A Sign of Weakness.

The United States and Great Britain decided to close their embassy's in Yemen on Sunday. But before the last light was turned off, the ever smug Bill Kristol on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, declared it not only a win for Al-Qaeda, but a sign of our National weakness. Again, politicizing the War on Terror. Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't the GOP supposed to be strong on terror? Was it not the same GOP that for years has said we need to be united against the terrorists threats overseas? What has changed? Of course we all know the answer. But the one thing that has not changed is the Terror adviser to The President. John Brennen has worked for the past five administrations and said he would not work for this President if he wasn't committed to success against Al-Qaeda. (see Meet the Press clip of Brennen) Good enough for me. and he was good enough for Kristol under Bush.

Today I guess the Nations of France, Germany, and Japan, have also given Al-Qaeda 3 more wins, by showing their collective weakness. Because they have closed their embassy doors as well, because of the threats of attack. Will Kristol speak out on their collective cowardliness? Doubtful, and he sure as hell won't apologize for his idiotic statement on Sunday. Lets just give thanks that this guy doesn't make any policy whatsoever.

(Kristol's brilliant revelation comes at about the 1:38 mark in the video)

Mistakes of our Fathers.

No, don't worry Dad I'm not coming after you. I am trying to illustrate the need to remember the past when dealing with our present economic problem. So we don't make the same mistakes our fathers, fathers made.

Look at all the good economic news:

Headline CNBC:

December Jobs Report Could Show First Gain In Two Years.

"December could be the month where we see the first increase in payroll employment since December 2007, and even if it doesn't happen this month, job gains won't be long delayed," IHS Global Insight economist Brian Bethune said.

Headline Bloomberg:

U.S. Economy Grew at 2.2% Annual Rate Last Quarter.

“We are really starting to see the mechanisms for a sustained recovery come into place,” said Robert Dye, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. “We are starting to see investment numbers come back.”

Headline Reuters:

Employers see uptick in hiring in 2010:

"There's definitely an uptick. The number of employers who say they're going to add full-time workers is up from last year, and that is very good news," said Michael Erwin, senior career advisor at CareerBuilder.

Great we must be on our way to recovery right? As Lee Corso from ESPN might say, "not so fast my friend."

Paul Krugman put it best today in the New York Times. He warns us that in 1937 we saw a similar growth during the Great Depression. The Government at the time determined incorrectly, that the Depression was over and immediately took steps to stop spending, while tightening monetary policy. Those actions caused the economy to again swirl the toilet. So before we make the same mistakes we made in 1937, before we allow Congress who only votes to further job security, to repeal or block further economic progress. Why don't we let the economic experts decide what is best for our economic future, not the tea baggers or the political pundits on TV and radio who love the catch phrases of "spending our children's future" or "Don't tread on me" lets not allow the mouth breathers in our society to make policy because they are the loudest. Lets learn from History not repeat it. We are seeing slight signs of recovery which are probably blips on the economic landscape, lets not rush to judgement like many did in 1937. Read Krugmans article by clicking his name in this paragraph, he puts it much better then I do. Because he is much smarter then this Stay at Home Dad.

Something to Smile About (Jan. 2010)

Michigan Finally Beats Ohio State in Something Besides Hockey.......

Sims & Harris Push Michigan Past OSU: "The University of Michigan basketball team improved to 7-6 on the season and 1-1 in Big 10 play with a 73-64 win over Ohio State on Sunday afternoon at Crisler Arena. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris led U-M combining for 52 points, 16 rebounds."

What are we afraid of?

Gitmo must be closed for two reasons. First, President Obama campaigned on its closure and Second, what happened there and other places around the world is exactly what America doesn't stand for. Similar to Drinking and Driving, Torture and Democracy don't mix. Gitmo is to Terrorist Organizations what Ground Zero is to Americans. A rallying cry for action. Just as we must rebuild on that scared piece of ground in New York, we must close the Gitmo Detention Facility. The symbolism of both speaks volumes to the world.

Bo-Yah! close Gitmo, problem solved right? Wrong, the previous administrations Gitmo cluster fuck means we have to find another option. A Option that is being proposed is a Super Max prison in Illinois, one the Government will purchase and one that will be run by the federal prison system. This option sounds perfectly logical. We will be in charge of the prison population. We will execute the people who need it, and we will have a place to detain the very people who want to harm us. In addition, maybe we can find a cell for Bernie Madoff at this location. O.K. what's the problem? Well, Congress has again decided to play politics with Terror. Funding for the facility in Illinois will likely be postponed until 2011. We can spend billions of dollars to bailout everyone under the sun, but when it comes to our National Security. Who gives a shit, its another way to stop one of President Obama's campaign promises.

If you don't think this is a National Security issue lets look at the attempted attack in the skies over Detroit. As reported by The AP;

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- As a prisoner at Guantanamo, Said Ali al-Shihri said he wanted freedom so he could go home to Saudi Arabia and work at his family's furniture store.Instead, al-Shihri, who was released in 2007 under the Bush administration, is now deputy leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day attempted bomb attack on a Detroit-bound airliner.

Is anyone surprised by this outcome? Of course not, we most likely torture or humiliate the prisoners, Geneva Convention be damned. Then we turn them over to the Saudi Arabian so-called Government to be rehabilitated. Really? this was your plan Mr. Bush?

The AP goes on to say.

The U.S. has repatriated 120 Saudi detainees from Guantanamo, including some still considered to pose a threat, in part because of confidence the Saudi government can minimize the risk. The Saudi rehabilitation program encourages returning detainees to abandon Islamic extremism and reintegrate into civilian life.

The deprogramming effort -- built on reason, enticements and counseling -- is part of a concerted Saudi government effort to counter extremist ideology. Returning detainees have lengthy talks with psychiatrists, Muslim clerics and sociologists at secure compounds with facilities such as gyms and swimming pools.

What? we were sending them to the Fucking Saudi Betty Ford Clinic for Terror? You have got to be kidding me. Look, America has our share of nut jobs. Serial Killers, Rapists, Gang Bangers, Home Grown Terrorists, and not to mention the Madoff's of the World. What do we do with them? We put them in prison, or we execute them. Lets put that little 23 year old rich kid in the General Population at Jackson Prison outside Detroit. He will be singing like a canary in minutes, that or he will be pulling a shank out his ribs or something worse out of another orifice. It's time to stop treating these terrorists like they are a special kind of criminal, because they are not. Most of them are weak minded individuals who are being preyed upon by ultra conservative clerics with a terrorist agenda. Let's take a page out of Israels book and not go bat shit every time one these idiots try something. Because it is not going to stop, lets lock them up preferably here where we are in control. No more Rehab in Saudi, no more Gitmo cluster fuck, just good old behind bars or death. What are we afraid of?

Rachel Maddow put it best the other day regarding the punk on the Northwest flight.

"You really think this kid can‘t be convicted? You really think we don‘t have enough evidence beyond the—beyond the, I don‘t know, 300 or so eyewitnesses who were on the plane? The fact that we have the weapon that he tried to use? The fact that he confessed? You think that‘s not enough to get this kid convicted? You have that little faith in our criminal justice system? That little faith in the rule of law? You don‘t believe that a supermax federal American prison is capable of holding this kid?

You think it might be cool, instead, to martyr this kid as some impressive soldier, instead of some idiot confused rich kid who couldn‘t even handle blowing up his own junk with a bomb that was secreted in his own underpants? We‘re supposed to take national security advice from you guys? Really?" - Rachel Maddow

Douche Bag Award (Jan 2010) We have a Tie!

Both Pete Hoekstra and Dick Cheney made such strong Douche like contributions over the past couple of weeks, it was just too difficult to choose one.

So you decide because I cannot.

Rep. Hoekstra the Michigan Gubernatorial candidate blatantly pandered for campaign funds directly following the attempted terrorist attack over the skies of Detroit. With a colossal Douchey move, the Rep. from Michigan politicized the War on terror while asking for cash. Here is an excerpt from his letter.

For almost a decade I have been a leader on National Security and at the forefront of the war on terror. I understand the real and continuing threat radical jihadists pose to our great state of Michigan and our great Nation.

I have pledged that I will do "everything possible" to prevent these terrorists from coming to Michigan.

But I need your help.

If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign.

Anyone need a shower yet? This guy is part of the very system that failed and what does he do? well he turns a near disaster into a political football. Bravo Douche Bag.

(entire campaign letter)

The common thread with this months Douche Bags is the politicizing of the War on Terror. Dick Cheney self proclaimed expert on terror, took the chance to take some shots at President Obama again. His Douchey behavior has been well documented, But I believe John Brennan said it better than I ever could on Meet The Press today. Brennan a man who has given his life to public service and national security underscores the Douchey Douche Bag behavior of the former V.P. and current irrelevant political curmudgeon.

Update 1/6/10 Andrew Sullivan seems to agree.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Madness of Torture

On occasions to numerous to count, Charles Krauthammer has stated the Government hasn't the ability to oversee anything to do with health care, even though it has been administering Medicare for decades, while doing it 14% more efficient then Medicare Advantage, the private option which thankfully will be cut by the impending health care legislation.

But it is what Mr. Krauthammer thinks the Government can control that is so interesting to me and many who think any type of law governing torture is ridiculous. Krauthammer makes an eloquent argument for reasons why torture is acceptable. He states reasons that nobody can argue with, not even John McCain would refute what he wrote. But it is what he didn't write that needs to be explained to us if we are to support a torture agenda.

Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Dish put it best.

The truly naive are the Krauthammers and Thiessens and McCarthys who seem to believe - against all history and human nature - that torture can be controlled, that it can be sealed within a very tight box, used only by good people, never abused, never allowed to spread. But this has never happened. We know very well from brutal historical experience that the power to torture even one personalways metastasizes. And we have seen it with our naked eyes in America. What was Abu Ghraib if it wasn't proof that orders to torture from the very top instantly spread through the system so that a handful of torture victims becomes hundreds in a matter of weeks; when torture is allowed the CIA and the military, it instantly spreads, as we have seen, to every theater of war, to every branch of the armed services, from Navy SEALS to special ops guys openly torturing mere suspects under the watch of Stanley McChrystal.

Krauthammer has driven into our heads for the past 8-10 months that the Government could not possibly handle something as important as health care, yet we are supposed to follow the Government "lock step" into a national torture policy? one that we can handle because we are inherently good. No, Medicare could not possibly administer "end of life" counseling, but our Government and Military Leaders will be wonderful stewards when it comes to torture? really? Just think where a torture policy or law could lead. "well it's okay over seas and we think this guy knows where that little girl is in Knoxville" "lets water-board him or hook his nipples to a car battery" Do you see where this could lead? What about the people we torture that are innocent? Can anyone say Slippery-Slope.

Lets review, There has never been a civilization that has employed an ethical torture policy. They have all been corrupted by over-stepping their original bounds. (recent U.S. policy included) In addition there are plenty of proven non-torture methods. So why is this such a hot-button issue? Let me give you an excerpt from my favorite talking head Glenn Beck.

I'm sick and tired of the spineless weasels who've never fought a war or run a business but keep trying to tell people how to fight wars and run businesses.

Let's be clear: The president has to make decisions that most people don't even want to think about. Do you know if waterboarding is torture? The president must. He has to make the tough calls and then the people who actually fight wars need to be left alone to do their job and stand by what they've done, no matter what the consequences.

We need Jack Bauer. Here's what he said when he was asked if he tortured a suspect:

(BEGIN '24' VIDEO CLIP)

ACTOR KIEFER SUTHERLAND AS JACK BAUER:Senator, why don't I save you some time: It's obvious that your agenda is to discredit CTU and generate a series of...

ACTOR KURTWOOD SMITH AS SENATOR BLAINE MAYER: My only agenda is to get to the truth.

BAUER: I don't think it is, sir.

SEN. MAYER: Excuse me?

BAUER: Ibrahim Haddad had targeted a bus train of 45 people, 10 of which were children. The truth, Senator, is I stopped that attack from happening.

SEN. MAYER: By torturing Mr. Haddad.

BAUER: By doing what I deemed necessary to protect innocent lives.

SEN. MAYER: So basically what you're saying, Mr. Bauer, is that the ends justify the means and that you are above the law.

BAUER: When I am activated, when I am brought into a situation, there is a reason and that reason is to complete the objectives of my mission at all costs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

No, actually we need Oliver North:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. OLIVER NORTH: I told you that I was going to tell it to you — the good, the bad and the ugly. Some of it has been ugly for me. I don't know how many other witnesses have gone through the ordeal that I have before arriving here and seen their names smeared all over the newspapers and by some members of this committee, but I committed when I raised my right hand took and oath as a midshipman that I would tell the truth and I took an oath when I arrived before this committee to tell the truth and I have done so, painful though it may be for me and for others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Where is that honor today?

The ultimate neanderthal quotes the television show 24, and its hero Jack Bauer in defense of torture. Are you f-ing kidding me? The fact of the matter is, his rhetoric plays well with what I call the "mouth breather" crowd, who believe that every other minute somebody needs to be tortured to save the United States from utter doom, and why every movie today has to have a car chase or full frontal nudity. These people do not need to set policy of any type.

Back to Krauthammer, although we don't agree politically very often, I have respect for the man and his views. He is a decorated journalist who is respected by many of his peers, usually he makes a very good case when it comes to the political ideology he backs. I just hope his torture stance is not a strange way to gain favor with the Glenn Beck crowd and therefore a larger following. If so his first visit on Becks show may look like a clip from one of my favorite movies. Can you imagine the ratings?

Heck of a job Janet?

Did anyone read David Broders piece in the Washington Post about Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano? If you have not give it a quick read and then roll it up and burn it. Broder who never really ceases to amaze me, blubbers about how hard it must have been for Napolitano being in San Francisco far from her office in D.C. when the attack on the Detroit bound airliner occurred. But she made it to the TV studio bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to answer without "drama" questions about the inefficiencies of the Homeland Security Department. The same Department she said "worked" just days before. Really David? That's the angle your going to take on this? Napolitano should have known better. Can you say "Heck of a job Brownie" President Bush gave a crash course on how not to handle a crisis without all the information being in. Yet Broder tries to paint a picture of Napolitano as this "drama free" director in total control. But something tells me President Obama would have rather had Janet keep her mouth shut then declare "mission accomplished" in regards to the terroist action over Detroit. I know I'm only Commander and Chief over diapers but I believe Napolitano needs to be fired, the sooner the better.

Jan 5, 2010 update from Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish.

I could not agree more.

Our Middle East Addiction.

New Years in Iran:

As Iran's leaders continue to sanction the murder of its people. The United States powerful Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Lobbies ready to wage war again, against the very policies that will help relieve us of our dependence on the very oil that keeps these dictatorships in power. It is my belief that the United States could help bring Democracy to the Middle East without firing a shot, by simply becoming more self sufficient in terms of Energy. The lower the price per barrel of crude oil, equals the less control Dictators such as Amhadinejad will have over his people. The higher the price per barrel of crude, equals more money to quell the wave of reform and Democracy that will stabilize the region. Those same high oil prices fund the ultra conservative clerics who build schools throughout the Middle East sponsoring the very ideology that led to the attacks of 9-11. While we spend our New Year's Eve with families and friends this year, I am hoping the United States makes a Green New Years Resolution for next year, one that sets measurable standards and mandates the inclusion of renewable resources to our energy mix, reducing our dependence on the Middle East oil that funds the people who want to do us harm. An energy plan that Congress can pass and one that President Obama will sign, A promise to my children that the leaders of our Country see the benefits of a more Energy self sufficient nation. But can our leaders see the need through the millions of dollars the Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal lobbies will inject into the battle against change? Unfortunately, change in America is almost as difficult as the Iranians struggle for more freedoms. No, The police here at home will not be running over citizens in a desperate attempt to keep power. Instead, Big Oil, Gas, and Coal will flood the airwaves with commercials and testimonials about how the American way of life will be changed by higher gas prices and a litany of other claims mouth pieced by paid for Congressmen and women. You will hear a story carefully put together by a monopolistic group that doesn't want any other players on their energy field. A group that shares the same concerns as the Dictators and Kings in the Middle East whose very existence hinges upon the Worlds addiction to their cash crop. The power play that will ensue in the upcoming year, will help shape our future economy as well as our national security and possibly the fate of many of the worlds species. If the United States can lead on Energy Technology in the upcoming decades they may be able to lead the World toward a more safe and sustainable future. However, before we can lead the World we need to lead at home with a comprehensive plan to become less dependant on non-renewable energy sources.