The Day After

I am watching President Obama sign the new health care bill into law. How do I feel about this? It scares me. Taxpayers will have more taxes and lesser health care in order that unemployed or poor people can have health insurance, many of them for free. I worry what this will do to small businesses. I hear that businesses that do offer health care have determined that it would be cheaper to pay the penalty and not help out their employees. And I really am concerned about the added power they want to give to the IRS. The IRS is already out of control at times and now the government want to expand that department? And no way will it help the deficit, of course it will make it worse!

Obama is now talking, people are applauding and standing for an ovation. But why? Because they forced members of their own party into voting the party line? They had to bribe, strong arm, and as they admitted, do whatever it takes to get their own Democrat Congressmen and women to vote “Yes”. It just shows how flawed this bill is, if even with all the maneuvering by Obama, Pelosi, Rahm et al, there were still some Democrats who stood by their values and voted “no”. Good for them.

So now what? There is talk now about Republicans being “ugly losers”. I can understand why, people are very upset with what just happened. They can’t understand how a President with a 41% favorably rating, a Speaker of the House with an 11% favorable rating and a Senate Majority Leader with only a 9% favorable rating could come together and decide how to spend our money. I would say it is simply unimaginable except for the fact that it happened.

Yet I don’t think we should be ugly losers. Instead we should fight harder, fight smarter on the next bills, primarily immigration, and cap and trade initiatives. We must stop both of them. We must go across the country explaining why these are bad for the U.S., for us. No name calling or any other tactic along those lines which would only make us look bad and give sympathy to them. We need to publicly be nice and polite but behind the walls we need to fight as hard as Pelosi did and stop being so nice and polite. The country simply can’t afford another loss, another step towards redistribution of the wealth.

I bet that Obama will next try to bring in all the illegal immigrants. He has to. He needs those new citizens as potential new voters. Democrat voters, of course, who would then be bused to the voting polls in November 2012 to make sure that Obama is re-elected, even though the tax paying population is turning against him. (Obama has already shown he could care less about his party and Democrat politicians up for re-election this year. If he cared about them he wouldn’t have forced them to vote Yes on the health care bill knowing full well that their people hate the bill and will vote them out in November.) Anyway, we must stop any new bill to ease illegal immigration. If we couldn’t afford all those poor illegal immigrants before, just imagine the cost since they would all get on the federal insurance plans! We need to close the gates now because if I were a Mexican I would get my ass in this country ASAP in the hopes of some mass legalization thus allowing me to use the United States wonderful health care system, for free, of course.

Tea parties are great but we need more than that. We need stronger voices. We need Nancy Reagan. We need both Bushes and their spouses. We need Sarah Palin to do more than comment on Fox News. I just heard that McCain, who has always had a more liberal view of immigration and was hoping to put together a joint bill, has just said that there will be no more bipartisan efforts. What little goodwill there was has totally evaporated in light of the shenanigans by the Democrat party to ensure their recent victory. And then we need young voices.

Over the past week there have been a few younger Congressmen who have slowly risen to, perhaps not the top, but they have risen above the crowds. Other than Scott Brown I can’t tell you their names. But they know who they are and they need to start making the rounds on Sunday mornings and standing up for our causes. Speaking of which, most people are at church Sunday mornings but if you think of it tape Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. He is hosting the first one-on-one of the Republican candidate’s for Florida’s open Senate seat between Florida Governor Crist and Marco Rubio. At the start of the Republican primary Crist was a shoe in. Now? Rubio, a second generation Cuban, very conservative, young tea party goer now has a solid majority of 56% vs. Crist’s 34%. That is what we need to do.

I heard some democrat say that people will forget about this by November. Perhaps. But that might be why the symbol for Republicans is an elephant. We don’t forget. And we won’t let anyone else forget. As for the health care bill, we will do anything and everything we can do to delay, if not stop, it. A recent poll showed that 49% wanted their states to sue the government; primarily challenging that the health care bill is unconstitutional. Make sure yours is one of those states and that yours is one of the voices protesting, challenging and making sure people know the truth. This is my voice - where is yours?

A Show of Raw Power

People I talk to are truly scared that the passage of this bill would change America, many of them fearing it is an irrevocable giant step towards socialism. However, if the news that the Democrats have the votes for the health care bill upsets you, here are some things to think about.

For the past six months, ever since summer really, it feels as if the whole country has been paralyzed because of the health care bill. Republicans should actually be grateful. All this attention and effort on just one bill has meant that nothing else is getting done in Congress.

If Obama wins on Sunday and the health care bill is passed, it won’t mean that everything will go his way from then on; far from it. I keep thinking of the phrase “political capital”. Obviously with all the arm twisting and bribing, Obama and Pelosi will have used up all of their political capital. If a Congressman ends up voting for this bill I wonder how receptive they will be to future liberal causes, and threats.

For example, there is my own first term Congresswoman, a Democrat who voted No on the first health care bill. If I am being bombarded by telephone ads from both left and right to call her I can only imagine what her life is like right now. Well, no actually I can’t imagine what it would be like to be browbeaten not only by my Speaker, dozens of Democrat leaders but also confronted by my President in his Oval Office, and all of them threatening to annihilate me in November if I don’t support my party.

Then there is the “pep rally” planned this afternoon for all Democrat Representatives plus Obama, now that he has cancelled his trips. Some analysts are comparing what is happening to the Stockholm syndrome which is when hostages begin to sympathize with their captors. I think it is more along the lines of mass hysteria. Remember the pictures of the crowds cheering Hitler over and over again?

I really can’t see my Congresswoman continuing to stand up to so much raw power. And that is what it is. Absolute raw ugly power against, in many cases, first term idealistic Congressmen and women. But once Obama and Pelosi have used this tactic they will have nothing left in their bag of tricks for the rest of the year, which is why I doubt that any other very liberal bill gets passed this year.

We all know that Obama came into office promising a laundry list of far left changes. He has now spent his first year on just one issue – health care. Once that is passed he will try to quickly move on to other issues, immigration is already next on his list, but I believe that he will find each vote to be a painful reminder of the damage he and Pelosi have done in order to pass the health care bill.

First, the passage of the health bill will result in dozens of law suits questioning the legality of forcing people to get insurance. Already over half the states are planning to fight this bill. There is also the “fixes” which Democrat Senators promised the House will be added but they might find it difficult to pass when faced with Republican opposition. The bill already isn’t supposed to force health care on us until 2014 and between now and then Congress will be swamped with law suits and delaying tactics making it difficult to implement this bill or to move on to any other bill.

I also think that what is happening is similar to any action movie. The good guys always take a real beating and then at the end they pull themselves together and finally succeed in defeating the bad guys. I have a feeling that as in any action flick, if the health care bill is passed then the people, the soccer Moms and racecar Dads, the elderly widows and the young family man, the single women and the mother of four, Republicans, Independents and Tea Party people of any and every color, age and creed will pull together in a tidal wave of anger, frustration and purpose to block anything else proposed by Obama and to win this November. And like any good movie, in the end the good guys will win.

A Lack of Leadership

If we were in England, Obama, who just a year ago was riding high, would be facing a vote of no confidence right about now. Instead, we have the Health Care bill which has morphed into more than simply an up and down vote on this issue. It has become a test of Obama’s leadership skills and his ability to get something, anything, done in his friendly Democratically controlled Congress. The only problem, however, is that in order to prove he is a leader and can get something done, he must ask his party to vote on a bill that is unpopular with a public who no longer even want it. (The most recent Rasmussen poll shows that 53% are opposed to the bill and 57% believe it will be harmful to our economy.)

The question that Democrat Reps are facing is this - do they fall on their sword by voting on this issue as a show of their support of their party and their President but knowing that a "Yes" vote will alienate their district resulting in their being voted out of their office in the fall? I truly feel sorry for the first term Congressmen and women who know full well that they will not be re-elected if they vote for the bill. And yet imagine the pressure they must be under to do just that! Congressman Massa may be a nutcase but I’m sure there is an element of truth to his statement about pressure to vote Yes from Rahm, Obama’s hitman. Add to that the calls from Nancy Pelosi and even from the president, and life is very uncomfortable for the Democrats who plan to vote against the health care bill.

You read that Obama’s leadership is at stake because of this bill yet I feel that he showed his complete lack of leadership skills by letting himself get into this position in the first place. If he had actually turned to the economy and creating jobs, as he promised in his State of the Union, he not only might have helped the country but his approval rating might be on the upturn for once. Instead he has completely squandered the country’s goodwill towards him.

The numbers clearly tell the story of Obama’s downfall:

The President’s approval ratings have been in freefall. The Rasmussen poll shows a swing of 23 percentage points from a positive 16 difference between Strongly Approve vs. Strongly Disapprove to a negative 6 percentage points. As bad as this is, the negatives for Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid are even worse! Sixty-four percent view Pelosi unfavorably while 56% dislike Reid. A recent remark by Pelosi is so outrageous that it is almost impossible to believe she said it. But she actually did say this: "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Wow. No wonder people are in such contempt of Congress.

So what is going to happen? If they had the votes, Pelosi would have called for a vote on Monday. But they are still a handful short of even a simple majority to pass the health care bill. To add further pressure, Obama just postponed leaving for his big trip by a few days. One assumes he will use this time to call the recalcitrant Congressmen and women into his office to apply the greatest pressure of all – Presidential appeal and probably bribery. I truly hope that these Representatives, including my own, Suzanne Kosmos (d), can continue to stand by their first vote of no but I can understand how difficult it must be when faced by an irate President in the Oval Office. Yet in the long run I don’t think it will matter.

If the President and Pelosi are successful in passing this bill there will be a major upheaval as irate blue dog Democrats, Independents and Conservatives vote in Republican candidates en masse this fall. The primary campaigning point will have been to overturn the health care bill and once in office I am sure that they will find some way to do this. Or there is still a chance that the Democrats will not obtain the votes needed to pass the bill. Either way, within a year the Obama, Reid, Pelosi health care bill will not exist. Hopefully the next President, be he (or she) Democrat or Republican, will have finally learned that in order to succeed, a health care bill must be a joint venture with input from both sides and not a complete overhaul of our system by one side only.

As for Obama, if he is unable to pass bills when both the House and the Senate is controlled by Democrats then the rest of his term will be abysmal if the Republicans win big this fall. His legacy will revolve around how he squandered the nation's goodwill, wasted time during an economic crisis on a health care bill the public didn't want and showed that his retractors were right - Obama knows how to campaign and run for an office but once there he has no idea how to lead.

A Patient's View of HR3200

I recently learned that I need to have more surgery. This will be my second operation this year and my sixth in the past five years. I can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if we had Obama’s health care plan. Although at 51 I am not quite a senior, I would, however, fall into the chronically ill category. Under Speaker Pelosi’s health plan they would definitely want to send somebody to speak to me and my family about the cost of these expensive surgeries and how I am using up medical resources. Considering how much I have already been through, during their “counseling” I would probably be one of the people who would be urged to just be given pain meds and basically put out to pasture with no further costly care given. No surprise that I am selfishly glad my medical problems are occurring now, before any supposedly new and improved plan is implemented!

Yet it has occurred to me that in all the debates about end of life counseling I have yet to hear anyone mention how your perspective and reasoning changes when you are ill or injured. For example, I am a political junkie who loves to keep up on what is happening in Washington and then to write about it in my blog. And yet since I learned that I have blood clots in my lower aorta which has already nearly destroyed my right leg I no longer care very much about what is happening elsewhere and I have opted out of the politics and discussions whirling around about the health care bill. In fact, I was very surprised to realize just how long it has been since my last blog. That really shows how caught up I am in my own personal drama and ignoring the rest of the world.

I think I am typical in that the world narrows when you are ill. All your focus and energy are inward and you simply are unaware of anything else. So I wonder, how would I react if a stranger, a government official, were to council me about end of life decisions right now? How many people who are ill and weak and tired will simply agree to give up when that is presented as a viable choice in the end of life discussions? I know that I was in so much agony this spring before my last surgery that I am not sure what I would have agreed to in order to stop the pain. While we are in the throws of pain or caught up in an illness or simply physically run down we do think and act differently.

Now try to factor in having someone from the government step into the lives of people who are in pain or ill. They say it will be voluntary but when you are that ill you are in no condition to request this so I don’t doubt that others, including the hospital social worker, might call them in for you or even the panel might stop by as a matter of routine to walk through the hospital. Sure you could tell them to go but you simply don’t care and frequently aren’t totally aware of the surroundings around you.

In April I recall being rushed to the hospital and sitting in the waiting room but after that I have no memory for the next six days other than occasional glimpses of what was going on. I was told I talked and interacted with others but I have no memory of this. So just imagine if an official should happen to stop by or even be called by a family member, who knows what I might have said or which choice I might have agreed to but whatever it was I wouldn’t have had any memory of it later on. And by the time someone tells me what I did, it might be too late.

Even if you are alert, it is still a time when confusion reigns as you grapple with what is wrong with you, what the doctor will do, what is the outcome, how you will cope when you get back home, if you will still have a job, who’s taking care of your family, etc. To add to the confusion is the government expert who would present you with five different choices, including end of life services. This last choice would not only take away your pain but would also allow you to avoid all this hassle and confusion you’re encountering right now and yet end of life is probably not something a person would choose if they were in their right mind.

I thought I read that this end of life counseling was going to be discarded from the health plan. But I just heard Obama’s Saturday radio address. He started off by saying he wanted to debunk the health care myths which are spread by those who would benefit the most. Then a minute or so into his speech he says that death panels are not true and not in the plan. Obama is correct in that the phrase “death panel” is not in the plan but there is a section outlining end of life counseling. So once again he is being a lawyer and specifically calibrating his words to confuse the public.

Obama is also correct when he says that those who have the most to gain are fighting the health plan. For it is every day people like you and me who are protesting this outrageous government take-over of our health care because we know we have the most to lose if it is implemented. And if you think hearing about this is tough, just try to listen to this garbage when you are sick, ill, injured or hurt and require help from the health care system. You want your health care system to make you better, to allow you to get the tests you need, to see doctors who can help you and undergo the operations to make you better. The last thing you need is to have some government stranger butt into your life to tell you that one of your choices is to give up and die.

Short Retort

There is a lot of talk about health care bills. The Senate and the House each have their own version of a bill that would provide health care for everyone. They are massive bills filled with pages and pages of legalese and bureaucratic jargon which no one ever reads. Yet these Washington politicians and their mainstream media side kicks bombard us with stories and lectures on how wonderful these health care bills are. But no one mentions one small detail; not everyone is covered in the new health care plans. There is one group who will be exempt from following this "wonderful" new health care plan - the politicians themselves! You have to wonder... why aren't the Senators and Congressmen and women who are writing and designing the new health care system going to be forced to use it just like everyone else? If the proposed new health care system not good enough for Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and all the rest of the politicians then why should we be forced to use it?

Freedom's Continuous Downward Spiral

The Senate passed a bill yesterday, voting 90-5, to regulate Credit Card companies from sudden interest rate hikes or hidden fees. This is one more major mistake by our government and another step toward socialism. Most of you will disagree with me. You will point to the ridiculously high rates charged by Credit Cards, by their unfair tactics of raising rates if you are just one day late in your payment and by charging you fees for things you still don’t understand. And you are right. Some Credit Cards are unethical and will try to fleece you. But whatever happened to buyer beware?

Instead of you being responsible for your decisions, government is making those decisions for you by regulating yet another industry; all in the name of “protecting consumers”. At the same time Congress is dictating what Credit Card companies can do, the President was issuing orders regarding what car companies, those that are still left, can produce in the future. This order seems almost insane as the car industry in America is barely keeping alive manufacturing existing models. But now they are required to make major changes, which will mean massive revamping of designs and manufacturing of the new models, with extremely high costs which could surely swamp the existing American car companies. But again, this change is to protect you, the consumer, from real and imagined green house effects.

Based on the vote, it doesn’t appear that the Senate is concerned about voters disagreeing with the bill to regulate Credit Cards. I can only guess that this is because voters refuse to act responsibly. That’s the problem with real freedom. In a free society you don’t hand over your decision making process to the government; instead you take control over your decisions and ultimately your life. If you are unhappy with the rates charged by your Visa company there are enough competitors that you could find a Credit Card company offering better rates. But that means you need to do a bit of research or make some calls and then take action on your own to move your debt elsewhere. Of course the alternative is to not build up large Credit Card debt but that is probably asking too much of a person today. But people are too lazy or too irresponsible and are happy that Congress is taking care of the problem for them.

In a free capitalistic society, people would take action and leave a specific Credit Card company due to its high rates and fees or others wouldn't buy a specific car model because of its low MPH which would ultimately result in those companies changing its rates and updating its car models. But that isn’t being allowed to happen once government steps in to dictate what those rates and models must be. As soon as government makes those decisions for you then you have given up one more claim to freedom.

What you need to ask yourself today is "what industry will be next?". Now that people have willingly given government the right to take over and/or regulate entire industries, for the supposed sake of protecting the consumer, you know this is just the beginning. And it won't stop with big business. For just as the sun rises each morning, government, in its quest to "take care" of its citizens, will want to expand its control over all aspects of life.

Our freedoms are already under attack. There is free speech which has been severely limited due to political correctness and the ever despised 2nd Amendment which Washington has tried for years to suppress. The government will surely want to "protect" us from hate speech and gun violence so let's further restrict those rights, too. And who knows? Maybe religion is next on the list for doesn't differing religions create stress and violence? Therefore in order to take care of and protect the citizens why not take religion away, too? Imagine, that... So when will you wake up and say "Stop!" And on the day you realize what you have lost, will it be too late to change the bleak world that will be America without the freedoms we are so casually giving away.

It Is What It Is

Conservatives are having hissy fits over this stimulus bill. I suppose I could add my voice to the ranting and ravings but what is the point? After the election when Democrats took over every branch of government we knew there were going to be changes which went against everything we believe in, like the stimulus bill. This bill was a major platform of Obama’s and in spite of some bickering, Reid and Pelosi quickly rallied their troops to give the President what he wanted, when he wanted it. Come on folks, was anybody at all surprised by this?

Yet a glance at the headlines on Drudge, Politico, Townhall or any other conservative website will show excitable, angry, outrageous headlines of which the award for most over the top column would go to Ann Coulter who wrote an article titled Goodbye America, It Was Fun While It Lasted: http://townhall.com/columnists/AnnCoulter/2009/02/11/goodbye,_america!_it_was_fun_while_it_lasted. Then there are the radio talk show hosts. Oh my. Yes they are normally rather excitable but you should hear them now. They are running out of words to describe how despicable Congress is and nearly frothing at the mouth in indignation over this stimulus bill.

My take on it is a line from work that became overused but which expresses my feeling on the whole thing: It is what it is. Maybe that’s a fatalistic point of view but why bother getting all worked up over something you have no control over? Or as Obama likes to remind everyone; he won and we lost and I would state it as “he won, we lost so deal with it!”. Histrionics will get you nowhere. Actually it will make Republicans look like poor losers, something that American’s despise. We already have a trust issue with half of America and so we need to change tactics going forward.

We need to regain the nation’s confidence, respect and become the party of ideas and reasonableness. It really shouldn’t be too difficult to portray Reid and Pelosi for what they are; far left, demanding, odious, old time politicians. So instead of becoming hysterical over every little thing they do we need to calmly explain why a bill is harmful to the nation, how much it will cost the average working tax payer and then present to the nation alternatives. Of course Congress will never look at our ideas much less enact anything from the right side of the House and Senate. But over the next few years people would begin to trust and respect Republicans if they calmly and logically explain to the country how they would have handled an issue rather than the current ranting and ravings and shouting “No” and screaming that it is the end of the world or at least the end of America.

Of course I am afraid of what the tyrannical trinity of Obama, Reid and Pelosi will do to my country. Unfortunately they have the votes in the House and there will always be a few turncoats in the Senate so that they will be able to do what they want. Yes it is frustrating and infuriating and most of all very scary to see all these changes. Although it is what it is we actually can deal with it by trying to change the situation using a two prong attack. First, as I have suggested, Republicans need to rationally explain why the liberals are not only wrong but dangerous to the country and then give an alternative idea. My second point is that we must begin to target vulnerable districts where Republicans have a chance of beating the current Democrat Congressmen in two years. Then all of us need to help with money and support in order to elect more Republic Congressmen in 2010. This quiet support to defeat Democrats in two years will go a lot further towards ending the Democrat stronghold in DC than any rantings and ravings ever will.

Bio Brief - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

On Sunday, Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, emphatically stated that Gov. Blagojevich’s choice for Obama’s open Senate seat, Roland Burris would not be accepted by the Senate. Just three days later Reid changed his tune and will now accept Burris. So who is this man, Harry Reid, who is blundering his way into the new year as Senate Majority Leader?

Reid was born in a rural mining town in Nevada in 1939 making him 70 years old this year. I read in Wikipedia that he has held a number of positions in his home state, including serving as Nevada Gaming Commissioner from 1977 to 1981 a post that subjected him with death threats. After next serving two terms in Congress he was elected to the Senate in 1986. He was voted as Senate Minority Leader in 2005 and when the Democrats took control of the Senate became Senate Majority Leader in 2006.

I was very surprised to learn that the Democrats chose him as Senate Majority Leader considering his stance on some very sensitive issues. For instance, according to Wikipedia he is pro life and supported the ban on late term abortions. As an avid sportsman he is also pro gun voting against the ban on semi-automatic weapons. He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act saying that “marriage should be between a man and a woman”. And he supports a constitutional amendment to protect our flag. Not exactly the opinions one would expect from the leader of the Democrats in the Senate!

Reid, however, holds some very liberal views on other issues. Instead of describing them, I will let him speak for himself:

- On the Iraqi War: "This war is a serious situation. It involves the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country." February 18, 2007

- On the Surge: “I believe, myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense, and — you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows — this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday." April 19, 2007

- On Global Warming: “One reason we have fires in California is global warming.” October 2007

- On the Economy: “The urgency of this, everyone knows about. But I'm not going to have some false deadline, whether it's February 1 or whatever it is. I want to make sure that all senators have some input in what goes on here and do it as quickly as we can.” January 4, 2009

- On the new Capital Visitors Center: “In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true. ”December 2, 2008

- On Blagojevich: “"We determine who sits in the Senate. And the House (of Representatives) determines who sits in the House. So there's clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to do. This goes back for generations." January 4, 2009

- On working with the White House: “We are constitutionally empowered by the Constitution to have certain powers that are inherent in this body, and we want to work with the president. But they can't jam things down our throats.” Meet the Press December 5, 2004

Ok so I think that taken all together you get a pretty good picture of this man. I love the last quotes where he outright states that the Senate can do whatever they want as long as they are separated from the smelly tourists. What hubris! And as I read many articles written about him over the past five years there also appears to be a darker side to this man. There are numerous stories of corruption and hushed up scandals. Rumors have it that his family has made millions of dollars from bills Reid has endorsed, or earmarked including a very questionable $1.1 million land deal by the Senator, plus he was linked to the indited Jack Abramoff. There has also been a taint of racism throughout the years. This has resurfaced when he supposedly asked Blagojevich not to nominate three men for the Illinois Senate seat, all of whom are black.

And yes, he is a Mormon, which explains some of his conservative views. Although interestingly, he wasn’t born into a Morman family but rather he and his wife converted when they were in college. Hmmm. Here’s an interesting question. How is it that everyone knew that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a Mormon yet this high level Democrat's affiliation with the Latter Day Saints is kept hush hush? And now that I think of it, how can the radical left, who are bitterly opposing Mormons due to their supposed influence in defeating Prop 8 in California, continue to support Reid and his leadership role as Senate Majority Leader?

After researching Harry Reid I am coming to the conclusion that he is the worst kind of politician – a self righteous, power driven, ethically challenged liberal. It is only a few days into the new year and already Reid’s ego and self powertrip has hurt him with this Burris situation. I wonder just how long he will be able to hold on to his leadership position, and who would win if he does go toe to toe with the new White House, which some of his previous statements indicated will happen. Only time will tell but it sure could be fun to watch!

So that wraps up my first Bio Brief. I hope you found it helpful in understanding one of the most powerful men in our country.

Because She is Carolyn Kennedy, That’s Why!

Have you um heard you know um this AP interview with you know Carolyn um Kennedy where um she you know discusses her um quest for the um you know New York Senate seat and why she is um you know um qualified? And they said that Sarah Palin gave lousy interviews! Wow. Where is the outrage over Kennedy’s inane answers much less her rambling unprofessional dialogue?

As painful as it is to listen to Kennedy talk, it is even worse when you read her interview. Perhaps that is why I couldn’t find a transcript of it anywhere on the internet. So I did it myself. But it was well worth transcribing Carolyn Kennedy’s words of wisdoms from this rare interview. Perhaps now it is understandable why she doesn’t give interviews although reading this will make you wonder about those books she has “written”. Anyway, here is the transcript of an interview from potentially the next Senator of New York:

“You know I think really um this is sort of a unique moment both in our you know
in our country’s history and in in in you know in my own life. And um you know
we are facing you know unbelievable challenges uh our economy, you know health
care, people are losing their jobs here in NY obviously um particularly you know
families are hurting, education is tough um and so um you know um for me um I’ve
grown up here, I’ve lived here all my life, I love New York and and um {pause}
you know I’m going into politics is something that people have asked me about
forever. Even when I first just thought it in my own mind, you know I got you
know people come up to me on the street, on the subway and just this morning
walking over here on the subway and um you know they are like go for it you know
we are rooting for you. Somebody dropped off 200 signs at my husband’s office
two weeks ago uhm and so you know I thought well ok I really ought to take this
seriously this is really an incredible opportunity and um and you know there are
issues I really care about that are going to come up now. I, I come into this
thinking I have to work twice as hard as anybody else and this is nobody is
entitled to anything and certainly not certainly not me and um there are many
qualified people in this and so um you know I I am an unconventional choice I
understand that. I haven’t pursued the traditional path but I think that um in
our public life today you know we are starting to see that there are many ways
into public life and public service and its not um as you know all our
institutions are less um hierarchical than they use to be and so you know I
think that you know I bring you know my life experiences to this and you
know that includes um you know being a mother um you know I understand sort of
those choices women make that includes being a lawyer and written seven best
selling books you know two on the constitution um you know anthologies about
American history, and values, political courage, you know and I’ve really tried
to encourage people to go into public service.”

Oh silly me! Of course I now understand why she should be selected as the next Senator of New York! If somebody drops off a couple of hundred signs then I suppose that you have to run, right? As for her qualifications, she has clearly thought through why she should be Senator. Well, maybe not. But let’s be fair to her. How could she possibly have known that somebody would actually ask her to explain why she should have that Senate seat? What nerve! She is Carolyn Kennedy and if she says she wants something then she gets it! And now she has decided to “serve the public” which I suppose is her version of noblesse oblige by helping the little people of New York. So stop asking her silly questions about being qualified and take back those ridiculous requests about her financial statements and give her the Senate seat she demands. For she is royalty and if you don’t know that, Ms. Kennedy and her liberal political and journalistic sycophants certainly do! Groveling may be optional but give her the NY Senate seat as she demands and no more questions!

(And if you can’t believe she comes across as stupid and vapid as the above dialogue suggests then hear her for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W85XJADEHxU&feature=mpt%3Atop_stories )

Senate for Sale

I feel sorry for New Yorkers. It seems as if they are destined to be represented by very famous people who are completely ignorant about their state, their needs, their problems. Hillary Clinton never lived in that state nor had she had any experience governing or politicking for herself until she decided she wanted to be the NY Senator. Was she a good Senator? I have no idea. Maybe she did use her name and power in her party to get some perks for her state. But no matter how much she traveled when she ran for the Senate she is still not a real New Yorker and doesn’t understand or love that state as would someone who actually lived there.

Now Carolyn Kennedy has decided she wants to take Hillary’s seat when junior Senator Clinton becomes Madame Secretary of State. Carolyn’s uncle was once the Senator of NY but he was never a real New Yorker either. It makes you wonder about New Yorkers (ok I have always wondered about anyone who chooses to live there). Anyway, I wonder why they keep voting for somebody who moved to their state last week and declared they want to be the next Senator from New York.

Yes Ms. Kennedy has a name with star power but she has even less experience than Hillary had when she ran for that seat. I heard that Carolyn said that because she recently turned 50 and had worked with her uncle Teddy on Obama’s election she has now decided that wants to go into politics herself. So she just moved to NY and declared that she wants to be the next Senator in NY. Wow. I can’t help but feel sorry for all the hard working NY politicians who thought that they have earned the right to be named and now their dreams have been shattered in one day.

In both NY and Illinois the Governor has complete freedom to fill their respective empty Senate seats. The Illinois Governor is facing all kinds of criminal charges for trying to sell his empty seat to the highest bidder. The NY Governor is now faced with having a living icon, Carolyn Kennedy, stating that she wants him to name her as the next NY Senator even though she has never lived there nor has any experience. (Ironically I can’t help but wonder what the Illinois Governor would have done if faced with this decision.)

It is bad enough for an outsider to move to NY just so they can be in the Senate. But in Hillary’s case she earned that seat as the people of New York decided they wanted this foreigner with name power to be their next Senator and voted her to be their Senator. But in this current situation Kennedy would be named by the Governor and not elected by the citizens of the state. That just doesn’t seem right even if she has a mega watt name. As somebody quipped, Brittany Spears has a famous name, too, but you wouldn’t want her in Congress.

When a Senate seat becomes open in the middle of the term, we need to come up with a better way of filling it instead of letting the Governor pick whomever he wants. Neither pay to play nor having your Daddy’s name should be the criteria for selection but I am not sure what the alternative is. In Illinois, the Republicans are clamoring for a special election but this will cost a great deal of money. Perhaps the seat should be given to the person the leaving Senator beat in their party’s primary. Or maybe the State Senate should vote on a replacement as they are supposed to represent their district’s best interest. I am not sure of the solution but anything has to be better than the current situations in Illinois and New York.

Power Play

If elected Barack Obama will be a very weak and indecisive president. How did I arrive at this conclusion? By watching the current power play over the past week in which Obama abdicated his leadership role to the Democrat leaders of Congress. It is not often that the public can see such a ruthless play for power but that is exactly what is happening over the financial bailout.

First, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid, said they had come up with a plan. Only after getting maximum press coverage, where they looked like the heroes of the hour, was it revealed that they had not vetted it with anyone else. Then when anyone (such as the House Republicans or a good part of the nation) disagreed with their idea the dissenters were portrayed as deal breakers when in fact there never had been a deal satisfactory to enough people to pass a vote.

When McCain said he and Obama should be there to work on a bailout rather than getting ready for a debate, these Democrat leaders said that this issue was not a place for “presidential politics”. Excuse me? Since one of these men will be responsible for this country in just a few months and tasked with implementing the solution then they should definitely have a role in this. As for “politics” few people are more political than Pelosi and Reid. Their entire role seems to be less in finding a workable solution and more in claiming they were the ones who had a solution and blaming McCain for derailing their “deal”. However, even setting aside “presidential politics” Obama and McCain are Senators who should be there in that role.

This week Obama showed his inexperience and weakness by abdicating his leadership to Pelosi and Reid. Instead of asserting his role as the next potential president he bowed to their wishes and initially stayed away from Washington. Perhaps this is also a reflection of Obama’s history of avoiding making decisions by either not being there or by avoiding either a nay or aye vote. Whatever his reasons, by staying away he turned over his leadership role to Pelosi and Reid. Only a call from Bush finally got Obama back to Washington.

As I write this on Friday morning, Reid has just had another press conference. Again he said that “outsiders should stay out of it” which is a swipe at McCain and yes, even Obama. He also insinuated that a deal would have been reached if McCain had stayed away. You could see that Reid was clearly angry that his deal was shot down by the House Republicans. How dare anyone go against him! Reid even admitted that he is getting angry calls from his constituents but that Congress knows best and even though people are unhappy with it, the deal is good for Wall Street and Main Street. What hubris!

I don’t know how this whole financial mess will ultimately be resolved. What I do know is that Pelosi and Reid are already trying to flex their political muscles. This past week Obama has already set precedence by not only letting Pelosi and Reid tell him what to do but even worse by then doing their bidding. Instead of acting “presidential” he showed he was weak and could easily be controlled by Pelosi and Reid. This bodes a difficult presidency for Obama and an even worse four years for the rest of the country. For if Obama wins then Pelosi and Reid just might end up as the real leaders