Move over, Jasmine. Here's Princess That's Mine!
Morning Mistress
3 hours ago
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.
I went from being an NFL player to a coach to a broadcaster. I haven't worked a day in my life.-John Madden
How many liberals from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama told us we could not 'drill our way' to energy independence? Yet, here we are!-Mike B.
In the old Sci-fi movie (and series) Stargate, devices of ancient power were able to create “wormholes” through space, that allowed folks nearly instantaneous travel between planets and other galaxies to meet extraterrestrials.
Today, we use devices of newly acquired power to burrow wormholes through the Constitution via a means of extra-Constitutional offices known as “czars”. Apart from the anti-democratic connotations of the term, consider that the office of the “czars” as they are presently known, are de facto cabinet level positions which do not need so much as a simple approval of a majority vote of the Senate.
The President’s cabinet currently (2009) consists of:
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans' Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security
This does not include other offices considered cabinet level, such as the
White House Chief of Staff
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
United States Trade Representative
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Ambassador to the United Nations
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors
So, with all these advisers on all things foreign and domestic, why would the president need these:
Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke
Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried
Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter
WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore
Don’t we already have a Secretary of Defense?
AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley
Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle
Don’t we already have a Secretary of Health and Human Services AND a Surgeon General?
Auto Recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery
Car Czar: Ron Bloom (Ron carries Ed’s briefcase for him?)
Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney
Don’t we have a Secretary of Transportation? A Secretary of Commerce?
Economic Czar: Paul Volcker
TARP Czar: Herb Allison
Secretary of the Treasury? Director OMB?
Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske
Terrorism Czar: John Brennan
Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair
Law enforcement issues: FBI- Treasury
Border Czar: Alan Bersin
Secretary of Homeland Security?
California Water Czar: David J. Hayes (He’s doing a bang up job! /sarcasm)
Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross
Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis
Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr.
Secretary of the Interior?
Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Browner
Secretary of Energy? Administrator EPA?
Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell
Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration
Secretary of State?
Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones
Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg
Secretary of Labor?
And some of these last ones should probably be eliminated by a judicious use of the Tenth Amendment”
Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal
Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois
Are domestic violence and faith based organizations really Federal issues?
International Climate Czar: Todd Stern
Information Czar: Vivek Kundra
Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein
Science Czar: John Holdren
Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra
The “information Czar” better get to work, because I don’t know what in the hell most of these guys do!
The appointment of a multitude of “czars” seems to be an attempt by the executive branch to assert greater power to itself without a commensurate amount of responsibility or the balance of powers favored by the Founding Fathers.
Even if it were not for their extra-Constitutional nature, in hard economic times like these, the redundancy of all these highly paid, highly unaccountable offices should be considered wasteful. They should be closed and their current occupants should be encouraged to find real jobs. We do not need more and more bloated government soaking up resources and making ever more burdensome regulations to further hamstring our economy. Enough is more than enough!
"Eloquence is a painting of the thoughts."- Blaise Pascal
"Brand-name Democrats, such as various members of the Kennedy aristocracy, went over, calculating it might be easier to push the party forward with Obama's lightness of being than the Clintons' boxcars of baggage."-DANIEL HENNINGER
For acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on 26 May 2008. As a Weapons Squad Leader with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Staff Sergeant Petry moved to clear the courtyard of a house that potentially contained high-value combatants.
While crossing the courtyard, Staff Sergeant Petry and another Ranger were engaged and wounded by automatic weapons fire from enemy fighters. Still under enemy fire, and wounded in both legs, Staff Sergeant Petry led the other Ranger to cover. He then reported the situation and engaged the enemy with a hand grenade, providing suppression as another Ranger moved to his position. The enemy quickly responded by maneuvering closer and throwing grenades.
The first grenade explosion knocked his two fellow Rangers to the ground and wounded both with shrapnel. A second grenade then landed only a few feet away from them. Instantly realizing the danger, Staff Sergeant Petry, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, deliberately and selflessly moved forward, picked up the grenade, and in an effort to clear the immediate threat, threw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers. As he was releasing the grenade it detonated, amputating his right hand at the wrist and further injuring him with multiple shrapnel wounds.
Although picking up and throwing the live grenade grievously wounded Staff Sergeant Petry, his gallant act undeniably saved his fellow Rangers from being severely wounded or killed. Despite the severity of his wounds, Staff Sergeant Petry continued to maintain the presence of mind to place a tourniquet on his right wrist before communicating the situation by radio in order to coordinate support for himself and his fellow wounded Rangers.
Staff Sergeant Petry's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, 75th Ranger Regiment, and the United States Army.
“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”
"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."—Ingrid Bergman
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.-Erma Bombeck
I have been trying to figure out who did this song and what it was called. Thanks a million. I would also like to find the version with the false start, but I can't find the title "A Christmas Song" on Itunes, but I'm willing to sample each song to find it! I had googled "I think that's tremendous" before, but since it wasn't that unique a sentence, I got nowhere. Even adding christmas music to the search came up dry, and I eventually stopped trying. But I was looking for something else, thought I'd give it another try, and here you are. Thanks a million more times.
Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.-Calvin Coolidge
Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.-Washington Irving
"Let future generations understand the burden and the blessings of freedom. Let them say we stood where duty required us to stand."-George H. W. Bush