It’s The Jobs, Stupid

President Obama, upon his arrival to Buffalo yesterday to tout his efforts to get the economy moving again, was to have been greeted by the sign below along his motorcade route. According to reporters traveling with the President, however, (and we know how dependable their word is), Obama never saw the sign either coming from or going back to Buffalo International Airport.

The billboard was put up by a group of unemployed Buffalo residents, who also have a website and are on Facebook (unlike me). Even though the President didn’t see the sign, according to FOX News Senior White House Correspondent Major Garrett did speak on the phone with Jeffrey Baker, one of the people behind the Buffalo billboard.

45: Palin

The HillBuzz boys have pictures, video, and their commentary after seeing Governor Palin deliver one helluva (2012 campaign) speech in Chicago. The speech, delivered without teleprompters (this wasn’t a sixth grade classroom, after all), is filled with bon mots like her observation that Obama, when running for reelection in 2012, will have something he’s never had before: an actual record of achievements (which she dissects with glee).

“So, what are your thoughts on Kagan?”

I don’t know enough about her (yet) to be definitive. Certainly it’s a given that she’s a liberal; Obama would never have picked her otherwise, but at least replacing a liberal with another liberal doesn’t alter the composition of the court. (Currently, conservative justices wait for a conservative President before they retire, and liberal justices wait for a liberal President before they retire. The balance of the court only changes gradually, as conservative justices “grow” into liberal justices, or liberal justices are unable to wait for the next liberal President.)

From first impressions, though, there are certainly reasons to be uncomfortable about Kagan. Some say she lacks experience (although that argument will never hold sway with supporters of the still-learning-the-ropes President Obama), some point to her anti-military behavior, or just question whether we need yet another Obama associate from Chicago on the national stage. My biggest concern, as we look forward to ObamaCare and other left wing attacks on the Constitution facing court challenges, is that Kagan appears to be “a fan of presidential power.” What we need right now from the Supreme Court, since we certainly don’t have it in the Congress, is a branch of the Federal government enforcing checks and balances against the White House – not writing the White House blank checks as it continues to consolidate power to itself.

On the other hand, as I said, it’s a given that Obama will give us a liberal. However, she’s not nearly as liberal / left-wing as I would have expected Obama to try to ram through Congress while the Democrats are still in control. Either she’s more radical than she appears (which would be easy given that she hasn’t left that much of a paper trail) or Obama has started to realize that even he has limits to what he can accomplish. (Maybe he only cares about how she’ll rule in some areas – like supporting his Presidential overreach – and doesn’t expect or require someone who’s militant in all facets of liberal dogma? In any event, he obviously knows more about her than we do.)

Her personal life is, or should be, a non-issue. Granted, the Democrats may try to use it to hammer the opposition into silence (the usual “ask her any tough questions and you’re a bigot!” strategy); but the fact is, it’s the Democrats who care more about her minority status (and the “historic first” that will entail, as well as pandering to a liberal demographic group which is currently not too happy with Obama’s unwillingness to uphold his campaign promises to them) than the Republicans do.

To sum up? She’s a liberal, we know she’s a liberal, we know that anyone Obama’s going to appoint is going to be a liberal… But is she too liberal, or is she a liberal we can live with? She should obviously face some serious questioning before she’s approved by the Senate (regardless of how much the ruling majority there will want to rubber-stamp her appointment), but I don’t see any smoking gun that would justify filibusters or other serious opposition (which, if attempted, could possibly backfire on the GOP and cost them momentum leading into November’s elections).

Addendum: Kagan: Free Speech That Promotes “Racial and Gender Inequality” Could be “Disappeared”…

Kick the RINOs Out!

PajamasMedia and Hot Air both have the story about the “tragic” inability of the GOP incumbent, Senator Bob Bennett – a progressive “compassionate” conservative who supported the TARP bailouts – to even make it through Utah’s GOP convention to receive the party’s nomination for the general election.

Instead, GOPers will choose between attorney Mike Lee (R) and business consultant Tim Bridgewater (R), who will advance to a third ballot. If neither candidate receives 60% of the vote, they will face off in a June 22 primary. … Bennett, the 3-term incumbent with a largely conservative record, is the first victim of an angry GOP primary electorate, which is upset with his votes over TARP legislation and his work with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to try and forge a health care consensus. He had been targeted by the conservative Club for Growth, which did not back a specific rival but urged delegates to vote against the incumbent.

I do not get excited, although some do, about Democratic incumbents losing primaries and/or declining to run for re-election. I want to see them try to run on their records and lose. Badly. By dropping out of their races, they allow Democratic “fresh blood” to run for their seats; Democrats who can claim to be “outsiders” and aren’t automatically tainted by their association with Obama and his Obaminations. By dropping out of their races, the incumbent Democrats are increasing the likelihood that their seats will remain Democratic after the 2010 elections.

On the other hand, when GOP Senators have spent too much time in DC, “gone native”, and no longer reflect their roots or their constituents, I am quite pleased to see them replaced by newcomers who are more likely to hold GOP seats (and more likely to defeat socialist Democrat incumbents). In many cases, there’s very little difference between some current Republicans in Congress and the Democrats they’re supposed to oppose. The Tea Party protesters, voters, and candidates are sending messages to members of both parties. Whereas the American Democratic Party has abandoned all pretense to supporting America or Democracy, and have for decades been the party of large, intrusive government, the GOP is supposed to be the party of smaller government and fiscal responsibility. However, even those Republicans who start off their careers espousing such aims usually “grow in office” after a few terms and become poster boys for term limits. It’s always a good idea to replace incumbents (of either party) who’ve outstayed their welcome; in this election it’s particularly important to remove Obama’s control over the Congress from a party which has abandoned all pretenses at moderation and accountability – but it’s also important to replace them with politicians who will represent the nation’s best interests.

Replacing the incumbent Democratic socialists with younger and more energetic socialists is not in the country’s best interest – but neither will it do us any good to turn over the Congress to a bunch of “me-too” Republican mavericks who are anxious to “reach across the aisle” in order to get nice things said about them in The Washington Post and The New York Times. A lot of current office holders need to go, and they don’t all have “(D)” after their names.

“Biggest Bomb on Broadway”

For my own reference and amusement, a few things I saw this morning about Faisal Shahzad, the attempted car bomber whose motivations remain a complete mystery to this day … to the mainstream media.

See also this web-only SNL sketch about the Times Square car bomber holding a press conference. My favorite, though, is Mark Steyn’s article which compares Faisal’s attempt to create “the biggest bomb on Broadway” to Mel Brooks’ The Producers.

He gets a parking space right next to Viacom, owners of the hated Comedy Central. But then he gets careless. He buys the wrong fertilizer. He fails to open the valve on the propane tank. And next thing you know, his ingenious plot is the nonstop laugh riot of the Great White Way.

Just remember that we’re only able to laugh about this today because he failed – and he failed in his attempt not because the government was on the ball, but due to sheer dumb (accent on the word “dumb”) luck. But as Ann Coulter points out, “hoping their bombs don’t work” might be the current administrations best (or only) plan, but it’s hardly a good one. Maybe “all of the really good [suicide bombers] are gone“; but even if that were the case, sooner or later the luck will be on their side. Again.

Yet Again, Not a Tea Partier

New York (AP) — A Pakistan-born U.S. citizen accused of driving a bomb-laden SUV into Times Square and parking it on a street lined with restaurants and Broadway theaters was to appear in court Tuesday to face charges that he tried to set off a massive fireball and kill Americans, federal authorities said. The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was taken into custody late Monday by FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives at Kennedy Airport while trying to board a flight to Dubai, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other officials. …

And this after the Obama administration’s continued groveling, pandering, and appeasement to terrorist nations and organizations… Not to mention the repeated warnings about the impending (it’s always impending) violence from evil, angry right-wingers while leftist and Islamic violence continues to be downplayed and ignored. I’m sure it will take just a few short months before Obama actually decides whether or not to respond to this latest attack, and how. Hopefully, they won’t be so rude as to interrupt him with any more attacks while he’s pondering. After all, he already has a full plate of other duties that he’s dutifully avoiding.