Iowa Sighs With Relief!

[Art Smith is an occasional contributor to BitsBlog.  Art publishes The Conservative Reader, a conservative commentary and news site.  Art lives in the Central Iowa area and spent two years as the Communications Director for the Polk County Republican Party of Iowa.]

On the whole, politically involved Iowans take their First-In-The-Nation moniker seriously.  But even the most engaged activists have to join with the rest of the state in saying “Thank goodness that’s over!”.

And truly only because being first comes with a significant price.  Christmas/New Year’s with family just gets a little annoying with the phone calls (my dear wife kept score of how many calls we got from each campaign), and the constant, substantively negative, ads on the radio and television.  All of that on top of the fact that many Iowans actually don’t need all of the extra whoop-de-doo because they are already meeting candidates, researching them, talking to their neighbors, weighing their choices.  And many found the assessment particularly difficult, perhaps not deciding on their vote until they arrived at the caucus itself.

Others across the county complain about the apparent meaningless of what Iowans do.  Because the top vote getter isn’t always the eventual nominee, they think we don’t have the right to come first.

Iowans like to think of it as a responsibility, and not so much to be the soothsayer as much as helping lighten the load for the rest of the country.

Rick Perry’s decision to go back to Texas and “reassess” his campaign is an example of what I’m talking about.  We started with something like eleven or twelve candidates.  As of the caucus, there were still seven serious candidates (I include Huntsman only because, well I’m not even sure why).  After last night, there’s really only four that should be treated seriously: Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich.  Perry’s apparently done, and Bachmann is staying in the race for now, but unless something big happens in New Hampshire, she’s also done.  Huntsman and Roemer are really not worth the trouble to even mention in my opinion, at least not for 2012.

So Iowa has more or less whittled the field in half (or a third if you go back a few months, but I won’t split hairs), saving the entire rest of the county a bunch of time.  Which is totally win-win in my opinion since putting the first-in-the-nation in the hands of Florida, New York or California would probably cost thousands or even millions of man-hours of work.  And what would we have to show for all that work? Probably 7 candidates still in the running by the time they got to Iowa.  Just sayin’.

So, it’s not so much that Iowa picks winners as we weed out the losers that matters to the rest of the country.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For me personally it’s a relief to get this caucus over with.  I’ve found that while the Presidential Preference Poll is certainly important, all of the work leading up to it seems more focused on personality that on issues.  While there is something to be said for potential character flaws having an influence on one’s decision, it seemed as if that was the only thing driving people’s choices.  In all my years I have yet to find a candidate that meets all of my requirements in moral turpitude, principled consistency and articulate conviction.  I have not found that we have been able to discuss the issues and have instead been totally focused on the candidates themselves.  I know this is part of the cost of being “first”, but I’m ready to move on now to discussing the issues.  Having fewer candidates may also make this easier.

Anyhow, Iowans, you now own your phone, your front door, and your entertainment systems.  Until this fall, that is.

There is perhaps no better comparison to what happens with governmental largess, than the seagull.  Rats with wings, they have been called… and for at least this purpose the comparison is fairly accurate.

Consider the similarities between the seagull and the benefactor of monies forcibly removed from taxpayers:

Self described "Community Organizer"

Seagulls have a tendency to stick around where the free food is. So, too, their human counterparts. Hence the collection of seagulls around a local fast food join for example, and the collection of self described victim representatives, and community organizers  and their followers, around the seats of governmental power. It is herewith noted that the human seagulls appear to be the base of our current President, for example.

Seagulls, after the many generations that have been getting their sustenance this way, know how to play this game and play it well. In the process of learning that game, of course, they have also build up a dependency.

Some of the excesses of "Occupy Wall Street" leaking out

If you don’t feed the seagulls, they will  crap on your vehicle or on you… and every once in a while they will crap on you or your vehicle anyway even if you do feed them. It is as if they are are trying to remind us of their status…. and they will be forever reminding you of it. The similarity between these birds and their human counterparts is striking, here, also. As you see.

A few more points to consider. No matter how much you feed the seagulls it is never enough from their point of view. As with their human counterparts. After a while, the bird start acting like it got a right to what you have in your hand. Or, on your plate.

Scavanging seagulls demanding food they think is rightfully theirs

The question becomes becomes, are we dealing with forces of nature, here?

I’m quite sure is it there are those who will take this line of thought to be directed at welfare recipients. They will, therefore, take my line of reasoning as racist. They will argue against the comparison on that ground.

That, however, is utter nonsense. While the list of seagulls would seem on the surface to include some minority groupings, it is not focused on them. The fact is that these rules would seem to apply to every instance of governmental largess, including those but also  businesses chosen as winners by government. For example, “green energy” concerns, and others who we both know will never be off the governmental teat. Unions and their members would seem a close parallel also. And so on, etc.etc.

Now, there are those who have tried to train seagulls. To make them a bit more socially acceptable… sort of like an animal kingdom Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle.  They’ve tried to train seagulls not to crap on everything, for example. Yet the success rate has been less than high.

Seagulls, you see, tend to be a fickle bunch and will float away in search of more free stuff… stuff without any behavioral attachments. Nature, you see, has bred such reactions in them.

Are we dealing, then with a force of nature in both instances? It would certainly seem to explain our lack of success in breeding out the scavengers in both species.

I’m quite sure you can find additions to this list.  You’re invited to comment on them.

But….also….There’s a prediction for the next election hidden here. See if you can find it.

Did Allah Pundit make a rather bad metaphor or just a uniquely apt one? …. from Hot Air:

You’d think liberals would want to pull their punches against Santorum until he’s built up enough momentum nationally to complicate life for Romney, yet here’s Colmesy throwing an uppercut straight to the groin. Pure instinctual ideological bloodlust? Or … is this actually a sly bit of jujitsu in which AC, through a calculated display of jerkiness, forces the viewer to sympathize with Santorum, thus giving him another little boost before tomorrow night? It’s good cop/bad cop co-starring Rich Lowry. Fiendishly clever!

An uppercut to the groin. Watch the video and you decide.

Hat tip video: Right Scoop.

Reax Nice Deb:

You’ve probably been hearing about the brouhaha over Alan Colmes’ despicable remarks about how the Santorum’s handled the death of their newborn in 1996. The usually even-keeled Rick Moran called Colmes a “heartless monster”  and if you haven’t yet seen the video of the confrontation between the morally outraged Rich Lowrey and the simpering, unapologetic Colmes, it is a must see.

I agree with Deb that something fundamental is missing with Colmes.   However I don’t think it is his heart, or lack thereof, but rather his brain.

Anybody who claims to be non-judgmental is  naive or a liar.   Colmes expresses total submissiveness to the Supreme Court in matters of sexual morality yet deems how Rich and Karen Santorum choose to grieve their late  son.  Maybe the Supreme’s have not ruled on what is an acceptable way to memorialize a dead child, thus permitting Colmes to have his own opinion.

Speaking for  myself , I feel the best why to show respect for your loved depart ones to try and behave as they were still present.    While I find the Santorum’s particular memorial unusual, it is fitting with  the prior concept.

As the Supreme Court being some sort of judge of what is moral and not moral, not in my book   The same court which declare the Negro had no rights (Scott v Sanford) and that racial segregation was legal (Plessy v. Rerguson).     Were it not for Brown v. Board of Education, are we to believe that Colmes would be objecting to the darkies in the white schools?

Gee... looks to ME like he was taken at the point of a gun...

Janet Shan, Hinterland Gazette:

Gun sales surge in U.S. for Christmas. According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December, the UK Telegraph reports. That was the highest number ever in a single month, even surpassing the record set in November. The Telegraph reports on December 23rd alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history. Why the surge? One reason is a knee-jerk reaction to the possibility the stalled economy will give rise to crime waves. Another reason is that people rushed to purchase guns because they believe tougher firearms laws will be introduced in the future.

Firearms in the hands of law abiding civilians are very safe.   It is guns the hands of jack booted government thugs, see above, that pose the danger to the public.

We have witnessed angry mobs, read Occupy Wall Street, engaging in open violence while the police all too often stand by impotent.

We have a president who boasted that he was the only person standing between bankers and a mob armed with pitchforks.

Lastly, we have an attorney general arming drug cartels in Mexico as pretense for yet more gun control.

Free citizens have the right to carry arms wherever they may travel. Serfs do not. Are you a free citizen or a serf. We know Shan’s answer

Guns are safe.  An unarmed society is not.

From the New York Times, via the Pundit of Poca and Daily Mail (WV):

Fisker Automotive is recalling all 239 of its 2012 Karma luxury plug-in hybrid cars because of a fire hazard, according to a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Prices on the 2012 model start at $103,000, including the destination charge.

In a report filed recently on the agency’s Web site, Fisker said some hose clamps were not properly positioned, which could allow a coolant leak. “If coolant enters the battery compartment an electrical short could possibly occur, causing a thermal event within the battery, including a possible fire in the worse case,” the company told the safety agency.

Fisker said the problem was discovered on Dec. 16, when workers at the Valmet Automotive assembly plant in Finland noticed coolant dripping. Fisker said it was not aware of any consumer complaints, warranty claims or “any other reports related to this condition.” It said fewer than 50 vehicles were in the hands of consumers

Lucky for Algore, the Karma did not come in truck sized version big enough to tom him around.

What I hate about the end of the year,  is the endless best of lists.  However this is good   I don’t normally link posts which make me insanely jealous, but this might help or campaign to win in 2-12,   Then, it might not.   Without further ado, Doug Ross’ list of the Top 50 blogs of 2011:

Presenting: the 2011 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners! #fab50

The moment you’ve been waiting for is here.

The votes are in. The anxious nominees’ fingernails have been chewed down to the quick. And at least one blogger just excused himself to go to the bathroom (number two, apparently).

So we’re more than pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards, the most prestigious new media awards in the conservative blogosphere. Or, at the very least, in the 993 area code.

These awards recognize a variety of blogs and websites operating in the conservative hemisphere of the Internet, all of which have worked tirelessly to protect America from Statism — some in very unique ways.

Very impressive list.

If being voluntarily associated  with a racist  is bad for one politician, it should not be good for another,  yet,, Roger Simon, PJ Media:

That inability to select even marginally acceptable (non-racist) employees and colleagues should, on the face of it, disqualify Paul as a candidate for president of the United States. Can you imagine such a myopic individual, such a poor judge of character, choosing justices for the Supreme Court, not to mention myriad other important positions?

But that’s giving Paul the best of it. Occam’s Razor tells us Paul knew perfectly well the kind of tripe his minions were writing (if he didn’t write it himself), just as Barack Obama — despite his protestations — knew perfectly well the kind of bilge that Jeremiah Wright was spewing. In fact, they went along with it for much the same reason — political expediency — although Paul arguably believed the despicable remarks in his newsletters more than Obama ever believed Wright’s excrescences. After all, Paul’s writings (including solicitation letters) went out under his own name.

More, Shikha Dalmia, Reason;

Or it can demand accountability from Paul. This might mean that Paul would have to give a major speech—a la Obama’s Jeremiah Wright address—taking head on all the questions swirling around him. Such a speech must begin with a mea culpa that goes beyond “I disavow them (the newsletters).” Paul has to take responsibility for them. He has to admit that he and his organization took a seriously misguided intellectual/political turn two decades ago. However, in his heart or hearts, he remained uncomfortable with the figures and forces that he allowed himself to become allied with. Both in their substance and spirit they were, are and will always remain counter to everything he—and libertarianism— stands for. He needs to argue how his philosophy of the dignity and rights of every individual informs his pro-liberty and anti-war agenda, which, at its core, rejects every form of soft or hard racism and other ugly collectivisms

Barrack Obama neither wrote nor delivered Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s hate filled sermons, but Obama owns theme, because he had a chance to walk out Wright’s church for twenty years, but refused to do so.    A mind so warped by racism  as to belief that Jeremiah Wright was a fitting reverend for your family, might also believe that Eric Holder was fit to serve as America’s Attorney General.

Likewise, Paul, may not have written the newsletter which were published under his name, but he never repudiated the newsletter at the time. In other words, both Obama and Paul courted and accepted the supported of avowed racists when they thought it convenient to advance there political careers. Surely the experience of having one racist hate monger in the White House is more that sufficient reason not to put a second such hate merchant in the Oval Office.

Well, the Occupy Wall Street movement, AKA Poopstock, sure is making a splash. Perhaps “splash” isn’t the best term, from the looks of things, they could all use a splash in a bathtub with a bar of soap. Reports on the ground indicate things are getting pretty ripe. But the commies don’t seem to mind. Amidst the filth, they’re laying out their plans for a better tomorrow

From Karen, Lonely Conservative.

From an hysterical and deluded Talking Points Memo:

Michele Bachmann Is In Love With The AR-15 Assault Rifle

Quite wrong moose breaths. An assault rifle is capable of fully automatic fire, from Wikipedia:

An assault rifle is a selective fire (selectable between semi-auto and fully automatic) rifle (capable of being fired from the shoulder) that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.[1][2][3][4] Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies.

The AR-15 is semi-automatic weapon, or other words a rather fancy and very ugly varmint gun, again from Wikipedia:

The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials.

Got it? An assault rifle is capable of fully automatic fire, that pull the trigger and more than one bullet will be fire. Whereas the AR-15 is a semi-automatic weapon. If you want to fire more that one round, you have to pull the trigger yet again.

Maybe I should go easy on TPM.   After all George Soros  likely only hired them because they were stupid.

Alan Colmes does even worst than TPM.  He gets the model wrong, link:

Michele Bachmann: Happiness Is An AK-47

No Alan.    Now you see why some call liberals libtarded

Elizabeth Scalia, a/k/a  Anchoress has a few parting words for Speaker Tablecloth,  b/k/a Nancy Pelosi should she decide to leave Congress, link:

I hate to sound presumptuous, but Madam Speaker, on behalf of many, may I say let-not-your-heart-be-troubled about relieving yourself of obligations you have more than met. Besides, if you stay much longer in congress, someone in power, somewhere — or perhaps maybe even someone in the mainstream press — may finally be inclined to launch some sort of investigation into your extremely profitable tenure in congress.

If you feel you must go, please don’t remain — burdened and unhappy — for our sakes. As Dr. Seuss said to Marvin K. Mooney, “just go, go, go, please do, do do.”

And don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out.

Look at the bright side Mrs. Pelosi,  you have a bright future as a fashion consultant.    Like Eric Holder the sooner Mrs. Pelosi leaves, the better.   Unlike the reprobate Holder, I have no desire to see Mrs.  Pelosi in a Mexican jail sell.

The worst attorney general in American history, the  reprobate Eric Holder, continues  to try to divert attention from Fast and Furious, from Tim Mak, Politico:

The number of officers killed in the line of duty jumped 13 percent in 2011 compared with the year before — and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the increase as “a devastating and unacceptable trend” that he blamed on illegal firearms.

The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty rose to 173 this year, from 153 in 2010, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund announced Wednesday. This year’s figure is 23 percent higher than 122 killed in the line of duty in 2009.

Hat tip and reax:  Bob Owens

The 300-plus Mexican nations that have died as a result of Operation Fast and Furious don’t seem to matter at all to Attorney General Holder, who only seems to care that Brian Terry’s inconvenient death at the hands of an FBI-informant led rip crew has become a political and criminal liability

I don’t mean to pay light to the death of any law enforcement officer, how law enforcement was, is and will continue to be a dangerous line of work.     According to FBI statistics most LEO’s killed in the line of duty have due to accidents

If one hundred seventy three deaths are a problem,  why is Holder so silent on  the more than three hundred  death caused by the weapons he directed allowed to sent into Mexico?    I can’t find any 2011 statistics, but murder by firearm. legal or otherwise,  is only a partial contributor to line of duty deaths, and not as  Holder seems disparate to imply the sole cause.

Addendum:  More reax, Bruce McQusin, Questions and Observations:

Additionally, I’m sure the Mexican law enforcement officers killed by the guns Holder’s department allowed to flow into their country find this concern of his particularly hollow. Why it could even be considered … wait for it … racist. I just throw that out there as an example of what some GOP AG would have been hit with by the left had he or she been so stupid as to run an operation like Fast and Furious.

Timothy McVeigh only murdered what one hundred seventy-three men, women and children and we strapped McVeigh to a gurney.   Of course Holder’s fate should first be decided by the sovereign state of Mexico., on whom Holder waged war.

This is adding insult to injury, from, DMartyr Jawa Report:

An NC shop clerk took on an armed robber and knock him out cold with one punch. But to add insult to injury, the clerk put the would-be robber to work.

Video:

Boys and girls, don’t try this at home.

Sloatsburg,NY– I’m here after driving most of the day. A quick run from rochester to Bethlehem Pennsylvania, then over to Quakertown for a loadfew of paper towels. —

• Voting rights:

  Over at questions and observations, Bruce McQuain in his usual take no prisoners style … which, frankly I’ve always admired, proceeds to blow up the Liberal argument surroundingthevoting rights act in south Carolina.
  

  
  
  
  

  Bruce McQuain

  If you write a check, buy liquor or any of a myriad of different transactions throughout the year, you are asked or required to produce a valid state issued ID.  Does that adversely effect the ability of minorities to write checks or buy alcohol?  Then there’s driving.  No license, no driving.

  
  
  Quite so. there’s only one reason that Eric Holder in his happy little band of socialist minions is chasing this particular ghost.  They are black racists, seeking to ensure a socialist future. As Bruce says, this is….

   

  …The same DoJ that refused to prosecute the voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers documented on video in Philadelphia in the 2008.

  This is also the same White House that just a while ago announced that it was going to try and win the election without white working middle class voters. Gee, how do you suppose they’re going to be able to do that without employing voter fraud, which voting without ID’ing the voter, implicitly allows? Oh, by the way… Texas is next..

  Wait and see.

• Two Union Thugs now Jailbirds::
  Two UAW officials sentenced to prison for strike-related extortion.

  Two down, Only a couple million to go.

• Lugar blames the only group really trying to save the party: 

  more proof that Dick Lugar is an idiot.

  The  One who is totally dedicated to the establishment GOP, and not to the rank and file.  He blames the tea party for killing off efforts at a republican majority.  What he doesn’t understand is the majority of the people don’t give a damn about the GOP being a majority,  if they are not conservative

  . 

  Lugar certainly falls into that description. Which is why his attempts at the presidency have repeatedly failed.  He hasn’t gotten that message yet.  That’s why his Indiana seat is in jeopardy.  He’s been far too accommodating over the years to the left.  It’s to the point now where his positions are hardly distinguishable from that of his Democrat opponent.  Like most of the GOP establishment, Lugar still can’t figure out why the democrats don’t like him very much despite all the bending over forward that they’ve done, accommodatingthe left. The voters in his district are rebelling, and Lugar is confused.   Remember, gang, Lugar is one who voted against the moratorium on Earmarks

  Anyone doing that is not conservative. Period, end of comment.  That’s one example of many with Lugar.  It’s time that Lugar was replaced with a conservative in possession of an actual spine.

• Substantial penalty for early withdrawal:

  I said in several places, possibly even here, when Obama announced our pull out of Iraq, that the war itself wasn’t over, it’s just that Obama walked away from it just in time forthe election.  Jennifer Rubin, who I’ve had disagreements with lately as regards Romney, who she apparently supports, for indecipherable reasons, actually hits this one out of thepark :

  

  Jenifer Rubin

  President Obama missed the boat on tax reform. He put politics above entitlement reform. He worsened already-tense relations with Israel. But the worst error, in large part becauseit was both avoidable and is not irreversible, was to pull all troops out of Iraq.Peter Wehner writes:

   

  We’re seeing a dramatic resurgence of sectarian and ethnic divisions. And the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, issued a warrant for the arrest of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni leader who has since fled to the autonomous northern Kurdish region. (Maliki has ordered the Kurds to “hand over” Hashemi or face “problems.”) This is precisely why U.S. commanders recommended we maintain a residual American force of 15,000 to 18,000, in order to keep violence down, ethnic divisions in check, and Maliki in line. But President Obama thought he knew better, and now we have no U.S. presence in Iraq to speak of. . . .

   

   

  What is happening in Iraq is sickening, in part because the gains came at such a high cost and in part because what is happening there was so avoidable. Obama was handed a war thatwas largely won. What America had given to Iraq is what the Arab scholar Fouad Ajami called “the foreigner’s gift.” But Iraq being Iraq, maintaining an American troop presence there, separate from engaging in combat operations, was necessary if Iraq was ever to become whole again. President Obama has undone much of what had been achieved there, almost in theblink of an eye. And when the history of his administration is written, it increasingly looks as if he will be fairly judged to have been the man who lost Iraq.

  It is inconceivable that President Obama would reintroduce troops or that other countries would step up to the plate in the wake of the U.S. departure. And whatever advice or counsel we now dispense has very chance of being heeded. We have no leverage.

  

  Indeed. And here it is; What were you doing in 1975? I was watching a California Liberal Declaring a victory, and pulling out just in time for an election. I warned, back when we entered Iraq, that we were going to have to have the testicular mass to see this through, regardless of how long it took.  And I predicted it was going to take far longer than ten years.  Not doing so, I warned, would actually have the effect of making it worse.  That path was guaranteed, and forced upon us, by the election of Obama in 2008. I suggested thatpoint our position in Iraq, turned soft, as our government with its new leadership decided to play the negotiation game.

  Consider the contrast. WWI ended with negotiation. That negotiation led us directly into world war two. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00. WWII, meanwhile, was a little different. We won that, by decisive victory on the battlefield. Complete domination. That, in turn, resulted in Germany and Japan being among our strongest Allies.

  The negotiation with the Soviets, meanwhile, resulted in millions of people being enslaved, and killed outright by their own government, and millions more as the communist influence expanded into places like north Korea since it too was the result of negotiation. As was, to complete the circle, Vietnam. Those who don’t learn from history, tend to vote for those who force us into repeating it. Obama was handed a victory and by his choice turned it into a defeat. We’re going to be paying for this for a long while.

• Steyn gets it:

  
   

  

  Mark Steyn

  On this Christmas Eve, one of the great unreported stories throughout what we used to call Christendom is the persecution of Christians around the world. In Egypt, the ‘Arab Spring’ is going so swimmingly that Copts are already fleeing Egypt and, for those Christians that remain, Midnight Mass has to be held in the daylight for security reasons. In Iraq, midnight services have been canceled entirely for fear of bloodshed, part of the remorseless de-Christianizing that has been going on, quite shamefully, under an American imperium. Not merely the media but Christian leaders in the west seem to be embarrassed by behavior that doesn’t conform to their dimwitted sappiness about ‘Facebook Revolutions’.

  Indeed. And what of Nigeria?

  And Egypt, as well

  … Here again, is the result of negotiation instead of victory.

• Seeing the lights:

  IBD says

  :

  The EPA thinks it’s worth spending billions of dollars each year to reduce already minuscule amounts of mercury in the outside air. So why is it trying to shove mercury-laced fluorescent bulbs into everyone’s homes?

  I have said it for years….It’s a combination of factors, including the desire for a power, and the desire to screw up the American economy. Thereby, America itself. A these are the kinds of legislation that you’re going to continually have so long as we have people in power that think that every minuscule problem that comes along can be solved simply by creating a law. That government is the center of the universe, and is the solution to every problem rather than being the problem itself.

GoDaddy gets spanked by by the nerds,  from Tom Cheredar, Venture Beat:

Hosting and domain registrar company Go Daddy has lost more than 37,000 domains in the past two days due to the company’s wishy-washy stance on the Stop Online Piracy Act.

The fleeing domains comes as a result of the intense backlash from customers and Internet critics after Go Daddy appeared on an official list of companies supporting SOPA. The internet responded by staging a wide-spread boycott where people would switch their domains to another registrar, which Go Daddy initially dismissed as having little impact on their business. Now it seems that assessment wasn’t entirely accurate

Those who make their living off the Internet would be well advised to support the continued existence of said same.

Steven L. Taylor, Outside the Beltwy:

Hat tip: Syllable Soup

First, why get all bent out of shape over an initiative to encourage healthier eating (and this isn’t the first time this has come up)? It is not as if we are talking about some sort of authoritarian push to shut down fast food joints and to force us to eat our veggies. Obama’s health food initiative is pretty typical First Lady fare and the notion that the White House would try to plug physical fitness is both bipartisan and time-honored.

Second, why attack someone’s physical appearance? Further, it strikes me as a bit sexist for a male to specifically go after a woman’s rear end

So how does FLOTUS (Fat Lady of the United States) get to pass herself as if she were some sort of authority on diet and fitness?    Either Moochelle’a plan for diet and fitness does not work, or she does not follow her own plan?   Which one is it?

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