Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 7:18pm

Why Obama Wants Democrats to Lose in November

One word:  re-election.  I know it sounds ridiculous and unbelievable to some, but President Obama does not want the Democrats to retain the House or Senate this November.  It all comes down to his bid for re-election in 2012. Quite simply:  Obama wants to run against a Republican Congress in 2012.  He needs to be able to point at someone else and blame them for his shortcomings as a leader.  Right now, he can’t do that.  If he points across the street to Capitol Hill he’s pointing directly at his Democratic brethren in the House and Senate.  Think about Bill Clinton in 1996, he had Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to demonize.  Obama needs an enemy–although he’s still trying…

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 7:37pm

The Passing of Two Yankees Legends

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Culture, Current Events, Media

A terrific piece from the NRO’s Daniel Foster on the passing of George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard, the legendary voice of the New York Yankees from 1951 – 2007.

It has been a tough week for the Yankee faithful.  First, legendary Stadium announcer Bob “the Voice of God” Sheppard passed over the weekend (I’ll always remember his wonderful palindromes:  ”Now batting, numbah 2, the shortstop, Derek Jee-tuh, the shortstop, numbah 2, now batting.”).  And now the news that The Boss, George Steinbrenner, has died at age 80.

That’s exactly how Sheppard used to introduce the players.  Here’s a great tribute.  I went to my first Yankee game in 1989.  I can’t say that I remember his voice that very first game;…

Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 12:15am

For the Obama Administration, the Rule of Law is Malleable (Very Malleable)

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Politics, Current Events

The Obama administration is going to sue Arizona for enforcing federal immigration law but they won’t prosecute these guys for voter intimidation? Really? It’s decisions like these that tell you everything you need to know about this administration and how they view the rule of law.

Monday, July 5th, 2010 at 10:18am

Steele’s Failed Critique Highlights Division Among Conservatives on War Strategy

In 2006, I was really pulling for Michael Steele in his battle to win a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland. Unfortunately, Ben Cardin won and Steele wound up running the Republican National Committee. Steele’s odd remarks about the war in Afghanistan have led to a growing number of calls for his resignation among prominent conservatives. The war in Afghanistan was definitely not a war of President Barack Obama’s choosing, as Steele suggested in his remarks at a Connecticut fundraiser. This factual inaccuracy made the rest of Steele’s comments seem off-the-wall, but it appears as though he was trying to challenge the president’s strategy for prosecuting the war. He just failed miserably:

Well if he’s such a…

Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 2:45pm

Don’t Be Facebook Friends with a Spy

It appears as though accused Russian spy Mikhail Semenko was an active social networker.  Semenko and his comrades are a case study in espionage 2.0.  He had accounts on LinkedIn and Facebook.  He even ran a blog on the Chinese economy.  What are the lessons here?  Well, first, you should know who you’re connected to on these social networking  sites.  A Facebook news feed could have been a great source of intelligence for Semenko, if he was friends with the right people–say, a congressman on the right committee who posts a little too much on his Facebook account or even a mid-level civil servant working in a sensitive national security position.  It seems hard to believe, but…

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 2:39pm

Red Dawn Remake with People’s Liberation Army!

So it looks like the classic 1984 war film Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayzee and Charlie Sheen, is being remade.  This time, though, the Chinese will be the invaders.  If you haven’t seen the original, you should definitely check it out. Red Dawn was listed as #15 on National Review Online’s list of the Best Conservative Movies.

I’m really fired up for this film.  While I’ll miss Swayzee and Sheen, I have high hopes for Connor Cruise, Tom Cruise’s son. More specifically, though, I’m glad that China’s growing military power is starting to get some attention in the popular media. Defense analysts and a handful of policymakers have been watching China’s…

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 1:45pm

Breaking News: Obama Accepts McChrystal’s Resignation, Petraeus Named as Replacement

It’s not too surprising that this is how it ended up.  Obama, who is already perceived as a weak and indecisive leader by many, would have lost pretty much all credibility as a serious leader had he not relieved McChrystal.  Gen. David Petraeus is currently the Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and oversees the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.  So this is a bit of a peculiar arrangement.

A friend just e-mailed me with the following comment, “one 2012 rival out of the way…”

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 7:28am

National Energy Tax Bill

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Politics, Current Events, Economy

From Politico:

Senate authors of a controversial climate change bill heralded EPA modeling results unveiled Tuesday as proof that their plan would have a limited pinch on Americans’ pocketbooks.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) found many reasons to gloat after getting the 74-page study that showed the overall costs from their legislation’s major global warming provisions would cost an average household between $80 to $150 per year.

“There’ll be some people who will want to demagogue that politically, but that’s less than $1 a day,” Lieberman told reporters. “Is the American household willing to pay less than $1 so we don’t have to buy oil from foreign countries, so we can create millions of new jobs, so we…

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 6:28pm

Two Things the President Shouldn’t Do Tonight

I don’t anticipate that the White House will take my advice, but here’s two things President Obama shouldn’t do tonight in his address to the nation.

  1. Blame BP and Big Oil.  Good leaders focus 80% of their time on the solution and 20% on the problem.  People want to hear about solutions tonight.  They want to hear that the government has relaxed the necessary regulations to ensure a speedier cleanup and resolution to the problem.  Blaming BP and Big Oil will score the president points with the Sierra Club crowd, but that’s about it.  No one wants to hear excuses or listen to the president of the United States point fingers–just what he’s doing to address the problem.
  2. Push a new cap…
Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 9:19am

Five Options for Dealing with Iran

It appears to be just a matter of time before Iran possesses an operational nuclear weapons capability.  While the United Nations Security Council recently passed its fourth round of sanctions against Iran, if history is any guide, it is unlikely that this sanctions package will be any more effective than the previous three.  Each of these sanctions packages have failed to achieve their stated objective of stopping Iran’s production of nuclear fuel.  The options for stopping Iran are dwindling–as is time.  There are, in fact, no attractive options for U.S. policymakers.  These include:  (1) accept a nuclear-armed Iran, (2) continue with sanctions, (3) support an Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons complex, (4) launch a U.S.-led military strike…

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