Two men released from the US "war on terror" prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have appeared in a video posted on a jihadist website, the SITE monitoring service reported.
One of the two former inmates, a Saudi man identified as Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri, or prisoner number 372, has been elevated to the senior ranks of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, a US counter-terrorism official told AFP.
Three other men appear in the video, including Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, identified as an Al-Qaeda field commander. SITE later said he was prisoner No. 333.
Al-Shiri was transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia in 2007, the US counter-terrorism official said.
The other men in the video are identified as Commander Abu Baseer al-Wahayshi and Abu Hureira Qasm al-Rimi (also known as Abu Hureira al-Sana'ani).
The Defense Department has said as many as 61 former Guantanamo detainees -- about 11 percent of 520 detainees transferred from the detention center and released -- are believed to have returned to the fight.
Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Obama vs. Vatican
Vatican officials said Saturday they were disappointed by President Barack Obama's decision to end a ban on federal funding for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on them.
Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who heads the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, urged Obama to listen to all voices in America without "the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death."
Fisichella said in an interview published Saturday in Corriere della Sera that "if this is one of President Obama's first acts, I have to say, in all due respect, that we're heading quickly toward disappointment."
Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who heads the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, urged Obama to listen to all voices in America without "the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death."
Fisichella said in an interview published Saturday in Corriere della Sera that "if this is one of President Obama's first acts, I have to say, in all due respect, that we're heading quickly toward disappointment."
Bailout Lobbyists
A Washington Times review of lobbying disclosure reports found that 18 of the top 20 recipients of federal bailout money spent a combined $12.2 million lobbying the White House, the Treasury Department, Congress and federal agencies during the last quarter of 2008.
Obama Hajj
A special CNN report has likened attendance at Obama's inauguration to participation in the hajj, the pilgrimage to Islam's holy city Mecca that Muslims are required to make at least once.
Michael Wolfe, the author of "1001 roads to Mecca," pointed out how much the Saudis can teach Americans about controlling crowds, especially in an urban environment.
Obama, declaring that the U.S. is "no longer a Christian nation," as America is a nation of many faiths that includes Muslims and "nonbelievers," the implication seems clear. We should grow accustomed to the control instituted by the messianic president.
Update: Lightfoot Decision on Monday
Decision of the Supreme Court on Lightfoot v Bowen will be provided on Monday, 10 am Pacific
No. 08A524
Title: Gail Lightfoot, et al., Applicants
v.
Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State
Docketed:
Lower Ct: Supreme Court of California
Case Nos.: (S168690)
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dec 12 2008 Application (08A524) for a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, submitted to Justice Kennedy.
Dec 17 2008 Application (08A524) denied by Justice Kennedy.
Dec 29 2008 Application (08A524) refiled and submitted to The Chief Justice.
Jan 7 2009 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 23, 2009.
Jan 7 2009 Application (08A524) referred to the Court.
Jan 13 2009 Suggestion for recusal received from applicant.
Jan 22 2009 Supplemental brief of applicant Gail Lightfoot, et al. filed. (Distributed)
No. 08A524
Title: Gail Lightfoot, et al., Applicants
v.
Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State
Docketed:
Lower Ct: Supreme Court of California
Case Nos.: (S168690)
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dec 12 2008 Application (08A524) for a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, submitted to Justice Kennedy.
Dec 17 2008 Application (08A524) denied by Justice Kennedy.
Dec 29 2008 Application (08A524) refiled and submitted to The Chief Justice.
Jan 7 2009 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 23, 2009.
Jan 7 2009 Application (08A524) referred to the Court.
Jan 13 2009 Suggestion for recusal received from applicant.
Jan 22 2009 Supplemental brief of applicant Gail Lightfoot, et al. filed. (Distributed)
Friday, January 23, 2009
"Obama" Heroin
Graphic source: The Smoking Gun
Obama heroin is on sale in upstate New York where police broke up a drug ring that allegedly sold heroin under several brand names, including "Obama."
Hate Crime Legislation: Not Free Speech
Obama's willingness to re-insert hate crime legislation into Congress for approval ignores the provisions of the 14th Amendment and creates a conflict between the 1st Amendment and the proposed provisions of the hate crimes bill.
America can always become similar to Denmark where a film maker can be prosecuted for making films.
I would prefer the American way: free speech.
Close Gitmo: Feel Safe?
A Saudi national released from U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 2007 is believed to be a key leader in al Qaeda's operations in Yemen, according to a U.S. counterterrorism official.
Ali al-Shiri was released in 2007 from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Defense Department recently estimated that more than 60 terrorists released from Guantanamo may have returned to the battlefield.
Obama, No Questions, Please
Reporters ask questions; administration ducks answers.
The same clip but in context and without commentary.
Clinton's China Connection Not Transparent
Former President Bill Clinton's foundation, despite identifying more than 200,000 of its donors in recent weeks, will not say who paid it windfall prices for stock in a struggling Internet firm with links to the Chinese government.
Mrs. Clinton was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday as President Obama's secretary of state and assumed her formal duties with a State Department ceremony Thursday.
However, Mrs. Clinton's office and the foundation have declined to answer questions about a lucrative 2006 stock transaction, details of which were reported by The Washington Times in March 2008.
The Accoona Corp. donated between $250,001 and $500,000 to Mr. Clinton's charity after he spoke at the company's launch in New York in 2004, according to donor information released by the foundation in December. The foundation sold its Accoona stock for $700,000 two years later, according to the charity's tax return for 2006.
Despite what the tax return suggests, Accoona struggled mightily to turn a profit.
In 2007, Accoona filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission reporting more than $60 million in losses during three years. In the same prospectus, it listed the China Daily Information Corp., a subsidiary of China Daily, the official English-language newspaper of the Chinese government, as an official partner and 6.9 percent owner of the company.
Obama's Administration Kills Civilians
Missiles fired from a suspected U.S. spy plane killed seven people today on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border. Attacks have continued unabated since the Bush administration which encountered bad publicity as a result.
Obama: No Questions
Statement to reporters: no questions. Isn't that their job? If you were really helpful you would help, not hinder them.
However, it was enough to see how tense the situation became if a question was asked.
Obama got agitated that he was faced with a substantive question.
Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.
"Ahh, see," he said, "I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."
Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter's shoulder and staring him in the eye.
"Alright, come on" he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. "We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys - that's all I was trying to do."
The press was not allowed open access to the second-swearing in for example, a situation that CNN's Ed Henry noted: “It is ironic, the same day that the president is talking about transparency, we were not let in.”
Wait until he faces genuine questions live.
Obama's Visit to Pakistan: Why?
During the Obama campaign press secretary Bill Burton released information about Obama's visit to Pakistan for “about three weeks” in 1981. He had traveled with a college friend whose family lived in Karachi; he had also visited Hyderabad in India, Burton said.
Raman concluded that when "one has a feeling that one has not been told the whole story, but only a part of it.”
The visit raises questions about why and how an American college student would have visited Pakistan at that time since American citzens were not allowed in the country. Besides, people would like to know why he was there at such a momentous time.
The 1981 visit took place after Obama left Occidental College in Los Angeles to transfer to Columbia University in New York that same year.
Obama stayed in Karachi with the family of a college friend, Muhammed Hasan Chandoo. Now a financial consultant in Armonk, N.Y., and an Obama fundraiser, Chandoo has declined to comment regarding any details. However, he did confirmed that he was Obama’s “friend” and former “roommate.”
According to published reports in Pakistan, Obama in 1981 also stayed at the home of a prominent politician, Ahmad Mian Soomro, in an upscale Karachi suburb, and went on a traditional partridge hunting trip north of Karachi. Soomro’s son, Muhammad Mian Soomro, is a senior politician who served as acting president before the appointment of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Ahmad Mian Soomro died in 1999, and attempts to reach his son for comment were unsuccessful.
An AP story mentioned several of Obama’s Pakistani college friends, as well as an Indian friend, Vinai Thummalapally from Hyderabad, India.
The Times of India, citing Thummalapally, said Obama’s staff got it wrong – Obama had not visited Hyderabad in India but Hyderabad in Pakistan.
Obama may have visited Pakistan again later, when his mother, Ann Dunham, held a microfinance job there in the mid-1980s.
A Lahore-based Urdu newspaper, Daily Waqt, reported that Dunham worked as a consultant for a Pakistan Agricultural Development Bank program that ran from 1987 to 1992.
The project was in Gujranwala, the paper said, but Dunham stayed at a hotel in nearby Lahore, where Obama reportedly visited her. Dunham died in Hawaii in 1995.
Southwestern Asia was a risky place for a Westerner to visit in 1981, although it is unclear whether travel to Pakistan was actually restricted. The U.S. government at the time advised against visits to Afghanistan and had recently lifted a ban on travel to Iran.
Two years earlier, the Soviet Union invaded neighboring Afghanistan; the Islamic revolution toppled the Shah in Iran; a frenzied mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, setting it on fire and killing a U.S. Marine and two Pakistanis; and military ruler Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq hanged former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – Benazir Bhutto’s father – whose government he had ousted in a 1977 coup.
Pakistan in 1981 was under martial law, with opposition politicians incarcerated, judges sacked, media censorship enforced and anti-government strikes underway.
The year Obama visited was also a particularly dangerous one for Americans. During a hijacking that March of a Pakistan passenger liner, three Americans onboard were singled out and threatened with death.
Pakistan in 1981 also was awash with Afghan refugees who had fled their homeland after the Soviet invasion – two million by the end of that year. In Karachi Afghan arrivals added to simmering sectarian and inter-ethnic tensions that was to blight Pakistan ’s largest city during the 1980s and 1990s.
The U.S. in 1981 stepped up funding, via Pakistan , to Afghans fighting the Soviet forces. Thousands of Arab and other foreign mujahideen flocked to Pakistan and Afghanistan to join the war.
In the early 1980s, a Palestinian ideologue named Abdullah Azzam was coordinating the jihad from Peshawar, near the Afghanistan border. Azzam, who also taught at Islamabad’s International Islamic University, visited America numerous times during the 1980s, urging support for the war in Afghanistan .
Described as a charismatic orator, he told fanciful tales of Islamic warriors not being harmed by Soviet tanks and bullets, and slain martyrs whose corpses did not decay.
Azzam’s Peshawar center was known as the Afghan Bureau. His deputy and financier was a Saudi named Osama bin Laden. Azzam is regarded by many scholars as having laid the ideological groundwork for modern-day jihad. After his assassination in a 1989 bomb blast, bin Laden took over the bureau and developed what would become al-Qaeda.
Was the idealistic 19- or 20-year-old Obama inquiring about the Afghanistan jihad?
If you are not an American, security is a higher priority for seasoned security analyst Bahukutumbi Raman, a former Indian counterterrorism chief and the director of India ’s Institute for Topical Studies.
Raman said that naturally felt troubled that Obama had not disclosed the Pakistan visit earlier.
“Why did he keep mum on his visit to Pakistan till this question was raised?” asked “Has he disclosed all the details regarding his Pakistan visit? Was it as innocuous as made out by him – to respond to the invitation of a Pakistani friend or was there something more to it?”
Raman continued,
“I could not help thinking of dozens of things. Of the Afghan jihad against communism. Of the fascination of many Afro-Americans for the jihad. Of the visits of a stream of Afro-Americans to Pakistan to feel the greatness of the jihad. Of their fascination for Abdullah Azzam …”
Raman concluded that when "one has a feeling that one has not been told the whole story, but only a part of it.”
Raman summarized his view:
“It is the right of the Americans to decide who should be their president. It is my right to worry about the implications of their decision for the rest of the world, including India.”C
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Kadhafi Notes U.S. Masters - Slaves
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi hailed Obama now that there are "positive signs, such as the (expected) closure of the prison in Guantanamo, the withdrawal from Iraq and a review of the American presence in Afghanistan."
The Libyan leader had already welcomed Obama's election, calling it a victory for former slaves who are "now becoming masters."
"This can be considered the beginning of the victory of blacks in America, who were slaves but are now becoming masters," Kadhafi said during a visit to Ukraine just after the November election.
The Libyan leader had already welcomed Obama's election, calling it a victory for former slaves who are "now becoming masters."
"This can be considered the beginning of the victory of blacks in America, who were slaves but are now becoming masters," Kadhafi said during a visit to Ukraine just after the November election.
White Males Need Not Apply
Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary under President Clinton, spoke to the House Steering and Policy Committee 7 January about funding infrastructure projects according to Obama's plan. Reich stated in testimony and on his blog that the billions of dollars in the proposed economic stimulus plan should be allocated with social issues in mind, to make sure the money doesn’t go to just “white male construction workers” or the highly skilled.
According to this statement he uses racial criteria to find lesser skilled people.
I just wanted to make sure I read and heard correctly but that is his statement.
Yes, it is clear, he stated:
“I am concerned, as I’m sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers.”
In response, Representative Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., stated an additional point. Rangel noted the “middle class” would be unlikely to create any opposition to funds directed to minorities.
Rangel said:
“One thing that you can depend on, you don’t have to be worried about what the middle class is going to do. Things are so bad, they have to put food on their tables, get clothes for their kids, get them in school.”
Rangel's point is that the middle class is too busy working and raising their children, essentially being productive, to note what the government is doing. I just want to make sure I understand him correctly.
Obama plans to ensure that the least skilled, least qualified workers get jobs based on their social return, i.e., votes for the politicians.
I understand their need to support their respective constituencies but to endanger others with incompetently built roads and bridges is folly.
The inauguration benediction by Reverend Joseph Lowery was clear enough; he invoked God to help mankind work for a day when “white would embrace what is right.”
The race card makes an appearance in national, presidential politics; it is quite ugly.
Lightfoot Back on the Docket
Now, Lightfoot is back. Citizens are concerned and enough contacted their representatives to ask why the case had been removed from the docket. This was the only case of the day that had been removed. In addition, many citizens are concerned that eight of the nine justices met privately with Obama. No attorneys were invited on behalf of the Plaintiffs. This causes many people to question the rules of judicial ethics and causes us to question the impartiality on behalf of the justices.
In any case, the Supplemental Brief was added and distributed to the justices.
The Supplemental Brief contains a copy of the legal action by Attorney Orly Taitz that was filed on behalf of Ambassador Dr. Allen Keyes, Wiley S. Drake and Markham Robinson in the Federal Court, Central District of Santa Ana, California. It is a legal action challenging the legitimacy of the Presidency of Barack Obama under the Executive Order issued by President Bush on January 16th. This action is seeking the mandate for the US State Department, the FBI, and the Director of the Personnel Department to seek the documents for verifying Obama's legitimacy as President and also his citizenship of the United States.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Case of the Disappearing Case
The Lightfoot v. Bowen case has disappeared from the docket. The case was not dismissed. It is supposed to be heard on the 23rd of January. At this time I do not know who is manipulating the docket.
The First One Hundred Days
Day One:
FDR 1 Obama 0
FDR accomplished a great deal from day one; nothing like this has ever been equaled. Day one for Obama has been less than stellar. 99 more days to go.
Obama has accomplished something FDR could not; Obama brushed up his web site.
Welcome to Foreign Conflict of Interest
Only two Senators, Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, and David Vitter, R-Louisiana, voted against Clinton as Secretary of State. Clinton's confirmation was held up Tuesday when Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn objected to a voice vote, demanding a roll call vote instead. Cornyn expressed concerns about Bill Clinton's foundation.
Bill signed an agreement with the Obama transition team pledging to limit foreign donations and to release annual disclosures of new donations to his foundation.
Cornyn stated:
"But we should not let our respect for Sen. Clinton or our admiration for the many good works of the Clinton Foundation blind us to the danger of perceived conflicts of interest caused by the [foundation's] solicitation of hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign and some domestic sources. The perception and reality must be that the office of secretary of state is viewed around the world as beyond reproach."
Good point but Cornyn caved and voted Clinton in. The world will notice that the U.S. can be bought.
No Bible Used for Obama's Official (if at first you don't succeed) Oath of Office
News outlets reported how confused Obama was while stumbling through the oath of office. Trying to clear up any confusion, the Obama - Roberts team tried the oath a second time. Without the photo opportunity of the world watching, no Bible, Lincoln's or any other was used. The official oath of office was taken without benefit of a Bible. I wonder if that is a good thing for an administration.
`I Pledge To Serve Obama'
Hollywood celebrities are getting in line. Several of their suggestions are innocuous or certainly helpful to any community although it does get a bit eerie or messianic to hear adults pledging personal service to a human being. I think you can perform community service or be an inspirational leader in you community without abasing yourself to a person. You can help just as many people regardless who is president.
Obama Can Not Change Now
I had an opportunity to compare Obama's words when he spoke at a rally in Grant Park in Chicago after winning the election in November as opposed to his inaugural address. Two words he favored in Chicago were: "can" and "change."
Word Frequency %
can 13 0.57
change 6 0.26
He seems less hopeful now, as if he can not, and he has no change.
Word Frequency %
can 13 0.46
change 1 0.04
In his inaugural address, "can" is down to being used less and "change" barely appears at all.
Lightfoot v. Bowen: Friday
This Friday Lightfoot v. Bowen will be heard; the Plaintiffs include an Elector and a candidate for the vice presidency; theoretically, these two classes of citizens could overcome the standing hurdle. This is the first case where the plaintiffs are not ordinary citizens and who have been denied a hearing by their government.
Berg Injunctive Relief Denied
According to today’s Supreme Court Orders, the second Conference disposition of Berg v. Obama for injunctive relief has been denied:
08A505
BERG, PHILIP J. V. OBAMA, BARACK, ET AL.
(08-570)
The application for stay addressed to Justice Scalia and
referred to the Court is denied.
Tomorrow and Friday are two additional lawsuits, Brockhausen v. Andrade and Lightfoot v. Bowen. Lightfoot is the first eligibility-based lawsuit reaching the Supreme Court that includes among the Plaintiffs an Electoral College Elector as well as a candidate for the vice presidency.
08A505
BERG, PHILIP J. V. OBAMA, BARACK, ET AL.
(08-570)
The application for stay addressed to Justice Scalia and
referred to the Court is denied.
Tomorrow and Friday are two additional lawsuits, Brockhausen v. Andrade and Lightfoot v. Bowen. Lightfoot is the first eligibility-based lawsuit reaching the Supreme Court that includes among the Plaintiffs an Electoral College Elector as well as a candidate for the vice presidency.
Islamic Group Threatens Obama
U.S. counter-terrorism officials investigated a potential threat of "uncertain credibility" to the inauguration events posed by the Somalian East African Islamic group al-Shabaab.
Obama has his hand out in consideration, just hoping they are holding a clenched fist. As he stated after the 9/11 attacks:
"such a failure of empathy [on the part of the terrorists]... is not... unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. Most often..., it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair...."
Nonetheless, they will attack. Does he realize the extent and scope of the terrorist threat or is he that naive about international affairs?
Chicago Muslims Plead Guilty to Murder
Muslims in Chicago Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Murder, Maim US Soldiers
Zubair Ahmed, 29, and Khaleel Ahmed, 28, both residents of Chicago, pleaded guilty last Thursday in the Northern District of Ohio to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in connection with their efforts to travel abroad in order to murder or maim U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Zubair Ahmed, 29, and Khaleel Ahmed, 28, both residents of Chicago, pleaded guilty last Thursday in the Northern District of Ohio to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in connection with their efforts to travel abroad in order to murder or maim U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Hacked Blog: Kovach
Mr. Kovach claims his blog was hacked. I reproduce his comments here for your consideration. There is no way to verify his claim; this is for your reading alone.
From: Tom Kovach, author
Subject: HACKED -- the Obama ambush
To: "Tom Kovach"
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 8:15 AM
In the military, we were taught to "charge the ambush".
It would take awhile to explain all the technical reasons, but charging directly into an ambush is the best way to defeat it and live to tell about it.
For a long time, I've asked friends to SPREAD THE WORD.
Some have. Some have not.
Well... this morning, the center-column text of my blog DISAPPEARED.
http://tomkovach.us/blog/
For those of you that actually read it, you might recall that my last blog entry presented a cogent argument -- supported by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and by military-security rules -- for why members of the military should DISOBEY any order issued by Barack Obama. And, specifically, I suggested that its guardians should REFUSE to hand over to Obama the nuclear "football".
Intentionally, I back-channeled that blog entry to someone that was previously
well-placed in the military intelligence community (but, "officially", no longer is).
My hope was that he would help to spread the word among patriotic, law-abiding military members -- who could then act as an unofficial "First Team" to slow down the erosion of our country from the White House outward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Team_(novel)
Instead, he apparently passed it along to military cyber-warriors (most likely
the 83rd Network Operations Squadron out of Langley AFB, Virginia). And, apparently, they erased my blog.
They didn't erase all of it, though -- just the center column of the main page. You know, the place where most people would find my latest blog entry -- especially if they were subscribers.
So, YOUR MISSION, should you choose to accept it, is to SPREAD THE WORD.
(here's a link to the one they missed ... so far)
http://tomkovach.us/blog/2009/01/the_obama_oxymoron.html
If this is what happens on DAY ONE of an Obama administration, then it won't be long before outspoken people like me are silenced by more "direct" methods.
The only way to overcome such high-tech censorship is to "go viral" -- meaning that EVERY ONE of you needs to notify EVERY ONE on your e-mail list of what is happening.
If you think that this is a joke, think back to the plight of Rev. Martin Niemoller at the hands of the Nazis. Sadly, he became famous for "not speaking out". No one can accuse me of that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller
If you agree that this is serious, you can join the "resistance". (No, I'm not asking people to take up arms against the government. Hopefully, it won't come to that. But, given Obama's obvious disdain for the Constitution so far, don't be surprised if THEY decided to take up arms against US. What will you do then??) How can you join the resistance? There are links to most everything you need to get started -- already on my Web site.
Please... spread the word, before the word is gone.
CHARGE THE AMBUSH.
Thank you.
Tom Kovach
http://tomkovach.us
Mount Juliet TN
(near Nashville)
The Obama Oxymoron
Sunday, 11 January 2009, at 1817 hours
Central Time -- Nashville, Tennessee, USA
ox-y-mo-ron : (noun) a combination of contradictory or incongruous words; (broadly) something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements. (from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
--------------------
At the gut level, there is something inherently incongruous about the terms "Barack Hussein Obama II" and "Commander-in-Chief" being in the same sentence. And, I'm far from the only one that feels this way.
Having served as, among other things, a military law-enforcement supervisor, I am familiar with the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That is the primary set of laws under which the military operates. (And, they are indeed "laws" in the dictionary sense, because the Code is part of a larger set of laws passed by Congress regarding the operation and maintenance of our military forces.) The UCMJ is a finely-crafted balance -- between military discipline and personal initiative, between historic tradition and youthful exuberance, between necessary military operations and greedily voracious rampage. In much the same way that a helicopter manages brutally opposing forces of gravity and wind to fly gracefully and with precision, the UCMJ manages the above-described opposing forces of human behavior to build the wall between militarism and murder.
The mortar that holds together the bricks of the UCMJ is honor -- a concept that seems uniquely foreign to the man scheduled to soon become the commander-in-chief of the military that conquered three evil empires in one century. Without honor, it is far too easy to turn our nation into the next evil empire. Honor is the pure wool from which the mantle of military leadership is woven. Command without honor is, at best, mere brutishness. It is also honor that causes a wise subordinate to -- rarely, and with reasonable trepidation -- rise up to disobey an order that is unlawful. Or, in the potential case of a soon-to-become President Barack Hussein Obama II, an order given by a person that is unlawfully in a position of command.
Enter: an honorable man.
Gregory Hollister is a retired US Air Force colonel from Colorado Springs. He is the plaintiff in a recently-filed lawsuit against "Barry Soetoro, a/k/a Barack Hussein Obama", the ostensible president-elect of the United States of America. Colonel Hollister's lawsuit, like several others, alleges that Obama was born in Kenya. Thus, the usurper-in-waiting is not eligible to become president, because he is not a "natural-born citizen" as required by the Constitution of the United States. But, the lawsuit by this retired military officer goes in a different direction than previous lawsuits. Colonel Hollister raises the question -- finally... and officially -- of whether military personnel under an Obama administration would be required to obey the orders of a commander-in-chief that has obtained that position by fraud. In fact, the suit also raises the question of whether said military personnel would have "an affirmative duty" to actually disobey orders that they believed to be unlawful. This is no trifling matter, no mere intellectual exercise.
The strategic military capabilities of this country are guarded by some of the most highly-trained personnel in all of the military. Conventional soldiers are trained to attack and overcome an organized enemy force. The enemy wears a recognizable uniform that is different from ours. They engage in warfare on a battlefield. Even in the counter-insurgency environment of Iraq and Afghanistan, the enemy usually has certain generally-recognizable features. But, for those that guard the nuclear arsenal of the United States, a potential enemy could be "one of our own". Thus, the training includes deterring, detecting and defeating ruses and diversions. Many of the nuclear weapons, and nuclear-launch command posts, are protected by those that wear the Blue Beret. "Our" duties (after all these years, it's still in my blood) are different. To protect strategic resources, and the president, I've pulled weapons on members and employees of my own Air Force. And, if I had not, then my career would've been in trouble. The short version is that I was a "paid, professional paranoid for Uncle Sam". And, without people like that, our most dangerous weapons systems would be horribly vulnerable.
Now, it might fall upon some young Air Force SP (or a Marine MP, or a Navy MA, or a joint-communications officer, or a White House Fellow, etc.) to protect a military command post from the president. What an oxymoron!
For those that have not served in such a high-stakes environment (and, that even includes many military veterans -- especially those in non-combat jobs), a little explanation is needed. The rules for the security of locations that store or control strategic military resources are more strict than the rules for other parts of a military base. Most of the high-priority areas contain "no-lone zones" -- areas where no one can enter by themselves. The sentries that control no-lone zones do so under rules where "use of deadly force is authorized". In the world of nuclear security, it is still "shoot first, and ask questions later". It must be that way.
But, what if the intruder purports to be the president?
And, what if the sentry truly believes that the man installed as the president is in that position unlawfully? Which order does he obey -- the standing general order to keep the area secure, or the immediate verbal order of an imposter commander-in-chief? This is a real and legitimate question.
For the uninitiated, the best example of a nuclear-security environment gone awry is the 1995 movie Crimson Tide, which starred Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. Hackman's character (Capt. Ramsey) believes that a nuclear launch from his submarine is warranted while on patrol off the Soviet coast. Washington's character (Lt. Hunter) is Ramsey's executive officer, and he does not believe the launch is warranted. Under the rules of nuclear security, Lt. Hunter is warranted to seize command from Capt. Ramsey to prevent the start of a needless nuclear war. But, if his decision turns out to be wrong, then Hunter will be guilty of mutiny and sedition (which is leading or inspiring others to commit mutiny).
STANDOFF -- Capt. Ramsey and Lt. Hunter
Standoff -- who is right?
Lt. Hunter challenges an irate Capt. Ramsey, in an attempt to avoid nuclear war.
Rule 916 of the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), "Defenses", especially subsections (c) and (d), makes clear that not only should a military member not be charged with a UCMJ offense for not obeying an unlawful order, but also that said military member does, indeed, have an "affirmative duty" to disobey an order that he knows -- or, "that a person of ordinary sense and understanding would have known" -- to be unlawful. The commentary of Rule 916 also cites Rule 801(e), stating that the question of whether the person giving the order was in a lawful position to give said order becomes an interlocutory question. The brilliant men that wrote the Constitution of the United States did so in a manner that "a person of ordinary sense and understanding" could properly interpret the entire document. Nowhere is that more clear than in the clause requiring the president to be "a natural-born citizen".
Thus, at any time after the soon-scheduled inauguration ceremony of Barack Hussein Obama II, if a military sentry should deny the incoming president access to a command post or other strategic military resource, a key question will arise. That question will be whether the sentry was disobeying an order or enforcing a higher order. (The long-standing rules of military security, especially in the nuclear world, go far beyond the tenure of any one particular occupant of the White House.) In such a standoff, will the sentry's superiors back him? Every military member takes an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic". The Constitution overrides the authority of any specific president. (And, if modern politicians truly understood that concept, then the question of whether Obama can be a real president would never come up, because the Congress would have challenged his qualifications long ago.) Thus, if a sentry declares that he is enforcing the Constitution by denying Obama access to, for example, the White House Situation Room, then how can the sentry be charged with a UCMJ offense? The fact is that the sentry would be protecting the facility from penetration by an illegal alien, as the text of Colonel Hollister's lawsuit makes quite clear.
It matters not that people like "Peggy the Mooch" believe in the Obamessiah, that he will buy them gasoline and pay their mortgage. It matters not that, somehow, an illegal alien has occupied a seat in the United States Senate for four years. It matters not that this illegally-seated senator has managed to conduct a presidential campaign -- despite clearly illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources, and despite not being eligible for the office of president. It only matters that somewhere, someday, someone in a position of military security duty will deny that usurper the opportunity to enter a command post. Or, hopefully, the officer in charge of the "nuclear football" will simply refuse to hand it over to Barack Hussein Obama II. I was there the 1983 day that Col. Rodney Cox said, "The fate of Western Europe lies in the hands of an 18-year-old Air Force Security Policeman standing in a weapons-storage area somewhere." It was true then. A similar situation may become even more true in the near future, if some military sentry (probably wearing a Blue Beret) confronts a person purporting to be the next President of the United States. (The starry-eyed idealist that still resides in this 50-year-old body hopes that the incident would be investigated by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, of the TV series "NCIS". Then, charges would not be brought, because Gibbs would conclude that no offense occurred. The realist that also resides in this body worries that some career-happy officer would throw that young sentry under the political bus.)
Any way you slice it, at some point very soon, the world will face The Obama Oxymoron.
Posted by Tom Kovach on January 11, 2009 06:17 PM | Permalink Posted to Military | Politics
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Obama on National Electronic Health Records
The national electronic health records system is not exactly new, nor is it inexpensive but Obama has not featured either of these two features of his proposal.
He has pledged to invest $10 billion a year over the next five years on the effort, but the cost for such a system could be closer to $100 billion over the next 10 years. The experts also note that sticking to his five-year timetable could prove to be daunting.
In 2004, Bush called for establishing EHRs for most Americans by 2014. Bush created the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology to lead the way. The ONC pushed several pilot projects and created standardized medical records. Even so, a survey of 2,700 U.S. doctors by the New England Journal of Medicine last July showed only 4% were using "fully functional" EHR systems; the rest are all still paper based.
Juvenal: On the Inauguration
. . . Iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses. (Juvenal, Satire 10.77–81)
. . . Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.
Convictions Under Patriot Not Terrorists
At least 200 people on flights have been convicted under the amended Patriot Act. In most of the cases, there was no evidence that the passengers had attempted to hijack the airplane or physically attack any of the flight crew. Many have simply involved raised voices, foul language and drunken behavior.
Cf. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-airline-felonies20-2009jan20,0,5468299.story
Emanuel Gesture
Graphic source: REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)
Lest anyone think that incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is not taking his new position seriously and without dignity he gestures prior to the inauguration ceremony of Obama.
"The time has come to set aside childish things."
Barack Obama
Obama: Worst Inauguration Day Decline
U.S. stocks sank, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its worst Inauguration Day decline, as speculation banks must raise more capital sent financial shares to an almost 14-year low. This development and lack of confidence in Obama will just make him more likely to succumb to business interests. He has no coherent program and will likely blow in the direction that business seeks for him.
Obama's Words Deconstructed
I had recourse to a word analysis in order to see if any words are revealed to be important in the inauguration speech based on their frequency. Leaving out the incidental words such as the prepositions I sought to find common themes in the word frequency. A summary follows directly below and I reproduced the entire list at the bottom.
Word Frequency %
Word Frequency %
all 9 0.32
America 8 0.29
American 2 0.07
Americans 3 0.11
America's 2 0.07
can 13 0.46
cannot 6 0.21
change 1 0.04
changed 1 0.04
common 6 0.21
day 5 0.18
do 7 0.25
end 4 0.14
every 8 0.29
father 3 0.11
fathers 1 0.04
force 3 0.11
forward 3 0.11
free 2 0.07
freedom 3 0.11
future 3 0.11
generate 1 0.04
generation 5 0.18
generations 3 0.11
God 3 0.11
God-given 1 0.04
God's 1 0.04
government 3 0.11
governments 1 0.04
great 1 0.04
greater 4 0.14
greatness 2 0.07
happiness 1 0.04
hard 3 0.11
hard- 1 0.04
hardship 1 0.04
history 3 0.11
hope 3 0.11
I 3 0.11
idea 1 0.04
ideals 3 0.11
job 1 0.04
jobs 3 0.11
journey 3 0.11
judge 1 0.04
just 3 0.11
justness 1 0.04
knew 1 0.04
know 5 0.18
knowledge 3 0.11
last 3 0.11
life 3 0.11
light 2 0.07
long 4 0.14
longer 2 0.07
moment 3 0.11
moments 1 0.04
must 8 0.29
nation 12 0.43
nations 3 0.11
new 11 0.39
our 67 2.39
ours 1 0.04
ourselves 3 0.11
peace 4 0.14
people 7 0.25
peoples 1 0.04
power 4 0.14
powerful 1 0.04
prosper 1 0.04
prosperity 3 0.11
prosperous 2 0.07
seek 4 0.14
seeks 1 0.04
small 3 0.11
smaller 1 0.04
spirit 5 0.18
thank 4 0.14
time 6 0.21
timeless 1 0.04
today 6 0.21
understand 2 0.07
understanding 1 0.04
understood 2 0.07
up 4 0.14
upon 3 0.11
us 23 0.82
we 60 2.14
woman 1 0.04
women 4 0.14
work 6 0.21
worked 1 0.04
workers 2 0.07
works 1 0.04
world 6 0.21
worldly 1 0.04
world's 1 0.04
you 16 0.57
your 3 0.11
"Our" is the clear favorite word of the speech followed by "we," then, "us." Nothing else really comes close to these three words in frequency. The big three are followed by "can" in importance. He repeated his slogan: our, we, us, and can. His speech is a slogan: yes we can. A variation of America or Americans is next in importance. He really has not said anything of substance with these top words. "New," "God" or a variation thereof is next, along with "spirit" followed by "world" or a variation. "Work" follows and then "generation" or "generations." He is not really stating much at all. Variations of "people" or "government" are next in importance. The speech becomes more vapid and across the board than it actually sounded live. He said less than what I thought I heard while listening and then reading and reflecting on the entire transcript. It is less substantial than I thought previously. "Change" or "changed" appear once each respectively. The change notion seems to have disappeared as the candidate becomes the office-holder. There is no change referred to anymore.
The full list of words follows:
Word Frequency %
-- 6 0.21
! 4 0.14
" 4 0.14
( 13 0.46
) 13 0.46
, 138 4.93
. 128 4.57
: 31 1.11
; 16 0.57
[ 1 0.04
] 1 0.04
20 1 0.04
2009 1 0.04
60 1 0.04
a 47 1.68
abandoned 1 0.04
ability 1 0.04
accept 1 0.04
account 1 0.04
achieve 1 0.04
across 3 0.11
act 1 0.04
action 1 0.04
Address 1 0.04
advance 1 0.04
advancing 1 0.04
adversaries 1 0.04
afford 2 0.07
Afghanistan 1 0.04
again 2 0.07
against 1 0.04
age 2 0.07
ages 1 0.04
ago 1 0.04
aims 1 0.04
alarmed 1 0.04
all 9 0.32
alliances 1 0.04
alone 1 0.04
alongside 1 0.04
already 1 0.04
also 2 0.07
always 1 0.04
ambitions 2 0.07
America 8 0.29
American 2 0.07
Americans 3 0.11
America's 2 0.07
amidst 1 0.04
an 3 0.11
ancestors 1 0.04
and 111 3.97
answer 2 0.07
apologize 1 0.04
APPLAUSE 13 0.46
apply 1 0.04
are 22 0.79
arguments 1 0.04
Arlington 1 0.04
around 1 0.04
as 11 0.39
aside 1 0.04
ask 1 0.04
assure 1 0.04
at 8 0.29
back 2 0.07
bad 1 0.04
badly 1 0.04
band 1 0.04
Barack 2 0.07
based 1 0.04
be 12 0.43
because 8 0.29
been 8 0.29
before 4 0.14
began 1 0.04
begin 2 0.07
believe 1 0.04
beneath 1 0.04
bestowed 1 0.04
better 2 0.07
between 3 0.11
big 2 0.07
bigger 1 0.04
bind 1 0.04
birth 2 0.07
bitter 1 0.04
blame 1 0.04
bless 2 0.07
blood 2 0.07
bodies 1 0.04
bold 1 0.04
borders 1 0.04
born 1 0.04
borne 1 0.04
brave 2 0.07
break 1 0.04
bridges 1 0.04
brings 1 0.04
broken 1 0.04
build 2 0.07
Bush 1 0.04
business 1 0.04
businesses 1 0.04
but 20 0.71
by 8 0.29
calls 2 0.07
came 1 0.04
campfires 1 0.04
can 13 0.46
cannot 6 0.21
capacity 1 0.04
capital 1 0.04
capitals 1 0.04
care 2 0.07
care's 1 0.04
carried 3 0.11
carry 1 0.04
cars 1 0.04
cause 1 0.04
celebrated 1 0.04
celebration 1 0.04
challenges 2 0.07
chance 1 0.04
change 1 0.04
changed 1 0.04
chapter 1 0.04
character 1 0.04
charity 1 0.04
charter 2 0.07
child 2 0.07
childish 1 0.04
children 2 0.07
children's 1 0.04
choice 1 0.04
choices 1 0.04
choose 1 0.04
chosen 1 0.04
Christians 1 0.04
citizens 1 0.04
citizenship 1 0.04
city 1 0.04
civil 1 0.04
clean 1 0.04
cling 1 0.04
clouds 1 0.04
coldest 1 0.04
collective 1 0.04
colleges 1 0.04
come 4 0.14
commerce 1 0.04
common 6 0.21
communism 1 0.04
Concord 1 0.04
confidence 2 0.07
conflict 2 0.07
consequence 1 0.04
consider 1 0.04
consume 1 0.04
consumed 1 0.04
continue 1 0.04
control 1 0.04
convictions 1 0.04
cooperation 2 0.07
corruption 1 0.04
costly 1 0.04
costs 1 0.04
could 1 0.04
country 2 0.07
courage 3 0.11
create 1 0.04
creed 1 0.04
crisis 4 0.14
CROWD 1 0.04
culture 1 0.04
curiosity 1 0.04
currents 1 0.04
cut 1 0.04
cynics 1 0.04
danger 1 0.04
dangers 1 0.04
dark 1 0.04
darkest 1 0.04
data 1 0.04
day 5 0.18
deceit 1 0.04
decent 1 0.04
decides 1 0.04
decisions 1 0.04
decline 1 0.04
defeat 1 0.04
defense 2 0.07
define 1 0.04
defining 1 0.04
delivered 1 0.04
demand 1 0.04
demanded 1 0.04
demands 1 0.04
depended 1 0.04
depends 1 0.04
depth 1 0.04
deserts 1 0.04
deserve 1 0.04
destiny 1 0.04
destroy 1 0.04
determination 1 0.04
did 2 0.07
died 1 0.04
differences 1 0.04
difficult 1 0.04
digital 1 0.04
dignified 1 0.04
dignity 1 0.04
discord 1 0.04
dissent 1 0.04
dissolve 1 0.04
distant 1 0.04
do 7 0.25
documents 1 0.04
doers 1 0.04
does 1 0.04
dogmas 1 0.04
domestic 1 0.04
done 2 0.07
doubt 1 0.04
down 1 0.04
drafted 1 0.04
drawn 1 0.04
during 1 0.04
dust 1 0.04
duties 2 0.07
each 2 0.07
earlier 1 0.04
earned 2 0.07
earth 3 0.11
easily 1 0.04
economy 3 0.11
effect 1 0.04
effort 1 0.04
electric 1 0.04
emanates 1 0.04
embody 1 0.04
emerged 1 0.04
end 4 0.14
endure 1 0.04
endured 1 0.04
enduring 2 0.07
enemy 1 0.04
energy 1 0.04
enjoy 1 0.04
entitle 1 0.04
equal 1 0.04
era 2 0.07
even 2 0.07
every 8 0.29
everywhere 1 0.04
evidence 1 0.04
example 1 0.04
expand 1 0.04
expanded 1 0.04
expedience's 1 0.04
extend 2 0.07
eye 1 0.04
eyes 1 0.04
face 2 0.07
faced 2 0.07
faction 1 0.04
factories 1 0.04
fail 2 0.07
failure 1 0.04
faint-hearted 1 0.04
fair 1 0.04
faith 2 0.07
faithful 1 0.04
fallen 1 0.04
false 2 0.07
falter 1 0.04
fame 1 0.04
families 1 0.04
far 2 0.07
farms 1 0.04
far-off 1 0.04
far-reaching 1 0.04
fascism 1 0.04
fate 1 0.04
father 3 0.11
fathers 1 0.04
favors 1 0.04
fear 2 0.07
feed 2 0.07
fellow 1 0.04
few 1 0.04
filled 1 0.04
finally 1 0.04
find 2 0.07
firefighter's 1 0.04
firm 1 0.04
fist 1 0.04
fixed 1 0.04
flourish 1 0.04
flow 1 0.04
foes 1 0.04
for 23 0.82
forbearers 1 0.04
force 3 0.11
forge 1 0.04
forgotten 1 0.04
former 1 0.04
forth 2 0.07
Forty-four 1 0.04
forward 3 0.11
fought 1 0.04
foundation 1 0.04
founding 2 0.07
free 2 0.07
freedom 3 0.11
friend 2 0.07
friends 1 0.04
from 5 0.18
fuel 1 0.04
full 1 0.04
further 1 0.04
future 3 0.11
gather 1 0.04
gathering 1 0.04
generate 1 0.04
generation 5 0.18
generations 3 0.11
generosity 1 0.04
Gettysburg 1 0.04
gift 2 0.07
give 1 0.04
given 1 0.04
giving 1 0.04
gladly 1 0.04
globe 1 0.04
God 3 0.11
God-given 1 0.04
God's 1 0.04
good 2 0.07
goods 1 0.04
government 3 0.11
governments 1 0.04
grace 1 0.04
grandest 1 0.04
grateful 1 0.04
gratitude 1 0.04
great 1 0.04
greater 4 0.14
greatness 2 0.07
greed 1 0.04
grids 1 0.04
grievances 1 0.04
gross 1 0.04
ground 1 0.04
grows 2 0.07
growth 1 0.04
grudgingly 1 0.04
guardians 1 0.04
guided 1 0.04
habits 1 0.04
hand 1 0.04
hands 1 0.04
happiness 1 0.04
hard 3 0.11
hard- 1 0.04
hardship 1 0.04
harness 1 0.04
has 14 0.50
hatred 1 0.04
hatreds 1 0.04
have 16 0.57
he 1 0.04
health 2 0.07
heart 1 0.04
held 1 0.04
help 1 0.04
helps 1 0.04
here 1 0.04
heritage 1 0.04
heroes 1 0.04
high 1 0.04
Hindus 1 0.04
his 1 0.04
history 3 0.11
Homes 1 0.04
honesty 1 0.04
honor 1 0.04
hope 3 0.11
horizon 1 0.04
hour 1 0.04
hours 2 0.07
how 1 0.04
huddled 1 0.04
humanity 1 0.04
humble 1 0.04
humbled 1 0.04
humility 1 0.04
hungry 1 0.04
I 3 0.11
icy 2 0.07
idea 1 0.04
ideals 3 0.11
if 1 0.04
ill 1 0.04
ills 1 0.04
imagination 1 0.04
imagine 1 0.04
in 26 0.93
Inaugural 1 0.04
indicators 1 0.04
indifference 1 0.04
individual 1 0.04
inducing 1 0.04
inevitable 1 0.04
inhabit 1 0.04
innocents 1 0.04
Instead 1 0.04
instruments 1 0.04
intend 1 0.04
interest 1 0.04
interests 1 0.04
inventive 1 0.04
Iraq 1 0.04
irresponsibility 1 0.04
is 36 1.29
it 19 0.68
its 8 0.29
itself 1 0.04
Jan 1 0.04
Jews 1 0.04
job 1 0.04
jobs 3 0.11
join 1 0.04
joined 1 0.04
journey 3 0.11
judge 1 0.04
just 3 0.11
justness 1 0.04
keepers 1 0.04
Khe 1 0.04
kindness 1 0.04
knew 1 0.04
know 5 0.18
knowledge 3 0.11
labor 1 0.04
land 1 0.04
language 1 0.04
lash 1 0.04
last 3 0.11
law 1 0.04
lay 1 0.04
lead 1 0.04
leaders 1 0.04
leave 1 0.04
legacy 1 0.04
leisure 1 0.04
less 7 0.25
lessen 1 0.04
let 7 0.25
levees 1 0.04
liberty 2 0.07
lie 1 0.04
life 3 0.11
light 2 0.07
like 1 0.04
lines 2 0.07
live 1 0.04
local 1 0.04
long 4 0.14
longer 2 0.07
look 1 0.04
lose 1 0.04
lost 1 0.04
lower 2 0.07
loyalty 1 0.04
magnificent 1 0.04
make 2 0.07
makers 1 0.04
mall 1 0.04
man 3 0.11
manage 1 0.04
many 3 0.11
mark 1 0.04
market 2 0.07
may 3 0.11
meaning 2 0.07
measurable 1 0.04
measure 1 0.04
meet 4 0.14
memories 1 0.04
men 4 0.14
met 2 0.07
midst 1 0.04
might 2 0.07
mindful 1 0.04
minds 2 0.07
missiles 1 0.04
moment 3 0.11
moments 1 0.04
month 1 0.04
months 1 0.04
more 5 0.18
most 3 0.11
mountains 1 0.04
move 1 0.04
much 1 0.04
Muslim 1 0.04
Muslims 1 0.04
must 8 0.29
mutual 2 0.07
my 2 0.07
nagging 1 0.04
narrow 1 0.04
nation 12 0.43
nations 3 0.11
necessity 1 0.04
needed 1 0.04
network 1 0.04
never 2 0.07
new 11 0.39
next 1 0.04
nine 1 0.04
no 7 0.25
noble 1 0.04
nonbelievers 1 0.04
nor 5 0.18
Normandy 1 0.04
not 16 0.57
nothing 2 0.07
nourish 1 0.04
now 6 0.21
nuclear 1 0.04
nurture 1 0.04
oath 3 0.11
Obama 26 0.93
obscure 1 0.04
oceans 1 0.04
of 83 2.97
off 2 0.07
office 1 0.04
often 2 0.07
old 3 0.11
on 17 0.61
once 3 0.11
one 2 0.07
only 5 0.18
opportunity 1 0.04
or 11 0.39
ordered 1 0.04
other 1 0.04
our 67 2.39
ours 1 0.04
ourselves 3 0.11
out 2 0.07
outcome 1 0.04
outlast 1 0.04
outside 1 0.04
over 3 0.11
packed 1 0.04
parent's 1 0.04
part 2 0.07
pass 1 0.04
passed 2 0.07
pat 1 0.04
patchwork 1 0.04
path 2 0.07
patriotism 1 0.04
patriots 1 0.04
patrol 1 0.04
peace 4 0.14
people 7 0.25
peoples 1 0.04
perils 1 0.04
petty 1 0.04
pick 1 0.04
place 1 0.04
places 1 0.04
planet 2 0.07
plans 1 0.04
play 2 0.07
please 1 0.04
pleasures 1 0.04
pledge 1 0.04
plenty 1 0.04
plowed 1 0.04
political 1 0.04
politics 1 0.04
poor 1 0.04
possessions 1 0.04
power 4 0.14
powerful 1 0.04
precious 1 0.04
precisely 1 0.04
prefer 1 0.04
prepare 1 0.04
President 2 0.07
presidential 1 0.04
price 1 0.04
principles 1 0.04
proclaim 1 0.04
product 1 0.04
productive 1 0.04
profound 1 0.04
programs 1 0.04
progress 1 0.04
promise 2 0.07
promises 1 0.04
prosper 1 0.04
prosperity 3 0.11
prosperous 2 0.07
protect 1 0.04
protecting 1 0.04
prudent 1 0.04
public's 1 0.04
purpose 2 0.07
pursue 1 0.04
putting 1 0.04
qualities 1 0.04
quality 1 0.04
question 3 0.11
quiet 1 0.04
race 1 0.04
raging 1 0.04
raise 1 0.04
rather 3 0.11
raw 1 0.04
reach 1 0.04
read 1 0.04
ready 1 0.04
reaffirm 1 0.04
reaffirming 1 0.04
real 1 0.04
Recall 1 0.04
recognition 1 0.04
recriminations 1 0.04
reform 1 0.04
refused 1 0.04
regard 1 0.04
reject 1 0.04
relative 1 0.04
relies 1 0.04
remain 2 0.07
remained 1 0.04
remains 1 0.04
remaking 1 0.04
remember 2 0.07
remembrance 1 0.04
reminded 1 0.04
required 1 0.04
resources 1 0.04
respect 1 0.04
responsibility 1 0.04
responsibly 1 0.04
restaurant 1 0.04
restore 2 0.07
restraint 1 0.04
retirement 1 0.04
return 1 0.04
reveal 1 0.04
revolution 1 0.04
riches 1 0.04
rightful 1 0.04
rights 1 0.04
rising 1 0.04
risk-takers 1 0.04
river 1 0.04
road 1 0.04
roads 1 0.04
role 1 0.04
roll 1 0.04
route 1 0.04
rugged 1 0.04
rule 1 0.04
run 1 0.04
sacred 1 0.04
sacrificed 1 0.04
sacrifices 1 0.04
safely 1 0.04
safety 1 0.04
Sahn 1 0.04
said 1 0.04
sake 1 0.04
sapping 1 0.04
satisfying 1 0.04
saw 1 0.04
say 3 0.11
scale 1 0.04
scarcely 1 0.04
schools 2 0.07
science 1 0.04
Scripture 1 0.04
search 1 0.04
security 1 0.04
see 1 0.04
seek 4 0.14
seeks 1 0.04
sees 1 0.04
segregation 1 0.04
seize 1 0.04
selflessness 1 0.04
serious 1 0.04
served 1 0.04
service 2 0.07
services 1 0.04
set 1 0.04
settled 1 0.04
settling 1 0.04
shall 3 0.11
shape 1 0.04
shaped 1 0.04
shed 1 0.04
shifted 1 0.04
shores 1 0.04
short 2 0.07
shortcuts 1 0.04
shown 1 0.04
shuttered 1 0.04
side 1 0.04
sights 1 0.04
silencing 1 0.04
simply 1 0.04
size 1 0.04
skill 1 0.04
slaughtering 1 0.04
small 3 0.11
smaller 1 0.04
smoke 1 0.04
snow 1 0.04
so 9 0.32
society's 1 0.04
soil 1 0.04
some 3 0.11
someday 1 0.04
something 2 0.07
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Different words/items counted: 914
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Total Paragraphs: 184
Obama "Immigrant" Inaugurated
If Rick Warren invokes Obama as a "son of an African immigrant [who] can rise to the highest level of our leadership" no one bats an eye and celebrates the point. On the other hand, if the challenges and law suits try to establish the same point in court, they are ignored. Obama hides in plain site establishing the same violation of the Constitution as noted on his website: he is not a natural born citizen, he is an immigrant himself. I prefer a government of laws and not of men.
Commentary: Analysis of Inaugural Address
Transcript: Inaugural Address of Obama
20 January 2009
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
How are the people true to our founding documents? The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are protections of liberty for the people. It is up to elected officials to be faithful to the documents, which they have not always been.
COMMENTARY
We may be in a crisis but at last count the inauguration cost $170 million. The message to cut back is not for the American people but the spendthrifts in government who are throwing away our opportunities. In addition, I believe the last phrase is key. Obama must want to sell his energy solution, as he will want Americans to rein in energy use, as a security measure. What he will not be advertising is how this means less opportunity for Americans, as the Federal government will stifle innovation and individual initiative. He must have as his goal the Socialist Carol Browner and how these international organizations are promoting a one-world government and the diminution of American energy use.
COMMENTARY
American decline is not inevitable but he does not address the lessening of opportunity. If America is to get in line with the remainder of the world, and innovation is stifled, Americans, particularly younger Americans, will have lower achievements. I think it is interesting that he simply left this paragraph hang by itself.
COMMENTARY
The paragraph he left hanging for the following paragraph is simply a recourse to a rhetorical flourish. It says nothing but it sounds good since it communicates stirring words like "challenges," "serious," and a vague we can do it America. This paragraph is fluff.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
The fluff paragraph had its intended object: applause. He got it.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
These three paragraphs appear to be his obligatory nod to civil rights. He does not mention of course he was not in America during the civil rights movement; he benefited though from the work of others.
COMMENTARY
The next four paragraphs seem to be his summary of American history.
OBAMA: For us, they fought and died in places [sic] Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
COMMENTARY
Then, comes this strange sentence, which is about war, but he simply places war time sacrifices in the broader American themes of immigration, slavery, and settlement.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.
COMMENTARY
There is a poor transition from traditional American themes to the journey paragraph. He did not address how with all that hard work Americans find themselves in this crisis. If he did, his targets might hit too close to home so politically he does not mention any villains.
COMMENTARY
This section is really flat. He talks of remaking without stating what needs to be remade. He simply is calling people to work. It is also phrased so vaguely that there is no program or idea that he is tied to. People have to sacrifice is all is saying.
COMMENTARY
This is the harping he has been stating in his weekly radio addresses. With each week the number of jobs he is stating to save grows. This may be just an obligatory nod to FDR since nothing about the infrastructure will grow the U.S. economy. The infrastructure is a weakness of the U.S. since we have failed to invest in foundational areas. Other countries have invested and have surpassed our growth particularly in the digital age.
COMMENTARY
He is taking a stab at Bush's science policy. Then, he alludes to expanding the wonders of technology, which can be extremely expensive, but then somehow, magically, technology will cost less. He does not explain how.
COMMENTARY
Most likely the key here will be the reference to the "soil" technologies since Illinois and the businesses there stand to profit a great deal from ethanol use. He will most likely advocate ethanol as his energy and security solution which will be good for businesses that he is dependent on for support.
COMMENTARY
He must have big energy plans, not detailed here, that he will outline at some point. The statements here allow him to refer back to this to say he told us already. Of course, there are no details here at all.
COMMENTARY
He will end programs he does not like; he will favor those he does.
COMMENTARY
He may be just taking a snipe at Bush here but there is a lack of trust between many people and Obama but he can not explicit refer to them.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
No one should expect Obama to uphold free market principles; he is explicitly advocating a liberal, interventionist model of the federal government.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
This section may be against Bush's security priorities, which of course he has not rolled back. All the questions that people leveled at Bush in regards to the Patriot Act or infringing on basic American liberties are not on the Obama radar screen. He can criticize Bush and still retain all the powers of the imperial presidency. He may be referring to waterboarding, extradition, and others practices that he plans to abandon which will make the enemies of the U.S. more contentious.
It is interesting that he made a reference to the "small village where my father was born." He does not reference where he was born. Of course, we do not know where he was born anyway. He may have been born in the same small village as a British citizen of Kenya, just like his father.
COMMENTARY
Pleasant words but sufficiently vague so as to say nothing. I understand that he has to criticize Bush but he has no plan or better idea to offer. You have to accept on faith that somehow he will forge peace in Afghanistan. He does not say how; he may not understand the area in any case. Also, it is interesting to see how he addresses Iraq: "We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people." He does not seem to grasp the security advances that have resulted from the surge and all of the accomplishments established by his election in November. In this way, during his watch, he can claim that he was the one who handled Iraq correctly. In fact, General Petraeus, the Awakening Councils in Iraq, and the blood and sacrifice of American service people have already achieved this standard. It would have been magnanimous of him to admit this but he has demonstrated no indication earlier that he intends to credit those who performed the hard work and selfless duty of sacrifice to this end. It is more important for him to play politics about Iraq and repeat the standard liberal dogma.
COMMENTARY
Energy and security keeps coming back in the speech. He intends to rein in America in its energy use. It is the top priority in the speech.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
He is addressing the terrorist threat, briefly, and I would conclude that he thinks if we use less we will be less of a target. He is wrong; Islamists are on their way regardless.
COMMENTARY
"Patchwork" is an odd metaphor to use. It implies weakness, the standard cliche is melting pot or tossed salad. It is the incorrect word to use. It works against his rhetoric.
COMMENTARY
If America becomes blander we will have peace. I think that is a debatable point but I believe it is fair to state that is what he intends. We had peace when we were distinctive and lived in a unipolar world. Obama intends a multipolar world, restraining American ambitions.
COMMENTARY
He can dream on; this will not happen.
COMMENTARY
Interesting in that his next paragraph, after the conciliatory paragraph about Muslims, seems to follow Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations thesis. There is a tension here unless he is trying to appeal to all sides of the political debate, the internationalists, and the realists. It is unclear what he is referring to, perhaps as he is so unfamiliar with foreign policy, he simply does not know how to proceed. In this way, he can be reactive, depending on how much the U.S. is attacked, he can always take the ploy that he has a clear policy as it is a response to whatever the remainder of the world does against U.S. interests.
COMMENTARY
He plans to provide more foreign aid.
COMMENTARY
This is another reference to how much we consume. We are at fault for using the world's energy. We will have to cut back in favor of the remainder of the world.
COMMENTARY
Our military makes great sacrifices.
COMMENTARY
Americans will need to be like soldiers. We must sacrifice.
COMMENTARY
We have our duty, and we have a responsibility to ourselves, but we have a duty to sacrifice for the world.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
We are sacrificing but we can still celebrate. He makes another reference to his father, a man he barely knew and did not raise him, in addition, he would not be served at a restaurant, not because of his race, but because he was not an American. It is a odd reference to make. I do not think Barack recognizes that there are those who question his background. He wants to make disagreements about race instead. He is wrong.
COMMENTARY
He does not reference how there are nine campfires at Valley Forge.
COMMENTARY
He invokes Washington. He wants us to sacrifice bravely as Americans. He must intend to significantly lower the American way of living.
20 January 2009
My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation...
(APPLAUSE)
... as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.
OBAMA: The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers [sic], and true to our founding documents.
COMMENTARY
How are the people true to our founding documents? The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are protections of liberty for the people. It is up to elected officials to be faithful to the documents, which they have not always been.
OBAMA: So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.
Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
COMMENTARY
We may be in a crisis but at last count the inauguration cost $170 million. The message to cut back is not for the American people but the spendthrifts in government who are throwing away our opportunities. In addition, I believe the last phrase is key. Obama must want to sell his energy solution, as he will want Americans to rein in energy use, as a security measure. What he will not be advertising is how this means less opportunity for Americans, as the Federal government will stifle innovation and individual initiative. He must have as his goal the Socialist Carol Browner and how these international organizations are promoting a one-world government and the diminution of American energy use.
OBAMA: These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.
COMMENTARY
American decline is not inevitable but he does not address the lessening of opportunity. If America is to get in line with the remainder of the world, and innovation is stifled, Americans, particularly younger Americans, will have lower achievements. I think it is interesting that he simply left this paragraph hang by itself.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.
COMMENTARY
The paragraph he left hanging for the following paragraph is simply a recourse to a rhetorical flourish. It says nothing but it sounds good since it communicates stirring words like "challenges," "serious," and a vague we can do it America. This paragraph is fluff.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
The fluff paragraph had its intended object: applause. He got it.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
OBAMA: On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
These three paragraphs appear to be his obligatory nod to civil rights. He does not mention of course he was not in America during the civil rights movement; he benefited though from the work of others.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.
OBAMA: It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.
Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
COMMENTARY
The next four paragraphs seem to be his summary of American history.
OBAMA: For us, they fought and died in places [sic] Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
COMMENTARY
Then, comes this strange sentence, which is about war, but he simply places war time sacrifices in the broader American themes of immigration, slavery, and settlement.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.
COMMENTARY
There is a poor transition from traditional American themes to the journey paragraph. He did not address how with all that hard work Americans find themselves in this crisis. If he did, his targets might hit too close to home so politically he does not mention any villains.
OBAMA: Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
(APPLAUSE)
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.
The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth.
COMMENTARY
This section is really flat. He talks of remaking without stating what needs to be remade. He simply is calling people to work. It is also phrased so vaguely that there is no program or idea that he is tied to. People have to sacrifice is all is saying.
We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
COMMENTARY
This is the harping he has been stating in his weekly radio addresses. With each week the number of jobs he is stating to save grows. This may be just an obligatory nod to FDR since nothing about the infrastructure will grow the U.S. economy. The infrastructure is a weakness of the U.S. since we have failed to invest in foundational areas. Other countries have invested and have surpassed our growth particularly in the digital age.
We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality...
(APPLAUSE)
... and lower its costs.
COMMENTARY
He is taking a stab at Bush's science policy. Then, he alludes to expanding the wonders of technology, which can be extremely expensive, but then somehow, magically, technology will cost less. He does not explain how.
OBAMA: We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
COMMENTARY
Most likely the key here will be the reference to the "soil" technologies since Illinois and the businesses there stand to profit a great deal from ethanol use. He will most likely advocate ethanol as his energy and security solution which will be good for businesses that he is dependent on for support.
All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.
COMMENTARY
He must have big energy plans, not detailed here, that he will outline at some point. The statements here allow him to refer back to this to say he told us already. Of course, there are no details here at all.
OBAMA: The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.
Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.
COMMENTARY
He will end programs he does not like; he will favor those he does.
And those of us who manage the public's knowledge will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
COMMENTARY
He may be just taking a snipe at Bush here but there is a lack of trust between many people and Obama but he can not explicit refer to them.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched.
OBAMA: But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
No one should expect Obama to uphold free market principles; he is explicitly advocating a liberal, interventionist model of the federal government.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.
Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.
OBAMA: Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.
And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
This section may be against Bush's security priorities, which of course he has not rolled back. All the questions that people leveled at Bush in regards to the Patriot Act or infringing on basic American liberties are not on the Obama radar screen. He can criticize Bush and still retain all the powers of the imperial presidency. He may be referring to waterboarding, extradition, and others practices that he plans to abandon which will make the enemies of the U.S. more contentious.
It is interesting that he made a reference to the "small village where my father was born." He does not reference where he was born. Of course, we do not know where he was born anyway. He may have been born in the same small village as a British citizen of Kenya, just like his father.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
OBAMA: They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.
COMMENTARY
Pleasant words but sufficiently vague so as to say nothing. I understand that he has to criticize Bush but he has no plan or better idea to offer. You have to accept on faith that somehow he will forge peace in Afghanistan. He does not say how; he may not understand the area in any case. Also, it is interesting to see how he addresses Iraq: "We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people." He does not seem to grasp the security advances that have resulted from the surge and all of the accomplishments established by his election in November. In this way, during his watch, he can claim that he was the one who handled Iraq correctly. In fact, General Petraeus, the Awakening Councils in Iraq, and the blood and sacrifice of American service people have already achieved this standard. It would have been magnanimous of him to admit this but he has demonstrated no indication earlier that he intends to credit those who performed the hard work and selfless duty of sacrifice to this end. It is more important for him to play politics about Iraq and repeat the standard liberal dogma.
OBAMA: With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
COMMENTARY
Energy and security keeps coming back in the speech. He intends to rein in America in its energy use. It is the top priority in the speech.
We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense.
And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, "Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
He is addressing the terrorist threat, briefly, and I would conclude that he thinks if we use less we will be less of a target. He is wrong; Islamists are on their way regardless.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.
COMMENTARY
"Patchwork" is an odd metaphor to use. It implies weakness, the standard cliche is melting pot or tossed salad. It is the incorrect word to use. It works against his rhetoric.
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.
And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
COMMENTARY
If America becomes blander we will have peace. I think that is a debatable point but I believe it is fair to state that is what he intends. We had peace when we were distinctive and lived in a unipolar world. Obama intends a multipolar world, restraining American ambitions.
OBAMA: To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
COMMENTARY
He can dream on; this will not happen.
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
COMMENTARY
Interesting in that his next paragraph, after the conciliatory paragraph about Muslims, seems to follow Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations thesis. There is a tension here unless he is trying to appeal to all sides of the political debate, the internationalists, and the realists. It is unclear what he is referring to, perhaps as he is so unfamiliar with foreign policy, he simply does not know how to proceed. In this way, he can be reactive, depending on how much the U.S. is attacked, he can always take the ploy that he has a clear policy as it is a response to whatever the remainder of the world does against U.S. interests.
To those...
(APPLAUSE)
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.
COMMENTARY
He plans to provide more foreign aid.
And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
COMMENTARY
This is another reference to how much we consume. We are at fault for using the world's energy. We will have to cut back in favor of the remainder of the world.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service: a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves.
COMMENTARY
Our military makes great sacrifices.
OBAMA: And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.
It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break; the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.
It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old.
OBAMA: These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
COMMENTARY
Americans will need to be like soldiers. We must sacrifice.
What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
OBAMA: This is the source of our confidence: the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
COMMENTARY
We have our duty, and we have a responsibility to ourselves, but we have a duty to sacrifice for the world.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall. And why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
We are sacrificing but we can still celebrate. He makes another reference to his father, a man he barely knew and did not raise him, in addition, he would not be served at a restaurant, not because of his race, but because he was not an American. It is a odd reference to make. I do not think Barack recognizes that there are those who question his background. He wants to make disagreements about race instead. He is wrong.
So let us mark this day in remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled.
In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by nine campfires on the shores of an icy river.
COMMENTARY
He does not reference how there are nine campfires at Valley Forge.
OBAMA: The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.
At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you.
(APPLAUSE)
And God bless the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
COMMENTARY
He invokes Washington. He wants us to sacrifice bravely as Americans. He must intend to significantly lower the American way of living.
Presidential Oath Mistake
Since the presidential oath was not available to be read it is not surprising that there was a glitch. Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution states the oath as follows: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Chief Justice Roberts threw Obama off on his first official duty: a simple oath easily memorized. "Faithfully" belongs before "execute," and not at the end of the oath. That is why Obama was puzzled, smiled, and he could not improvise.
I wonder if this is a bad omen.
The oath was not smooth at all.
Initially, Obama interrupted Roberts midway through the opening line, in which the president repeats his name and solemnly swears.
Next in the oath, which is enshrined in the Constitution, is the phrase "... that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." But Roberts rearranged the order of the words, not saying "faithfully" until after "president of the United States."
That appeared to throw Obama off. He stopped abruptly at the word "execute."
Recognizing something was off, Roberts then repeated the phrase, putting "faithfully" in the right place but without repeating "execute."
Obama then repeated Roberts' original, incorrect version: "... the office of president of the United States faithfully."
In any case, I guess its official. You can just make it up as you go along. There is no need to follow the Constitution anyway.
Transcript:
ROBERTS: Are you prepared to take the oath, Senator?
OBAMA: I am.
ROBERTS: I, Barack Hussein Obama...
OBAMA: I, Barack--
ROBERTS: ...do solemnly swear...
OBAMA: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear...
ROBERTS: ...that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully...
OBAMA: ...that I will execute... [pause]
ROBERTS: ...faithfully the office of president of the United States...
OBAMA: ...the office of president of the United States faithfully...
ROBERTS: ...and will, to best of my ability...
OBAMA: ...and will to [the] best of my ability...
ROBERTS: ...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
OBAMA: ...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
ROBERTS: So help you God?
OBAMA: So help me God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wisdom from Swedish Retiree: Listen Americans
Lise Lindeberg, a 72-year-old retiree in Stockholm, Sweden, thinks people have put too much faith in Obama. "People want him to be a savior—some kind of messiah. You just can't become president and change everything when there's no money."
Ohio High School Superintendent Warns Against Exercising Free Speech
An Ohio high school superintendent warned his charges against "inappropriate comments" when he sent out emails to parents in advance of Inauguration Day. The
Mason school officials said they are taking a proactive educational approach in advance of Inauguration Day activities.
Mason school officials said they are taking a proactive educational approach in advance of Inauguration Day activities.
Their announcement stated: "Inappropriate comments that may make other students, staff or families feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in school or on the bus will not be tolerated," Superintendent Kevin Bright said in an e-mail sent to parents.
People are expecting students and staff to show respect for President-elect Obama and the incoming administration.
Jeff Schlaeger, Mason High School's psychologist, said "inappropriate comments" occurred around election week when doctored pictures of Obama appeared at the school. Schlaeger is a member of the district's racial equity committee and curriculum organizer for MHS Freshman Diversity Week.
The school is not discouraging students from saying those comments it is stating they won't be tolerated. The historical precedents for not tolerating dissent far outweigh anything positive school officials hope to gain by restricting student's right to free speech.
Obama the Republican
John McCain, typically blunt, has told colleagues regarding Obama "that many of these appointments he would have made himself," said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and a close McCain friend. According to Fred Greenstein, emeritus professor of politics at Princeton, said: "I don't think there is a precedent for this. Sometimes there is bad blood, sometimes there is so-so blood, but rarely is there good blood." Now that their Chicago meeting on November 16 is a bit of old news Graham, who accompanied McCain to the meeting, said Obama took a notably different tone toward Iraq than he had during the campaign, emphasizing the common ground in their views. "What the Obama-Biden administration has talked about is not losing the gains we have achieved." He added, "Obama does not want to be the guy who lost Iraq when it is close to being won."
Obama should be apologizing to those families who sacrificed so much yet never during the campaign did he acknowledge their heroism nor did he recognize how successful the surge was.
Obama the Entertainer
Obama announced that he will star in a new hour-long musical, dance, and variety show.
Recessional Inauguration Taxes Taxpayers
During what we are being told is a recession, the price tag is estimated to be $170 million. In addition, Obama's Inauguration has been financed partially by the bailed-out Wall Street executives. The actual swearing-in ceremony will cost $1.24 million, according to Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. The federal government estimates that it will spend roughly $49 million on the inaugural weekend. Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland have requested another $75 million from the federal government to help pay for their share of police, fire and medical services.
The party bill has "a budget of roughly $45 million, maybe a little bit more," said Linda Douglas, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee.
That's more than the $42.3 million in private funds spent by President Bush's committee in 2005 or the $33 million spent for Bill Clinton's first inaugural in 1993.
According to Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, "These are people giving mostly $50,000 apiece. They tend to be corporate executives, celebrities, the elite of the elite."
The biggest group of donors were none other than the recently bailed-out Wall Street executives and employees.
Ritsch said: "Those who worked in finance still managed to pull together nearly $7 million for the inauguration."
Besides Wall Street firms, a large chunk of the money came from employees at companies such as Microsoft, Google and DreamWorks Animation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer and his wife, Connie, both gave $50,000. So did Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.
DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn, both gave $50,000. Filmmaker and DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate, both also gave $50,000. And DreamWorks employees gave a total of $275,000.
Billionaire investor George Soros and his family contributed $250,000 to the inauguration, and Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt each donated $25,000.
Other big-name donors who gave $50,000 include filmmaker George Lucas, artist Dale Chihuly, Los Angeles Dodgers President Jamie McCourt. Citigroup managing director Raymond J. McGuire; Oracle President Charles E. Phillips Jr.; actresses Halle Berry and Sharon Stone; and Melvin Simon, co-founder of Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the United States.
The governors of Maryland and Virginia, and the mayor of Washington said that their combined costs could exceed $75 million. That's on top of the $49 million the federal government is spending, again mostly for security.
Elite firms are supporting Obama and the government is spending taxpayer money to promote the Inaugural image of Obama.
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