Tom Friedman thinks Democracy is becoming a hindrance.
The media is wringing it’s hands over the political climate. It’s always sunny when Democrats get their way. The forecast is for stormy weather. All this opposition and people in the street, it’s not a good thing.
Tom Friedman was on Meet the Press today with Tom Brokaw and David Brooks. He thinks we’d be better off if we were more like the Chinese government.
Brokaw: Tom, are we at a kind of turning point in America in terms of being able to make this a functioning country again or are we dysfunctional?
Friedman: This is what worries me that I’ve been saying for a while there is only one thing worse than one party autocracy, the Chinese form of government, and that’s one party democracy. In china if the leadership can get around to an enlightened decision, it can order it from the top down. Here, when you have one party democracy, one party ruling, basically and the other party basically saying “no”, every solution is suboptimal. When your chief competitor can produce optimal and you can only produce suboptimal! Because what happens whether it’s health care or the energy bill, votes 1 through 50 cost a lot; votes 50 to 59 cost you a fortune and 60, his name is Ben Nelson. By the time you made those compromises you wind up with the description out of the health care bill, which is this Rube Goldberg contraption, I hope it passes but I can’t tell you I think it’s optimal.
It’s so much easier to get things done when there’s no opposition, no one to say “no”. Of course to achieve that you have to round up and imprison or kill dissidents and impose censorship. As long as something optimal comes out of it once in awhile, say universal health care, it’s well worth it or so the thinking goes in some circles. History is well acquainted with optimal solutions from unopposed governments.
Neither Brokaw nor Brooks seemed to think Friedman was talking like a madman. This is what worries me.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 22% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).
Forty-two percent (42%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 72% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 17% Strongly Approve and 45% Strongly Disapprove.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe that passage of the proposed health care legislation will hurt the economy. Just 25% believe it will help.
Quite a few people, including myself on today’s Tammy Radio, cautioned everyone about the nature of a guy like Massa, and how, even though he seems to be going after the Obama Gang, he’s not exactly the sort of guy you want to hang on to. Glenn Beck found that out tonight.
My general sense was, a guy like this doesn’t resign over one allegation made during a wedding when everyone had a little to drink. You do resign, however, when an ethics investigation might expose even more. Was he targeted by the Obama Mob because he voted against DeathCare? Possibly. Surprising? Not quite. Did Beck expect some sort of corruption expose with Massa? But really, do we need one considering the phenomenal damage Urkel and Pals have already inflicted? Look, one of the reasons there are Tea Party Patriots is because Washington is filled with creepy scum like Massa, on both sides of the aisle. This entire disgusting affair should remind us the old maxim, “An enemy of my enemy is my friend” isn’t always the case.
Just seven minutes into Glenn Beck’s hour-long interview of Eric Massa on Tuesday evening, things had already gone very wrong.
Conservatives had hopes that the now-former Democratic congressman from Upstate New York, who resigned abruptly under an ethics cloud, would deliver the goods about corruption and strong-arm tactics in the Obama White House and Congress. But instead, Massa served up an icky new confession.
“Now they’re saying I groped a male staffer,” he volunteered. “Yeah, I did. Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me. It was my 50th birthday.”
Beck looked aghast. “Was your wife at that one?” the Fox News host asked.
“No, this was in a townhouse, we all lived together, all the bachelors and me,” Massa explained. “My chief of staff had a conniption and said, ‘You can’t live there, that’s not congressional.’ ” Beck tried to move the conversation in a different direction, but his guest resisted. “Let me show you something,” Massa proposed, proffering a book with photos of bawdy Navy rituals from the days when he was a sailor.
“You’re going to show me tickle fights?” Beck inquired.
“I’m going to show you a lot more than tickle fights,” Massa promised. Beck put on his reading glasses, then judged that the images should not be shown on television. “It looks like an orgy in ‘Caligula,’ ” Massa asserted.
Michael Moore thinks he’s just the person to whip Obama and the Democrats into fighting shape if given the job of White House chief of staff. He’d have the President up everyday at 5 a.m.. They’d both do 100 jumping jacks and get into the right frame of mind for the fight. (Ahh, how to avoid taking cheap shots?)
Michael Moore is pledging to whip Obama and Democrats in Congress into shape – liberal shape – if he is named the next White House chief of staff. And Moore vows to sleep in the White House basement and work for $1 per year if the president hires him.
“Now, don’t get too giddy with excitement over my offer, because you and I are going to be up at 5 in the morning, 7 days a week and I am going to get you pumped up for battle every single day,” Moore writes in a letter posted on his Web site that he said was sent to Obama. “Each morning you and I will do 100 jumping jacks and you will repeat after me: “THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ELECTED ME, NOT THE REPUBLICANS, TO RUN THE COUNTRY! I AM IN CHARGE! I WILL ORDER ALL OBSTRUCTIONISTS OUTTA MY WAY! IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON’T LIKE WHAT I’M DOING THEY CAN THROW MY ASS OUT IN 2012. IN THE MEANTIME, I CALL THE SHOTS ON THEIR BEHALF! NOW, CONGRESS, DROP AND GIVE ME 50!!”
Liberals are already hopping mad at the lack of progress on the liberal agenda. By now the masses should be happily waiting in long lines at a dwindling number of clinics, grateful for single payer health care. After all, we own the government and we know what’s best. Holy Lenin! You’d think Obama would know how to put together a proper politburo.
As for Michael Moore’s personal delusions, we all know he’d be more intimidating naked in the Congressional showers, but in fact would spend all his time in the White House kitchen. (I couldn’t resist.)
This Wall Street Journal editorial hits the right note for me. It clarifies, in a low-key way, how Obama’s plan to ram health care through Congress stands in complete contradiction to the tradition and history American democracy, not to mention in contradiction to his campaign promises.
I’m feeling overwhelmed these days. I watch in horror as Washington drowns America in debt and Federal power grows endlessly. Obama has frittered away his first crucial year in single-minded pursuit of an extreme political agenda, and this has crowded out any serious attempt to address the nation’s fundamental economic woes. Washington was created to serve America, but it seems America now serves Washington. Surely the path we’re on will lead to catastrophe.
Blah blah blah. We’ve heard it all before. But the practical problem remains the same: What am I supposed to do? My head is exploding, and this for me is not a good thing. I’m the kind of creature that needs to move with deliberation. Some people shine as their heads explode, but I merely get paralyzed. I must keep my wits to move forward. That’s why I appreciate material like this WSJ editorial.
Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he’s obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson’s brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
“Scott Matheson is a distinguished candidate for the Tenth Circuit court,” President Obama said. “Both his legal and academic credentials are impressive and his commitment to judicial integrity is unwavering. I am honored to nominate this lifelong Utahn to the federal bench.”
Scott M. Matheson, Jr.: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Scott M. Matheson currently holds the Hugh B. Brown Presidential Endowed Chair at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1985. He served as Dean of the Law School from 1998 to 2006. He also taught First Amendment Law at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government from 1989 to 1990.
While on public service leave from the University of Utah from 1993 to 1997, Matheson served as United States Attorney for the District of Utah. In 2007, he was appointed by Governor Jon Huntsman to chair the Utah Mine Safety Commission. He also worked as a Deputy County Attorney for Salt Lake County from 1988 to 1989. Prior to joining the University faculty, Matheson was an associate attorney from 1981 to 1985 at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C.
Matheson was born and raised in Utah and is a sixth generation Utahn. He received an A.B. from Stanford University in 1975, an M.A. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1980.
So, Scott Matheson appears to have the credentials to be a judge, but was his nomination used to buy off his brother’s vote?
State Senator Roy Ashburn (R-CA), a fierce opponent of gay rights in the Golden State, was pulled over for a DUI after leaving a Sacramento gay club in a state-issued car. Accompanying Ashburn in the car was an unidentified male passenger. State Senator Ashburn was placed into the custody of the Sacramento County Jail, where he was eventually released on $1400 bail.
Roy Ashburn is married, with four children. His district includes parts of San Bernadino, Kern, and Tulare counties. Before being elected to the California Senate Senate, Ashburn served six years as a state assemblyman.
State Senator Roy Ashburn released the following statement:
“I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did. I am also truly sorry for the impact this incident will have on those who support and trust me – my family, my constituents, my friends, and my colleagues in the Senate.”
Oh, and he had another man in the car at 2am. Why are they always sorry only after they get caught? Newsflash for soon-to-be-former State Senator Ashburn: too late.
A terrible blow to his fans. And weird, in this exclusive Onion video at the very end Obama sounds strangely like…Urkel! You’re in pretty bad shape when this sort of mocking isn’t meant in the nicest way and is enjoyed by, oh, pretty much everyone.
During his whirlwind visit to Las Vegas two weeks ago, President Barack Obama mentioned U.S. Sen. Harry Reid by name four dozen times, gave him a big hug and talked him up as if he was a long-lost brother.
In remarks that could not have been more laudatory, Obama repeatedly characterized the veteran Democratic leader as a man “made of very strong stuff” who was making the right decisions for the state back in the nation’s capital…
Reid got no bounce from Obama’s visit on Feb. 19, when the president spoke highly of him at Green Valley High School and to business leaders at CityCenter, polling indicates.
A larger percentage of voters surveyed (17 percent) said they would be less likely to vote for Reid following the president’s visit than said they would be more likely to vote for him (7 percent). Seventy-five percent said Obama’s visit would have no effect on how they vote.
What to do with the dead behemoth known as health insurance reform? The American people don’t want it but nothing will deter the Democrats. Not now. They pursued the great whale their whole lives. They have never been closer. If drastic measures are required, so be it. They know best and they are determined to disseminate the benefits to all. They believe you will love the results, just wait and see.
Not exactly Moby Dick, but I think you’ll enjoy the symbolism.
A destructive shower of stinking blubber that no self-respecting seagull will come near. Get ready for disaster.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think Nigel Farage, a member of the UK’s European Parliament, likes the EU President, a former Prime Minister of Belgium. Interestingly, in their coverage of the incident, the Times of London conveniently left out the quotes regarding Farage’s accusation that Van Rompuy was determined to turn the EU even more socialist than it is. That was the crux of his tirade, and a good and appropriate one. Yes, it was a rather scathing attack, but let’s not forget the British tradition of PM “Question Time,” where MPs regularly go after each other with contained abandon. So to speak
Here is the background as to why Mr. Farage would be so passionate about his opinion. The ToL’s position that this was an effort to get PR by Farage is ridiculously misleading. Here’s what Van Rompuy, who looks more like The Grinch than he does a ‘damp rag,’ has been up to:
National leaders are concerned Mr Van Rompuy, who had been expected to take a back seat role, is attempting to expand his position.
Germany and France backed his candidature on the understanding he would act as an EU “chairman” rather than a high-profile leader.
But the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty has triggered bitter in-fighting between Mr Van Rompuy, Baroness Ashton, the foreign minister, and the Commission over who is in charge of representing Europe on the global stage.
Diplomats are increasingly worried that amid the turf wars there is a danger of Brussels “mission creep” as squabbling EU chiefs try to enlarge their empires at the expense of each other and national sovereignty.
National governments, led by Germany, are incensed by an attempt by Mr Van Rompuy to take on new powers he claims were agreed at an informal summit two weeks ago.
With the new UK Tea Party movement and Farage’s sort of clear, blunt commentary, it looks like we do have allies across the pond Here’s the now viral video.
Michael P. Leahy was the Tammy Radio guest today and he’s hosting a live webcast tomorrow celebrating the one-year anniversary of the first batch of tea party protests last year. The live webcast is free but there is a charge if you want the archived version later. Click here for more details, but here are [...]
**Bumped up with video!**
Please make a note to catch Allen West on the Fox Business Network Friday morning at 10:30am ET with Stuart Varney.
Allen, as you know by now, is our candidate for Florida’s 22nd District, and is exactly the sort of man who will bring greatness back to Washington.
Click on his banner in the [...]
