Obama’s Army: Defining Fitness Down.

The Army has started a new, less intense basic training program:

“The new fitness regime tries to deal with all these problems by incorporating more stretching, more exercises for the abdomen and lower back, instead of the traditional situps, and more agility and balance training.There are fewer situps, different kinds of push-ups and fewer long runs, which Army officials say are good for building strength and endurance but often lead to injuries. They also do not necessarily prepare soldiers for carrying heavy packs or sprinting short distances."

The big question remains: Was the motivation behind this actually the safety and proper preparation of soldiers or rather a grand social experiment to boost the recruitment and promotion of women?

Like A Hipster In A Che' Shirt...

From the New York Times:

“…bankers, hedge fund mangers and traders supported the Obama candidacy because he appealed to their egos. Mr. Obama was viewed as a member of the elite, an Ivy League graduate (Columbia, class of ’83, the same as Mr. Loeb), president of The Harvard Law Review — he was supposed to be just like them. President Obama was the “intelligent” choice, the same way they felt about themselves. They say that they knew he would seek higher taxes and tighter regulation; that was O.K. What they say they did not realize was that they were going to be painted as villains." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/business/31sorkin.html?ref=politics

Why Is This A Surprise?

Why would sharing be a problem? They have been free-riding off of the U.S. for years.

Britain and France are preparing to reveal unprecedented plans to share the use of their aircraft carriers in a controversial step to maintain military power in an era of cost cutting. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3118476/UK-and-France-tobr-share-aircraft-carriers.html

Nothing About This Is Unreasonable.

Nothing about Ron Paul’s assertion in the following article is wild or unreasonable. "Trust but verify" is common sense and was the mantra of President Reagan. It is too bad that Paul will likely not be taken seriously.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he plans to introduce legislation next year to force an audit of U.S. holdings of gold. Paul, a longtime critic of the Federal Reserve and U.S. monetary policy, said he believes it's "a possibility" that there might not actually be any gold in the vaults of Fort Knox or the New York Federal Reserve bank.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/116341-ron-paul-plans-bill-to-audit-us-gold-reserves

Newsflash: Liberals Prefer Moderate Republicans.

In answer to a question about his favorite joke, well known liberal writer Markos Moulitsas replied “I've got three: Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Ken Buck.”

Engle, Paul and Buck along with Joe Miller and to a lesser extent Marco Rubio and Mike Lee are not typical GOP Senate candidates. If elected (and it appears as if a majority of them, if not all of them, will be elected) they will likely not be typical GOP Senators. In short, they appear to be the type of proud conservative that is easily found in state legislatures, and is not uncommon in the House, but is rarely part of the United States Senate.

The left is maligning this group because they are afraid of them. The left understands what it will mean if there is a true conservative caucus inside the Senate instead of just the often loan voice of Jim DeMint. Accordingly, when fellow Republicans question the wisdom of nominating conservatives over “more electable” moderates, realize they have been had by the narrative of the scared left.

The Left Never Fails To Entertain.

Today, Politico featured a lifestyle interview with a top Nancy Pelosi aide, Stacy Kerr:

Kerr and her husband, C.R. Wooters, the director of member services for Rep. Chris Van Hollen, loved the Palisades so much that when they decided to move again two years ago they stayed in the area, deciding on a federal style home with navy shutters right near their first place.

OF COURSE, she is married to a guy with a different last name, who only goes by his initials. He sounds like a model of masculinity.

During the week, since they work long hours, there’s a lot of takeout consumed. “Most nights during the week this is where the takeout bag goes,” Kerr said, pointing to the countertop in their recently remodeled kitchen.

And surprise, surprise...this busy, classy “career woman” does not cook. We can be sure that theirs is a marriage of equality, full of platonic mutual respect and long, challenging conversations.

Oh, you silly liberals.

Race In America.

For years now, the left has divisively used race and gender as wedge issues in campaigns and falsely cried “bigot!” as a cheap shot at political opponents. But over the past year (especially with the advent of the tea party movement, which just seems to drive many liberals off of the cliff of sanity) things have really heated up and such claims from the left have grown even more hyperbolic and bombastic.

Accordingly, conservatives appear to have a rapidly dwindling patience for and acceptance of these shenanigans. In the course of just a week this month, National Review Online lead with the following headlines:

“Race Card Payment Coming Due”
August 13, National Review Online

“Everyone a Bigot?”
August 12, National Review Online

“Black Murders Eight Whites; Media Blame Whites”
August 10, National Review Online

Tuesday Preview.

For some interesting thoughts on Tuesday's primary battles in Florida, check out: http://geoffonpolitics.wordpress.com

Politico Shows Its True Colors

Politico proclaimed this morning that Tuesday's primary election results were somehow "good news" for Democrats nationwide. They focused mainly on the Colorado Senate race.

In Colorado, moderate incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet stayed off a liberal challenger in his primary, while tea party backed conservative Ken Buck beat a moderate GOP establishment favorite in his.

Politico was quick to pick up the theme that conservatives and tea party backed candidates will not fair well in general elections, yet the polling says just the opposite: Buck fairs slightly better in general election polling than his vanquished RINO primary opponent did. In the last poll to include both GOP hopefuls against Bennet, Buck polled nearly 3 points better.

The take away point is this: What many in the media and on the left don't see is that despite whatever flaws or rough edges candidates like Ken Buck, Sharron Angle and Rand Paul have they are far less of a liability on election day than boring establishment moderates who will put their base to sleep instead of driving them to the polls. (Think John McCain.)

Furthermore, the Colorado results support our contention that this year is a conservative year and not an "anti-incumbent year" as many on the left have tried to spin it.

Who Knows Best?

Read the following two articles and take a moment to think about the real purpose of public health codes (…along with the criminal and civil penalties and other barriers to honest business that come along with them.)

Dying To Smoke In A Bar In Maryland: There’s always FedEx Field.

and:

Lemonade stands get reprieve: Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen apologizes for health inspection shutdown

Wouldn’t the civil system take care of public health enough on its own?

Only Rinos Can Bring About A Duck.

A recent worry among beltway Republicans has been that Democrats will be sore losers after November's midterm elections and ram through radical legislation in a lame duck session before the next congress starts in January. Politico covered the topic today:

As Congress heads home for August, Republicans and conservative activists have a new rallying cry to energize voters: Fear the Lame Duck! With dark warnings, GOP members of Congress and right-wing media figures are suggesting that the Democratic majority could usea post-election session of Congress to jam through tax increases, cap and trade, immigration reform and legislation making it easier for unions to organize workers. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40571.html#ixzz0vZxbmnX9

But remember, Republicans have enough votes in the Senate to filibuster anything. Any substantive bill during a lame duck session should be filibustered on principle alone. The liberal New England and Great Lake Republicans have no excuse not to go along with a filibuster under this circumstance. The Republican establishment needs to make it clear to Susan Collins, Olympia Snow and their ilk that they will be politico-non-grata if they allow a substantive bill to pass in the lame duck session.