Jedd Gregg WITHDRAWS as Nom for Commerce

Judd Gregg has withdrawn his name from being considered for Commerce Secretary ... reportedly beacuse of the Stimulus and the White House's plans for the Census.

Camille Paglia Weighs In ...

Check out Camille Paglia's most recent column. In her usual and unique style Paglia weighs in on Obama's agenda for the first 100 days, the Stimulus and the possible return of the Fairness Doctrine among other things.

Highlights:

President Obama was ill-served by his advisors (shall we thump that checkered piñata, Rahm Emanuel?), who evidently did not help him to produce a strong, focused, coherent bill that he could have explained and defended to the nation before it was set upon by partisan wolves. To defer to the House of Representatives and let the bill be thrown together by cacophonous mob rule made the president seem passive and behind the curve.

and

Speaking of talk radio (which I listen to constantly), I remain incredulous that any Democrat who professes liberal values would give a moment's thought to supporting a return of the Fairness Doctrine to muzzle conservative shows ...The failure of liberals to master the vibrant medium of talk radio remains puzzling. To reach the radio audience (whether the topic is sports, politics or car repair), a host must have populist instincts and use the robust common voice. Too many Democrats have become arrogant elitists, speaking down in snide, condescending tones toward tradition-minded middle Americans whom they stereotype as rubes and buffoons. But the bottom line is that government surveillance of the ideological content of talk radio is a shocking first step toward totalitarianism.

We could not agree more ... If only the left had more Paglia and less Clinton/Kennedy/Franken et al it might be able to take itself seriously and more importantly so might people.

Senate Passes Stimulus - 61-37

It happened.

It now goes to a conference committee ...

Reports are coming in about several things included in the bill that many Senators had no idea were in there most alarming is big steps to nationalize health care ...

We don't think it's too much to ask that Senators (or at least their staffs) read bills before voting on them ...

"The world is entering an era of dialogue and intellect"

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded to President Obama's announcement that his Administration was looking for ways to engage Iran

A few highlights:

"If you really want to fight terrorism, come and cooperate with the Iranian nation, which is the biggest victim of terrorism so that terrorism is eliminated. ... If you want to confront nuclear weapons ... you need to stand beside Iran so it can introduce a correct path to you," he said.

Wouldn't confronting nuclear weapons mean taking a hard line towards Iran and preventing them from actually acquiring a nuke and not snuggling up to Ahmadinejad?

Ahmadinejad said the world was at a "crossroads" because it had been proven that military power has not been successful — a reference to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But now, he said, "the world is entering an era of dialogue and intellect." "The new U.S. government has announced that it wants to bring changes and follow the path of dialogue. It is very clear that changes have to be fundamental and not tactical. It is clear that the Iranian nation welcomes true changes ...

hop&change, hope&change

and one final highlight - straight out of the MoveOn play book:

Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that the "world does not want to see the dark age of Bush repeated." "The fate that befell Bush — and it was a very bad fate — can be viewed as a lesson for most of the people that ... want to impose their will on the world," he said.

Israel Goes to the Polls Today

UPDATE:

Both Netanyahu and Livni are claiming victory. Election is too close to call and will most likely come down to the way soldiers have voted. Those votes won't be tallied until Thursday.

Here's the lead off a FoxNews Story:

JERUSALEM — Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hard-line rival Benjamin Netanyahu both claimed victory in Israel's parliamentary election Tuesday, which early returns suggested was too close to call.
With 67 percent of the votes counted, Livni's centrist Kadima Party had 29 seats in the 120-seat parliament while Netanyahu's hawkish Likud Party was right behind with 28, Israel's Channel 1 television said.
However, soldiers' votes on bases across the country weren't being tallied until Thursday evening, which could shift the results by a seat or two.

For the rest of the story follow click on this link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490624,00.html

We are pulling for Bibi Netanyahu although many people are saying there is little difference between him and his main rival Tzipi Livni.

Whoever wins must be prepared to deal with Iran somehow ...

Gallup Polls on "Stimulus"

Sweetness & Light (CPAC's 2009 Blogger of the Year) has a great set of posts regarding public opinion towards the stimulus ...



click headline to go ...

60% of Republicans Find Rush Favorable

UPDATE:
Limbaugh talked about this on his radio show ... he mentioned that Obama did not have 60% of Democrats behind him in the Primary this past year ... In fact didn't Hillary win the "popular" vote in the primary ...

This is a few days old but still we found it interesting -

2 Highlights:

Two weeks after Rush Limbaugh repeatedly proclaimed that he wanted President Barack Obama to fail, a poll has revealed that Republicans still support the controversial talk show host. Gallup Thursday reported that 60% of Republicans nationally have a "favorable" opinion of the 58-year old conservative talk radio host who said that unless Obama, in the midst of the recession, maintained Bush's tax cuts and acted more like Ronald Reagan, he hoped that Obama would be unsuccessful...

-and-

But what's more interesting is that in 2003 there was a greater disparity among conservatives who found the veteran talker unfavorable. That year, 29% of Republicans gave him the thumbs-down, whereas today only 23% judged him unfavorably. Who knew rooting against America would find favor in the hearts of
the Right?

Media broadcasts have seized on this and have been spinning this as 23% of Republicans do not agree with Limbaugh ... and they're probably all in Maine right now.

How many other Republicans have that high of an approval rating? Any one of the candidates for RNC chair would have killed for 60% of Republicans to be behind them ...