Obama Takes Wife out for Expensive Night on Town - Taxpayers Pick up the Tab

His public schedule listed no official events, so President Obama had plenty of time to devote to being a weekend dad and spouse.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama watched daughter Malia's soccer game for an hour Saturday morning in the Palisades neighborhood, a short drive from the White House.

For the evening, the first couple jetted to New York City for date night.

They dined a little more than two hours at Blue Hill, a West Village restaurant, then headed to the Belasco Theater to make it in time for "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

The play by August Wilson is about black America in the early 1900s, with residents of a boardinghouse recalling their migration from the sharecropping farms of the South to the industrialized North.

The White House refused to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers.

Even before the Obamas left Washington, the there-and-back trip drew criticism from Republicans. They questioned the president's decision to travel to New York for a night of entertainment during a recession and while automakers struggle to survive.

It was just a few months ago that auto executives were roundly criticized when they traveled to Washington for congressional hearings in pricey private planes.

The Republican National Committee issued a news release that chastised Obama for saying he understands American's troubles, but then hopping up to New York for "a night on the town."

Noting that General Motors is expected to file for Chapter 11 protection on Monday, the news release said: "Putting on a show: Obamas wing into the city for an evening out while another iconic American company prepares for bankruptcy." - FOX News Story

For a man who says he feels our pain and gets it, sure doesn't get it. He blasts Banks for taking expensive trips, their jets, bonuses, but it is ok for him to take an expensive night out and have the Taxpayers pick up the tab? He doesn't get it!

Texas Hospital Says US Flag Offensive - UPDATE

Original Story Click Here

As you may know we followed this story when if was first reported. I emailed the Administration at the Hospital and inquired as to the situation and expressed my concern about the actions taken. To my surprise they answered my email! Read their Response Below.

We share your anger and hurt about the removal of the flag. It is very important to clarify that a misunderstanding has been communicated through the media. The supervisor that is described in the media is actually the co-worker of Ms. McLucas and not Ms. McLucas's immediate supervisor. The incident was two nursing supervisors who got into a dispute.

It was wrong and disrespectful and as soon as we learned about it, we took immediate action to correct the situation. The flag is now proudly displayed once again, and we apologize to all who were equally offended by this unpatriotic action, including the owner of the flag. We have reprimanded the employee and let them know we don't tolerate behavior inconsistent with our Company's values.

The response was sent by Dave Inman of Kindred Healthcare.

I appreciate the response and support their decision to rectify the situation. Thank you to them for their response and it is great to hear that they have allowed the American Flag to Fly.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Raise Taxes

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Jim Doyle and other Democrats are adamant that their state budget proposal won't hurt middle class taxpayers. But don't tell that to cell phone users, smokers and property owners.

Taxes and fees on all of them will go up under the state's new two-year budget that passed out of committee on Friday and could clear the Democratic-controlled Legislature next month.

But Doyle and fellow Democrats say Republican critics are grasping at straws to find tax increases that will affect average, working class people in the budget that balances a $6.6 billion budget hole.

Doyle refused to rely on the simple solution -- raising sales or income tax rates -- to come up with the cash quickly to balance the shortfall. Instead, he and lawmakers cobbled together a mixture of tax and fee increases, cuts to state agencies, schools, local governments and others, federal stimulus money and a variety of other accounting moves to balance it.

Under the plan, cigarette taxes will go up 75 cents a pack, cell phone users will have to pay 75 cents more per month, income taxes will be raised on those earning over $300,000 a year and property taxes paid by homeowners will go up about 3.2 percent this year. - Todays TMJ 4 Story

I don't know who they are trying to fool. When you raise taxes across the board on so much who do you think is paying all these taxes? It isn't just the rich who have cell phones, smoke, own property or any of the other things that they have raised taxes on.

The worst part about the whole smelly deal is, they did all of this in the dead of night behind closed doors away from the media and the people that they were elected to represent. Doyle and his thugs in Madison have greased it up good and shoved it right in to the citizens of Wisconsin.

Presidents Bush and Clinton Together

President Bush, at one point calling President Clinton "brother," defended his predecessor's record on Rwanda during the former U.S. leaders' face-to-face discussion Friday on a range of issues in Toronto.

The event's moderator had asked Clinton whether he had done enough to stop the genocide in Rwanda that occurred early during the Clinton administration, the CBC reported.

"We couldn't have saved all of them," Clinton said, but he lamented that "we could have saved as many as 300,000 lives. ... I have no defense."

But Bush added that it was "not realistic" to think that the Rwandan genocide could have been stopped with a mere phone call by the U.S. president, the CBC reported.

As for the crisis in Darfur during Bush's administration, "I was confronted by a situation of where do I send the Marines?" Bush said, explaining that international consensus was against acting unilaterally.

The event was moderated by Frank McKenna, Canada's former ambassador to the United States. It was the two former presidents' first appearance together on stage.

Bush said he never liked it when previous administration officials criticized his government but says Clinton was respectful and never did. - FOX News Story

Say what you will about Bush, he is a man of integrity. He did what American Presidents should do, he supported his predessor during an interview with the two. He didn't throw him under the bus or blame him for any of the problems.

Now that is Leadership. Obama is right, he is much different than Bush.

Bush Answers Critics on Terrorist Interrogation

Former President George W. Bush on Thursday defended his decision to allow harsh interrogations on the terror mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying he did what was necessary to prevent what his advisers believed was another imminent attack.

Describing the decision to use waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after his capture in March 2003, Bush said the idea was first cleared with his lawyers in order to "take whatever steps that were necessary to protect" the American public.

"The first thing you do is ask, what's legal? What do the lawyers say is possible?" he said. "I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, 'I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people.' I can tell you that the information we got saved lives."

In an apparent reference to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has recently spoken out against the Obama administration's decision to end the use of harsh interrogations, Bush cautioned, "Nothing I am saying is meant to criticize my successor. There are plenty of people who have weighed in. Trust me, having seen it firsthand. I didn't like it when a former president criticized me, so therefore I am not going to criticize my successor. I wish him all the best." - FOX News Story

Top Brass - US Could handle War if Necessary

WASHINGTON -- The United States could fight an old-fashioned war against North Korea if necessary, even while newer forms of conflict against terrorists and extremists continue, the Army's top officer said Thursday.

Asked whether the United States would be prepared to fight if war broke out between South Korea and North Korea, Gen. George Casey replied, "The short answer is yes," then added that "it would probably take us a little bit longer to shift gears" away from the type of counterinsurgency fighting that now occupies the Army.

Casey said his usual rubric for how long it would take the Army to gear up for a new "conventional" war is about 90 days. That doesn't mean it would take 90 days for the U.S. to effectively fight the North's million-man army, he said.

"We'd move forces as rapidly as we could get them prepared," Casey said during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

North Korea has threatened war following condemnation of its underground nuclear test this week, and the United States has a long-term commitment to South Korea's defense.

"This is a combat-seasoned force" that can pivot quickly, Casey said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking to reporters as he traveled to the Far East for a conference with defense ministers, said North Korea's actions have not reached a crisis level that would warrant additional U.S. troops in the region. - FOX News Story

North Korea Fires more Missles

YEONPYEONG, South Korea — North Korea defiantly test-fired another short-range missile Friday and warned it would act in "self-defense" if provoked by the U.N. Security Council, which is considering tough sanctions against the communist regime for conducting a nuclear test.

The North fired the missile from its Musudan-ni launch site on the east coast, a South Korean government official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter. It is the sixth short-range missile North Korea has test-fired since Monday's nuclear test.

The official did not provide further details. But the Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified South Korean government official as saying the missile is a new type of ground-to-air missile estimated to have a range of up to 160 miles (260 kilometers).

With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, Chinese fishing boats left the region, possibly to avoid any maritime skirmishes between the two Koreas. But U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the situation was not a crisis and no additional U.S. troops would be sent to the region.

North Korea, meanwhile, warned it would retaliate if provoked. - FOX News Story

This situation is quickly getting out of control and hopefully Obama and his team has a plan in place to deal with it.

This was one of the big fears going into last election. Iran and North Korea, was Obama ready or able to handle them. Well, here comes the test.

Obama's Lack of Change you Can Believe In

For the president who promised "change you can believe in," some things never change.

Barack Obama is adhering to the long-standing practice of appointing big-money campaign fundraisers to serve as U.S. Ambassadors.

Late last evening, the White House quietly put out a list of 12 individuals Mr. Obama intends to nominate to represent the U.S. in foreign capitals.

Only three of the 12 are career foreign service officers; a fourth is in the foreign commercial service.

But a check by CBS News shows that at least four others played important financial roles in the Obama campaign, bundling contributions in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

• John V. Roos, nominee to be Ambassador to Japan. Bundled contributions of at least $500,000


• Charles, H. Rivkin, nominee to be Ambassador to France. Bundled contributions of at least $500,000.


• Louis B. Susman, nominee to be Ambassador to Britain. Bundled contributions of between $100,000 and $200,000.


• Laurie S. Fulton, nominee to be Ambassador to Denmark. Bundled contributions of between $100,000 and $200,000.

These nominees have distinguished careers, but not in diplomacy. Roos and Fulton are top lawyers. Susman is a retired investment banking executive. Rivkin is a Hollywood CEO who once ran the Jim Henson Company, home of The Muppets. He was also a Democratic Convention delegate for then-Candidate Obama. - CBS News Story

Lawmakers Push for Investigations into ACORN

Most of the investigations into ACORN, the low-income advocacy group, have focused on voter registration fraud. But now lawmakers want to follow the money.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a member of the Judiciary Committee, is demanding congressional hearings into the financial structure of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

"I don't think they've been examined in any significant way at all," he said.

King questions the actions of ACORN officials as well as the multitude of nonprofit activist groups that apparently overlap with ACORN and share the same headquarters address in New Orleans.

"This spider web, this myriad web of ACORN dollars and revenue streams, every bit of them should be looked at, all the corporations that they are networked with all of the boards of directors of those corporations, the inner locking connecting, the faces that are the same from board to board."

ACORN believes an investigation of its finances is "...a continuation of the right wing Republican attacks which continues to stalk ACORN. This ACORN as 'punching bag' redundancy is not worthy of your audience."

But FOX News has found more than 250 nonprofit groups list ACORN's New Orleans headquarters as their address. Among them is Citizens Services Inc., a firm that was paid more than $800,000 by the Obama campaign for a get-out-the-vote program last year.

Citizen Services lists two ACORN headquarters as its offices and even shares a third floor legal department with ACORN.

At least two complaints that accused ACORN and one Citizen Services of violating campaign financing laws were dismissed by the Federal Election Commission.

The FEC will not comment on current cases, and while the FBI is investigating ACORN, its focus is primarily voter registration fraud. - FOX News Story

National Sales Tax Debate Heats Up

As lawmakers toy with the idea of an across-the-board sales tax on just about everything, tax reform advocates are starting to drum up opposition with the same fervor they employed during last month's anti-tax tea parties.

The idea of a national sales tax was once unlikely. But now that the federal government is doling out billions in stimulus spending and bailouts, and looking for billions more for health care reform, the prospect could be gaining some traction.

The frenzy over the idea kicked up after a Washington Post article Wednesday reported that Congress is starting to pay closer attention to this largely academic proposal and that the Obama administration, though shushing speculation, is soliciting advise from supporters of the idea.

"It should certainly raise alarm bells that they think they can inject it into the debate," said Phil Kerpen, policy director at Americans for Prosperity.

The value-added tax, or VAT, as it is called, amounts to a tax-on-everything -- or TOE, for the acronym-inclined. It's a tax on goods that's applied in pieces throughout the chain of production and distribution and results in an increase in the cost of virtually everything you buy.

Aside from raising revenue for the government, the move could have a number of things going for it, say proponents -- it's tough to evade, it's simple by comparison to the income tax and it encourages saving.

Some conservatives have called for something similar -- the so-called Fair Tax -- that would replace the federal income tax system with a national retail sales tax. - FOX News Story

This wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea if it were to replace the Income Tax System. However, the amount of money the Obama Administration is spending, I don't foresee them limiting any avenue to bring in money.

Texas Hospital says US Flag Offensive and Takes it down

Debbie McLucas comes from a patriotic family – her husband and both of her sons served in the U.S. military, and her daughter is currently deployed to Iraq on her second tour of duty as a combat medic.

So when McLucas arrived at work at a Texas hospital last Friday, she was stunned to be told that the Stars and Stripes she had hung in her office in advance of Memorial Day were offensive, and that the flag had been removed.

“I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been multiple complaints, that people found the flag very offensive and it had been taken down," McLucas told FOXNews.com.

"I went to the office to retrieve it and found the flag wrapped around the pole, sitting in the corner on the ground. I was speechless."

McLucas, a supervisor at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield, Texas, had displayed the 3-by-5-foot flag in the office she shares with the hospital’s three other supervisors. McLucas said one of her colleagues, a woman who immigrated to the United States from Africa 14 years ago, complained about the flag to upper management, and the hospital decided to take down the flag.

"I was told that as long as my flag offended one person, it would be taken down," McLucas said. - FOX News Story

These kinds of stories just chap my butt. This is America! The American Flag is a symbol of our Freedom and of our Country. Any business that will not allow the American Flag to be flown has absolutely NO Reason being in business here in the USA. I have inquired with the Hospital and will let you know if they respond.

Below is the address and phone number.

Kindred Hospital - Mansfield
1802 Highway 157 North
Mansfield, TX 76063
Phone: (817) 473-6101
TX TDD/TTY# 800-735-2988
Fax: (817) 473-5538

To send message electronically - Click Here

Cheney Warns of Obama's Economic Plans

"I think the recession we've been through is being used by the administration in ways that fundamentally change the relationship between government and the private sector," Cheney told CNBC's Larry Kudlow in an interview airing Wednesday night on "The Kudlow Report." "That's what worries me most."

..........

"I've got experiences going back to the wage price controls in the Nixon administration," he said, "where, in effect, we had what I think was a terrible mistake -- in that case, [under] a Republican administration -- where [government] moved in and tried to control the wages, prices and profits of every enterprise in America. It was a huge mistake. We finally got out of it, but it took a long time to do it, and it does a lot of damage. - ABC News Story

Opposition to Supreme Court Nominee

Republican senators continued through Tuesday and Wednesday to express reservations about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, as some conservative interest groups and pundits ratcheted up the pressure for the GOP to oppose the nomination. Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich have gone so far as to call Sotomayor a "racist."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, had a measured response on Tuesday to Sotomayor's nomination, calling for thorough Senate confirmation hearings.

This morning Sessions reiterated the need for a thorough vetting, adding that "the nominee has serious problems," according to the Associated Press. He specifically said he found certain remarks from Sotomayor regarding policymaking from the bench to be "troubling." - CBS News Story

Judges are not suppose to be in the business of creating policy from the bench. Instead they are suppose to be in the business of interpretation.

Obama made a smart pick here politically. He nominated a minority woman to draw support from more women and especially the Latino Community. He knows that her qualifications will be called into question and also knows that it will hurt the GOP to go after her with the Latino Community. However, the Latino community is not as stupid as Obama thinks they are. They will do their own research and decide on their own.

NAACP vs. NASCAR

Members of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP want the Confederate flag banned from the Homestead-Miami Motor Speedway, and they will meet Thursday to decide whether to boycott a NASCAR race slated there for November.

Debra Toomer, the branch's chairwoman of press and publicity, said a planning session has been scheduled to decide on a course of action regarding the display of the flag at the Nov. 20-22 event, as well as its presence at city-sponsored events like last year's Veterans Day parade.

"The concern is there," Toomer said of Confederate flags. She declined to comment further before the meeting.

But officials at NASCAR and the raceway say there's little they can do to prevent spectators from displaying or waving the Confederate flag.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston told FOXNews.com that NASCAR's "longstanding policy" prohibits displays of the Confederate flag on its cars, uniforms, licensed merchandise or in advertisements.

"You're not going to see the flag or the symbol on any of those things," Poston said. "It's been that way for a very long time." - FOX News Story

Seriously! The NAACP is going after NASCAR over Private Citizens excercising their rights of free speech flying the Confederate flag?

Am I wrong or does the NAACP many times join in with the ACLU to back the rights of Citizens?

Well this is the right of these citizens to fly the Confederate Flag, the Number 3 Flag, or any Flag that they choose to fly.

Seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Congress Using Strong Arm Techniques to Push Citizens

On Oct. 23 last year, William Frey, the president of a company that puts together mortgage-backed securities, told the New York Times that he had been contacting banks and threatening to sue them if they renegotiated mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Providing better terms for homeowners, Frey explained, would mean reducing the value of the mortgage-backed securities held by investors like himself.

"Any investor in mortgage-backed securities has the right to insist that their contract be enforced," Frey, president of Greenwich Financial Services, told the Times.

Before the day was out, Frey received a letter from six members of the House Financial Services Committee who said they were "outraged" by what he'd said.

"Your decision is a serious threat to our efforts to respond to the current economic crisis," wrote Democrats Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Maxine Waters of California, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, Carolyn Maloney of New York, and Melvin Watt of North Carolina.

Then they demanded that Frey testify before Congress in three weeks. And to make sure he got the point, they added:

"If this cannot be arranged on a voluntary basis, then we will pursue further steps." - FOX News Story

States Fighting Back Against the Federal Government

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.-- U.S. Constitution, Tenth Amendment
Fed up with Washington's involvement in everything from land use to gun control to education spending, states across the country are fighting back against what they say is the federal government's growing intrusion on their rights.
At least 35 states have introduced legislation this year asserting their power under the Tenth Amendment to regulate all matters not specifically delegated to the federal government by the Constitution.
"This has been boiling for years, and it's finally come to a head," said Utah State Rep. Carl Wimmer. "With TARP and No Child Left Behind, these things that continue to give the federal government more authority, our rights as states and individuals are being turned on their head."
The power struggle between the states and Washington has cropped up periodically ever since the country was founded. But now some states are sending a simple, forceful message:

The government has gone too far. Enough is enough. - FOX News Story

Obama Sliding in the Polls

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 31% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty percent (30%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +1. That’s the lowest positive rating yet received by the new President (see trends). - Rasmussen Reports Story

Peoples fears are starting to be realized. This President has preached and preached at how different he is from George Bush and it is beginning to really show. With the blunders in Gitmo, the increasing violence in Iraq, Afghanistan falling apart, North Korea forging ahead with Nukes unchecked, and Iran challenging Obama to a face to face debate. Obama is different. He is showing a major crack when it comes down to the Security of the US.

Nevade Governor Declines President Offer

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Nevada's Republican governor has turned down an invitation from the White House to briefly greet President Obama when he visits the state tomorrow for a Democratic fundraising event, citing comments the president made earlier this year calling on companies that received taxpayer-funded bailouts to avoid wasting money on luxuries like company planes and Vegas vacations.

“While I appreciate the offer, I am not interested in a handshake and a hello from President Obama, I am interested in an apology and plan to undo the damage the President did,” Gov. Jim Gibbons said in a Monday statement.

He again called on Obama to publicly promote Nevada tourism, and to apologize for his remark that business leaders receiving money from the government "can’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime,” blaming the president for the recent cancellation of hundreds of conventions and other meetings originally scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, and the loss of more than $100 million in revenue. - CNN

Iran President Challenges Obama to UN Debate

TEHRAN, Iran — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed on Monday a face-to-face debate with President Barack Obama at the United Nations if he is re-elected next month as Iran's president.

But he balanced the offer with a sharp rebuke to Washington and its allies over Iran's nuclear program. He reiterated that Iran would never abandon its advances in uranium enrichment in exchange for offers of easing sanctions or other economic incentives.

The nuclear issue "is closed," he told a news conference.

Obama has urged a "serious process of engagement" after Iran's elections in an effort to end a nearly 30-year diplomatic chill. However last week, the American leader said the U.S. was prepared to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it did not respond positively to the attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama set a year-end deadline for Iran to show it wanted to engage with Washington.

The tough talk on nuclear negotiations following Iran's test last week of a long-range missile appear aimed at burnishing Ahmadinejad's hard-line credentials in the election campaign against another conservative and two pro-reform candidates. - FOX News Story

Obama is most definitely being tested. This test will show what kind of leader he is when it comes to foreign affairs and the security of our Country. Thus far I have not been overly impressed with his "blame it all on Bush" stance and lets give everyone a big hug and say sorry.

He hasn't shown Iran that he has anything to really back up his bark. His bark really isn't much more than a whimper either. If you have any doubt, look at the reaction he gave to North Korea and their tests of Missles and Nuke Tests.

Iran is putting him to the test. This call to debate at the UN will take the battle before an International Audience. My guess is that Obama will tuck his tail in and run. He doesn't engage in battles that he doesn't think he can win. This may just be such a battle. He has no experience in this area, much less than that, he hasn't shown that he is able to stomach the tough decisions.

Iran Flexes Military Muschle - Sends War Ships into Gulf of Aden

Iran has sent six warships into international waters in a move security experts are calling a "muscle flexing" show of defiance following missile tests last week.

"Iran has dispatched six ... warships to international waters and the Gulf of Aden region in a historically unprecedented move by the Iranian Navy," Iranian Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told a gathering of armed forces officials, Reuters reported.

Sayyari said the ships were moved to preserve Iran's territorial integrity in its southern waters, but foreign policy experts are calling it an aggressive move targeted at a Western audience as much as for regional powers like rival Saudi Arabia.

The deployment is "a signal of military strength, resolve and continued defiance to U.S. and U.N. Security Council efforts to end the impasse over Iran's nuclear program," said Jim Phillips, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Heritage Institute. - FOX News Story

Blast in New York under Investigation

A bomb blast outside a Starbucks coffee shop rattled the early morning Memorial Day quiet of Manhattan's Upper East Side today, shattering windows and triggering the evacuation of 25 apartments.

The coffee shop was closed when the bomb erupted at 3:25 a.m., and there were no reported injuries.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the first officers on the scene "found windows blown out of the Starbucks and the chair, the seat that is right outside, shattered." The time of day echoed that of a pattern of unsolved early morning blasts that have occurred outside the British Consulate, the Mexican Consulate and the Armed Forces recruiting booth in Times Square over the past two years. - CBS

See Also FOX News Story

White House Called on to Defend False Gitmo Charge

Barack Obama made a "false charge" in his high-profile national security speech last week that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility has effectively created more terrorists, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Sunday, calling on the White House to back up the president's argument.

"When the president said in his speech, the existence of Gitmo probably created more terrorists than ever been held there …. He meant to say that 770 people or more became terrorists because we have a prison in Guantanamo?"

Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said on "Fox News Sunday" that Republicans have called White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and "asked for information about the charges he'd made in his speech. We haven't heard back yet. This is a false charge."

Kyl added: "It’s palpably false to suggests that the existence of Gitmo has created terrorists, yet the president gets away with that." - Politico

Rove Defends Cheneys attacks on Obama

Dick Cheney was forced to respond to President Barack Obama, who has launched an "unprecedented" array of attacks on his predecessor, former top Bush aide Karl Rove said Sunday.

"You cannot find any American president who has routinely and as often excoriated his predecessor as this president has done," Rove said on "Fox News Sunday."

Rove, one of the most polarizing figures of the Bush White House who waged fierce assaults on Democrats, added that Cheney was compelled to set "the record straight." - FOX News

You can blast Cheney for attacking President Obama if you want, but you have to in the same sentence admit that Obama has been out of line attacking Bush.

Obama wanted the job. He wasn't force to take it. He wanted it, now he has to take ownership for it. You can't blame all of your problems on someone else. And you can't cry foul when you are attacked from members of the previous Administration when you take every opportunity to attack them. Be a man, be a leader and quit your crying.

Powell on Enhanced Interrogation

Colin Powell told Bob Schieffer he has "no idea" if the enhanced interrogation techniques used during the Bush administration were effective.

"I have no idea," he said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I hear that they were. I hear that they weren't. You see people from the FBI who come out and say, 'We got all of that information before any of that was done.' I cannot answer that question. And the problem is, I don't know what I don't know."

He said that he was aware that enhanced methods of interrogation were being considered in the aftermath of 9/11 but said he was "not privy" to the memos of legal documents that were being written.

"I think it was unfortunate but we had a system that kept that in a very compartmented manner. And so I was apart that these enhanced interrogation techniques were being considered. And they were judged not to be torture at the time," he said.

He argued that when "facing the possibility of a 9/11, you had to give some -- some flexibility to the CIA," noting that these methods were stopped under the Bush administration.

"It's easy now in the cold light of day to look back and say, you shouldn't have done any of that," Powell said.

"But as Mr. Cheney has said very, very often, as has President Bush and all of us, if we had another attack like 9/11, say on 9/11 a year later, nobody would have forgiven us for not doing everything we could." - CBS News Story

Mr. Powell is 100% correct. The Bush Administration was in a Damned if you do, Damned if you don't situation. If they used everything at their disposal to stop another attack and one didn't come, well then you have what you hear today. Persecution of the Administration, by a sitting President none the less.

However, if there had been another attack and they hadn't done everything in their power to stop it we would most likely be hearing the same story with a different twist. Persecution of the Administration.

Obama can stand atop his soap box and preach away, but should another 9/11 such attack happen under his watch! You will undoubtedly hear the persecution of his Administration for not doing whatever is necessary is possible to stop it.

Obama Draws Bipartisan Pressure on Gitmo

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress from both parties clamored Sunday for President Obama to develop a plan for dealing with the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay if he intends to fulfill his promise to close its prison by early 2010. The top U.S. military officer also awaited a decision from the commander in chief.

"We're saying, 'Mr. President, give us the plan,"' said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, acknowledged that figuring out how to fulfill Obama's promise to close the detention facility on the U.S. navy base in Cuba is "a real challenge." Officials report that 240 suspected terrorists are housed there.

"We're working hard now to figure out what the options are and what the best one would be. And that really is a decision the president is going to have to make, certainly in meeting this deadline of what we do," Mullen said.

Obama's promise to close the detention facility by early 2010 ran smack into political reality in the last week. Obama's fellow Democrats denied him funding to move the suspected terrorists while Republicans latched onto a message that helped the minority GOP drive sustained headlines for the first time in months.

"Well, I don't think you can convince the American people that you can bring the people from Gitmo to their states and they will be safe," said Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican.

The not-in-my-backyard chorus drove Obama to deliver a speech defending his decision to close the facility, proposed during the campaign and delivered during his second full day in power. Yet lawmakers and even Obama's own advisers remained unsure after the speech of how, exactly, the president would make good on his vow to close the symbol of the United States' detention of suspected terrorists in a legal limbo. - FOX News Story

North Korea Tests Nuclear Weapon Underground

BREAKING NEWS — North Korea announced Monday that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, weeks after threatening to restart its rogue atomic program.

The country's official Korean Central News Agency called Monday's test "part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."

President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security session. His spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, confirmed that a nuclear test may have been carried out in the North.

Seismologists from the U.S., South Korea and Japan reported earthquakes in an northeastern area, where North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006.

A 4.7-magnitude earthquake was registered in northeastern North Korea at 9:54 a.m. (0054 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake, measured at a depth of 6 miles underground, occurred 40 miles northwest of the city of Kimchaek, the USGS said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also said it detected seismic activity Monday morning. "We are checking whether they were due to a nuclear test," agency official Gen Aoki said in Tokyo. - FOX News Story

Well now we know, Obama's big threat after the North Korean Missile test really hit home for the North Korean Leadership. I guess that going by way of the United Nations may not work.

Oh WAIT!!!! We had that figured out years ago. I think the Predecessor to Obama figured that out on his own. Now what will Obama do? Doing the opposite of George W. didn't work? Oh my, what plan will they come up with?

Be a leader, don't go to the UN. Show the North Koreans that you are serious. Do your own dirty work. Hold them accountable and show them that you are not just about idle threats.

Liberals take Hit with Votes

WASHINGTON -- Frustrated liberals are asking why a Democratic-controlled Congress and White House can't manage to close the Guantanamo prison or keep new gun-rights laws from passing.

After all, President Barack Obama pledged to shut down the military detention center on Cuba for suspected terrorists. And Democratic control of the government would suggest that any gun legislation leads to tighter controls on weapons, not expanded use.

Even as they grouse, however, liberal lawmakers acknowledge that no one factor explains last week's disappointing back-to-back votes in Congress.

The Obama administration is focused on other priorities, they say. Party leaders don't want to endanger Democratic lawmakers from conservative districts by stressing divisive issues such as gun control.

On Guantanamo, many say, Obama and his allies were caught napping as Republicans stirred public fears about relocating suspected terrorists.

"I think it's one of the few times that he didn't think it all the way out," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., an unabashed admirer of the president. - FOX News Story

Rep Elijah Cummings is a bit out of touch if you ask me. If he thinks this is one of the few times that Obama hasn't though things all the way out he is out of his mind. I think it would be much much easier to find things that the Obama Administration had though completely out.

Powell - Obama Didn't Handle Closing of Gitmo

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that President Obama did "not handle" his decision to close Guantanamo Bay detainment facility "very well," on CBS’ "Face the Nation" Sunday.

"I think President Obama didn't handle it very well by going up to the Congress and asking for $80 million without a plan. And by, frankly, giving enough time to opponents of it to marshal their forces as to why we shouldn't do this," he said.

Powell said that he has lobbied for Guantanamo to be closed or the last six years and that he went to his boss, former President Bush, with his concerns.

He even said that President Bush wanted to close the prison, but could not figure out how to- a point he used to answer criticism from former Vice President Dick Cheney. - CBS News Story