The Snarky Files - Euripides' Views on the Week (July 23)

Vice President Joe Biden here talks about either health care "reform," is about to put his foot in it, or is merely grinding his teeth. We're not sure which from this photo.

The Snarky Files. Snarky means several things. I prefer the definition of "sharply critical." Here's my take on some news stories this past week. No real news here, just snark.

In Nothing We Trust or One Nation, Under Nothing
The Freedom from Religion Foundation folks are flinging their fury again. The group filed a lawsuit to prevent the phrase "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance from being engraved on the front of the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington. (AP)

Doesn't anyone else see the duplicity in people who claim no other common affinity than a non-belief in God, organizing into politically active group with an ideology that has no other purpose than to spread their own hatred of religion? Seems a bit duplicitous to me.

For a group which supposedly holds no beliefs, the FRF sure spends a lot of time, money and effort to prevent even the mention of God in public. I suppose it hurts their feelings and makes them feel oppressed.

Foot in Mouth Disease
Vice President Joe Biden just gets funnier every time I read about him. This past week he said...well...you'll have to read the direct quote to believe it:

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.” (CNS News)

The vice president of the United States said that. We have to spend money to keep from going bankrupt. I just can't make that stuff up and I cannot, for the life of me, pin that statement down on economic principles that make any sense.

What are you talking about, Joe? It's so funny, it hurts.

Pelosi's Not So Popular
A recent Gallup Poll shows that Americans view Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi unfavorably and that her position plummeted this past year, about the time of the first stimulus package. House Republican Leader John Boehner's rating shows that a majority of Americans have no idea who he is.

What does this tell us? Well, for one, it shows that a lot of Americans are not on board with Nancy Pelosi with regard to her heavy-handed control of the House. Her insistence to steamroll through two spending bills (or was it three) and the cap and trade bill have reduced her poll numbers over ten percent in just about a half year.

The numbers also show that congressional Republicans simply aren't getting their message out to the public.

Take a hint, Ms. Pelosi. The American people aren't buying what you're peddling.

Take a hint, Mr. Boehner. Who are you again?

Statistically Speaking
In an ever-widening search to produce good news about the economy, the White House is grasping at any straws it can find. Top economic advisor Larry Summers, incredibly, cited Google searches as a basis for confidence that the recession is ending:

The number of people searching for the term “economic depression” on Google is down to normal levels, Summers said. (Politico)

During the same period, Google searches for the phrase "Barack Obama Nancy Pelosi Sex Scandal" was up ten times over normal levels. What does that say about our economy Mr. Summers?

With such Googled wisdom handed down from the White House, is it any wonder that we cannot take government seriously?

Unknown and Unheard
Congressional Republicans are getting hammered with this Brave, New Congress we have which founds itself on solid statist ideals of government control. From the Gallup Poll I mentioned earlier, John Boehner remains fairly unknown and House Democrats have succeeded in putting the muzzle on all future Republican influence on statist-leaning House bills. (Breitbart) Issues such as abortion, same sex marriage, and gun control have been removed from debate.

Is this the Congress Nancy Pelosi had in mind when she said this?

“Bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full, and fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the Minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a substitute.”

It looks like business as usual in Washington D.C. Now that the Democrats are in power, we've also seen how utterly irresponsible they are in social and fiscal matters. With regard to the spending bills, the cap and trade bill, the social engineering bills, the screw up our medical care bill and the take away Constitutional rights bills, take note of this quote from a long-forgotten document called the Declaration of Independence:

[Congress] has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

Looks like England's Fat King George was an amateur compared with our very own Congress.

Taking Down Health Care
The new screwing up medical care bill, otherwise known as "reform" is the next in the line of Obama/Congressional abuses to be inflicted on the American people. Here are some highlights:

On page 16 of the first public release of the 1000 page bill, a clause would make private medical insurance illegal. (Investor's Business Daily) This means that people, like me, would no longer be able to choose our own insurance.

Americans who choose not to have medical insurance would be penalized by a tax and forced to have medical insurance anyway.

Small business owners would be forced to provide medical insurance to their employees. The mandate could put a lot of business owners out of business. It certainly would lead to mass layoffs.

The Mayo Clinic that President Obama held up as an example of a well-run health care system blasted the current House bill:

"The proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher quality, more affordable health care for patients."

"In fact, it will do the opposite," clinic officials said, because the proposals aren't patient-focused or results-oriented. "The real losers will be the citizens of the United States." (Washington Times)

Fears of rationing medical care looms over the entire process. Americans are worried that we'll end up like Canada with endless waiting for medical care, loss of coverage for the terminally ill and for the aged. (New York Times)

A Gallup Poll shows that the majority of Americans aren't quite ready to swallow the pill Obama and Congress are feeding them. Considering the pill looks more like a suppository, I can't say I blame them. (Gallup)

As President Obama insists, however, the recent "crisis" to push health care reform "isn't about me. Isn't about politics." (Breitbart)

I'm certainly reassured by that last statement. I'm certainly glad that Obama has my best interests in mind while he pushes what may very well be the most disastrous piece of legislation Congress has ever devised. As long as it's not about him or politics, I'm fine with that.

If It Acts Like Bush
Two news stories place Obama squarely in the Bush camp with regard to the war on terror. One story from the Associated Press tells about a Pentagon planned troop increase in Afghanistan to the tune of 30,000. Didn't we used to call that escalation? Wasn't Afghanistan a quagmire? Didn't we complain about the US getting militarily involved in a country no one's ever successfully invaded?

The second story, largely ignored by the mainstream media, was the White House announcement that it will just have to miss the deadline to review "detainees" at Guantanamo Bay. (VOA News)

This sure looks like a case of "Maybe George Bush had the right idea after all" syndrome.

My question is, where is the outrage from the mainstream media about these policies that buried George Bush? Are these actions all right just because The One Obama is doing them, or is there some kind of duplicity going on in the media?

Don't answer that. It was a rhetorical question.

Teaching the Children
Here's an interesting quote from Bob Chanin, general counsel for the National Education Association at their national convention in San Diego. Keep in mind, this is a group vying for power over your children's minds:

"We are not paranoid, someone really is after us. Why are these conservative and right-wing b****rds picking on NEA and its affiliates? (Blog)

At the same convention, the NEA voted to support same sex marriage by using members' dues. They also voted down a resolution to take no stand on abortion instead of using members' dues to help push for abortions.

Why am I, the illegitimate son of the right wing picking on this group? The answer, of course, lies in another question.

Seriously, is this the kind of group we want "supporting" the education of our children?