While many poked fun at former President George W. Bush for mispronouncing words and stumbling through sentences, observers note that he rarely had to backtrack on his answers because he employed a simple and direct messaging approach.

The approach was more than simple and direct. It was honest and from the heart.

The problem with Obama’s messaging is that it is illogical. The more you try and convince people of a policy that doesn’t make sense, the more you’ll be going back to the start to try again. It’s like listening to a 4 year old explain why they deserve dessert when they didn’t eat their dinner.

“It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security,” Obama said. “As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq’s future.”

It must have hurt Obama to say it and for the Kos kids to hear it but that was really well written and said.

Congrats to the US for leaving Iraq in much better shape as a civilization than you found it. I pray that you would do the same in Afghanistan. Oh and if you could do something about the crazy in Iran that would help too.

A U.S. law enforcement source said Monday the men may have been trying to test U.S. airport security by putting bottles with electronic devices attached in checked baggage.

But two U.S. government officials Tuesday said an initial U.S. investigation into the men shows no evidence of terrorism and no indication the men even knew each other.

“This looks like nothing,” said one official, saying both men missed flights in Chicago due to a gate change and their airline rebooked them onto the same plane.

“We see no evidence of a dry run or a connection to terrorism,” said the source, who is not authorized to discuss the case with the media and asked not to be named.

I think I’m going to have to trust the US law enforcement source rather than a couple of US government officials who were potentially involved in this decision and disobey orders like not talking to the media. I sure hope this was a trap to catch the officials in the act so they can be fired.

In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O’Hare.

Jeepers, I have to take off my shoes and undo my belt but these crazies can bring a knife thrower’s luggage into the airport and not miss a flight.

This world is bass ackwards.

If you ever think that the average temperature outside seems a little warmer than it has been in the past, it could be do to the fact they are cooking the records.

And they want to send more of my money to China. MSM outrage in 3… 2… oh never mind.

via SDA

Illinois is borrowing money it will have to repay eventually to repay the pension money it already spent to pay for other spending it couldn’t afford then and can’t afford now.

It’s a good thing the US government isn’t run by the Chicago Democratic gang right? Right?

It looks like the Blackhawks aren’t the only team that will be ditching contracts.

Another Harvard professor joins the US government gravy train.

Berwick is the founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and has spent decades as a practicing physician and a Harvard professor, according to the blog post.

Is it just me or is Harvard faculty the farm team for the White House Appointees. It is sort of like being the farm team for the Baltimore Orioles or the Washington Generals. Getting called up to the big club is a demotion.

Transparency never has been a reality from the current POTUS. You would have noticed this before the last Presidential election  if you had bothered to ask any questions rather than acting as part of Obama’s campaign team.

Oh, and for those of you on the left that think the Coast Guard is just working with BP on this, you may want to take the blinders off before you end up just being another useful idiot in November.

A group of Quebec protesters say people from their province were targeted at last weekend’s G20 summit and arrested simply for speaking French or having fleur-de-lys license plates.

Hmmm, something smells fishy.

So says the CLAC, Montreal’s Anti-Capitalist Convergence group, which said Monday that only 125 of its 450 members who had taken buses to Toronto had returned.

Many of its members were detained over the weekend and remained unaccounted for.

The anti-capitalist, anti-state, anti-authority group describes the controversial Black Bloc tactics, blamed for many of the incidents in Toronto, as a legitimate form of protest.

Smashing windows is a legitimate form of protest? And you are wondering why they were targeting you?

The protest tactic sees people using black clothing to blend into larger crowds and, in many cases, taking advantage of that anonymity to escape arrest for vandalism.

“We respect a diversity of tactics. People are angry, particularly in the context of an event like that,” said Mathieu Francoeur, another CLAC member.

“For us it’s vandalism against certain institutions . . . it’s symbolic and doesn’t compare with violence in general in society.”

But organizers for the Quebec-based group said they were surprised by the targeting of French-speaking protesters.

One member who was detained on Sunday said she and two other Quebecers driving along College Street were stopped only because they had a Quebec licence plate.

Camille, a slight redhead who refused to give her last name, said police then rifled through her possessions and found some black clothing.

She also had a lawyer’s telephone number scrawled on her arm and an anarchist book in the car.

Ever think the license plate NUMBER could be used to identify you???

The CLAC organizers deflected allegations that people affiliated with their group were in large part responsible for the damage.

The CLAC says about 1,000 members went in Toronto, but were immediately targeted as soon as their buses pulled into the city on Friday.

“Anyone who had the protester look,” Francoeur said.

“There was institutionalized profiling, and we figured it might happen, but we never thought politicians would also give police carte blanche to do as they pleased.”

The CLAC had spent months organizing trips to Toronto to protest the G20.

But the spokespeople said they did not produce a video that appeared on their website entitled “Mon voyage a Toronto” (My trip to Toronto); the video shows off different points of interest using skulls as landmarks.

The Montreal protest group is planning to hold a demonstration on Thursday to denounce police handling of the G20 protests.

OK, let me get this straight. You think it is because you are from Quebec that you were arrested? If the police didn’t target you I would say they had really bad intelligence. They should have kept you all on the busses for a week and give you Lake Ontario water to drink in used Starbucks cups and cold McDonalds to eat.

get fixed before you can use it.

When the Exxon Valdez oil tanker accident occurred off the coast of Alaska in 1989, a Dutch team with clean-up equipment flew in to Anchorage airport to offer their help. To their amazement, they were rebuffed and told to go home with their equipment. The Exxon Valdez became the biggest oil spill disaster in U.S. history–until the BP Gulf spill.

The Jones Act and the unions. Intended consequences. There is the ability to waive the act but that would go against the real goal of cap and trade legislation that the Dems (and BP) are trying to get in place.

From Wikipedia: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff temporarily waived the U.S. Shipping Act for foreign vessels carrying oil and natural gas from September 1 to September 19, 2005.