GOP Leadership Backs Off From Comments Against Limbaugh and Steers House GOP to Reject Obama Stimulus Plan

The House GOP leadership backed away from their comments against Rush Limbaugh, saying that the comments read harsher than they were intended.

Rush seemed willing to let bygones be bygones, but pushed the leadership to be more aggressive in their attempts to stop the Obama Administration's agenda, which was also the correct thing to do.

Their conservative base will support them if they stick to their conservative principles, and don't knuckle under to the new order in Washington. The Republicans who lost their seats did a poor job of taking care of their conservative constituents, who didn't turn out to support them, or threw their votes elsewhere.

The House GOP's unanimous rejection of President Obama's stimulus bill is a very good start. I was pleased to see that. Having the Republicans get along with the Democrats is not in our nation's best interests.

Many of our problems need more than one solution, and if we get into the groupthink that the Democrats have bought into, we run the risk of restricting our choices in dealing with the economic difficulties that have put our economy into the toilet.

House GOP Leaders Buy Into Socialist Groupthink: Telling Limbaugh to Shut Up Because He's Pointing Out Where They Need to Go Won't Help Them

The GOP House leadership told Rush Limbaugh to back off his comments and that he and Sean Hannity are brick-throwers who don't have to do what is necessary for the well-being of the public.

The House GOP has bought into the socialist feel-good groupthink of the Democrats.

This is why the GOP lost so badly in November, and why they will continue to lose seats. They're alienating their own constituents. By not standing up to the Democrats now, they're proving that this is simply a continuation of 2008, where they're trying to out-Democrat the Democrats. They haven't learned this lesson yet.

Republicans need to be Republicans, and stand on their own merits, not try to cling to the coattails of the Democrats, who are about to enter a troubled time in their own party, now that all the pieces of the elected government are in place.

The Dems are about to find out that capturing power is a lot easier than maintaining it, especially with the patchwork coalition that holds their party together trying to pull in so many different (and opposite) directions. And when Obama starts to move toward the center to govern, that's when the real fireworks will begin inside the liberal Democratic Party.

The Republicans blew it when they controlled the House, Senate and White House. They didn't do what they should have done, and then lost both houses of Congress and the Presidency.

Instead of telling Limbaugh to shut up, the GOP leadership ought to listen to what he's saying and maneuver themselves into position for the next elections. They need to FIGHT against Democratic Party initiatives and propose their own, not go along weakly with the Democrats.

And if the GOP leadership is too weak and too timid to do so, then perhaps they should stand down and let someone in who WILL! Joining the Democratic attack on Limbaugh is not the sign of strong GOP leadership, that's for certain.

Still waiting for the leadership that has been sorely lacking in the GOP....

Follow-Up to 2008 Story: FLDS vs. State of Texas

Now that seven months have gone by since Texas officials royally screwed up an investigation of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) cult and were ordered to return most of the 439 children to the unrestricted care of their parents, what's happened since then?

All but thirteen children have been returned; Texas officials believe they've sorted out the situation and have begun prosecuting this case the way it should have been in the first place.

There are multiple investigations of the cult itself and the way that it does business; there are questions of whether the FLDS ranch/compound was constructed using funds illegally siphoned from a trust, which has since been put into caretaker custody by a judge in Texas.

Several men belonging to the FLDS are being investigated for having multiple under-aged wives.

Their leader, Warren Jeffs, remains in prison, where he belongs. He was convicted of child rape in Utah and was facing eight charges in Arizona at last glance.

Overzealous officials seem to be following the rules now, having been slapped around by a Texas judge who reprimanded them for sloppiness in their handling of the case from the get-go. Hopefully they'll remember this situation if they're confronted with something similar down the road and do their homework before executing a search warrant.

That clearly didn't happen when this whole thing started.

Obama Administration Mounts a PR Assault on the Military "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy: Strategy Will Backfire

As anticipated, the Obama Administration is making noise about dismantling the military "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy toward gays. His press secretary confirmed that he wants to go to Congress to repeal the policy, but won't do so until late 2009 or 2010.

Ultimately, it won't work.

I think it will actually drive more gays out of the military and lead President Obama to hastily restore the policy--in it's current form. There are many who wouldn't mind seeing this happen.

President Clinton beat a hasty retreat on this issue and never returned to it. I think history will repeat itself with President Obama once he takes a measure of how the military feels about this issue, and how the public feels about it. In fact, he's already delayed looking at this issue until 2010.

I'm not sure that the Democrats in Congress will want to risk alienating their constituents, who have shown that they may vote their own way on issues related to gay rights, regardless of party label. Look at California and their Proposal 8 controversy. I knew that proposal would pass; voters don't like being told what to do and having the power of their votes taken away by activist judges.

Even though the Democrats control the government, I think this will be an uphill battle for them, should they choose to try. And at this stage, I'm not sure they want to go on record with their vote.

And even if they do succeed, how long will it last?

Contrary to Popular Groupthink, Now is NOT the Time for National Unity: Now's the Time to FIGHT

The press has been going after Rush Limbaugh for saying that as a conservative, he wants "Obama to fail."

I heard CNN blasting him last night for saying this, saying it's not helpful to "national unity" behind the Obama Administration. Excuse me, but has CNN forgotten that not everyone voted for THEIR candidate?

Now is not the time for national unity; now is the time to FIGHT LIKE CATS AND DOGS to stop the Venezuelan-ization of our country. The government has no need to nationalize banks and private businesses, as Chavez has in Venezuela.

We are NOT Venezuela II or Cuba II.

Limbaugh is absolutely right. And for all these news organizations to gang up on Limbaugh in this fashion for defending the conservative position shows how far and how deep the socialist groupthink extends.

No more bailouts; the economy needs to be allowed to right itself. The accuracy of this position will be made clear when the companies that have already been bailed out start going under down the road, and taxpayers will be left with nothing but the debt to show for it.

Current Air Force One to be Replaced: 747-200 Upgrades Becoming More Expensive as Time Goes By

The Air Force is looking to replace the current Air Force One with a newer aircraft.

An exhaustive study found that the VC-25 (which is based on the 747-200 airframe) is due for extensive air control upgrades, air defense and communication upgrades, as well as increased maintenance costs. They're having problems identifying suppliers for needed parts to keep the aircraft ready to take off at a moment's notice. As the design gets older, the problems will get worse.

Boeing and Airbus are already working on designs for a new Air Force One that will be equipped for midair refueling, will have all the communication equipment, technology, room and defensive systems that will allow the President to run the country while he or she is airborne.

The plan calls for the first aircraft to be delivered in 2017; the second Air Force One sometime in 2019 and another in 2021 (the military currently has two Air Force Ones).

The two most likely contenders (the winner gets to build all three aircraft): the Boeing 747-8I and the Airbus A380. There's also speculation that the Boeing 777-300ER might be a contender.

The Boeing 747-8I:

The Airbus A380:

The Boeing 777-300ER:

It'll be interesting to see who builds the next Air Force One.

Circuit City Reorganization Fails: Entire Chain Will Close

Circuit City had been hoping to reorganize under the auspices of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but were unable to find a buyer for all or part of the chain. As a result, the entire chain will close, sending another 30,000 of it's employees into unemployment. All 566 stores will be liquidated.

That's too bad. They were no match for Best Buy or Walmart, which knocked the stuffing out of Circuit City to the point that it's suppliers wouldn't do business with them until their past debts were settled.

And in doing so, the suppliers will get paid off what they're owed, with no opportunity for repeat business, which will affect their own bottom line further down the road. Where does it end?

2008 Retail Bankruptcies: Some Familiar Names Go Away

2008 was a very bad year for retailers and business in general, and some big companies went under, including some that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the week after Christmas.

The 2008 list:

• Circuit City
• Boscov's
• Sharper Image
• Mervyns
• Linens 'n Things
• Whitehall Jewelers
• Steve & Barry's
• Bennigan's
• Tribune Company
• Tweeter Opco
• Shoe Pavilion
• Waterford Wedgwood
• Advantage Rent-a-Car
• Bally's Sports Club
• Pilgrim Pride
• Aloha Airlines
• DayJet
• SkyBus
• ATA Airlines
• Mrs. Fields Famous Brands LLC
• Progressive Auto Parts
• Goody's
• Ziff Davis
• Buffets Holdings (Old Country Buffet, Ryan's Grill Buffet and HomeTown Buffet)
• KB Toys
• Polaroid
• Arena Football League
• Olsson's Books and Records

This list does not even touch the bank situation.


You will not see the following things in 2009 as their companies have cut them:

• Polaroid Traditional Instant Film (discontinued before Polaroid filed for bankruptcy)
• Zima (popular clear malt) (Coors Brewing Co.)
• CD sales at Starbucks
• FedEx Kinko's is dropping the Kinko's name and renaming itself FedEx Office.
• Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper (Dr. Pepper Snapple Group) (YUCK!!)
• Volcano Taco (Taco Bell) (Company says the popular taco was a limited-run menu item)
• Crown Pilot Crackers (Nabisco)
• Smoky Chipotle Crispy Fried Chicken (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
• DHL Shipping in the United States (DHL) (They're going back to Europe)
• Hundreds of other changes as businesses try to save themselves.
  

Companies in Danger--2009

The following list of companies is listed as being in grave danger of disappearing in 2009, according to AOL Money & Finance's web site:

• Chrysler (Despite the government bailout)
• XM Sirius
• AIG (Despite the government bailout)
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (They may be folded into one government agency)
• Rite-Aid
• New York Times (has to pay off a $400 million debt in the first few months of 2009)
• Nortel (already filed for bankruptcy)
• Pier 1 Imports
• Charter Communications ($20 billion in debt, stock was trading at $.12 a share today, expenses>income, just missed a $74 million payment)

2008 was a very rough year, and 2009 isn't looking too healthy right now either.

Has Anyone Seen Chicken Little Lately? He's Strangely Quiet About Global Warming

Has anyone seen "Chicken Little" Al Gore lately?

He's been strangely quiet. Must be crunching the numbers so that he can predict triple-digit temperatures for July and August to support his faltering global warming hubris.

See you around, Al.

World Media Needs to Give Prince Harry a Break: His Remarks Are Outweighed By His Military Service

Prince Harry is apologizing for a three-year-old video of him using racist terms and poking fun at his grandma.

The media needs to cool it and leave him alone. This is a huge non-issue that they're blowing way out of proportion; how this video made it into the media's hands should be investigated, not Prince Harry. This video was obviously not meant for public consumption and should have remained that way; the media should have ignored it.

How is he supposed to react when militants in the combat zones threaten to capture him, cut off his ears and send them to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II? "Oh, that's nice?" Or something along the lines of "go %^@ off??!" Harry chose the latter and he's being criticized for it.

The media has it in for Prince Harry and for the royal family, and don't care about the damage that they cause in their reporting. That's more scandalous than the Prince's remarks. He did an outstanding job during his time in the war zone, but the media screwed that up for him too, didn't they?

He's apologized, which was the correct thing for him to do, now LET IT BE, media!

Plea from School District for Toilet Paper and Light Bulbs is Utterly RIDICULOUS: Administration Should Be Ashamed of Itself

I'm about ready to rip hair out of my head over this one.

A Michigan school has asked it's parents to donate toilet paper, light bulbs and trash bags to the school as there isn't money in the budget for purchasing said supplies.

Which administrator or group made this decision needs to lose their job(s) over this sad state of affairs?

There are other places to cut the budget! Something that has this large of an impact on the students and staff is inexcusable and requires immediate action.

These kinds of supplies need to be untouched on the balance sheet; they can reduce it ONLY if a school is closed, or the student population of that school drops by more than 10%. But not to the point that the school has to BEG for its parents to buy stuff that should already be provided for.

Shame!

Russians Turn Off Gas Lines Going Through Ukraine: It's Another Step Toward a Russian/Ukrainian Military Confrontation

The Russians are using energy as a weapon against Ukraine again in a move that will ultimately lead to a war between Russia and Ukraine.

What other conclusion can there be?

Russia found a reason to invade Georgia, which it doesn't like very much. The Russians don't like the Ukrainians very much either because of Ukraine's decision to nationalize a joint Russo/Ukrainian naval base on the Black Sea. Russia is itching to kick the Ukrainians out of the Crimean Peninsula and seize the entire Black Sea Fleet for itself. The two countries divided the Soviet Black Sea Fleet between themselves after the USSR collapsed in 1991.

Their agreement over joint use of the Sevastopol base expires in 2017, and Ukraine has signaled that the agreement will not be extended. This did not go over well in Moscow.

Nor has Ukraine's attempts to join NATO or the European Union. Ukraine has the second biggest military in Europe behind Russia, a situation that Russia doesn't like very much.

During the Russo/Georgian War last year, Russia deployed it's fleet from Sevastopol to blockade Georgia's ports, and Ukraine insisted that deployed Russian naval units needed it's permission to cross back over into Ukrainian waters, which Russia ignored.

Whether the gas gets turned back on or not, Russia's using energy to influence Ukraine is a cause of major concern. Russia wants Ukraine under it's control as a buffer between itself and NATO, which it also doesn't like. And Ukraine feels the same way about Russian interference in their internal and external affairs.

No good will come of this current crisis.

Blagojevich Impeached: Saga of His Appointee to Obama's Senate Seat Goes On

Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois House of Representatives on Friday; and his choice to fill President-elect Obama's Senate seat, Roland Burris, was denied permission to join the Senate.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Burris' favor, saying that the appointment was completely legal. I saw that one coming. But the only question now is whether the Senate will delay the appointment, or approve him tomorrow. All the appropriate paperwork has been filed with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate and everything appears to be in order.

What now?

The Senate might well seat Burris without further comment, or delay the appointment until the impeachment of Blagojevich is complete and an outcome is decided. I hope the Senate buries this issue and gets the story out of the news. It's getting really old fast!

Unless there's a specific reason to deny Burris the seat, they should seat him and move on. His nomination by Blagojevich IS in bad taste, but Blagojevich had a right to do so. He wasn't impeached at the time of the nomination nor was he convicted of any crimes. I'm not sure if he's stripped of any powers while the impeachment is in progress in any case.

The Senate needs to settle this; it's a HUGE distraction, which is probably what Blagojevich intended in the first place.

Bush Presidency Should Not Be Judged By Historians of Today: They're Just As Polarized As the Electorate

Historians have been gathering to discuss how the Bush Presidency should be written into the history books, and already there have been dramatic announcements that Bush is the "worst President in history" by some of the "delegates" to this convention.

With all due respect to this gathering of academics and writers, I find myself questioning whether they should even be talking about this subject yet. History is written best by those who have some years of separation between the subject and themselves. Historians of today should be documenting what happens and leave the judgments to those who come after them.

The historians of today are just as polarized by the politics of today as anyone else in the American public, and so are susceptible to making judgments without the benefit of knowing what happened after President Bush left office on January 20th. Historians of today only have a partial picture; it's like calling a football game at halftime with the score tied. They can't do that. The story is still unfolding!

I doubt they can take a neutral stance on President Bush. I know I couldn't; the difference between them and me is that I can admit that I can't be neutral. And more, I WON'T. But I'm not the one who's going to be writing the history books either.

Treat whatever you hear coming from historians of today with a grain of salt. They're no different than you or me with regards to how much people like or dislike President Bush and his decisions as President.

These historians shouldn't insult us by pretending to have neutral opinions. "President Bush is the worst President in history" proves it.

Governor Blagojevich Had Every Right to Appoint Obama Successor to Senate Seat: He's Not Been Removed From Office or Convicted of ANYTHING Yet

Embattled Illinois Governor Blagojevich made headlines around the world when he defied public opinion and the opinions of both his state government and the U.S. Senate itself when he appointed someone to the Senate seat that he was accused of trying to sell for profit.

And yet, he had every right to do so, and it will more than likely be upheld by the courts.

Blagojevich has not been stood up in front of a jury and been pronounced guilty; nor has the Illinois legislature voted on any measure to impeach the governor. If they wanted to prevent this end, they should have impeached Blagojevich immediately so as to strip him of the power to appoint a successor. They didn't do that, so the Illinois secretary of state is obligated to certify the appointment and issue the appropriate credentials for the new junior Senator from Illinois.

I don't have an opinion on the nominee; he's not been accused of anything wrong and he is qualified under Constitutional guidelines.

It's troubling to see the government trying to circumvent the Constitution and ignoring the fact that this governor is innocent until found guilty. And as much as I'm enjoying the spectacle, I hope it doesn't drag on. The Constitution has already been shot full of holes; we don't need one of the fundamental aspects of Constitutional protections on due process to be weakened any further.

Leon Panetta for CIA Director? Someone on Obama's Team is Smoking Something to Come Up With This Idea

It looks like former Chief of Staff Leon Panetta (under the Clinton Administration) is being nominated to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

The CIA??!

Why on earth would they want this? Panetta doesn't have the right type of experience for this posting. The Obama Adminstration already has a super-spy working for it: Robert Gates. Why don't they ask him to do it instead? Gates is untainted by the causes of the Iraq War, and the subsequent questions about extraordinary rendition and interrogation techniques. Obama could ask McCain to take over the Defense Department.

It appears that this nomination took a lot of Washington by surprise. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out, if it's true. Panetta has a lot of experience, but not in this department. Surely there's a posting that's a better fit.

More Proof That Man's Contribution to Global Warming is Overhyped: Fewest Solar Spots on Sun Corresponds to Drop in Average Temps Across Planet

2008 is a year that global warming nuts would like to forget; it saw their ice-thin facade of science collapse in the face of decreased solar activity, which corresponded to a planet-wide drop in average temperatures.

The sun is a larger factor in global warming and global cooling than the nuts would like to acknowledge. Sunspot activity has been decreasing since 2000, and average temperatures have been falling since 1998. In addition, their global warming models did not predict the cool-down of 2007-2008. According to their model, the temperature should have increased.

Global warming alarmists should get their facts correct before trying to scare people into buying into their belief that man alone is responsible for the rise in global temperatures, which aren't rising at all. So much for the much-hyped "proven science" which other (ignored) science has DISPROVEN.

Now, I do think that we should be looking at alternative cleaner fuels and changing the types of emissions that come out of our factories and industry. It's good for the air we breathe, and for the environment, but without all the global warming hype surrounding it. That's something I'm willing to work for.

But enough of the global warming hype, already. Put it in it's proper context, global warming people!