A succinct definition.

This picture is in at least a half dozen blogs out there so I don’t know where it started but it is telling given where things are today.

My initial reply was this:

The Chicago Tribune endorsed Barack Obama last November, the first time in the modern era it endorsed a democrat. Also, a month later the Tribune declared bankruptcy. So things do change…I guess we should be grateful it took this long.

This poster was found at a gun shop in Texas. As always with cool stuff, it came from the Coach.

Let me give credit where it is due. God Bless the Navy for their incredible job here. Obama answered his first 3 am call. I’m an eternal optimist so I’ll hope that this is a “speak softly and carry a big stick” policy by Barack. That being said, you can’t just ask people to ignore this situation like he did earlier.

After Barack Obama’s embrace of the troops in Iraq I was actually warming up to the guy, but now that his international bow and flagellate tour is interrupted by a hostage crisis on the high seas, his silence is shameful and embarrassing. There were more pirate attacks this time last year off the coast of Somalia, and yet it is now, for the first time in, what, centuries, that an American vessel has been hijacked by pirates in, what, centuries? The pirates want to see how weak we are, and I fear Barack Obama, with all the nuance he can muster, just may demonstrate exactly how far we can capitulate.

Today, for the first time in a long time, I missed George W Bush. Someone who wasn’t afraid to call an evildoer evil, and when hit in the mouth took the fight to terrorists. I have some problems with how the Iraq war has been handled, but during the Bush administration nobody wanted to hijack our boats and push us around to get paid.

What irks me most is it seems that Barack’s biggest problem is how the pirate’s are crimping his style.

Here are the comments made by President Barack Obama this morning.

Here’s what he really said:

The American auto industry will now be run directly out of my office.  When I go to the G20 meeting, I want to be able to tell the most Despotic of world leaders that I have completely nationalized a major industry in my country so that I’ll be invited to all the cool communist cocktail parties.

Obviously this doesn’t guarantee that anyone in Michigan or elsewhere is any more likely to have a job than if we had let the companies go bankrupt.  But obviously we couldn’t just let “the Market” [laughter from the White House press] just do what it pleases.  We’re appointing a new White House “Car Czar,” but first we want to make sure he a) doesn’t have any tax liens, and b) drives a Mercedes SUV.

Any questions…?

Here’s what he really said:

“It should all be free. Paid for by people who worked hard to get their own education and create their own wealth. Thank you very much.”

US doesn’t torture. It’d be funny if a Guantanamo prisoner was on the balcony with Michelle.

“I think of Ahmoud al-Mohammed, I prisoner in Guantanamo, a failed suicide bomber caught in Afghanistan who is just young jihadi in need of a little hope and compassion”

Avoid escalating protectionism and sell American goods in other markets….wait we still make stuff?

A litany of boring people. I do like how the girl asks her principle to pay for a stamp instead of her parents. Sounds about right.

Yawnzers, B is out

Random thoughts on President Obama’s speech.

A little early for a State of the Union - like address, isn’t it?

Hillary is a camera hog.

Chris Dodd needs to be out of office, now.

“Short term gains were preferred over long term prosperity” Good.

Then the deluge, anti-low taxes, pro-regulation mantras.

Nothing new here folks. I wonder if one form of alternative energy is a wind farm in DC generated by Obama applause.

Democrats in Congress give themselves a standing ovation over passing the stimulus.

Extended unemployment benefits…ouch high unemployment to last for a while, eh?

Glad Obama gave props to Joe Biden. Nice.

More free loans for college, auto, homes, businesses…hmm isn’t this what got us in trouble in the first place.

Obama will refinance bad mortgages. Rick Santelli where are you?

A no “no strings attached” approach to bank bailouts. He’s right on the money here and the GOP stands up too on tis one. Ok, then guys don’t capitulate to the banks so easily from now on.

“It’s not about helping banks, it’s about helping people”. Ok if you have to say it then chances are you are doing the opposite. W said much the same thing, when he was helping out banks.

Dependence on foreign oil, health care, bad schools. Same old Same old.

A trillion dollar deficit, financial crisis and a recession…Ugh it’s true.

Bold action and Big ideas. Hold onto your wallets. (Standing O for the GI Bill…natch)

New research funds for medical research…Standing O in the Broussard home!

Energy efficiency blah blah blah.

“We should not and will not protect them from their bad practices.” Again if you have to say that it means you are protecting them from bad decisions.

Free health care for children gets a standing O…more candy for everyone! A cure for cancer?

Whoa the free health care for children gets a bigger O than a cure for cancer! Socialized medicine talk.

Teddy Roosevelt called for health care reform? Really?

Half of college entrants do not finish. Ouch. Is it wise to give everyone free money for tuition if they won’t finish college?

Incentives for teacher peformance is a good idea. Why W couldn’t think of that when he pushed NCLB I’ll never know.

Standing O for Obama telling kids not to drop out of high school. How can you be against that?

Education reform from Edward Kennedy….wait a second didn’t he author No Child Left Behind…I’ve gone cross-eyed!

Parents need to take care of their kids…another standing O!

I love how he swerved from endless promises of spending to being a committed fiscal conservative. I think I got whiplash.

Protectionist alert. Hard to get these Chinese to buy our T-bills if we don’t use stimulus $s to buy their goods. Still I’m all for the protectionist streak in Obama.

Tax free universal savings accounts…sounds good to me.

Oh yeah there’s a war going on…It’d be nice if he were to say “wins”, instead of “ends”, but the way he says ends sounds like, “ins” which is close to “wins” without the W. Maybe he’s just avoiding the W at all costs. “Unyielding support”, sounds more classy than Bill Clinton ever was to our citizens in uniform.

From the Jindal camp. I do like how the response is prepared before the State of the Union is presented.

As I grew up, my mom and dad taught me the values that attracted them to this country - and they instilled in me an immigrant’s wonder at the greatness of America. As a child, I remember going to the grocery store with my dad. Growing up in India, he had seen extreme poverty. And as we walked through the aisles, looking at the endless variety on the shelves, he would tell me: “Bobby, Americans can do anything.” I still believe that to this day.
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Republicans are ready to work with the new President to provide those solutions. Here in my state of Louisiana, we don’t care what party you belong to if you have good ideas to make life better for our people. We need more of that attitude from both Democrats and Republicans in our nation’s capital. All of us want our economy to recover and our nation to prosper. So where we agree, Republicans must be the President’s strongest partners. And where we disagree, Republicans have a responsibility to be candid and offer better ideas for a path forward.
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The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens.
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To solve our current problems, Washington must lead. But the way to lead is not to raise taxes and put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians. The way to lead is by empowering you - the American people. Because we believe that Americans can do anything.
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Democratic leaders say their legislation will grow the economy. What it will do is grow the government, increase our taxes down the line, and saddle future generations with debt. Who among us would ask our children for a loan, so we could spend money we do not have, on things we do not need? That is precisely what the Democrats in Congress just did. It’s irresponsible. And it’s no way to strengthen our economy, create jobs, or build a prosperous future for our children.

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In recent years, these distinctions in philosophy became less clear - because our party got away from its principles. You elected Republicans to champion limited government, fiscal discipline, and personal responsibility. Instead, Republicans went along with earmarks and big government spending in Washington. Republicans lost your trust - and rightly so.
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A few weeks ago, the President warned that our nation is facing a crisis that he said “we may not be able to reverse.” Our troubles are real, to be sure. But don’t let anyone tell you that we cannot recover - or that America’s best days are behind her.

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