I’m in DC with my sister giving my nephew a look around. Blogging will be light if not nonexistent. Off to the Pentagon now….maybe I can get some photos up….
In good news it looks like the house isn’t going to meet their deadline!
Archive for July, 2009
President, yes, President Micheletti has a very clear, well written, explanatory column in the Wall Street Journal today about what Zelaya did wrong and why what he did was wrong.
• The Supreme Court, by a 15-0 vote, found that Mr. Zelaya had acted illegally by proceeding with an unconstitutional “referendum,” and it ordered the Armed Forces to arrest him. The military executed the arrest order of the Supreme Court because it was the appropriate agency to do so under Honduran law.
………….
• The constitution expressly states in Article 239 that any president who seeks to amend the constitution and extend his term is automatically disqualified and is no longer president. There is no express provision for an impeachment process in the Honduran constitution. But the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision affirmed that Mr. Zelaya was attempting to extend his term with his illegal referendum. Thus, at the time of his arrest he was no longer—as a matter of law, as far as the Supreme Court was concerned—president of Honduras.
Many have argued that Zelaya should have been impeached. Many don’t have a clue what the law is in Honduras. Michelletti notes that one could argue whether Zelaya should have been removed from the country or not, but because he was, does not in fact make this a “military coup”.
President Micheletti is one admirable man.
In the meantime Mr. Zelaya is now whining about lack of US support. wah, wah.
But Zelaya hit back at Clinton saying she had stopped using the term “coup” to describe his removal from power by the military last month.
“The position of the Secretary Clinton at the beginning was firm,” he told reporters. “Now I feel that she’s not really denouncing [it] and she’s not acting firmly against the repression that Honduras is suffering.”
……………
“Secretary Clinton needs to confront the dictatorship with force so we will be able to speak well about President [Barack] Obama,” Zelaya said.
Here’s a quote from Ms Pelosi regarding her promise to pass a health care reform bill.
“But I am very confident that we will be on schedule and we will be able to present a wonderful gift to the American people.”
Let’s see now……if you kidnap someone at the atm machine and force them to give you the $300 they just removed, then you give them cab fare from that $300 for them and the 2 other people caught up in the mahem to get home ….is that really a “gift”?
If you’re not reading Keith Hennessey regularly, you’re missing out.
From the police major who is investigating an “incident” in Iraq where American soldiers were shot at and chased down and killed 2 men, 1 14 year old and injured 4 civilians.
He said he holds no ill will toward the Americans and appreciates the training and support they have given Iraq’s security forces. But he said he does not want his men going on missions with U.S. forces.
“We don’t need them,” he said. After a pause, he added: “except for fuel.”
I feel for our forces there. They are currently in no man’s land in many instances. Iraq can’t live us and they can’t live without us. Quite yet.
Daniel has a good post on Honduras and the latest Zelaya antics.
In reading the links I didn’t realize that the OAS actually sent in election observers to observe the illegal referendum that Zelaya was insisting on in spite of their constitution!!
Sheesh – no wonder they keep doubling down. It’s nice to see at least our State Dept inching away from this insanity.
Michelleti is clearly the acting grownup here. I really admire this guy the more I hear of him.
Oh – and don’t miss this ps from Daniel from the UN.
The “ass of the day award” does not go to Zelaya, believe it or not. It goes to Miguel D’escoto, the ex guerrilla from Nicaragua who now serves as the current chair of the UN assembly (a rotating post of no big significance). He said that Zelaya should get extra days in his term to compensate for those he lost in exile. See, this the kind of “mediators” that are put in charge at the UN; people that should know better and who actually make matters worse. And then the UN wants respect….
The bold is mine. Just unbelievable.
It’s just this kind of day.
Gateway Pundit notes that the AP, yes the AP, picked up that Obama is basically lying.
William Kristol notes that Obama isn’t even trying.
So on health care, I’d be surprised if the president changed any minds, because he never seriously tried to address criticism of his proposal on the merits.
Dick Morris and Eileen McGann note the differences between Obama’s speech and reality suggesting that 1984 is right now.
at he will cut health-care spending . . . by adding $1 trillion to health-care spending.
He says that “health-care decisions will not be made by government” . . . while he sets up a new Federal Health Board to tell doctors what treatments they can offer and to whom and under what circumstances.
Obama told the media, “I will free doctors to make good health-care decisions” . . . by telling the physicians what to do.
etc, etc
And this is my favorite quote out of the NYTimes:
“The president needs to step in more forcefully and start making some decisions,” said the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be publicly identified as criticizing Mr. Obama.
I won’t even ask why he thinks that the Boston cops who had a report of someone breaking into a house should not have asked for the man’s id and instead acted “stupidly”.
I will ask why the reporter asked how Obama “felt” about it vs how Obama feels about going to counseling run by the state every 5 years as he gets elderly.
I will ask why there wasn’t a followup on the tonsil question.
“If you think Doctors are currently making decisions between an operation on tonsils vs treating for allergies based on a payment schedule, how in the future will you make certain that doctors don’t make bad decisions based on which treatment gets them home on time, or which treatment is the most fun or which treatment will last the longest or shortest depending upon whether they like this patient?”
Basic liberal tenet:
Healthcare is a right.
Yet – somehow the news is equating the new “mandate” to buy your own health insurance as similar to having to buy your own car insurance. You buy car insurance because driving on public roads is a privilege. It isn’t a right. Hence the government gets to require licensing/insurance.
Just as drivers must purchase auto insurance, the medical system of the future would put responsibility for health coverage first and foremost on every adult.
Health insurance? It’s supposed to be a “right”.
According to this Washington Post article all the plans on the table that Obama supports are going to require everyone to buy health insurance (except those who can’t afford it). This means that the LATimes sob story of the healthcare year family will have to spend some of their money buying health insurance vs not. (They make $70,000/year.)
….
Here’s the next bit in the same story that must make it hard to be Obama right now. He raises up MA as an example of how great requiring everyone to buy health insurance is. You all remember Massachusetts, don’t you? That’s where Republican Mitt Romney came up with the brilliant healthcare plan now touted by Obama. But guess what? Massachusetts healthcare reform is failing.
Coverage should be: universal, not tied to a job, affordable for individuals and families, affordable for society, and it should provide access to high-quality care for everyone.
The state’s plan flunks on all counts.
So Obama supports Mitt’s plan (R) but it’s failing.
…..
And then there is this fun bit out of CNN of all places.
We appreciate the rhetoric and his willingness to ratchet up the pressure but what most Democrats on the Hill are looking for is for the president to weigh in and make decisions on outstanding issues. Instead of sending out his people and saying the president isn’t ruling anything out, members would like a little bit of clarity on what he would support – especially on how to pay for his health reform bill,” a senior Democratic congressional source tells CNN.
Poor Obama. His own people are catching on to the fact that he is one empty suit.
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As a side note, let’s do some basic math with the first Washington Post article.
Nearly one-third of the uninsured in the United States in 2007 were between the ages of 19 and 29, and 42 percent were between 30 and 54, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. A fair number of young, healthy workers choose not to purchase insurance, believing they do not need it.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but based on this….what exactly is the problem? There are 47 million uninsured.
-1/3 third of that is 15.6 million. Leaving us with 32million. (assuming the 19-29 yo’s could buy, they just don’t want to)
-42% of the 47 million are between 30 and 54. 19.74million. (let’s assume the majority of these folks are also healthy enough to be insured)
That leaves us with 12 million uninsured. There are 12 million illegal immigrants in this country.
(I realize that of the 29-54 yo’s there are problems getting insurance with preexisting conditions or when changing jobs. I’m just laughing at the math here as the attitude seems to be that if only these healthy folks would just be forced to buy insurance, then all would be well. By mixing fractions and percentages like the news often does and which is a particular pet peeve of mine, they try to make it seem as if this brilliant scheme will work.
Now, lets go ahead and be a healthy 40 year old, who’s out of work paying a mortgage on an upside down house, with 4 kids and a stay at home wife. Would this be an “exemption”?)
Jokes that are illegal in Pakistan:
“Terrorists have kidnapped our beloved Zardari and are demanding $5,000,000 or they will burn him with petrol. Please donate what you can. I have donated five litres.”
To commemorate the ascension to the Presidency, Pakistan Post has officially launched a new stamp. But the people of Pakistan are confused which side on the stamp to spit on.
Robber: “Give me all your money!”
Zardari: “Don’t you know who I am? I am Asif Ali Zardari.”
Robber: “OK. Give me all my money”
Dude – you can’t make jokes go away by making them illegal.
Racism is rearing it’s ugly head today.
Here’s what happened:
You have the head of the Republican Party (Michael Steele) and you have a “Republican message man”, Alex Castellanos.
Mr. Castellanos wrote a memo this month about strategy using poll tested words concerning health care.
Mr. Steele gave a speech yesterday using similar words.
And the story?
Is it – “Republicans get back to strategies that work with major members using language that is convincing, tested and agreeable to their agenda”?
no.
Is it – “Republicans, in a sign that they are circling their wagons and meeting the challenges of the left as a united front, use similar language to describe the rushed offering of the health care bill being put forward”?
no.
Is it – “Michael Steele organizes brilliant strategy using research found through his message man”?
no.
Instead it’s
As a voice-throwing act, Castellanos and Steele were quite a duo. But if Castellanos is the ventriloquist, what does that make Steele?
tut, tut Mr. Milbank, tut, tut.
