Archive for January, 2009
Who is throwing money into the most lavish Inauguration in history (and what do they expect in return the next four years)?
Sources of donations to Obama's Inauguration
This is fascinating. And pie charts are PRETTY.
Go to OpenSecrets.org and checkout who’s contributing to the lavish and most opulent Inauguration in American history. Investment and Finance are the largest private sectors throwing money Obama’s way — two sectors that beg loudly for bailout money.
How many other rich men in Armani suits that expect/demand charity in the unprecedented trillion dollar spending-palooza are showering Obama with big checks right now?
Gotta give money to get money, we guess.
Hope!
Change!
A New Kind of Politics!
What stupid thing has terrible person Claire McCaskill said now?
McCaskill wonders what’s wrong with mascara; J.Lieb, “speechless”
The highlight of Janet Napolitano’s homeland security secretary confirmation hearing was Sen. Claire McCaskill, who apparently has been tied up at the airport one too many times by clueless airport security officials.
For the women of America, she wondered, “What is it about my mascara that’s so threatening?”
And after having traveled with a bum knee that required security checks, she said she’s not anxious for “extra love pats” to come back.
The mention of “love pats” threw committee chairman Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who told McCaskill, “You left me speechless there.”
Sen. John Tester (D-Mont.) had more to add: “I don’t think you’re the first guy Claire has left speechless.
HILLBUZZ NOTE: If there is any justice in the world, then Claire McCaskill will lose her Senate seat in 2012. She is truly one of the most insufferably stupid people to ever hold a seat in Congress — and that is saying a lot, considering some of the clowns who’ve been sent to Washington in the past.
The people of Missouri deserve much, much better than her.
What is it about her mascara that’s so threatening, she asks?
The fact that she applies her makeup with the grace and moderation she learned from Barnum & Bailey, for starters. Then there’s the realization that this mascara wielding buffoon is one of the 100 most powerful people in America; that is a shade worse than threatening, ClaireBear: it’s down right terrifying.
And she only wishes she could get some love pats. No wonder Joe Lieberman was speechless. We’d be speechless too, while straining to keep our lunch from coming back up, just thinking about having to pat that.
Oh, please, Missouri Republicans, won’t you get your act together and send McCaskill packing in three years? Then she won’t have to fly so much, and won’t be so hot and bothered at the airport.
Today in History: January 16th
550 – King Totila and the Ostrogoths conquer Rome by bribing the Isaurian garrison
1362 – Great storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German city of Rungholt
1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, tried for treason n the Ridolfi Plot to restore Catholicism to England
1581 – English Parliament outlaws Catholicism
1707 – Scottish Parliament ratifies Act of Union (paving way for creation of Great Britain)
1777 – Vermont declares independence from New York
1847 – John C. Fremont appointed Governor of new California territory
1883 – Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act passed, establishing United States Civil Service
1900 – US accepts Anglo-German Treaty of 1899, whereby Great Britain renounces claims to the Samoan Islands
1909 – Ernest Schackleton finds the magnetic North Pole
1919 – United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment, authorizing Prohibition
1939 – Benny Goodman and guests hold first jazz concert at Carnegie Hall
1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives Gold Medal from American Institute of Architects
1979 – Shah of Iran flees to Egypt with his family
1986 – First meeting of Internet Engineering Task Force
1991 – US launches Operation Desert Storm
2001 – President Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish American War
2002 – UN Security Council establishes arms embargo and freezes all assets of Osama bin Laden, Al Queda, and remaining members of the Taliban
2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on its last mission (will disintegrate on re-entry 16 days later)
2006 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf sworn in as President of Liberia, becoming Africa’s first female elected head of state
Things HRH Princess Caroline of Kennedy is celebrating today:
27 BC – Title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian
1412 – Medici Family appointed bankers of the Papacy
1492 – Queen Isabella accepts first grammar book as a gift
1547 – Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar of Russia
1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain
Really, really bad news for HRH Princess Caroline of Kennedy: Governor Paterson's approval ratings have fallen to 44%
Sour Caroline
Politico.com linked to the above Marist poll today, but of course, as usual, they missed the most interesting part of the data.
The story they ran with was that HRH Princess Caroline of Kennedy’s support amongst New York voters has plummeted to desperate depths: only 25% of New Yorkers want Princess to be their new junior Senator, while 40% want Andrew Cuomo. That’s bad news for Princess, but not the WORST news for her in the poll.
That comes at the very end of the link above (in the table we have below), where Marist looks at Governor David Paterson’s approval ratings (something he is looking at VERY closely for his gubernatorial bid in 2010 — in which he seeks to win election as New York’s governor in his own right).
Paterson’s approval ratings have plummeted in the same period of time the media’s been insisting he’s going to appoint Princess to the Senate. He’s down to just 44% approval (combined totals of people who think he is doing an Excellent job and those who think he’s doing a Good job as Governor), in a political reality where anything less than 50% means Paterson won’t win the 2010 governor’s race.
Thus: the more people think Paterson will appoint Princess, the less likely Paterson is to stay governor. Which means, the less likely Paterson will be to appoint Princess so he’s more likely to remain governor.
Ruh-roh. Somebody hide the good china, because Princess is going to start throwing things again!
It’s pretty shameful to rank Princess as a contender for this Senate seat, when you see she’s clearly not in the same league as the handful of others Marist polled the public on. These are all people who, you know, accomplished things and, like, you know, get out of bed and do things every day — for other people, making little money doing it. Imagine that!
Here’s how Marist phrased the question of whom should replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate:
Question Wording: If Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State, who do you think Governor Paterson should choose to fill her U.S. Senate seat: New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Long Island Congressman Steve Israel, Hudson Valley Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, Daughter of the Former President Caroline Kennedy, New York City Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, or Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi?
It’s easier to see what we mean if you break the above down like this:
(1) New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo
(2) Long Island Congressman Steve Israel
(3) Hudson Valley Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand
(4) Daughter of Former President Caroline Kennedy
(5) New York City Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
(6) Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi
So, you can choose between a state’s Attorney General, a Member of Congress, a County Executive, or somebody’s daughter — who’s most relevent experience is the good fortune of being born from the most posh and fortunate womb available.
It really does make Princess Caroline seem utterly ridiculous — and makes Paterson seem like a buffoon at best, and a puppet at worst, for even considering er appointment.
We didn’t have much hope for Paterson’s 2010 election to begin with, but if he really does appoint Princess the way Politico and others claim he will, then Paterson’s toast.
Thank God for Chesley Sullenberger III
It is brutally cold in Chicago tonight, so bad that the brief walk from the El to Buzzquarters pratically froze the air inside our lungs and made every inch of exposed skin burn. But, we didn’t complain for a minute because we know those 150 people who were dunked in the freezing Hudson River this afternoon on USAir flight 1549 were hurting much, much worse than we were.
Thank God for Chesley Sullenberger III, who saved all those lives with his lifetime of experience and sound decision-making (for only the second successful emergency water landing in US aviation history).
And we’re proud of everyone in New York who came running to help when that plane went down — all those ferry boats in the river who rushed to rescue the passengers, and all those on the ground who did their part to help when the passengers made it safely to land.
There were no Democrats and Republicans out there, no liberals and conservatives. This is the thing we keep trying to communicate here everyday. We are all AMERICANS. We need to work together to do what’s right, during extraordinary circumstances, but also on the most mundane days.
The name-calling, partisan bickering, flame wars, and pork barrel vested interests that drive too many people out there needs to stop, permanently. If all of those New Yorkers could come together and save the lives of everyone on that plane, in difficult circumstances, then across the country all of you can come together across party lines and meet the challenges ahead as we all suffer through one nasty economic hellstorm together.
Because, people, it’s going to get really, really bad. Worse than this bone-numbing Arctic blast of a Chicago winter. But, we can all make it through to better days if we just keep on sticking together.
George W. Bush's Farewell Address
George W. Bush is about to make his farewell address. We’re watching it on ABC, as Charlie Gibson recounts farewell addresses are a tradition going back to Washington.
Here are some quick live-blogging notes from the speech:
* Bush says, with a thankful heart, he reflects on his journey
* In five days the presidency passes to his successor in a moment of hope and pride for the nation
* Gratitude for Vice President Cheney, Laura, Barbara and Jenna, his parents, his adminstration, and the American people
* The first night Bush addressed the nation from the White House was September 11th
* Reminders of the bravery of those who rose to the occasion: police, fire, military, private citizens
* Homeland Security created to address new challenges; with new allies, took the fight to the terrorists
* Afghanistan and Iraq are now friends of the United States
* Can debate Bush’s decisions, but look at this results: 7 years without a terrorist attack on his watch
* No higher honor than serving as Commander in Chief
* Islamic fanatics demand total obedience, comdemns women to subservience, and marks unbelievers for murder
* Liberty and justice light the path to peace
* Advancing American beliefs is only way to ensure American freedom — when people abroad live freely, they do not willingly choose leaders who support campaigns of terror
* When people have hope for their future, they do not give their lives to violence and extremism
* Around the world America is promoting human rights, human liberty, and human dignity
* Supports dissidents and new democracies, gives AIDS medicines to the sick and dying, spare mothers and babies from malaria
* This great Republic, born alone in Liberty, is leading the way to freedom for all nations
* For 8 years, Bush tried to inspire hope and opportunity here at home: students strive to meet higher standards, new Medicare rules help the elderly, all citizens pay lower taxes, faith based programs help those who need it, funding for veterans has nearly doubled, America’s air water and lands are measurably cleaner, SCOTUS has wise new members in Alito and Roberts
* When challenges to prosperity arose, Bush rose to meet them: facing financial collapse, he took decisive measure to safegaurd the economy; all Americans are in this together, and together with hard work we will restore America to the path of growth
* Like all who have held this office before him, Bush had setbacks
* There are things he would do differently if given the chance
* He has always acted with the best interests of the country in mind
* He followed his conscience and did what he thought was right
* You might not agree with the tough decisions that he had to make, but you should agree he was willing to make tough decisions
* Decades ahead will bring more tough choices for the country
* There are guiding principles that should shape our course: while our nation is safer than it was 7 years ago, the gravest threat to us is another terrorist attack; our enemies are patient and determined to strike again; America did not seek or deserver this conflict, but was given solemn responsibilities and must meet them; we must resist complacency, we must keep our resolve; we must never let down our guard
* We must continue to engage the world with confidence and clear purpose
* In the face of threats from abroad, we must not seek comfort by turning inward
* We must reject isolationism and protectionism
* Retreating behind our borders only invites danger
* Security and prosperity at home depend on expansion of liberty abroad
* If America does not lead the cause of freedom, that cause will not be led
* America must maintain its moral clarity
* Good and Evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise
* Freeing people from repression and despair is eternally right
* This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth
* Jefferson wrote: I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past — as Bush leaves the house Jefferson occupied two centuries ago, he shares that optimism
* America is a young country full of vitality constantly renewing itself
* Even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead
* Bush has confidence in the promise of America because he knows the caliber of its people
* This is a nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom, where citizens show calm in the face of danger and compassion in the face of suffering
* Bush sees the character of the nation in all those around him
* In citizens like these we see the best of the country
* We have faced danger and trials and there is more ahead
* It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as president, and will always be able to carry a title that means more than any other: citizen of the United States of America
Just how right was Ayn Rand?
Take a moment to read the above article about Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s 1957 work about government programs run amok.
We haven’t read it since sophomore year of high school, but know we have a copy here at Buzzquarters somewhere. We’re going to take the Wall Street Journal’s suggestion and read it again, because it seems like there are prescient questions asked and answered in the book woefully applicable to what’s going on in Washington right now.
You will not rescue the economy by throwing buckets of money into institutions that have proven, over decades, that they don’t know how to properly manage money.
You cannot save jobs and keep people in their homes by raising taxes.
You will not make America energy independent without increasing oil exploration and drilling in ANWAR.
People need to wake up.
Since this Wall Street Journal article is now the fourth time we’ve heard today that we should re-read Atlas Shrugged, we’re going to see what lessons we can learn from it, and will articulate them here. Maybe we’ll treat it as a HillBuzz book club of sorts, with annotations and comments on each chapter as we wortk through it.
We’d love to have you along for the ride with your own thoughts as well.
UPDATE: This part of the Wall Street Journal piece is most interesting:
The current economic strategy is right out of “Atlas Shrugged”: The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That’s the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies — while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to “calm the markets,” another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as “Atlas” grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate “windfalls.”
There are people we know here in Chicago who actually plan to stop paying their mortgages after Obama takes office, because they believe Obama will either pay those for them, or will cut them in half or otherwise give them some sort of free ride. That is what Hope! and Change! mean to them, and that is why they voted for Obama.
It is absolutely astonishing, but that’s what these people think, and what they plan to do.
When they see the auto industry and banks getting their handouts, they truly believe that sort of of government largesse will come down to individual citizens under Obama as well — especially if they are black.
No more mortgage payments, no more bills, no more having to go to work every day, because after January 20th, Hope! and Change! will take care of all that.
And that perception and expectation builds a little more every day, as Dear Leader gets closer to Inauguration Day.
UPDATE #2: The whole point in sitting down to read Atlas Shrugged is to see if there’s anything to it. That’s what we do when we hear people talking about something, and we don’t have an opinion on it yet. We read and educate ourselves (instead of just parroting partisan talking points). For years, Atlas Shrugged, to us, was always one of those books posers tossed into conversation to seem intelligent.
Or, here in Chicago, it’s a book guys in Boystown take to the Caribou Coffee on Broadway, so they can sit in front of the fire with it, trying to seem intelligent, to pick up guys. That, or Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, are the two books posers here always have in their back packs when setting off for Cariboiz or Caricruise (what we call cruisey coffee shops with moose mascots around here).
We might report back that Atlas Shrugged is a load of hooey — or we could come back with new insight into what people are talking about when they claim it’s applicable to our current economic mess, and the mistakes Democrats seem to be making in the transition to a new administration.
We won’t know until we read the book again, since it’s been something like 17 years since we’ve touched it.
Interactive Look at New Administration Advisors
Incoming Cabinet and Administration Advisors
The Wall Street Journal has a quick interactive look at the incoming administration’s Cabinet and advisors.
It’s good if you don’t know who all of these people are, but it stops short of telling you anything really important about any of them.
A few of these people should be nowhere near government (like Steven Chu and Ray LaHood, for very different reasons), while others would have been more appropriate for different positions (Napolitano and Daschle, both of whom will be ineffective in their new positions, based on their respective track records in elected office).
Besides Hillary Clinton, there’s no one up there who makes us stand up and cheer. And believe us, for the sake of the nation, we sincerely do want to cheer.
What about you?
That's officially SENATOR BURRIS now
That’s officially SENATOR BURRIS now, though, in all honesty, it was Senator Burris the moment Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed his name to the piece of paper appointing Roland Burris to the United States Senate.
Harry Reid, Obama, and Congressional Democrats made themselves look particularly stupid in all of this, considering that most of these people are lawyers, and Obama himself went to Harvard. Those of us who didn’t even go to law school were able to see the Powel case in the 60s clearly established that the Senate has no power to block a governor’s Senate appointment. Even small children could see that.
So, either Senate Democrats and Obama are abject fools for making a fuss over Burris, or this circus was all a deliberate distraction from something else Obama and the Senate Democrats wanted to sneak through under the radar.
During the Burris distraction, Nancy Pelosi was able to change House debate rules in place since the Gingrich days that allowed the minority party in Congress opportuninities to raise a voice and challenge proceedings. Pelosi shut that down, and no one seemed to notice. It will be the most closed, secretive, and strong-arming Congress ever. And it all happened while we were watching the Burris soap opera.
Magicians do this kind of thing all the time. They trot out a gorgeous assistant in a skimpy little swimsuit to the left of the stage, to draw eyes away from what’s going on to the right. In this case, Democrats stopped short of squeazing Burris into a sequined Speedo, but the result was the same.
The other thing that’s been suggested, by columnist John Kass in the Chicago Tribune, is that Obama and Reid created the Burris mess so controversial Cabinet picks could sail through unchallenged, while the media had something else to fixate on.
We believe a critical error’s been made confirming Dr. Steven Chu as Energy Secretary, because he will not be able to ensure the millions in stimulus dollars heading to Energy for infrastructure projects will actually make it to where they’re intended, instead of landing in mobsters’ or corrupt politicians’ pockets.
Kass feels the same way, but not about Chu — his beef is with Obama’s choice for Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, King of the Illinois Earmarkers.
Bet you’ve never head of him.
Bet you have no idea how connected to organized crime he is.
Bet you never thought about how inappropriate it is to have a career earmarker and unapologetic opportunist in charge of distributing millions, if not billions, in highway and infrastructure construction spending for the next four years.
Kass believes that’s exactly what Obama wanted to happen — and we agree with him. The crime families in Illinois are going to get incredibly wealthy off that Obama stimulus package.
Dr. Chu will allow graft and corruption to siphon off a large chunk of stimulus funds not becuase he wants to, but because we do not believe he has the political savvy and street smarts to stop it from happening. He is going to get hosed by his own Department, because his pie-in-the-sky intellectual approach to life is fabulous in the research laboratory, but not so great when dealing with Teamsters.
LaHood will divert as much funding as possible to the usual shady suspects who snag fat government contracts and fatten their pocketbooks with perpetual cost overruns — while their workers spend most of the day doing as little work as possible, while ensuring the road they build this year will crumble to bits three years hence, so they get to come back and redo all the work again in the not too distant future. That planned obselesence serves only one purpose: to keep the money rolling into corrupt contractors who feed greedily from the federal infrastructure trough.
But, none of this has been talked about, beacause the focus was put on Burris and Blagojevich and an asinine showdown that was always destined for one resolution.
Senator Burris was always going to be seated.
So, considering that, we truly don’t believe Reid and Obama were as stupid as they seemed in all of this.
More like stupid as a fox.
Today in History: January 15th
588 BC – Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon begins 2-year seige of Jerusalem
1582 – Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland
1759 – British Museum opens
1777 – New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence
1782 – “Superintendent of Finance” Robert Morris goes before US Congress and recommends establishing a national mint
1844 – University of Notre Dame receives charter from the state of Indiana
1865 – Fort Fisher, North Carolina falls to the Union: cutting off the last major Confederate seaport
1870 – Thomas Nast depicts the Democratic Party as a donkey for the first time, in political cartoon in Harper’s Weekly (A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion)
1889 – The Coca-Cola Company (then known as The Pemberton Medicine Company) incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia
1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball
1936 – First building completely covered in glass completed in Toledo, Ohio for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company
1943 – Pentagon is dedicated in Washington, DC (world’s largest office building at the time)
1967 – First Superbowl is played in Los Angeles, California
1976 – President Ford’s would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, sentenced to life in prison
1986 – The Living Seas opens at Epcot Center
1991 – UN deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, queuing the start of Operation Desert Storm
1992 – International recognition of the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from Yugoslavia
2001 – Wikipedia goes online
2005 – Particular intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system
2009 – Secretary of State-designate Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton delivers farewell speech to the Senate
2009 – USAir Flight 2549 crashes into the Hudson River, with no fatalities, after apparently hitting birds after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Things HRH Princess Caroline of Kennedy is celebrating today:
69 – Ortho proclaims himself Emperor of Rome
1559 – Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England
1970 – Muammar al-Quaddafi proclaims himself premier of Libya
What’s causing HRH Princess Caroline of Kennedy’s tantrum du jour?
* New poll shows support for Princess fading rapidly in New York. NOTE: The comments on this article are a must-read. Fascinating and/or stunning is a good word for them. They are 95% anti-Caroline Kennedy – which is strange because both CNN.com and MSNBC.com were infested with Kool-Aid Gang crazies long ago, and they’ve been pro-Obama, anti-Hillary, and anti-Palin site ever since.
Now that they are so anti-Caroline, we truly wonder if people who post comments on internet sites are really just anti-woman, period. Regardless of who the woman is. We believed the hate directed at Clinton and Palin was because these two were opponents of Obama’s, so the Kool-Aid Gang attacked them for Dear Leader.
But, Caroline is Obama’s bestie, and Obama wants her to be appointed to the Senate, so the Kool-Aid Gang should be aggressively harranguing Governor Paterson to give Obama what he wants.
If you read the comments, you see these people are still toking the hopium and drinking their required daily intake of purple Kool-Aid, because they are all still pro-Obama…so it’s not a case of them no longer maintaining their charter membership in the new American hallucinatory cult.
It really seems like these people just love attacking women.
Doesn’t matter who it is — if she’s in a pantsuit, skirt, or dress, she’s walking around with a giant target on her back in the Obama Nation.
