On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday show, Jessica Yellin said she interviewed Obama for a forthcoming documentary and asked him why he did not do more outreach to Republicans in the beginning of his term to bridge the divides Obama often rails against. 

Yellin said Obama told her one of the reasons he did not was because he wanted to spend more time at home with his kids and family. 

"He was trying to spend some time at home with his family in the evenings and on the weekends,” Yellin said. 

So it's Malia and Natasha's fault!

January 3, 2007.  Thats the day Democrat majorities took control of both the House and the Senate. 

The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77
The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%
The Unemployment rate was 4.6%
If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the 2007 deficit, the last of
the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the
fourth straight decline in deficit spending.
 

 I teach a remedial math course.  Multiplication tables.  Number lines.  Fractions.  So it shouldn't surprise me that when I ask my more advanced classes where medical care or rights come from, the answer I most often get is "the government."  I then ask if they would go to the mayor's office to get thier blood pressure checked.  Quizzical looks.  And we're off to the races.  I figurethey haven't really been TAUGHT this.  They just picked it up through bits and snippets in the culture.

Then I see this.

OK.  I don't say this lightly OR very often, but that's ...well.....unAmerican.  Let's start here, emphasis mine:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

To say otherwise is, in effect, unAmerican.  It's our very founding.  As Peter Karsinow recently pointed out, and I HATE to go there, Mr. Touré might be comforted by the fact that his is not an isolated view; it is/was shared by a number of world figures: Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Amin — just to name a few.  So take heart, Touré, you’re not alone.

Next week I'll spend 3-4 hours discussing the Social Contract, Locke, Hobbes et al.  And hopefully when I'm done another dozen empty skulls full of mush will walk out of my classroom with a better understanding of American exceptionalism, although I'll ever use that phrase.  I won't HAVE to.  To the rational, attentive listener it will be obvious.  Which is why the American political left misses the point.

Need your mind washed out after that?  Try this.

a taste of Charlotte?  How 'bout what the Donks have said in the recent past - a reminder:

John Kerry, attacking the United States:

Each day to facilitate the process by which the United States washes her hands of Vietnam, someone has to give up his life so that the United States doesn’t have to admit something that the entire world already knows … so that we can't say that we’ve made a mistake.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, insinuating Republicans are racist:

When you have a party that says coded things, that makes totally false ads up, falsely saying the president is trying to undo welfare reform, I think you're going to see a lot of heavily and not-so-subtly coded messages from the Romney-Ryan campaign.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, 1996, referring to people who had betrayed his boss Bill Clinton in 1992:

Suddenly Emanuel grabbed his steak knife and, as those who were there remember it, shouted out the name of another enemy, lifted the knife, then brought it down with full force into the table. 'Dead!' he screamed. The group immediately joined in the cathartic release: ''Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead! Bill Schaefer! Dead!'

Nancy Pelosi, speaking of enforcing immigration laws: “I think it’s un-American.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, speaking of wealthy supporters of Mitt Romney: “If this flood of outside money continues, the day after the election, 17 angry old white men will wake up and realize they've just bought the country!”

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver, speaking of the Trayvon Martin case: “The police department is (sic) almost an accessory to the crime. They did nothing!”

Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who joined with Cleaver to claim they were called “niggers” by Tea Party members near the Capitol, and had to shut up when Andrew Breitbart offered $10,000 if they could prove it – and they couldn’t.

There is a lot of anger from the Left, which is nothing new; by definition, they are usually angry, unhappy people who are desperate to destroy traditions and erect new ones of their own making.

And there is massive hypocrisy as well: the Dems have been pushing their War on Women meme, but Bill Clinton, a serial adulterer and accused rapist, is prominently featured (although it should be stated, the Democrats are forgiving people; former Time reporter Nina Burleigh once famously said, “I would be happy to give him a blowjob just to thank him for keeping abortion legal. I think American women should be lining up with their presidential kneepads on to show their gratitude for keeping the theocracy off our backs.”)

There is un acknowledged fear in the Democrats’ choice of Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, who has been reinflated since being flattened after Obama threw him under the bus; this after he had said he was “uncomfortable” with the Obama campaign’s attack on Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital record.  Booker’s appearance is a transparent attempt to transmit to Democrats around the country that their members are not deserting the sinking ship.

And most obliviously, in their response to the RNC’s choice of an American icon, Clint Eastwood, the Democrats have chosen someone who is of equivalent status, someone whose image is larger than life. May we present ---

Eva Longoria? Now there’s someone that has legendary status.

They’re mad. They’re hypocrites. They’re afraid. They’re oblivious.

They’re Democrats.

from BigGovernment.com

haven't talked college/hs much - bacause it isn't Labor Day yet.  WJHS is now 1-1 - thumped an average Mechanicsburg team two weeks back and lost a GREAt game to defending State Champs Maria Stein ML last night.  Trailed 16-0 after 1 qtr - lots of mistakes.  Faught back to withing a TD by the end of the half.  Tied at 30 with 5 minutes to go.  Final was 44-37.  Two VERY good teams.  We wish them luck.

I nearly had a fight in the stands - just because I knew the rules of the game.  Parents don't like that.  They think that because THEIR kid's on the team THEY kow the rules.  Sad really.

Buckeyes romping today.  ND looked ugly in Ireland.  Hope Blue thumps theTide in Texas but I'm not optimistic.

some good ones ...some bad ones .....my contribution for notable lines:

fro ex Don Alabama rep Artur Davis:

So many of those high-flown words have faded.

Remember the President saying of negative politics and untrue ads, "not this time?"

Who knew "not this time" just meant "not unless the economy is still stuck and we can't run on our record?"

Remember, too, when he said, "this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal?"

Who knew the plain English version of it was, "middle America, get ready to shell out 60 bucks to fill up your car?"

And in terms of their crown jewel legislative achievement: who knew that when asked, "will government impose a new federal mandate requiring middle class Americans to buy health insurance whether they can afford it or not?"

The answer would be "Yes we can!"

Condi Rice: 

“You see, the essence of America, what really unites us, is not nationality or ethnicity or religion. It is an idea. And what an idea it is. That you can come from humble circumstances and you can do great things, that it does not matter where you came from, it matters where you are going.”

What was so deft in Paul Ryan’s speech was the image of a fading President Obama, a man “grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind.” You had to love Ryan’s description of the unemployed college graduate living in his “childhood bedroom staring up at fading Obama posters.” Fading was the operative word. Ouch.

Indeed, Ryan’s speech made an understated bow towards Reagan’s political message with a signature passage. “The right that makes all the difference now is the right to choose our own leaders. You are entitled to the clearest possible choice because the time for choosing is drawing near,” Ryan told the Tampa convention crowd. There is no doubt that he was reaching back to Reagan’s classic political debut speech endorsing the 1964 candidacy of Barry Goldwater. Reagan burst onto the national scene with a speech he called “A Time for Choosing.” He told his audience back then, “The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.”

At Values and Capitalism, Josh Good offers Paul Ryan a great line; I hope he takes it. Josh notes that Ryan’s Medicare plan exempts today’s seniors from the impact of reforms. So when the 69-year-old Biden attacks the 42-year-old Ryan over Medicare in the VP debate, Ryan can tell him: “I’m not talking about you, Joe. I’m talking about me.” If it were me, I’d put it this way: “We’re going to take care of you, Joe, but we’re also going to save the system so it’s there for me, too.”

The whole post is worth reading. Josh highlights the theme of generosity in Ann Romney’s speech:

[Mitt's decision to] work harder and press on … [has] given us the deep satisfaction of being able to help others in ways that we could never have imagined. Mitt doesn’t like to talk about how he has helped others because he sees it as a privilege, not a political talking point.

And we’re no different than the millions of Americans who quietly help their neighbors, their churches and their communities… They don’t do it so that others will think more of them. They do it because there is no greater joy. “Give and it shall be given unto you.”…

This is the genius of America: dreams fulfilled help others launch new dreams.

"I’m hearing from so many women that may not have considered voting for a Republican before that said it’s time for the grown-up to come,” Romney told CNN. “The man that’s going to take this very seriously. And take the future of our children very, very seriously. I very much believe it’s going to be an economic election.”

 

 

Via the Huffington Post:

In a move blasted by rights groups, a 3-year-old-deaf boy has been told by his Nebraska school district to change the way he signs his name because the gesture resembles shooting a gun. Hunter Spanjer uses the standard S.E.E., Signing Exact English. He crosses his index and middle fingers and waves them slightly to signify his name. And, Grand Island Public Schools’ policy forbids any “instrument” that “looks like a weapon,” reported NCN.

I don't really like them.  Accidental or externally caused days off?  Fine.  Habit from HS.  Took a day off on a w/e.  Coach asked me if i'd taken a day off.  When I told him I had he replied "your competition didn't" 

 Prefontaine's HS streak was legendary.  I put together a streak of 260 days once - quite a bit back for an HS'er in the 70's on a farm in 4-H, band, choir, etc.  And in "the day" (from here on out "the day" will usually apply to 1970-2000) I hated 'em.

But now I'm old.  They're afact of life.  And necissary.  I don't recover the way I used to.  Not even CLOSE.   So this week I've started phase I of getting back to racing.  The base work is done.  Two years worth?  Little things.  Getting back in the swing.  Dropping weight.  etc.  First w/o called for 5-7 400's under 95.  First 4 went well.  One more and I'm done.  First 100 went too fast (cause i knew i'd need some time in the bank) ...second 100 was slow but I was still on pace.  When suddenly - I stopped.  My body shut off and my brain wasn't there to say " just 200m more dude, easy strides....180m left.....relax and reach for only 170m....."  And the current w/o rules say take the next day off and re-run this w/o.  So I will.  That's the next thing I need to re-acquire - that sense that the body's getting ready to stop and the mind has to kick it in the @$$.

 And i do NOT like to lose three days t this point, if I wanna race indoors come February and March.

these are gonna be SOOO easy the next few days.

Samuel L. Jackson and Ellen Barkin — have been expressing their hopes that Hurricane Isaac will wipe out those of us in Tampa, or should have wiped us out, or whatever. Apparently, Barkin “retweeted” a message that said, “C’mon #Isaac! Wash every pro-life, anti-education, anti-woman, xenophobic, gay-bashing, racist SOB right into the ocean! #RNC.”

note hate, just fear:“I expect the crowd in power to destroy everything…”

hypocrisy is getting ....well.....offputting: