Are Baby Santorum Attacks the 2012 Version of Trig Palin?

A new frontier for political attacks is being hatched from the liberal left media types. Don't approve of how a family deals with the handicap or death of a newborn child? Mock it.

Recently Alan Colmes, a Fox News Channel contributor, mocked Rick Santorum and his wife, Karen, because of a decision on how they dealt with the death of their two hour old infant son as a family. Colmes said the actions of the Santorums proved that Rick Santorum was "crazy".

The segment was pegged to Santorum’s polling surge in Iowa, which Colmes argued wouldn’t last “once they get a load of some of the crazy things he’s said and done, like taking his two-hour-old baby who died after childbirth and played with it for a couple hours so his other children would know that the child was real…”

Rich Lowry, from the National Review, did not let such hideous talk go unchecked. Colmes was angered that he was not allowed to get away with such an attack on a socially conservative family with devout religious beliefs. Colmes later apologized.

Next up for the attack was liberal columnist Gene Robinson. On a liberal host's MSNBC's evening show, Robinson went on the Santorum-is-weird rampage.

Here is one account of the nasty attack:

“Some of his positions he’s taken are just so weird,” he continued, “that I think some Republicans are going to be off-put. Not everybody is going to be down, for example, with the story of how he and his wife handled the stillborn child whose body they took home to kind of sleep with and introduce to the rest of the family. It’s a very weird story.”

To clarify, the Santorum’s baby was not “stillborn,” but rather, died two hours after being born. Here’s what happened:


The childbirth in 1996 was a source of terrible heartbreak — the couple were told by doctors early in the pregnancy that the baby Karen was carrying had a fatal defect and would survive only for a short time outside the womb. According to Karen Santorum’s book, ”Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum,” she later developed a life-threatening intrauterine infection and a fever that reached nearly 105 degrees. She went into labor when she was 20 weeks pregnant. After resisting at first, she allowed doctors to give her the drug Pitocin to speed the birth. Gabriel lived just two hours.

What happened after the death is a kind of snapshot of a cultural divide. Some would find it discomforting, strange, even ghoulish — others brave and deeply spiritual. Rick and Karen Santorum would not let the morgue take the corpse of their newborn; they slept that night in the hospital with their lifeless baby between them. The next day, they took him home. ”Your siblings could not have been more excited about you!” Karen writes in the book, which takes the form of letters to Gabriel, mostly while he is in utero. ”Elizabeth and Johnny held you with so much love and tenderness. Elizabeth proudly announced to everyone as she cuddled you, ‘This is my baby brother, Gabriel; he is an angel.’ ”

As I’ve said before, the fact that Karen Santorum publicized the event means that, to some extent, it is an appropriate subject for public discussion. For example, the notion that Gabriel’s story is relevant to the abortion rights debate is something that can be legitimately challenged, but even then, it should be handled in a delicate, respectful manner. I have heard liberals mock the Santorums’ expression of grief cruelly in the past, and while Eugene Robinson wasn’t necessarily cruel, there’s something seriously wrong with his premise.

Robinson did a mea culpa on the morning chat show on MSNBC Friday morning. The shows hosts apologized for asking Robinson about it. Yes, apologized for asking Robinson about such a hideous attack.

This conjures up the attacks on Sarah Palin for the left in 2008 for having the audacity to give birth to a child whom she knew would be mentally challenged. Then, the left went off the deep end and tried over and over to prove a conspiracy theory that baby Trig Palin was actually the son of the eldest Palin daughter, Bristol.

The attacks on the sanity of the Santorum family must stop. How one family grieves the death of an infant son is not the business of others, especially a liberal media desperate to re-elect Barack Obama. Death and grieving is deeply personal and individuals go through the process differently. For the record, for Colmes to equate bringing the baby's body home for his siblings to say good-bye to him is not "playing" with him. Some experts in the grieving process even encourage family members to say good-bye to the dead child. Would I have made the same decisions as the Santorums did? No. But, that is their decision in their time of grief.

Making the death of an infant into a political attack - saying Santorum is crazy or weird and therefore not acceptable to be president - is beyond the pale. It is past time for people on both sides to speak up and demand a stop to it all.

A Newt Scorned

When Newt Gingrich entered the GOP presidential primary, he said he would run a different kind of campaign. Unfortunately for him, the other candidates are running very traditional campaigns.

As soon as Newt Gingrich became the flavor of the week, leading in the polls, he suffered the same attacks launched by Super Pacs from the other candidates. This has been the pattern - rotating favorites and spats of really vicious ads against the current favorite. Newt Gingrich was positioned to win in Iowa, if you believe the reporting and the polls, up until the last weeks in December and the beginning of January. Both Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are said to have blanketed the airwaves with negative attacks on Gingrich through their Super Pacs. The other candidates were no angels, either. All of them resorted to verbal assault on Gingrich. Gingrich began to say he felt "Romneyboated" in Iowa.

Just weeks ago, Gingrich was leading in the polls and his popularity has fallen in Iowa since the ads began. BusinessWeek reports that 45 percent of the ads being shown in Iowa criticized Gingrich for shifting policy positions on Freddie Mac and other groups regarding the home loan crisis after his 1999 resignation from the House. Most of the negative ads which amounted to approximately $3.7 million were directed at Gingrich and funded by GOP candidates Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Perry.

Gingrich continued to make his promise to keep his campaign positive. He vowed to not succumb to negative advertising against his opponents. Then, the worm turned. Gingrich was at the end of his rope and that is not a good place for him. His numbers sank in Iowa and by caucus night, he finished in fourth place.

Newt did not give a gracious speech after the loss. On the night of the caucuses, as the other candidates delivered their speeches after the results were in, all of them remained somewhat positive. Even Michele Bachmann, who placed dead last in her home state, was smiling and looking for a silver lining. Perry said he'd suspend his campaign but remained well-mannered. Not Newt. He was obviously angry and revengeful. He vowed the fight in New Hampshire would be very different. He praised Santorum for running a "positive campaign" while hitting the others. That was odd, though. I've listened to Santorum's speeches, including one I heard in person in New Orleans last summer, and he is quite nasty and snarky on occasion. Santorum has a mean side to his personality.

The day after the Iowa Caucuses, a New Hampshire newspaper ran a full page ad paid for by the Gingrich campaign. It was a split page - one side was Romney and one side Gingrich. It was to underscore their differences. Granted, the newspaper was a small one and probably will not make much of an impression, but it was an immediate and angry move.

Charles Krauthammer said that Gingrich was "like Ahab on the loose in New Hampshire", seeking vengeance.

Here's the truth - negative ads work. It is all nice and lovely for a candidate to say he or she will rise above the fray and only talk about issues. Until the ads start against him or her. And they will. No candidate escapes it and Gingrich is only too familiar with this fact. He himself was known for his sharp elbows and dark side in his previous life as Speaker of the House. This is not his first rodeo and he just sounds like a sore loser.

It's a shame. I expected better of him.

GOP Field Narrows After Iowa Caucuses

We survived the Iowa Caucasus. It was a close one, though, and the results were not called by cable news anchors early in the evening. The victories went to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Poor Michele Bachmann. The Iowa Straw Poll means absolutely nothing, as it turns out. Though she is certainly entitled to bragging rights for being the first female winner of that summer political exercise, in the end it means nothing. She talked up the fact that she was born in Waterloo, Iowa. In her home county, she finished in last place.

Ouch.

The Iowa caucus, in the end, usually turns out to mean little in the end, too. Mike Huckabee won it in 2008. It takes a certain loyal and motivated voter to spend the time to attend and vote in a caucus. A small percentage do and they tend to be more conservative than the average voter in other places. Those known as values voters are pandered to like in no other place.

Two candidates who were pandering strongly to those value voters now find themselves out of the running. Neither suspended their campaigns Tuesday night as the results came in but it is a matter of time.

To Michele Bachmann I would say, you did yourself in. Not only were you never the favorite candidate but you then turned your frustration and eventual bitterness onto the other candidates with really ugly rhetoric and outright false statements. No one likes that and it shows a real character flaw within you. And, if you have to pad your own effectiveness, don't be surprised when voters do a bit of research and realize you have no real record to show for all that fighting you claim to do in Congress. When you began declaring that you are not a politician, the sounds of desperation set in. What are you doing, then? You are a sitting Congresswoman. You are running for the highest political office in the world. Get real. Despite what you may think, you are no Iron Lady. Drop out now. Do not go into debt because of your ego.

To Governor Perry I would say, you did it to yourself. You pissed on the Iowa Straw Poll last summer when you decided to play tug of war with the day's headlines by announcing your candidacy in South Carolina. At a conservative website's convention, no less. That was bad and really showed a lack of understanding of the voters in Iowa. They think they are special. They feel entitled to their moments in the sun. You thumbed your nose at them and then went into their state, expecting them to embrace you. You and your SuperPacs threw millions at the caucus voters and you ended up 5th out of 6th. Was that fiscally conservative planning? Voters are not ready for another president from Texas with poor communications skills and a cocky swagger. You enjoy the attitude that Texas is a whole 'nother country. You are right. What plays in Texas doesn't play around the country right now. How can a guy who has been in politics for decades have been so ill-prepared? You have three million dollars in the bank, it is reported, so you could hang on a bit but I'm not sure you will.

The rest of the field is on to New Hampshire.

RNC Ad Seen in Iowa

Here is an ad running in Iowa. It uses Obama's own words and those of other Democrats against reality.

Republican Party of Texas Is Debt-Free

The money raised by the Republican Party of Texas stays in Texas. That's a good thing. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Munisteri, the party is debt free and paying its bills on time. A new budget is set and the outlook for the party finances is good.

From an update by the party Treasurer:

The SREC met at its quarterly meeting on 12/3/11 & 12/4/11. Our report to you is the Party’s finances continue to be strong while carrying no debt. All of the Party’s bills continue to be paid on time. Additionally, all regulatory filings have been timely during the last quarter and the Party continues to be in good standing with the Texas Ethics Commission and the Federal Elections Commission.

The following is an excerpt from my December 3, 2011 report to the SREC (as of 10/31/2011):
•Cash on hand: $742,918.21 (does not include prepaid 2012 State Convention expenses or Primary Election cash from the Secretary of State
•Debt: $0.00
•Increase in fund balances for the 10 months ended 10/31/2011: $77,765.29 (an increase over 2 months of $6,156.96 since our last report to you)

Additionally, the SREC passed a 2012 operating budget of $1,051,248. The actual Party expenditures will be dependent on fundraising income as our Chairman refuses to spend money the Party does not have. Steve also presented a list of additional Party building items which he believes will further strengthen the RPT’s efforts at delivering a convincing victory for conservative principles and values at the 2012 general election (again, subject to raising the necessary funds).

The logo above is the one to look for on fundraising letters.

A very successful program for fundraising is The Grassroots Club.

The Grassroots Club is absolutely critical to the Party’s success. Tom Washington and I both volunteer our time and we are both members (as is our State Chairman who volunteers full-time running our Party) and we believe this is the best way to ensure the grassroots have a prominent role in the direction of our Party. As we said during our last report to you, this fundraising tool has the lowest cost of any we perform (95% of funds donated go directly to the Party even after the credit card fee is deducted). And the low contribution amount of $8.25/month enables all of us to help carry the load of keeping the Party involved in the fight for our nation.

Good news indeed.

Pantano for Congress

Sometimes you watch someone in a television interview that just catches your interest. I had that pleasure as I watched a video of a man now running for Congress in North Carolina.

Here is what caught my attention:



This is his life narrative, in his own words:

"I was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, NY, which is about as far away from here that you can get," Pantano said. "I enlisted in the Marines at 17. I fought in the first Gulf War. I was based here at Camp Lejeune. After the Berlin Wall came down and it was clear that this was a very different time and place than when I had gone into the Marines, I made a decision to get out and go work on Wall Street. I did what the son of an immigrant does: you go out and try to make some money."

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, he re-enlisted in the military.

Pantano requested, and was granted, an age waiver, and a waiver for a dependent, to re-enlist. A sergeant when he first left the Marines after the Gulf War, he was now commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to lead an infantry platoon. He expected a lot from the Marines under his command but quickly earned their respect as a thoughtful, capable and passionate officer.

He experienced the wrath of the American press over one mission that resulted in the death of two Iraqis.

On April 15, 2004, Pantano and his men were dispatched to investigate a house outside Mahmudiya that intelligence indicated was being occupied by insurgents. Wary of being drawn into an ambush, he sent a dozen men to raid the house while the rest guarded the flanks. Suddenly a white car approached. Pantano’s Marines fired warning shots, and the two unarmed men inside the vehicle surrendered.

After the two Iraqis had been detained, Pantano dispatched one of his Marines to inspect their vehicle. His troops found a sizeable weapons cache inside the house and, taking no chances, Pantano ordered the captured Iraqis to thoroughly re-inspect the vehicle. Accompanied by two other Marines, both with their backs turned to him, Pantano supervised the Iraqis as they looked for weapons. Believing that the men — who ignored orders to stop whispering and then turned on him abruptly — had decided to charge him, Pantano opened fire, killing both.

One of the men with his back turned, a sergeant who had clashed with Pantano in the past, filed a report claiming Pantano had unjustly executed the captured Iraqis. Pantano was relieved of his command and faced charges that, were he convicted, could have resulted in the death penalty.

“It’s amazing to face murder charges in the high intensity combat in which we were in,” Pantano told TheDC. “It’s like getting a speeding ticket at the Indy 500.”

Eventually the case against Pantano fell apart. No one could corroborate the sergeant’s allegations and the evidence, including autopsies of the dead Iraqis, seemed to exonerate him of any wrongdoing.

The military dismissed the charges in May 2005, but not before Pantano underwent what he feels was unfair treatment from some media outlets. “This was in the wake of [the] Abu Ghraib [torture scandal], and they were looking for a scapegoat,” he said.

His opponent for the GOP nomination is a more traditional North Carolinian - he worked for Jesse Helms and Elizabeth Dole. His family roots are deep in the state.

In 2012 it is important to take notice and support those candidates that capture the imagination. It is crucial to elect men and women who will take a stand and won't go wobbly, as Margaret Thatcher once said.

U.S.Senate Candidate Dewhurst Calls for Holder to Resign

Texas Lt. Governor Dewhurst is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. He is calling for the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder.



The Dewhurst for Senate campaign released a new web video, entitled “An Act of Outrage,” highlighting Attorney General Eric Holder’s inability to preserve state sovereignty by striking down Voter ID legislation. Instead of protecting the rights of each state, Holder has used the Justice Department to restrict meaningful legislation that ultimately prevents voter fraud.

The Obama administration is determined to strike down any new voter id legislation from any state - especially those with large illegal immigrants like Texas. It is important to demand those in power to rise up and stop the nod to voter fraud.

The End of the Campaign Road for Michele Bachmann

With only a handful of days left until the Iowa Caucus, Michele Bachmann can't catch a break. Wednesday brought about a firestorm centered around the resignation of her state campaign manager, Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson, who then turned around and endorsed Ron Paul. He did so after having only three hours before attended a rally with Bachmann.

Ouch.

Today her political director resigned, too. Or, he was fired.

Michele Bachmann confirmed Thursday that another key member of her presidential campaign was no longer working for her.

"He quit," Bachmann said of former Political Director Wes Enos. Bachmann was speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." The Ron Paul campaign put out a release noting that he was "recently terminated" by the Bachmann campaign.

Seems Enos stuck up for his buddy Sorenson and that didn't go over so well within the campaign. So, he's gone.

Double ouch.

This wouldn't be such newsworthy headlines if it were not just five days out from the caucus. There is no doubt that Sorenson is an opportunist, looking out for himself. But, is that something unusual in politics? Of course not. No one wants to work for a losing candidate. We all love winners.

Michele Bachmann is not going to win the Iowa Caucuses. Congrats on her win of the straw poll conducted last summer, but that was her high water mark. One of her problems is that she comes off a bit unlikeable as she speaks in interviews. I find her to be defensive and that turns into an attack mode persona against the other candidates. She claims she wants only positive vibes in her campaign then launches into the attacks. She calls Romney and Gingrich liberals. She pounces on Perry for crony capitalism. She bashes Santorum as an insider who supported earmarks for his state. She calls Ron Paul dangerous for the country due to his foreign policy craziness.

It's all a bit much.

She is in deep denial about winning the caucuses. She continues to state with complete certainty that she will win yet she is at the bottom of all polls. Among the three evangelical social conservatives competing for the victory at the ballot box, Perry and Santorum being the other two, it is Santorum who is having a last minute surge in the polls. She may get a bit of a bounce from sympathetic voters but that's about all she can hope for at this point.

It is a shame, really, that a better woman candidate didn't come forward to run for the nomination. I am getting impatient waiting for an electable woman candidate to support for the GOP nomination for President. The key word, of course, is electable. Michele Bachmann was never that.

I have heard Bachmann speak in person. She gives a good speech. She is a pro at staying on message and driving home a point. She's just not enough.

Kim Jong Il's Funeral Lasts Two Days

I find it a bit unnerving to learn that the U.N. lowered the flag to half mast in New York City and Geneva in recognition of Kim Jung Il's death.

The funeral for Kim Jung Il was held today.

Tens of thousands of military officials in uniforms stood still waiting at the plaza in front of the palace. At 10 a.m., the hearse carrying Kim's flower-decorated coffin atop made a grand entrance. Kim's successor, Kim Jong Un, escorted the hearse on foot with his left hand holding onto the sedan's side mirror. On the left was top military leader Ri Yong Ho, and just behind the young Kim was his uncle and Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law Jang Sung-Taek. Jang is believed to be the power behind the scenes.

"They are trying to stick a very powerful front image," said Lee Jung-Hoon, professor of international relations at Yonsei University. The entire procession is carefully choreographed "to make sure that the entire nation mourns and they pledge their loyalty" to these handful of men in the inner circle.

The official funeral lasts two days, after which late Kim will be laid to rest at Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where his father Kim Il Sung has laid embalmed since 1994. On Thursday noon, the nation will observe three minutes of silence -- trains, ships cars are required to blow whistles and sirens.

Clearly, Kim Jong Il's son is not ready to take over. He is being groomed and will eventually be ready for his destiny. The people have every right to be apprehensive of their future. There are shortages of food, electricity and all basic necessities for modern life.

The people have been brainwashed for decades. They have been taught since childhood how to act and respond to dictators. For anyone living in freedom to comment on the scenes of grief is wrong. They have been carefully orchestrated and fear any hints of disobeying orders. Any thinking person knew this was to be expected. It's all an act and the people have no choice but to go along with it.

The person who should be mocked is U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon. He made the decision to lower the U.N. flag to half mast in Geneva and New York City in recognition of Kim Jung Il's death.

The flag of the United Nations flew at half-mast Wednesday at the world's body headquarters in New York and its Geneva offices to mark the funeral for late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

Choi Soung-ah, a spokeswoman for UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said it was customary practice for the UN flag to be lowered to half-mast upon the deaths of leaders of UN member states.

The United Nations exists to promote and defend human rights around the world. Actions such as this, equating the leader of North Korea with any other world leader, proves the organization is out of touch and ineffective.

The non-governmental organization UN Watch said while protocol had to be followed, "the world body must not forget that its founding purpose is to defend basic human rights."

"Sadly, that message is at serious risk of being blurred today," UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said

.

"Today should be a time for the UN to show solidarity with the victims -- the millions of North Koreans brutalized by Kim's merciless policies of starvation and oppression -- and not with the perpetrators."

Tens of thousands of weeping North Koreans bade farewell Wednesday to longtime leader Kim as his young son and successor walked beside his father's coffin through a snowbound Pyongyang.

It is more compassionate to voice a show of disbelief towards Ban Ki-moon. His decision is wrong.

One Week Until Iowa 2012 Caucuses

So, here we are. One week out from the 2012 Iowa caucuses. It is hard to believe how quickly this point has arrived yet it feels like it took forever to get here. To those new to the process, Iowa is exciting stuff. The first results of where candidates rank with the primary electorate, right? Well, not so much.

Remember, in a state like Iowa, it is the most committed of the activists voting and the winner rarely goes on to be the GOP's nominee.

But the Iowa Republican caucuses have a poor record in choosing their party's nominees. In the five presidential nominating cycles with active Iowa Republican caucus competition, the Hawkeye State has voted for the eventual Republican nominee only twice—in 1996 for Bob Dole, in 2000 for George W. Bush—and only once was the Iowa winner elected president.

The traditional process in place in Iowa is not for the weak. It is a two to three hour process, dragging voters out into the cold winter's night to hang out in a school cafeteria or some such less than comfy venue and it sure sounds like a tedious process. It is no show up and vote and you're done kind of evening. One nice touch this year - so far, winter has been mild by typical standards.

Iowa voters are, let's face it, spoiled. They are privy to frequent opportunities to shake hands with and ask questions of candidates. In fact, they demand it. I have heard more than one political consultant state with certainty that all the televisions commercials bombarding the folks in Iowa don't amount to very much as the voters head to the caucuses. The voters go with whichever candidate has impressed them most along the campaign trail. So, that is not such good news for a candidate like Governor Perry, for example, who entered the race late and is spending lots of money on ad buys, along with the help of a super-pac doing the same on his behalf.

It's the ground game. It must be frustrating to a candidate like Rick Santorum who up and moved his five children and wife to the state during the summer to show his dedication and yet he is still at the bottom of the rankings. Maybe he'll prove to be a sleeper candidate who does well and finishes in the top 3 or 4 to be able to continue.

With 45 percent of Iowa Republican voters undecided and a roller-coaster ride about to come to a screeching stop next Tuesday with the GOP caucuses, it may be Rick Santorum's turn to take the final ascent and surprise the political class by ... doing better than expected?

So, a full 45% of Iowa Republican voters haven't decided yet? Several candidates have made a bit deal out of scheduled bus tours of the state this week - including Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. Newt Gingrich, detouring from the book tour, now says only about half of his bus tour stops will be met.

The candidate coming out on top as we approach January 3? Ron Paul. Strange, but true. His message is getting out and his ground force is strong. The man has been campaigning for a long time and his people are organized. His people are all ginned up and ready to go. If you have ever seen an exchange in social media between a Paul devotee and a non-believer, you know of the strong devotion he inspires, particularly among the youngest voters. Those of college age and those just past college are rabid about his candidacy.

From what is being reported from Iowa, the political ads airing have gone completely negative. Newt is all over Mitt and Ron Paul. Mitt is all over Newt and Ron Paul. Ron Paul is all over Newt and Mitt. Perry says he's the outsider. Santorum wants social issues front and center and was blessed with the endorsement of a man who presides over a large super-conservative values voters organization. The organization as a whole didn't endorse Santorum but their leader did. And, did you know that Michele Bachmann has five children and has foster parented 23 foster children?

So, yeah, it's an election year.

The anti-Romney forces are out and hanging on for dear life. It is commonly thought that Mitt Romney will be the eventual GOP candidate but it will be a long primary process. No one will drop out without a fight. I think that is a good thing and will make the eventual candidate all the stronger - think Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in 2008 - as long as it doesn't go into territory that damages the GOP in the general election by giving Team Obama so much ammunition.

One week. This Texas resident is interested but not so excited about Iowa.

No Humility in Obama's Game

It is time to stop the silliness that the man or woman running for president is a common man or common woman. It's popular about this time in a primary or re-election campaign for the exercise to begin - who can out-do the others on possessing the common American script?

The fact is that if someone is running for President of the United States, that person is far from common. No matter the level of success, simply entering the process, boarding a bus and touring the country asking people to vote for you is not a common person's practice. Common people don't just drop everything and campaign around the country.

And, a sitting President running for re-election is not a common man, either. Despite what the spin is from Team Obama, Barack Obama is not "regular people like us":

Julianna Smoot, deputy campaign manager for Obama for America, e-mailed supporters last night:

Beyond the titles, it’s easy to forget sometimes that our President and First Lady are, when it comes down to it, regular people like us.

Yup! Regular people, just like all American families, preparing for their $4 million, 17-day Christmas vacation.

Hawaii Reporter research shows the total cost for the President’s visit for taxpayers far exceeded $1.5 million in 2010 — but is even more costly this year because he extended his vacation by three days and the cost for Air Force One travel has jumped since last assessed in 2000. In addition, Hawaii Reporter was able to obtain more specifics about the executive expenditures.

The total cost (based on what is known) for the 17-day vacation roundtrip vacation to Hawaii for the President, his family and staff has climbed to more than $4 million.

True, until recently the Obamas could justify such extravagant holiday trips because that is where members of Barack Obama's immediate family circle lived. But, with the death of his grandmother, that is no longer the excuse. During a continued economic downturn, would it not be more humble to go to their beloved Chicago? They have a very nice home there and that is even where the re-election campaign has been located for the President.

And, humility. What about humility in a President?

Two baby boomer presidents have given us different looks into modern day presidential humility. We want a humble human in the White House. We saw traits of personal humility with President George W. Bush and we liked him as a person, if not always for his policy initiatives. We could relate to his emotional reactions and his visible tears revealed a compassionate heart. Yet, with President Bill Clinton we had a president who frequently spoke of his humble personal beginnings in Arkansas but acted with arrogant disregard for the sanctity of his office. Conducting extra-martial sexual adventures in the Oval Office is beyond acceptance, even for the most ardent loyalist to the man.

Barack Obama is not a humble man. Recently, during an interview, he claimed to be one of the four greatest Presidents to ever serve the United States. He put himself up there with FDR and Lincoln (just as the press did when he was elected, before ever serving a day in the Oval Office) and LBJ. I kid you not. It was so crazy that even "60 Minutes" edited it out and you will only see it online.

The issue here is not gonna be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do. And we're gonna keep on at it.

I think we all know that had George W. Bush answered the question so asininely, it would have stayed in the piece for air and the press would have had a field day with it. But, as usual, Barack Obama gets a pass from them and it's no big deal.

So many seem to have gotten it all wrong - we must expect humility from elected officials and drop the premise of the common man. Humility is the binding trait with the American voter, the real common man.

U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security

Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and Donna F. Edwards (MD-4), Co-Chairs of the Afghan Women’s Task Force, released a joint statement regarding the first-ever U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security released by President Obama.

“The U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security is a landmark commitment from the United States to ensure that women, particularly in those conflict zones, are included in peace negotiations and peacebuilding activities. It is well documented, and the strong belief of the Afghan Women’s Task Force, that including women in diplomatic, military, and development-support activities creates more stable, peaceful, and economically viable communities.

“Less than a month after the Bonn Conference in Germany, this national plan comes at an important time for the women of Afghanistan. The conference conclusions issued on December 5, 2011, recognize that the rights of women must be protected but provides less certainty on the framework for women’s inclusion. As we maintain our engagement with President Karzai and other Afghan officials, military personnel, and assistance organizations, the President’s National Action Plan will provide additional confidence to the women of Afghanistan that the United States will continue to advocate for the protection of their constitutional rights and their full and equal participation in Afghan society.”

House Agrees to Payroll Tax Holiday Extension

After passing the one year payroll tax holiday extension requested by President Obama, House Republicans fought off the Senate's watered down bill which would only give a two month extension of the tax holiday. The fight came to an end today as Speaker Boehner agreed to call for an Unanimous Consent vote on agreeing to pass the two month extension and then the conference committee will meet to work out the one year extension with the Senate after Christmas.

The farthest of the conservative right are whining about Boehner blinking and caving to President Obama and the Senate. It's not that simple, though, and that is the problem. The Democrats were gaining ground in smugly taking credit for being more compassionate to the middle class taxpayer than Republicans who were, in fact, fighting for a reasonable and longer tax holiday. That was not a good place to be in and Speaker Boehner knew when to stop the bleeding.

The Wall Street Journal does a good job explaining just how absurd the jam the Republicans were in was in the first place.

The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play.

Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible.

Ponder that. The Republicans were in the situation where they were the ones looking like they were the anti-tax holiday opponents. The one issue that Republicans are supposed to be consistent on - tax cuts for all Americans - and the Democrats were winning the public relations battle. The media is only too happy to chime in and allow such battles to favor the President and the Democrats - their team, after all - and that is exactly what happened.

So, let them all say that Boehner blinked. Or caved. So what? He will be able to say he compromised. Despite what the newbies to political discourse would have you believe, compromise is not a bad word. It is how policy is put forward. What wasn't bold headlines - thanks to the Obama-centric press - is that the tax hike to "millionaires and billionaires" desired by the Democrats to pay for the tax holiday has been eliminated from the bill. That is a good thing and Senate Republicans won that battle.

The battle was lost this time for Republicans, thanks to some awkward political maneuvering. The war, however, continues. That is the spending cuts that will be necessary to pay for the tax holiday as the bill goes to conference. During the two month extension, the House and Senate will have to figure out how to pay for the year long version. That war is very likely to be won by the Republicans.

Obama Takes Victory Lap on Iraq War

Foreign policy is vying with domestic policy as we come to the end of this year in politics and life. "The Protester" was named Person of the Year by Time Magazine, mostly in reference to the Arab uprisings. How does President Obama stack up in the region?

Look at this banner made by protesting Syrians:

Ironic, right? Remember when President Bush was in office and his opponents were determined to move the thought forward that he was hated in the Arab world for his stance of pursuing the Freedom Agenda, also known as the Bush Doctrine? Bush believed that by encouraging people in oppressed nations to demand freedom and pursue a more democratic way of life, an entire region benefits. He began that with our national response to Afghanistan after the 9/11/01 attacks on our soil and then went on to Iraq and took out Saddam. Along the way, others in the region took notice and in Libya, Gadaffi stopped his pursuit of a nuclear program. He understood that George W. Bush was a decisive leader willing to make difficult decisions and move forward. No one claimed he dithered and then made politically expedient foreign policy decisions.

So, of the politically expedient foreign policy decisions made by President Obama, the use of the Iraq war as a political football has been particularly unseemly. Obama was proud of his anti-war stance as a U.S. Senator - though the war began while he was still an Illinois state senator - and he vowed to bring all the troops home from Iraq if he became President. What he didn't say was that he really had no voice in that action - the agreement had already been made by former President Bush and the Iraqi leader and the withdrawal date was already on paper. Nevertheless, President Obama is trying mightily for re-election and the Iraq war is a tool in his tool bag.

While President Obama was in the U.S. Senate, he and then Senator Hillary Clinton both found themselves running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. They both signed on to a hideous full page ad condemning General Petraeus, commander in Iraq, and used it for some political theatre during a Senate hearing. They labeled him "General Betrayus". Both came off the campaign trail and questioned the General without respect and clearly with political motivation. It was a disgraceful hearing and they should have both been ashamed. Both opposed the surge in Iraq which has clearly been a success. Both said horrible things against President Bush, Vice President Cheney and the administration. They are both still unrepenent.

Now, the war is declared over and President Obama is only too happy to enjoy the limelight. Orginally scheduled to be on his holiday vacation in Hawaii, some sort of last minute arrangements must have been made for him to accompany Vice President Biden to the ceremony. You would think the President would have planned to be there all along, as the Commander-in-Chief.

President Obama and Vice-President Biden attended a military ceremony in Maryland welcoming home U.S. troops from Iraq, as the end of the war is marked with their return.

Blending solemn tradition with joyous reunion, the top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq returned home to U.S. soil Tuesday, greeted by his wife and his president in an understated ceremony to mark the end of a nine-year conflict that has defined a generation.

President Barack Obama met Gen. Lloyd Austin and his top command staff with a smart salute at this military post in suburban Washington. Austin made his homecoming with his staff bearing the U.S. Forces-Iraq flag, the symbolic conclusion to the war.

Obama was accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden. Though neither offered formal remarks, both greeted the troops and their families.

Those families, however, had to await the ritual return of the flag before embracing their loved ones. Under Army custom the flag will be retired and either stored or displayed.

Our returning troops deserve better than being used as pawns by politicians.

No Deal on Payroll Tax Holiday

The House of Representatives has declined to act on the payroll tax holiday bill passed in the Senate. A two month extension of the tax holiday is not a doable solution, according to the payroll processors.

In a letter to the the leaders of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium, whose members serve 1.5 million employers and more than one-third of the private-sector workforce, wrote that the Senate's two-month extension allows "insufficient lead time" to institute changes by Feb. 29.

The group wrote that a shortened deadline could create "substantial problems, confusion and costs affecting a significant percentage of U.S. employers and employees."

Speaker of the House Boehner has appointed eight members of the Republican majority to sit on the conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate, as is the customary process.

From the Speaker's press release announcing the conference committee action:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today praised the House for seeking a full-year payroll tax cut extension to help families and small businesses by voting to move to a formal conference with the United States Senate. Boehner named eight House Republican negotiators to serve on the House-Senate conference committee, which is charged with resolving the differences between the House-passed one-year payroll tax relief extension and the Senate-passed two-month extension.

“The House voted to extend payroll tax relief, and to extend and reform unemployment insurance, for a full year – as requested by the president. Senate Democrats voted to extend these programs for only two months – a proposal that non-partisan experts say will create substantial confusion and new costs for job creators,” said Speaker Boehner. “There’s no reason for millions of Americans to see their taxes go up or for Washington to make things harder on struggling small businesses. A formal House-Senate conference committee can resolve the differences between our year-long tax cut extension and Democrats’ short-term bill. We can avoid a needless tax hike on middle class families if Senate Democrats will work with us and appoint negotiators to extend the payroll tax cut for another year and help create new jobs.”

The following House Republicans were named by Speaker Boehner to serve on a formal House-Senate conference committee charged with completing work on a full-year payroll tax cut extension:

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX);Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI);Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC);Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-NY);Rep. Tom Price (R-GA);Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY);Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI);Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor speaks about the action on the payroll tax holiday:



It is completely irresponsible that the Senate has adjourned for the holiday vacation and left this business undone, all the while blaming the House leadership for the failure of the two bodies coming together. The House and the Senate are equal bodies. Both have to work together.

The President is correct - this is not a game. He said "this shouldn't be politics as usual". True again. Unless, of course, it is the President himself doing the politics. The House voted to do what the President himself requested - a full year's extension of the payroll tax holiday.

Holder Throws Race Card at Opponents

There is a constant in the public comments made by Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama - both attempt to cover up their failings due to incompetence and throw the race card at the audience. Oppose this president's policies? You must be a racist. Question Attorney General Holder on his participation in the Fast and Furious operation? You must be a racist.

This is gutter politics and it is not helpful to the public discourse. It further points to the Obama administration's desire to flame the fires of class warfare.

All of us were subjected to the constants taunts of race baiting politics as Barack Obama ran to be the first bi-racial President of the United States. Hardly a victim of harsh circumstances, Obama was raised in comfortable settings and even adopted by his step-father. He seems to have changed his legal name back and forth - as opportunism struck in his professional and scholastic life - and then his wife Michelle added fuel to the race baiting as she said Barack was a potential victim of random violence as a black man simply fueling his gas tank at a service station. She even stated without shame that she was only just then - in 2008 - proud of America because her husband was a real contender to be President.

Incredible.

So, carrying on with this leadership from the top of the ticket, minions like the Attorney General, also a black man and in a top position in government, enjoys stating without hesitation that any questioning of his professional decisions is racism from his opponents. Recently Holder said the following about being held accountable for his department's operation known as Fast and Furious:

Attorney General Eric Holder accused his growing chorus of critics of racist motivations in a Sunday interview published in the New York Times. When reached by The Daily Caller Monday morning, the Department of Justice provided no evidence to support the attorney general’s claims.

Holder said some unspecified faction — what he refers to as the “more extreme segment” — is driven to criticize both him and President Barack Obama due to the color of their skin. Holder did not appear to elaborate on who he considered to make up the “more extreme segment.”

“This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” Holder said, according to the Times. “Both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

President Obama thinks the Tea Party is promoting a "subterranean agenda" to block his agenda.

In May 2010, he told guests at a private White House dinner that race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent “Tea Party” movement that was then surging across the country. Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn’t helping them nearly enough, he said.

A guest suggested that when Tea Party activists said they wanted to “take back” their country, their real motivation was to stir up anger and anxiety at having a black president, and Obama didn’t dispute the idea. He agreed that there was a “subterranean agenda” in the anti-Obama movement–a racially biased one–that was unfortunate. But he sadly conceded that there was little he could do about it.

Those opposing Barack Obama and Eric Holder's policy decisions are not racially motivated. There are real questions to be answered and anyone in such high positions of trust in our government are required to answer them. Obama's lack of executive leadership and prescription to failing economic policies and Holder's incompetence in the office of Attorney General are not above questioning. By anyone, especially taxpayers who pay their salaries.

Combining the Payroll Tax Cut Extension and Keystone Pipeline Project

There was briefly a deal in the Senate to continue the payroll tax cut for two months and allow President Obama the luxury of signing the bill that also includes the go-ahead of the Keystone Pipeline project. The fine print is that Obama would not have to decide if actual permits would be issued for the pipeline project for those two months. He would be allowed to kick the can down the road for two more months.

The payroll tax cut would not be on the mind of the President were this not an election year for him. No one should think otherwise. And, the problem for many in Congress is that this tax cut takes money out of the coffers of Social Security - already in big trouble - and puts it into the general fund where Congress will spend it freely.

Keep in mind that the payroll tax "cut" is nothing more than a tax holiday. All the political palaver is about extending it for one more year, through 2012, so Mr. Obama can claim he did something for middle-class voters before Election Day. Because it is temporary, the tax holiday will do little to change employer incentives to hire.

The best one can say for the payroll reprieve is that individuals will better spend the money than the government would. The problem is that government will keep spending anyway, borrowing the money instead. The one-year payroll extension will take something like $121 billion from Social Security revenues, which means about 10% to 15% of the entire federal budget deficit expected for this fiscal year.

And, oh by the way, President Obama double dog dared the Republicans to insert the Keystone Pipeline project into the tax cut extension bill so that he could look like a decision maker and veto it all.

The problem is that the deal, though everyone was excited that both parties came together and voted in favor of it in the Senate, is so short sighted that it does no good. A two month extension of a tax cut? Really? That does what, exactly? What it does is show a continued unseriousness of Congress to address the issues of our dithering economy and show a little political courage while they do so. Instead, President Obama wants to delay a big decision for our energy independence past the 2012 election and not make a Democrat's Sophie's choice - does he go with labor unions who want jobs or with the environmental extremists who demand more time for studies that have already shown the project to be doable. What a nightmare for a leftist who really, really wants to be re-elected.

To the environmentalists, this is a bit of reality:

This is a map of crude oil pipelines throughout the United States:

There are crude oil pipelines across our nation and the record is good. We have the technology and experience to do this new pipeline safely and respectful of the environmental concerns. This is a perfect opportunity to walk the walk after talking the talk about our desire for energy independence from those who want to kill us. And, if Canada doesn't make this deal with us and sell us oil, they have decided to sell it overseas to countries like China. They can't be blamed. They have a product to sell.

The strange part is Obama's continued insistence in screwing our allies and true friends, like Canada as he goes out of his way to prop up our enemies.

This week Congress will vote and work out a way forward. Then President Obama can go on his extended Christmas holiday to Hawaii and continue to "not rest" until every American who wants a job has one, as he pledged three years ago.

RIP, Vaclav Havel

The world has lost another great man. A true hero and patriot to freedom-loving people everywhere.

Václav Havel, the dissident playwright who led the Czechoslovakian "velvet revolution" and was one of the fathers of the east European pro-democracy movement that led to the fall of the Berlin wall, has died aged 75.

He stood for non-violent change and for national unity. He was a man of integrity and served his country out of a sense of patriotism, not ego. He was already a successful playwright.

His commitment to non-violent resistance helped ensure the velvet revolution was bloodless. It also help ensured that the "velvet divorce" three years later, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, was equally peaceful.

Havel opposed the split and stepped down from his position as president in 1992, rather than oversee the process. However, he stood for the presidency of the Czech Republic early the following year and won. It was a non-executive position but Havel brought to it both moral authority and prestige on the world stage. He stayed in the position, despite bouts of ill health including lung cancer, until 2003.

His role in the east European revolutions of 1989 was second only to Lech Walesa's in Poland. As the twin inspirations of the pro-democracy movement, they were strikingly contrasting figures: Walesa a flamboyant, brash, working-class union agitator; Havel a soft-spoken intellectual from a well-to-do family, who was a reluctant politician.

Havel was a strong supporter of the freedom agenda promoted by the G.W. Bush administration.

Statement by President George W. Bush: "Laura and I are saddened by the loss of our friend, Vaclav Havel. His strong voice for human liberty changed the course of his country and crossed continents. In the days of Communist rule over Czechoslovakia, he was viewed as an enemy of the state for ridiculing the pretensions of an oppressive government. The most subversive act of the playwright from Prague was telling the truth about tyranny. And when that truth finally triumphed, the people elected this dignified, charming, humble, determined man to lead their country. Unintimidated by threats, unchanged by political power, Vaclav Havel suffered much in the cause of freedom and became one of its greatest heroes. We send our heartfelt condolences to his dear wife, Dagmar, and the people of the Czech Republic as they celebrate the life of a great man."

His motto was: "Truth and love must prevail over lies and hate."

Amen. Rest in peace.

Joint Agreement on Primary Dates in Texas for 2012

Texans, this is the latest from the Western District Court which has now signed a joint proposal submitted by both the Texas Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Texas for the upcoming 2012 elections.

The new order includes some of the following changes to the elections schedule:

February 1, 2012 - New residency deadline for candidates seeking election to the Texas House and Texas Senate. (There is no residency requirement for Congress).

February 1, 2012, 6:00 p.m. - New deadline of court-ordered reopened filing period, in which candidates for all offices have the opportunity to amend, withdraw or file a new application for the ballot.

February 3, 2012 - New deadline for Democratic and Republican county executive committees to conduct drawing for candidate order on ballot. (This means there will be no Ballot Draw on December 20 as previously scheduled.)

April 3, 2012 - Date of the 2012 General Primary Election.

April 14 or April 21, 2012 - Date of County and Senatorial District Conventions, as determined by the State Chair of each political party.

June 5, 2012 - Date of the 2012 General Primary Runoff Election.

The joint agreement provides for a unified Primary that will be the best for the voters of Texas and Harris County.

Drilling Equals Jobs

Drilling equals jobs. It's a simple equation.

House Natural Resources Committee Republicans are committed to putting Americans back to work by enacting policies that embrace America’s abundant natural resources to help create jobs and grow our economy.

Freshman Committee Member Jeff Landry from Louisiana’s Third Congressional District. Rep. Landry’s constituents understand that drilling equals jobs. Since 1947, Louisiana has drilled over 50,000 wells off its coast and has created good-paying jobs. While the Obama Administration slow-walks permits in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal government is losing money and missing out on real job creation.

Here, Rep Landry explains how drilling equals jobs:



Common sense. It's a win-win for the economy and our country.