Obama's Bass-ackward Administration

Arizona's much-discussed law regarding illegal alien status is in line with the federal laws regarding immigration. The Obama administration has vilified, and now is expected to file a lawsuit against the state of Arizona, citing as its reason that immigration policy is a federal responsibility, and a state doesn't have the right to address illegal alien problems.


At the same time, there is dead stone silence from the Obama administration regarding so-called "sanctuary cities" that offer to help and/or hide illegal aliens -- which is in direct violation of federal immigration law. Sanctuary cities also, just as the Arizona law does, make policy regarding illegal immigration, the basis for Obama's potential lawsuit.


Punish those enforcing the law, ignore those violating the law -- does that sound sensible to anyone?

Supreme Secrecy

Today is Day 2 of the Senate confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan. Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. A Yahoo News story carries the headline "On Day 2 of hearings, Kagan employs artful dodge."

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Kagan wrote in 1995 that Senators should pursue more "substantive inquiry" and push nominees to be more open about their views during confirmation hearings.

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Now, of course, she's the one being questioned, and she said today that there are limits to the amount of openness that potential Supreme Court justices should be expected to show during nomination hearings.

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Since she has never held a court position as a judge, her writings and her testimony are the only indications that Senators have of whether she should be a justice or not. With her testimony today, she has effectively cancelled both of those out.

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The opposite of openness is secrecy. "Limits to openness" means that there should be more secrecy. Not a very reassuring philosophy from someone who is applying for a job which she will likely hold for the next 30-40 years.
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These are the people who are in charge of our country. Start stocking up food and ammo.

John Adams

From John Adams' 1765 work "A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law" 

"Be it remembered, however, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers. 

[The people] have a right to that most dreaded and envied of knowledge…of the character and conduct of their rulers.

Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees."

Obamaisms

Similar to his claiming that he had visited "57 states" during his campaign, Obama -- the professed "greatest orator" of his followers' time -- recently added another goof.


Visiting a software company's headquarters with Russian president Medvedev, Obama referred to the building as the "headquarters of Twitters."


Anyone remember what was made of Bush's gaffes? A year and a half into his Carteresque presidency, Obama may not be as immune to ridicule from the media as he once was.  (Having said that, the Mikkelsons went to great lengths at Snopes to excuse Obama's innumeracy.  They've been pretty blatant in their support of Obama.)

Do you really like mysteries?

Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd, referring to the financial overhaul legislation that he co-sponsored and which the Democrat Congress is likely to pass: "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works."

Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, referring to the Democrat health care legislation:  

“We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it.”

Is "let's give it a shot and see what happens" really a wise governing philosophy?

Listening to those who know best

Louisianans were polled in mid-June for their opinions on offshore drilling, and how various politicians have handled the situation with the BP oil spill.  (You can see the full poll results here.)  What was particularly striking is their attitude about Obama.  The residents of the unluckiest state in recent years think Obama has done worse in handling the spill than Bush handled Hurricane Katrina -- the former "worst response ever" example.

Obama on (No) Border Security

Here is what Senator John Kyl from Arizona says happened in a private conversation that Obama told him why Democrats refused to secure the border.



The White House denies the account.  Senator Kyle refused to back down from his story, saying “They want to get something in return for doing their duty. You don’t have to have comprehensive reform to secure the border, but you have to secure the border to get comprehensive reform.”


Meanwhile, here's an example of the federal government's "work" on border security:

Yetzer hara

Yetzer hara  (YET-zehr hah-RAH)  -- The Hebrew term for the "evil inclination," or  the inner impulse or tendency within the human heart to gravitate toward selfish gratification.


An interesting concept that I recognized immediately.  My own constant battle.

"Chief Executor of Good Intentions"

Byron York has a column highlighting what Conservatives have been saying since Obama became the Democrat candidate for President -- he has no practical experience running an organization.  The federal government's confused response to the BP oil spill shows no coordination or accountability.  Obama is used to other people making the decisions, and the bureaucracy is going to destroy the Gulf Coast.  From York's column:


"The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is gushing out of control. The Obama administration is at first slow to see the seriousness of the accident. Then, as the crisis becomes clear, the federal bureaucracy becomes entangled in itself trying to deal with the problem. "At least a dozen federal agencies have taken part in the spill response," the New York Times reports, "making decision-making slow, conflicted and confused, as they sought to apply numerous federal statutes....


The direction from the top was not clear. And accountability? So far, the only head that has rolled during the Gulf crisis has been that of Minerals Management Service chief Elizabeth Birnbaum. But during a May 27 news conference, Obama admitted he didn't even know whether she had resigned or been fired. "

Sarah Palin's résumé looks pretty good in comparison about now, doesn't it?

And so it begins....

Headline: "Insurance regulators miss early deadline on premium spending rules"
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"Implementing a controversial provision of the new health-care law [a/k/a "Obamacare" - kw] is proving harder than planned. A national assembly of state insurance regulators, which is helping the federal government translate the law into more specific rules, said it was unable to meet a Tuesday deadline for standards meant to ensure that consumers get value for their premium dollars."

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Headline: " Running late on the EARLY act"
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"Although it’s racing to roll out consumer-friendly aspects of the health care law before November’s midterm elections, the Obama administration has just missed the deadlines to set up task forces on breast cancer and health care in Alaska."

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Let's discuss again how effectively the federal government will run the healthcare system.