Holy Day for Hypocrites

So in case you've been living under a rock, today is Earth Day. And in what ways do the world's "climate warriors" celebrate Earth Day?

Well, if you're Martin O'Malley, you log 800 miles driving across Maryland on taxpayer dollars to prop up your sagging re-election campaign. This of course, coming weeks after he had an SUV waiting for him to hitch a ride home in lieu of a tough three minute walk home from the bar.

If you're the President and Vice-President, you both fly separately to New York, tying up air traffic for hours. Of course, you really don't want the President and Vice-President to fly on the same plane for obvious reasons. But when you're flying Joe Biden to New York to be on The View...

If you're a rock star or a music lover, you go down to Washington for the Earth Day 2010 Climate Rally being held on the National Mall, which might have some sort of record for biggest carbon footprint in support of lowering carbon footprints since LiveEarth. I drove past the Mall today, and the number of tents, booths, trash receptacles and whatnot that have been brought to the Mall for this event is impressive. Obviously, they didn't bring these things to the Mall in a Pedicab; they were brought in by big, nasty, diesel trucks that spewed all sorts of nasty emissions into the local atmosphere. And to entertain the masses, the organizers of this event are flying in all sorts of people for the event; Jesse Jackson, James Cameron, Dhani Jones, Margaret Atwood, Sting, John Legend, The Roots, and more. How do you think these folks got to DC? They didn't ride Barack Obama's low-emission unicorns powered by rainbow energy, that's for sure.

Look, all of us support making sure we have a clean environment; I mean it was a Republican that basically invented conservation as a national policy. And that's what environmentalism should focus on; conservationism. Conserving our natural resources and not wasting them. Not using environmentalism as a cudgel to push a radical social agenda, and certainly not an excuse to lecture the masses about it while having carbon footprints many times larger than the average citizen.

But then again, like many holidays, Earth Day has become the focal point of a movement, a day for excess and double standards. For these so-called "climate warriors", however, the average taxpayer sees through their shams and recognize them for the hypocrites they are...

Making it Up as He Goes

Allan Lichtman must be hard up for attention, or he must owe somebody in the Obama Administration a favor. Because Lichtman today boldly predicted that Barack Obama is a shoe-in for re-election.

No, really, he did.

The raconteur/professor/former Senate Candidate/space cadet uses his "13 keys to the Presidency" which he claims can accurately predict who will win the next Presidential Election. Using his "keys", he says Barack Obama will be re-elected.

Of course, Lichtman's interpretation of the keys leaves a bit to be desired:

KEY 1 (Party Mandate): After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than it did after the previous midterm elections. (FALSE)

Well, so far that seems to be going in the right direction. It seems like the Democrats are going to get clobbered at the ballot box, but let's not get too cocky. I'll agree and see False.

KEY 2 (Contest): There is no serious contest for the incumbent-party nomination. (TRUE)

I'm classifying this as to-be-determined. Anybody who seriously thinks that Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is going to walk away with a $13 million federal war chest and not seriously consider challenging the President from the center is sorely mistaken. And Bayh would, in all likelihood, do serious damage to Obama in the primaries.

KEY 3 (Incumbency): The incumbent-party candidate is the sitting president. (TRUE)

Can't argue with that.

KEY 4 (Third party): There is no significant third party or independent campaign. (TRUE)

Also to-be-determined. As much as Republicans hope that the Tea Party Movement doesn't spawn off a serious third party or independent campaign, that could be incredibly wishful thinking depending on who the Republican nominee is in 2012.

KEY 5 (Short-term economy): The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. (TRUE)

Only a moron would say that the economy in 2012 is going to not be in recession. I'm not saying it is, but given this President's economic policy it is wishful thinking to think things are going to be better. I would label this as to-be-determined.

KEY 6 (Long-term economy): Real per-capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. (FALSE)

More than likely, Lichtman's got this right. I'll agree.

KEY 7 (Policy change): The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. (TRUE)

Well, so far that's true insofar as health care reform has passed. However, Lichtman automatically assumes that this is a positive for Obama. Lichtman's model does not take into account the fact that such a change was railroaded through Congress against the will of the people. Nor does it assume the possibility that a change in party could radically change the makeup of the aforementioned change prior to its full implementation. I will agree that this is true....but it's an albatross around Obama's campaign neck.

KEY 8 (Social unrest): There is no sustained social unrest during the term. (TRUE)

Which is interesting, because if you believe MSNBC Tea Partiers are running amok. But be that as it may it is true.....for now.

KEY 9 (Scandal): The administration is untainted by major scandal. (TRUE)

I'm not sure what planet Lichtman is from. The entire administration has basically been one scandal right after another. If only somebody predicted two years ago that Barack Obama was a scandal in a box.....

So yeah....false.

KEY 10 (Foreign/military failure): The administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. (TRUE)

Also to-be-determined. Because in case you didn't notice....America's approval ratings are in the dumps since Obama took over. If you want to get really technically, the collapse of the Copenhagen climate summit could be consider a "major failure" in foreign affairs, but that would imply that such a failure was a bad thing.

KEY 11 (Foreign/military success): The administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. (FALSE)

Agreed.

KEY 12 (Incumbent charisma): The incumbent-party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. (FALSE)

Amen to that

KEY 13 (Challenger charisma): The challenging-party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. (TRUE)

Also to be determined because neither Lichtman, nor me, or the Lord above knows who is going to be the Republican nominee in 2012. It could be virtually anybody. and until such a time as we know who the Republican nominee is, any speculation as to the answer to this is completely pointless.

So by my count, we've got three trues, five falses, and five to-be-determineds. What does that mean for Barack Obama's chances in 2012 as of right now? Absolutely nothing.

The problem with such speculative yarns as Allan Lichtman is trying to write is that he is trying to apply a historical formula to an event before it happens. When you combine his historical pre-analysis with his moonbeam liberal biases, you get a completely warped view of the political environment in an effort to prop up a failed administration. Lichtman, in his analysis, is just making it up as he goes. His analysis has no value.

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 02-08-2010

The Battle Continues

The saga over the Obama Worship in Howard County continues to percolate, with WUSA TV-9 doing a story on it last night featuring Delegate Warren Miller (who was able to step in for me at the last second). And Howard County continues to either deny it, refuse to talk about it, or obfuscate what really happened depending on what day of the week it is.

Well, this Thursday the parents and taxpayers of Howard County an opportunity to speak their mind to members of the Howard County Board of Education at the Board's meeting. The meeting will be at Howard County Board of Ed HQ at 10910 Route 108 in Ellicott City, and will begin promptly at 7:30 PM. If you are a Howard County resident and wish to testify, call Kathy Hanks at (410) 313-7194 to sign-up.

It will be very interested to see if the elected Board of Education in Howard County takes a stand for indoctrination or takes a stand for education this Thursday...

Talking Bollocks

Jeff Quinton has one of the more amazingly deluded "clarifications" I have ever read in my life, this one coming from Howard County Public Schools PIO Patti Caplan regarding the Obama Sing-a-long fiasco. Here it is in entirety, with some commentary interspersed.

Several weeks ago, all Longfellow Elementary School first graders were shown a videotape of President Obama’s speech to students as part of the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Program (PBIS), which focuses on being safe, responsible and respectful. As the classes were gathering in one of the first grade classrooms, the teacher was playing a CD of a song she and her students composed last year for a technology competition. She also played the song as the students were leaving.

Interestingly, the Obama speech was causing a scandal of all of its own. The fact that a teacher decided to exacerbate that issue by playing such a song is amazingly shortsighted, but it gets worse.

One (yes only one) parent called and emailed the school with his concern that the students were being forced to “glorify and worship” President Obama. The school administration responded to this parent and provided him with a copy of the lyrics, which his wife posted on a blog. The school administration has met with this parent and he apologized for the posting and for creating so much trouble for the school. He indicated that the school had addressed his concern.

Talk about trying to place the blame on somebody else. The fact that Caplan would throw a parent under the bus is incredibly amazing. Of course, it seems to fly in the face of a few facts.

There is no mention of the principal, or the song lyric, or Longfellow Elementary prior to September 29th, the day I received the email and posted the contents of the email on my blog and at RedMaryland. So, given the fact that a search of blog records and the internet shows no postings before then, exactly who is Caplan saying leaked this and who is she saying that information came from?

On top of it, why does Caplan try to minimize the one parent who had a concern with this? How many times have we seen schools bend over backwards to accomodate the needs of one parent who is pissed off about something? I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that Caplan seems to be trying to deflect the seriousness of this story on the premise that only one parent of one child was angry.

The objective of this lesson was to motivate students with a positive message to be respectful, stay in school, work hard and do their best. The lesson supports the work the school is doing as part of PBIS. The children did sing along to the song, which repeats “Yes I Can” and “Yes We Can.” Repetition of this nature is a common element in songs for children of this age.

Well, that's a noble goal. But that leads us to.....

The focus of the lesson was on the children and positive behavior, not the President. There was no intention or attempt to glorify or worship the President. Educators often use positive role models in their lessons, including Presidents of the United States, and this practice is supported by the Howard County Public School System. The Howard County Public School System does not require nor encourage teachers to include references to President Obama in their lessons, nor does it discourage the use of such references.

So why then did the teacher include the President in the lesson plan when there are a plethora of historical figures who could have been used to create a similar example. And does not the fact that the President's campaign slogan was included in the song a tacit endorsement by the teacher and/or the school of the President and the policies that the President is promoting? I mean this isn't rocket science here, and considering that incidents like this are on the rise across the country, you would seem to think that somebody would question whether or not the use of the song is a good idea.

The Howard County Public School System respects the right of individuals to disagree with the words of the song and/or even the use of the song in this context. However, the idea that a public school system would have a “policy” to force students to “worship” the President is so ludicrous it deserves no response.

Again, Caplan is trying to deflect away from the meat of the story. Nobody is saying that the Howard County Public School System has a policy to force students to worship to the President. But the fact seems to be at least one teacher at Longfellow Elemetnary in the Howard County Public School system has made it their policy to try and force such beliefs on their students. And since they are employees of the aforementioned public school system, I would love to know what steps the Howard County Public School System is taking to end such shenaingans. But since Patti Caplan seems to be denying that a problem exists, I'm guessing that we know the answer.

Glad to know that Patti Caplan and the brass in the Howard County Public Schools seem to condone this ludicrous behavior.

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 09-30-2009

Obama Worship comes to Howard County

Well, it looks like the worship of his holiness Barack Obama has infected Longfellow Elementary in Howard County. See this email below, and get ready to be disgusted. Because no President, Republican or Democrat, should be glorified like this.

* * * * *

From: (Removed)

Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 1:30 PM
To: (Removed)
Subject: Song

Hi everyone, below is the email that our son’s Assistant Principal sent us to let us know the wording of the Obama song that our son told us his class was instructed to sing last week…the teacher is part of the first grade team of teachers and is really nice, but this is not what we want our son doing at school or anywhere!

Any advice?

Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 11:33 AM
To: (Removed)

Subject: Song

Hello Mr. (REMOVED),

The words to the song are below.

Thank you!

Laurel Marsh

Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama--He says

Yes we can!

President Obama--We say

Yes we can!

President Obama--I say

Yes I can!

President Obama--He says

Yes we can!

Barack Obama--Oh yes he rates,

The first Black President in the United States!

He's smart and he's--so so good!

He'll lead this country as he should!

He wants us all to work together,

To make this country even better!

Prez' Obama says--"Yes We Can!"

Make the US better--hand in hand!

Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama

President!

-------------------------------------------------

Laurel Marsh

Assistant Principal

Longfellow Elementary

410-313-6879

(Crossposted)

If you build it, they won't come

For all of the people who seem to think that all of our nation's health care problems will magically disappear once socialized medicine is on the scene, I give you this:

Two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new IBD/TIPP Poll has found.

The poll contradicts the claims of not only the White House, but also doctors' own lobby — the powerful American Medical Association — both of which suggest the medical profession is behind the proposed overhaul.

It also calls into question whether an overhaul is even doable; 72% of the doctors polled disagree with the administration's claim that the government can cover 47 million more people with better-quality care at lower cost.

Here is a graph for those of you who might not grok it otherwise:


So riddle me this; if we know that the passage of Obamacare means that we will artificially limit the number of practicing doctors in this country, and we know that through the artificial limit on practicing physicians that the quality of care will be significantly diminished and more expensive due to scarcity.....then what is the value-added to passing this boondoggle at all?

Looks like we might be going towards the DIY work ethic practiced by the British. Somebody get me some pliers....

Hope and Change Pain

It is obvious to everybody that President Obama's handling of the economy leaves much to be desired. With monetary giveaways to any company with their handout, our "investment" in the auto industry, and record deficits on the way, Obama's fiscal policy seems more like a call for the limbo than it is a plan for fiscal recovery.

And apparently, as I have noted before.....we've seen this movie:

Barack Obama is committing the same mistakes made by policymakers during the Great Depression, according to a new study endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan.

His policies even have the potential to consign the US to a similar fate as Argentina, which suffered a painful and humiliating slide from first to Third World status last century, the paper says.

There are "troubling similarities" between the US President's actions since taking office and those which in the 1930s sent the US and much of the world spiralling into the worst economic collapse in recorded history, says the new pamphlet, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

In particular, the authors, economists Charles Rowley of George Mason University and Nathanael Smith of the Locke Institute, claim that the White House's plans to pour hundreds of billions of dollars of cash into the economy will undermine it in the long run. They say that by employing deficit spending and increased state intervention President Obama will ultimately hamper the long-term growth potential of the US economy and may risk delaying full economic recovery by several years.

The study represents a challenge to the widely held view that Keynesian fiscal policies helped the US recover from the Depression which started in the early 1930s. The authors say: "[Franklin D Roosevelt's] interventionist policies and draconian tax increases delayed full economic recovery by several years by exacerbating a climate of pessimistic expectations that drove down private capital formation and household consumption to unprecedented lows."

Well, that's a cheery way to spend your Labor Day. But I think it is incredibly illustrative of the arguments being put forth not just in Washington but also in Annapolis. Both Obama and O'Malley are hellbent on trying to spend our way to fiscal prosperity while, at the same time, making it harder and harder for middle and working class families to compete on a level paying field. Both the President and the Governor are taking us on a reckless fiscal course that will lead to higher deficits at the national level, long-term inflation, and a reduction in earnings and income for most Marylanders.

At the Maryland level, this is a particularly damning problem. With our state Constitution requiring balanced budgets, it is painfully obvious to everybody the danger that comes with proposed overspending. When you combine liberal belief in the myth that Maryland has a recession proof economy with a senseless devotion to Keynes, you wind up with a hyper-bloated state budget that requires piecemeal cuts. And Governor O'Malley, instead of showing leadership and reducing state spending and the size of state government, instead tries to finagle his way out of it.

In short, the fiscal policies of Barack Obama and Martin O'Malley are not sustainable, will cause more and more pain for middle and working class Marylanders and are designed to avoid the tough choices that these leaders need to be making.

On this Labor Day, I challenge Maryland's leaders at the federal and state level to figure out how exactly they are going to make life more affordable for Maryland's middle and working class families. Your reckless fiscal positions have gotten us to this point; so how do you plan on fixing it?

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 05-27-2009

Memo to Judd Legum

All of those people you say allegedly support the President's economic policies.....yeah, where are they again?

As short-term optimism about the economy has grown in recent months, so has the concern that the federal governmentwill do too much in response to the nation’s recent economic challenges.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of the nation’s Likely Voters now worry that the government will do too much. That’s up from 50% a month ago and 43% in mid-February. It’s the highest level of concern measured since Barack Obama was elected president.

To put this simply so Legum can understand.....more than half the country is worried that the government is going to go too far is trying to manage the economy. Maybe that explains why over 500,000 people across the country attended tea parties last week.

Here is a graph so that maybe Legum cam understand what we are talking about here:

There are other stats there that continued to debunk Judd Leugm's space cadet philosophy on the economy. But you need only too look around to notice that people are vehemently opposed to this President's economic policies. And the more the President and Congress spend, the more likely it is Republicans will succeed in 2010 and 2012.

Genuflection? Yes We Can!

It's not like we didn't already know that CNN is in the bag for Barack Obama. But I think this goes above and beyond the pale of expectations:

CNN is marking President Barack Obama's 100th day in office with prime-time coverage that will recall election night last year. John King is even bringing back the "magic wall."

The network says it will compile a national report card of Obama's performance, using opinion polls and a series of viewer surveys.

The big night is a week from Wednesday, pre-empting regular programming.

Most of the commentators and CNN regulars who appeared during primary nights and the general election will be there. King's giant touch screen will be adapted to track where stimulus money is going.

Seriously? His 100th day in office necessitates live team coverage, program preemption, and a cast of thousands?

If one were cynical, one might argue that CNN is trying to curry favor with a President who is losing popularity faster than you can shake a stick at, while continuing to squander away the economy and our tax dollars despite the protests of millions. But only if one were cynical......

The Rats are fleeing the Titanic

Wow, President Obama must be doing a historically bad job if the New York Times editorial page is writing about how bad of a President he is:

The leading liberal voices of the New York Times editorial pages all criticized—and, in some cases, clobbered—President Obama on Sunday for his handling of the economy and national security.

It's not unusual for Barack Obama to take a little friendly fire from the Times. But it's perhaps unprecedented for him to get hit on the same day by columnists Frank Rich, Thomas Friedman and Maureen Dowd—and in the paper's lead editorial. Their critique punctuated a weekend that started with a widely circulated blog post by Paul Krugman that said the president’s yet to be announced bank rescue plan would almost certainly fail.

The sentiment, coming just two months after the president was sworn in, reflects elite opinion in the Washington-New York corridor that Obama is increasingly overwhelmed, and not fully appreciative of the building tsunami of populist outrage.

And with the last sentence, Politico's Johnathan Martin may be making the understatement of the year. Read the lead editorial, and the editorials by Friedman, Rich, and Dowd for yourself to see how far reaching their criticisms are.

While I am glad to see that some of the most outspoken, out there voices on the left are finally seeing the error of their ways, I think they might need to be reminded of why we are where we are. Obama is still their guy. They cheerleaded for him throughout 2008, glossed over his nearly blank record and his ideological shortcomings, and heaped scorn upon John McCain for having the audacity to challenge Obama's Audacity of Hope......and we see where that has gotten us. (And that speaks nothing of Obama's recent gaffe-filled statements and his complete inability to say "hello" without the use of a teleprompter).

The problem with the New York Times crowd now realizing 60 days into his administration that Barack Obama makes a terrible, incompetent President is the fact that their realization comes a long, LONG time after the rest of the country reached that conclusion. Better late than never, I suppose.

But what really scares the rest of us is the fact that Obama still has 46 more months in the job before the adults get an opportunity to fix the damage....

No Warm and Fuzzies Here

To follow on to my previous post about health care records, CNET has a piece on the complete and total lack of privacy provisions built into the health care sections of the Stimulus Package:

What didn't come up during the president's first press conference was how one section of the convoluted legislation--it's approximately 800 pages total--is intended to radically reshape the nation's medical system by having the government establish computerized medical records that would follow each American from birth to death.

Billions will be handed to companies creating these databases. Billions will be handed to universities to incorporate patient databases "into the initial and ongoing training of health professionals." There's a mention of future "smart card functionality."

Yet nowhere in this 140-page portion of the legislation does the government anticipate that some Americans may not want their medical histories electronically stored, shared, and searchable. Although a single paragraph promises that data-sharing will "be voluntary," there's no obvious way to opt out.

"Without those protections, Americans' electronic health records could be shared--without their consent--with over 600,000 covered entities through the forthcoming nationally linked electronic health records network," said Sue Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom, a nonprofit group that advocates health care privacy.

The Democratic politicians pushing this bill have far-reaching ambitions. The legislation (PDF) (on page 244, for the curious) hands to a still-to-be-named health care bureaucrat the "goal of utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014." Selecting official standards will be left to the Department of Health and Human Services (page 265).

The databases will, "at a minimum," include information on every American's race and ethnicity. They will be used for "biosurveillance and public health" and "medical and clinical research," both of which raise privacy questions. They will become part of a "nationwide system for the electronic use and exchange of health information."

Read the whole thing.

I find it incredibly odd, curious, and mind-numbing that the same leftists who decried "corporate welfare", decried the "privacy concerns" from the Bush and Ehrlich years (remember the police spying fiasco?), the people who want to handcuff insurance companies when it comes to denyting coverage for preexisting conditions, and the people who complained about government giving too much power to private entities readily and happily signed on to this boondoggle.

To make a long story short, Democrats in Congress have stripped you of your privacy rights when it comes to health care. You will be tracked from cradle to grave, and there seems to not be a damn thing that you can do about it.

So for those of you out there who voted for Obama, I ask you if you are still glad that you handed our nation's right to privacy away to government bureaucrats and health care companies?

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 02-09-2009

I Get Letters....

Judd Legum springs to Judd Legum's defense by email:

Dear Brian:

Thanks for your interest in my blog.

I just wanted to respond briefly to the following claim: "Legum stating that people support the stimulus package is nothing short of a bold-faced lie."

Actually I wrote that "a new poll by Gallup shows that the American people strongly support Obama's handling of the stimulus issue." This statement is fully supported by the Gallup poll. Here is a direct quote from Gallup: "The American public gives President Barack Obama a strong 67% approval rating for the way in which he is handling the government's efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill."

The Rassmuessen poll is interesting but does not ask the same question.

Feel free to contact me if there is any further confusion.

-- Judd

Of course the issue here is always in the phrasing of the statement, as it always is with the liberals.

This, you'll remember, is what the premise of Legum's post was:

Steele said that “the president is upside-down with the voters on this issue.”

THAT is the operative statement in Legum's post, the intimation that Michael Steele was at fault for stating that Obama is opposing the will of the American people....something that the is clearly demonstrable in the Rasmussen poll. The reason that the Rasmussen poll doesn't ask about the President's handling of the stimulus issue is irrelevant because the people of this nation oppose the stimulus regardless.

The nuance Legum tries here is cute, but glosses over the lack of support for people of this Democratic boondoggle.

For a lawyer, Judd Legum is a bad liar

Well all know that Judd Legum, the newfangled prettyboy of the loony blogging left, has some truthiness issues given his past employment. But today he unleashes a pretty sizable whopper:

Yesterday on ABC’s This Week, Former Maryland Lt. Governor and current RNC Chairman Michael Steele said that President Barack Obama’s approach to economic stimulus was not supported by the American people. Steele said that “the president is upside-down with the voters on this issue.”

Today, a new poll by Gallup shows that the American people strongly support Obama’s handling of the stimulus issue:

Yeah......about that:

With the Senate poised to vote Tuesday on an $827-billion version of the economic recovery plan, 62% of U.S. voters want the plan to include more tax cuts and less government spending.

Just 14% would like to move in the opposite direction with more government spending and fewer tax cuts, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Twenty percent (20%) would be happy to pass it pretty much as is, and five percent (5%) are not sure...

....An analysis by Scott Rasmussen notes that the stimulus debate is now driven by a tug-of-war between the popularity of President Obama and the nation’s deeply ingrained reluctance to increase government spending. Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters believe that increased spending is generally bad for the economy. On the other hand, 57% say tax cuts are generally good for the economy . Overall, 37% of voters favor the stimulus plan and 43% are opposed. Most of those who are undecided have a favorable opinion of the new president and are likely to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I understand that Legum is just covering for his President, who is already cruising towards the title of least effective President ever (why else would he have stopped governing and started campaigning today....at least he knows how to do that). But Legum stating that people support the stimulus package is nothing short of a bold-faced lie.

I give Legum credit though, it looks like he set all sorts of state blogosphere speed records in torching one's credibility...

The Most Dangerous Man in America

As the saying goes, there is nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose. So you have to wonder, now that he has been convicted and removed from office, what does former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich have to lose?

Blagojevich has no political career left to save. He has no legal career to resurrect. He has no job, no state office to preserve, no reputation left to save.

Can you think of anything more dangerous with than a politician in this kind of position?

There is only one thing that Rod Blagojevich needs to worry about anymore, and that is trying to avoid prison time as much as he possibly can. If that is the direction in which he goes, than pretty much anybody who has ever been connected to the Governor may want to consider lawyering up. Because Blagojevich could very well decide to sign like a canary. That means that there are lot of powerful people, all the way up to President Obama, who could get more involved in this mess. But because of how this thing has played out so far doesn't mean that anybody else is going to be indicted just because Blagojevich starts to sign. If this entire endeavor has taught us anything, it's the fact that Rod Blagojevich is delusion and insane. The man seems to be completely bonkers with the "defense" that he launched of these charges. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Blago just started making stuff up on the fly.....but that doesn't mean there aren't real skeletons out there waiting to be exposed.

Illinois is a seedy place to practice politics, and Rod Blagojevich is (so far) the seediest of the seedy. With self-preservation as his only resort, we must see a bit more light shined on Chicago-style politics, which truly makes him a danger to the Obama Administration and, perhaps, the most dangerous man in America....

Students learn to Make Benefit Glorious Leader

What better time to bring partisan politics into the classroom:

As today's presidential inauguration approached, Donna Schmitz's art students bubbled over with excitement - and paint.

Gripping paint brushes in their tiny, blue-stained fingers, every student at Lothian Elementary School contributed a brush stroke and a signature to their inaugural group project: a larger-than-life image of President Barack Obama painted on a huge cardboard box once used to ship a SMART board to the school.

"It's bringing history into the art classroom," Ms. Schmitz said last week.

I am completely disgusted that my taxpayer dollars were used to fund such an overtly partisan, Orwellian task. This isn't "brining art into the classroom." This is forcing students to show their support for Obama in a frankly Soviet fashion.

It's one thing to discuss the inauguration, watch the inauguration, and discuss its meaning. But to bring this kind of partisanship into the classroom is a bridge way too far...

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 01-19-2009