Sarah Palin has established her position as a celebrity more so than a politician ever since the culmination of the Presidential campaign in 2008. She is publicly criticized for her every move, yet she is still able to maintain a massive crowd of supporters including nearly 1.5 million fans on Facebook.

Yet this past Saturday, Palin gave a speech in Calgary where she revealed a piece of her childhood to the Canadian natives. Until Palin was five years-old, she lived in an Alaskan town, Skagway, near the border of the Canadian city, Whitehorse. Palin said, “Believe it or not, we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse… isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada.”

That has to be one of the dumbest stories she has ever told in her entire life. Palin is utterly opposed to anything having to do with President Barack Obama’s health care bill, yet she received national health care from Canada as a child. Did she think if she told a group of Canadians, she could relate to them in a special way, and Americans would never find out?

Here’s the thing… that all happened in the 1960’s when she was in the care of her parents at a very young age. It would be a totally different story if she said, “My grandson had ’some little kid accident thing’ and we rushed him on a train over to Whitehorse for medical treatment.” The difference is how she was raised and how she lives her life now. Surely at the ripe age of 5 she didn’t have much say in where she received health care. Unless she was a very intuitive 5-year-old who strictly opposed going to Whitehorse because she didn’t believe in public health care (highly doubtful).

Regardless of any reason, call it opportunistic or hypocritical, when Sarah Palin makes a statement like that, she is just setting herself up to be publicly scorned. The reason is simple, she has previously suggested that Canada discontinue its public health care program and said President Obama’s instantaneous demand for American health care is “irresponsible.” The wheels fall off too often for Palin when she speaks publicly. As they do for many people, which only makes her human. But that’s a perfectly good reason for her to not be in office, and same with our President. The “I’m just like every other average American” doesn’t mean anything. I don’t want someone like me in office, then every Joe Schmoe would run for office if that’s the situation. It’s a waste of time, which is a luxury America does not have at this point.

At least someone is doing something in the White House…

As of this morning, President Barack Obama has signed a memo in order to establish a federal task force regarding the epidemic of childhood obesity. This has to be the best thing he’s done since he moved into the White House, and his wife, First Lady Michelle, will be leading the campaign.

According to the memorandum, an encouraging plan of “optimal coordination” among the federal government, private and non-profit sectors will be established in the next 90 days. Mrs. Obama will lead an aggressive public relations effort to increase awareness of childhood obesity. The epidemic is “one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country,” he continued, “We think that this has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, in giving support to parents to make the kinds of healthy choices that oftentimes are very difficult,” President Obama said from the White House.

The growing figures of childhood obesity are overwhelming, where the memo states approximately one-third of children born after 2000 will suffer from a form of diabetes at some stage in their life. Michelle Obama will launch the campaign this afternoon, along with mayors, doctors and sports leaders, as well as members of the President’s cabinet.

The First Lady stated in a speech last month, “We’ve seen the surge in obesity in this country is nothing short of a public health crisis, and it’s threatening our children, it’s threatening our families, and more importantly it’s threatening the future of this nation.” Kicking of the campaign against childhood obesity, Michelle Obama urges families to shut off televisions, drink more water and serve smaller portions. It is “really minor stuff. But these small changes resulted in some really significant improvements,” the First Lady said.

Aside from being a millionaire, Michael Moore’s life must be miserable living in a frame of mind that is so unrealistic and hopeless. Maybe it is just words, that he makes a lot of money for, and when he’s done talking it doesn’t mean anything to him. Yesterday, Mr. Moore published an open letter he sent to President Obama. He is begging the President to reconsider his decision to send over 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. He opens the letter saying, “Do you really want to be the new ‘war president’?” The best part is the seriousness of Mr. Moore’s letter. Apparently he missed the connection between the ongoing war to when Obama stepped into office. Therefore, Yes. Obama is the new Commander of the war. Apologies for the realism, Mr. Moore.

Mr. Moore believes there are “LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan,” and says there will be one hundred thousand troops “trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves.” He asks President Obama, “Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush’s Kool-Aid?” Oh, the irony! Are you serious, Mr. Moore? You did not consider the racist insinuation of that question? Dave Chapelle will be all over that material. Forget the Kool-Aid comment. You seriously think Al-Qaeda is the only threat to security? Not the Taliban and other independently operating radical Sunni movements allied with Al-Qaeda? This is why it would be miserable to live in your frame of mind. Where is the reality? And you’re neglecting Pakistan… probably intentionally.

Also, using the people who cried the night of his victory is not legitimate leverage for President Obama’s decision. The people who voted for him were not crying alone because the people who didn’t vote for him were crying as well. I recant my apologies because you can’t fix oblivious. My apologies are for the thousands of people who believe you.

View Michael Moore’s Open Letter to President Obama at MichaelMoore.com.

A year has passed since President Barack Obama stood before a crowd in Grant Park as the president-elect. After a long campaign for “hope” and “change” he made dozens of promises to the American people and mainly his supporters. In one year, of those promises, how many promises has Obama kept and how many has be broken? He announced to the emotional crowd, “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term.” In a year since this declaration, it seems President Obama’s progress is off to a slow start.

The mostly “unchecked” list of promises include immigration reform, health care, and new financial regulations. Many of Obama’s campaign promises are marked as “in the works”, however time is slipping faster than the progress of “change”.

As Obama campaigned his presidency he promised to return the troops in Iraq home in 16 months, and “finish the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan.” Those 16 months have turned into 19, and as the troops remain on Iraqi grounds, Obama has deployed an additional 20,000 with consideration of sending thousands more. Obama also promised to oppose mandatory insurance and fining people who do not have insurance. The health care bill is “in the works,” however, both oppositions will likely appear in his health care bill and chalk up broken promises. President Obama also promised that lobbyists “will not work in my White House,” yet they are still present.

Of all Obama’s promises, kept, broken, or in the works, there are also dozens of promises receiving “no action.” Nearly a quarter of his term is complete, and there barely seems to be a dent in the list of promises Obama has made. His presidential clock is ticking and he has about 3 years to start taking action on his list of “no action” and “in the works.” How many promises of “change” will be kept, and how many will be broken? Or how many will receive any action at all at this progressive rate?

Is there really any chance at long term success for bribing the Taliban to join our forces?

Apparently President Barack Obama “hopes” there is a chance, since last week he signed a $680 billion defense appropriations bill to fund the military operations in fiscal 2010. The strategy of paying Taliban members to join American forces against the radical Taliban is an element of this bill to receive a piece of the payout. There is a popular Afghan phrase, “You can rent an Afghan, but you can’t buy him,” but the U.S. Government is willing to spend billions of dollars and try anyway.

The defense of the strategy reveals the Taliban members of Afghanistan are dissimilar to those in Iraq. They are less motivated by the extreme ideologies and religious fervor, and more motivated by employment or income. To them, their loyalty to the Taliban is conditional and can be reversed if their conditions from American forces are better. Senator Carl Levin said, “They believe an effort to attract these fighters to the governments side could succeed, if they are offered security for themselves and their families,” as well as granted amnesty. The offering of amnesty is not a new concept to separate Taliban members from their leaders, however offering monetary compensation is.

A similar tactic was applied in Iraq, however these “bribes” we called “employment opportunities.” Of the Taliban in Afghanistan, General McChrystal says, “Most are operating for pay; some are under a commander’s charismatic leadership; some are frustrated with local leaders.” Certainly, there is a lot of truth to this statement. However, relying solely on bribing the Taliban to join positive forces has little promise for long term stability for Afghanistan.

Long term success for Afghanistan and their people does not reflect some Blockbuster movie scene where some nations chalk up the “W” and others defeat. This has more to do with Afghanistan’s ability to maintain a stable government after the separated Taliban members are no longer on the American payroll. An expert on the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Nicholas Schmidle, said “So long as the Americans are keenly aware of this, you’re buying a very, very, very temporary allegiance… If that’s the foundation for moving forward, it’s a shaky foundation.” At this point, there is a clear effort to rent some Afghans, however there is no promise we can buy them out permanently.

After the unfortunate events Monday, where 18 Americans were killed in Afghanistan, President Obama departed D.C by Marine One to Dover Air Force Base in the late hours Wednesday night to meet the bodies. Those 18 Americans add to the death toll as the most fatal month in Afghanistan for Americans. In the current events leading up to this Dover visit, Obama has received much criticism for his actions on proceeding in Afghanistan.

In mixed responses, some praise the President’s efforts for paying respect to the American heroes upon their arrival to their homeland, and appreciate the humanity of the Commander in Chief. Sadly, others believe it is just another publicity stunt as if Obama is still campaigning to the Americans and is beating around the Bush (no pun intended) in his decision for Afghanistan. Regardless of Obama’s agenda, those fallen sons and daughters deserve the utmost respect and honor for their service to our nation.

The GOP is really laying the pressure on Obama because they believe the troops overseas are in danger if they do not get more help. The additional 18 Americans killed Monday only reinforce their beliefs. Senator John McCain (AZ) is one who has strongly criticized Obama for taking too much time in his decision making, as he believes if decisions are made more swiftly, the President has an opportunity to prevent similar events.

Even the lefts are supporting the troop surge, as Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) stated on the deployment of more troops, ” In my mind, you should pay for the cost whatever way.” This is a valid statement from chairman of the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee, in control of funding operations in Afghanistan. Murtha says, “You can take it out of other programs or you can raise taxes.”

From the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, who accompanied Obama to Dover Air Force Base, stated the President’s decision proceeding in Afghanistan is near its end. But has it already been to long?

Does the president really deserve to be titled a peacemaker?

The president, of just nine months, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize brings a lot of shock value. However, Barack Obama is not the first nor the last president to receive this prestigious prize. The real shock is what has he accomplished to receive this honor? It seems premature to award someone for their plans and ideas to win hearts and minds which don’t have much to be supported by at this point in time. Obama’s mouth has signed a check his actions can’t cash, yet. What happens if his presidential term finishes before anything positive results from his “ideas”? Does the Nobel Committee take his prize back, or give him a pat on the back and say, “Good effort, anyway”? He has received praise and congratulations from both Democrats and Republicans, but he has also drawn a lot of criticism.

The underlying element is Obama’s vision to end extreme ideologies isn’t his own. The desire to establish Israeli-Palestinian peace is not breaking news. Not only was it not Obama’s idea to fight extreme ideologies in Iraq and Afghanistan, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize on the same day as meeting with his war council to deploy 40,000 additional troops to a war seems worse than ironic. Did he define what winning would mean? He received an honor for something he figuratively represents. If he is in fact such a peacemaker, and worthy of this honor, why would he agree to deploy more troops? Not only is he pissing off the people who support him, he’s still pissing off the people who don’t. However, many people believe he should end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or at least establish some success, in order to be awarded this prize. Public opinion varies as some say his prize is well deserved, and some say it is a Nobel Speech Prize.

As if the demands from General McChrystal to deploy more troops were not enough pressure for the president, he is now holding the weight of this controversial peace prize as he makes a significant decision affecting the future of the war in Afghanistan. Therefore in the wake of this prize, the United States has a commander in chief playing rocks, paper, scissors in the Oval Office.

In his speech at the Rose Garden, Obama’s statement was, “I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments”. We understand Mr. President, that’s because nothing has been accomplished. Congratulations President Obama… for not being George Bush. Only the future will tell, but for now it appears a Nobel Peace Prize can just fall out of a Cracker Jacks box.

Our new President signed the $787 BILLION dollar stimulus plan into law today.  I guess that is a good thing but I just don’t see it yet. I am someone who still has a job but is SLOWLY DROWNING. To make matters worse I can actually SEE the hypothetical water slowly rising above my head. With each passing day, week, and month I fall further and further into debt and operate at a quickly growing loss.

With less and less funds available I regularly short one bill this week to pay another, and then do the same thing again the following week. And I see no end in site. Where is my stimulus plan? $800 for couples in tax breaks is not going to cut it to be honest.

There are about 150 million tax paying adults in the USA. If you divide the 787 billion dollars up among them that is around $5,200 each or $10,400 per tax paying couple. Right now I could use $10,000+ a whole lot more then what is currently being proposed. Maybe that is selfish but I HAVE TO look out for what is best for me and my family. And right now I need to figure out how to pay for day care next week, purchase some milk for my son, and put gas in my car to get to the job I hope will still be there next week.

I guess I just don’t get it right now. Billions are going to the car industry. Billions more to the banks and even more to the housing industry. Billions of dollars here  and billions more there.

But where exactly is the money FOR ME? (more…)

Obama’s new wheels are hot. Check out the first pictures of the new armored limousine which will be used to drive Barack Obama around. Called “Cadillac One” the car will first be seen on January 20th as part of the inaugural parade. It is traditional to show presidential cars off for the first time in this way. (click image to enlarge).

Some good friends of mine produced this entire video, wrote the song, and did all the music. They are very talented musicians, performers and dueling piano players. Enjoy the video!

Here are the lyrics from the video.
Lyrics by Troll and Michael McCaslin /Music by Troll/Video and Photoshop by Troll & Creeto

Obama Rhapsody
He won the white house, its not a fantasy
Won in a landslide, First black guy in history (more…)