Amazingly, well not really given the upside down nature of a lot of what Obama does, the US is still trying to return wannabe strongman Manuel Zelaya to power in Honduras.

The ousted Zelaya even got some legitimizing face time with US Secretary of Sate Hillary Clinton.

...Clinton said Tuesday that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has agreed to mediate the escalating political crisis in Honduras and that the rivals for that country's leadership have agreed.

Mrs. Clinton, who met with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya at the State Department, said she urged him not to attempt another return to his country "in the face of opposition" until the negotiations have a chance to work.

...Mr. Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for helping to end the civil war in El Salvador, will conduct the negotiations in Costa Rica, Mrs. Clinton said.

"He is the natural person to assume this role," she told reporters at the State Department.

The secretary declined to say what specific arrangements may be made during the talks. In private, officials said that one option is for Mr. Zelaya to complete his term, which expires in January, but agree not to seek to prolong it.

Yeah, that's the natural deal but are the authorities in Tegucigalpa going to take that chance and trust Zeleya? Given the amount of foreign intervention involved in bringing the country to the brink, it would be risky as hell. They'd spend the next few months battling each other and fending off the inevitable attempts at intervention by Chavez.

For this kind of deal to work, the US would probably have to guarantee that Zelaya would leave office, one way or another, when his term is up. I hope the Hondurans aren't that gullible.

Neither they or we should even be in this position. Unfortunately, Obama failed to respect the right of Hondurans to settle their affairs internally, according to their own laws.

Smart Diplomacy(tm) indeed.

Posted by: DrewM at 12:58 PM | Comments (1)
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I didn't really agree with DrewM's assessment that her CNN interview indicated an interest in the presidency -- while Drew seized on her statement of a three part platform, it struck me that could just as easily be the platform for a PAC -- but this Time interview has me wondering. (Edit: Slightly.)

When you resigned from the AOGCC [Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission], that was a huge catapult for you. Do you think this might catapult you as well? Or do you see it as kind of a selfless move, more for the state than for you?

It's all for the state. For me personally, it's extremely tough to make a decision and an announcement like this because I love my job and I love Alaska. This is who I am. This is what I am. And serving the people of Alaska is the greatest honor. But when you know that you come to a point when you cannot effect the change because of circumstances that have so greatly changed, and that happened on Aug. 29, the day that I was tapped to run for VP. Circumstances have so drastically changed, I just have to be realistic about it and I have to be honest about it and say Alaska — certainly, Alaska, our state's fine without me at the governor's desk — but Alaska's going to be even better off in terms of progressing and reaching our potential and our destiny with Sean Parnell coming in, taking over the reins. Same agenda, same staff, but it turns down the volume on the distractions that had been ramped up on Aug. 29.

Not really a lot of hints there, but maybe one can glean from that "I'm going to be too busy in the lower 48 to deal with this," if one is inclined to.

She also continues saying she doesn't know if she's running for president and she doesn't want to rule anything out, which a lot of people take to mean she's running. I take it to mean she doesn't know and doesn't want to rule anything out. Not to be snarky and stir the pot, but those who say she's running tell me "take her at her word" right up until she says stuff like this, at which point we're invited to read between the lines. That may be the right way to do it, but I think it's also fair then to say one can read between other lines.

I don't know if this says anything either way, but she hammers Obama on policy. This is my favorite part. Running or not, she's a good spokesman, and I've wanted her to grow into the opposition's chief spokeswoman against Obama for a while now.

Good stuff under the fold.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:20 AM | Comments (6)
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About Palin and the Democrats' playbook.

No point quoting it, it's all one white-hot torrent of cathartic anger and dark suggestions of payback.

Thanks to EdwardR.

Confusion... Some readers are confused by what this is supposed to be -- parody or what? I was confused too.

I don't really get what he's doing, exactly, but he's a conservative. Why it is he's writing as if he's a "liberal Democrat" (while taking the tongs to Obama and the Democrats) I don't know; maybe he has some schtick like AllahPundit used to have, being "Allah" and all. Or maybe he's a very disaffected liberal Democrat, now really on the conservative side, but still identifying as a liberal Democrat. (Like Andrew Sullivan is the One True Conservative, maybe this guy thinks he's the One True Liberal Democrat.)

So I really don't get the device myself. But just accept that whyever he's writing this way, he's quite serious about despising Obama and Co.

Posted by: Ace at 09:23 AM | Comments (6)
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President Obama gives more glaring examples of his arrested development with his continued historical revisionism while continuing his World Apology Tour in Russia. The simple truth is his thinking has not progressed beyond the beer and weed-fueled bull sessions of grad school. He is a naif who still believes in the fantasies he and his fellow lefties bandied about in coffee houses. The world simply needs to listen to them and the milk of human kindness will flow and Gaia will shine forth sweetness and light. This unfortunately fails to take into account the "complete bastard" factor, i.e. in any society whoever acts as the most "complete bastard" will trample all the bunnies and unicorns on the way to power.

While standing in a country known more than any other for totalitarian tyranny the Grad Student in Chief prattles on about the tremendous gifts Russia has given the world. I will not dispute Russia has had some major contributions to world culture in dance, music and of course literature. I mean who can ignore "The Gulag Archipelago" Solzhenitsyn's opus detailing one of the greatest prison/death camp systems ever. Even today it inspires Lil' Kim to keep lack of hope alive with his soul-crushing camps. Let us not forget that Russia gave us the Soviet Union and World Communism as well, enslaving Eastern Europe and attempting to suck the life out of great swaths of the planet. Now back to Barry's revisionism. Go to Ms. Underestimated and watch him lie right out of his ass in describing the end of the Cold War. He says that it ended peacefully when the people of Russia and Eastern Europe decided it should. He specifically says "This was not the actions of one nation, but of many" implying that our enemies were as responsible as we were. Once again pissing on the legacy of freeing hundreds of millions from oppression America has earned with the blood and treasure we have sacrificed. Of course other nations were involved on our side, and the Soviet Union fell because Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, John Paul II, Lech Walesa and others ignored the useful idiocy that Barry and his friends preached about disarmament. Now he takes the same failed ideas to Russia and hands them our nukes on a platter, gaining nothing in return. Even worse he will likely toss our missile defenses, which fucking work, on the fire to appease the non-appeaseable.

Obama and his wife have proven out her statement about "never before being proud of this country until it kissed their asses" in both word and deeds. They bask in the adoration of a country atoning for slavery by elevating them and then spend their efforts refuting any idea that America had contributed anything worthwhile in the past. He has a set speech he gives in any country he visits.

Posted by: Uncle Jimbo at 07:31 AM | Comments (5)
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Apparently Palin did the rounds, including Andrea Mitchell for some reason. So far CNN has the only video I could find.

Here's the FNC write up their interview.

Having now watched it, two thoughts...

One, if you liked or loved Palin before, you're going to love this interview and her.

Two, she's going to run in 2012. She wouldn't rule it when directly asked. If getting out of the spotlight was the reason for resigning, she might have bit on that. She was committed to her explanation of why she resigned. Most telling to me was her constant refrain of energy independence, national security and smaller government. That is a campaign mantra and she was on message with it throughout the interview.

This wasn't a chat that was reflective or exploring reasons for her actions, this was a campaign appearance.

I maybe wrong and you can beat me to hell with this in a year or so but it's how it read to me.

Added: NBC interview below the fold. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 05:39 AM | Comments (9)
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Posted by: Ace at 06:01 PM | Comments (2)
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I imagine you all want to hit the rack early tonight so you can get up at the crack of dawn and not miss a second of the solemn and dignified events taking place in L.A. tomorrow (forecast is for mostly sunny skies with a 90% chance of riots by those turned away from the memorial). So weÂ’ll keep it short tonight.

HereÂ’s a heartwarming family tale from ABC News (Australia):

”A New Zealand teenager tried to sell some sexy photographs of his mother on an internet auction site after the pair had an argument, a local newspaper reports. The 18-year-old student opened an auction for "five naked photos of my Mum" on the Trade Me site after being told to clear the family garage and sell any unwanted items on the site, the Herald on Sunday said. Trade Me pulled the auction the next day, but the student, identified only as Michael, was soon back trying to sell a series of eight-year-old "glamour" shots of his mother, including one of her in underwear.”

”His mother Jennifer, 44, who did not want the family name published, told the paper she was "pretty annoyed" when she found out about the first set of photographs. "He was quite naughty... I thought you cheeky little git," she said. But she was also annoyed that Trade Me withdrew the second set of pictures, of which she approved. "I insisted Michael show me first, the little bugger. They are quite artistic. There is nothing dodgy about them." "I wanted 50 per cent of the sale, but more than that I miss the nice comments." Trade Me spokesman Jon Macdonald said both auctions were withdrawn because of "inappropriate" photos."We don't really want to be the place where people list photos of their mums in their underwear," he said.”

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:55 PM | Comments (1)
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President-Elect Barack Obama, January 10, 2009:

"And eventually sacrifice from everyone?" I asked.

"EverybodyÂ’s going to have to give. EverybodyÂ’s going to have to have some skin in the game," Obama said.

I know you've already seen more than your fair share of hard times. We saw 400,000 jobs lost in the auto industry in the year before this restructuring even began. I will not pretend the hard times are over. Difficult days lie ahead. More jobs will be lost. More plants will close. More dealerships will shut their doors, and so will many parts suppliers.

But I want you to know that what you're doing is making a sacrifice for the next generation -- a sacrifice you may not have chose to make, but a sacrifice you were nevertheless called to make so that your children and all of our children can grow up in an America that still makes things; that still builds cars; that still strives for a better future.

President Barack Obama and his family plan to vacation next month on Martha's Vineyard, Democratic sources said.

The trip has long been rumored on the island, where federal agents were reported to be checking out property last spring.

The plan puts the Obamas in one of America's most diverse resort areas. The enclave of Oak Bluffs has long been a favorite vacation spot for the nation's African-American elite.

So...how's your cake?

Posted by: Slublog at 04:33 PM | Comments (2)
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I wrote this in response to someone objecting to use of the word "cultist."

Let me explain it. If you don't like the explanation, fine. But here it is. more...

Posted by: Ace at 02:18 PM | Comments (4)
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I don't have a lot of patience for Heretic Hunters and Witch-Finders. Nor do I have patience for those who offer populists popular opinions they don't believe, just because they know they can get some traffic for them.

Nor those who are quick to excommunincate allies over trifling differences of opinions, claiming that any difference of opinion must be 1) dishonest, 2) corruptly offered to gain some secret emolument (an invitation to Beltway cocktail parties is a favorite), or 3) obviously offered by someone who has revealed himself, through his doubt and betrayal, to not be a conservative at all. Merely a "conservative" (wink, wink).

Because all real conservatives march in lockstep on all issues. Or at least all issues they've decided must be marched in lockstep on, which, oddly enough, rarely concern actual policy and more often enough concern mere personalities (see the Limbaugh contretemps for the last big one; the TARP argument before that was a policy difference, but, despite being more important, was rather more civilly discussed).

It seems the less vital the stakes, the less core an issue is to the actual conservative movement, the more passion and the more insults are generated.

Stacy McCain, the most shamelessly traffic-whoring blogger on the internet (by self admission, admirably), manages all of this in his Give Me Traffic and I'll Tell You What You Want To Hear column, with the added bonus of a not-even-embarrassed-about-it cult statement of principle. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:36 AM | Comments (2)
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