by Alex Gimarc                                Mon., October 12, 2009

Interesting Items 10/12 –

Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –

In this issue:

1. Nobel
2. Olympics
3. Arpaio
4. La Chihuahua
5. FTC vs Bloggers
6. Baucus

1. Nobel. President Chauncey Gardner, oops, I mean Barack Hussein Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for the efforts of his administration toward world peace (whirled peas?) last Friday. Nominations for the award were due to the Norwegians administering the process a mere 12 days after he was sworn in as president. It may be just me, but I truly don’t remember anything he did those first couple weeks other than starting the first of his string of continuous apologies to foreign nations for the past sins committed by the United States in pursuit of its own self interest. The prize appears to be an attempt by the Europeans to sway Obama’s decision to commit the requested 40,000 additional troops into Afghanistan. Then again, it may very well end up being political cover for Obama’s expected decision to lose that war. Either way, it provides a wonderful point counterpoint for anti-incumbent political ads next election season, as Joe Trippi noted that conservatives would now be using the basic message that Obama got his Nobel while the rest of us got pink slips. This award has a lot more to do with the Norwegians, who do not like American presidents flexing their international muscle than anything Obama has or has not done. For the two recent presidents, Reagan and Bush 43, who between them liberated over 150 million from tyranny, are still and were always reviled and ignored by the Nobel Peace committee.

2. Olympics. President Obama took his wife, a cast of thousands, and assorted sycophants from the State Run Media to Copenhagen little over a week ago to do the final lobbying effort to get Chicago selected for the 2016 Olympiad. Normally, one does not play the presidential prestige card behind any international agreement – expected or otherwise – before all the negotiators have come up with an agreement. In this case, both Obama and his wife Michelle gave speeches literally dripping with condescending, whiney victimhood to the committee. As a result of the speeches, Chicago was the first city voted out of the competition. Most on the right have painted this as simple overreaching and incompetence. However, Obama’s WH is filled with serious players from the left. Surely they ALL cannot be exempt from knowledge that protecting the Office of the President is one of the primary tasks they are charged with. I read at least one place that believes that Obama only made the trip to Copenhagen knowing that Chicago was going to be selected and was double-crossed. The writer believes that the Clintons, both of which have pretty decent international stroke, pulled in a number of chits and pulled the rug from underneath Obama before the meeting was held. At a minimum, this fiasco, whether self induced or committed by the Clintons, undermines the Office of the President of the United States, and serves to make this world just a little bit more dangerous for all of us.

3. Arpaio. The war between former AZ Governor and current DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio heated up another notch last week when DHS stripped him of the ability to arrest and detain suspected illegals based on their immigration status alone. Arpaio has been the target of pro-immigration groups in Arizona for years. Today, that includes the local paper that did a “Pulitzer Prize winning” series on his abuse of his discretionary authority and wasting of public monies during the past several years. Eric Holder’s (In)Justice Department is also investigating him on profiling charges. Apparently trying to find, arrest and deport illegals is somehow a racial thing to the current administration. Expect the Obama administration and the local media to keep coming after him in the months and years to come. Expect him to continue to be elected with huge majorities in the years to come. Why? Because he is effective.

4. La Chihuahua. Last Monday, newly confirmed SCOTUS Justice Sonia “Wise Latina” Sotomayor sat through the first session of public arguments before the SCOTUS. During the 60-minutes allotted for oral arguments, Sotomayor went motor mouth, asking over 30 questions, hogging all the time. Dr. Jack Wheeler reported that the Chief Justice is soliciting suggestions on how to politely (or not so politely) shut her up). One of the other Justices has dubbed her “La Chihuahua” – which has two meanings: One being a small, yappy dog; and the other as an east coast street vendor product made up of a hot dog wrapped in a tortilla. The only good thing about this lady is that it is going to make it just that much harder to confirm the next Obama judicial appointee.

5. FTC vs Bloggers. The Federal Trade Commission announced a new set of rules regarding product endorsements. The new set of rules covers bloggers, celebrity endorsements, and will require more explicit, complete disclosure of compensation for any mention of any product or service in a blog. The FTC vote was unanimous. It is not immediately obvious how the new rules apply to the State Run Media – meaning that it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the new rules are intended as a vehicle for the FTC to get into the business of regulating blog and other online content using product endorsements as a simple cover for their unconstitutional intrusion into free speech online. The new guidelines appear to also target word of mouth ads. As Ed Morrissey in Hot air noted Tues:

Where does the FTC’s jurisdiction end?  If I get a free tube of toothpaste in the mail and say nice things about it on Twitter, Facebook, or in a PTA meeting, do I have to disclose it as a freebie or pay the $11,000 fine the FTC imposes?  What kind of disclosure can one fit into a 140-character Twitter message, anyway?

This is precisely the sort of intrusive, paternalistic nanny state garbage that we have come to expect from a federal government that has grown too large, too intrusive, and too unconstitutional in its actions over the last century. It may be time to shut down the FTC and roll that power and authority back to the many states.

6. Baucus. As I noted last week, the Baucus version of ObamaCare continues to make its way (such as it is) through the legislative process (such as it is). Unfortunately, this legislation as a written document does not exist. And because it does not exist, it has not been released to any single member of congress outside the few that are creating this vile piece of fascist legislation. The democrat majority on Baucus’ senate committee has repeatedly voted down Republican attempts to get the legislation released for public review 72 hours before the vote in the senate. Note that Baucus is carrying Harry Reid’s (D, NV) and Nancy Pelosi’s (D, SF) water on this legislation, unconstitutionally originating taxation legislation (and this legislation is essentially a tax) in the senate. As of weeks’ end the State Run Media was starting to pump up puff piece news stories about the newly revised legislation arising from the political ash heap and getting in line for passage over the next few weeks. They even touted a CBO review of the nonexistent legislation showing it would save billions. It appears that the CBO has been sufficiently browbeaten to the extent that it no longer accurately or honestly reviews legislation. The key vote on this legislation will be a cloture vote on the floor of the senate late this week or sometime next week. Expect the so-called Blue Dog democrat senators, like Mark Begich (D, AK), to vote for cloture, where they need 60 votes, so that the legislation can then be passed by 50+1 votes and sent to the House. Should it leave the House unchanged, where the democrats have a nearly 80 seat majority, it will not need to go to conference, and Obama can sign it. The key vote in this fascist travesty will be the cloture vote in the senate. And it is coming fast.

More later –

           - AG

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.