Archive for the ‘opinion/news’ Category

Please may this be wrong

Posted: January 20, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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They are reporting that George Mitchell may be named as a middle east envoy:

George Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic Majority Leader, is under serious consideration as the Middle East envoy for the Obama administration, Obama officials confirmed on Monday.

Mitchell is highly regarded as a negotiator for his work in the successful Northern Ireland peace process, and his selection would put a clear stamp on the Middle East as a top priority. In keeping with the tradition of presidential transitions, President-elect Barack Obama has said very little about the ongoing violence in Gaza in recent weeks, but is preparing to assume responsibility for foreign policy at noon on Tuesday.

This is a really bad idea right now. Not the choice of Mitchel per-se but the timing. Politically I can see why it would be done but Hamas will wrap him around their finger at this time. It will give them cover if they choose to launch rockets again since his main job will be to restrain Israel.

If it was given a month before this took place that would be a different story. Right now I think not.

Oh and BTW Israel actually had a 24 hour period without rockets. The Muqata stopped liveblogging Israellycool didn’t figuring that the ceasefire won’t hold we will see who is right.

Update: The Muqata has decided to start liveblogging again that might be a bad sign. They have this message for the new president:

Today is Barack Obama’s Presidential inauguration. Good Luck America. We hope that the Obama administration doesn’t start turning thumbscrews on Israel to negotiate with Palestinian terror organizations like Hamas and Fatah.

This might be a forlorn hope.

Morning Joe It’s not a hate crime anymore.

Posted: January 20, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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5 1/2 more hours of President Bush and apparently the country loves him so much a huge mob has come to say goodbye.

6:35 a.m. Hussein Hussein Hussein I hear it over and over and over again, apparently it is no longer a hate crime. I suspect it never was.

6:40 a.m. Barnicle is saying how the Nation was moved by Obama 2004 speech. The nation didn’t give a damn about it. The media was enthralled and some higher ups found it cool but the nation didn’t notice.

6:42 a.m. Joe does note the Irony that 4 years ago Obama is stopped by airport security and in a few hours will be commander in chief. I really hope he reaches out to the troops and not publicly but privately as the Bushes have.

6:50 a.m. Dean is on cracking jokes, gotta admit he was the guy in charge when they won.

6:54 a.m. Talking about engagement of people on the net. We will talk about credit cards not checked another day.

6:56 a.m. A boy young enough to be her son is holding up an I luv Mika sign behind her as she speaks. Well she does age well. You know she mentioned that she put on 20 pounds last week. How many women are secure enough in themselves to be able to say that on the air and not make a fuss about it?

7:10 a.m. John McCain being honored is a sign of post partisanship, that’s BS. If President Bush and/or VP Cheney was honored at a thank you dinner hosted by Obama THAT would have been a sign of post partisanship. Instead we have this.

7:28 a.m. Great line by Robert Gibbs. “It’s amazing what it will do for your diet when you are told that you will be the first presidency in high definition.

7:30 a.m. Chuck Schumer is calling Obama a “moderate activist”.

7:43 a.m. Chuck Todd reports some things are still being moved out of the White House.

8:05 a.m. Colin Powell we have the Huxtables in the White House.

8:07 a.m. You perform you get ahead. Apparently if you are a conservative and call for responsibility you are a racist. If you are a liberal that is leadership.

8:18 a.m. Brokov is going on about Obama’s multi cultural cabinet. This is rather ironic considering he is sitting next to George Bush’s first secretary of state. Over to you Jay Nordlinger:

George W. Bush, when you think about it, is incapable of picking other than black secretaries of state. Does he get any credit for this — racial credit? No, and he probably wouldn’t welcome it. (Bill Clinton talked, and talks, constantly about his black appointees. Constantly — drawing a picture of himself as a Great White Father.) But I like something that Bob Ehrlich, the former governor of Maryland, once remarked to me: “If Condoleezza Rice were a liberal Democrat, they’d have parades down Fifth Avenue for her, and she’d be on the cover of Time magazine every week.”

What a crock.

8:33 a.m. Scarborough is asking Powel about Bush. He says he is proud and honored to have served with him. Giving him props for protecting the country. Talking about the HIV AIDS treatment. Mentions Liberia and India. Hopes that as time passes he gets more credit.

8:35 a.m. Colin Powell’s final line, George Bush never deployed troops lightly. The crowd had to be asked to clap for Powell after his defense of Bush.

Somehow lost an hour corrected it.

9:04 a.m. Lawrence O’Donnell is saying how Obama came out so well from scrutiny, what Scrutiny?

9:06 a.m. Scarborough repeats the 5-4 canard. The Florida court was overturned 7-2, the 5-4 was on if another remedy was possible.

I’m morning Joe’s out. That’s it for me on it.

President Bush rank. Obama?

Posted: January 20, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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With all the hysterical and un-serious nonsense as to where president Bush ranks.  Here is a more sober ranking of my own.  Two things concerning i:

This is a ranking as president not as an American otherwise both Adams, Hoover and Jefferson would rank much higher.

I reserve the right to change my mind upon reflection as we are farther away and judgement can be made in a more sober manor.

I rank him easily better than

Carter, Nixon, Hoover, Harding, Wilson,  B. Harrison, Garfield, Grant, Buchanan, WH. Harrison, Van Buren, JQ Adams.

The first Harrison and Garfield can’t get a fair shake but you can’t beat something with nothing.  I think Wilson is the most overrated president in history with Jefferson close behind.  As time goes by the disaster that was Jimmy Carter becomes more and more apparent.

I rank him slightly better than

Clinton,GHW Bush, Ford, Johnson, Taft, Andrew Johnson, Pierce, Fillmore, Taylor.

Ford and Johnson might rank better Ford due to being the right man at the right time rather than as a great president, If it wasn’t for the civil rights Johnson would sink here.  Clinton was my toughest call; his failures helped setup the challenges of the W Bush presidency but he often doesn’t get credit for actual successes.  He is the only person on this list that has the potential to both rise and fall.

I rank him comperable to

Kennedy, Ike, Coolidge, Hays, Jackson, Tyler, Jefferson, John Adams

I give Adams and Taylor points here for dealing with unique situations both could and maybe should go lower.  Other than the Louisiana Purchase and the Barbary wars I didn’t care much for the Jefferson presidency but Louisiana was so huge in the history of the country that it raises him.  Kennedy might be too high but the space goal and preventing Nuclear War over Cuba are both huge.  This is an odd place since as president Bush’s place in history changes these men will move up or down based on it.

I rank him inferior to

Reagan, Truman, FDR, McKinley, Monroe, Madison

Madison might be too high here, and Reagan and Truman might both be too low, The new deal was functionally poor but psychologically important but even if it wasn’t so WW II nearly bumps him to the top section.

I rank him not in the same league as

TR, Cleveland, Lincoln, Polk, Washington

Polk and Cleveland were great presidents who have been forgotten.  I suggest studying them both since they both deserve to be known better.  People who object to them being so high don’t know them.

President Elect Obama has the potential to end up anywhere on his list.  The trick is not to under rate him due to unreal expectations or overrate him due to his unique place in history.  Lets hope he earns high ratings due to high performance.  As of today it will come down to the economy and the war on terror but who knows what tomorrow will bring?  If he is really bad then he has the potential to help propel GWB much higher on the list.

It will be fun to find out.

If you need a solid number as of today for President Bush we’ll say 14th or 15th but any spot from 12-20 wouldn’t phase me.  This number will remain fluid for at least a decade.

My Pledge

Posted: January 19, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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I’ve already mentioned Hollywood’s hollow presidential pledges and Andrew Breitbart’s superb answer (which you should read at once if you haven’t already).

Here is my pledge as one who held a McCain Palin sign at my polling place for hours on election day:

  • I pledge to support the president when I think he is right and oppose him when I think he is wrong.
  • I pledge to respect and support our troops, our country, its system and its honor in the same way I did during the Bush years.
  • I pledge to show the office of the presidency the respect it deserves.
  • I pledge to give Barak Obama the man the respect due to any man.
  • I pledge when his term is over to judge Obama place in history based on actual history not hysterics as our friends on the left are currently judging President Bush.

Any questions?

Update Huge Whoops dropped words in the sentence above now corrected it. Thanks to Renee for the catch, totally missed it. Must be the John Roberts in me.

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