President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. The President said his Christian faith is the driving force behind his economic policies. So I guess instead of blaming Bush, it's now all Jesus' fault.---Leno
- Yesterday I posted a piece about the developing "Holy War" between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church. It appears the war is heating up. In short, Health and Human Services will mandate that Catholic institutions provide and pay for insurance coverage that includes contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs. Even USA Today pointed out in their opinion piece that "few Americans of any political stripe would disagree with the simple proposition that the government should stay away from meddling in church affairs." Another commentator said the Obama administration basically told the Catholic Church it cannot be Catholic anymore. And now comes word that the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains directed all Catholic Chaplains they could not read a letter to the troops critical of the Administration's proposed mandate written by Archbishop Timothy Broglio, leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services. This letter has touched off yet another controversy regarding the proposed mandate. The Archbishop replied that the order by the Chief of Chaplains is a violation of the First Amendment. Readers, I think a see a major court case coming down the road if the Obama administration goes through with trying to implement this mandate.
- Last week, I also wrote a piece about the real state of the economy, not what we've been hearing from Washington. This weekend I visited a small town in South Jersey. I had not been to that town in about 5 or 6 years. The town is the county seat. It has a beautiful courthouse on the fringe and also one of South Jersey's largest hospitals. Yet, while walking through the town (about 4 city blocks long or three-tenths of a mile), I counted 22 retail vacancies. Even the friggin dollar store was closed. On one block, every single retail storefront was out of business---every single one.
- There's been some controversy surrounding the Clint Eastwood Super Bowl auto ad. Conservatives believe there was a political message by the Obama administration in the ad while Chrysler said in their statement, "It had zero political content." Even Clint Eastwood weighed in by saying, "I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about job growth and the spirit of America." There's probably some truth to both criticisms. The ad did fail to point out that taxpayers bailed out the American auto industry with the exception of Ford. They did not take any bailout money. My criticism is with something else Eastwood said. In the ad, he states, "Detroit's showing us it can be done. And what's true about them is true about all of us." Sounds nice, right? But it's bullsh!t. Because if Detroit is the model for America, we're in deep sh!t. I lived outside the city for almost 4 years and had to go into the city several times a week. I actually liked the city and the people of Detroit. There was something rugged and tough about them. They still had that "blue-collar, we can do anything when we put our minds to it mentality." That was 30 years ago. And the city was already crumbling then. There were parts of that town that looked like Warsaw after WWII. And many of those same areas remain to this day. In fact, just today, Forbes named Detroit as one of America's Miserable Cities. The city just announced over a month ago that its police stations would be closed to the public for 16 hours a day. You can buy homes in Detroit for $100.00 a piece. Last year, the Mayor proposed bulldozing 1/4 of the city because of the more than 100,000 vacant homes, homes and lots.(AP). The "real" unemployment rate in Detroit is about 40% (Detroit News). But it's not so much the fault of the people that Detroit is the way it is. In addition to the auto industry abandoning the city, it's more about the decades long dysfunctional municipal government. A government that really had no vision after they witnessed the city starting to crumble. I for one, hope the city bounces back. But unlike Clint, I just don't see it happening in the near future. I hope I'm wrong.
- Do Pres. Obama have a Jimmy Carter problem looming? As of today, Egypt is holding 19 Americans. Egypt contends the 19 Americans were aiding the violent protests and unrest in the country. The Americans work for non-government organizations commonly referred to as NGOs And who is leading the charge against these Americans? ---The Islamic Brotherhood. I think I can safely use the over-used phrase: we told you so. Once again this proves my points over the past year about the Myth of the Arab Spring.
- By the way, for all those critics of Israel. Think about living in a state like Rhode Island or Delaware surrounded by other states that want to wipe you off the map. That's about what life is like in Israel every day. To its Northern border with Lebanon, Hezbollah (a terrorist organization) has established itself. Hamas is to its South and controls the Gaza Strip. Oh yeh, they do something else on a regular basis---they rain missiles and rockets by the thousands into Israel every year. What's that old saying about walking in my shoes...?
- Global Warming Update: Europe is still freezing to death. They've not seen this type of cold weather in more than 60 years. Some are referring to it as a mini-Ice Age. Even the people in Finland are complaining about the cold.
