Welfare Nirvana!

This is what your tax dollars are paying for in Tacoma, Washington. Unbelievable!

"You'll have to ask her..."

In a surreal turn of events, the White House press corps grilled Jay Carney about the prospects of Hillary Clinton mounting a primary challenge against Barack Obama. Courtesy of RealClearPolitics (they also have video of the exchange):

At yesterday's White House press briefing WorldNetDaily White House correspondent Lester Kinsolving asked Jay Carney if President Obama is "certain" that Hillary Clinton won't primary him. This comes after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Obama has moved to the right because he has no primary opponent.

Carney said the White House is pretty certain Clinton won't challenge Obama, however he tells Kinsolving "you'll have to ask her." Transcript of the exchange:

Lester Kinsolving: "Vermont's Senator Bernie Sanders said, and this is a quote, "one of the reasons the president has moved so far to the right is there is no primary opposition to him." And my question: Why is the president certain Hillary won't run against him?"

Jay Carney: "You win the award for originality today."

Kinsolving: "Thank you very much."

Carney: "The president is focused not on any election, he's focused right now on doing his job to grow the economy, create jobs, ensure Americans who are in the path of this hurricane are taken care of.

Kinsolving: "I understand. Why are you running away from this question? Can you guarantee, I mean, are you sure Hillary is not going to run."

Carney: "You'll have to ask her. We're fairly confident -- that we need to focus on the task at hand."

What I find amazing is that the press asks the White House about whether or not Barack Obama has moved the the right due to no primary opposition. What?

In addition, they've already asked Sarah Palin over and over again about what her intentions are. Why not ask Jay Carney about a Sarah Palin run? Even more, why don't they pester the dickens out of Hillary Clinton as to what her plans are? This is truly becoming theater of the absurd!

Cross-posted from Roderic Deane

In case you've forgotten...

Sarah truly speaks the Tea Party's language, but never crosses the line to suggest that she leads it. This is a lesson to be learned. We do NOT want politicians to lay claim to a movement that might support their agenda. We want politicians that will ENDORSE our beliefs and CHAMPION them as an adjunct to their own. They should NEVER lay claim to speaking FOR us. They should only lay claim to speaking on behalf of our beliefs.



Cross-posted from Roderic Deane

A Palin for the ages....

I've been totally absorbed in the task of bringing a new website online. I've done nothing over the last several weeks but deal with WordPress, html, site-hosting and DNS settings. It's enough to make your head spin!

Thankfully, I'm almost done. I'll announce the "go-live" nature of my new blogsite on The Roderic Deane Show. Hopefully, that announcement will come this Sunday.

In the meantime, I've been listening to the pulse of the Palin blogosphere. I've been intrigued by what I've heard. As recently as this morning, the FoxNews morning show alluded to a major announcement from Sarah Palin at her September 3rd speech to the Iowa Tea Party. The FoxNews crew dropped that bomb and then ignored it for the remainder of the show. Hmmmm.

No one can or should predict Sarah's mindset. Hell, I love the fact that she has one that doesn't play ball with those in the lamestream media. Karl Rove and company can play whatever games they feel necessary, but for me, I really don't care. I know that Sarah will do the right thing and whatever that "thing" is, I will welcome and applaud it!

You see, I'm not totally invested in the fact that Sarah HAS to run for President. What I am invested in is the future of our country. If Sarah decides that a presidential run is not to her liking, so be it. I'll accept that fact and move on. What I would like, however, is an understanding that she'll still be amongst us to encourage a course of action that we can all rally around.

In my heart, however, I hope she leads from the front as an announced candidate. I could REALLY rally around that!

Cross-posted from Roderic Deane

Is Stacy McCain losing it?

First off, let me tell you that I like Stacy McCain. His "The Other McCain" blog is very informative and entertaining. I've contributed to his "shoe-leather" fund on a number of occasions. But I am completely confused by his recent rant about not having access to what he calls "Team Sarah". I presume he means Sarah's inner circle. In a recent post, he wrote this:

I’m feeling like a mushroom here. IYKWIMAITYD.

UPDATE III: Dan Riehl rushes to join the Worldwide Universal Association of People Smarter Than Stacy McCain:

Whatever Palin is doing by way of preparation for a run is not what one is accustomed to seeing. Stacy is looking for the expected, not seeing it and concluding it’s too late for her. I’m looking at what I know and don’t know, while leaving a little room for what I don’t know I don’t know and concluding she’s running. Simple, isn’t it?

When I talked to Dan by phone a few minutes ago, he said, “Stacy don’t take it personally.” But when I am insulted — and to be purposefully excluded is to be insulted — it would compound my humiliation not to take notice of the insult.

Bear in mind that the people on Team Sarah have my phone number and e-mail address, and I know they read this blog. It wasn’t exactly a secret that I was in Iowa last week, and it was possible for them to let me know their itinerary. Instead, as always, they allow other news organizations — including liberal news organizations inimicable to their own interests — break exclusive news about their Iowa trip, while purposefully keeping me out of the loop. And when I dare take notice of these unsubtle backhands, I’m accused of being “too sensitive.”

When I want to make a fool out of myself, I don’t usually ask for help in doing so, and appreciate all this volunteer assistance from Team Sarah.

Okay, this started out as one of Stacy's articles on The American Spectator.

What I took exception to was the headline of his blog piece: Blogging About Pathetic Perverts and Also Andrew Sullivan’s Sarah Palin Toe Fetish. This was a blatant attempt to put Sarah in a headline that was very demeaning and I wrote Stacy to tell him about it.

So, what happened in the meantime? Well, Dan Riehl responded in a post on his blog titled Stacy McCain Declares, Palin Not Running. In the post, Dan says this:

He is correct as to my being as, if not more cynical than anyone. Hmm So, if that's true, how can I be urging her to run when, in his, evidently, unique genius, Stacy knows it's obviously already too late for her to do so? See, in essence, he is calling me a Palinista, that, or simply dumb. I suspect he didn't realize that when he wrote it. Which is it, Stacy, am I dumb, or obsessed, ... inquiring minds want to know? ; )

My friend Dan Riehl seems to think otherwise — his post “Why Sarah Palin Needs To Run For President In 2012”was also re-Tweeted by Iowa for Palin — andit would be hard to conceive that I (or anyone else) could be more cynical about politics than Dan Riehl. Yet if there is any urge I find irresistible, it is my urge to avoid being a chump, a True Believer living on irrational hopes and dreams.

Now, Stacy could have worked the logic the other way and done what reporters usually do, pick up the phone. "Dan, you're as cynical as anyone I know, how can you possibly believe she will run?" Alas, the poor young man didn't do that, now did he?

Oops, there's the phone now. Great, I can tell Stacy a thing, or two first hand. Be right back.

I'm back. Yes, Stacy did call ... in response to a Tweet of mine, I gather. The wrong question referred to below is the one I mentioned just above. If I'm so cynical, why do I think as I do regarding Palin and a possible run?

@jimmiebjr a gd post, y? Looks lk link bait. @rsmccain 's asking the wrong Qstion, gets the wrong answer, as Xpctd. ; ) is.gd/6FrzX5

Of some relatively small number of people in politics I genuinely admire, Donald Rumsfeld is one of them. I think I'll wrap this up with a little Rumsfeldian logic for now.

[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.

I, too, have my unknown unknowns on this topic. So, as with any potential candidate, until Sarah Palin comes out publically and makes it clear one way, or the other, for all anyone can know, she may not run. I'd be surprised, but it is possible. However, based upon what I do know and what I know I don't know, the only conclusion I can reach is, she's running.

Good Grief! I knew that Sarah was driving the lamestream media crazy, but I never thought the right-wing blogosphere (of which I consider myself a member) would go crazy as well!

Cross-posted from Roderic Deane