The term "bully pulpit" stems from President Theodore Roosevelt's reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda. Roosevelt often used the word "bully" as an adjective meaning superb/wonderful.
The Bully Pulpit features news, reasoned discourse, opinion and some humor.
(By George Will, The Washington Post) - It is a lawyers' adage: If you have the law on your side, argue the law; if you have the facts, argue the facts; if you have neither, pound the table. Forgive the Democrats for their current table-pounding.
They cannot run on their record, which has two pillars. One is the stimulus that did not stimulate as they said it would (or else unemployment would not be above 8 percent). The report that the recession ended in June 2009 means the feeble recovery began before stimulus spending really started.
The second pillar is the health-care legislation. This may not be (as suggested by Michael Barone, author of the Almanac of American Politics) the most unpopular major legislation since the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. But it remains as unpopular as it was when the administration told Americans to pipe down and eat their broccoli.
(By Colby Hall, Mediaite) - News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch got into a bit of a row today with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Murdoch was providing testimony over the need to ease immigration laws allowing skilled laborers in the U.S., but was confronted by Waters over what she thought to be unfair treatment of immigrants. Murdoch held his own, firing back “we are not anti-immigratnt at Fox News.” And that was just the beginning of what was a feisty exchange.
LOS ANGELES (By Hollie McKay, FOXNews.com) – Gene Simmons has never been one to shy away from voicing his political opinions and the KISS frontman tells Pop Tarts he is anticipating some serious power shifts to take place as a result of the midterm elections in November.
"There is going to be major change. The American public is very, very angry. I believed in this administration, and I voted for President Obama, I also voted for President Clinton, and I also voted for President Bush,” Simmons said this week at the launch of Activision’s “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” in Los Angeles. “I will vote my conscience, and I'll be damned if anybody is going to point a finger at me and say ‘vote along party lines.’ America is like me – sometimes they vote this way, sometimes they vote that way."
But when it comes to certain issues, Simmons isn’t afraid to admit his allegiances aren’t exactly in keeping with Hollywood’s stereotypes.
(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Democrats hoped to drive a wedge in the electorate with some class-warfare rhetoric on tax hikes coming at the end of the year, painting the GOP as the party of the rich and themselves as the defenders of the middle class. The Boston Globe reports that the strategy has begun to backfire, thanks to Democrats breaking ranks and the lack of any action at all before the House recess. Instead of looking like class warriors for the average Joe, they look instead like a pack of incompetents:
President Obama’s urgent call for Congress to immediately extend tax breaks for the middle class was supposed to create a defining Democratic issue and cast Republicans as defenders of the rich on the eve of crucial midterm elections. Now, three weeks later, Democrats are further divided and Republicans are using the tax cut issue to their advantage.
The House and Senate adjourned last night, leaving the central pocketbook issue to be decided after the Nov. 2 midterm elections — and just weeks before the tax cuts are set to expire. That indecision injects more uncertainty into whose taxes will go up, and by how much. …
The tax cut extension is expected to remain a political issue over the next few weeks, but not in the way Democrats had initially intended. Rather than using it on the campaign trail against Republicans, Democrats could find themselves on the defensive as the GOP yesterday began framing the vote delay as an example of government ineptitude and cowardice.
(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) -'No good deed goes unpunished'. McDonald’s takes a lot of heat for the nutritive value of its menu, usually from self-assigned food nannies, but the company did try to find ways to improve the health of its part-time staff by offering them a low-cost health insurance plan that was affordable and effective. That effort will have to end, thanks to ObamaCare, which mandates that certain percentages of revenue have to go to claims rather than administrative costs. That will leave tens of thousands with no option for coverage except expensive comprehensive plans they can neither afford nor really need:
McDonald’s Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.
The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers’ health plans as the law ripples through the real world.
Trade groups representing restaurants and retailers say low-wage employers might halt their coverage if the government doesn’t loosen a requirement for “mini-med” plans, which offer limited benefits to some 1.4 million Americans.
It is unfortunate, albeit understandable that the King City Council was forced to take the action of removing the Christian flag from the city park memorial.
Anyone who is even slightly competent can read the "establishment" clause of the US Constitution and understand that it does not apply to a city, or a state, for that matter, idiotic interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment notwithstanding. I noted with amusement that one of your readers quoted the clause in a letter, even including the words, "Congress shall make no law..." Not only did this poor reader confuse the King City Council with the U.S. Congress, but the fact that no law was being made here seems to have completely escaped her.
Given the above, and in a perfect world, the King City Council could have reasonably told the ACLU to take a long walk on a short pier. Unfortunately, the reality of the law industry is that suing people over trivialities is big business. It is ironic that the ACLU, an organization founded to protect the rights of those who couldn't protect themselves, has now become a legalistic, hair-splitting bully. They are well aware that a small town like King can't afford to fight them, which is why they choose such targets so often.
The City Council took the right course in refusing to waste the taxpayers' money on what amounts to a frivolous lawsuit. Altruists may disagree, but then they are welcome to donate to the cause from their own purses.
(By Ray Rahman, Mediaite) - Democrat Charlie Melancon has unveiled a new episode of 'Forgotten Crimes', his hit reality series/ad campaign of which Republican opponent David Vitter is always the star. This edition, titled “Lawmaker/Lawbreaker,” highlights Vitter’s sexual scandals and even features a “crime scene re-enactment” of the senator’s encounter with a hooker.
(By Ann Coulter, Townhall.com) - No liberal has standing to call any Republican stupid as long as Patty Murray remains in the U.S. Senate.
Soon after being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, Murray went on a radio show and said:
"When I was growing up, the big fear in my life was the nuclear war. I remember second- and third-grade teachers giving us skills to deal with it, if that big alarm goes off, which was 'Hide under your desk.' Would that do any good? I don't know. But as a child, that gives you a feeling there's something to do beyond panic. Today the biggest fear our kids live with is whether ... the kid beside them has a gun. We have to give them skills so they feel confident to deal with it."
(WGHP) - On the evening of Sept.19, Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi is believed to have sent a message by Twitter about his roommate, Tyler Clementi.
"Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."
Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, N.J, surreptitiously placed the camera in their dorm room and broadcast video of Clementi's sexual encounter on the internet, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said. Ravi tried to use the webcam again two days later, on Sept. 21.
"Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again," Ravi is believed to have tweeted.
(By Leslie Bray, The Stokes News) - A new employment contract has been negotiated for Dr. L. Stewart Hobbs Jr., superintendent of Stokes County Schools. The agreement, voted on by the Stokes County Board of Education at their Sept. 20 meeting, does not increase the level of compensation provided in his prior contract.
Dr. Hobbs himself requested that there be no increases, although the board had already discussed giving him extra compensation in honor of the forward progress the school system has made under his leadership.
“I made this decision because I felt that it was the best thing for the school system and myself, both professionally and personally,” stated Dr. Hobbs. “As long as I am superintendent of Stokes County Schools, I will continue to work to move this school system forward.”
Hugh Hewitt Exposes Gloria Allred’s Despicable Dirty Trick Against Meg Whitman
(Breitbart.tv) - In what can best be described as a rhetorical evisceration, syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt takes civil rights attorney Gloria Allred apart piece by piece as she tries to rationalize her well-orchestrated, transparent dirty trick against GOP candidate Meg Whitman.
(NY Daily News) - A double parker in the Bronx who found a traffic cop writing him a ticket went berserk and put the cop in the hospital with a fractured skull. The irate motorist fled on foot after the 8:30 a.m. assault and was being hunted.
Sen Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Campaigners Hire Day Laborers to Protest Carly Fiorina
(Breitbart.tv) - A citizen journalist interviewed sign-holding protesters at a Barbara Boxer rally outside of KPCC radio station where Boxer was debating Carly Fiorina.
Davidson County, NC Votes Against Illegal Immigration Employment Fines
DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) - The Davidson County Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 against a proposal that would have made it a requirement for contractors to comply with the E-Verify program before committing to any work., according to the Lexington Dispatch.
Commissioner Fred McClure proposed the county make this is a requirement before entering into any contract agreement of $3,000 or more with an outside company.
If a contractor was found in breach of a contract under his proposal, McClure suggested that a fine of $100 per day from the date that the noncompliance was discovered be paid to the county until such was corrected.
"This E-Verify is a very simple program and it is at no cost," McClure told the paper. "I believe that we need to make sure the dollars that we collect from our citizens in taxes are paid out on our contracts to those people who are legal U.S. citizens."
CLEVELAND (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter will spend a second night in an Ohio hospital for additional medical observation after being whisked from an airplane to an emergency room with an upset stomach.
"President Carter is in very good spirits, appreciates all the good wishes being sent his way, and looks forward to getting back to his busy schedule," hospital officials said in a statement released Wednesday by MetroHealth Medical Center.
Hospital spokeswoman Susan Christopher declined to say whether Carter's condition had worsened since he was admitted for stomach problems on Tuesday morning. The 85-year-old ex-president became ill during a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Cleveland, causing rescue crews to rush him to the hospital after the plane landed.
LEXINGTON, N.C. (WGHP) - Calling it among her top priorities when taking office, Gov. Bev Perdue helped kick off the new Yadkin River Bridge project on Interstate 85 Wednesday morning.
Perdue joined other state and local officials in the groundbreaking ceremony, which took place around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
"I don't believe that we could afford to have a bridge like the Yadkin River Bridge fall apart on our watch," Perdue said. "I wasn't going to let it happen on my watch."
The existing Yakdin River bridge is 55 years old and carries only two lanes in each direction. AAA Carolinas rated the highway bridge as "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete."
"I think it's one of the most dangerous (bridges) in America, and I wasn't going to just stand around and see this bridge and this I-85 corridor go without for another decade or two decades," Perdue said.
The bridge construction is the first phase of a project to widen and improve I-85 in Rowan and Davidson counties. The new bridge is slated to be completed by 2013.
Player With Down Syndrome Scores Team's Only Touchdown
Play is dubbed "Ike Special" for player with Down Syndrome
SNOHOMISH, Washington (WGHP) - Ike Ditzenberger is a perfect example of all that is right with sports. Ditzenberger, who has Down syndrome, is a junior at Snohomish (WA) High School.
Last Friday, Ike got the opportunity to fulfill every high school football player's dream: score a touchdown as time expires.
With 10 seconds left in a game against Lake Stevens, Ditzenberger ran for a 51-yard touchdown that accounted for Snohomish's only points in the 35-6 loss.
According to multiple reports, it was the same play that ends each practice, and is called the Ike Special.
Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH) Supporter Attacks War Vet With Hot Coffee
(GOP Ohio) - A Republican staffer (and Iraq War vet) has hot coffee poured down his back by a Strickland supporter while trying to videotape Gov. Ted Strickland's remarks at a campaign event. The assailant later returns to make an obscene gesture. Authorities are trying to identify the man in this video. If you can assist, contact the Scioto County Sheriff's Office at (740)355-8245.
Democrats embrace the Chris Farley school of political motivation.
(Wall Street Journal) - Democrats seeking to boost voter turnout this fall are beginning to sound like the late comedian Chris Farley's portrayal of a "motivational speaker" on Saturday Night Live. Farley's character sought to inspire young people by announcing that they wouldn't amount to "jack squat" and would someday be "living in a van down by the river."
Films will roll out in order, starting with 'Phantom Menace'
(By Jay A. Fernandez and Kim Masters, The Hollywood Reporter) - Big news on the 3D front.
Sources indicate that George Lucas is set on re-releasing the "Star Wars" franchise in new 3D conversions beginning in 2012. Although 3D versions have been rumored for some time, Lucas purportedly was waiting until there were enough screens available to make the release a sizable event.
Fox, which released all six original "Star Wars" films, also would release the 3D versions.
Episode I, "The Phantom Menace," would be first out of star-dock during early 2012. After that, each film would be released in order at the same time in consecutive years, depending on how well the first re-release does.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) - Construction delays on the Northern Beltway and Business I-40 have city officials extremely upset with state Department of Transportation leaders.
Northern Beltway delays have halted the sale of some homes in Kernserville and problems with ongoing construction on Business I-40 have led the city's Chamber of Commerce to schedule a meeting with members of the state DOT.
REIDSVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) - Federal agents have seized Chinqua-Penn Plantation in Rockingham County following a lawsuit filed last week against the plantation's owner.
In a recent report by the Winston-Salem Journal, the plantation's owner Calvin Phelps is involved in a bankruptcy lawsuit.
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said the U.S. Marshal's Office sought help from his office in seizing the 27-room house.
(By Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com) - The Service Employees International Union plans to send 25,000 rank-and-file workers on 500 buses to Washington this weekend to protest the tea party movement, Republicans and Fox News. If SEIU members had any sense, they'd be demonstrating at their own bosses' D.C. headquarters. It's the Big Labor Left, not the Tea Party Right, that is flushing rank-and-file union workers' hard-earned dues down the collective toilet in these hard times.
(Big Hollywood) - “Waiting for ‘Superman’” is not only the most important documentary made in many a year but it might also help to restore a little of your faith in humanity, and I’m not even talking about the movie itself, which I’ll get to in a bit. I’m talking about its creator David Guggenheim, best known for directing and winning the Oscar for Al Gore’s alarmist global warming screed “An Inconvenient Truth.” In an era when, in order to hold on to power and take control of our lives, the Left tells Big Lies just as quickly as they can make them up, along comes Guggenheim, an acknowledged pro-union liberal, to take on the most powerful, and in my opinion destructive, special interest group in America: the national teachers union.
CLEVELAND (WEWS News) - Former President Jimmy Carter has been released from the hospital after experiencing an upset stomach during a flight to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Tuesday morning.
Cleveland Hopkins Airport officials told NewsChannel5 that airport EMS crews were called to an incoming Delta flight at 11:30 a.m. for a passenger who felt sick. Upon arrival, they learned that the passenger was President Jimmy Carter. Airport EMS crews did an initial checkup of him on scene to see if he was OK, and he was then transported to MetroHealth Medical Center.
A grandson of former President Jimmy Carter told the Associated Press that he has since been released.
(By Frances Martel, Mediaite) - Fox News came out on top of all its competitors and many other media sources recently on a Battleground poll conducted by Politico and George Washington University in terms of both general popularity and positive reputation among likely voters. While Bill O'Reilly was not surprised by the influence he found his network had, guest Bernie Goldberg was more skeptical: how to believe a survey that says O'Reilly is better known than Ed Schultz?
(By Steve Krakauer, Mediaite) - Two popular TV pundits on opposite ends of the spectrum, who usually appear on Fox News, battled it out on 'Larry King Live' about some very serious issues – and did it without yelling and with friendly banter throughout.
(By Glynnis MacNicol, Mediaite) - Vice President Joe Biden is apparently riding the straight talk express to his midterm campaign stops. Yesterday Biden told a group of Dem supporters in New Hampshire it was time for the Democrats to “stop whining.”
“If we make this a referendum on the current state of affairs, we lose, and so that’s why we’ve got to make this a choice…[we need] to remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives.”
(By Glynnis MacNicol, Mediaite) - President Obama has given a lengthy interview to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner for the upcoming issue of the magazine. The cover story is titled “Obama Fights Back” and boy does he ever. At least where Fox News is concerned. Here’s what he told Wenner regarding the network in what I think could be fairly termed a battle cry of sorts.
STUART, Va. (By Tom Joyce, Mt. Airy News) — Clues are being sought regarding the discovery of a large-scale marijuana-growing operation near Claudville last week which is believed to have been planted by Hispanic laborers.
Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith said general information had been received about the location of the operation in a remote section of the county between Claudville and the Dobyns Road community.
However, since no definite area could be pinpointed, a helicopter crew from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was called in to assist. That resulted in seven different planting areas being discovered in the Little Dan River Road area totaling about two acres.
Nearly 3,500 marijuana plants were found by local, state and federal officers, most of which were 6 to 7 feet tall. The street value of the plants, which were about 12 feet tall in some cases, has been put at $5 million.
Rev. Wayne Perryman Details the Racist History of the Democratic Party
Rev. Wayne Perryman at The Beverly Hills Tea Party: "They may proclaim that the Tea Party is racist, while they ignore the fact that unlike the Democratic Party, the Tea Party never formed terrorist organizations, they never fought integration, they never supported segregation, they never bombed black churches, they never burned black communities, then they never tried to hide a racist past. "
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) to Opponents of Education Reform: ‘I’m Coming’
(Breitbart.tv) - At a special screening of the new documentary film "Waiting for Superman" NJ Gov. Chris Christie has a message for those standing in the way of education reforms.
Nancy Pelosi To Young People: ‘Take Your Time’ Following Dreams, You Can Stay on Parent’s Policy
(The Blaze) - Responding to a question of whether or not Democrats will pledge to fight for Obamacare, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave America’s future a little advice last Friday — don’t be too quick to follow your aspirations. After all, now you can stay on your parent‘s insurance until you’re 26:
(By CHRIS ADAMS, McClatchy Newspapers) - Federal stimulus money to fix America's highways is stuck in the slow lane in some states, including a few that are suffering from some of the nation's highest unemployment rates.
In California, for example, where the 12.4 percent unemployment rate is the third worst in the country, officials are rolling their highway money out far more gradually. As a result, the Golden State is far behind other states in the percentage of projects it's started.
More than a year and a half after Congress passed a massive plan to stimulate the economy and get Americans working, California has yet to start 41 percent of its highway projects, according to a McClatchy analysis of the most recent federal data.
Stalinist ANSWER Coalition Joins Dem Senators Calling for Multi-Billion Dollar Pigford Funding
(Breitbart.tv) - Many of ANSWER's leaders were members of Workers World Party at the time of ANSWER's founding, and are current members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
(By Hillary Chabot, BostonHerald.com) - A testy U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blamed clueless voters with short attention spans for the uphill battle beleaguered Democrats are facing against Republicans across the nation.
“We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening,” Kerry told reporters after touring the Boston Medical Center yesterday.
Conservative political blogger William Jacobson, who writes Legal Insurrection, immediately pounced on Kerry’s comments, saying that attitude is why voters are looking to shake up Capitol Hill by electing upstart candidates such as U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.
“It just continues the Democrats’ theme that the reason people are upset is because they don’t understand. They’re not smart enough. That sort of rhetoric just gets people even more upset,” said Jacobson.
(NYTimes.com) - Democratic candidates across the country are opening a fierce offensive of negative advertisements against Republicans, using lawsuits, tax filings, reports from the Better Business Bureau and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents and save their Congressional majority.
Opposition research and attack advertising are used in almost every election, but these biting ads are coming far earlier than ever before, according to party strategists. The campaign has intensified in the last two weeks as early voting begins in several states and as vulnerable incumbents try to fight off an onslaught of influences by outside groups.
As they struggle to break through with economic messages, many Democrats are deploying the fruits of a yearlong investigation into the business and personal histories of Republican candidates in an effort to plant doubts about them and avoid having races become a national referendum on the performance of President Obama and his party.
(By Ed Barnes, FOXNews.com) - When Catherine Engelbrecht and her friends sat down and started talking politics several years ago, they soon agreed that talking wasn’t enough. They wanted to do more. So when the 2008 election came around, “about 50” of her friends volunteered to work at Houston’s polling places.
“What we saw shocked us,” she said. “There was no one checking IDs, judges would vote for people that asked for help. It was fraud, and we watched like deer in the headlights.”
Their shared experience, she says, created “True the Vote,” a citizen-based grassroots organization that began collecting publicly available voting data to prove that what they saw in their day at the polls was, indeed, happening -- and that it was happening everywhere.
(NewsCore) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's six-night visit to NYC included a secret sit-down with militant minister Louis Farrakhan, the New York Post reported Sunday.
The president shared a hush-hush meal with Farrakhan and members of the New Black Panther Party Tuesday at the Warwick Hotel on West 54th Street.
The meeting took place during Ahmadinejad's stay in NYC to address the U.N. General Assembly. He met Farrakhan, the fiery 77-year-old leader of The Nation of Islam, in the Warwick Hotel's banquet hall.
Steny Hoyer Contradicts Nancy Pelosi on Stephen Colbert Testimony; ‘Was Inappropriate’
(Breitbart.tv) - The Majority Leader of the House, Steny Hoyer, called Stephen Colbert's Friday testimony "Inappropriate". This is in stark contrast to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who said that she thought the testimony was "great".
Embarrassment: Obama Team Displays Philippine Flag Upside-Down at Diplomatic Event
(Breitbart.tv) - The Philippine flag was displayed upside down behind President Benigno Aquino III when he met with President Obama and other leaders of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday.
“This was an honest mistake,” Rebecca Thompson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, said in a statement posted on the Official Gazette, edited by the Philippine president’s office.
(By Frances Martel, Mediaite) - MSNBC host Ed Schultz launched into a fuming vituperation of New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s assertive style that had him calling the governor a “smug bully” and a “fat slob,” among many other things. This after Christie had defended California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman at a meeting, telling a heckler to calm down, while Glenn Beck is proposing a daily “Christie porn” moment on his radio show.
Ed Schultz: It Was ‘HATE’ When Beck Fans Left E-Mails Calling Him Fat
(By Glynnis MacNicol, Mediaite) - With the continued dominance of Tea Party candidates some people are wondering whether the result of this year's Midterms will herald some sort of civil war within the party between the establishment candidates and the Tea Party 'fringe.' George Will, however, thinks the fringe is not actually the problem and that "on balance the Tea Party is enormous help for the Republicans."
(By Colby Hall, Mediaite) - Florida Republican Senate nominee Marco Rubio aligned with the Tea Party movement appeared on CBS' 'Face the Nation' yesterday and was asked by host Bob Schieffer about the Tea Party, and the role of both Democrats and Republicans in terms of the country’s current problems. Expressing the candid assessment that has made him very popular, Rubio did not shy away from laying some of the blame on his own party, the GOP.
(By Scott Baker, The Blaze) - As we told you earlier this week, parents were a little surprised to hear that the new season of ‘Sesame Street’ involved a provocative segment featuring singer Katy Perry doing a “cleaned-up“ version of her hit ”Hot N Cold” with an entranced Elmo.
Bono's ONE foundation under fire for giving little over 1% of funds to charity
(UK Mail Online) - Bono's anti-poverty foundation ONE is under pressure to explain its finances after it was revealed that only a small percentage of money it raises reaches the needy.
The non-profit organisation set up by the U2 frontman received almost £9.6million in donations in 2008 but handed out only £118,000 to good causes (1.2 per cent).
The figures published by the New York Post also show that £5.1million went towards paying salaries.
CLEVELAND (Josh Kraushaar, Hotline On Call) - There's no shortage of political tumult in the Buckeye State this year, where the Democratic-held governorship and at least six Democratic-held House seats are in jeopardy. But what makes it particularly notable is that the state represents several key demographic groups whose changing perspectives will give serious insight into President Obama's broader political standing for 2012.
The voters Obama is losing -- white-collar managers in Columbus, blue-collar union workers in Youngstown, pro-life independents around Cincinnati -- are exactly the types he needs to win re-election in 2012, and they're backing away from his party in droves. Obama tallied a whopping 60 percent disapproval rating in Quinnipiac's latest Ohio poll, with nearly two-thirds of voters disapproving of his economic performance.
That dissatisfaction extends across the board to Democrats on the statewide ballot. The Quinnipiac poll showed Gov. Ted Strickland down 17 points to Republican John Kasich and Republican Rob Portman leading Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher by 20 points in the Senate race. A separate CNN/Time poll was striking in that the two statewide Democrats were badly underperforming in nearly every part of the state, among almost every key demographic.
(By Alexis Levinson, The Daily Caller) - If not disposed of properly, CFL light bulbs, which Congress is pushing as a preferable and energy efficient alternative to incandescent bulbs, may poison you, contaminate your food and water supply, destroy the environment and kill your children.
If light bulbs were regulated like cigarettes, this is what it might say on the side of the box of “environmentally friendly” bulbs that you just picked up at Target.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 banned almost all use of incandescent bulbs (the normal looking ones that pop up over cartoon characters’ heads in moments of brilliance) by 2014. They are to be replaced by more energy efficient bulbs. Currently, for lack of better technology, CFLs are the heir apparent.
(By Cord Jefferson, NPR) - Students and alumni of that venerable Southern institution Ole Miss are currently reeling at the news that the university has decided to replace its controversial mascot, Colonel Reb, a white-bearded Confederate Army officer, with an as-yet-undetermined new one — a horse, perhaps. To many, abandoning the controversial colonel, who hasn't been the school's official mascot since 2003, makes sense. Even if just some among the Ole Miss student body — 14 percent of which is black — are offended by Reb, then he cannot represent the school as a whole.
Nevertheless, a group of stalwarts is refusing to back down. One student group, the Colonel Reb Foundation, has already gathered thousands of signatures to protest Reb's expulsion. And when The New York Times interviewed fans at a recent Ole Miss football game, the resistance to a new mascot was obvious: " 'Over. My. Dead. Body,' said Mack Allen, 36, an alumnus and technology analyst from Memphis, who wore a T-shirt to a recent football game that read, 'Colonel Reb — Loved by Many, Hated by Few.' "
Like the movement to keep the Confederate flag on government buildings in South Carolina, the Colonel Reb fight is yet another public instance of a group of proud Southerners standing together to fight for their right to show nostalgia for the Old South. And just as I did about the movement to keep the Confederate flag alive, I can't help asking myself once again, "What's there to be nostalgic for?"
(By Colby Hall, Mediaite) - In hindsight, I guess that these protesters should have seen this coming. Animal rights activists protesting a rodeo in Santiago, Chile, were met with the exact sort of treatment one might expect when surrounded by a number of 'vaqueros con cuerda'.
Voting Rights Official Calls Dismissal of Black Panther Case a 'Travesty of Justice'
(FOXNews.com) - The Justice Department is ignoring civil rights cases that involve white victims and wrongly abandoned a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party last year, a top department official testified Friday. He called the department's conduct a "travesty of justice."
Christopher Coates, former voting chief for the department's Civil Rights Division, spoke under oath Friday morning before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in a long-awaited appearance that had been stonewalled by the Justice Department for nearly a year.
Coates discussed in depth the DOJ's decision to dismiss intimidation charges against New Black Panther members who were videotaped outside a Philadelphia polling place in 2008 dressed in military-style uniforms -- one was brandishing a nightstick -- and allegedly hurling racial slurs.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - It was supposed to be a spirited, yet civil, Nevada Senatorial debate at a local Lutheran high school between Sharron Angle and Harry Reid. But the pol’s supporters instead took center stage during a debate that ended up resembling a ring-side pay-per-view event.
“Nevada Senate Forum Turns Raucous, Ends in Fist Fight,” was the headline in National Review. “Brawl erupts at Reid, Angle election forum,” read a Las Vegas paper. The local Fox affiliate said that “it wasn’t just the candidates exchanging jabs.”
But however one describes it, what happened at the end of the Reid, Angle Senate debate was surprising. According to NR’s Elizabeth Crum, the crowd was mostly “respectful and fairly reserved” while Reid answered questions via pre-taped video (he did not physically attend the debate). But after Reid finished, the real fireworks began. Crum, who attended the event, explains what happened...
Smiles Everyone, Smiles: Eleanor Holmes Norton Mum on Pelosi Pressure over Lobbyist Shakedown Call
(Breitbart.tv) - DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton continues to duck questions about her heavy-handed fundraising call caught on a lobbyists voice mail. (Not that reporters from the traditional media have asked her anything about it.)
RALEIGH(By Jack Betts, The Charlotte Observer) - In a normal election year, with his party facing a tough mid-term election and in desperate need of campaign help, a former governor who enjoyed good ratings most of his time in office would be in considerable demand on the hustings.
So would a former U.S. senator who at one time was thought well enough of to command a national following and make a bid for national office.
But this campaign season, the only revered former governor and elder statesman you're likely to see for the Democratic Party is former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt, who served four terms (1977-85 and 1993-2001).
Veterans plan to stake out memorial for the next month
KING, N.C. (WGHP) - A group of Stokes County war veterans plan to stay at the Veterans Memorial 24-hours a day for the next month to assure the Christian flag is being displayed at the site in King.
The group of 10 veterans are protesting after King City Council members voted last week to take down the Christian flag at the Veterans Memorial in Central Park after the city received a letter from the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State on August 11 and a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on August 16 threatening lawsuits if the flag was not taken down.
The vigil protest was organized by Ray Martini, a Vietnam War veteran.
(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - 'If you like your policy, you can keep your policy' meets 'We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it' right here in Minnesota as ObamaCare hits its six-month mark. Two major insurers have decided to suspend sales of individual policies rather than run the compliance gauntlet in the health-care overhaul bill, today’s Pioneer Press reports. Why? No one really knows what the rules actually 'are'...
(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - If elections hinged on cutting to the heart of the biggest issue in the US with clarity and brevity, as well as wit and humor, Joel Demos would win Minnesota’s 5th CD seat in a landslide. While Keith Ellison and the Democrats in Congress demand more spending, more debt, and more taxes, Demos reminds us exactly who will foot the bill for our profligate and self-absorbed policies in the long run. In his latest campaign ad, Demos tells us why he’s running in an almost-impossible race — and reminds us why it matters:
Democrats Put Off Showdown on Bush Cuts Until After November Election
WASHINGTON (By MARTIN VAUGHAN And JOHN D. MCKINNON, Wall Street Journal) — Democrats abandoned plans to vote before Election Day on extending Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class while eliminating them for better-off Americans, spooked by protests from vulnerable incumbents and bleak prospects for passage.
With time running out to plan for 2011, the delay raises uncertainty for small businesses and individual taxpayers over their future liabilities. It also sets up a titanic battle over taxes after the election.
If returning lawmakers don't pass legislation by Dec. 31, the expiration date of the cuts, tax rates would rise not only on income, but also on estates, capital gains and dividends. Important corporate tax credits and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax also are up for renewal.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy is asking Connecticut’s Republican candidate for Senate to pull her political advertisement featuring the former president talking about tax cuts, saying it is misleading to voters.
A two-page letter from Edward M. Kennedy Jr., obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, says Linda McMahon “distorts the legacy of President Kennedy in order to mislead voters into thinking” that he would have supported her position on tax policy.
Kennedy, the son of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, lives in Connecticut. A message left at his office seeking comment were not immediately returned.
McMahon’s 30-second spot features grainy footage from 1963 of Kennedy discussing the importance of tax cuts. A message seeking comment with McMahon’s campaign was not immediately returned.
The disappearance of home equity value is a lead weight on the recovery
(By Mort Zuckerman, US News & World Report) - Why has housing been such a core element in the story of American civilization?
Culturally a decent house has been a symbol of middle-class family life. Practically, it has been a secure shelter for the children, along with access to a good free education. Financially it has been regarded as a safe store of value, a shield against the vagaries of the economy, and a long-term retirement asset. Indeed, for decades, a house has been the largest asset on the balance sheet of the average American family. In recent years, it provided boatloads of money to homeowners through recourse to cash-out refinancing, in effect an equity withdrawal from their once rapidly appreciating home values.
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These days the American dream of home ownership has turned into a nightmare for millions of families. They wake every day to the reality of a horrible decline in the value of the home that has meant so much to them. The pressure to meet mortgage payments on homes that have lost value has been especially shocking—and unjust—for the millions of unemployed through no fault of their own. For the baby boomer generation, a home is now seen not as the cornerstone of advancement but a ball and chain, restricting their ability and their mobility to move and seek out a job at another location. They just cannot afford to abandon the equity they have in their homes—and they can't sell in this miserable market.
(By Antonia Oprita, CNBC.com) - High unemployment may last for a long time because of the sluggish economy, bad politics and advances in technology, Jack Welch, author of "Straight from the Gut," told CNBC Thursday.
President Barack Obama's administration has an "anti-business" bias which manifests itself through intimidation, trade, taxes and regulation, Welch also said.
"Our businesses across the board look like 1.5-2 percent gross domestic product (advance) businesses," he said.
"The facts are in most businesses there's 20 to 25 percent excess capacity that they can fill in without adding any new people," Welch added.
(By Sam Youngman, TheHill.com) - Vice President Biden said Thursday the conservative Tea Party movement might be "the best thing to happen" to Democrats with the midterm elections approaching.
Biden, speaking at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Md., for Sen. Barbara Mikulski, said the energy of the Tea Party might inspire a lethargic Democratic base to turn out and vote in November.
“Maybe the best thing to happen to us lately is the Tea Party wins," Biden said. "Maybe it’ll shake some of our constituency out of their lethargy.”
(Washington Examiner) - Six months ago, President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rammed Obamacare down the throats of an unwilling American public. Half a year removed from the unprecedented legislative chicanery and backroom dealing that characterized the bill's passage, we know much more about the bill than we did then. A few of the revelations...
WASHINGTON (By Sherri Ly, myfoxdc) - An eviction in D.C. turned into a bigger job than anyone could have ever expected. The woman being kicked out is a hoarder. What was in her home was enough to fill ten houses. All of it wound up piled up on both sides of her street and a block down another.
It took a small army to move it all. A moving company hauled away about half of it. The city loaded up seven dump trucks and took the rest to a storage facility.
"I've never, never, never seen anything like this in my life," said neighbor Rhonda Carter.
(NYPOST.com) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't need nuclear weapons -- his food stinks so bad, he's practically cleared out the Hilton Manhattan East. The finicky fascist brought his own personal chef to prepare his meals while he's in town for the UN General Assembly, a source told The Post's Helen Freund. Unfortunately, his meals "make the whole hotel stink like hell," said the source. The Hilton did not return a call for comment.
(By Meredith Jessup, The Blaze) - Reporting from Guatemala City, Danilo Valladares of the Inter-Press Service (IPS) notes that there will be one more barrier for Guatemalan immigrants in their trek to the United States. In addition to dodging dangerous drug traffickers and immigration officials, the latest obstacle is emerging: a wall between Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the head of customs for Mexico’s tax administration, Raul Diaz, the Mexican border state of Chiapas is constructing a wall along the country’s southern border with Guatemala, along the river Suchiate which divides the countries. Diaz says the purpose of the wall is to prevent the passage of contraband, but admits, “It could also prevent the free passage of illegal immigrants.”
According to Mexico’s National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH), 500,000 people from Central America cross into Mexico illegally every year — the vast majority of them attempting to reach the United States. In addition, smugglers reportedly use the Suchiate River to move goods across the international border without paying duty taxes.
Just as Mexican authorities have opposed more strict border enforcement and the construction of a border fence along the U.S. border with their country, Mexico is now receiving a great deal of criticism from Guatemalan officials.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Thursday failed in their bid to overturn a new rule making it easier for unions to organize workers in the airline and railroad industries.
The Senate voted 56-43 against a GOP resolution that would have prevented the Obama administration from enforcing the rule.
The new rule, approved by the National Mediation Board in May, changes how votes are counted in union representation elections. It allows employees to unionize if a majority of those voting support the union.
Under the old rule — in place for more than 75 years — a majority of all workers in a unit had to favor union representation. That meant workers choosing not to vote were treated as “no” votes.
Advocates say the change makes elections more democratic and brings airlines and railroads in line with other industries, where the outcome is decided by majority vote.
DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler says it has suspended some plant workers caught by a Detroit television station drinking alcohol and smoking what appeared to be marijuana during breaks.
Chrysler manufacturing chief Scott Garberding told WJBK-TV in a report that aired Wednesday night that the automaker has identified some of the workers.
WJBK said it received a tip from a worker at Chrysler’s Jefferson North plant and followed about a dozen men for 10 days during their lunch breaks. It filmed them going to a convenience store to buy alcohol and taking it to a nearby park to drink and smoke.
BOSTON (WBZ) ― "President Obama, I'm his aunt, I'm the only person on earth allowed to pinch his ears and smack him. Not his father; not his mother; not his wife or brother - he'll fight with him. But Auntie is a much honored person in African culture."
This may be the case in Africa, but in the United States the President's Aunt Zeituni Onyango hasn't been revered, but reviled by many.
For years she lived illegally in Boston public housing. She's unemployed, receiving nearly $700 a month in disability, and for nearly ten years was in this country illegally.
Group marching in protest of the removal of the Christian flag
KING, N.C. (WGHP) - A group marching in protest of the removal of the Christian flag at the Veterans Memorial in King brought a new flag to the site on Thursday.
The group said they will march at the memorial all day on Thursday to show their support of the Christian flag being flown at the memorial. The group said it will also pray for others to support the flag.
Last week, King officials decided to take down the Christian flag at the Veterans Memorial in Central Park after King City Attorney Walter Pitt said the city received a letter from the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State on August 11 and a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on August 16 threatening lawsuits if the flag was not taken down.
'I want you to defend how proponents of limited government can be compared to KKK'
(By Bob Unruh, WorldNetDaily) - A debate is being scheduled for Rev. Al Sharpton and some of his colleagues-in-thought to provide evidence for their allegations that tea-party members who are protesting big government and high taxes are "racist."
And the event will be held whether Sharpton, Marc Morial of the National Urban League and Walter Fauntroy, co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, decide to show up or not, according to organizers.
The challenge comes from WND columnist Mychal Massie of Project 21, a division of the National Leadership Network.
In a recent WND column, Massie said the only way to overcome the "malevolence" of those "trading on race-based assignations" is to confront their "evil."
"America is the home of freedom and opportunity; if it were not, we would not have problems with illegal immigration. Sharpton, Morial, Fauntroy and their ilk have harmed and sought to divide us for far too long," Massie said. "It is now time for them to show the courage of their convictions and face me in a debate, where they can share with the nation the basis for their vile rhetoric."
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) - The man who admitted killing the student body president at the University of North Carolina has been sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years for his crimes.
Demario Atwater learned his sentence Thursday in federal court in Winston-Salem.
U.S. attorney spokeswoman Lynne Klauer said Atwater got a life sentence for charges including kidnapping and carjacking resulting in death. The extra 10 years comes because he used a sawed-off shotgun.
Atwater pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in state court in May. His guilty pleas to both state and federal charges avoided a possible death penalty.
Rep. John Sarbanes says more environmental education in public schools will promote the agenda of climate change and population growth.
(CNSNews.com) - Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com at a "Sustainability Education Summit" hosted by the U.S. Education Department on Tuesday that environmental education in schools can "promote the agenda" of climate change and population growth through the influence it has on children.
“Like I keep saying over and over again, if you get young people invested in those ideas early on, that will result in those kinds of positive policy developments," Sarbanes told CNSNews.com. "So, whether it’s climate change, whether it’s population growth, whether it’s all these factors that impact the health of our world, raising that awareness early among young people is only going to promote the agenda.”
CNSNews.com interviewed Sarbanes after he spoke at a U.S. Department of Education event--"Sustainability Education Summit: Citizenship and Pathways for a Green Economy"--hosted by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Barack Obama seeks divine intervention on health care reform
(By SARAH KLIFF, POLITICO) - With nothing else working, President Barack Obama is asking religious leaders to help him sell the public on health care reform.
POLITICO listened in to an Oval Office conference call Tuesday, where Obama and top administration officials, beseeched thousands of faith-based and community organizations to preach the gospel on new insurance reforms, chiefly the Patients’ Bill of Rights.
“Get out there and spread the word,” Obama told leaders from across the religious spectrum on the conference call, organized by the Health and Human Services Center for Faith-Based and Community Partnerships.
“This is something that we’ll be able to look back on, just like we do on Medicare and Social Security, as a cornerstone that improves the security of millions of Americans, at the same time lowers costs and gets control of costs, both at the government level, but also for families and businesses," he added.
Obama instructed faith leaders to treat the new law as settled fact and use their perches of power to convey that message to congregants and friends.
“The debate in Washington is over, the Affordable Care Act is now law ... I think all of you can be really important validators and trusted resources for friends and neighbors, to help explain what’s now available to them,” he said.
(By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY) - KFC wants folks to watch its backside.
Or, more precisely, the backsides of female college students it's recruiting to promote its hot new bunless Double Down sandwiches.
Women on college campuses are being paid $500 each to hand out coupons while wearing fitted sweatpants with "Double Down" in large letters across their rear ends.
The promo comes as KFC is in the doldrums domestically. The world's largest chicken chain's U.S. same-store sales fell 7% in the second quarter. Nearly all its growth now is in international expansion.
Last week, the chain confessed that more than six in 10 Americans ages 18 to 25 — the chain's key demographic — couldn't identify who Colonel Sanders was in the KFC logo.
Now, it's turning to cute women parading around campus with "Double Down" emblazoned across their fannies.
Elizabeth Warren: First Amendment Right Scary, Needs 'Dialing Back'
(Eyeblast.tv) - On 'Morning Joe', Elizabeth Warren, Pres. Obama's appointed head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says the constant lobbying of government "scares" her and merits "dialing back."
(The Right Scoop) - Michelle Malkin really brought her A-game tonight on 'Hannity', detailing some of her own investigation into the economic hardship inflicted by the Obama administration and the Unions on Delphi. She says at this point there are no consequences to those who are bailing on a failed administration and says that we must hold them accountable.
(By Norma B. Dennis, Jamestown News) - When the door opened for Phillip Bledsoe to teach kindergarten at Jamestown Elementary School, he gladly walked through it. In the eight years he has been teaching he has worked with every grade level in elementary school, but definitely likes kindergarten the best.
“It is their first year of school. If they have a positive experience it will stick with them,” Bledsoe said. “I want them to find out, right off, that learning is fun. I try to make every day enjoyable.”
Bledsoe loves music and often incorporates singing or dancing into his lessons. Whatever the format his lessons may take, however, he teaches with a sense that his students are little adults, noting his view might come from the fact he had no brothers or sisters.
“I treat my students with respect,” he said. “I see them as young minds that should not be treated like babies. I think the kids like it. They feel comfortable interacting with me.
(Investors.com) - He doesn't look or sound radical. President Obama, in fact, is so calm, almost regal, he makes government takeovers and redistribution schemes seem almost reasonable. But the facade is wearing thin.
Fortune 500 leaders who believed Obama's moderate rhetoric, and even raised cash and voted for him, have soured on him. They now believe he's bad for business and hostile to the American free enterprise system.
Even die-hard Obama fan Tom Wilson, head of Allstate, says the president could have used some executive experience on his all-academic economics team. Not a single former corporate executive is in Obama's Cabinet or among his top economic advisers. "I think it was a hiring mistake for the administration," Wilson told CNN last week.
Wilson also suggests Obama convene a summit with business leaders to clear the air. "I'd spend less time on the G-20 and more time on the U.S. 100," he advised.
Problem is, CEOs have walked away from prior White House luncheons shocked at (1) Obama's dismissive reaction as they try to explain the harm of his anti-business policies and (2) his shallow understanding of business and economic matters.
They're not just put off by the president's harsh depiction of "fat cat bankers" and other anti-business bashings. They're more disturbed by his arrogant ignorance. "The truth is that not even the Franklin Roosevelt administration was as hostile to and ignorant about free enterprise as this administration is," said publisher Steve Forbes.
Minneapolis Nurses Fight Back Against Union Intimidation
(Eyeblast.tv) - Minnesota nurses who refused to go on strike faced union boss disciplinary hearings. With the help of Right to Work attorneys, they've filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board to hold union officials accountable for their threats.
Race-Baiting Dem Congresswoman Pits Latinos Against Asians on Spanish-Language TV
(Breitbart.tv) - Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez appeared on Spanish-Language Univision to tell Latino voters that their Congressional seat was being taken by the Vietnamese.
Rep. Sanchez is in a hotly contested race for re-election against the very popular, Vietnamese-American Republican, Van Tran.
Chris Redfern Makes Emotional Speech Before Steel Workers
CLARINGTON, Ohio (WTOV9.com) - In the midst of a heated general election cycle, Ohio's Democratic Party chairman is admitting he used some "colorful language" during a political event in Monroe County Monday night.
As the United Steelworkers union was announcing its endorsement for a number of Ohio Democrats, including Gov. Ted Strickland, Chris Redfern used a variation of the F-word to describe opponents to his party's agenda.
A NEWS9 reporting crew was invited into the union hall in Clarington for the endorsement announcement, and the camera was rolling as Redfern leveled the expletive at critics in the Tea Party, who, in his words, believe health care is a privilege, not a right.
"If your kids are going to graduate from college, now he or she gets health care, your heath care, while he or she looks for a new job," Redfern said. "It's in the very base terms we win these arguments. Every time one of these (expletive deleted) says, excuse my language..."
(By JOHN FUND, Wall Street Journal) - Comparisons between the Obama White House and the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter are increasingly being made—and by Democrats.
Walter Mondale, Mr. Carter's vice president, told The New Yorker this week that anxious and angry voters in the late 1970s "just turned against us—same as with Obama." As the polls turned against his administration, Mr. Mondale recalled that Mr. Carter "began to lose confidence in his ability to move the public." Democrats on Capitol Hill are now saying this is happening to Mr. Obama.
Mr. Mondale says it's time for the president "to get rid of those teleprompters and connect" with voters. Another of Mr. Obama's clear errors has been to turn over the drafting of key legislation to the Democratic Congress: "That doesn't work even when you own Congress," he said. "You have to ride 'em."
(Eyeblast.tv) - Christine O'Donnell, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Delaware, stopped by the Hannity show to talk with Sean about her past, and to point out some serious differences between herself and her opponent.
(Chicago Sun-Times) - U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said Tuesday he is “deeply sorry” for having “disappointed some supporters” regarding his relationship with a female “social acquaintance.”
But the congressman vowed to stay in office in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times report that a major political fund-raiser has told federal authorities that Jackson directed him to offer former Gov. Rod Blagojevich millions of dollars in campaign cash in return for an appointment for Jackson to the U.S. Senate, to succeed President Obama.
The allegation by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak regarding fund-raising runs counter to public statements Jackson has made as recently as last week that he never authorized any deal to attempt to trade campaign cash for the Senate appointment, which ultimately went not to Jackson but to Sen. Roland Burris.
(By Jeffrey Lord, The American Spectator) - In a stunning new ad from the Citizens for the Republic, the organization first established by Ronald Reagan and now run by Reaganites, there is a twist to the famous 1984 Reagan re-election ad "Morning in America."
The original ad, found here, took the political community and voters by storm when it first aired as Reagan faced off against Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter's vice president. It summarized in seconds where America once was in the dismal Carter years and where, after four years of Reagan, it had begun to head. America, dispirited, broke and humiliated abroad in 1980 -- was well on its way back. Happy Days were here again. Carter's vice president carried but one state -- his own Minnesota. And even that was close.
In 2010 the situation is exactly the reverse. After a mere two years of the Obama Era, Americans are once again dispirited, broke, humiliated and angry to boot. So the smart folks over at the Citizens of the Republic have smartly put together a new ad telling the once-happy tale in its modern form -- the Carter years now the Obama Era.
