The Culinary Cliff?

Obama: So, what do you want to eat? 
Boehner: You're going to have to lead, Mr. President. 
Obama: Okay, great. Let's order pizza. 
Boehner: We just had pizza. 
Obama: You said you wanted me to lead. I'm saying pizza. 
Boehner: I'm not in the mood for pizza. Don't you understand compromise? 
Obama: Apparently not. How about Chinese? 
Boehner: Don't ask me -- you're the "leader". 
Obama: Okay, Chinese. 
Boehner: I'm trying to cut back on sodium. Do you really want me to have a heart attack? 
Obama: Let me get back to you on that. So, no pizza, no Chinese. 
Boehner: Correct. 
Obama: KFC?
Boehner: Too African-American. 
Obama: Outback? 
Boehner: Too atheist. Too female. 
Obama: Taco Bell? 
Boehner: Don't even go there. 
Obama: Oooh, yeah, forgot. You'd only get 27% of a meal. 
Boehner: [inaudible] 
Obama: Listen, man, you're saying you want me to lead... 
Boehner: Yes. 
Obama: But you hate all my suggestions. 
Boehner: Correct. You need to lead with something I like. 
Obama: Can I get any hint whatsoever of what you might like? 
Boehner: I can tell you two things. 
Obama: Yes? Boehner: It has "Chick" in it, and it has "Fil-A" in it. 
Obama: There is no way I'm eating there.
Boehner: See you at the bottom of the cliff.

Mitt Romney saved GM and Chrysler?

Can you say [dih-loo-zhuh-nl]?

"Only in politics do people root for bad news."

~ President Obama

Who do you love?

"We’ve arrived at a point where the President of the United States is going to lead a war on traditional marriage." 
~ Rush Limbaugh


Limbaugh's first, second, third, and fourth wives could not be reached for comment.

One Year Later...

“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.”
~ Edward R. Murrow

Full Speech: Obama on Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal (Transcript)
Read More...

The Propaganda of Politics?

"I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends - that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them." ~ Adlai E. Stevenson

President George Bush never gave a 'Mission Accomplished' speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003? What if the Navy Seal mission into Abbottabad had failed? Would the Republican Party had made a repeat of a Desert One type failure a campaign issue in 2012?

Between the Eisenhower Administration and right up to the preemptive war in Iraq, the Republican Party was seen as the foreign policy leader on national security issues. This is no longer the case. While I have the deepest respect for John McCain, his recent statements about staying in Afghanistan forever completely lacks long term vision or insight.

Additionally, for as long as this blogger can remember, there has been an unwritten political rule NOT to attack or criticize the foreign policy efforts of a sitting President when he's not on American soil.



Update: Obama Needles Romney on Old Bin Laden Quotes?
Read More...

President Obama is a "Snob"?

Is civility dead in 2012? 

If someone called your mother or grandmother a "slut" or implied that your daughter or sister was a "prostitute", how would you feel?

Facebook Quote: "I drove behind a car with an Obama sticker on it, which means I'm a follower of an Obama follower, so I'm a gobless Commie, according to the real America. Right?"

Rush Limbaugh Update (3/4/11):
"They (Republicans) want to bomb Iran, but they're afraid of Rush Limbaugh." 
~ George Will
ABC News' This Week

Government Regulations?

Instead of accepting political talking points at face value, this blogger usually fact checks the raw numbers behind an issue or subject. One of the central themes of this election cycle is the negative impact of government regulations on job growth. Looking at the numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on February 3, 2012, considering the financial meltdown in 2008 was directly connected to the housing sector (subprime mortgage lending), it's no surprise the overall employment numbers in the construction industry remains one of the weakest segments of the economy. Read More...

The most interesting numbers released in this latest report are on page 6. If government environmental regulations are killing jobs, it's a bit curious that the overall employment numbers for the mining and logging industry are at the highest levels in more than 12 years:

"Since a low in October 2009, mining employment has expanded by 172,000, with 10,000 jobs being added in January (2012)."
~ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Additionally, since reaching a peak of 455,595 barrels in August 2006, how do Republicans explain the continued downward trend in U.S. imported crude oil and petroleum products under the Obama Administration?
Read More...
US licenses first nuclear reactors since 1978?
Read More...

Undoubtedly, there are too many government regulations. It would be refreshing for this blogger if the politicians, particularly the Republicans, would throw this avid blogger a bone and specifically pinpoint which regulations needs to be changed, dramatically altered or thrown out with the bureaucratic bath water.

When it comes to the rising price of gasoline, Americans need to understand that the emerging markets in China and India will continue to impact global oil supplies.
Read More...
Read More...
Read More...

Grand Obstructionist Party?

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
~ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in an interview with the National Journal, describing his goal in retaking the Senate.

One of the main political talking points of Republicans is that President Obama got everything he wanted his first two years in office:


"A lie told often enough becomes the truth"?

If one individual uses a specific grouping of words to express an idea at a particular time and place, and it's then cited by others (for example the Wall Street Journal), it's called a quote. If one or more individuals employ the same phraseology over and over again to support a specific political agenda, it's called a message. To put it another way, a slogan is a slogan is a slogan. It's how ideological soap is bought and sold in the political marketplace (see Echo Chamber).

Clearly, any video which includes Rachel Maddow must be pure liberal propaganda. So, what is the truth? Instead of accepting this politically partisan video at face value, this blogger went directly to the source: The U.S. Senate. Read More...

Mr. Smith Rewrites the Constitution?
“All provisions which require more than a majority of any body to its resolutions have a direct tendency to embarrass the operations of the government and an indirect one to subject the sense of the majority to that of the minority.” ~ Alexander Hamilton

The public record is the public record. Numbers don't lie. Can you say Grand Obstructionist Party? This blogger has a theory. The partisan goal is simple: stop and/or delay every action of government in order to create a climate of economic uncertainty.


GOP Senator won’t seek re-election, cites Washington’s increasing polarization?
Read More...

Suggested Reading List:
Glass-Steagall Act
Cost of Wars

Class Warfare against the Ruling Class?

On Faux News Sunday (September 18, 2011), Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke with Chris Wallace about President Obama's plan to reduce the budget deficit and fund the proposed American Jobs Act.

"Class warfare Chris may make for good politics but it makes for rotten economics. We don't need a system that divides people."
~ Rep. Paul Ryan

Considering the GOP has been waging a non-stop war against the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining, for this blogger, this Wisconsin Representative's comments framing the latest tax battle as class warfare sounded a bit like Rick Santorum lecturing Senator John McCain about the benefits of water boarding.

Who is Paul Ryan?
Representative Ryan is the quintessential, professional Beltway Baby.

How much money has he earned working in the public sector? Based on the Congressional Pay Table, since being elected to Congress in 1998 (at the age of 28), he has earned $2,078,100 (base salary). This figure does not include yearly travel expenses or the random $50 special interest group luncheon.

Prior to earning his own Congressional Franking Privileges, Ryan worked for Wisconsin Sen. Bob Kasten and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. 

From battling paper cuts as a Congressional mail room intern, to joining the staffs of two Senators, to eventually being elected to Congress himself, Representative Ryan has spent the majority of his adult life walking the corridors of Capital Hill (as well as collecting a government paycheck). So, when this Beltway Baby gives a supply side economics tax lecture about the Millionaire Club, please forgive this blogger for laughing.

Considering he's already banked over $2,000,000 as a public servant, taken advantage of 12 years of government sponsored health care, did not serve in Afghanistan or Iraq and has already qualified for the Congressional retirement package (not including Social Security), how on earth did this Washington Insider become the so-called Poster Child for the Tea Party Movement? 

All politicians sell SOAP. In the case of Representative Ryan, he is the SOAP. He is an actual product created by and for the Washington Beltway.

It's easy for a member of the GOP to go on Faux News. It's quite another to give an extended interview with someone like Rachael Maddox. As I've already written, there is no silver bullet for fixing this economy. Should the tax code be simplified? Yes. But with more than 12,000 lobbyists knocking on Congressional doors, I seriously doubt any reform package (which tackles tax loopholes and exemptions) will survive the Tsunami of special interest money.

Class Warfare? Please. The Koch Brothers have already spent more than $100,000,000 selling their Libertarian brand of corporate soap. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Tax reform without serious political reform still leaves a majority of Americans sitting on the sidelines. Confused? What political reforms? Read More...

REPOST: Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut taxes and decreased revenue as it marched off to war?

How many millionaires and billionaires served in Afghanistan or Iraq? How many of these same folks made money off these wars? Anyhow, the term Job Creators has a nicer ring to it than Campaign Contributors.



IF Ryan wants to talk about Class Warfare, bringing back compulsory military service (with a public service option for conscientious objectors) would be a great place to start the conversation.

During this latest debt ceiling debate, President Obama made a serious linguistic blunder. Instead of calling the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts - for the wealthiest Americans - the Buffett Rule, he should have named it the Two War Rule. In 2003, the Bush Administration projected the cost of military operations for Iraq between $50 billion to $60 billion dollars. Where was Ryan when the Congressional Budget Office was crunching those numbers for funding Dick's Halliburton War? Ryan voted for both wars and the Bush-era Tax cuts. 10 years & $1.3 trillion dollars later, this Congressman (now supported by the Tea Party) still refuses to pay the bills for Afghanistan & Iraq. Read Here & Here...

Sadly, even if the President had chosen a different package of words to sell his latest proposal, at the end of the day, Congressman Ryan would still have called it Class Warfare. And you know something...maybe he's right. Being born and raised inside the Washington Beltway gives a person a special interest perspective of this world. Read More...

Photos by Peter Rimar
Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (and How They Try to Get It) 
(See all Political Lobbying Books)

Super Bowl XLVI?

During the pre-game show, NBC Sports ran a graphic on the political connection between the eventual winner of the Superbowl and the outcome of the last two Presidential Elections.

In 2004, the New England Patriots (AFC) defeated the Carolina Panthers (NFC) and President George W. Bush won reelection. In 2008, the New York Giants (NFC) defeated the New England Patriots (AFC) and then Senator Barrack Obama won the White House. Now that the Giants have defeated the Patriots in Superbowl XLVI, if Obama wins reelection, in four more years, this blogger predicts NBC Sports will dust off this rather absurd political connection. But then again, Rush Limbaugh did attend the big game as a special guest of Patriot's owner Robert Kraft.

Here's another prediction: It will be tough for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City to host a ticker-tape parade for the Giants and delay a parade for Iraq Veterans. Indeed, if the country could find the money and the resources to fight two different wars, why not two different parades?

Waiting until military operations end in Afghanistan to salute the conclusion of America's involvement in Iraq is a mistake. First, by not acknowledging the differences between Afghanistan and Iraq, it sends the wrong message, at the wrong time, to the Iranian leadership. For the last ten years, Tehran has perceived itself as being encircled by U.S. Forces. Since 1979, no Administration (Republican or Democrat) has had the political will or courage to diplomatically engage the Iranians. Even during the Cold War, American leaders knew this country needed to interact with the Soviet Union. The global consequences for doing anything less were too high. Unlike North Korea, which Beijing keeps on a short leash, there is no economic, political or military counterbalance to the regime in Tehran. Libya is not Egypt, Syria is not Libya, Afghanistan is not Iraq, and Iran continues to be Iran.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, it delays the healing process for a nation that's been at war for over ten years. Once again, to hold a parade for the winners of a football game, and not the troops who served this country in the game of life is just plan wrong. It just doesn't pass the common sense test.

The Absurdity of the Idiotology?

Ten months after releasing his original, official, long-form birth certificate, the clogosphere is still buzzing with various conspiracy theories regarding President Obama's citizenship. Why? Since some folks still have a bad case of selective memory, here's a little CNN reminder from April 2011:


Senator John McCain's was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. His eligibility to run for the White House in 2008 was never questioned. Mitt Romney's father, who ran for the Republican nomination in 1968, was born to American parents living in the Mormon colonies in Mexico.

Are there racial and religious undertones to the 2012 Presidential Election?

Sadly, even when presented with a new truth, people will continue to believe what they want to believe. Read More...

Indeed, how does Donald Trump, who embarrassed the country by hitching his political wagon to the Birther Movement, still receive serious media attention from ALL the major news outlets?

The idiotology of ideology?

Despite being raised in an "atmosphere of privilege", humbled by Polio when he was 39 years old, F.D.R. had "it". 

Dwight D. Eisenhower also had "it". While it's difficult to pinpoint the exact moment Ike learned about "it", a tour of a Nazi Concentration Camp certainly contributed to his own personal awakening of what "it" meant for the future of humanity.


Henry Dunant. Mohandas Gandhi. Martin Luther King. César Chávez.

Richard Nixon became aware of "it" after Watergate. Jimmy Carter was judged for having too much "it". George H.W. Bush was only a one term President because he forgot about the importance of "it".

Desmond Tutu. Tenzin Gyatso. Aung San Suu Kyi.

Part of the message of the New Testament of the Bible is dedicated to the spiritual idea of "it".

In 2008, it was clear that Senator John McCain (a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years) and then Senator Barack Obama (an educated black man born in America) both had "it".

So, what is "it"?
ἐμπάθεια. Einfühlung. Empathy.

It's an important human quality which separates a mere politician from a leader. In the view of this Blogger, Mitt Romney doesn't have "it". Indeed, Mitt will never have "it".

And for this reason alone, this Blogger believes the former Massachusetts' Governor will not, but more importantly should not, be elected President.

It remains to be seen whether or not the country is prepared for Mitt to be IT.

Romney Update:
$374,327.62 for 9 Political Speeches = "Not Very Much"?
Read More...

Empathy? Envy? Even Newt Gingrich didn't try to play hide the tax banana with his K-Street money in the Caymen Islands.

Empathy Update:
(2/1/12)
"I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other. I am running to be the president of all the American people and I am concerned about all the American people." ~ Newt Gingrich



Romney says he’s not concerned about the poor?
Read More...

In fairness to the candidate, running for the highest office is a grueling experience. It's difficult to keep ones own mouth and mind on the same sheet of political music. With that said, once again, because Mitt Romney has never worried about keeping a roof over his head, for this reason alone, he'll never be able to connect with average Americans struggling from paycheck to paycheck.

And finally, how many of Romney's five sons have served in uniform? It's one thing to beat the drums of war, it's quite another to actually send ones own son or daughter into harm's way. Just ask Vice President Joe Biden.

Suggested Reading: Pew Research Center

2010 Tax Returns for Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and President Obama?

"A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it." ~ Bob Hope






The following are the raw tax numbers for the three top candidates researched and published by CNN:

Mitt & Ann Romney
Total Income: $21,661,334
Effective Tax rate: 13.9%

Newt & Callista Gingrich
Total Income: $3,162,424
Effective Tax Rate: 31.6%

Barack & Michelle Obama
Total Income: $1,795,614
Effective Tax Rate: 26%


Romney’s 13.9% Tax Rate Shows Power of Investment Tax Preference?
Read More...

Betty White for President in 2012?

This blogger hopes and prays that I have as much ZEST for life and raw energy as this Hollywood icon when I'm 90!
Read More...


"Once I first heard about the campaign to host Saturday Night Live, I didn't know what Facebook was. And now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time."
~ Betty White on NBC's Saturday Night Live

Social Networking = The BORG? IF you're reading this message, you've been Assimilation!

Make your Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie 
before it's too late!

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."
~ Will Rogers
Chairman Mao Watch

Breaking News: North Korean Kim Jong-il Dead

This may be the first real foreign policy test of the Obama Administration.

As I've already stated in a previous post, since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the DPRK has been a proxy state of the People's Republic of China.

With the announced death of Kim Jong-il, it remains to be seen how Beijing will respond to any unforeseen internal power struggle within North Korea itself.

Despite the best efforts of Beijing's leaders, it's still possible the death of Kim Jong-il could eventually lead to a crisis similar to what the Chinese themselves experienced following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 (see Gang of Four). Historically, the transition of power within a Communist country, after the death of a cult of personality type leader, is not uncharted territory. The question remains whether a Stalin or a Gorbachev is waiting in the wings to eventually seize the reigns of power in Pyongyang.

With or without Kim Jong-il, the CCP's economic and military approach to the DPRK will remain the same. For both China and North Korea, the shared political goal for both regimes can best be described with three simple words: Stability. Stability. Stability.

Despite its policy to maintain political stability on the Korean Peninsula, if the DPRK ever attacks South Korea, the CCP and the PLA will bear full responsibility for planting the political seeds of an unnecessary war. Being an economic superpower and acting like a world leader is not the same thing.


"As soon as man began considering himself the source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure of everything, the world began to lose its human dimension and man began to lose control of it."
~ Václav Havel

For this blogger, it's interesting how the weekend passing of a man like Václav Havel contrasts with the death of the DPRK's "Dear Leader".

DPRK Update: (01/04/12)
The Washington Post
Amid N. Korea succession, China makes push for stability
Read More...

...perspective...

North Korean Performers
Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing
June 2008

On this day in history?

Sometimes, lost in all the polarized political debates going on in Washington D.C. and across this country, Americans seem to forget that the United States has been a country at war for over ten years. It remains to be seen how future scholars will judge this particular decade in World History.

"Unlike the old empires, we don't make these sacrifices for territory or for resources. We do it because it's right. There can be no fuller expression of America's support for self-determination then our leaving Iraq to its people. That's says something about who we are."
~ President Barack Obama
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
December 14, 2011
Read More...

Final Update?
December 18, 2011
The last convoy of American troops leave Iraq.
Read More...


Photos by Peter Rimar. Baghdad, Iraq (April 2005).

Newt Gringrich for President?

Seriously? Really? Could General Ripper's conspiracy theory linking "fluoridated water" with a Communist plot to weaken American society be true? Every time this blogger reads about the candidate's recent surge in the polls, a single rhetorical cliché best describes my thoughts regarding Newt's book selling run for the White House:

Can you say "Lipstick on a Pig"?

Despite Newt's well-documented, extremely checkered political record, a growing number of Republicans actually believe he's the best candidate to beat President Obama in 2012.

Good luck with that one!

Perhaps Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who's NOT known for her intellectual prowess or problem solving skills, put it best. On CBS' Face the Nation, Bachmann stated, "He's the 'King of K Street. For a person who's been influence peddling for over 30 years in Washington, D.C. - to think that Newt Gingrich is somehow an outsider, when he is the consummate establishment insider?"

Hopefully, between now and the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, GOP voters will WAKE UP and take another look at Jon Huntsman and Buddy Roemer. Otherwise, Republican voters should be prepared for the GOP to suffer its biggest Presidential defeat in its long, proud history. In terms of Jon Huntsman, he has an extremely strong foreign policy background (which during the Cold War actually meant something with Republican voters). As far as supporting a candidate like Buddy Roemer, well, GOP voters could walk away from a 2012 defeat with dignity and some glimmer of hope for the Party's political future.

Political Quote of the Week:
"If a corporation is a person, I can't wait until they get drafted in the next war."
~ Buddy Roemer on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show
December 8, 2011



Photo Credit: Peter Rimar's wife in an art gallery located in Beijing's 798 District (May 2008).
Reference Links:
Lipstick on a Pig
Dr. Strangelove

Iraq is a Sovereign State?

Despite Mitt Romney's condemnation of President's Obama decision to remove U.S. troops from Iraq before December 31st (a deadline originally negotiated by the Bush Administration), the fact remains, Iraq's economic and political future rests with it own people. 

What was the original mission in the region? The search for W-M-D? Please. It was to remove Saddam Hussein from power (spelled O-I-L). Period. It's a little late in the geopolitical game to armchair quarterback this country's inevitable withdrawal from Iraq. What part of IRAQ is NOT our country that this candidate doesn't understand?
Read More...
Photo of Iraqi Soldiers training in Baghdad, Iraq (April 2005) by Peter Rimar.

USA Today
Two arrests in hit-and-run death
of Chinese toddler
Read More...

Will this security camera video footage of a toddler left for dead 
actually change China? Doubtful. However, considering the CCP filters and controls the internet, beyond the painfully, gut-wrenching nature of the story itself, it's curious that the leaders in Beijing have allowed this tragedy to be part of a much broader, national debate:

Warning: This video contains extremely graphic images of the girl's injuries:

Mission Complete?

It appears the Obama Administration has decided to pull out the last combat brigade from Iraq on or near the original December 31st deadline. IF true, this country is preparing to close another important chapter in its history. It still may take another generation of economists to calculate the final human cost of this 7 plus year war and military occupation. At the end of the day, it will be the Iraqi people themselves who hold the keys to rebuilding their own destiny. Read More...

Farmers at School

Somewhere Near Balad Air Base

April 2005

"No man should escape our universities without knowing how little he knows." ~ Robert Oppenheimer

Photo by Peter Rimar.