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Day June 18, 2009

Entries 4 Total

The Politics of Vindictiveness

Jun 18, 09 7:22 PM

It’s pretty apparent that interfering with Obama and his cronies is not to be tolerated.  Led by Rahm Emmanuel, the White House actively applies Chicago-style politics in dealing with its enemies.  Anyone who crosses this administration will be dealt with harshly and potentially ruined for life.  Just ask Gerald Walprin.

Republicans aren’t satisfied with President Obama’s explanation that he fired a controversial inspector general because he was “confused,” “disoriented” and generally uncooperative. 

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., released a statement Thursday calling for a “fuller and more complete explanation” as well as more evidence of the “reasons and process” that led to the firing of Gerald Walpin, former inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service. 

Basically, the administration claimed that he was crazy and waived the typical 30-day notice requirement involved in the firing of an inspector general.  They were ready to get rid of him post-haste.

While firing an investigator who uncovered the abuse of funds by a political ally might be considered an act of ‘political courage’ in Chicago politics, for most Americans it raises troubling questions,” Issa said. Before his firing, Walpin had investigated Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter, for allegedly misusing federal funds. A settlement was reached in that case under which Johnson’s organization was to repay some of the money. 

As Michelle Malkin notes -

Implying that Walpin has lost his marbles is desperate and lame. Walpin has been consistenly lucid and laser-sharp in every TV and radio interview I’ve seen or heard — including on the Laura Ingraham show yesterday, where he noted that evidence in the Sacramento mayor/NBA star/Obama crony Kevin Johnson case was destroyed.

Far from being “confused” and “disoriented,” Walpin is clear as day. Anyone who actually reads through his audits and investigative reports knows that. You can, should, and must read Walpin’s reports both on CUNY funding abuse and on the Johnson scandal here.

Walpin’s crime was uncovering the truth.  Add to that the fact that Michelle Obama might have ties to this entire incident.

A top Republican senator is asking whether First Lady Michelle Obama’s office played any role in last week’s firing of former service program Inspector General Gerald Walpin. 

The concern, one of several surrounding Walpin’s sudden dismissal, stems from the timing of a staff switch in the first lady’s office. Just days before Walpin got the boot, the White House announced Michelle Obama’s chief of staff would be appointed senior adviser to the agency Walpin was responsible for monitoring. Michelle Obama said at the time she and her outgoing staffer, Jackie Norris, would work closely going forward. 

Anybody remember First Lady Hillary Clinton and the Travel-gate affair?  It’s almost dejavu. 

It’ll be interesting to see how this works out.  My prediction is that the MSM will blow it off after finally accepting Robert Gibbs’ denials as gospel.  The question is whether Republicans will continue to push the issue or if they will let it die like they did with Nancy Pelosi’s accusations that the CIA had lied to her.  It’s about time that the GOP follows through on some of these abuses.  And they need to stop Little Chicago from taking root in the White House before it destroys too many people.

***  According to this article from the Chicago Tribune, we might have a pattern developing with the Obama administration. And they dare to question Bush on firing 8 US attorneys?  What hypocrites.

Comments (7)

Pompous Ass Of The Week

Jun 18, 09 6:56 PM

Barbara-Boxer--the-chair--001

Or maybe the month?

While voting in lock-step with her party that shows no respect for our military and their sacrifices, California Senator Barbara Boxer (D – obviously) demands plenty of respect from the men in uniform.

In case you forgot, Barbara Boxer is a senator. 

The feisty California lawmaker felt the need to remind an Army brigadier general of that fact Tuesday during a hearing before her Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where the military officer testifying had the apparent gall to call Boxer “ma’am.” 

Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was testifying on the Louisiana coastal restoration process in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He began to answer one of Boxer’s questions with “ma’am” when Boxer immediately cut him off. 

“You know, do me a favor,” an irritated Boxer said. “Could say ‘senator’ instead of ‘ma’am?’”

“Yes, ma’am,” Walsh interjected.

“It’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I’d appreciate it, yes, thank you,” she said. 

“Yes, senator,” he responded. 

The article calls her “feisty.”  I have a few other adjectives in mind.  We salute you, Senator Boxer, for your arrogance and condescension.  The fact that it was a member of our military made it even more noteworthy and endearing.  What an ass!

I might keep this as a running feature.  That reminds me – I’m overdue for another edition of “Oh Really?’  There’s plenty of material out there.

Comments (21)

The “C” Word

Jun 18, 09 6:26 PM

Maybe the word “Conservative” is coming back into style.  Maybe the efforts of grassroots conservative movement is paying off – that’s if the polls are to be believed.  An article in “The Hill” reports -

While the label “Republican” is polling about as low as it’s ever polled, its part-time synonym — “conservative” — is the most popular ideological descriptor in politics.

A Gallup poll this week found that the number of Americans defining themselves as conservative is at its highest point in 20 years, at 40 percent.

That compared to 35 percent saying they are moderate and 21 percent saying they are liberal.

Of course Aaron Blake makes another connection between this and some other seemingly incongruent numbers in the Gallup Poll.  And I think that we can all understand this very well.

A conservative resurgence? Possibly. A boon to the Republican Party? Hardly.

Overlay those numbers with Gallup’s recent finding that 53 percent of voters identify themselves as Democrats or lean that way, while just 39 percent identify as Republicans or lean that way.

There’s something wrong with that picture: 40 percent conservative, versus 39 percent linking themselves with Republicans. It means there are plenty of conservatives out there who are done with the GOP, and independents aren’t replacing them.

On top of all that, even those who still identify with the party are unhappy with it; Gallup found 38 percent of them having an unfavorable opinion of their own party.

It seems a golden opportunity for Republican candidates to start emphasizing the C-word and leaving behind the R-word.

If all of this is true, then it is truly a good thing for conservatives. And maybe it will make the country club GOP power-brokers take notice.  Holding onto power for the sake of power itself is not going to get you very far.  It’s possible that Obama, Pelosi, Reid et al have scared enough people into understanding that conservatism (not Republicanism) is the only antidote to the socialist take-over at hand.

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Reading Assignment

Jun 18, 09 5:56 PM

I finally picked up “Liberty and Tyranny” by Mark Levin. I’ve been meaning to read it for a while now. I’m just about done with it, and I can tell you that it’s pretty good stuff. Every conservative should read it and absorb it. It is tight, concise, informative and brilliant. It also provides plenty of ammunition for your battles with liberals (or Statists as Levin would call them).  My favorite quote from the book can be found in his chapter regarding “Faith and the Founding.

Science is a critical aspect of human existence, but it cannot address the spiritual nature of man.  In this respect, science is a dead end around which the Atheist refuses to reason.  Reason itself informs man of its own limitations and, in doing so, directs him to discovery of a force greater than himself – a supernatural force responsible for the origins of not only human existence, but all existence, and which itself has always existed and will always exist.

On immigration, Levin states:

No society can withstand the unconditional mass migration of aliens from every corner of the earth.  The preservation of the nation’s sovereignty, and the culture, language, mores, traditions, and customs that make possible a harmonious community of citizens, dictate that citizenship can be granted only by the consent of the governed – not by the unilateral actions or demands of the aliens – and then only to aliens who will throw off their allegiance to their former nation and society and pledge allegiance to America.

Levin also bravely confronts Republicans who, with the exception of 8 years under Reagan “remain on a glide path set by Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal.”  He decries the fact that Republicans seem more interested in winning elections and satisfying electorates, “and so prefer to tinker ineffectively and timidly on the edges.”  He notes:

If the bulk of the people reject civil society for the Statists’ Utopia, preferring subjugation to citizenship, then the end is near anyway.  But even in winning an election, governing without advancing first principles is a hollow victory indeed.”

I think we have seen enough of that recently.  Everyone should read this manifesto.  Levin’s historical examples and uncanny insight into the cold, dark souls of the Statists and their allies in the media and the judiciary is really eye-opening.

Two thumbs up from me!

Comments (3)
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