ObamaNation's first big constitutional crisis

Well, ye socks, yesterday the red herring throwers that yours truly mentioned in earlier posts succeeded in ramrodding a resolution thru the House of Representatives to retroactively impose a 90% tax on AIG bonus recipients.

The vote on HR1586 was overwhelming, 328-93. Shame on members of the loyal opposition who marched in lock-step behind the "democratic" majority!

If anything like this resolution reaches the oval office and is signed into law by El Presidente, it will be nothing short of unconstitutional and will demand an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Thank God that George W. Bush got Justices Roberts and Alito on the bench before he left office. They may be the last line of defense against the irrational socialist juggernaut.

I maintain that all of this political theater is disingenuous in the extreme, meant to distract the public's attention from the fact that the bailout bonuses were approved by the ObamaNation's Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The legislation that ok'd them was shepherded thru Congress by one of the administration's most capable minions, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. And, the bill with that provision was signed into law by El Presidente himself! So, why all the outrage?!

I guess the lesson here is what the ObamaNation gives you today can and will be arbitrarily taken back tomorrow.

If we open the door to retroactive and punitive taxes to satisfy every outrage these socialists can gin-up with their herring tossing hi-jinks, just how far back will they go?!

I'm afraid the sky's the limit with these folks. And, that's why they've got to be stopped.

Hope and change . . .

Ranking the Presidents

It seems like this day every year, a bunch of liberal eggheads try to spoon feed us their rankings of all the presidents. C-SPAN is offering a prime example today.

I decided to examine the list and rank them myself. Disclaimers: No one got any style points for looking good in a tux or for having a flashy smile. Also, no points were awarded for martyrdom. I only graded on what was accomplised AS PRESIDENT. What happened before or after was not considered.

And, of course, I examine everything from a conservative perspective the aforementioned eggheads will probably never quite grasp.

Ok, so here goes:

1. Ronald Reagan
2. James Monroe
3. Calvin Coolidge
4. James K. Polk
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. Theodore Roosevelt
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. George Washington
9. Dwight D. Eisenhower
10. Harry Truman
11. George H.W. Bush
12. William McKinley
13. Andrew Jackson
14. Ulysses S. Grant
15. Rutherford B. Hayes
16. James Madison
17. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
18. George W. Bush
19. John F. Kennedy
20. Gerald R. Ford
21. Millard Fillmore
22. Bill Clinton
23. William H. Taft
24. Woodrow Wilson
25. John Tyler
26. Chester Arthur
27. John Adams
28. Richard Nixon
29. Grover Cleveland
30. John Quincy Adams
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Lyndon Johnson
33. Jimmy Carter
34. Warren Harding
35. Benjamin Harrison
36. Franklin Pierce
37. Andrew Johnson
38. Herbert Hoover
39. Zachary Taylor
40. James Buchanan

Well, at least we all agreed on Buchanan being the worst.

Note:
Three names were left off the list due to incomplete records:
* James A. Garfield - assassinated only a few months after inauguration.
* William Henry Harrison - died of pneumonia a month after taking office.
* Barack Hussein Obama - current commander-in-chief (shudder!)

A matter of timing?

I know, I'm a cynic. But, in watching all the disturbing news out of the Middle East this weekend, I can't help but speculate that our Israeli allies timed their military strikes to occur before The Disaster in Waiting seizes the Oval Office.

He and his minions have been disturbingly lukewarm about Israel's right to defend itself against the rocket-launching terrorists in Gaza.

All we seem to get out of them is the "one president at a time" mantra.

That didn't stop him from condemning the recent terrorist strikes in Bombay, though, did it?

Whatever the Israelis are hoping to accomplish in terms of their national security, I hope they get it done before January 20th . . .

Of shoes and liberty

In case ye socks missed it this weekend, El Presidente made a surprise visit to Baghdad.

While he was there, some idiot decided to take off his shoes and throw them at him.

Apparently, that's some big insult in the Arab world.

Whatever.

The bigger story, the one the rest of the press corps failed to highlight in their coverage of this display of bad manners, is that nobody got killed in its aftermath.

That wouldn't have happened just a few years ago.

Nobody would have dared throw footwear at Sodamn Insane, because they would have paid with their lives.

Were it not for the target of his contempt, the idiot shoe-tosser would not enjoy the freedom of speech that allowed him to go home to his family after his little temper tantrum.

Would that he and his ilk, both there and here, would focus their contemplations along those lines instead of coming up with new ways of voicing their indignation for the sake of being indignant.

Bush's tax policy already soaked the rich

With so many yayhoos spreading lies about the last eight years, I'd like to point out the hard numbers out today on actual tax receipts.

In 2003, the richest 1% of U.S. taxpayers paid 33% of the bill for running our bloated federal government.

In 2007, the same group paid 40% of the bill.

And, yet there are still those running around preaching socialism and redistribution of wealth?!

The facts show we're already doing it!

Everything by degrees, I guess . . . wratchet up those tax rates, though, and see what happens to an already struggling economy . . . ARGGGHH!

Big names at VFW convention

As Tropical Storm Fay turned out to be mostly a non-event in this little corner of heaven, it is worth noting that we have been the focus of the national political scene around here this week.

That's because the Veterans of Foreign Wars is holding their 109th National Convention in Orlando.

And, they attracted some heavy hitters when it comes to guest speakers, including the current president and the two leading contenders to succeed him.

The best performance was delivered on Monday by John McCain. But, that was really no surprise. I mean, he is a decorated veteran himself. These are his peeps. A gallup poll shows he's leading amongst veterans by a whopping 22% over his presumptive opponent. And, he told them what they wanted to hear in terms of national security experience and commitment to the military family.

The worst performance was delivered on Tuesday by the junior senator from Illinois, though you have to give the guy some credit for even showing up. Perhaps not surprisingly, he dropped the trademark bombast and rhetoric he usually employs on stump speeches. Instead, he was almost somber in his presentation as he was forced to defend his patriotism. The smallish audience of about 3,000 was respectful and polite, but the "wow" factor that is so much touted in the "mainstream" media was nowhere to be seen.

Somewhere in the middle was the appearance by President George W. Bush. The vets gave him a warm reception. Only fitting since he is the Commander-in-chief. They applauded him as he defended his decision to invade Iraq and when he called for victory in the ongoing War on Terror. But, he received actual cheers when he talked about the newly-passed GI Bill. Unfortunately, very few members of the national media showed-up to cover the appearance. Bush is a lame duck, and they're treating him like one.

Anyway, if you're stuck inside due to wind and rain, it's nice to have something other than radars and path projection maps to contemplate. So, it's been great having the VFW in town this week. I hope they come back every hurricane season during presidential election years!

Huckabee on MSNBC tonight!

Our favorite former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will be on MSNBC tonight, helping that wayward network cover the West Virginia primary.

I say "wayward," because I am convinced that MSNBC stands for "Must Show Non-stop Barack Coverage."

Hopefully, Huck can class-up the place tonight . . . or, at least give another perspective than the jackboot high-stepping of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann and the parade of idiots they lead on behalf of the junior senator from Illinois.

Matthews has lost any credibility as a journalist. Remember last year when he confessed to Don Imus on the air, "I want a president who doesn't have a f***ing ranch!"

He also admits to getting "a thrill running up my leg" when he hears Barack Hussein Obama speak. He has even gone so far as to say on air, "If you don't cry when you hear Barack Obama speak at a rally, then you're not an American."

Olbermann is not much better. While less overtly-pro-Obama than his buddy Matthews, he makes up for that with anti-Hillary rants--the likes of which he used to reserve only for George W. Bush.

Frustrated that the New York senator and former first lady is still in the race for the White House, he suggested finding "somebody who can take her into a room and only he comes out."

These "stars" of MSNBC have become nothing less than cheerleaders for Team Obama. And, I am looking forward to seeking Huckabee shoot down their ridiculous comments.

Something tells me, he'll have an easier time handling those two dead-heads as he did hooking these two fish in the Ouachita River!

Democrats: Are they dumber than concrete?

That was the actual heading to Mike Thomas 's column in today's Orlando Sentinel. Gotta love it!

Oh, and Mike, the simple answer is "YES!"

Here's the full text of his colum for ye socks who find this sort of political talk interesting:

I am not a political analyst. But I was around for the great Florida voting fiasco of November 2000.And I'm getting flashbacks with talk of a brokered Democratic convention decided by "superdelegates."

Consider this scenario, which no longer seems so far-fetched:Barack Obama goes into the convention having won the majority of primaries and delegates. But he doesn't have enough delegates to win the nomination.

And so the superdelegates -- a group of politicians and political insiders -- go into their star chamber and pick Hillary Clinton.

The fallout not only would cost Democrats the November election but would haunt them for many elections to come.

Now let's return to November 2000. Many blacks in Florida were blocked from voting when they erroneously popped on lists of convicted felons.

Many more who did vote had their ballots tossed out for technical errors -- for example, writing in Al Gore's name as well as punching it on the ballot. The problem was compounded by antiquated machines in rural counties.

More than half the rejected Florida votes in 2000 were cast by black voters. In its report, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights referred to "injustice, ineptitude and inefficiency."A subsequent analysis noted that nationwide, a million votes by blacks may not have been counted. This has been a rallying theme among Democrats.

In a speech to the NAACP during his 2004 campaign, John Kerry said, "Don't tell us that in the strongest democracy on earth that a million disenfranchised African-Americans and the most tainted election in American history is the best that we can do."

And so consider the fallout if eight years later, Democratic Party bosses basically do the same thing that they accused the Republicans of doing. They defy the will of the voters, including the vast majority of blacks, and rig the election for their candidate.

This system of superdelegates is a perversion of the very principles the Democrats pretend to follow.

How can you have a party that professes to be of the people when party bosses, who don't have to follow the will of the people, make up about 20 percent of the convention delegates. There is a public campaign played out in the various state contests and a secret campaign carried out on phone lines.

The Republicans are more democratic than the Democrats.

The backlash of a Clinton backroom win would be harsh.

John McCain would have the inside track on the independent vote. Those energized blacks who turned out with such passion for Obama would lose their zeal. So too would the growing number of young voters looking to the Democratic Party after eight years of George W. Bush.

The Democrats' only hope would be Obama taking the second spot on the ticket. But why should someone who came into the convention in the lead accept the Morgan Freeman role in Driving Miss Hillary?

Obama has won 19 state primaries and caucuses to 11 for Clinton. He also should win the next four primaries.

Yet many projections have Clinton ahead in the total delegate count because she leads among superdelegates.

If this dynamic continues to play out and Clinton wins the nomination, here are two words you can put in the bank: President McCain.

Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.

Rick Perry is getting nervous

For ye socks unfamiliar with Lone Star politics, Rick Perry is the Governor of Texas. He succeeded George W. Bush about the same time Mike Huckabee started cleaning-up all the Clinton debris in neighboring Arkansas.

Ye may also be unaware that Mr. Perry made the mistake of endorsing Rudy Giuliani for president several months ago. And, since the former New York City mayor withdrew from the race, Perry has sheepishly followed him into the McCain camp.

All of this must be pretty embarassing for the governor, and is doubtlessly eroding his support among his conservative fellow Texans.

If he believed more in the values that are most important to Texans instead of political opportunism, he wouldn't have to bounce around from one camp to another.

Today, we hear that he called Huckabee and practically begged him to suspend his campaign.

That took some nerve.

Rest assured, he didn't place that call out of any particular passion for John McCain.

He didn't do it for the best interests of the Republican party.

He didn't do it because he wants to necessarily defeat the Dumbocrats in November.

Rather, he acted out of fear and the instinct for self-preservation that are all too often the trademarks of most politicians. He can't afford to be seen as the supporter of TWO failed candidates. Think about it!

How much egg will Perry have on his face when Mike Huckabee wins Texas in March?!

Go, Mike, go!

If actions speak louder than words . . .

You could've had a field day reading all the body language at tonight's State of the Union address in Washington, DC!

Some of my own observations:

* Hillary Clinton was glaring the whole time, couldn't tell if she was ticked at something in particular or just the situation in general.

* Barack Obama was practically sitting in Teddy Kennedy's lap, another reason to question his decision-making abilities. This may have been one of the reasons the big HC was glaring so much.

* Did all the female cabinet members get together like a bunch of high school girls and pledge to all wear white ensembles?!

* What did Nancy Pelosi have for dinner? Must've been broccoli, or maybe something with poppy seeds in it. She was sucking her teeth all night.

* So much standing and sitting, and standing and sitting, and standing and sitting . . . looked like a Catholic mass!

* How relieved did W look, knowing he won't have to speak in front of that hostile crowd again?!

Notes on the South Carolina primary

Well, the final tally was McCain 33% to Huckabee 30%. Pretty tight race.

A couple of observations for those of you who are unfamiliar with the process in the Palmetto State.

1. They let ANY registered voter participate in today's "Republican" primary, including Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Communists, Fascists, Monarchists, Anarchists . . . whatever. Didn't matter. As long as you had a valid registration.

2. A large chunk of McCain voters were from these non-Republicans. So, he did to Huckabee in SC what he did to Romney in NH, thwarting true Republican opinion by encouraging outsiders to muddy the waters. I give him credit where credit is due, but his successes in these two states were not won with a majority of Republican votes.

Ok, enough sour grapes. It is clear the GOP is still engaged in some soul-searching here. Who will be our standard bearer in '08 is still an open question. But, I don't think there can be any question that John McCain should NOT be that person.

* He voted against the Bush tax cuts of 2002.

* He partnered with liberal Russ Feingold to legislate against free speech.

* He advocates pardoning 10,000,000 illegal immigrants.

* He was one of the Keating Five.

Let's hope Floridians and Super Tuesday voters keep these facts in mind when they go vote. I think some Republicans-only primaries will yield some truer results of what the party faithful actually believe.

And, I'm still hopefully optimistic that verdict will be Mike Huckabee!

Ron Paul is an idiot

Lest ye socks be drawn into the spellbinding powers of the RINO candidate for President after his recent appearance on "Meet the Press," let me assure you that he is as irrelevant to the '08 campaign as Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

But, that didn't prevent the idiot from trying to make it relevant.

Don't get me wrong. As anyone who read my recent book will tell you, I love talking about the Civil War Era. But, it just does not need to be a focus of a presidential primary in this day and age . . . especially when the guy talking about it is a complete idiot.

In case you missed it, Idiot Paul believes Abraham Lincoln is to blame for singlehandedly starting the Civil War because he thought it would be cheaper to expend the lives of 600,000 people on both sides than it would be to have the federal government simply buy all the slaves and set them free.

Specifics as to why this argument makes him a complete idiot:

1. Not even Abraham Lincoln, as big an historical figure as he is, had THAT much influence. The war had been brewing for decades.

2. Putting morals aside for a moment, isn't the Idiot Paul the person who screams loudest whenever anyone proposes a big federal spending plan? This would have been the biggest ever contemplated!!

3. The war could not have been avoided as late as 1860, when Lincoln was elected president. And, the issue wasn't even slavery. It was, rather, whether the individual states had the wherewithall (if not the right) to withdraw from the Union as freely as they entered it. It had to be decided. And, unfortunately, it involved going to war. It happens, and it's horrible. But, it happens.

I think that's what the idiot was really trying to accomplish in his public display. He was, I believe, trying in some round about way to make George W. Bush's leadership in the war on terror appear as "unnecessary" as Abraham Lincoln's leadership in the Civil War.

Way to go, Ron, you just succeeded in making yourself look like an idiot again.

What I don't understand is how idiotic the people must be who keep sending you money!!

Iraq progress report

I don't know how many of you socks stayed up late enough to catch El Presidente's live address to the nation on the success of the troop surge in Iraq.

Suffice it to say that progress is being made, much more remains to be done, but the success of the surge to date means several thousand of our troops will be returning home by Christmas (and will not be replaced with fresh units).

Overall, I'd say that was pretty good news, echoing the report delivered to Congress by General David Petraeus earlier this week.

So, imagine my surprise at the Democrats' response to the news.

Ok, ok, I was NOT surprised at all.

I've been saying for quite some time that the Dems have vested interest in seeing our mission fail in Iraq. They want our troops to have to withdraw in disgrace. I guess they see it as the best way to improve the pitiful public opinion of their Congressional leadership.

Just pathetic.

Here's an exercise for you. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. On the left hand side, write down the names of everyone who have a stake in a stable Iraq. I come up with the American people, our troops, the Iraqi people, etc., etc.

Now, on the right hand side, write down the names of those who want to see democracy fail in Iraq. If you're an honest sock, you'll come up with Al-Qaeda, Iran, Syria, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, etc., etc.

Like it or not, Dems. You shall be judged by the company you keep.

Huckabee comes to Orlando!!

I was proud to see Mike Huckabee came to town last night to address the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club.

Might I add, he was the ONLY Republican candidate to accept the union's invitation?!

Again, he is showing himself to be unique in the GOP field for his willingness to reach out to a broad spectrum of Americans.

Unfortunately, the local press paid him less attention than he is due, because our favorite former first lady was also in town. Star-struck as they were, they just gushed about her canned speeches about how bad George Bush is and how much better we will be when she is our fearless leader, etc. And, of course, she ended up whining about her plight, being the "best known but least understood" candidate.

Boo hoo, Hillary. To quote your illustrious husband, "I feel your pain."

On the other hand, Mike Huckabee may be one of the lesser-known candidates, but he is the easiest to understand. He speaks about real issues that affect real people, and he speaks in a way that connects with them.

Case in point, look at the respect he gained from the union members last night when he spoke about our China trade policy. He accused the communists of manipulating the value of their currency to flood U.S. markets with their cheap, unregulated goods. He talked specifics. And, he made sense.

Too bad the other speaker was too busy whining about her celebrity and the evil Bush to make any real points of her own. And, too bad the media continues to allow her to get away with it.

I think I'm going to write a letter to the editor in protest . . .

In the mean time, major kudos to Mike Huckabee (again!) and thanks for coming down to see us in Central Florida! Come back soon!

Huckabee wins Iowa debate!

It was a crowded stage in Iowa this morning, reflecting the fact that Republicans still have no clear front-runner in the race to choose a successor to El Presidente.

Of course, you know who my pick is: Mike Huckabee.

But, he is still struggling to gain that "top tier" status so frequently used by the media to refer to Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain.

Today, he may have broken that trio's grip on the top tier, at least according to one focus group.

Going into the debate, the 29 members of the group were leaning this way: Romney 9, Giuliani 8, Thompson 5, McCain 2, Huckabee 1, others 4.

After the debate, there was a dramatic swing in support: Huckabee 14, Romney 10, Giuliani 3, Thompson 1, and Hunter 1.

That's right. When voters listened to these guys talk, side-by-side, Huckabee's support skyrocketed from 3% to 48%!

I think what won voters over most was Huckabee's criticism of dependance on Middle East oil. Of course, he was speaking in front of an Iowa crowd that, no doubt, would prefer we all abandon oil entirely in favor of corn-based fuel. But, that's beside the point.

What stuck out in my mind the most was Mike's response to George Stephanopoulos when he asked how a Huckabee administration would differ from a Bush administration. He reminded the crowd how he'd governed in Arkansas, and that he always kept a frame hanging on the wall by his desk. Every week or so, he'd put a different picture of some ordinary citizen in the frame. But, here's the kicker: beneath the frame was a label that read "Our Boss." Huckabee did not want anyone in his administration to forget who the boss REALLY is: the people.

Hopefully the people are hearing Huckabee's message beyond Des Moines. Because, when you listen to his message, he stands head and shoulders above the other candidates out there.

Go, Mike, go!

Huckabee on Cavuto

Well, Huckabee on Fox news anyway. Neil Cavuto was mysteriously absent this afternoon. But, his fill-in had a pretty good interview with my favorite presidential candidate.

They started off talking about why the Republican congress got fired last year: over-spending, corruption, and failure to adequately handle Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. But, the worst of the three, they agreed, was over-spending. The Huckster says one way the GOP can regain credibility is to get back to its roots and advocate much-needed spending cuts.

Pseudo-Cavuto (don't you like how that rhymes?!) tried to place some of the spending blame on President Bush, noting how Gerald Ford (of all presidential examples) managed to veto 7 GOP spending bills during his short term. And, he had a point. W hasn't vetoed any to date. But, Mike assured him El Presidente will indeed be "spilling some ink" on future bills, if the Democrats follow-thru on their much crazier spending projections.

Then, the fill-in tried to grill Huckabee for the "D" rating he received from the conservative Cato Institute for over-spending during his term as Governor of Arkansas. Mike came right back with an "F" for Cato's grading process. He says they try to apply a rigid template to all 50 states without taking into account that each government has its own spending procedures, especially as relate to federal mandates. If you go back and look at how Huckabee spent money over which he had actual power to exercise discretion, he deserved an "A."

Finally, the former governor made a pitch for the Fair Tax. Although he claimed a 7-year old running a lemonade stand could understand it, I'm still not sure about it myself. He says it will save $250 billion in current compliance costs, not to mention bringing back an estimated $10 trillion (yes, trillion with a "T") from offshore accounts. And, he's looking forward to the day when he (as president, of course!) will have the pleasure of hanging a "Going Out of Business" sign at the IRS.

All in all, a good appearance.

But, I would've preferred to see a tete-a-giant-tete between Mike and Neil . . .

Is Michael Moore a covert agent for the GOP?!

You know who Michael Moore is, right? He's the mockumentarian who has come to personify the liberal elite. He essentially blamed President Bush for 9/11 in his last piece of tripe. And, his current masterpiece portrays Fidel Castro's communist regime down in Cuba as home to the world's best health care system.

Isn't this an extreme example of cognitive dissonance?! I mean, this bloated #)*(%#* wants the same federal government that he believes cannot successfully defend our homeland against terrorists to now be put in complete control of our $2 trillion health care system? Somehow, I doubt he sees the irony in his eagerness to socialize 17% of our domestic economy.

Fortunately, Mike Huckabee continues to be the voice of reason. He called Moore on the mat on this issue, pointing out that people from around the world come knocking on America's door when they need specialized medical care. You NEVER hear of anyone from anywhere rushing down to Havana when they're having a major health problem, do you?!

The former Arkansas governor conceded the US health care system does need some significant reform. For example, he cited the staggering statistic that 75% of our current expenditures are on TREATING disease, and suggested perhaps a greater slice of the pie should go to PREVENTING ailments in the first place. Of course, being proactive about our well-being would involve things Moore apparently finds abhorrent like excercise and sensible diet.

I can only hope that Huckabee's debate with Moore will achieve similar results as Fred Thompson enjoyed earlier this year, pushing him into "top tier candidate" status. We need to be hearing more of his sensible approaches to our country's myriad problems. And, if nothing else, the buffoonery of the leftists only gives common-sense people excellent opportunities to highlight their ignorance.

Go, Mike, go! (Mike H, that is . . .)