Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) threw a fabulous temper tantrum over yesterday's tea party protests, of which she seems to disapprove. Let's pick apart her statement and show the many ways in which the Gentlelady from Illinois has her head up her ass.

"The 'tea parties being held today by groups of right-wing activists..."

If the participants at the tea party I attended in Worcester, Massachusetts, were at all typical, the protesters were not activists at all, and they were certainly not all conservative. Many were centrists or Libertarians. Some were Independents. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't more than a few fiscally responsible Democrats there too. I'm a moderate ex-Dem myself. Even among the more conservative participants, most had never before demonstrated for or against anything, preferring less flamboyant ways to express our opinions, such as letters to the editor and to their elected representatives. Perhaps if elected officials listened better, they wouldn't have felt the need to take to the streets.

"...and fueled by FOX News Channel..."

If by "fueled" you mean that Fox has covered the protests (those yesterday as well as the ones that have happened at scattered other times around the country), then yes, I suppose they were fueled by FOX News in the same way that MSNBC or CNN fueled the recent AIG faux-protests whose participants were paid to show up. The difference is that at our events, the media didn't outnumber the protesters.

"...are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs."

Sorry, but the President's numbers just don't work. Far less than 95% of Americans pay any taxes at all. For those who do, the cost of Obama's spending spree will require higher taxes sooner rather than later.

As for the 3.5 million jobs created, Schakowsky forgot to add the the CYA phrase "or saved" that's included in the President's talking points. That way, if no jobs are created, or if jobs are lost, she can say that 3.5 million MORE jobs would have been lost if it hadn't been for Obama.

"It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans..."

OK, I get it, she got the DNC memo. But still, see #1 above.

"...would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history..."

This doesn't even make sense. Is she saying that Tax Day is a significant honorable moment? Or is she talking about the biggest budget with the biggest deficits in American history?

"...with a shameful political stunt."

Now free assembly and free speech are "shameful" and a "stunt?" The Representative must think the Bill of Rights is only for her supporters.

"Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year."

But what about subsequent years of the Obama administration and beyond? Notice how she carefully avoided talking about that.

"Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama bashing party promoted by corporate interests, as well as Republican lobbyists and politicians."

Now she's just pulling stuff out of thin air. I realize that the Representative wouldn't know grassroots if she were walking barefoot on them, but if she had attended any given tea party demonstration yesterday, she would have heard complaints about not only Obama but also George W. Bush (who orchestrated the first bailout), members of Congress in both parties who have supported the spend-a-thon, and corporations that are taking Obama's giveaways (also known as our tax dollars) instead of going belly up like poorly run companies should.

And Republican politicians and lobbyists? Lobbyists were nowhere to be found because they are universally despised by fiscal conservatives because of the special-interest funding they seek. And many Republican politicians would have loved to have hopped on board, but most of the organizers wanted to keep them off the bandwagon and declined to put them on the programs.

Aside from that, I agree wholeheartedly with everything the Representative said. Perhaps I should send her some tasty cheese to go with her whine.

Labels: politicians gone wild, politics, things stupid people say/do

So why is it the MSM finds it so easy to sneer at a group of protestors, when you've never seen them do the same with the bedraggled buffoons protesting environmental ills, animal testing or the WTO?

That's from Greg Gutfeld (via Ed Driscoll) reflecting on news coverage (or lack thereof) of yesterday's nationwide tea party protests.

Labels: media

An earthquake earlier today in L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo province in central Italy, killed dozens, injured hundreds, and left tens of thousands homeless. According to the Guardian:

The 6.3-magnitude tremor, which struck at 3.32am local time (2.32am BST), was the country's deadliest since the Irpinia quake in the south in November 1980, which killed more than 2,500 people.

More than 1,000 rescue workers were this afternoon scrambling to reach those trapped in collapsed buildings.

[ . . . ]

Up to 50,000 people may have been left homeless by this morning's quake, a spokesman for Italy's civil protection agency said. The need for shelter is all the more urgent in a region where night-time temperatures remain just above 5C (41F).

L'Aquila is about 40 miles from the town where my grandfather grew up.

To make a donation for disaster relief, go to the Italian Red Cross web site and look for the link below "Donazioni on line" (Donate online). You can donate using Visa or MasterCard. If you need help reading the page, try Google Translator and scroll down the page until you see "Translate a web page," enter http://www.cri.it/donazioni as the web address, and select Italian to English.

Labels: international news

From CNN.com, Rising rivers put lives 'on the line' in North Dakota. In Fargo, officials are preparing for a city-wide evacuation, and the city's web site has a number of "News & Events" items related to the flooding.

I blame Obama for failing to mobilize federal assistance.

Labels: weather

I'm getting more than a little sick of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats screwing up and then acting like they were the victims. From the Hartford Courant:

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, already reeling in public opinion polls, suffered another political blow Wednesday with the admission that he had been involved in key legislative changes that helped pave the way for AIG to pay controversial bonuses to its employees.

In a retreat from earlier statements, Dodd said Wednesday that U.S. Treasury Department officials had approached him last month, urging him to modify an amendment to the federal stimulus bill that capped bonuses for executives at companies receiving aid.

On Tuesday, Dodd said that he was not a member of the conference committee that crafted the final compromise bill and said that the exception had not been in the bill as he drafted it.

But late Wednesday, Dodd admitted in an interview with CNN that he had been involved in the change.

"I agreed reluctantly," Dodd said. "I was changing the amendment because others were insistent."

Isn't that just like the new Washington monarchy? It's always someone else's fault. President Obama is shocked—SHOCKED! I tell you—that people at AIG are getting hefty bonuses after receiving billions in bailout money (the bonuses totaled less than one-tenth of one percent of the AIG bailout package, by the way, but you'd never know it to hear the weeping and wailing from the White House) even though the Administration not only knew that bonuses would be possible but actually brought pressure to bear upon Congress to remove a bonus-blocking provision from a bill. On February 14, The Wall Street Journal reported that upon hearing about the provision, "Both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, who heads the National Economic Council, had called Sen. Dodd and asked him to reconsider," according to Open Congress Blog. And Dodd, who arguably has more power as a United States Senator than Geithner and Obama combined, now acts like he was forced to cave. Meanwhile, Congressional and Administration fingers are all wagging at Ed Liddy, whom Geithner himself hired (at the whopping salary of $1 a year to run AIG). Because these people always have to blame someone else.

I'm waiting for the next time Obama recites his new favorite phrase, "We inherited this problem," which he has come to use as an excuse to make things worse. Change we can believe in!

(Edited to add link.)

Labels: politicians gone wild

This came via e-mail from my friend and co-worker, Karen, a former Peace Corps volunteer in western Africa. The time she mentions is past, so I would ask you to take your own time to honor this individual who is as much of a national hero as the military personnel who die serving abroad.

Many of you know, some from first hand experience, what a profound effect Peace Corps service has on both the Volunteer and on his or her community. Still more of you know how highly I regard Peace Corps Volunteers and their committment to advancing the causes of justice and humanity abroad and at home.

But only some of you may have heard that Peace Corps lost a Voluteer in Benin, the country where I served from 2000 to 2002. She was an English Teacher, just like I was. This Volunteer died last week, in what may turn out to have been a violent crime. She was loved by her community and her students, of that there can be no doubt. The loss to her own family, to her Peace Corps family, and to her village cannot be measured.

I am writing to you this afternoon to respectfully ask you to join hundreds of others in observing a moment of silence tomorrow, Monday March 16, from Noon to 12:05pm. In our hectic and check-list worlds, it seems fitting to pause, to be in the moment, or as the Beninoise taught me, "to just be - not just do". If you cannot arrange a full five minutes, please try to pause to remember Catherine "Kate" Puzey of Badjoude, Benin and Cummin, GA.

Thank you for reading this and for considering joining us.

Karen ________
RPCV, Benin
2000 - 2002

A few articles about Kate Puzey:

• ABC News – Peace Corps Volunteer Murdered in Africa
• Associated Press – Peace Corps identifies worker found dead in Africa
• The Flat Hat (The College of William and Mary's student daily) – Alumna in Peace Corps murdered in western Africa
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Peace Corps volunteer's killing devastates relatives in Cumming
• WSBTV.com – Peace Corps Bringing Murdered Worker Home To Metro Atlanta

Labels: remember