Utah's House majority leader resigned from the Legislature Saturday, two days after his confession about sitting nude in a hot tub with a teenage girl 25 years ago stunned this conservative state.
Republican Rep. Kevin Garn, in an e-mail message to House Speaker David Clark, apologized for becoming a distraction.
"After discussing this matter with my family, I have decided that it is in the best interests of them, my colleagues and the people of Utah," he wrote.
Garn, 55, acknowledged the indiscretion with the legal minor late Thursday immediately after the Legislature adjourned for the session.
"Although we did not have any sexual contact, it was still clearly inappropriate -- and it was my fault," he told colleagues from the House floor Thursday night.
House members responded with thunderous applause for his honesty and embraced him.
Garn said he paid the woman, Cheryl Maher, $150,000 to keep quiet about the episode when he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2002.
But the now 40-year-old Maher began calling local news media last week to tell them about being naked with Garn when she was 15. It's unclear whether Garn was 29 or 30 at the time of the incident. He's more than 14 years older than Maher, who now lives in Derry, N.H.
"I'm sure the resignation was really difficult for him, but it needed to happen," Maher said Saturday. "This is a secret that devastated my life and my family's life."
Maher declined to comment on specifics of the hot-tubbing episode. She said she thinks Garn still has a bright future out of politics.
"My intention was not to harm or hurt anyone, it's just to speak the truth," she said. "It's freedom for me to get it out in the open and I think somewhere down the line he will think it's freedom for him, too."å
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#5
"what do you do after you've ruined your life?
where do you go? who do you know
that will give you anything to go with good advice?
do you tell your friends?
can you face your wife?
what do you do after youve ruined your life?"
Mose Alison - what do you do after you've ruined your life?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/14/2010 19:09 Comments ||
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#6
I'd say being nekkid in a hot tub with a 15 year-old girls might get you a prison stretch today and listed as a sexual offender after you got out.
#7
--anybody remember back in 2000(?), GB Packer tight end Mark Chmura was in a hot tub with some underage girls? He was acquitted of sexually assaulting a former baby-sitter at a drunken party..
Today must be "Rube Sunday."
Unlike George W Bush and Bill Clinton, Obama has made little effort to strike up friendships with European leaders. "Miss me yet?"
At the G20 summit in Pittsburgh last year he was pictured walking out with the leaders of China and India, his administration's evident priorities, along with Russia, at the expense of America's traditional allies. Does this comment imply that Russia is a "non-traditional" ally of the US?
When the Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl asked White House officials to name a foreign leader with whom Obama had forged a personal relationship, there was "a lot of hemming and hawing", he said. To his astonishment, no one mentioned Gordon Brown. Instead the name proffered was Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president. Long way from "Tear down this wall!", ain't it?
The British feel particularly miffed. Within days of becoming president, Obama removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. This, followed by Obama's odd choice of gift to Brown -- a box of DVDs including Psycho and Toy Story -- prompted speculation of something deeper. In his memoir, Obama writes of how his grandfather was beaten by British troops in colonial Kenya. Here's the plan: You guys elect the next Margaret Thatcher and we'll elect the next Ronald Reagan. And then house will be cleaned.
A senior official from No 10, who was in Washington in December for Obama's big speech on Afghanistan, was horrified that the president did not once mention Britain in the 45-minute address despite the presence there of 10,000 British troops. That's 'cause military guys are icky in BO's America.
And British military guys are to him unspeakable. Hence the lack of mention. Imagine if his mother's family had been Catholics from Northern Ireland, how the double grudge would have impelled him, and be grateful for small favours.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/14/2010 12:03 ||
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Obama has made little effort to strike up friendships Sorry, Europe you had your chance last century, Barry's after new territory. You see Barry subscribes to " I " and my friends from the Middle East, Africa and South America. You guys are old hat.
Posted by: Spater Scourge of the Infinitesmal1256 ||
03/14/2010 12:31 Comments ||
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UK Times: Does Barack Obama give a damn about us?
Black Bart, posting here as Slater etc. & Glegum etc - please stick to one 'nym right now.
Fred and the mods are dealing with a huge spam storm and other attacks. Your cooperation will be helpful as the sources of attacks are painstakingly tracked down and holes plugged.
#12
I've been treated nastily by Brits because I'm American - including by B&B owners to whom we paid a good room rate and by restauranters. Yes, the smug condescension and kneejerk hatred is less than palatable.
That said, pretty much every other place in Old Europe is lost and Eastern Europe hasn't the resources to kick in heavily in wars or to hold back the suicidal policies eagerly embraced by the Left. I'm not optimistic that Britain can be turned around but if it can, that would be an important step. So I'm hoping - not necessarily expecting, but hoping - that some eyes have been opened, arrogance chastened and motivation sparked to start a real reaction against the last 15 years there.
#13
The man obviously has a grudge against the former colonial powers along with a dopey junior college prof's lefty people-of-color view of world history.
This is ignorance married to resentment. A very dangerous combination.
#14
I've been treated nastily by Brits because I'm American...
I can only apologise for that, lotp, FWIW, but I hope you've also received a friendly welcome on occasions. In defence of my compatriots, I'd venture that for decades we've been subjected to the kind of insidious propaganda from the likes of the BBC (primarily the BBC) that you experienced from your own media, resulting in Americans defying common sense and electing the inexperienced anti-patriot you now have as POTUS. If you are returning to the UK any time soon I would ask that you bear that in mind - propaganda is effective on most people if it's done often enough. Don't let small minded people get you down, and keep making an effort to change a few people's minds about Yanks. The best antidote to propaganda is probably more propaganda, but in the absence of that the truth has to do.
#15
Can't speak to lotp's experience, Bulldog, but I've always had a great time in England. Most of the people I ran into were nice, and polite.
I still remember the fun I had many decades ago the weekend y'all changed your currency to the decimal system. Sunday I just held out my hand with currency for shopkeepers, cab drivers, etc., to take what they needed; Monday I was explaining to these same people how to make change. They were unfailingly decent both days.
I did, however, have an interesting encounter one summer in upstate New York a number of years later (having nothing to do with the British and everything to do with rude people). I flew up to stay at a guest house for the week (therefore, no car - they picked me up - and no other reservations). On the way from the airport to the guest house, the driver asked me where I worked, and when I told him "Philip Morris" asked me something to the effect of didn't it bother me to kill people. I'm sure you can guess that I didn't stay there the whole week (and they didn't charge me for it, either), rented a car, and had a good time elsewhere.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2010 18:31 Comments ||
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#16
"Barack Obama - a helping hand to our enemies, a kick in the nuts to our friends".
#17
I do not know whether the US or the UK has lost its bearings worse, but I am fairly confident that when we get down to the Rorke's Drift of western civilization, it will be the cousins standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the wall. And may we acquit ourselves as well as the originals.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/14/2010 18:56 Comments ||
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#18
I've been in the UK multiple times in the last two decades, most recently a few years ago. Was treated with open rudeness in London and especially in the Cotswolds. Was treated well, with exceptional and non-intrusive service, by a discreet lesbian couple who ran a delightful inn in the Lake Country and by a chatty hostess in Edinburgh who translated the distinctive and opaque local dialect for us. Also in old York, in Harrowgate, in other parts of Scotland beyond Edinburgh, in the Orkneys and in Wales.
I expect I'll back, at some point, although my travel plans for the next year or two don't include the UK. There are a lot of good people in Britain, along with a self-appointed elite who are obnoxious and an immigrant population whose kids are in some cases increasingly dangerous.
#20
We were last in London in '02 or '03. Stayed about a week and had no complaints. Then we took the Chunnel over to Paris and realized our mistake...we should have spent the entire 2 weeks in London! Paris was a filthy disaster (noticeable difference in a short 3 hour train ride) and I've never since run across more rude people. Never again.
#21
I had almost the opposite experience, Gomez: loved Paris, didn't care for London. I found London to be cold, unfriendly, dark, and not especially interesting (outside of the various Royal Society museums). I found Paris to be clean, safe, and reasonably friendly to American tourists - not to mention light and open, in the sense that there are few tall buildings to cast shadows and the steets are wide.
Plus, it's hard to wrong in a city with 178 museums packed to the gills with pretty much everything Western civilization has ever producted in the way of art. (And the food is better.)
I enjoyed rural France, too - thought I will admit that I like the rural English a great deal. My wife and I were treated very well in Cornwall, Wales, Oxfordshire, and the Upper Midlands.
Before making this announcement Gibbs was listening to this song ...... Lot of Soul Music is being played at the WH, now a daze.
Black Bart, posting here as Waldemar etc. - please stick to one 'nym right now.
Fred and the mods are dealing with a huge spam storm and other attacks. Your cooperation will be helpful as the sources of attacks are painstakingly tracked down and holes plugged.
#5
I am getting on in years, but 5 minutes in the cage with Robert would be quite enjoyable. I believe I could remedy that cocky smirk, even if I ultimately lost the match.
#8
I expect I could take him, too, and I'm "just a girl." ;-p
"Just" doesn't come anywhere close, Barbara dear, although technically you are the unembellished female model, without unnecessary additions or corrections. ;-)
#9
heck... i got an 11yr old in the other room i would stand against the guy... fists, wits, or pistols at 20 paces. I'd wager my whole paycheck on it and give 3-1 odds.
Gibbs is a putz (apologies to any and all putzes out there defamed by the comparison)
Posted by: abu do you love ||
03/14/2010 16:51 Comments ||
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#10
Robert "Wormtongue" Gibbs has no credibility ... or honor.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) believes he's "under attack" -- or at least that's what he wrote in an e-mail blasted over the DCCC listserv Friday in the hopes of raising $20,000 over the weekend.
The entire listserve to get a measly $29K? Rep. Frank doeasn't aim high, it seems.
Frank -- whose district in Massachusetts is typically solidly Democratic but went to Scott Brown in January's special Senate election -- wrote in a letter to donors that he "will be the target of a national right-wing fund drive" and that he "needs help."
The letter's intro:
In the fall, I wrote to ask you to support the DCCC so it can help elect candidates who will stand up to right-wing Republicans. Today, I am writing about one candidate in particular who I believe qualifies for that designation -- me.
In the coming months, I will be the target of a national right-wing fund drive. The right will use this money to lie, distort and misrepresent.
...which offends me, because that's my job.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
...which offends me, because that's my job.
har har!!
Barney sure hates competition. What a sleezebag.
A posterboi for what's wrong in Washington.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
03/14/2010 0:05 Comments ||
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#2
Barney's new theme song for the Spring of 2010
Black Bart, posting here as Cheater etc. - please stick to one 'nym right now.
Fred and the mods are dealing with a huge spam storm and other attacks. Your cooperation will be helpful as the sources of attacks are painstakingly tracked down and holes plugged.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2010 23:03 Comments ||
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#8
Barney Frank under attack? My son is watching Animal Planet in the other room. It has a show about Burmese Pythons in the wild eating people. Is that maybe what is bothering Bwayney?
The state's money problems are so bad that lawmakers are getting eviction notices and calls from collection agencies about their offices back home.
At least five state senators say they've piled up so much unpaid rent, sheepish landlords are asking them when the government plans to make good on its bills.
"He said, 'Ira, I'm sorry,'" said Sen. Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago, recalling a visit from his landlord delivering an eviction notice. "And what am I going to do? I can't argue with the man."
While none of the lawmakers has actually gotten the boot yet, they are getting a taste of the frustratingly slow pace at which the state pays bills as it careens toward a $13 billion budget hole. It's a pain that's magnified exponentially for school districts, drug rehabilitation counselors and businesses awaiting tax refunds.
"It certainly puts us in a position of looking like deadbeats," said Sen. Mike Jacobs, an East Moline Democrat who got an eviction notice last year from a longtime friend who has rented the same building for years to the senator and his father before him. Payment eventually arrived -- nine months late -- but Jacobs was prepared to pay if the state had failed to come through.
A notice threatening eviction startled freshman Sen. Dan Duffy, a Lake Barrington Republican. Unsure when the state will cough up the $10,000 it owes his landlord, Duffy is scrambling to see if he can take refuge in a nearby secretary of state driver's license outlet or a local library should he eventually get evicted.
"When they can't pay the rent of a Senate office, there's no way they're going to be able to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars in bills that they have back due," Duffy said. "It just shows what a tragic crisis we're in and how far out of hand this is."
In the grand scope of what ails state government, the lawmakers all said they recognized late rent for Senate offices is far from the most pressing budget issue.
Each senator receives $83,063 a year as a district office allowance, and the bills end up at the comptroller's office.
Every day, comptroller workers sift through bills for all of state government and prioritize what must be paid and what has to wait. Each month, $2 billion is set aside. The state must make payments to schools and repay short-term loans. It must pay hospitals, nursing homes and doctors caring for Medicaid patients within 30 days in order to get the best return from the federal government.
Languishing further back in line are the bills to pay rents for lawmaker district offices.
Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said he knew of no eviction notices going to House members, but has heard that some legislators "on the brink" have had to dip into their own pockets or campaign funds to pay landlords or keep phone service.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Awwwwwww - my heart just bleeds....
No, wait - that's just the chili.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2010 0:22 Comments ||
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#2
Couldn't have happened to a better group of people.
Black Bart, posting here as Cheater etc. - please stick to one 'nym right now.
Fred and the mods are dealing with a huge spam storm and other attacks. Your cooperation will be helpful as the sources of attacks are painstakingly tracked down and holes plugged.
#3
I've been evicted. Bum a place off a friend for a while. If they have any friends. I suggest they move their offices to a less expensive place. They are spending taxpayer government money.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/14/2010 13:50 Comments ||
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#4
I've driven past some of these places. They aren't much to look at, usually a storefront in some modestly decaying neighborhood. I don't know how much rent is required.
I also don't know why a legislator needs a 'home office' in the district. They have an office in Springfield and a second office in Chicago. They have their homes, a cell phone or Blackberry, and a laptop. Not clear to me what a home district office does for them that they can't do elsewhere. The constituents are going to find them no matter what.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/14/2010 18:01 Comments ||
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#5
"I also don't know why a legislator needs a 'home office' in the district."
I'm guessing it's someplace for their year-round staff to park themselves while handling "constituent services," Steve.
But, as you say, there are laptops and cell phones. I'm waiting for the first legislator to get smart and announce that his/her staff will work out of their homes as they answer constituents' phone calls, e-mails, and letters. If someone truly needs to meet with the staff, Starbucks and other such places have free wi-fi, as do many libraries. Actual paper letters can be directed to a Post Office box. (For safety, don't announce the addresses of the staff members.)
I often work from home, using the internet and my personal computer. I'd do it all the time, but my work is such that my employer usually needs me there physically (though we managed quite well during the winter snowstorms that shut down our area - just took a little planning ahead on my part). The Illinois legislators could certainly work something out that is cheaper for the state than a rented office which they're not paying for anyway.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2010 18:20 Comments ||
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More eviction notices coming in Washington in November.
President Barack Obama will release a blueprint Monday for his long-awaited overhaul of the No Child Left Behind law, replacing annual benchmarks for schools with a goal of having all graduating students prepared "for college and a career."
"Through this plan we are setting an ambitious goal: All students should graduate from high school prepared for college and a career -- no matter who you are or where you come from," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Achieving this goal will be difficult. It will take time. And it will require the skills, talents and dedication of many: principals, teachers, parents, students. But this effort is essential for our children and for our country."
Obama first signaled his intent to push ahead with the overhaul this year in his budget released last month. The blueprint he will send to Congress on Monday will flesh out details of his plan.
"What this plan recognizes is that while the federal government can play a leading role in encouraging the reforms and high standards we need, the impetus for that change will come from states, and from local schools and school districts," Obama said. "So, yes, we set a high bar -- but we also provide educators the flexibility to reach it."
The president called for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which first passed in 1965 and has been reauthorized every five years. The law became known as NCLB during former President George W. Bush's administration.
The 2002 NCLB law pushed schools to boost test scores each year, with the goal of having every student read and perform math on their grade level by 2014. But Education Secretary Arne Duncan has reportedly called this goal "utopian" and said the law does too little to reward schools for progress.
Obama said that under the blueprint he'll release next week, schools that perform well would receive incentives, while those that fare poorly would face consequences.
"Schools that achieve excellence or show real progress will be rewarded, and local districts will be encouraged to commit to change in schools that are clearly letting their students down," Obama said. "For the majority of schools that fall in between -- schools that do well but could do better -- we will encourage continuous improvement to help keep our young people on track for a bright future: prepared for the jobs of the 21st century.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
a goal of having all graduating students prepared "for college and a career
How about a law giving every American a college diploma at the age of 21?
#4
Another immense waste of money and destruction of valuable resources to reward his union buddies. Unrealistic, unaffordable and unattainable goals are the hallmarks of any liberal progressive program. Not every child should go to college. Not every child who should go has the maturity to benefit. Not all careers require college. College careers may not be the most rewarding for the average student.
This will be a call to roll back NCLB and teacher accountability. The students at the bottom will suffer most and become the new ignorant puppets of the party of demagoguery.
This will not prevent the bursting of the big ed bubble.
#5
The "Scarecrow Rule". The wizard of Oz to the Scarecrow, "You don't need and Education. All you need is a Diploma!".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/14/2010 9:12 Comments ||
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#6
Zero should pack it in on his plans and adopt the following plan to get this country moving again:
Robin Williams here's one plan:
1) The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good ole boys,' We will never "interfere" again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea, the Middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking though holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they're..They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!!!!!!No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D"and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing non polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we'll go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allahor whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10.) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH.....learn it...or LEAVE.
Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?
Black Bart, posting here as Tarzan etc. - please stick to one 'nym right now.
Fred and the mods are dealing with a huge spam storm and other attacks. Your cooperation will be helpful as the sources of attacks are painstakingly tracked down and holes plugged.
#7
A question... where in the US Constitution is the President or the Congress given responsibility for education?
Posted by: john frum ||
03/14/2010 10:18 Comments ||
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#8
It's no where in the Constitution. Just another aspect of a 'living Constitution' [ie we make this up as we go along] rather than a ratified amendment. The closest you can come to the national government and education is the pre-Constitution Land Ordinance of 1785, effecting the Northwest Territories in which the national government specified a mechanism for funding public education. Section 16 in each township was reserved for the maintenance of public schools. The next step in 'education' by the federal government is the establishment of West Point and Annapolis which comes under their authority of Section 8 of the Constitution and the military. Other than that, it crosses the line of the 10th Amendment. The whole thing we deal today with is that power is linked to federal funding. Don't take the money and it becomes a real Ptolemaic system [pre-Copernican design of the universe] to justify any federal finger in the local education pie. The usual scam is to classify some of the kiddies as a 'protected group' and then take and impose authority over the local administration.
#9
Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/14/2010 11:08 Comments ||
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#10
NCLB was another ill-conceived Bush failure. If the child doesn't give a rat's ass about education and their parent (singular) doesn't either, there's not a damn thing the school can do about it.
If the GOP is smart (they're not), they'll dump "compassionate conservatism" forever.
#11
As we are all aware, many jobs very legitimately require a college degree as an inital qualification for employment consideration. Few would argue that one's education has nearly always been a necessary gate or discriminating factor of employment. The government's insistance that everyone obtain a college degree does at least two things. Firstly, it leads to a further 'dumbing down' of accedemic achievement. Secondly, it will bring about the eventual elimination of accedemic achievement as a discriminator for hiring. Further more, if one has a government guaranteed 'right' to a college education, then it will follow that he or she has a 'right' to graduate. If everyone graduates and is degreed, then only government enforced Affirmative Action can be used as a selection criteria. And as we all know, Affirmative Action is the only legitimate or recognized discriminator. The post-apartheid program of Black Economic Empowerment or "BEE" in South Africa has flooded the country with meaningless diplomas whilst making nearly all imminently qualified for hiring. Employment then is granted those deemed by the post-apartheid regime as entitled to economic empowerment. I will leave it to the reader to determine which minority has been excluded in this process and what direction President Obama is headed.
Just shut down the education system; close every school; fire every teacher; cash out their pensions, reducing the tax load by the same amount.
I will bet that within six months many of those schools will reopen in private hands and will have students who want to learn funded by parents who want their kids to have an education.
No drugs; less violence, no rap music ( or country music if that's your thing ) booming out side. Just a group of kids part of a combine dedicated to giving children an education backed by parents with an actual stake in the outcome.
The way it is now, parents have no skin in their child's education. They pass off their own responsibilities to the school.
There is an immutable connection between giving up your substance for your legacy, and the success of the child. Parent who themselves invest in education would be on their kids' ass like a dog on a bone to excell in school and consequently in life.
The way it is now, it's all expectations with no realistic chance of a preferable outcome for anyone if you try to educate everyone.
#13
If Bambi thinks a college degree is necessary for a career, I'd suggest he call a Ph.D. the next time his toilet is stopped up.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2010 12:57 Comments ||
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#14
john frum, the same place where it says the government is responsible for health care, General Motors and AIG.
So, basically, he wants more fat, stupid, grossly overpaid English professors and psychology professors and sociology professors teaching kids all these worthless subjects so they can have worthless college degrees and end up as busboys and cocktail waitresses.
Hey, Barry, leave them kids alone!
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/14/2010 15:15 Comments ||
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#15
If the stimulus bill and the healthcare bill are any indication of what this "reform" will look like...run.
This should be called the "full employment and lifetime tenure for incompetent pedophiles in education bill"
I'm sorry but I am sick of this "flavor of the week" reform.
I think he is trying to ram through as much destructive legislation as he can before the midterms...
Does he realize that he is on the verge of making the Dems into a national pariah and laughingstock. I mean every stand up comic in LA is making fun of Pelosi, Reid and Obama...heck I heard a BLACK stand up comic making fun of Obama the other night...I think the tide has turned against him and he running a two minute drill to get communism legislated before he doesn't have the votes.
Next time I think the Dems need to vett their candidates in the primaries a little better. This guy is our "Manchurian Candidate".
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
03/14/2010 15:29 Comments ||
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#16
Karl, 0 looks to me more like incompetent, stupid, narcissistic leftist radical. Is there a connection to "manchuria"? Not entirely out of the question, but occam razor indicates that the above may be explanatory.
Though, I noticed a few times a faint reflection of strings. ;-)
According to London's Sunday Telegraph, the president's decision to not welcome British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last March with the customary press conference and State Dinner was not a result of a deliberate slight, rather POTUS was tired.
"Big first year leaves Obama tired," the AP's Julie Pace wrote on December 29 of last year. "After a sleepless, overnight flight to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama made a not altogether surprising admission. He was tired."
The president was open in explaining his pooped-out appearance. "You have a convergence of factors that have made this a difficult year not so much for me but for the American people...Absolutely that weighs on me," the fatigued commander-in-collapse sighed.
And according to London's Sunday Telegraph, the president's decision to not welcome British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last March with the customary press conference and State Dinner was not a result of a deliberate slight, rather POTUS was pooped. "People say he looks tired more often than they're used to," said an anonymous strategist.
And like a yawn, exhaustion in the White House is contagious. In another New York Times article, White House senior adviser David Axelrod admits he's "tired" and his friends are worried "he's getting close to a burnout kind of thing." It sounds like the White House is in desperate need of some NoDoz, or better yet, more sleep.
The Telegraph also contained this stunning admission by a Democratic strategist with ties to several White House staffers, "...the president has regularly appeared worn out and drawn during evening work sessions with senior staff in the West Wing and has been forced to make decisions more quickly than he is comfortable."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#8
Reagan was nearly twice Bambi's age. He may have napped at cabinet meetings, but napping is healthy and the republic did not seem to suffer. Perhaps Bambi should nap more.
#9
Parties, date nights, movie nights, all reported in the press... instead of concentrating on the requirements of his job. But somehow the stupid George W. Bush managed to get the job done for eight years, despite not being intelligent enough to edit the Harvard Law Review. It boggles the mind.
Hey Barry take it from another Berry, you need to take your vitamins and learn a new song and dance.
Your excuses just don't play, remember "it's Bush's fault"
Black Bart, posting here as Spater etc. - please stick to one 'nym right now.
Fred and the mods are dealing with a huge spam storm and other attacks. Your cooperation will be helpful as the sources of attacks are painstakingly tracked down and holes plugged.
- The Mods
Posted by: Spater Scourge of the Infinitesmal1256 ||
03/14/2010 12:00 Comments ||
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#17
IIRC , he complained about this during the campaign, as well.
The Anti-Defamation League said it was shocked at the Obama administration's "public dressing down" of Israel over its decision during Vice President Joe Biden's weeklong visit to move forward with the construction of 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem. It'll all be forgotten by 2012. If not, the B.O. campaign will deny it.
The ADL took issue with State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley saying the move "undermined trust and confidence in the peace process, and in America's interests." Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to express the administration's displeasure, and the rebuke continued today in an interview with Andrea Mitchell in which Clinton called Israel's actions "insulting."
On Tuesday, Biden had issued a statement saying "the substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I've had here in Israel."
"We are shocked and stunned at the Administration's tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem," ADL director Abraham Foxman said in a statement. "We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States. One can only wonder how far the U.S. is prepared to go in distancing itself from Israel in order to placate the Palestinians in the hope they see it is in their interest to return to the negotiating table."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/14/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
As Instapundit notes, "ANOTHER 'RUBE' SELF-IDENTIFIES."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/14/2010 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
Not to fear. Jews still will be a reliable voting bloc for the Dems in 2010 and in 2012 for The One.
#4
Until most recently g(r)omsky, I seem to recall a 60 year uninterupted period of unquestionable political support, intelligence sharing, and military alliance extended your little sliver of rock. All criticims are not attacks, like yours, they are oftentimes simply observations.
#5
Besoker,
There are a couple of Interesting postings at Debka.com. Taking them with a grain of salt (as usual) one still wonders if the US foreign policy as "reinnovated" by B.O. has not taken a 180 degree turn and has decided to sacrifice Israel to the Arab world in order to secure other unrelated US interests in the ME.
While I believe the US is free to define and pursue it's interests as it sees fit, I sometimes wonder if B.O. does see the way Iranian increasing strategic power will eventually undermine the US from projecting power to advance pure US interests in the region.
Furthermore, I also believe when critical Israeli survival intereswts are at stake (and I do think that they are at stake now) Israel has the right to act to protect itself even if this contradicts US interests in the region (as they are defined by B.O.).
Regarding the "sliver of rock" - just don't forget that there may be a few hundred warheads stashed on the "sliver" exactly for such a time when we believe our best US friends (no cinicism meant here) have abandoned us.
Please dont make us use them !!!!!!!!
It is my firm belief that if we cannot stop the Iranians from getting Nukes now we will have to use Nukes on them pretty soon.
I also believe that Gromgoru did not mean any disrespect in his post (I think he really cares about the US and so do I, and he is just expressing criticism about what he believes to be a regression in the role of the US as the leader of the free world - a concern which I share).
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
03/14/2010 8:28 Comments ||
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#6
there was a lot of stupidity and arrogance on both sides
Israel should not have embarrassed Biden (who is perfectly capable of embarrassing himself) by making their announcement of 1600 housing units while he was in-country. This is the kind of thing we would expect of the PRC. Bibi is catching hell from critics in Israel for allowing this.
The US should not have denounced the housing units with the same phrase "we condemn" that is used to denounce suicide bomb attacks.
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/14/2010 8:35 Comments ||
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#7
Concur totally EofZ. On some things, one must take Barry at his word.
"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
- The Audacity Of Hope
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
03/14/2010 8:59 Comments ||
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#9
any chance to stab an ally will be taken as an opportunity by this loser
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/14/2010 10:06 Comments ||
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#10
I was talking about New Deal, turning Eastern Europe over to Stalin, shafting South Vietnam, Shafting the Shah, support for Palestinian Statehood, Shafting Turkey (by supporting elected government against the military), shafting the Brits, shafting Israel in Lebanon (both Reagan & Bush). And that's just of the top of my head Besoeker.
p.s. how about Amnesty for illegals (Bush as well as Dems)?
#11
If you're paying the freight, ie, US taxes, then you've a right to bitch. If you're receiving foreign aid, bitching among fellow aid recipients is allowed. But not to me please.
p.s. How about the KDH bombing and the USS Liberty.
#14
I dunno, Lex, a number of my colleagues and employees at the U are urban Jewish, and they're still with the Bamster. Might change by 2012, but I dunno.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/14/2010 18:08 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) believes he's "under attack" -- or at least that's what he wrote in an e-mail blasted over the DCCC listserv Friday in the hopes of raising $20,000 over the weekend.
Couldn't have happened to a better group of people. 
President Barack Obama will release a blueprint Monday for his long-awaited overhaul of the No Child Left Behind law, replacing annual benchmarks for schools with a goal of having all graduating students prepared "for college and a career."
According to London's Sunday Telegraph, the president's decision to not welcome British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last March with the customary press conference and State Dinner was not a result of a deliberate slight, rather POTUS was tired.
The Anti-Defamation League said it was shocked at the Obama administration's "public dressing down" of Israel over its decision during Vice President Joe Biden's weeklong visit to move forward with the construction of 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem.
