And in other news, Dick Cheney was named to head the commission investigating the BP disaster in the Gulf, Glenn Beck will be hosting a symposium on media ethics, and Amy Winehouse is now selling a home video advocating the joys of sobriety.
I’m sure those hearings will get revved up any day now.
It was a big deal for the excited about-to-be graduates of Kalamazoo's Central High School. They had won a White House competition against 1,000 other schools, not for payoff jobs in the Obama administration.The “stupid” of what Malcolm is implying here is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Could the Obama Administration (in particular, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar) have been a bit more proactive? Yes. But was the ticking time bomb known as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, along with its shoddy, Halliburton-constructed concrete casing erected while Number 44 was in office? Uh, no.
…
To the graduates, Obama delivered the usual commencement ceremony fare about the future, setting goals, thinking long-term and not allowing setbacks to deter their determination:
The truth is, no matter how hard you work, you won’t necessarily ace every class or succeed in every job. There will be times when you screw up, when you hurt the people you love, when you stray from your most deeply held values.
So far, so good. Then, the next line about pointing fingers after setbacks:
It's the easiest thing in the world to start looking around for someone to blame.
Speaking of blame, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll out Monday finds the American public blaming the Gulf oil spill on BP, of course. But 69% are now giving a negative rating to the Obama administration's federal response.
And in the department of “making excuses,” I give you this, in which Obama’s predecessor has said repeatedly that he needed to water board KSM until his brains were mush in order to supposedly obtain actionable intelligence on the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, even though Commander Codpiece approved “enhanced interrogation” about a year before Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's capture, and there's never been any evidence corroborating Mohammed's involvement in Pearl's murder -- other than Mohammed's confession, which came after, not before, he was tortured.
Oh, and this tells us that Dubya and his former OMB head Jim Nussle actually blamed President Clinton for the horrendous budget deficit 43 left for the current White House occupant.
So, when it comes to making excuses, I would say that Obama has absolutely nothing on the husband of Malcolm’s former employer.
Also, did you notice the fact that the pic of Obama pointing is rather huge in Malcolm’s post?
Gee, I cannot imagine why.Late in the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt's treasury secretary, Henry Morgenthau, told Congress, "We are spending more than we have ever spent before, and it does not work." Democrats have made Morgenthau's plaint their governing ethic. In so doing, they are demonstrating their political and intellectual bankruptcy even faster than they are bankrupting the country.Yes, the latest jobs report was pretty anemic (most of those recorded were temp jobs for the census, but again, it’s not Obama’s fault if the banks aren’t lending), but it’s a funny thing; as noted here, Morgenthau spoke those words in May 1939, which, to me, is a testimony to how out of touch he was more than anything else.
See, as David Sirota recounts here, Paul Krugman pointed out (to the beyond-clueless George Will) that FDR started to listen to the conservatives and rein in spending at around 1937-1938…
By 1937 things were a lot better than they were in 1933. Then [FDR] was persuaded to balance the budget or try to and he raised taxes and cut spending and the economy went back down again and then it took an enormous public works program known as World War II to bring the economy out of the depression.So, short of more war (which no sane person wants), it is going to take public spending in the absence of private lending to resuscitate our barely-breathing (as it were) economy. That is, of course, unless the “banksters” start churning out loans to any entrepreneur with a pulse faster than you can say Lloyd Blankfein. And that ain’t happenin’.
(And as long as I’m on the subject of Lowry, I simply must replay this legendary moment – the third item.)
I attended Congressman Murphy's "A Congressman in your Corner" event on May 22. I want to comment on columnist J.D. Mullane's comments about the meeting on May 25.And (from here)…
At 9:20 a.m., Murphy announced to the gathering that the meeting was "not a political event." He explained that he was there to meet with us individually.
Everyone was calm and patient waiting their turn to meet with Murphy. He had promised to listen and perhaps help as best that he could. Slowly people started to converge in the auditorium with negative, insulting signs, crowding the front area of the meeting room. Mike Fitzpatrick was among them.
It did seem to me that Congressman Murphy was stunned by the gang's behavior while the cameras came out all over the room. The crowd shouted, yelled, stomped their feet, clapped their hands, held up nasty signs linking Murphy with Nancy Pelosi - all of this in unison.
Fitzpatrick was in the crowd, but sat quietly.
Their actions reminded me of Nazi-era brown shirts. Fitzpatrick appeared to try to calm them as though he was now in charge of the event. A large number of hands (including mine) went up when we were asked if we were there on personal business.
As a result of the positive response, Murphy proceeded to meet individually until he talked with everyone in a quiet, patient manner. He promised to stay as long as he was needed. This followed what appeared to me that the protesters were on the verge of getting out of control.
I met personally with Congressman Murphy. We discussed my needs. He listened and took notes. He was calm and he gave me time to explain my needs. It had nothing to do with health care. He promised to check it out and get back to me.
He was friendly and treated me as I would expect from a "servant of the people."
The scene earlier was ugly and unbecoming of a former congressman hoping to be elected again.
Fitzpatrick tried, but did not succeed to foil Congressman Murphy from his stated purpose for the meeting.
Sam Rubin
Levittown, PA
As a veteran, I was extremely offended to see Mike Fitzpatrick campaigning at the Falls Township Memorial Day parade. The point of the event is to honor our fallen heroes, and shouldn't be used as an opportunity to advance a political career.And once more, to reward our congressman's good behavior, click here.
I was glad to see that Congressman Murphy, who is running for re-election this year, had the decency not to campaign. Being a veteran himself, he understands the need to honor the brave men and women who fight for our country.
Like me, he attended the parade to honor the sacrifices of our veterans and troops. Unlike Mr. Fitzpatrick, he didn't shamelessly give out campaign stickers or post campaign signs.
Frank Schultz
Falls, PA
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