari

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

If you HOPE in one hand and SHIT in the other, which one fills up faster?


----------



## USMCTrooper

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

In 2013 he can return to his TV shows roots......maybe a reunion show?


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

The next iteration of the DSM will have a section devoted to Teh One...


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Obama defends ethics standards

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - The questions for Barack Obama from a crowd in Elkhart, Ind., aren't all friendly ones, and they aren't all about the stimulus plan.

Obama responded to one question Monday about the tax problems faced by some of his high-level nominees, saying the nominees had made "honest mistakes." 
But he also said his administration doesn't want to send a message that there are "two sets of rules"-one for his administration, and one for everyone else. 
Two nominees, including Tom Daschle, who was in line to be secretary of Health and Human Services, withdrew from consideration. But Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed. Obama also reiterated that the ethics rules he's imposed on his administration are seen as the "highest standards ever."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9686TUG1&show_article=1


----------



## 8MORE

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

"Honest mistakes"? The more Obama opens his mouth the more I'm convinced he has never met something called the truth. For the most part he has appointed tax cheats and others from the shadier parts of society. The few choices made for key positions are loosing control over important parts of there departments,( ie.Commerce/Census).


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Obama Assassination Facts

*Washington, DC*-The *United States Secret Service* had better keep the new president, *Barack Obama* in a bunker for his own safety. There is more than a little chatter about killing our elected leader on the Internet. Out of curiosity I put *Obama and assassination* into the *Google* search engine. This was the staggering and shocking result: "Results 1 - 10 of about *3,320,000 for Obama assassination*. (0.28 seconds)"

Then I took the term's *Bush and assassination *and got this result: "Results *301,000 for bush assassination*. (0.33 seconds)" *George W. Bush* was the most unpopular President of my lifetime and he held office for eight years! Also in that same figure you must include *George H.W. Bush* who served four years.

There are people who hate Obama for the color of his skin and a lot more that hate the Red color of his politics. Those were the motivations for this chatter for the most part of the tiny percentage of sites I read.

The so called, *Trillion Dollar Stimulus Package *is considered anti-American by many millions including myself. Many millions also feel Obama is a threat to our form of government and way of life.

Based on the chatter I suspect that there will be competing teams of assassins unaware that others have given themselves that kind of a mission. Aside from foreign governments, mental defectives the Secret Service will be finding more mainstream Americans that are convinced Obama must be stopped at all cost.

Only time will tell us about Obama's mortality, but with 3,320,000 Internet conversations dedicated to that subject, I'd say things look pretty grim after less than one month in office.

Posted by Crimefile

http://www.crimefilenews.com/


----------



## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

It will be a miracle if we survive this with the Union intact. I thought Texas might lead the way, but once again it may default to South Carolina...


----------



## Guest

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Stay strong, boys & girls; our union survived a civil war and two world wars, it can surely survive four years with an incompetent socialist at the helm.


----------



## Killjoy

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



> Stay strong, boys & girls; our union survived a civil war and two world wars, it can surely survive four years with an incompetent socialist at the helm.


We hope.

Americans today are not the Americans of generations past with a strong, independent, "can-do" streak in their blood. The Americans of today are idiotic spoiled brats who want "mother-government" to take care of all their problems.

Makes me wonder if Monarchy is the natural form of government.


----------



## NewEngland2007

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

The Washington Post just asked Obama what he thought of Alex Rodriguez taking steroids. Nah, I dreamed that, right? I mean, we can trust the press to cover the president responsibly and ask important questions, right? Right????


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

















*War was declared on the United States of America*
*2,708 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes and 29 seconds ago.*
*September 11*

*And again on January 20 2009*


----------



## lofu

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



NewEngland2007 said:


> The Washington Post just asked Obama what he thought of Alex Rodriguez taking steroids. Nah, I dreamed that, right? I mean, we can trust the press to cover the president responsibly and ask important questions, right? Right????


That was unfreaking believable. The right answer would have been "who gives a shit? Have you been following the news you are here to cover?" But instead we got, "AHHH, Blah, Blah. MLB is finally taking this seriously. Blah, Blah. I'm a fan of MLB. Blah, Blah."


----------



## Big.G

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

*NH to Secede over Obama NWO Agenda* (Disregard the first 20 seconds or so)


----------



## kwflatbed

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Obama confronts a choice on copters

*By Peter Baker* 
Published: February 16, 2009

*WASHINGTON:* President Barack Obama has slammed high-flying executives traveling in cushy jets at a time of economic turmoil. But soon he will have to decide whether to proceed with some of the priciest aircraft in the world - a new fleet of 28 Marine One helicopters that will each cost more than the last Air Force One.
A six-year-old project to build state-of-the-art presidential helicopters has bogged down in a contracting quagmire that will challenge Obama's desire to rein in military contracting expenses. The price tag has nearly doubled, production has fallen years behind schedule and much of the program has been frozen until the new administration figures out what to do about it.
The choice confronting Obama encapsulates the tension between two imperatives of his nascent presidency, the need to meet the continuing threats of an age of terrorism and the demand for austerity in a period of economic hardship.
Equipped to deflect missile attacks and capable of waging war from the air, the new VH-71 helicopters would fly farther, faster and more safely than the current decades-old craft. But each improvement pushes up the cost. The program's original $6.1 billion contract has ballooned to $11.2 billion, and the Pentagon notified Congress last month that it was so far over budget that the law required a review. The Obama administration now must determine if the project is essential to national security and if there are alternatives that would cost less.
For Obama, the program is one more inheritance from the Bush administration, which began the effort after the Sept. 11 attacks generated concern about whether presidential helicopters from the 1970s were up to the challenge of terrorist threats. President George W. Bush spent Sept. 11 aboard Air Force One, reinforcing the need for up-to-date communications and security for a president at all times.
"If the office of the presidency is vulnerable, then the country is vulnerable," said Representative Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, a Democrat and a retired navy vice admiral. "However, the nation is crying for accountability, from Wall Street to Congress to Iraq."
Asked about it in last year's campaign, Obama promised to "take a close look" at the program, adding that it was "a lot of money, even in Washington." The White House had no comment last week, but Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates was rethinking the VH-71 and other projects that were "having execution problems."
"We're prepared to make some hard choices," Morrell said.
At stake is the future of the iconic white-topped helicopters that take off from the South Lawn of the White House. Those helicopters have become a symbol of presidential power, etched in the public mind, perhaps most indelibly on the day President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 and flashed a double-V salute before retreating aboard one of the choppers to begin his long exile.
Presidents have had helicopters at their disposal since 1957, when Dwight Eisenhower grew irritated at how long it took in a crisis to get from a New England vacation to an airport. The current fleet of 19 aircraft includes 11 Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings and 8 VH-60N Black Hawks, some of which have been flying presidents for up to 35 years.
When a president is aboard one of the helicopters it goes by the radio call sign Marine One. The helicopters typically ferry a president from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base or Camp David, usually accompanied by one or two helicopters carrying staff members and serving as decoys. Helicopters are also sometimes airlifted to the president's stops around the world for shorter-range flights.
Andrew Card Jr., Bush's White House chief of staff, grew exasperated in 2002 by helicopter mechanical problems and instigated the development of an ultramodern replacement. The Pentagon awarded a contract in 2005 to Lockheed Martin, even though it had never built helicopters, reasoning that a three-engine model produced by its British-Italian partner, called the EH-101, provided a useful foundation.
In doing so, the Pentagon bypassed Sikorsky Aircraft, the contractor since the Eisenhower era. Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, where Sikorsky is based, said she believed the Bush administration wanted to reward Britain and Italy for support in Iraq. "I think this was a way of saying, 'We understand what you did for us; now we're trying to do something for you,' " she said.
The Bush administration denied that. But as the White House tried to effectively replicate Air Force One in helicopter form, it soon became clear that modifying the EH-101 was much more complicated than anticipated. The new armored 64-foot-long presidential helicopter had to carry 14 passengers and thousands of pounds of secure communications equipment and be able to jam seeking devices, fend off missiles and resist some of the electromagnetic effects of a nuclear blast.
The VH-71 project was divided into two increments, a quick first batch of five new helicopters with the same or better equipment as the current fleet, to be followed by 23 much more sophisticated craft that would ultimately take over flying the president, the vice president and the defense secretary, among others.
Lockheed has made progress on the first increment, having built four test models and three of the helicopters that will eventually be used. Those aircraft are supposed to be delivered by the end of 2010. But the Pentagon issued a stop-work order at the end of 2007 on the second increment as costs continued to rocket upward. Divided by 28 helicopters, the overall cost works out to $400 million per aircraft, roughly the same as the $410 million that the government paid in 1990 for the latest two Air Force One jetliners plus a hangar.
"What you had here was a collision between the urgency of the White House and the rules of the navy's acquisition," said Loren Thompson, the head of the Lexington Institute, a research organization that provides advice to Lockheed and other defense contractors. "The White House wanted to field a helicopter much faster, and the navy wanted to make sure it met all of the rules for a safe helicopter.
"It doesn't sound irreconcilable," he continued, "but in the end, it caused a lot of cost growth."
The notice to Congress last month means the program must now be recertified by Gates to proceed. DeLauro and other members of the Connecticut delegation wrote the navy last week asking it to consider reopening the bidding on the contract or turning part of it over to Sikorsky. Critics said Obama should pull the plug. "The VH-71 is a waste of time, money and resources," said Lieutenant Colonel Gene Boyer, a retired army pilot who flew three presidents, including Nixon on the flight after his resignation.
Sestak said the project underscored the larger failure to accurately assess the cost of military projects in advance and urged Obama to tackle the problem.
"If he puts the right accountability system in there - not monitoring but enforcement - then I think he can say rightly that the fleet is not for Obama, it is for the presidency," Sestak said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/16/america/16chopper.php


----------



## Tuna

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Hey Odrama isn't doing too badly. He just collected about $300,000 in back taxes just by nominating a few nitwits to his cabinet.


----------



## KozmoKramer

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*



resqjyw0 said:


> *NH to Secede over Obama NWO Agenda* (Disregard the first 20 seconds or so)


Good Lord, I better get my ass in gear once in a while and pay attention to my legislators....

Any experts or intelligent opinion on this?
So what happens in a case like they are proposing?
Even if we had 100% unity among the populace (which is utterly unattainable), does then the Army come in and impose martial law?
Is this the modern day precursor to a civil war?


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## dcs2244

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Isn't Alex Jones the guy who attcked Michelle Malkin out in Boulder during the communist convention? If it is, the guy is also a "Troofer"...

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/05/19/trutheriness-and-ron-paul/

Thought so, that is the guy..."grain of salt".


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## justanotherparatrooper

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Baskin Robbins is introducing a new ice cream flavor in honor of the new President...." Barocky Road[/I] ". It's half vanilla, half chocolate and surrounded by nuts....
[/B] 

​


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## 7costanza

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Again.....the red Xs


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## fra444

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

Even with the X's its still funny!!!


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## 7costanza

*Re: And So It Begins Part 2*

I thought Half Baked was named for him...


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## justanotherparatrooper

Stocks plumet worldwide!....Odrama in action, GOD HELP US


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## kwflatbed

Obama kicks up White House entertaining








*

**DANCING THE RECESSION AWAY: CONGA LINES, PARTIES, COCKTAILS AT OBAMA WHITE HOUSE...*

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is the place to be on Wednesdays. 
Since the presidency changed hands less than six weeks ago, a burst of entertaining has taken hold of the iconic, white-columned home of America's head of state. Much of it comes on Wednesdays. 
The stately East Room, where portraits of George and Martha Washington adorn the walls, was transformed into a concert hall as President Barack Obama presented Stevie Wonder with the nation's highest award for pop music on Wednesday. 
A week before that, the foot-stomping sounds of Sweet Honey in the Rock, a female a cappella group, filled the East Room for a Black History Month program first lady Michelle Obama held for nearly 200 sixth- and seventh-graders from around the city. 
Cocktails were sipped during at least three such receptions to date, all held on Wednesdays. 
Bookending the midweek activity were a Super Bowl party for select Democratic and Republican lawmakers and a dinner for governors, the new administration's first black-tie affair. It was capped with a performance by the 1970s pop group Earth, Wind and Fire. And a conga line. 
The flurry of entertaining is in keeping with the Obamas' promise to make the White House a more open place for everyone. 
The governors' dinner was "a great kickoff of what we hope will be an atmosphere here in the White House that is welcoming and that reminds everybody that this is the people's house," Obama told the state chief executives after they had dined on Maryland crab, Wagyu beef, Nantucket scallops and citrus salad. 
"We are just temporary occupants. This is a place that belongs to the American people and we want to make sure that everybody understands it's open," he said. 
At the dinner in the State Dining Room, the Obamas looked comfortable, chatting and smiling with their guests. Afterward, they escorted the governors down the hall to the East Room, which had been arranged with few tables and chairs to encourage dancing to "September," "Boogie Wonderland" and other hits from a musical group Obama listened to growing up. 
The conga line formed after the media were escorted out and, apparently, after Obama had called it a night. 
"Thank you also for waiting until I had left before you started the conga line," the president told the governors the next morning. "I hear it was quite a spectacle." 
Some Obama guests say he immediately puts them at ease. He indulges them and serves cookies, too. 
"People like me felt comfortable in his presence," said Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., a self-described "poor country boy" who said he felt like a "freshman going to the senior prom" when he attended a White House reception for leaders of the congressional caucuses. 
"Sometimes when you're in the presence of the most powerful person in the world, in the most powerful democracy in the world ... I was in awe that I was comfortable," said Honda, chairman of the Asian Pacific American Caucus. "I think that's his style and how he grew up, who he is. 
"He's down to earth and engaging," Honda said. 
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., was among those invited for the Super Bowl. He said Obama, an avid sports fan, joined his guests for most of the game between the Arizona Cardinals and ultimately triumphant Pittsburgh Steelers. 
"It wasn't a circumstance where he came in and said 'Hi' and then left," Franks said. "He actually stayed and watched the game." 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, said Obama was very cordial, and he and the first lady made guests feel comfortable. The president talked to everyone before the game started, she said, including a 12-year-old boy who asked Obama where the bathroom was. 
"My favorite part was when he personally served us cookies-oatmeal raisin-when we were watching the game," she said. 
The gathering in the White House theater over hot dogs and hamburgers was one of several get-to-know-the-members events Obama held as he lobbied Congress to support his nearly $800 billion economic recovery package. His efforts produced no Republican votes in the House and just three in the Senate, but Franks said he still appreciated the Democratic president's efforts to reach out to the opposing party. 
"I think the value of social interaction like this is not so much that it co-opts anyone in any way. It certainly didn't in my case," said Franks, who described his conversation with Obama at the party as substantive. "I think it humanizes and personalizes opponents. We can diminish politics and try to work together for what's right for the country." 
Michelle Obama is doing her own entertaining, too. When her husband visited Canada last month, she organized a "girls' night" at the White House with secretaries, policymakers and popcorn for a screening of "He's Just Not that Into You," the first lady told People magazine. 
Obama played the role of "first fan" at the Wonder tribute, and opened up about his and his wife's common enjoyment of Wonder's music. 
"As Stevie knows, I'm a huge fan. And he has been a great supporter," Obama said before presenting the award-winning singer-songwriter with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. 
He said Wonder's songs "became the soundtrack of my youth" and that in them he "found peace and inspiration, especially in difficult times." 
Obama presented the medal to Wonder, then wrapped the singer in a bear hug. As the media were led out of the room, Wonder struck up "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," which was a staple of Obama's campaign rallies. 
___ 
On the Net: 
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96M09BO0&show_article=1


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## StbbrnMedic

Nice to know that while we're all buying discount and saving what pennies we have before we lose our jobs, he's having such a good time throwing parties and holding concerts. Glad to see he's not stressed.


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## dcs2244

He has to spend it as fast as possible...before the US dollar becomes worthless...


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## kwflatbed

*Two interesting emails

Obama and the "Mikoyan syndrome"*

_A comment received from Gerard Jackson of Brookesnews _

A number of people have commented on the hypocrisy of Obama and his rich supporters, whose attitude is one of "do as I say and not as I do". Critics do not realise that this is characteristic of leftists. They always exempt themselves from their own strictures. I call this behaviour the Mikoyan syndrome.

Anastas Mikoyan was a communist agitator in oil refineries at Baku Batoum that were owned by an industrialist called Zubalov, Mikoyan led strikes, protests and organised study groups. One can think of him as the pre-Soviet equivalent of a "community activist". However, once the Soviets grabbed control of the state he took Zubalov's mansion for his own, including the servants, cracked down on strikes, shot protestors, banned study groups that questioned the party's authority and sent their organisers to labour camps. He was justified in doing this because - like today's Democrats - he believed that anyone who challenged the Party was evil or stupid. I regret to say that Mikoyan survived Stalin's purges and died of old age, unlike thousands of his victims.

At the end of the day, Obama is nothing but a highly polished Hugo Chavez with the same corrupt instincts. To him the crisis is an opportunity to plunder Americans and then - with the willing assistance of America's corrupt media - use the loot to effectively turn the US into a one-party state.

*******************

*Obama adds to the mortgage problem*

_An email from the National Association of Realtors. Simplistic Leftist thinking about "the rich" is going to make the financial crisis worse_

You may have seen news reports about President Obama's budget proposal that was released today at 11:30 AM Eastern Time. A small section of the sweeping budget plan has the potential to become a major impediment to a recovery in real estate markets across the nation. NAR is 100% opposed to the provision that modifies the Mortgage Interest Deduction and is prepared to use its formidable array of resources against its enactment.

As currently drafted, the plan changes the Mortgage Interest Deduction by reducing the amount of mortgage deductibility on families earning over $250,000. This proposed change in the Mortgage Interest Deduction will result in further erosion of home prices and home values. If this proposal is enacted it will lead to a new round of price depreciation, will cause greater distress on the balance sheets of banks as the collateral value of mortgage backed securities declines. A second credit crisis could emerge before the first one is resolved.

As you read this NAR is launching a multiphase plan of action to eliminate this provision from the budget plan. In the next 24 hours, NAR will be expressing our concerns directly to President Obama, to all members of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, placing advertisements in the publications read by Washington, DC decision makers. Additionally, NAR will be forming a coalition with other groups affected by this proposal.

_Posted by John Ray._

http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/


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## MARINECOP

Just watched this movie. I am afraid now. :wow:


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## kwflatbed

*President Oops!

*The number of missteps by the Obama administration has created a minor cottage industry of statistician-bloggers keeping track. It's nearing comedy. Every administration utterance seems swimmingly prepared to be footnoted with exceptions, excuses and apologies. There's no need to chronicle the mistakes here since they are front page news daily.

However, I thought this was cute. 
On Monday President Barack Obama signed his executive order reversing the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. He stood proudly with Americans from all over the country who have lobbied for this reversal.

As he invoked the memory of Christopher Reeve who suffered from a tragic spinal cord injury, he proclaimed that this was the change "so many scientists and researchers and doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for and fought for these past eight years."

Well, not so fast.

Two days later, the omnibus spending bill that Obama signed reversed his reversal. There was a provision in the omnibus spending bill called Dickey-Wicker that made it illegal to use federal funds in the creation and destruction of human embryos for research.​It seems that "measure twice and cut once" is an operational philosophy that President Obama has yet to learn. (more)

Interested-Participant


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## kwflatbed

*Obama VA: Let's charge vets for care on service-related injuries*



*Washington, DC*-The fact that the *Obama Administration* is actually suggesting this shows above all this scum-sucking rat is nothing less than a stinking traitor.

What soldier would ever serve a country that would demand payment for treatment of service related injuries? Is this happening in the same country that established a workman's compensation program for people injured on the job?

It can't be made more clear that Obama wants to weaken and destroy America. This is Tyrnnay!

Obama is a total abomination who is in need of Impeachment for High Treason. At this point I look forward to Obama's quick removal anyway it can happen.

Read about this outrage right here.

CRIME, GUNS, AND VIDEOTAPE


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## dcs2244

Bildebergers! Illuminnati! New World Order!

THERE'S AN OWL ON THE DOLLAR BILL!!!!one11!!!1!!!



Alex Jones...again. Twoofer Alert.


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## BB-59

Why am I not surprised. Did anyone really think that someone who associates with a known domestic terrorist gives a damm about those who put it on the line to preserve what they exploit?

The next 4 years will either make us the modern Rome, (destroyed from within), or make us realize what the Constitution an freedom really mean.

God, (srew the ACLU), help us!


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## justanotherparatrooper

*obama is a FUCKING douche!*

*WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."
The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President's Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment
*


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## Guest

*Re: obama is a FUCKING douche!*

Barry may the Messiah for a lot of people, but those same people don't hold their Congressmen in the same regard. If the Dems have 1/18th of a brain, they're not going to tangle with the American Legion over this issue.


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## Andy0921

Sorry if it has already been mentioned in this thread (I have some catching up to do), but has anybody been following _Lightfoot v. Bowen_?


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## OfficerObie59

My blood is boiling over this one...what private insurance company is going to pay for a pre-existing service related disability???????

*Senators slam plan for wounded vets to use private insurance*

*WASHINGTON (CNN)* -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

But the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.

Murray used that blunt terminology when she told Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. Her remarks came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs about the 2010 budget.

No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.

The groups also cited an increase in "third-party collections" estimated in the 2010 budget proposal -- something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.

Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under "consideration."

"A final decision hasn't been made yet," he said.

Currently, veterans' private insurance is charged only when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.

Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis said. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.

A second senator, North Carolina Republican Richard Burr, said he agreed that the idea should not go forward.

"I think you will give that up" as a revenue stream if it is included in this April's budget, Burr said.

Murray said she'd already discussed her concerns with the secretary the previous week.

"I believe that veterans with service-connected injuries have already paid by putting their lives on the line," Murray said in her remarks. "I don't think we should nickel and dime them for their care."

Eleven of the most prominent veterans organizations have been lobbying Congress to oppose the idea. In the letter sent last week to the president, the groups warned that the idea "is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government's moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much."
The groups included The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

At the time, a White House spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the option was being considered.

Senators slam plan for wounded vets to use private insurance - CNN.com


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## Guest

OfficerObie59 said:


> Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki


Isn't he the diminutive douchebag who as Joint Forces Chief of Staff pushed for and approved the completely ridiculous black berets for all US Army soldiers, thereby stripping the Rangers of their proud tradition?


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## justanotherparatrooper

Delta784 said:


> Isn't he the diminutive douchebag who as Joint Forces Chief of Staff pushed for and approved the completely ridiculous black berets for all US Army soldiers, thereby stripping the Rangers of their proud tradition?


 YUp, that be him..his theory was that if everyone got a beret it would make them feel elite.He didnt indear himself to us with his bullshit logic or actions.


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## Hawk19

Delta784 said:


> Isn't he the diminutive douchebag who as Joint Forces Chief of Staff pushed for and approved the completely ridiculous black berets for all US Army soldiers, thereby stripping the Rangers of their proud tradition?


Sorta surprised he didn't give everyone Ranger tabs...


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## Kem25

Michelle McPhee went on a tirade last night about the proposed plan to make vets own insurance pay for their service releated care....As I was listening all I could do was think "what do you expect from someone who had his own drug dealer in college". The MOST SCARY aspect of this idea is that he does not want to listen to the moral obligation this country has to take care of its veterans. I can honestly say I gave this ass-clown a chance (I love this country regardless of our bone-head leader) but this is it. We can put aside money in the stimulas bill for illegals (They do vote democrat)but we are going to sh&t on our nations vets??? What else is sad is that there are going to be people (the ones with the "peace sign back by popular demand" on their car) who think this idea is great.


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## dcs2244

Hot Air reported on a meeting that just occurred between the POTUS, Shinseki, The Ballerina, and American Legion/VFW etc. The president doesn't care: he is going to push forward with this. Unfortunately for him, congress doesn't appear to be stupid enough (yes, they are stupid enough, but not for this ) to commit electoral suicide...

This is a red herring to distract from the continuing enslavement of the American people...IOW, it's not going to happen.


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## Hawk19

Bet most of those new democratic congressmen want to stay congressmen, and they'll avoid this health care fiasco like it's the third rail.

Hey!

A politician who's newly elected on a personality-based campaign, who faces controversy regarding his appointments, and is soon to face a hesitant legislature made up primarily of his own party. 

Hmm... Am I talking Patrick or Obama now?


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## 8MORE

What I would give to bring back the days of tar and feathering.


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## rg1283

*Obama is messing with the VA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

*The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President's Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment*

Mon Mar 16, 5:49 pm ET 
To: POLITICAL EDITORS
Contact: Craig Roberts of The American Legion, +1-202-263-2982 Office, +1-202-406-0887 Cell
WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases. 
"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it." 
The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!" 
Commander Rehbein was among a group of senior officials from veterans service organizations joining the President, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Steven Kosiak, the overseer of defense spending at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The group's early afternoon conversation at The White House was precipitated by a letter of protest presented to the President earlier this month. The letter, co-signed by Commander Rehbein and the heads of ten colleague organizations, read, in part, 
_
"There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran's personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable." _

Commander Rehbein reiterated points made last week in testimony to both House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. It was stated then that The American Legion believes that the reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate that VA treat service-connected injuries and disabilities given that the United States government sends members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse the VA would not only be unfair, says the Legion, but would have an adverse impact on service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion argues that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions involved, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran's condition alone. That would leave the rest of the family without health care benefits. The Legion also points out that many health insurance companies require deductibles to be paid before any benefits are covered. Additionally, the Legion is concerned that private insurance premiums would be elevated to cover service-connected disabled veterans and their families, especially if the veterans are self-employed or employed in small businesses unable to negotiate more favorable across-the-board insurance policy pricing. The American Legion also believes that some employers, especially small businesses, would be reluctant to hire veterans with service-connected disabilities due to the negative impact their employment might have on obtaining and financing company health care benefits. 
"I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not being enacted," said Commander Rehbein, "is for an alternative plan to be developed that would generate the desired $540-million in revenue. The American Legion has long advocated for Medicare reimbursement to VA for the treatment of veterans. This, we believe, would more easily meet the President's financial goal. We will present that idea in an anticipated conference call with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel in the near future.

"I only hope the administration will really listen to us then. This matter has far more serious ramifications than the President is imagining," concluded the Commander.

SOURCE The American Legion

I love this new RSS Reader I have. This is 100% unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Killjoy

This plan is so despicable as to defy belief. Obama wants to charge insurance carriers for pre-existing injuries sustained in the service of your country?!! Is he insane? Or does he simply have little-to-no understanding of the sacrifices of American men and women in uniform because, not only did he never serve, he despises everything they stand for? To put oneself between our countries enemies and your home is the most honorable profession, yet to Obama and his "intellectual" cronies people who serve are nothing more then fools who couldn't go to college and do the "smart" thing. 

There will come a time when the men and women of military who protect and defend this country, along with a lot of other Americans, are going to decide they've had enough of a Commander-in-Chief who dishonors their sacrifices with every speech, action and thought, and you will rue that day, sir.


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## Guest

Notice how this is receiving zero coverage in the mainstream media? If G.W. Bush had even entertained something as crazy as this, it would have been the leading headline on CNN, MSNBC, etc., for a week.


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## Kem25

I read in the Air Force Times that the White House pulled the plug on the plan to make vets pay for their own health care. I agree that if Bush proposed this idea he would have been hung in the media.... These are the types of ideas we can expect from a non-vet president who has never made any personal sacrifices for his country.


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## justanotherparatrooper

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhhkF3dqXR0&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- BOB&TOM TV: "Obama Man" by Greg Morton[/nomedia]


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## NoSoupForYou

found this on another site...1000 words (plus some actual words)
Cost of a bowl of soup at homeless shelter:*$0.00 dollars.*

Having Michelle Obama Serve you your soup: *$0.00 dollars.*

Snapping a picture of a homeless person who is receiving a government funded meal while taking a picture of the first lady using his $500 Black Berry cell phone: *Priceless.*.


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## MARINECOP

*Glenn Beck exposes Color of Change co-founder Van Jones.*

YouTube - Glenn Beck exposes Color of Change co-founder Van Jones


----------

