Believe it or not.

Introducing Democrat Congressman Jerrold Nadler:

“The villains are no longer the terrorists,” Nadler said yesterday at a news conference in Washington.

“The villains live in the White House and in Gracie Mansion, or at least lived in Gracie Mansion in the last administration, and in the governor’s office.”

With statements like this, I might worry about the safety of the President working around these morons…

…but given their ability to suck at fighting the enemy, I doubt Bush needs to worry at all.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, the same woman that thought it was appropriate, in the weeks after the hurricane, to spend over half a million dollars renovating her offices with “hookups and mounts for two flat screen televisions, Swedish granite countertops, walnut paneling and frosted laminated glass,” is still whining about her corrupt state government not getting enough money from the feds:

Gov. Kathleen Blanco angrily criticized President Bush on Wednesday for not mentioning 2005’s destructive hurricanes in his State of the Union speech, and said Louisiana is being shortchanged in federal recovery funding for political reasons.

Excuse me why I try to give a damn.

While the Democrats continue to boast about their “power”, they’re still trying to have it both ways when it comes to policy on the war. Just look at the statements by the two Democrat leaders:

Harry Reid:

Democrats have not agreed on a plan for Iraq either, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the burden of finding a solution rests on the White House.

Nancy Pelosi:

“It will be clear to us whether he’s ready to work co-operatively to do that or if he’s saying, ‘I’m the decider’,” said Pelosi, quoting Bush’s famous retort on Iraq.

For those scoring at home:

Reid: Bush has the burden of deciding the solution.
Pelosi: Bush should not decide on the solution.

It’s their way of trying to pawn the negative things off on Bush while claiming victory on the positive ones for themselves. And it’s typical of the “politics before priorities” pattern of governing they’ve come to perfect.

And it’s interesting that Democrats remind us that the branches of government are equal when they’re opposing a policy of the President… but then they seem to think one branch of government ought to be given more credence (specifically, Congress) when it comes to promoting their own policies.

Looks like the Congressional Black Caucus is at it again.

As a white liberal running in a majority African American district, Tennessee Democrat Stephen I. Cohen made a novel pledge on the campaign trail last year: If elected, he would seek to become the first white member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Now that he’s a freshman in Congress, Cohen has changed his plans. He said he has dropped his bid after several current and former caucus members made it clear to him that whites need not apply.

Remember this the next time these guys claim others are being racist. Remember this when the race pimps accuse others of dividing this nation. If a liberal Congressman representing a predominantly black constituency can’t join this caucus, then explain to me what the Congressional Black Caucus actually does. What is it good for, other than to serve as a gathering place for a bunch of uppity blacks in Congress who just want to keep accusing others of racism, when in fact they are the culprits.

If you don’t think this group is racist by nature… imagine if someone started a Congressional White Caucus and refused entry to blacks.

UPDATE: Tom Tancredo gets it…

I spoke about this issue this morning on the Allman & Smash Morning Show. The news cycle used to take an entire day - with one morning newspaper and an evening newscast that would try to pack the entire day’s events into a single issue or episode. But with technology comes the nearly real-time news cycle, where we are informed of events within minutes of their occurence. It began with CNN’s coverage of the first Gulf War and grew exponentially with the rise of internet use. It’s interesting on a busy news day to watch as events unfold before your eyes… but not everyday is a busy news day, and the for-profit “news” organizations have to find ways to fill in the dead air. So it’s no wonder they’ve mastered the art of “creating the news”.

We have two key examples today:

Washington Post and ABC News have released new poll numbers saying President Bush’s approval rating is near Nixon levels… on the day he’s scheduled to give the State of the Union. This is designed to do one thing and one thing only… cast a shadow of doubt over the President’s speech tonight.

Then, right on cue, ABC News releases a hit piece meant to be complimentary to their poll number story with the headline: “Did President Bush Keep Promises From 2006 State of the Union Address?”

The article claims President Bush made a number of “concrete promises” and that “only one-third of them had been kept”. But look at the “concrete promises” ABC News claims Bush made:

Promise Not Kept: Making Bush’s First-Term Tax Cuts Permanent

In an effort to push the Republican-led Congress to pass legislation making his first-term tax cuts permanent, Bush said in the 2006 State of the Union speech, “We need more than temporary tax relief. I urge the Congress to act responsibly, and make the tax cuts permanent.”

Bush’s first-term tax cuts expire by the year 2011. While Democrats have said they won’t seek to repeal Bush’s major first-term cuts, they oppose legislation making the tax cuts permanent.

First, this isn’t President Bush making a “concrete promise”, it’s a request that Congress “act responsibly, and make the tax cuts permanent.” In fact, the Democrats actively oppose it. So how is that a broken promise of Bush’s?

Promise Not Kept: Passing the Line-Item Veto

In last year’s speech, Bush said, “I am pleased that members of Congress are working on earmark reform, because the federal budget has too many special-interest projects. And we can tackle this problem together, if you pass the line-item veto.”

Supporters of the presidential line-item veto power argue that it would serve to cut down on the process of slipping earmarks into spending bills. However, opponents argue the line-item veto would give the executive branch far-reaching powers over legislation created by elected representatives.

The House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 4890) on June 22, 2006, that would have given Bush a six-year line-item veto, and would have allowed him to strike spending and tax provisions from legislation without vetoing the bill.

However, a bipartisan group of senators opposed the measure, and the Senate never took up the House bill.

Again, Bush doesn’t “promise” anything, he just says the problem can be tackled if Congress passes the line-item veto… which Congress failed to do.

Promise Not Kept: Medical Liability Reform Legislation

Arguing that medical malpractice lawsuits drove good doctors out of business, President Bush urged Congress to pass medical liability reform.

The House passed a bill (H.R. 5) that would limit medical malpractice awards, setting a $250,000 limit. The House passed similar bills twice in the 108th Congress, but the measure repeatedly failed in the Senate to draw the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture or limit debate.

In 2006, Senate Republicans offered a new proposal capping liability damages at $750,000. They hoped that it would win them more support than previous bills. However, the measure failed in a vote in the Senate on May 8, 2006.

Again, no “promise” from Bush, just an urging of Congress to pass the reform. And again, a failure of Congress to pass the reform.

So what is the purpose of this “broken promises” article? To impugn the credibility of the President as he enters the chamber tonight to give the State of the Union speech. And thus, the MSM the story they wanted to cover.

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It’s the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and since the Left is so fond of body counts, try this one on for size: 46,000,000 per year

That’s the estimated number of abortions that occur each year around the world. That’s roughly 126,000 per day. A little over 5,000 every hour… or 87 per minute. 1.45 every second.

In the time it takes me to post this, another 500 lives will be terminated.

If that perspective isn’t enough for you “body count” lovers, compare these numbers to the following:

17,000,000 - Americans that die from Heart Disease each year
7,000,000 - Americans that die from Cancer each year
1,100,000 - American casualties in the 5 deadliest U.S. wars
40,000 - Americans die in car accidents annually
30,000 - Americans commit suicide each year
17,000 - Homicides committed each year

Add them all together and the total is still only about half the number of lives terminated through abortion each year. It’s amazing that we spend so much time, effort and money researching cures for those things that terminate life… while an entire segment of the population rallies against a known cure for one thing that ends more lives than most anything else on earth.

Of course, it’s worth noting that every single person that rallies in support of abortion… is someone who’s never been a victim of it.

Get ready for two weeks of firstblackmania. The hype began when the Bears won yesterday and turned into a Category 5 storm when the Colts came from behind to beat the Patriots. Now, instead of focusing on the skill, talent and impressive work ethic of two head coaches… we get to focus on their skin color.

I guess that whole “judge a man by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin” is nothing but a catchy slogan. Why is it always those that complain about discrimination and racism are always the first to highlight race as an issue? Even when it’s completely irrelevant?

That would be like focusing on Dave Wannstedt’s hairlip if the Dolphins went to the Super Bowl. Or hyping the first bald coach or the first overweight coach to lead a team to the Super Bowl.

Focusing on their skin color does not serve them justice. Basically, it’s as if they’re saying, “These coaches have talent, even though they’re black.” It’s patronizing.

I do see a positive side to this hype, though. Given that those who are promoting the idea that it’s justified to focus on their skin color by pointing to all the injustices they’ve had to overcome just reinforces my position that programs like affirmative action are long past their expiration date. Think about it. If the hype is justified because of historical obstacles, then what does it say when these two men have proven that skill, talent, hard work, dedication and persistence can get a man of any color to the pinnacle of sports coaching, even in spite of such perceived obstacles?

Imagine how much more united we’d be if those who claim racism divides us would just stop practicing it themselves…

I finally realized it this morning. After seeing the flurry of news activity surrounding Hillary Clinton’s announcement that she’s forming an exploratory committee, it finally hit me. I’m tired of politics. I’m tired of it because our current political system has become nothing more than a series of campaigns. It’s no wonder Congress doesn’t get anything done. Not only do they not work a full work week like the rest of us (despite getting paid 2, 3 or 10 times more than their constituents), but they spend more time raising money and campaigning for the next election than they do legislating.

Look at Hillary. Here she is 16 days after starting her term as a U.S. Senator and already she’s focusing on another job. Imagine if the average American started openly seeking a new job 3 weeks after being hired.

Remember in 2000 when Hillary promised New Yorkers she would serve out her full six-year term as Senator?

“I am intent upon being the best senator that I can be. That is what I want to do,” Clinton said.

Clinton said she had promised New York voters she would serve out the full six-year term and that she intended to keep that vow. That was “as definitive as I can get.”

I guess this time she’s not promising to be the best senator she can be…

No, instead of governing and actually addressing the problems of this country, we get politicians trying to buy votes on promises of fixing things they never really intend to fix. Think about it. What would happen if Congress actually tackled the issues around broken systems like Social Security, Welfare and Taxes. They would no longer have tools by which they could pit one part of the country against the other for purposes of securing votes.

And here we are 22 months away from the next Presidential election and all I hear, see or read in the news, besides missing pretty girl stories, is about the 2008 election. They have to start even earlier this time to raise the multimillions of dollars they’ll need, to disseminate the promises they don’t intend to keep to voters they don’t care about once their votes have been cast.

The day after election day last Fall, I posted my suggestions to reform our political system. I’ll repost them here:

1. Start with term limits. End politics-as-a-career.

2. Reduce Congressional salaries to no more than the average salary from your district. You want higher pay? Work hard to help your district raise its income.

3. Enact legislation on yourself before making America endure it. If you can tolerate your own legislation being imposed on you for at least 2 years, then we might consider it worthy legislation. If you can’t tolerate it, why would you think we would?

4. Find a way to fix the voting systems. You have 2 years before the next major election. You have no excuses. Restore confidence in our electoral system so we don’t endure long, drawn out recounts, tiresome litigation and questions surrounding the validity of results.

The final line of that post was made in jest… but today actually drives my point home:

Now, get moving. You only have a few minutes before the next campaign season starts.

Sad, but true.