Michael Steele Needs to Move On

Like many others I first took notice of Michael Steele during his unsuccessful 2006 Senate run in Maryland. He was confident and well-spoken and his attitude during his David-vs-Goliath campaign was truly inspiring. Buoyed by his newfound national identity he managed to stay in the limelight enough to be considered (again as a long shot) for the RNC chairmanship. So I was truly happy to see him get elected to that position, expecting him to be a fresh and articulate alternative to the Republican Party's rather lackluster public face. Well since then he seems to have done little but continually put his foot in his mouth, undermine the RNC's message, and act in a generally self-serving manner. This latest strip club scandal is just that - the latest in what is becoming a very long list. But now we hear his defense is to play the race card? This is the last thing the RNC needs after having squandered so many advantages and being so out of touch as to launch and entire political movement.

Steele needs to find a well-paid consultancy position somewhere and stop helping the Republican Party commit suicide.

The Obama Theme Song

Heard this driving in to work today and was struck by the similarity of its sentiments to those of our current administration. The theme of "we're outsiders and its not our fault"- it couldn't be more perfect:

me and all my friends
we're all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there's no way we ever could
now we see everything that's going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don't have the means
to rise above and beat it

so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

it's hard to beat the system
when we're standing at a distance
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
now if we had the power
to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door
and when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want

that's why we're waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

it's not that we don't care,
we just know that the fight ain't fair
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

and we're still waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change
one day our generation
is gonna rule the population
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

Now This Makes Sense

Given Obama's abysmal performance so far:

The chatter has increased in recent days about Clinton leaving the cabinet sometime in the first term, likely over some matter of principle, so that she can position herself to challenge Obama in 2012"

That so makes sense.

Too Smart to Be An American

It has been widely reported that the administration has decided to "double down" and plow forward on its health care and banking reform agenda and either spin or ignore the voter discontent whose clearest and most recent sign is the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts. It's as though Team Obama attended telemarketing training, where the main rules are "ignore the customer's first two objections" and "above all, stick to the script". While for the first time a few tiny cracks are appearing in the media's united pro-Obama front, many in the self-described (and pseudo-intellectual) press elite are still carrying water for a man that they perceive as "one of their own", somebody who really "gets" the liberal message (and the need to further it through Alinskyesque subterfuge). In that spirit Joe Klein of the once-respected Time has placed his own offering at the feet of his president by attempt to clear up confusion and explain away all that nasty controversy. And what is his thesis to explain Obama's current difficulties?

Most Americans are simply too stupid to appreciate Obama's vision.

In his brief article he supports his thesis in a variety of ways: ridiculing "average" voters ("nearly three out of four Americans think the money has been wasted...they may be right: it's been wasted on them...It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you're a nation of dodos"), echoing the complaints of earlier Bush apologists ("The Obama Administration has done a terrible job explaining the stimulus package") and even slandering his own competition ("Americans are flagrantly ill-informed...and, for those watching Fox News, misinformed"). Perhaps Mr. Klein is breaking some unnamed journalistic code by stating it so frankly, but this post is a great thumbnail view of the current state of Progressive thought and its contempt for the average American.

I can only imagine that as the out-of-touch and sneeringly elitist Mr. Klein watched the comments roll in he must have realized his error in stating his views so plainly. Like a benevolent dictator sensing that he'd gone too far, he moderated his elitism, tried to spin his earlier post and resumed the facade in "Dumb or Just Badly Educated...or Maybe Just Lazy?".

Man - someone remind me how Time stays in business.

See here as well (Valley of the Shadow)

Careful Obama - the disembodied spirit of Harry Reid is watching

Even though it appears he's trapped in the windowpane, he can still probably do some damage (from the Financial Times)