September 10th, 2010 by John Feehery
We live in a fine print world.
The devil is in the details, as the saying goes, and boy, the devil is having a field day these days.
You leave your phone on while you travel into a foreign country, and the next thing you know you are facing bankruptcy because of excessive roaming charges. When you complain, hey, you should know better. It’s in the fine print.
You pay a day late on your credit card; the bank slaps you with a huge late payment fee. When you complain, hey, you should know better. It’s in the fine print.
You have to change your flight because of a family emergency, but the airline makes you pay through the nose for privilege. When you complain, hey, you should have known better. It’s in the fine print.
You use a social networking site for fun, and all of sudden, you get deluged with all kinds of crazy advertisers. When you complain, hey, you should have known better. It’s in the fine print. Read more...
Tags: credit cards, government healthcare, rip offs, Social Media, the fine print
Posted in Government, Liberal Media, Media, Politics, Social Media, Theory, health care, spending | No Comments »
September 9th, 2010 by John Feehery
The Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco held a reception in honor of my old boss, former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert. Barco was effusive in her praise of Denny, who in the mid-1990’s took a keen interest her country.
Back then, Colombia was teetering on the edge of complete chaos. Drug cartels and then narco-terrorists, had the upper hand in their battle for control. Brutal murders, kidnapping, and overall mayhem constantly terrorized Colombian citizens. Because the drug merchants had so much money, they were well equipped and well armed, and they gave the Colombian military a run for its money. Because the cartels had so much money, they were also able to buy off many in the justice system and in the police force.
Hastert initially started looking into Colombia from his perch as Chairman of a Government Oversight Committee that focused on the war on drugs. He saw that what happened in Colombia had a direct impact on the national security of the American people. He saw that drugs from Colombia were making their way to street corners in the big cities, the suburbs, and in rural America. He saw that kids were being killed in drug conflicts because of drugs that were being produced in Colombia. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Drugs, Government, Mexico, Plan Colombia
Posted in Drugs in America, Foreign Relations, Government, Politics, Theory | No Comments »
September 8th, 2010 by John Feehery
Rev. Terry Jones
A couple of decades ago (man, I am getting old), I remember watching the Cubs game (which was unusual for me, because I am a Sox fan), when I saw a couple of hippies run out onto Dodger’s Stadium (where they were playing) and attempt to set fire to an American flag. Rick Monday, the Cubs center-fielder, swooped in the snatch the flag from the rabble-rousers, saving the day and America’s honor.
At the time, America was down in the dumps. It was 1976, and while we were celebrating America’s Bicentennial, we were also dealing with the aftermath of Watergate, Viet Nam, and the start of a stalling economy beset by both high inflation and creeping unemployment. When Monday saved the symbol of American freedom, it was a special moment, perhaps a turning point in the American psyche. Monday was quoted saying once, “If you are going to burn the flag, don’t burn it around me.” It was a great quote, because the Cubs center-fielder acknowledged that while in America, people have the right to do stupid things like the burn the flag, citizens also have the right to oppose them.
Read more...
Tags: 9/11, Baptist, Bible, flag burning, Koran, Mosque, Terry Jones
Posted in Bad Decisions, Theory | No Comments »
September 7th, 2010 by John Feehery
When Mayor Daley announced that he was resigning, it made Washington liberals very happy. It should have also put a smile on Republican Presidential candidates too.
Let me explain.
For most of his career, Daley has been a pretty effective mayor for the city of Big Shoulders. He was able to pick up the pieces after the Harold Washington debacle and move the city past the racial political war that typified Washington’s epic battles against the City Counsel.
For a decade or so, he made Chicago work again. He made peace with the business community, he worked hard on beautifying the city, and found ways to reach out to every different neighborhood in a way that brought the city together. He transformed his father’s political machine, making it more acceptable for the modern era.
But Daley was dogged by federal corruption investigations that ultimately took out many of his closest allies. He refused to back the police force when cops were charged with police brutality and racism (even when the cops were black). That led to the shooting gallery that is currently Chicago.
He pushed liberal (and ineffective) causes like gun control, making a name for himself, but taking away freedom from citizens who wanted to protect themselves from the bad guys. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Chicago, Congress, DC mayor, election, mayor, Presidential election, White House
Posted in Government, Politics, Theory, election | No Comments »
September 7th, 2010 by John Feehery
“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.” – T.S. Eliot–The Wasteland
Had T.S. Elliot just witnessed the August endured by the Obama Administration, he might have changed his opinion of the cruelest month. Because, politically, for Democrats, this August has been nothing, but a wasteland.
From the moment Michelle Obama set foot in Spain, to the moment her husband decided to wade into the New York City mosque mess, it has been nothing, but bad news for Congressional Democrats.
As the President’s popularity ratings have sunk, so have the fortunes of his close allies in Capitol Hill. According to Gallup, Republicans now enjoy the biggest advantage to the following question in the history of the poll: “Will you vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate this coming November?”
And in race after race, the polling is not getting any better for the Democrats. It was widely reported that Democratic operatives have already thrown in the towel on the House, and are now turning their attention to saving the Senate majority, a concern that was deemed unthinkable only four months ago. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats, Economy, election, George W Bush, Government, health care, Iraq, McCain, November elections, Presidential election, Republicans, White House
Posted in Economy, Government, Politics, Theory, election, health care, war | No Comments »
September 3rd, 2010 by John Feehery
Only in America could gang-bangers have a press conference and complain about police harassment.
That is exactly what several members of some of Chicago’s most violent gangs did yesterday.
On the same day that President Obama’s Justice Department sued an Arizona Sheriff for harassing illegal immigrants, gang kingpins met with the press to say that the cops don’t give them enough respect.
Here is what CBS news reported on the subject:
Self-identified gang leaders hold a news conference in Chicago, Sept. 2. 2010. (CBS)
“At a news conference organized by self-identified gang members Thursday morning, several speakers complained that police and city officials do not respect them, and that the only way to curb violence is to provide jobs and improve their community. The self-described current and former gang members held a news conference at the Columbus Park Refectory, at 5701 W. Jackson Blvd. on the city’s West Side. “You say it’s gangs, drugs and guns. We say we need jobs, opportunities and contracts,” said Reginald Akeem Berry Sr., who identified himself as a former gang member. “That’s the resolution.”
But is that really the resolution? How can jobs be created in parts of Chicago that are more violent that Baghdad or Kabul? Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Chicago, Democrats, Drugs, Obama, Politics
Posted in Drugs in America, Government, Media, Politics, Theory | No Comments »
August 31st, 2010 by John Feehery
DC Mayor Adrian Fenty
My wife and I just dropped off our four year-old son for his first day of school. I was running a bit late, and we got there just in time for him to start his day with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer (we are sending him to the local Parochial school).
It is emotional for parents to send their kids to school for the first day. They want their kids to thrive (my wife likes that word), to learn, to become good citizens, and maybe to someday grow up to President. (If there is one thing we have learned from Barack Obama, it is that anybody can grow up to be President, no matter what their qualifications.)
But they also want their kids to behave, and on that first day, when your little boy is four years old, it is an open question if he is going to behave like he is supposed to behave. I could see the panic in other parents’ eyes as they left their little ones in the hands of the two teachers who now face the daunting task of corralling a bunch of little munchkins for the seven hours of school each day. That made me feel better, because surely, there was an element of panic inside me. There is strength in numbers. Read more...
Tags: Adrian Fenty, Barack Obama, Margaret Spellings, Michelle Rhee, Vincent Gray
Posted in Politics, Theory, election | No Comments »
August 20th, 2010 by John Feehery
The vacation is a relatively modern invention.
Most historians will say it was invented in the early 19th century, when wealthy people “vacated” their homes and schools and went elsewhere, most likely to escape whatever hot weather they were dealing with.
The mountains and the beach back then were the best ways to beat the heat, especially if you lived in the Washington area. That still seems to be the case.
Middle class vacations are made possible by the modern industrial age. You can take a break if you don’t have to worry about subsistence living. You can also take a break if you can afford to take a break and not go bankrupt.
If you are a farmer or small shop owner, living on tight margins, it is hard to take any kind of break, especially back in the 19th century. Back then, only the wealthiest land owners and industrialists could afford to take a break, because only they could afford to leave the hard work to somebody else.
If you were poor, you weren’t going to take many vacations. Read more...
Tags: Congress, Vacation
Posted in Fun, Theory | No Comments »
August 19th, 2010 by John Feehery
US Soldiers in Iraq
I was talking to my good friend Alex Mistri, a man who spent a year working for the military and the State Department in Iraq, and I asked him what he thought about departure of combat troops from that beleaguered country.
He told me he was deeply ambivalent. He wished that the president had a just a little more patience to give the Iraqis a chance to get their coalition government together. On the one hand, he was happy to see that our policies over there have worked and that many of our troops are coming home knowing that they did a good job. On the other hand, he is deeply apprehensive that the cake isn’t ready yet, and by leaving, we give extremists a chance to destabilize the country.
I share Alex’s deep ambivalence. I share Alex’s pride in the job our combat troops did in battling terrorists and stabilizing large sections of a country that has been in constant turmoil for almost a decade. But this thing is not over, and I hope that the president didn’t rush this for political reasons. Read more...
Tags: Alex mistri, Barack Obama, Democrats, Economy, George W Bush, Iraq, Republicans, war
Posted in Politics, Theory, war | No Comments »
We live in a fine print world.
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