John Wohlstetter Discusses “Sleepwalking Towards Armageddon” Tonight on Political Pistachio Radio

Two-time guest on the Political Pistachio Radio Revolution, John C. Wohlstetter, is a Senior Fellow for Technology and Society at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute. As a Washington DC attorney, whose corporate career in telecommunications spanned 22 years, he became a Senior Fellow for the Discovery Institute in April of 2001. Wohlstetter’s education includes degrees from the University of Miami, the Fordham University School of Law, and George Washington University.

John Wohlstetter publishes an online newsletter, “Bandwidth,” for Discovery, focusing on telecommunications and also on national security implications of information technology. He has published online and in print for The American Spectator, and also for National Review Online, on subjects ranging from telecommunications to space policy and national security.

September 30, 2009, John gave a speech in Seattle, entitled “Nuclear Arms: Sleepwalking Towards Armageddon”. The talk covered the history of the nuclear age, as well as illustrating the problems of nuclear proliferation & arms control.

His notes on the presentation can be found on his blog, as well as the link to the speech.

Letter From The Capitol – Nuclear Arms: Sleepwalking Towards Armageddon

Tonight during the second half of the Political Pistachio Radio Revolution, John joins us to discuss the presentation. Join the program live tonight at 7pm Pacific, or catch the archive later, at BlogTalkRadio.com/PoliticalPistachio.

Kamal Saleem, The Blood of Lambs, Story of a Former Terrorist

Saturday, June 13, 2009 Kamal Saleem: Former Muslim and Founder of Koome Ministries Joins Political Pistachio From Kamal Saleem’s Bio: Kamal Saleem was born to a large Sunni Muslim family in the heart of the Middle East. Kamal was recruited by the Muslim Brotherhood at a very early age and completed his first mission to Israel at the age of seven. After several years, in his late teens, Kamal was also recruited by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and other radical Muslim groups. The many years of his terrorist training resulted in Kamal mastering every form of offensive and defensive terrorist tactics. Kamal left his family and home in the Middle East as a young man to enter his mission field: the United States. He brought with him a tremendous passion to convert as many Christians and Jews as possible for the glory of Allah. He implemented his plan, and converted many people to Islam. Radical Islam is the most clear and present danger to both Christians and Jews in the world as we know it today. In 1985, Kamal’s world turned upside down when he was seriously injured in an automobile accident. A Christian man tended to Kamal at the accident scene, making sure he got the medical treatment he needed. Kamal’s orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist were also Christian men whom over a period of several months ministered the unconditional love of Jesus Christ to him as he recovered. The love and sacrificial giving of these men caused Kamal to cry out to God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob acknowledging his need for a Savior. Kamal has since become a man on a new mission, as an ambassador for the one true and living God, the great I Am, Jehovah God of the Bible. Kamal has tremendous insight into today’s world situation and a wealth of knowledge concerning the true culture and agenda of Islam. He is well versed in both the Koran and the Holy Bible. He believes radical Islam is the most clear and present danger to both Christians and Jews in the world, as we know it today. Kamal carries a message from God to awaken the church through the truth, education, and relationships. Kamal and his wife have been married for sixteen years. They have three children and five grandchildren. Eight years ago, his local church ordained Kamal as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He currently teaches and speaks worldwide in churches, Jewish synagogues, Muslim communities, universities and high schools. He has also appeared worldwide on radio and television programs. The United States and Western Europe have recently been confronted with a reality that is quite honestly foreign. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions. Although the religion itself has been around for over 1400 years, its impacts worldwide has only just begun. We, as the Christian community, have very little understanding of what is commonplace to over 1.2 billion people. The Muslim community and its new found foothold in popular culture have inundated our culture, our media, and our universities. Christianity, as a community and a culture, has just now begun the difficult journey of understanding the people, the faith, and the history of a worldview that sees almost one-fifth of the world population dedicated to its teachings. When you hear Kamal Saleem speak, you will discover an individual who lived a life far different from what is stereotypically found in Western culture. Growing up in a Muslim country in a Muslim home, Kamal was raised in an environment we could not begin to understand. Motivated by his Muslim family teaching, Kamal entered an underground war at the age of seven, then moved to Western Europe and eventually to the United States to teach and convert Christians and Jews to the Islamic faith. While on his journey, Kamal found what his soul always longed for from the ONE he had so vehemently opposed. Tonight, Kamal Saleem is my guest on the Political Pistachio Radio Revolution. The show airs live at 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern, or you can listen to the archive later, HERE.

Alan Keyes to be Arrested at Notre Dame, Again

Alan Keyes To Be Arrested At Notre Dame

Dr. Keyes Grants Douglas V. Gibbs First Interview After Being Released From Jail Saturday

Dr. Alan Keyes is a multiple Republican and Independent Presidential Candidate, a two time Republican U.S. Senate Candidate in Maryland, and a former Illinois U.S. Senate Candidate that ran against Barack Obama for that seat. Alan Keyes is also a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, where he represented America’s sovereign interests in the U.N. General Assembly, under Ronald Reagan. He spent 11 years with the U.S. State Department, is a former Assistant Secretary of State, served in the U.S. Foreign Service, and was on the staff of the National Security Council before becoming Ronald Reagan’s Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations. He was President of Citizens Against Government Waste from 1989 to 1991, and is the founder of National Taxpayers’ Action Day.

Alan Keyes is a genuine conservative whose political views are based on America’s founding ideals, including the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. He is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-traditional marriage, without compromise. He is currently active in the nationwide debate regarding America’s moral crisis.

With a Ph.D. in government from Harvard, his dissertation was on constitutional theory. He served as Interim President of Alabama A&M University in 1991. He speaks French, and has studied three other languages, including ancient Greek.

Keye’s well-known criticism of Barack Obama includes declaring that the Obama Democrats are attempting to change our form of government into a Marxist System that denies freedoms to the people, and gives full control of the nation to a tyrannical government.

Last week Dr. Alan Keyes and 21 other protesters were arrested on the Notre Dame University campus for trespassing. They were there to protest Notre Dame’s decision to let the pro-abortion President of the United States speak at the commencement this coming weekend, May 17. Notre Dame is a Catholic University, and the Catholic Pope has proclaimed the Catholic Church to be pro-life.

This upcoming Friday Alan Keyes is expecting to be arrested again while protesting on Notre Dame’s campus. He will once again be protesting the fact that abortion supporter President Barack Obama is going to be at Notre Dame University in Indiana to receive an honorary doctorate at Catholic Notre Dame’s graduation, and to give a commencement address. Dr. Keyes sees this as a betrayal of the babies by Notre Dame, and intends to lift up the standard that protects the life of innocent children.

The following evening Dr. Alan Keyes should be safely back in his hotel room, awaiting my phone call. At 10:00 pm Saturday Evening, May 16, the Political Pistachio Radio Revolution is scheduled to be the first show of any kind or radio or television to interview Dr. Alan Keyes after he is released from jail. You may tune into the show on Blog Talk Radio for this important interview HERE.

Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Alan Keyes among 22 arrested at Notre Dame – Chicago Breaking News Center

Obama’s Notre Dame Visit Is Still Drawing Criticism – New York Times

Alan Keyes Arrested at Notre Dame – Catholic Family News

Thanking Mom on Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day, 2009. I am the eldest of 3. I married my high school sweetheart 25 years ago, and despite the rough twenty years that began our marriage, in the last five years we have reached a level of happiness as a couple that cannot be explained in a simple blog post.

As the father of two, and the grandfather of two, hindsight is twenty-twenty. I now look at my parents with a set of eyes I did not possess when I was younger. Mom, after a very short marriage to my biological father, married a man that had just finished a tour in Vietnam as a United States Marine. He is technically my step-dad, but he will forever be “Dad.”

Mom was an only child, and he was the fourth of eight kids. She grew up in a nearly typical suburban setting without brothers or sisters to fight with, while he spent a lot of time as a child on a dairy farm in Arkansas, and part of his life bouncing around suburban areas in California, nearly as if he was chasing mom during his childhood, meanwhile fighting daily with his siblings. They seemed like an unlikely couple, and sometimes they were. It was mom, though, that always held things together.

Dad worked hard, showing his love through his dedication to provide for the family. Often, that is how men show their love. Mom stayed at home, and though at the time I considered her limited (since my eyes were not as wise and understanding as they are now), I never realized she was more of a mother than I could ever realize.

Dad often worked long hours, sometimes more than one job, and his day always ended with his head slumped back (mouth open) while he slept in the recliner chair in front of the television. His daily labor provided food on the table, and the slow progression from apartment living in rough neighborhoods to a modest home in an outlying suburban area just south of Corona.

Mom was always there for homework, baseball games (practically the team mom every time, even if she wasn’t technically the team mom), cross-country meets, and prayer. Every Sunday she ensured we were in church, even if dad preferred to stay home and dicker around the house, or watch the NFL. She bought us Bibles, took us to school, and hosted slumber parties full of rowdy friends from school. She was a referee when us kids began to fight, a detective when nobody owned up to bad behavior, and a chef when we were all hungry. He disciplined us, and she warned us she’d tell him of our misbehavior if we didn’t straighten up. Dad rarely had a chance to sit and relax, until he hit the recliner at night, and mom rarely stopped cleaning, mixing Kool-aid, telling us kids to clean our rooms, and cooking to keep the home his castle.

As I grew up in that household, I watched mom with untrained and immature eyes. Not realizing the error of my understanding, I always wondered why mom didn’t get a job to help dad pay for things. Most of my friends had moms that worked, and it seemed strange that my mom expected my dad to pay for everything. I saw how much he sacrificed to take care of his family, and mom not only didn’t work, but sometimes it seemed like her emotions were always getting the best of her. He provided a great example for me to emulate, but I sometimes wished mom had a little more on the ball when it came to being a part of the big wide world. Her lack of willingness to participate in an ever-changing world that included working moms concerned me. I almost began to resent her, a little, for making the poor man work so hard, while contributing so little to the financial well-being of the family. Sure, she was dependable at home, there for us at all times, and she was the main reason we went to church, but from an economic point of view, I foolishly sometimes saw her more as a hindrance, than anything.

I married at 18, and my wife was a working girl, even if it was a job at a fast food restaurant. I appreciated the help as we began our lives together relatively poor, living in a difficult neighborhood, and struggling just to put food on the table. Because of our schedules we often saw each other rarely, and as a Navy man, when sea-time came, sometimes I would not see her for months at a time. But, we were both working, both contributing, and both happy with our careers of the moment.

My wife was not necessarily a feminist, but I suppose she was about as close as you could get to becoming one without actually being one. However, as she realized our son was needing her more and more, and it broke her heart having him babysat all the time, even if the folks watching him were trusted family and friends, she eventually asked me if she could stop working. At first I was bothered by the request. Was she trying to be more like my mom? Did she not wish to contribute to the economic stability of our family anymore?

I agreed to allow her to quit working, and immediately the changes in our lives became apparent. Our son was happier, now that mom was home, and I began to enjoy a cleaner home and the occasional meal on the table when I got home from a long day at work. Eventually, she got to the point where she was up with me in the early morning hours, making me breakfast and packing me a lunch. It was difficult becoming the sole bread winner, but her contribution to making my life easier as I worked my fingers to the bone to provide, was greatly appreciated.

It wasn’t until many years of marriage passed when I finally stopped and began to analyze my childhood. I looked back at my mom, viewing her in a different light than I had before. Dad wasn’t sacrificing as I assumed, because he actually wanted to provide for his family, and he did it by putting his best foot forward in every job he held. Mom, happy to do for him, made sure that none of us kids had to sacrifice anything. She made breakfast, packed lunches, and had dinner hot on the table when dad walked in the door. And her emotions were not as debilitating as I thought. After all, her tears she sometimes shed were not of anger, but of love, and sometimes frustration, as life changed, and her babies were babies no longer. It must have been difficult watching the children she had poured so much love and time into grow up, replace her with a spouse, and leave without really giving her a proper goodbye.

Mom provided us with faith-based foundations that included lessons in values, standards, and love. Her strength made childhood easy, and looking back I realize she was a much stronger person than I ever was willing to admit. In fact, to my surprise, I realized that she was the rock of the family. Mom was the one that could always be depended on. Her love and support was like clockwork. Her faith and love a solid foundation for a family that needed her dearly.

My folks are still married, and now for all those years of being there for him, Dad is doing more for her in the form of adding to the house, and buying her the nice things she could never have while kids were running wildly around through the house.

Now, as I watch my wife, and her growth as a wife and a mother, I realize that she has given me the same gift my mom gave Dad. She is always there for me, providing a home, rather than simply a house, and doing for me in ways that I never dreamed she would. We have become friends, cherished lovers, and dependable servants to each other – and it has made our marriage stronger. I no longer expect her to do anything, and in response, she does everything – just as mom did for dad. In response, it makes me want to provide all I can for her, to be a better man, to make her life as enjoyable as I can.

And I think I appreciate my wife more, as I look back at my childhood, because of mom. It was because mom provided an example of what a mom and a wife ought to be, that I recognize how wonderful of a mother and wife my wife has become. And it is because of mom instilling morals, values, and the love of God in me that I am able to truly appreciate all that my wife has become.

Thanks mom, for your courage, caring, and love. Thanks for being a cook, nurse, referee, detective, and cleaning lady. Thanks for scolding me, loving me, cheering me on, and telling dad when I went too far with my mischief. And thanks to my lovely wife, too, for continuing the example of what a mom ought to be. My love for these two women in my life is boundless, and I cannot thank either of them enough, other than to say it is because of them that my life is truly blessed.

Thank you, and Happy Mother’s Day.

“She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.”

(Proverbs 31:27-31)

GPS Census Front Doorway

Census Bureau Shooting GPS Coordinates On Your Front Door

Why is the United States Government using the Census Bureau to shoot GPS coordinates on your front door? After all, they already have GPS coordinates for your house. That is how programs like Google Earth works.

But your front door?

Why do they need electronic directions to your front door?

Jane Lesko joins Political Pistachio Radio tonight to discuss this topic. Join us live at 7pm Pacific, or on archive later, HERE

Easter Message

The Message of Easter

Happy Easter.

Interestingly, after seeing the cover of Newsweek proclaiming this is no longer a Christian nation, I read an article in my local newspaper today that said two-thirds of Americans are planning on attending church services this Easter. That’s a lot of people who are basically supposed to be abandoning Christianity, if you believe Newsweek.

Easter is one of those holidays that everyone enjoys. The kids love the egg hunts and candy, but Easter is not necessarily about bunnies or colored eggs. Easter is about the Resurrection of Jesus. Specifically, the holiday is about Jesus being crucified and risen again from the dead.

I realize that in these troubled times it is sometimes difficult to keep our eyes on the Lord. Easter, however, is one of those days out of the year that many folks who would not normally look to Christ decide to come to church and worship Him. Some folks are full of faith, and are regular attenders, and that is great as well. But for everyone, Easter is an opportunity to remember His sacrifice.

Today I am looking forward to joining my family and friends in celebration of the gift the Lord has given us. Afterward, we are going to congregate at my mom’s house for a special meal, and an opportunity to spend time with some members of my family that I don’t get to see very often.

For some folks, Easter may be a very different story for them. Easter might simply be a reminder, like Christmas, of someone who is no longer with them. And with every year that passes, these lost loved ones are remembered and missed. So, for some, because of this, Easter can be a bittersweet day.

Death can seem cruel and harsh. And to be honest, I believe that is exactly how the disciples felt when they saw the beaten, bloodied body of Jesus hanging on a Roman cross on Calvary. Jesus had been betrayed by one of their own, Peter had denied Him three times, and then, in addition to the crucifixion, a Roman soldier thrust his spear into Jesus Christ’s side, and out of it came blood and water.

When the beating heart of Jesus Christ ceased its activity the disciples felt it was over. They assumed that death was the end of Christ.

Imagine the surprise of the disciples when they found an angel waiting for them with good news. The angel said, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” (Mark 16:6 NKJV).

They thought He was dead, yet this angel had proclaimed He Lived.

Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection means that we as believers do not have to be afraid of death. It can be hard for us to accept that our bodies are wearing out, and that death is on the horizon. However, the Bible says we will have new bodies one day. “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:23 KJV).

You see, our bodies are not who we are. They are simply rotting shells. The real me is my soul, my spirit. Our bodies will eventually give up and die, but my soul will live on.

He is the resurrection and the life, and if we believe in Him, though we were dead, yet shall we live.

Happy Easter, and God Bless.

Obama and the Special Olympics, DVDs

Obama’s False Image

In Obama’s dream world he is articulate, suave, masterful, intellectual, and can turn rain into sunshine. His flock of followers swoon in his presence. Two town hall meetings in Los Angeles and nearby Orange County distributed tickets for the meetings within 90 minutes to the ravenous crowd – some people camping out a couple days in order to be in line early enough to score these precious golden tickets. Barry is the first sitting president to be interviewed on a late night television show, last night appearing on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. Barack Obama is a rockstar, messiah, and president all rolled into one to these people. He can do no wrong, especially when compared to those idiots George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. Right?

Unfortunately, for those few folks that are still rabid believers out there that have lost all objectivity when it comes to President Obama, he is more like a professional wrestler than a leader of the free world. His public persona is a false image generated by members of his staff, and a, to borrow a word from Bernie Goldberg, “slobbering” media. When his words are chosen carefully by his staff, and when he has somebody else’s words flashing in front of him on his teleprompter, usually Obama comes across as a smooth character. However, in his unguarded moments the true Obama emerges, and he becomes a gaffe machine, and an insensitive oaf. Of course, while campaigning, Obama’s numerous gaffes were never reported by his adoring press. They found ways to either bury the data, or avert the public’s attention to false accusations against Sarah Palin.

Success using these shameful tactics were easy for the mainstream media, after all, for they already had eight years experience demonizing George W. Bush. Of course they would never say anything that may be anything other than flattering about Barack Obama.

Case in point: Remember when Obama and crew gave the thoughtless gift of 25 DVDs to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown? Well, it turns out that not only was the gift thoughtless, but it is useless too. Obama and friends failed to realize that DVDs in America are considered Region 1, and only play on North American Video Players. Britain is region two. So, when Brown tried to play one of his new DVDs from Obama, they didn’t play.

Better still in showing Obama’s idiocy is his recent non-teleprompter moment on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show where he compared his sorry bowling game to the Special Olympics.

Well, so much for Obama being a brilliant academic. Time and time again he keeps on proving he’s a bigger idiot than the leftist media tried to make Bush and Palin look like.

Could you imagine if George W. Bush had done either of the above? The media would have had a field day with it. But Obama’s latest gaffe was on national television in front of a live audience, and not a peep. . . well, okay, a few peeps, but you know what I mean.

Oh, and if you missed it, here it is

Ironically, it is Down Syndrome Awareness Day tomorrow. And I am appalled that the Left criticized Palin for birthing little Trig because of his handicap, or that Obama would senselessly say such a thing as he did last night on television, and hardly get called on it. I taught at a school for the mentally retarded (as it was called back then) when I was much younger for a few years, and these kids were hardly anything but the neatest, most loving, enthusiastic people you’d ever meet.

Barack Obama, you should be ashamed of yourself – and your automatically generated apology from someone else’s mouth in the White House is hardly an acceptable enough apology.

Obama and Veteran Health Care

Obama’s About-Face on Veteran’s Issue

Earlier this week the blogosphere was on fire about how President Obama was going to require our heroes to pay for their treatment at Veteran’s Affairs facilities. In the face of the outcry, Obama has decided to drop the budget proposal requiring private insurance payments for the treatment of these military veterans.

Currently, however, the practice of requesting payment from private insurance companies is already in place. However, the insurance companies have the option to deny payment without as much as a peep from VA.

For those that proclaim that Veteran’s Affairs is a perfect example of universal health in action, they forget that the payment for that care was paid for by the service of these fine military veterans. Payment as been paid in blood, and it is the least the United States can do in return.

Obama’s actions of trying to demand payment for Veteran care, even after the payment in blood paid by our fine military men and women show me how little respect he has for our heroes. How could any sitting president make such a demand unless he had little or no respect for the service provided by these military heroes?

Obama’s decision to rescind his decision came shortly after heads of Veteran Service Organizations met White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel voicing their concerns. President Obama scrapped the plan while he was on Air Force One heading to California to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Obama Teleprompt Blunder

Sky News is reporting that President Obama, not realizing that he was reading Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen’s line on the teleprompter, thanked himself for his presence and speech.

This followed the Prime Minister’s own teleprompter mistake when he began to read a part of Obama’s speech.

I have a simple question for inquiring minds: If someone snuck in the words, “We’re screwed, and I’m an idiot” on a teleprompter, is Obama so teleprompter dependent that he would read the words first before realizing what he said?

Just a thought.

AIG Bonus Bonanza

AIG Bonus Bonanza As President Barack Obama readies himself for appearances in California, and an appearance on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, he is quite upset over the AIG bonuses being handed out – almost to the point of it being a temper-tantrum. He, and Chris Dodd, and I suppose the rest of the Liberal Little Rascals, regardless of contractual terms, and a little thing called The Dodd Amendment, have vowed to put into action plans to try and stop the sinister bonus plans of the evil Darth AIG. Never you mind that the contract for these bonuses was agreed upon long before any government bailout began to take shape. Do you think these guys in line to receive these bonuses are a little upset at the uproar from Washington D.C.? Of course they are. But what did they expect would happen when the government bailed out AIG, and basically stuck their long nailed claws into the workings of the failing company? Fact is, if you receive government money for anything, and that goes for you folks out there in internet land, as well, it opens up the opportunity for the government to dictate the terms of your business, or your lives, or your health care, or whatever it is they placed dollar signs into. The AIG bonuses are essentially retention pay, paid to the executives in an effort to convince the talent not to jump ship when the vessel begins to list, or even if it gets nowhere near an iceberg, or endangers a swimming polar bear, but desires to hang on to the talent executives anyhow. Had the all-powerful, Obamacized, Government just let AIG fail like any other poorly run business, the contracts under bankruptcy law would be void, the rats would have jumped overboard, and the world would be without one more failed, and poorly managed, business entity. All-knowing liberal bureaucrats, however, are convinced that if AIG fails, we are heading headlong into another great depression. After all, they will argue, AIG is interwoven into the entire financial market, and their failure would initiate a domino-effect that would topple financial institution after financial institution, shoving us over a high cliff and into the deep chasm of a horrendous depression that only Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s reincarnation, The Great and Powerful Ozbama, could possibly pull us out of. I was a banker for four years, and a financial agent for two years. I experienced the Savings and Loan debacle. The entire Savings and Loan Industry collapsed, and we didn’t wind up in a severe depression. We had a short slow down, and then years of prosperity because the “losers” of the financial world were out of the way so that successful entities could grow and prosper in their place. Failed businesses are like sick Caribou that limp along and slow down the herd. The healthy caribou don’t help them along, or slow down for them. They let them fall, let the wolves eat them, and then the strong, up and coming businesses (err, uh, animals) strengthen the herd. What is really interesting about this is how “suddenly” the Democrats are up in arms over this, like it is some kind of surprise. The reality is that the Democrats knew all along that these bonuses were coming. These bonuses were the whole reason for The Dodd Amendment which, in the stimulus bill, allows all bonuses contractually agreed upon before February 11 to be awarded. And, of course, AIG is one of the main reasons for that amendment. Senator Chris Dodd, after all, is the largest single recipient of 2008 campaign donations from AIG, along with other politicians, including, but not limited to, Barack Obama, the all-so moderate John McCain, and Hillary Clinton. Now that these bonuses has surfaced, however, the uproar is more than the Democrats expected, so to cover their butts, and probably also to deflect attention away from Obama’s injection of socialism into America, they are acting as if they are angered and appalled by the very audacity of AIG’s executive’s greed. After all, the Democrats don’t need any more bad publicity, right? Maybe they are just too stupid to eliminate “mark to market” rules, which will enable some immediate economic growth (of course if they do relax the “mark to market” rules, the temporary jolt to the economy will be proclaimed far and wide as being the result of Obama’s brilliant policies – then the whole thing will slump again because of a lack of incentive to invest). Or perhaps they refuse to recognize historical facts like how in 1938 the U.S. unemployment rate was 19%, while the rest of the world (which wasn’t pumping government money into the problem like FDR was) was at 11%. Presidents Harding and Coolidge met with a recession and cut taxes while cutting federal spending, resulting in the boom years of the 1920’s. Hoover, a big spender and tax hiker (despite the “R” after his name) led us into the Great Depression with his policies (and the assistance of the unconstitutional Federal Reserve Bank), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt worsened it with his socialist programs and “tax and spend” policies. In the end, Obama’s policies will actually prolong this economic downturn, followed by a number of relapses with the introduction of each new “stimulus” package. Throwing stimulus plans at the depression in the 1930’s didn’t help, and they won’t help today. As for that Obama temper tantrum over the AIG Bonus Bonanza? He’s just trying to throw the watch dogs off the scent. And Obama and his ilk will do what they do best to get that bonus money back – they will tax it and tax it and tax it some more. Take that, you wealthy people. Now, where is that next townhall meeting or television appearance for Obama? Jeez, he’s trying to be a rock star, and the duties (though ill-performed) of the presidency keeps distracting him.