From Funny or Die: It's the High Five Inauguration!

I know America's "free press" system is far from perfect, but it sure is great to live in a country that doesn't feel the need to censor parts of what is sure to be one of the most important speeches of the past few decades.

AP (via HuffPo):

The official Chinese translation of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech omitted his references to communism and dissent, and a live broadcast on state television Wednesday quickly cut away to the anchor when sensitive topics were mentioned.

The comments by the newly installed U.S. president veered into politically sensitive territory for China's ruling Communist Party, which maintains a tight grip over the Internet and the entirely state-run media. Beijing tolerates little dissent and frequently decries foreign interference in its internal affairs.

T. Boone Pickens is a billionaire oil man and a career corporate raider who loves George Bush so much he donated $250,000 to his 2004 inaugural ball. He was, and still is, fully behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq and makes no bones about it. So why is he now pushing for the use of alternative energy sources like wind and solar in his Pickens Plan?

It might be because he sees the soaring price of gas and how it is crushing the average American and decided to invest billions of dollars of his own money on a bet that it will pay off. His holdings in natural gas would make his a very healthy profit, should we convert to using it more. Don't get me wrong, I support anyone who wants to lower our dependence on oil and clean up our environment, but if you watch the above video and go to the PP website you'll see that the environment doesn't get much play. In fact, considering his push for OCS drilling, I'd say the environment isn't the overriding issue, just ridding us of our dependence on foreign oil.

Carl Pope, Executive Director of The Sierra Club has praised his plan, going so far as to say Pickens is "out to save America" -- and I have no problem with that -- but do financial motivations vs. environmental motivations matter? Should we just be thankful that someone has stepped up to the plate, even if it means that the ultra-wealthy will once again control our energy resources, or do we strive for more ownership in the future of our own energy policy and demand more emphasis and accountability on our environment? In the end, will Pickens' plan even work?

Download | play Download | play

There are still 50,000 families forced to live in FEMA trailers ever since Hurricane Katrina. Trailers in which the levels of formaldehyde present in the air are so high, CBS has obtained emails that indicate the agency is prohibiting its employees from even briefly stepping inside them, and despite agency claims "that it is still working on the formaldehyde problem," it isn't.

In July the head of the agency told Congress he was working quickly to deal with the toxic formaldehyde issue.

"FEMA and the CDC are scheduled to begin Phase One of a study in the Gulf Coast within the next few weeks," said FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison.
Now FEMA says the study has been halted - not a single trailer tested.

The stated reason: the agency says it needs to identify "action levels for responding to the results."

In other words, when FEMA finds high levels of the toxic fumes, the agency still doesn't know what to do about it.

Sadly, this is exactly what we can expect as long as the party that doesn't believe in government is heading our government. Ever since Ronald Reagan's inaugural speech when he declared "Government isn't the solution; it is the problem," Republicans could hardly have done more to make sure it is the case.

The U.S. Public Service Academy will be America's first national civilian university, a flagship institution designed to build a "more perfect union" by developing leaders of character dedicated to service in the public sector.

Modeled on the military service academies, the Public Service Academy will provide a rigorous undergraduate education followed by five years of civilian service to the country. It will develop young leaders with the character, intellect, and experience necessary to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Billmon: Sound Bites

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Inaugural Address
March 4, 1933

"The only thing we have is fear."

George W. Bush
Radio Address
September 30, 2006

Linkage
tekkeh in comments wants someone to post this:
Vatican Official Refutes Intelligent Design.

And Eyewitness Muse says: Society of Co-opted Journalists Presents Inaugural Judy Miller Award to Bob Woodward.

Yes, Anonymous, there is a good Roger Ailes.

And just for fun: Bubbles! (via)

Posted by Avedon

"When you have seen a system that has gone from a few hundred thousand cases to 1.5 million last year — most of that increase during the fat years of the Clinton administration — you must conclude something is not right," said Edith H. Jones, a federal appellate court judge in Houston who served on a blue-ribbon panel to review bankruptcy law in the 1990s and is widely believed to be seen as on President Bush's short list for a position on the Supreme Court.

Sadly, No! The lowest bankruptcy year under Bush is higher than the highest one under Clinton.

The Not So Honorable possible Supreme Court Justice doesn't take into account the distribution of the "fat" and who has to file bankruptcy. Interestingly enough, the only years bankruptcy applications have gone down in the cited chart are the two years after the minimum wage was raised.

The data suggests that if Congress really wants to fight bankruptcy then they should raise the minimum wage.

 

 

The (Un)Popularity Contest     democracy arsenal

 

Why aren't Democrats making more of the fact that Bush's popularity recently fell to 45%, an all-time low? 

When I attended the inaugural parade, I had the misfortune of seeing two junior high girls holding up front pages of the So, the bankruptcy problem is Clinton's fault... The possible future Supreme Court Justice makes it sound like there were more bankruptcies under Clinton than under Bush. Sadly, No! The lowest bankruptcy year under Bush is higher than the highest one under Clinton.

The Not So Honorable possible Supreme Court Justice doesn't take into account the distribution of the "fat" and who has to file bankruptcy. Interestingly enough, the only years bankruptcy applications have gone down in the cited chart are the two years after the minimum wage was raised.

The data suggests that if Congress really wants to fight bankruptcy then they should raise the minimum wage.

function vid_placeholder(placeholder_target, vid_link) { placeholder_target.innerHTML = ''; }

Click here to download or open WMP

Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter and wingnut, surprised Sean Hannity and myself when she had this to say about President Bush's speech today.

Noonan: I'll be frank, I think some of it went over the top a little bit....

also

Noonan: I found it a little grating

Hannity: A little what?

Noonan: A little grating in some respects.

In her column: Way Too Much God
Was the president's speech a case of "mission inebriation"?

The inaugural address itself was startling. It left me with a bad feeling, and reluctant dislike.

Ending tyranny in the world? Well that's an ambition, and if you're going to have an ambition it might as well be a big one. But this declaration, which is not wrong by any means, seemed to me to land somewhere between dreamy and disturbing. Tyranny is a very bad thing and quite wicked, but one doesn't expect we're going to eradicate it any time soon. Again, this is not heaven, it's earth.

And yet such promising moments were followed by this, the ending of the speech. "Renewed in our strength--tested, but not weary--we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom."

One wonders if they shouldn't ease up, calm down, breathe deep, get more securely grounded. The most moving speeches summon us to the cause of what is actually possible. Perfection in the life of man on earth is not.

I never thought that I would agree with her, but let's face it; if the President's speech left her with a "bad felling" what did the rest of us feel?

Click here to view also

No matter what the topic, is, Bill O'Reilly can't help but make it all about himself:

On the O'Reilly Factor Friday night talking to David Frum, about President Bush's Inaugural speech.

O'Reilly: ...they are parsing every word, trying to make Bush look bad. They do it to me. They tape the radio program and go over every word...

on Peggy Noonan's article:

O'Reilly: I think she is doing this to get attention for herself.

Peggy Noonan is one the the great attack poodles of all time. She quit her job to campaign for President Bush. Here's a short transcript of Peggy on Hardball not answering questions in the typical poodle fashion: here. and here.

More great analysis about O'Reilly's comments here. and here.

LA Times article on Neocons here ,and ethics here

Bay Buchanan also get's in the act!

function vid_placeholder(placeholder_target, vid_link) { placeholder_target.innerHTML = ''; }

Click here to view also

Bay Buchanan of The American Cause, chimed in on Inside Politics.

(sorry the video quality is not great)