Monday morning musings
By
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Several weekend media reports offer some more embarrassment for the U.S. VP who tends to put his foot in his mouth, when not plagiarizing other people's work.
A Joe Biden staffer reportedly confined an Orlando Sentinel reporter in a closet "to keep him from mingling with high-powered guests gathered for a Dem fundraiser," according to The Drudge Report and others.
"Reporter Scott Powers was the designated pool reporter for the vice president's visit to the massive Winter Park, Fla., home of developer and philanthropist Alan Ginsburg. The veep hadn't arrived yet but most of the 150 guests (minimum $500 donation) had. They were busy noshing on caprese crostini with oven-dried mozzarella and basil, rosemary flatbread with grapes honey and gorgonzola cheese and bacon deviled eggs, before a lunch of grilled chicken Caesar and garden vegetable wraps.
"Not so for Powers. A 'low-level staffer' put Powers in a storage closet and then stood guard outside the door, Powers told the DRUDGE REPORT. "When I'd stick my head out, they'd say, 'Not yet. We'll let you know when you can come out.'
"Powers' phone didn't work in the closet, but his Blackberry did, so he fired a picture of his impromptu prison to his editors, who posted a short blog item on the lack of freedom of the press under the veep's control."
According to Obama's own campaign website: "As president, Obama will restore the American people’s trust in their government by making government more open and transparent and by giving regular Americans unprecedented new tools to keep track of government officials, who they are meeting with, who is giving them money and how they are spending taxpayer dollars."
About as transparent as a broom closet, eh?...
****
Next up, ABC News reported this weekend that President Obama's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said that Libya did not pose a threat to the United States before the U.S. began its military campaign against the North African country.
No kidding?
Once again, as ABC News and Ohio lawmaker Dennis Kucinich remind us: During his campaign for the presidency, in December, 2007, Obama said “The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
Also, in 2007, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton said on the Senate, “If the administration believes that any – any – use of force against Iran is necessary, the president must come to Congress to seek that authority.”
Or not. Whatever...
****
In spite of all the hoopla over the so-called Facebook uprising in Cairo, it may be about time to chalk this revolution up to the "Be careful what you wish for" file.
The left-leaning Time magazine reports at www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2047211,00.html
"Egyptian soldiers have been accused of torture and abuse of civilians since Hosni Mubarak's regime came to an end."
Human rights lawyer Ragia Omran asked "What happened to the revolution?"
"Omran was asking about a recent law that Egypt's ruling military council stood poised to approve, which would make protests a criminal offense punishable by jail time and huge fines," Time said.
The magazine also reported that Ramy Esam, 23, said he was beaten to a pulp by Egyptian soldiers.
"The torture took four hours," Time quoted Esam, adding that "He spoke lying face-down on his bed because his back, buttocks and legs were coated with hideous bruises, scabs and cuts."
"They removed my clothes," Esam continued. "They used sticks, metal rods, wires, ropes, hoses, whips. There was also electrocution. There was an officer who would purposely jump in the air and land on my face with his legs."
According to the report, Esam had led crowds in rousing revolutionary songs in Tahrir Square at the height of the uprising.
Another once-useful, but no longer necessary pawn in the Kefaya/Muslim Brotherhood?
Most likely.
Meanwhile, the Israeli National News reports that while Hosni Mubarak was not an ideal leader, he did put "Egypt in the Western orbit against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Iran’s Khomeini. He signed a 30-year peace pact with Israel. He fought Hamas and was the only Arab leader, except for Jordan’s King Hussein, to attend the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin in Jerusalem.
Giulio Meotti writes: "This historical legacy already looks like a relic of the Egyptian past. The polls estimate that the Muslim Brotherhood is able to conquer 30 percent of the popular vote. Maybe 40 percent. Anonymous members of the Brotherhood who spoke to the Egyptian daily Al Ahram said that the group will advance Islamization by using Article 2 of the Constitution, that says that 'Islamic Sharia is the source of legislation.'"
So much for Cairo's "democratic revolution."…
****
Is a federal government shutdown possible? It is if you believe The Washington Post, which reports that talks broke down between the Ds and Rs over proposed spending cuts. They have an April 8 deadline to come to terms…
****
Of course, Congress has no time to balance the budget – or even agree to yet another unbalanced one. There are bigger fish to fry. Or brighter bulbs to burn.
Next year the federal government begins the phaseout of traditional incandescent light bulbs, when 100-watt bulb will be banned on New Year's Day, and all the rest by 2014.
Consumers are supposed to install the mercury filled compact fluorescent lamp in place of the standard bulbs.
Now, I'll admit to having been called a dim bulb a time or two. But hasn't the EPA warned us of the hazards of mercury? What, pray tell, are we supposed to do if we break a couple of these CFLs? Call in the Haz-Mat unit? Are the meth-lab Haz-Matters licensed in mercury removal, too?
Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton has introduced legislation to repeal this ridiculous law. But in the event of a presidential veto, it might be a good time to stock up on incandescent light bulbs.
By the way, how many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. If the light bulb really needed changing, the market forces of American capitalism and consumerism would have already caused it to happen.
Have a great week.
– Rory Ryan[[In-content Ad]]
A Joe Biden staffer reportedly confined an Orlando Sentinel reporter in a closet "to keep him from mingling with high-powered guests gathered for a Dem fundraiser," according to The Drudge Report and others.
"Reporter Scott Powers was the designated pool reporter for the vice president's visit to the massive Winter Park, Fla., home of developer and philanthropist Alan Ginsburg. The veep hadn't arrived yet but most of the 150 guests (minimum $500 donation) had. They were busy noshing on caprese crostini with oven-dried mozzarella and basil, rosemary flatbread with grapes honey and gorgonzola cheese and bacon deviled eggs, before a lunch of grilled chicken Caesar and garden vegetable wraps.
"Not so for Powers. A 'low-level staffer' put Powers in a storage closet and then stood guard outside the door, Powers told the DRUDGE REPORT. "When I'd stick my head out, they'd say, 'Not yet. We'll let you know when you can come out.'
"Powers' phone didn't work in the closet, but his Blackberry did, so he fired a picture of his impromptu prison to his editors, who posted a short blog item on the lack of freedom of the press under the veep's control."
According to Obama's own campaign website: "As president, Obama will restore the American people’s trust in their government by making government more open and transparent and by giving regular Americans unprecedented new tools to keep track of government officials, who they are meeting with, who is giving them money and how they are spending taxpayer dollars."
About as transparent as a broom closet, eh?...
****
Next up, ABC News reported this weekend that President Obama's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said that Libya did not pose a threat to the United States before the U.S. began its military campaign against the North African country.
No kidding?
Once again, as ABC News and Ohio lawmaker Dennis Kucinich remind us: During his campaign for the presidency, in December, 2007, Obama said “The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
Also, in 2007, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton said on the Senate, “If the administration believes that any – any – use of force against Iran is necessary, the president must come to Congress to seek that authority.”
Or not. Whatever...
****
In spite of all the hoopla over the so-called Facebook uprising in Cairo, it may be about time to chalk this revolution up to the "Be careful what you wish for" file.
The left-leaning Time magazine reports at www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2047211,00.html
"Egyptian soldiers have been accused of torture and abuse of civilians since Hosni Mubarak's regime came to an end."
Human rights lawyer Ragia Omran asked "What happened to the revolution?"
"Omran was asking about a recent law that Egypt's ruling military council stood poised to approve, which would make protests a criminal offense punishable by jail time and huge fines," Time said.
The magazine also reported that Ramy Esam, 23, said he was beaten to a pulp by Egyptian soldiers.
"The torture took four hours," Time quoted Esam, adding that "He spoke lying face-down on his bed because his back, buttocks and legs were coated with hideous bruises, scabs and cuts."
"They removed my clothes," Esam continued. "They used sticks, metal rods, wires, ropes, hoses, whips. There was also electrocution. There was an officer who would purposely jump in the air and land on my face with his legs."
According to the report, Esam had led crowds in rousing revolutionary songs in Tahrir Square at the height of the uprising.
Another once-useful, but no longer necessary pawn in the Kefaya/Muslim Brotherhood?
Most likely.
Meanwhile, the Israeli National News reports that while Hosni Mubarak was not an ideal leader, he did put "Egypt in the Western orbit against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Iran’s Khomeini. He signed a 30-year peace pact with Israel. He fought Hamas and was the only Arab leader, except for Jordan’s King Hussein, to attend the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin in Jerusalem.
Giulio Meotti writes: "This historical legacy already looks like a relic of the Egyptian past. The polls estimate that the Muslim Brotherhood is able to conquer 30 percent of the popular vote. Maybe 40 percent. Anonymous members of the Brotherhood who spoke to the Egyptian daily Al Ahram said that the group will advance Islamization by using Article 2 of the Constitution, that says that 'Islamic Sharia is the source of legislation.'"
So much for Cairo's "democratic revolution."…
****
Is a federal government shutdown possible? It is if you believe The Washington Post, which reports that talks broke down between the Ds and Rs over proposed spending cuts. They have an April 8 deadline to come to terms…
****
Of course, Congress has no time to balance the budget – or even agree to yet another unbalanced one. There are bigger fish to fry. Or brighter bulbs to burn.
Next year the federal government begins the phaseout of traditional incandescent light bulbs, when 100-watt bulb will be banned on New Year's Day, and all the rest by 2014.
Consumers are supposed to install the mercury filled compact fluorescent lamp in place of the standard bulbs.
Now, I'll admit to having been called a dim bulb a time or two. But hasn't the EPA warned us of the hazards of mercury? What, pray tell, are we supposed to do if we break a couple of these CFLs? Call in the Haz-Mat unit? Are the meth-lab Haz-Matters licensed in mercury removal, too?
Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton has introduced legislation to repeal this ridiculous law. But in the event of a presidential veto, it might be a good time to stock up on incandescent light bulbs.
By the way, how many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. If the light bulb really needed changing, the market forces of American capitalism and consumerism would have already caused it to happen.
Have a great week.
– Rory Ryan[[In-content Ad]]