OBAMA IN 2008

Obama on government surveillance:

As president, I will follow existing law, and when it comes to U.S. citizens and residents, I will only authorize surveillance for national security purposes consistent with FISA and other federal statutes.

Obama on presidents using executive authority:

I will not use signing statements to nullify or undermine congressional instructions as enacted into law. The problem with this administration is that it has attached signing statements to legislation in an effort to change the meaning of the legislation, to avoid enforcing certain provisions of the legislation that the President does not like, and to raise implausible or dubious constitutional objections to the legislation. The fact that President Bush has issued signing statements to challenge over 1100 laws – more than any president in history – is a clear abuse of this prerogative. No one doubts that it is appropriate to use signing statements to protect a president's constitutional prerogatives; unfortunately, the Bush Administration has gone much further than that.

See the whole list at the Boston Globe.

PALIN, THE PROHPETESS ON THE UKRAINE

In 2008 Palin said that if Obama is elected, Putin may invade the Ukraine.  At the time she was mocked and criticized.  But recent events seem to be justifying her evaluation of Obama's foreign policy leadership.

MEDIA KILLED STORIES IN 2008 ELECTION

From the Daily Caller:  Stories about Jeremiah Wright were not published.

According to records obtained by The Daily Caller, at several points during the 2008 presidential campaign a group of liberal journalists took radical steps to protect their favored candidate. Employees of news organizations including Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic participated in outpourings of anger over how Obama had been treated in the media, and in some cases plotted to fix the damage.

In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”

HURRICANE SANDY vs. HURRICANE KATRINA RESPONSE

From Mona Charen at the National Review.  It was clear that the press reacted differently to the problems of FEMA's response in the two different disasters. FEMA's response was slower in several instances when it responded to the Sandy disaster, but this never became a major issue on the nightly news. It seemed as if they didn't learn from Katrina.

Six days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, President Bush’s presidency had been declared a failure and a disgrace. It was all FEMA’s fault, we were given to understand, and, by extension, Bush’s fault. It wasn’t the incompetence of local and state officials, or the levee collapse (a failure, by the way, that impartial observers lay at the feet of another government agency going back years, the Army Corps of Engineers). No, within a few days of the storm’s impact, Bush was an enemy of the people.

Six days after Sandy hit the East Coast, most of the press had utterly lost interest in the human toll, though thousands of people went without food, water, gasoline, or electricity for the better part of two weeks. The Washington Times reported two weeks after Sandy, “Bodies are still being recovered in Staten Island. Chaos reigns in the streets of the outer boroughs. Residents have taken up arms — baseball bats, machetes, shotguns — as crime and looting soar.”

A POLLSTER UNDER OATH

From Politico:  John Edward's pollster is put under oath and reveals how polls can be used for political leverage even for a candidate low in the polls.

When a pollster or strategist for a struggling political campaign presents what seems like a sugar-coated view of his candidate's chances, do you ever think: I wish I could give that adviser some truth serum, or maybe put him under oath?

Well, truth serum may be pushing it, but the put-him-under-oath part has actually happened. And when a pollster is required to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, under penalty of perjury, what emerges is quite a bit different than what you hear in the waning days of a presidential campaign.

2008 DEMOCRAT PLATFORM -- WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED?

Interesting article on looking back at what the 2008 Democrat platform accomplished in the area of science and technology.  Some of  the highlights:

1. The platform promised more spending on research and development, but spending on these key areas have gone down.  For what it’s worth, in constant dollars total federal R&D spending peaked under the George W. Bush administration in 2007 at $154.4 billion. 
2. Sex education.  The number of abortions has remained stable for the last decade.
3. Embryonic stem cells can be used in research but support for cloning is not supported.
4. Abortion is protected.
5. The 2008 platform said America "could not drill its way to energy independence.  President Obama proudly pointed out in his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention last week that the use of renewable energy has doubled under his administration and that thousands of Americans have jobs building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries. In addition, the U.S. has cut its imports of oil by 1 million barrels per day while opening up “millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the last three years, and we'll open more.”  With gas at $4 a gallon there would be a decline in imports, but it appears drilling is okay now with all of these acres being opened up to oil exploration.
6.  What about drilling? President Obama correctly claims to have opened millions of acres to drilling for hydrocarbons. But how does that compare with previous administrations? In its first three years, according to the Bureau of Land Management, the Bush administration leased 8.8 million acres for oil exploration and production, compared to 5.3 million for the Obama administration. The Clinton administration leased 11.4 million acres in its first three years.
7. New wells drilled on federal land.  The first three years of the Bush administration saw 9,276 new wells drilled, whereas under the Obama administration 9,693 wells were.
8.  The 2008 platform called for 5 million green energy jobs.This goal is not being met -- look at the unemployment statistics and firms like Solyndra which have gone belly up.And then there are t he wind turbines being built in China!
9. The 2012 Democratic Platform declares, “We are expediting the approval process to build out critical oil and gas lines essential to transporting our energy for consumers.” Really? It is true that the Obama Administration has approved the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline?
10.  No support for space exploration.
11. They are still working on climate change policies and green house gases in the 2012 platform. . .but As it happens, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are back down to their level in 1992. This is largely not due to Obama administration green energy policies, but because fracking has produced an abundant supply of cheap natural gas.

NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING

Both Obama and Romney engage in negative ads.  But there is also an issue in my mind that some ads that are considered negative are actually using factual data.

PALIN TREATED DIFFERENTLY THAN BIDEN

A study comparing how Joe Biden and Sarah Palin were treated in the 2008 election--obviously Palin was treated differently.  Some of it appears to be a bit sexist.  And the study was using major media like the New York Times and CNN, which, as liberals, one would presume to be a bit more sensitive to feminist issues.

Coverage of Palin was more likely to include references to her family, physical appearance and social issues, particularly in newspapers and by political blogs, while coverage of Biden dealt more with foreign policy and the economy.

In that coverage, the authors found evidence of gender stereotypes, with stories mentioning her family, physical appearance and positions on social issues; this trend was more pronounced on television. However, on issues that might be considered "women's issues," such as health care or education, Biden received more coverage.

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR McCAIN. . .

I have been following Glenn Reynold's Instapundit blog for a number of years now. I believe he would classify himself as a libertarian so I don't see him as highly partisan, but he does have his views.

He skewers Obama and the liberal Democrats for doing the same things they attacked McCain for in the 2008 election with his "they told me if I voted for McCain. . ." I started to collect the number of times Obama has done what he criticized McCain for possibly doing and have included some samples below (a person can do a search on Instapundit going back to 2009 if one wanted to do a statistical analysis on this subject).

All this is hypothetical because we can't say for sure what McCain would have done.

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D HAVE A PRESIDENT WHOM ARABS DESPISED MORE THAN BUSH. And they were right! “Of course, world leadership is not a popularity contest, nor should it be. But it should be deeply worrying for the White House when a genocidal tyrant like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now viewed more favorably across many parts of the Middle East than the leader of the free world.” Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 13, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D BE BLASTING MISSILES ALL OVER THE PLACE: And they were right! “At least 45 suspected militants were killed by missiles launched by U.S. drone aircraft in Pakistan’s northwest, local intelligence officials said on Tuesday, one of the largest death tolls to date in the controversial air bombing campaign.” Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 12, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D BE BLASTING MISSILES ALL OVER THE PLACE: And they were right! “At least 45 suspected militants were killed by missiles launched by U.S. drone aircraft in Pakistan’s northwest, local intelligence officials said on Tuesday, one of the largest death tolls to date in the controversial air bombing campaign.” Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 12, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, we’d be keeping troops in Iraq indefinitely. And they were right! Guess I should voted for that Barack Obama fellow, who promised to have them all out by 2011. Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 06, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D BE HOLDING TERRORISTS WITHOUT TRIAL IN SECRET FACILITIES. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! “A Somali man suspected of assisting al Qaeda was held abroad on a U.S. Navy ship for questioning for over two months without being advised of any legal rights, an administration official said.” (Via Gateway Pundit). Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 06, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, GOVERNMENT SPYING WOULD PROCEED UNCHECKED: And they were right! Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 04, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D HAVE TROOPS IN MORE COUNTRIES THAN I COULD COUNT. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! American Boots Hit the Ground in Somalia After Drone Attacks. Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jul 02, 2011

UPDATE: Heh: They told me that if I voted for John McCain reporters on Morning Joe would be calling the POTUS a dick on national TV… and they were right! Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 30, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR MCCAIN, WE’D HAVE ONGOING WARS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND FAT-CAT DONORS ENTERTAINED RIGHT IN THE WHITE HOUSE. And they were right! Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 26, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, DEMOCRATS WOULD BE COMPLAINING ABOUT A WARMONGERING IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! “A House Democrat warned Friday that the U.S. president is becoming an ‘absolute monarch’ on matters related to the authority to start a war.” Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 24, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WHISTLEBLOWERS WOULD BE SUPPRESSED. And they were right! “Stephen J. Kim, an arms expert who immigrated from South Korea as a child, spent a decade briefing top government officials on the dangers posed by North Korea. Then last August he was charged with violating the Espionage Act — not by aiding some foreign adversary, but by revealing classified information to a Fox News reporter. Mr. Kim’s case is next in line in the Obama administration’s unprecedented crackdown on leaks.” Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 19, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D BE WAGING EXPENSIVE WARS AROUND THE GLOBE WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION. And they were right! “Obama’s unauthorized Libyan war costs $9,241,000 a day: Are you getting your money’s worth?” Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 16, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D SEE LAUGHABLE LEGAL HAIRSPLITTING IN DEFENSE OF UNDECLARED AND UNPOPULAR WARS — AND THEY WERE RIGHT! When Is a War Not a War? When President Obama Says So. Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 15, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, we’d be bogged down in unpopular, undeclared foreign wars. And they were right! “A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% of Likely U.S. Voters feel the United States should continue its military actions in Libya. Forty-two percent (42%) are opposed and 32% are undecided.” Hey, hey, Barack Hussein — how many kids did you kill today? Well, no. We won’t hear that unless they bring back the draft. Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 14, 2011

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR MCCAIN, we’d have a President who pursued endless war. And they were right! Posted at by Glenn Reynolds on Jun 13, 2011

OBAMA VOTER FRAUD

It appears Hillary Clinton supporters are accusing Obama of voter fraud! A group of lifelong Democrats recently produced a compelling documentary allleging rampant voter fraud by the Obama campaign during the 2008 election.

ANYTHING NEW?

Bush was criticized for having his oil friends write U.S. energy policy; now we have Obama's telecommunication donors advising on telecom policy. Has anything changed?

A telecommunications company has confirmed for this columnist that its vice president for policy—who is also an Obama donor and a former lobbyist—is advising Barack Obama’s transition team on telecom policy.

Obama’s transition team, which has failed to disclose this executive’s involvement, happens to have proposed a significant change in telecom policy that will profit that very company, called Clearwire.

PALIN INTERVIEW

Interview with Sarah Palin.

She is the real deal.

As a former TV sportscaster and radio talk show host I’ve interviewed a lot big-time “celebrities,” and can honestly say that even though you could argue Sarah Palin was the most prominent, she is also by far the nicest, most sincere and seemingly honest subject I’ve ever questioned.

I also know, with moral certitude, that the media assassination of her, her character and family, was one of the greatest public injustices of our time. . .

OBAMA SWEARING-IN

I find this Politico story ironic--Obama will use his full name "Barrack Hussein Obama" in the swearing-in. During the election Democrats and some media commentators were charging Republicans and some conservatives with negative campaigning, and worse, when they used "Hussein" in referring to his full name. What a difference an election makes.

I see conservatives have caught on to this double standard.

MOVIE GENRES & OBAMA BUSH

Zombie movies dominate under Bush; Vampire movies will dominate the Obama administration--What does this mean?

Zombies are red, vampires are blue.

Whatever its challenges, the Bush White House has presided over a period of robust health for a genre that – if history is any guide – will soon fade: the zombie movie.

Tuesday's election of a Democratic president, meanwhile, comes at the start of a new cycle of vampire films (“Twilight,” “Let the Right One In”) and TV shows (HBO's “True Blood.”)

Coincidence? Or something spookier?

IRAQ OCCUPATION NOW A HUMANITARIAN MISSION

Now that Obama is elected CNN has changed the American military occupation of Iraq to a "humanitarian mission."

2008 RELIGIOUS VOTE

Barna Group's analysis of how people of faith and no faith voted.

MEDIA & 2008 ELECTION

From "Shots Across the Bow".

There's been a lot of talk about how the mainstream media failed the country during this last election cycle, and that because of that failure their days are numbered.

I have to disagree. I think the media performed flawlessly during the two year election cycle. They managed the story, shielded their candidate, attacked the opposition, sat on damaging stories, and in short did everything a good state run media should do during an election cycle.

Halperin criticism.

Howard Kurtz.

Ed Driscoll.

ARAB REACTIONS TO 2008 ELECTION

More Iraqis died during Clinton administration than in Bush administration according to Muslim cleric.

"Whoever thinks that the Democrats are less hostile to [the Arabs] than the Republicans should know that the number of Iraqis killed during the siege [of Iraq] by the Democrat Bill Clinton is twice as high as the number of [Iraqis] killed by the Republican [George] Bush.

"The Democrats kill you slowly without you noticing it - and therein lies the danger. They are like a snake whose touch is not felt until its poison enters your body.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE AUDITING

McCain will be audited more carefully than Obama because he took public money! I think federally financed campaigns may be a thing of the past.

CHRIS MATTHEWS' INTERVIEW

He won't play Hardball with Obama.