LSJ Blogs: People's Politics

H.R. 45; who do you trust?

House Resolution 45 was introduced in the House by Bobby Rush (D-IL) on Jan 6, 2009; it was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on Feb 9, 2009 and seems to be languishing there for an unknown (to me) reason.  Its short title is “Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009” in honor of “Blair Holt, a junior at Julian High School in Chicago, was killed on a public bus riding home from school when he used his body to shield a girl who was in the line of fire after a young man boarded the bus and started shooting;” apparently young Mr Holt was a hero in the true sense of the word, not in the way we normally see it in the news today.  Obviously his death was both tragic and senseless.   The bill may be read in its entirety here.

Random shorts

I’ve been trying to catch some news today, but there is wall-to-wall coverage of Ted Kennedy’s death.  While I truly do hate to speak ill of the dead, I see nothing in his life that would warrant such coverage.  He was the little brother of two men who were cut down way too early, but his personal failures disgraced the Kennedy name and legacy.  I concede he was a good Senator even though I disagreed with him politically; how hard can it be to look good in that limited talent pool?  You can bet the left will find a way to put the health care debate in terms of a legacy for the “Lion.”

On Losing a Lion and a Lamb

Senator Edward Kennedy, nicknamed "The Liberal Lion of the Senate," passed away yesterday from the brain cancer he was diagnosed with some months ago. 

Bill Petry, a local peace activist, passed away yesterday in a tragic accident, hit by a truck while riding his bicycle.

You will hear as much as you want about the life of Ted Kennedy.  But I'm afraid you will not hear nearly enough about the life of Bill Petry.

It can’t get much lower than this

Friday night after the network news had been put to bed, the White House announced they had made a $2 trillion (that’s trillion) miscalculation on expected size of the deficit.  Then, after Obama went on a well-deserved family vacation and announced he would not talk to the press this week, Eric Holder announced today, despite the fact he “shares President Obama's  conviction that as a nation, we must, to the extent possible, look forward and not backward,” that he was appointing a special prosecutor to  “to lead a probe of possible anti-torture violations by the CIA.”

Divided and Conquered

Divide and conquer, we have heard it since we were children, and I think we can all see the wisdom of  this old saying. Then  why would it be a surprise  to any democrat, republican, or independent, what has  happened  to our country? We are at each others throats on every little issue, picking out  fairly  meaningless things  to berate each other...and  to prove what? That we are so dumb that we can't  see the forest  for the trees (as my grandma used to say)?  I wrote, way back  during the election process,that I would like the president to ban anyone with affiliation to any secret organization, from being an appointee or holding any post of importance in this country. There was a reason for  my concern, knowing that  for many , many years of presidential elections, every main candidate, of either party, had been a member  of the council on foreign relations. This is the group that also advises our country on foreign policy...not  too good a record on that lately, many would say. This  group is also affiliated with the bilderberg group and the tri lateral commission

The “Charming Liar” - Wow

It is becoming abundantly clear to even the left that Obama is far less than they envisioned when he was the darling of the liberal elites.  Even the super liberal Greg  Palast, writing for the leftist Huffington Post, has recognized the mendacity of Obama as some of his thoughts, quoted directly below, demonstrate.  Palast's article is an entertaining read for conservatives, but I suspect it is depressing for the Obama kook-aid drinkers.

Dumb and dumber

I recognize Dave, Bob, and some (many?) others will think the title of this post is autobiographical, but it is not intended to be.  I’ve been waiting for the MSM and ACLU to do some serious reporting on the Obama Administration’s attempt to ensure all the facts are on the table about health care and to ensure false statements about the health plan are rebutted in a timely manner.  Who can be against that?  Certainly not me, as the more facts we know the better decisions we can make.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi

The only guy convicted in the 1988 “Lockerbie” airline bombing in which Pan Am Flight 103 blew up killing 243 passengers and 16 crew members as well as 11 people on the ground when it crashed into the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, is on his way home to Libya.  He was released by a Scottish judge on humanitarian grounds as he has terminal prostate cancer with “not long to live” and the judge thought it would be nice for him to be able to die at home with his friends and family even though he had served only eight years of his “life” sentence.

Why?

I ask this question in all seriousness, although I suspect leftists will twist it.  Why does the left (Howard Dean, et al)  believe health care reform requires the public option?  It seems to me the issue with health care (which, by the way, should not be a government program at all as there is nothing in the Constitution authorizing the feds to be involved in it) is ensuring reasonably priced health care within acceptable wait times for all.  I don’t understand why the public option is essential for this.  Someone please explain it in terms even a dense soul can understand.  

A cause of the myths

Aubrey wrote an excellent piece on Health Care Myths and Facts recently which generated a fairly lively exchange.  However, as the “final” health care legislation is not even being debated in the halls of Congress yet, it is hard to separate fact from fiction.  When the final bill nears completion, I believe it would be well worth another post on trying to define the bill's projected impact.  In the meantime, I believe the President has caused a tremendous amount of the concern in the debate to date.