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| A small group of anti-American protesters showed up. Photo: Chicago News Bench |
"President Obama is delivering a major address on health insurance reform to a special joint session of Congress," writes Jeremy Bird, Deputy Director of Organizing for America (OFA). 
and drinks are a nice plus." If you haven't learned this aspect of throwing a party by the time you're finished with your freshmen year of college, then you have no business throwing a party. 
I watched Barack Obama's speech to school kids today. It was bland. It was boring. After much public outcry, the part where he was to ask kids to help him was removed. The final version was pretty tame, and the outcry was, well, somewhat overblown. However, I had at least four problems with the speech:
Problem #1: Rock Star Intro
The speech opened with Sec. of Education Arne Duncan introducing some kid who then introduced Obama. The problem with that is the rock star nature of the presentation. Rather than give the boring, bland speech from his desk, the White House felt it necessary to have a rousing introduction with a roomful of vetted friendlies giving him a rousing ovation. Now, that's clever politics. It is also inappropriate to the stated intention of the speech.
Problem #2: Cult of Personality
The White House knew exactly what they were doing when they set up Obama's rock star reception. The subliminal message to the kids - especially those who will be old enough to vote in 2012, is simple: Barack Obama is your Great Father. Der Uber Fater. Your Hero. Your Great Leader. A pop icon. Why else would the White House have not done the traditional address from the quiet Oval Office?
Problem #3: Overblown Production
Obama presented a very tame motivational speech kids, which could more easily (and less expensively) have been done from the Oval Office in the White House. Instead, Obama had to travel to Wakefield High School in nearby Arlington, Virginia. That required the usual heavy Secret Service details, a lot of security advance work, setting up a remote video production operation, local police work, and streets tied up for the motorcade. All that bother and expense to tell kids what kids should be told by their teachers and parents every day.
Problem #4: The Entire Speech Was Hypocritical
Actually, this is not a problem, per se. It does, however, show us the hypocrisy of Obama and of the Democrat Party. In his speech, Obama repeatedly told school kids to be responsible, to work hard, to never give up, to be self-reliant. Nice words, which I agree with, but none of those values are encouraged by the Obama or the Democrats in deed. Ever since the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt, Americans have been told more and more that they are entitled to government care and coddling. Many of the kids who watched the speech today were born into an entitlement subculture, created and nurtured by the Democrats, that conditions them to expect free government cheese every day of their lives.
I had to chuckle many times as the most radical Leftist ever to sit in the Oval Office presented a very conservative message of self-reliance and hard work, and he did it with a straight face.
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I like that a site such as Hiptics has combined excellent entertainment industry coverage with sharp political insights. They are presenting reasoned political insight to an audience that might otherwise ignore it.
The entertainment stuff, while very well done, is almost like bait to lure young readers to their site, where they are then presented with other interesting things to read. For me, the political writing at Hiptics lured me in, and I've been exploring the world of hip-hop through them. That bait worked. I'm hooked.
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Elliot Wilson Talks Republican Party’s Hip-Hop Makeover
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A friend of mine, who shall remain unnamed, sent me this bit of political spoofery. It already had everything in it, including the clever text, but I couldn't resist inserting Blagojevich's face. With apologies to the makers of "Grand Theft Auto," I also touched up the color a bit and enhanced all the lights on the pursuing police car. Private kudos to my unnamed friend for a fine bit of artistic commentary. Click image to make it embiggered.
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Former sewer inspector Emil Jones has announced his intention to retire from the Illinois State Legislature. For many of us, Jones can't leave too soon.
John Ruberry writes that "Jones' retirement is not immediate. He will remain on the November ballot, so he can hand-pick his successor. And if Jones follows tradition, he'll probably pick a relative." John, of Marthon Pundit, was right-on, and indeed updated his post later today with this: "Surprise, surprise. Jones wants some guy named Emil Jones III to succeed him. You can't make this stuff up."
MEANWHILE, a revealing and must-read post on Daily Kos indicates that Jones pal Barack Obama might give him a plum position in Washington if Obama continues to fool enough voters:
My own encounters with Emil this year center around Obama's presidential campaign. We were in the same office in both Iowa and Wisconsin, and while I think he traveled with different aides to the two states, it was amazing how they (Emil's aides) pushed the same lines. The one that was the most memorable (and startling, given what I know about Barack) was that, when asked what job Emil would get in an Obama Administration, the answer was always the same: "Anything He Wants." FULL POST at Daily Kos...
What is it with Illinois Democrats that they behave like dynastic royal families?
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About a year ago, the Sun-Times ran a story with a ridiculous headline that proclaimed Rogers Park to be the "Venice Beach of Chicago."
Imagine Mayberry's Howard Sprague with Machiavellian fantasies, and you get Jim Ginderske. He recently exposed himself in a July 2nd interview with the News-Star newspaper. He was asked about a community group and their involvement with the currently controversial attempt to install a Boys and Girls Club in the soon-to-be-opened Gale Community Center (emphasis added):
Residents of Chicago's 49th Ward know political corruption and horror. But not even Alderman Joe Moore is as bad as Robert Mugabe, strongman of Zimbabwe. This African nation has been a hellhole for decades. It is a basketcase nation on a basketcase continent.
The Economist writes today that "Zimbabwe needs its neighbours to help rescue its people from hell." One can only hope that the Zimbabweans don't hold their breath. African nations are not know for helping their neighbors.
SINCE Robert Mugabe lost the first round of a presidential election at the end of March to Morgan Tsvangirai, he has stopped at nothing to steal the second round on June 27th....
Several million famished Zimbabweans depend on foreign aid to keep them alive, yet he has banned most foreign agencies from operating around the country, partly to prevent them witnessing the horrors he is inflicting on those he suspects of disloyalty, and partly to use food to coerce people into voting for him.
Read this and the related article in The Economist.
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