Rag Hand

Palin on reading the would be Christmas bomber his rights:

“Treating this like a mere law enforcement matter places our country at great risk because that’s not how radical Islamic extremists are looking at this,” Palin said to thunderous applause. “They know we’re at war, and to win that war we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.”

Bad news lady. This is a country bound by law not by personal fanaticism.

The law, as frustrating as it can be, is what keeps this country from being Iran, and Ms. Palin finds that not being allowed to be named “Supreme Leader” is unfair.

Certainly you remember the Bush administration, the phony wmd reports and the war that was started simply because the neo-cons believe that this country has an obligation to be the world’s policeman. Not to mention the benefit to their friends in companies like Haliburton.

Do you also remember people who were thrown in prisons around the world, without any evidence to show their guilt or benefit of trial, –not even in the secret court?

This is the problem with fanatics. They care nothing for the law except when it can be used to their advantage.

For the neo-cons and their ilk I would suggest that they learn from recent history. The last election wasn’t so much won by Obama as lost by McCain. The republicans wanted to continue the failed policies of the previous administration and the public rebelled.

We are a country of laws, but Palin and her supporters want to change this country to a dictatorship where the rule of law can be ignored at will, and that is unthinkable. –If the powers-that-be can take someone else’s rights, who will protect my rights?

A final quote from Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse:
“No one should take national security advice seriously from a person who told the world in 2008 that her qualifications in this area were that she could see Russia from her home state.”

President Obama is whining about some of his nominations being blocked in the chamber.

Senate rules allow members to place a hold on nominees — to block their consideration by the chamber — at any time for any reason. Such holds are often placed privately, making it exceedingly difficult for those outside the Senate to track their use, and they can be a powerful tool to influence the executive branch.

News reports indicate that Obama, as a senator from Illinois, placed holds on at least three Bush administration nominees amid policy disagreements or concerns about their qualifications

As you can see, blocking a nomination is the same tactic he himself used on a number of occasions.

We got rid of Bush and his cronies, now Obama has put his cronies in place.

The RIAA/MPAA got their man Biden in as VP and Obama is filling every available slot in the AG’s office with their reps. -These are the people who say that the hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for people who share a few songs are legal and fair.

Secretary Timothy Geithner packed Treasury with his buddies from big finance and then gave special treatment to anyone AIG insured. Keeping a great many of the payments secret. –Sounds like Bush and company doesn’t it.

Obviously President Obama is simply another politician with all the baggage and political debt that comes with the job.

Remember that Obama has a liberal agenda that is supported by some seriously un-liberal organizations and while I continue to say that overall he’s an improvement over the last guy. –He’s just another politician and every bit as dirty as any of them.

Nevada’s unemployment rate now stands at 13.1%, a number that does not reflect people who’s benefits have run out, or others who have had to settle part time work until things get better.

Bill Anderson, chief economist for the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said the job loss figures cast “further doubt on the likelihood for a near-term economic recovery in Nevada.” He also said: “The much anticipated opening of City Center in Las Vegas failed to be the immediate catalyst the leisure and hospitality industry needed to stop the evaporation of jobs.”

In the early 1980s we had a downturn that lasted about a year and a half. This one is over two years old, going strong and, according to Bill Anderson: “Despite the length and depth of the downturn, Nevada’s job market will likely worsen in the months ahead.”

When that the “experts” said they were surprised that the opening of City Center didn’t revitalize the hotel and entertainment industries, I’m the one that looked surprised. Why would it? We have an over abundance of rooms and the City Center project was aimed at well heeled tourists with plenty of loose cash. –An increasingly illusive target.

The problem is; when “they” were touting all these new jobs City Center would create, they just sort of skimmed over the 12,000 or so construction workers who were about to become unemployed. They also failed to tell us where all the tourists that would be required to keep everyone employed were going to come from.

Unless it’s a project that will miraculously put money in the potential tourist’s pocket, most people don’t care about yet another joint opening in Las Vegas. They are far to preoccupied with trivial things; like finding work, paying the rent, and feeding their families.

Our entire economy is built on separating a fool and his money. –Well, I’m afraid the money lenders, with their friends “on the hill” and in the SEC, beat us to the punch and showed us just what rank amateurs we really are in the process.

Governor Jim Gibbons of Nevada is talking about Opting out of Medicaid. Saying that the state would struggle to pay the unfunded costs.

From LasVegasNow.com:

Rhea Gertken of Nevada Legal Services agrees. She believes dropping Medicaid may not be the best option. “For some people, it’s a lifeline,” Gertken said. “It’s astounding really to think that we would do away with a really huge program on the hopes that the new health care bill would cover the same people.”

But, the conservative think-tank Nevada Policy Research Institute believes otherwise. “The mandated expansion on Medicaid would impose a new unfunded mandate on Nevada,” NPRI Fiscal Policy Analyst Geoffrey Lawrence said. Lawrence says depending on the details of a health care reform bill, the state could save serious money. Plus, he says people would still get the health care they need. “Individuals currently on Medicaid would be eligible for… federal subsidies. So, they could go out and buy their own personal insurance plan,” he said.

You will notice the vague references to federal subsidies without telling specifically where or how these could be obtained. Much less what qualifications would be required to obtain these subsidies. –Typical elitist Neo-Cons.

The governor and his cronies are among those people who have never had to worry about paying the bills. And as such, have no idea what it’s like to try struggle to afford medications and doctors visits.

As far as buying personal insurance goes; what insurance company under the current rules will cover pre-existing conditions at prices normal people can afford?

Trust me. This bit about forcing insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions is mostly rhetoric. No matter how well intentioned some politicians are, by the time the insurance companies’ bought and paid for politicians are done negotiating and folding in exemptions, nobody will be any better off than they are now.

The US government has decided not to seek a fifth racketeering trial against John “Junior” Gotti, son of the notorious Gambino family crime boss.

After four trials and a series of hung juries government prosecutors have given up. The “Teflon Son” of the “Teflon Don” is free to get on with his life.

Federal prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, brought the latest case in 2008, but it was returned to Manhattan by a judge who said he was left with the “unmistakable and disquieting impression” that the government had shopped for a trial location where it might finally win.

The John “Senior” Gotti escaped conviction in a series of trials in the 1980s and early 1990s, gaining him the nickname “Teflon Don” because the charges wouldn’t stick to him. Now, aside from being sentenced to five years in ‘99 after pleading guilty –over his father’s objections– to racketeering, “Junior” –who swears he left the business in the 90’s– is following the same path.