Overpaid, un-informed celebrities get schooled on health care reform

Will Ferrell and a bunch of other "celebrities" I don't recognize did a satirical public service announcement in support of health care reform recently. Unfortunately for Will and the other "celebrities," the PSA was much more annoying than humorous:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

As Ed Morrissey of Hot Air noted with this PSA came out, Will was paid $20,000,000 for the movie "Bewitched" in 2005 and, therefore, may not have much room to complain about other people being "overpaid."

Thankfully, someone came out with a spoof of the above video that is actually funny. And it calls out Will and the other celebrities for their un-informed, self-righteousness:



There is nothing that makes me smile like self-righteous people getting called out for their vapid positions.

President Obama makes the French look tough

I never thought that I would see the day when an American president made the French look tough. Unfortunately, I have because French President Nicolas Sarkozy was not amuzed with the One's response to the most recent news on Iran's nuclear aspirations. The Wall Street Journal reports:

President Obama wants a unified front against Iran, and to that end he stood together with Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown in Pittsburgh on Friday morning to reveal the news about Tehran's secret facility to build bomb-grade fuel. But now we hear that the French and British leaders were quietly seething on stage, annoyed by America's handling of the announcement.

Both countries wanted to confront Iran a day earlier at the United Nations. Mr. Obama was, after all, chairing a Security Council session devoted to nonproliferation. The latest evidence of Iran's illegal moves toward acquiring a nuclear weapon was in hand. With the world's leaders gathered in New York, the timing and venue would be a dramatic way to rally international opinion.

President Sarkozy in particular pushed hard. He had been "frustrated" for months about Mr. Obama's reluctance to confront Iran, a senior French government official told us, and saw an opportunity to change momentum. But the Administration told the French that it didn't want to "spoil the image of success" for Mr. Obama's debut at the U.N. and his homily calling for a world without nuclear weapons, according to the Paris daily Le Monde. So the Iran bombshell was pushed back a day to Pittsburgh, where the G-20 were meeting to discuss economic policy.

Le Monde's diplomatic correspondent, Natalie Nougayrède, reports that a draft of Mr. Sarkozy's speech to the Security Council Thursday included a section on Iran's latest deception. Forced to scrap that bit, the French President let his frustration show with undiplomatic gusto in his formal remarks, laying into what he called the "dream" of disarmament. The address takes on added meaning now that we know the backroom discussions.

"We are right to talk about the future," Mr. Sarkozy said, referring to the U.S. resolution on strengthening arms control treaties. "But the present comes before the future, and the present includes two major nuclear crises," i.e., Iran and North Korea. "We live in the real world, not in a virtual one." No prize for guessing into which world the Frenchman puts Mr. Obama.

"We say that we must reduce," he went on. "President Obama himself has said that he dreams of a world without nuclear weapons. Before our very eyes, two countries are doing exactly the opposite at this very moment. Since 2005, Iran has violated five Security Council Resolutions ...."

Again, President Obama demonstrates that he is completely out of his depth and has no clue how the real world works or reacts. Perhaps this is why some members of the British media have started referring to him as "President Pantywaist."

Hillary Clinton told us of then candidate Obama's priorities last year

In March 2008, Hillary Clinton ran the following ad during her presidential campaign. It specifically notes President Obama's lack of any real interest in the Afghanistan war and seems right on given General McCyrstal's statement that he has only talked to President Obama once in 70 days.




(H/T to Sweetness and Light for locating and posting the ad).

Here is the transcript for the ad on the off chance that someone scrubs it from You Tube:

Hillary For President“True”TV : 30

Announcer: Barack Obama says he has the judgment to be president. But as chairman of an oversight committee charged with the force of fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan–he was too busy running for president to hold even one hearing.

Barack Obama: “I became chairman of this committee, at the beginning of this campaign-at the beginning of 2007, so it is true that we haven’t had oversight hearings on Afghanistan.”

Announcer: Hillary Clinton will never be too busy to defend our national security-bringing our troops home from Iraq and pursing Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Hillary Clinton: “I’m Hillary Clinton and I approved this message.”

(Emphasis added).

Leadership and Priorities ...

Two things that are in short supply with our current administration.

Let's see, we have Iran test firing long-range missiles that can reach Israel and announcing that it's got a second nuclear facility strategically buried under a military base near a holy city, our military leaders in Afghan are waiting for President Obama to act on their request 30,000 to 40,000 more troops because that war is going to hell in a hand basket, and our economy continues to suck with the unemployment rate for people ages 16 to 24 years old at over 50%.

So what is President Obama doing? He's heading to Copenhagen, Denmark later this week to schlep for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid:

The president called Mayor Richard Daley, who left for Copenhagen Friday, at 6:55 a.m. Eastern time to say that he was indeed going to Denmark.

“President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama symbolize the hope, opportunity and inspiration that makes Chicago great, and we are honored to have two of our city’s most accomplished residents leading our delegation in Copenhagen,” Daley said in a statement.

“Who better to share with members of the International Olympic Committee the commitment and enthusiasm Chicago has for the Olympic and Paralympic Movement than the President and First Lady.”

Patrick Ryan, CEO of Chicago 2016 is equally enthused.

“There is no greater expression of the support our bid enjoys, from the highest levels of government and throughout our country, than to have President Obama join us in Copenhagen for the pinnacle moment in our bid,” Ryan said. “We are honored that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be with us to extend a hand of friendship on behalf of our nation and the City of Chicago as we seek to welcome the world for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

At the same time, it appears that President Obama does not have time to discuss Afghanistan with General Stanley McCrystal, the man he handpicked to lead our war effort:

The military general credited for capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq says he has only spoken to President Obama once since taking command of Afghanistan.

“I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconferece],” General Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

“You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?” Mr. Martin followed up.

“That is correct,” the general replied.

(Emphasis added).

Seriously?? I really just do not even know what to say at this point other than the President and his administration seem entirely out of their depth. And our country is the worse for it.

The First Lady should have slapped him

It looks like Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wanted a little something, something when President Obama introduced him to the First Lady at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh yesterday. Given the stories about Mr. Berlusconi, I'm guessing that she would have preferred to slap him with her hand, especially given the look he gave her, and really, who would have blamed her. Certainly, not me.

Students sing the praises of our Dear Leader

So this You Tube video caused a big dust up on the internets yesterday (yeah, sorry, I'm a day late):




Okay, I think it makes sense for schools to recognize the historic nature of President Obama's election and his accomplishments. But to have kids sing songs that glorify him and indoctrinate him to his political positions is neither good nor healthy; no, it is something you would expect to see in North Korea. Even the folks at MSNBC, which will never be accused of being a right-wing mouthpiece, recognized this point:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Also, when I first saw the video, I had just assumed that it was a lone teacher who had simply gone a little overboard. No, apparently, the kids sang this song at an official school function back in February, and the school district was okay with the song. Here is statement that the district released yesterday:

Dear Burlington Township Families:

Today we became aware of a video that was placed on the internet which has been reported in the media. The video is of a class of students singing a song about President Obama. The activity took place during Black History Month in 2009, which is recognized each February to honor the contributions of African Americans to our country. Our curriculum studies, honors and recognizes those who serve our country. The recording and distribution of the class activity were unauthorized.

If you have any further questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me or Dr. King, Principal of B. Bernice Young School, directly.

Sincerely,

Dr. Christopher M. Manno,

Superintendent of Schools

Again, teaching the kids about President Obama's historic election, good; indoctrinating them to his political beliefs, bad. It does not appear that Dr. Manno understands this point. I hope that the kids' parents do.

Light Blogging

I apologize for the light blogging. I am at a CLE seminar and will not have regular access to my computer until Thursday morning.

The White House uses the National Endowment of the Arts for propaganda purposes

Andrew Breitbart's Big Government and Big Hollywood websites have broken another story that the mainstream media seems bound and determined to ignore. It is a little complicated, but the story basically involves the White House using grants from the federally-funded National Endowment of the Arts to advance its legislative agenda, i.e., to produce propaganda supporting President Obama.

The story arose from an August 10 teleconference that Yosi Sergant, then Communications Director of the NEA, arranged, and Michael Skolnick, political director for hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons (an aside- do most hip-hop moguls have political directors?), chaired. Participants in the teleconference also included 21 artists and arts-related non-profit groups, including Patrick Courrielche, who recently received grants from the NEA, Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, and Nell Abernathy, Director of Outreach for Serve.Gov, which is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency.

To his great credit, the call deeply offended Patrick Courrielche, and he details what happened in the call and how Sergent and the White House subsequently lied about the Administration's role in the call here. Courrielche also includes a full transcript and audio of the call. Here are some of the highlights from the major players named above.

Skolnick:

• “I’ve been asked by folks in the White House and folks in the NEA … we had the idea that I would help bring together the artist community…”
• “…the Hope poster obviously is a great example, but it’s clear as an independent art community as artists and thinkers and tastemakers and marketers and visionaries that are on this call, the role that we played during the campaign for the president…”
• “…the President has a clear arts agenda and has been very supportive of using art and supporting art in creative ways to talk about some issues that we face here in our country, but also to engage people. And I think all of us who are on this phone call, you know, were selected for a reason.”
• “And so I’m hoping that through this group, and the goal of all this, and the goal of this phone call, is through this group we can create a stronger community amongst ourselves to get involved in things we’re passionate about as we did during the campaign. But to continue to get involved in those things, to support some of the President’s initiatives, but also to do things that we are passionate about and to push the President and push his administration…"

Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement:

• “I just first of all want to thank everyone for being on the call and just a deep deep appreciation for all the work you all put into the campaign for the 2+ years we all worked together.”
• “We won.”
• “I’m actually in the White House and working towards furthering this agenda, this very aggressive agenda.”
• “We’re going to come at you with some specific asks here.”
• “I hope you guys are ready.”

Sergent, then Communications Director of the NEA:

• “I would encourage you to pick something, whether it’s health care, education, the environment, you know, there’s four key areas that the corporation has identified as the areas of service.”
• “And then my ask would be to apply artistic, you know, your artistic creative communities utilities and bring them to the table.”
• “Again, I’m really, really honored to be working with you; the National Endowment for the Arts is really honored.”
• “You’re going to see a lot more of us in the next four and hopefully eight years.”
• “This is a community that knows how to make a stink.”
• “…this is just the beginning. This is the first telephone call of a brand new conversation.”
• “We are just now learning how to really bring this community together to speak with the government. What that looks like legally?”
• “So bear with us as we learn the language so that we can speak to each other safely…”
• “I would encourage you to pick something whether it’s health care, education, the environment, you know, there’s four key areas that the corporation has identified as the areas of service.”
• “My ask would be to apply artistic, you know, your artistic creative community’s utilities and bring them to the table.”

Ben Shapiro, a recent Harvard Law grad, sets out what happened after the call and legal issues arising from the call:

On August 25, artist Patrick Courrielche told the story of a conference call he attended on August 10. That conference call was hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and United We Serve. The goal of the conference call: “to help lay a new foundation for growth, focusing on core areas of the recovery agenda – health care, energy and environment, safety and security, education, community renewal.” The call would push “a group of artists, producers, promoters, organizers, influencers, marketers, taste-makers, leaders or just plain cool people to join together and work together to promote a more civically engaged America and celebrate how the arts can be used for a positive change!”

If this sounds suspicious to you, that’s because it is. Never before has the NEA explicitly urged artists to tackle particular social issues like health care. But that is how this Administration works.

The people behind the conference call, Courrielche reported, were Yosi Sargent, Director of Communications for the National Endowment for the Arts; Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Nell Abernathy, Director of Outreach for United We Serve; Thomas Bates, Vice President of Civic
Engagement for Rock the Vote; and Michael Skolnik, Political Director for Russell Simmons. Sargent sent the actual email invitation. When The Washington Times called Sargent for confirmation, Sargent denied involvement with the email. He claimed that Skolnik had sent the invitation.

He lied.

The email came directly from Sargent – which is to say, from the NEA itself. Most astonishingly, the email contained a copy of a notice from United We Serve. That notice read: “A call has come in to our generation. A call from the top. A call from a house that is White. … President Obama is asking us to come together … Now is the time for us to answer this call.” Sargent has since been “reassigned” at the NEA.

Two days after the conference call, on August 12, 21 separate arts organizations came out and endorsed Obama’s health care plan.

...

All of this – particularly the government-sponsored conference call itself – is in blatant violation of the Anti-Lobbying Act (19 U.S. Code §1913), which explicitly provides: “No part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy or appropriation …”

Violation of this law, in turn, violates 31 U.S. Code §1352, which bans use of “funds appropriated by any Act [from being] expended by the recipient of a Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement to pay any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with any Federal action …”

According to a government guide put out by the National Institutes of Health Ethics Program (which is a governmental agency: ethics.od.nih.gov), the Anti-Lobbying Act prevents government employees from engaging in “substantial ‘grass roots’ lobbying campaigns … expressly urging individuals to contact government officials in support of or opposition to legislation …. Provid[ing] administrative support for lobbing activities of private organizations …” Every provision was violated by this conference call, which urged artists to support the president’s agenda – and which connected potential voters to private lobbying organizations indirectly, as banned by the Act itself.

Violation of the Anti-Lobbying Act carries punishment: “Any person who makes an expenditure … shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $100,000 for each such expenditure.” And that’s not all: “An imposition of a civil penalty under this subsection does not prevent the United States from seeking any other remedy that the United States may have for the same conduct that is the basis for the imposition of such civil penalty.” In other words, criminal prosecution is available here.

So you would think that the national news media would be concerned about a White House is potentially using the NEA's grant system for propaganda purposes. But no, not really.

I just ran searches for "Yosi Sergent" on the websites for CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, and CBS News and came up with a September 10 blog entry from Jack Tapper of ABC about this story. Tapper's entry ends with the following:

White House spokesman Shinn Inouye said the White House does not believe the incident reflects a politicization of NEA funding. “The United We Serve effort is an attempt to get Americans from all walks of life to answer the President’s call for people to get involved with their communities,” he said.

Serving their communities by advancing the President's legislative agenda??

All President Obama, all of the time

Do you get the feeling that President Obama is always talking? Well, you're not alone. It is almost as if the President has confused speech making with the concept of leadership. They are not. And by constantly flooding the airwaves, the President is diluting the power of his bully pulpit because people are just getting tired of hearing him talk.

Some others have noticed the President's "omnipresence" as well. Here are some takes on President Obama's decision to appear on five Sunday talk shows and David Letterman next week to discuss health care:

Over at the Corner:

I see that President Obama is going to be featured on four or five (!) of the Sunday talk shows this weekend. It is simply unbelievable to me that none of the political experts in the White House has told or convinced the president that more yakking on his part on health care or anything else would be counterproductive, and that this is the time for him to sit back and be presidential, while the crass politicians in Congress fight things out.

But . . . no. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, ACORN's gotta engage in fraud, and Obama's gotta talk. It's really that simple; and it is amazing, given how little this guy actually knows about economics, about foreign affairs, about, well, just about anything. This reminds me of a footnote, minor but revealing, from the 2004 Democratic National Convention, at which Obama was the keynote speaker. His rhetoric, as usual, was as empty as a dry well, even as it drew the crowd to its feet time and again. Obama was reported, after the speech and the thunderous reception that it received, to have said to someone, "You know, I can play in this league."

And so there we have it: Obama really believes at his core that empty rhetoric is the same as substance and judgement. I have to believe that it was then that he began to view himself as presidential timber. A small bit of vanity for a man; a giant looming danger for America and the cause of liberty.

And ABC's Jack Tapper:

Polls indicate that Americans say the more they hear about the president’s proposed overhaul, the less they like it. An ABC News/Washington Poll last week showed 54 percent of Americans feel that way. White House officials say that’s because Americans are hearing false attacks on Obama’s plan, not reality -- hence the PR blitz.

Republican strategist Kevin Madden says it’s too much.

“I think the worry is it’s gone beyond over exposure and now we have what I would call the ‘Obama omnipresence.’ You almost can’t escape this president,” Madden said on ABC News’ “Top Line.” “It goes beyond just cable news and it goes into whether or not you’re flipping on ESPN and you’re seeing him talk about basketball or you turn on the Lifetime channel and you hear what Michelle Obama is wearing this week. And I think that begins to wear on a lot of people.”

I agree. I wish the President would spend more time running the government we have instead of campaigning constantly to expand it.

ACORN: now even Leno is piling on

I'm normally not a big fan of Jay Leno's comedy, but I like this clip. Of course, it may be the subject matter that I like and not his delivery.



Tevi Troy over at the Corner asks (jokingly, I think) whether the implosion of ACORN will rank as President Obama's biggest accomplishment:

When I served in government, it was well known that ACORN was receiving massive amounts of funding for questionable purposes. In fact, many a new political official would learn about the level of funding ACORN received and ask what could be done about this blatantly political subsidy. The grizzled green-eyeshade budget staffers would always shake their heads sadly at the new guy and say something like, "You'd better take that up with the Hill. ACORN is untouchable up there."

If nothing else, the election of ACORN ally Barack Obama as president shined some light on ACORN's practices and enormous federal funding for those activities, and it was that disinfecting sunshine that paved the path for the House vote to defund ACORN. ACORN, it seems, is now untouchable, but in the opposite way. All but the
absolutely safest Democrats have abandoned it. As the Wall Street Journal noted, even ACORN promoter Barney Frank was conveniently — and suddenly — absent for the House vote. At the end of four or eight years, I doubt that the Obama White
House will include the defunding of ACORN among their proudest accomplishments, but conservatives will probably place this at the top of the list.