No He Can't!!!

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/all_headlines/113940.php

April 08, 2009, 6:31 p.m.
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - If President Obama expects an honorary degree when he gives the spring commencement address at Arizona State University, school officials will have to tell him, "No we can't."

Obama, who will speak May 13 to ASU graduates on the Tempe campus, will not be given an honorary degree, an honor universities typically give to commencement speakers.

"It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time," Sharon Keeler, an ASU spokeswoman, told The Associated Press. "His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency."

The school, in fact, has no plans to give out any honorary degrees this year. A six-member academic committee oversees the process, reviewing nominees which usually come from faculty. The group then recommends candidates to the university president.

Recent recipients of honorary degrees at ASU include J. Craig Venter, an internationally known scientist credited for developing high-volume genome sequencing, and Wu Qidi, vice minister of education of the People's Republic of China.

Obama will, however, receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Notre Dame when he delivers the commencement speech May 17.

University spokesman Dennis Brown said it's customary at Notre Dame to confer a degree on every guest speaker. The university tries to select speakers who have made significant contributions to society or can give a compelling message.

But Brown said any comparison of the two schools' differing decision on extending Obama a degree was inappropriate.

"ASU is an outstanding university," Brown said. "Every university has its own traditions and has its own missions. I don't think it's at all fair to gauge one against the other. Everybody's different."

Keeler said people should not look upon ASU's withholding of the honor as a presidential dis.

"First of all, they should inquire as to what the university's practice is before making a judgment by what another university might do," Keeler said.

Unlike Notre Dame, ASU has not heard any protests surrounding Obama's commencement invitation. Many Catholics have been angered by Obama's planned appearance at Notre Dame, the nation's largest Catholic university, because of his decisions to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and his stance on abortion.

"We've only heard the opposite," Keeler said. "Everyone within the university community and everyone we've heard from are ecstatic about him coming."

So, is it wrong for me, a lifelong Wildcat, to jump up in praise of the Scum Devils? Finally, someone in academia has got it... that we don't know what Pres. TMT's legacy is going to be, as we have very little history of him as a man and politician. I back ASU's decision 100% in this instance, they are doing the right thing, and it's about time.

This also tells me the honeymoon is coming to a close. The rosy afterglow of the post-electioin coitus is wearing off...  Like a frat boy on a Saturday at 10 AM, we are beginning to roll over, and see just what we did during that alcohol-fueled night of debauchery. 

Let's just hope like most frat brats, we don't fix our mistakes with a little hair-o-the-dog-that-bit-ya'... 

Displaced Anger...

This is actually a continuation of my AIG Bailout blog posted earlier...

Mar 20, 8:25 PM EDT

Senate Republicans brake rush to tax AIG bonuses

By LAURIE KELLMAN and STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writers

Senate Republicans are drawing out a flap that has made the Obama administration squirm, applying the brakes to Democratic attempts to quickly tax away most of the bonuses at troubled insurance giant AIG and other bailed-out companies.

Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republicans' vote counter, blocked Democratic efforts Thursday evening to bring up the Senate version of the tax bill to recoup most of the $165 million paid out by AIG last weekend and other bonuses in 2009.

By rushing, Kyl said, Democrats were letting populist outrage trump informed decision-making in the Senate, which is supposed to be insulated from the pressures of public passion.

"I don't believe that Congress should rush to pass yet another piece of hastily crafted legislation in this very toxic atmosphere, at least without understanding the facts and the potential unintended consequences," Kyl said on the Senate floor. "Frankly, I think that's how we got into the current mess."

AMEN, brother!

Once again, Pres. TPT has chosen another crisis in which to further his big-government agenda. He was hoping to use the people's anger over the bonuses to authorize the fiscal rape of a legally binding contractual obligation of a private enterprise. Once this kind of precedent is set, who's to say the government could not go after anyone's bonuses? Or commissions? Or, dare I say it, salary in the form of a 90% tax?

More importantly, why are we even in this position? Because we HAD to rush the stimulus package through without reading it thoroughly. There is no one to blame on this except the 59 Democrat Senators and 3 Republican Senators that passed this legislation, the House Democrats who pushed the Bill into the Senate, and the President who chose to sign the Bill.

That is where our anger should be directed.

Did I miss this?

I friend of mine sent me this link. With a little digging on the Times website, I found this article.

This was a report from July 6th, 2008.

Perusal of the New York Times for that day shows a few stories about campaign contributions, the rising gas prices, and the like...
...but no focus on the War in Iraq.

If a story like this had gotten out to the public, through the MSM, what would it have done to the election? Could it be possible that if the vast public knew that Bush really had succeeded in Iraq, would they have been so quick to vote against the Republican party? Would we be watching the first female Vice President preside over the Senate?

More importantly, when Pres. Obama begins to bring the troops home, who will get the credit? Unfortunately, we know the answer to that one. It has been prep'd, staged, and kept in the waiting until the right time appears - when something deviously big-government needs to get through Congress without notice. It's time to start calling Pres. Telepromter out. NO, I am not saying impeachment. Just enough embarrassment to make him a political lame duck for the next three years. Without PresTPT constantly meddling with the economy, the economy correct itself. It would also shine the spotlight on Pelosi, Reed and the like, as they would have to forge ahead on this path to fascism without their Teleprompter'd Marionette to take the heat for any further big-gov policies.

Just remember who REALLY won the war.

Fark headline.

Normally as I read Fark, I laugh at most of the Farklines... this time, I just had to put it up, it was so good:

Newest Obama appointee's office raided by FBI. Left finally comes to terms that Obama is not Jesus. Jesus could actually build a cabinet.

So will this make the news?

sSo, today I get a tweet on this story and have not heard about it anywhere else, yet.

In a time where the State of Arizona, along with other states of the union (man, I sould like a confederate when I talk like this), who are trying to assert their rights under the 10th Amendment, we have a response by POTUS: The Office of Urban Affairs.

First of all, if you read down to Sec. 6, this person really has no power. But will this stop them? No, they will intimidate, coerce and otherwise use the Oval Office as a tool to pass on their agenda to the States and to the operations of their metropolitan areas.

And since when is it the responsibility of the Federal government to regulate the operations of a city or township? Is that not the responsibility of the State? This is yet another step in the power-grab socialist agenda. Centralize power, limit the States ability to operate as a separate entity.

To me, this is a response, 'swift and bold' I'm sure, to the increasingly louder call by the States to the Federal government to "back off". Is this really the best time, with all the other problems, to add fuel to the fire behind the secessionist nutjobs? Do you really think this will bring unity?

I have posted this before, but it is a fitting quote:
"Try this thought experiment. Pretend you're a tyrant.
Among your many liberty-destroying objectives are
[...]Which would you prefer, a United States with political power
centralized in Washington, powerful government agencies
with detailed information on Americans and compliant states
or power widely dispersed over 50 states,
thousands of local jurisdictions and a limited federal government?" - Walter E. Williams.

Maybe it is Chicago Tea Party time.

What's the rush, people?

All I have heard for the last three weeks is "pass this stimulus, we cannot afford to waste anymore time", "swift and bold", and other rhetoric.

It makes it's way through the House and Senate in an all night session - and it was so important that POTUS, in his eagerness to pass it, decided to ***wait for it**** go on a date! IN ANOTHER CITY!! That required air travel on AF1, along with several cargo planes of support staff!!! Yeah, and he couldn't sign it in the air on the way?

Yes, this bill that could absolutely not wait the promised 48 hours by Rep. Pelosi because it was so urgent (and let's not forget her urgency was due to a junket trip to Italy to get an award and see the Pope, who will HOPEFULLY excommunicate her!) and was rushed through both sides of Congress, will be signed, well let's see....Saturday (1), Sunday (2), Monday (3), Tuesday (4)... Four days later!

Oh, and this doesn't fulfull POTUS's promise to allow for 5 days of inspection before it is signed into law. In fact, it is not supposed to be up on the White House website until late Tuesday - AFTER it is signed by Pres. Obama.

Yeah, no transparency, failed campaign promisses, junkets, and personal trips... glad to see business as usual in Washington. At least we can proudly say the Republicans had nothing to do with this (and yes, I am saying Spectre, Snow, and Collins are no longer Republicans - RINOS for sure, but not Republicans)!!!

Ahhh....done venting now... now to sit back, and see what I can do as one person to make a change. After all, if we collectively decide to do nothing, then once again, the Kool-Aid drinkers will get their way...

"Democracy is a form of government that cannot long survive, for as soon as the people learn that they have a voice in the fiscal policies of the government, they will move to vote for themselves all the money in the treasury, and bankrupt the nation." - Karl Marx

-added tuesday- apparently great minds think alike -