Tim Pawlenty can wave good-bye to the Presidency if he loses Iowa, which he probably will.

Tim Pawlenty finally showed some signs of life, when he criticized Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s record as “non-existent.” It’s nice that he’s showing some signs of life, but I have a feeling that his criticism might not resonate with voters.

Think about this: Voters elected Barack Obama as President after only a few years in the U.S. Senate. Although, he was also a state senator (wow!). On the other end of the ideological spectrum, Sarah Palin has a massive number of supporters, even though she had less than two years experience as Governor of Alaska. Of course, in Palin’s defense, she was the mayor of Wasilla, which is a Metropolitan powerhouse.

Does anyone know if Michele Bachmann is being supported by the major labor unions? I wouldn’t have thought so, but according to actor Alec Baldwin, it appears that way. Here are some quotes from his Twitter feed:

“Fear Bachman bc she is raising so much money,” Baldwin tweeted. “Anyone that inarticulate and full of shit who is raising money that fast…is beholden to some mighty thuggish interests.”

Thuggish interests? Unions were the first ones who came to my mind. Although, it could be another group of formerly liberal constituents. What about the New Black Panther Party? They’re pretty Thuggish.

At any rate, if Bachmann begins appealing to the natural thug base of the Democrats and Barack Obama, she could end up walking away with the Presidency.

Alec Baldwin is being driven crazy by Michele Bachmann's success.

Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has been critical of the United States.

Barack Obama wants to bring 30,000 soldiers home by November 2012, while the Pentagon thinks he should hold off until 2013. My guess is that Obama wants to make it look like he’s serious about removing soldiers from Afghanistan leading up to the Presidential Election. Unfortunately, this isn’t good enough.

I’d like to see all of our soldiers come home in a matter of a couple of months. Some would say that this is unreasonable, and that it would jeopardized alleged gains we’ve made in the region. I say that’s nonsense. We’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars on military spending and public works projects in Afghanistan. That’s bad, but the worst part are the soldiers who were injured or killed. Afghanistan is benefiting from out presence much more than the United States. We need to leave.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has often criticized the United States and NATO forces. Here is an excerpt from his latest rant:

“If they continue their attacks on our houses, then their presence will change from a force that is fighting against terrorism to a force that is fighting against the people of Afghanistan,” he said. “And in that case, history shows what Afghans do with trespassers and with occupiers.”

U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenbarry with Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai

To his credit, Karl Eikenbarry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan had a strong response to the Afghans’ rhetoric:

“Mothers and fathers of fallen soldiers, spouses of soldiers who have lost arms and legs, children of those who lost their lives in your country – they ask themselves about the meaning of their loved one’s sacrifice,” he continued.

“When I hear some of your leaders call us occupiers, I cannot look at these mourning parents, spouses, and children in the eye and give them a comforting reply.”

U.S. soldiers are being asked to protect and build a nation for people who don’t like them, and don’t want them there. As for Hamid Karzai, a lot of his comments are probably meant to gain support from his people and appear strong. Of course, if the United States Military were to leave, that would mean that Afghanistan’s security forces would be solely charged with protecting their nation. I wonder how secure that makes Mr. Karzai feel.

Louis Farrakhan calls Barack Obama a murderer, but defends Muammar Qaddafi.

If you read this blog regularly, then you know that I’m no fan of Barack Obama or his administration. Well, you can cross another person off the Barack Obama fan list: Minister loudmouth Louis Farrakhan. Of course, we have different reasons for our opinions.

Why isn’t Louis Farrakhan happy with Barack Obama’s job performance? Take a look:

“We voted for our brother Barack, a beautiful human being with a sweet heart, and now he’s an assassin. They turned him into them.”

Next, we have this little diatribe:

“You talk about a man killing his own people. When you lie to the American people saying that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. When you lie and then take innocent young men who come to serve their country, and send them to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, over lies, that’s a murderer in the White House.”

What I find amusing is that he criticizes Barack Obama for murdering his own people, then he sticks up for Muammar Qaddafi! You know, the guy who bombs his own people!

If you have time, check out the sermon below. I can’t believe a group of individuals can sit in a room with him and not laugh at his nonsense. I also can’t believe that I just defended Barack Obama.

President George W. Bush spent, and spent, and spent...

Politico has an interesting article titled, “GOP Magic Trick: Making George W. Bush Vanish.” To sum it up, Republicans are starting to embrace the fiscal conservatism that was the bedrock of the party’s platform, while moving away from George W. Bush’s reckless spending.

Thankfully, many Republicans are moving away from the neoconservative philosophy that has resulted in never-ending wars, expanded government, and a ballooning national debt. I’m glad to see this philosophical change break into the Republican mainstream, but why did it take so long? There are Republicans who are (rightly) criticizing attempts by the Obama administration to raise the debt ceiling. Where were they when George W. Bush made similar requests? Why did they support increases then?

Of course, the answer is the team mentality that politicians have, a ridiculous tendency to give too much slack to a member of their own party. Ladies and gentlemen, if an idea stinks, it stink regardless of the party affiliation of the person who caused the stench. If more Republicans believed this, they would have far more credibility when opposing Barack Obama’s policies. They could say, “we didn’t like it when Bush did it, and we’re not going to support you.” Instead, they’re left saying, “we won’t support your decision, but we supported President Bush when he did almost the same exact thing.” So you see the problem?

I hope more of our elected officials do see the problem, and make an attempt to put their country before their party.

Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ignores legal advice and chooses to continue the mission in Libya

It looks like Barack Obama has over-ruled the legal advice of lawyers from the Pentagon and Justice Department who believe military action against Libya should have stopped or slowed as of May 20th. Basically, it comes down to whether the actions of the United States can be defined as “hostilities.” Maybe it’s me, but I think sending the military to a foreign country with the hope of toppling its leader is rather hostile.

So, we’re still in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we’re also involved in Libya. If this is a deserving Nobel Peace Prize winner, I’d hate to see what a war monger looks like!

Sarah Palin: Biker chick

Sarah Palin is currently engaged in a tour of “enemy territory,” also known as the Northeast. Her first stop was the Rolling Thunder motorcycle event in Washington, D.C. Her next stop will be…she’ll be going to…where will she be going? If you check out the map on her site, it’s blank. I wonder if she even knows where she’s going.

I think Sarah Palin seems like a nice person and is very likable. There are lots of nice, likable people, but those traits don’t qualify them to be President of the United States. Intellectually, she’s unimpressive, plus she has a thin resume, and for me at least, fails to instill confidence in her leadership skills. Even her campaign/publicity tour looks like it’s unorganized. Plus, if Katie Couric of all people can make you look like an idiot, how can we trust her to interact with world leaders? I don’t think we can.

By the way, I just thought I would mention that I’m a long-time Republican. I’m not being critical of her because of her views, I’m being critical because of her lack of skills for the potential task at hand. If Sarah Palin were to win the GOP nomination, the likelihood of a second term for Barack Obama would rise exponentially. I don’t want that. I want him to face the best candidate possible, and Sarah Palin isn’t that person.

Katie Couric interviews Sarah Palin

Barack Obama has created a position called the Director of Progressive Media & Online Response. I just call it the Blog Czar.

Barack Obama has hired a new “Director of Progressive Media and Online Response” named Jesse Lee. Since Obama just created this position, there’s no telling exactly what it will entail. It seems like Lee will be patrolling the internet for stories they don’t believe to be true, while making attempts to enhance Obama’s online image. Good luck with that Jesse!

I wonder why the Obama Administration didn’t just call him a “Blog Czar.” From what I’ve read, it seems like a fitting title.

Barack Obama celebrates his Irish heritage.

Did you know that Barack Obama is Irish? Well, from what I understand, neither did he until just recently. It turns out that Barack O’Bama’s great great great grandfather came to the United States from a small town in Ireland in the mid 19th century. On a recent trip, O’bama visited the town, met an eighth cousin, and hoisted a Guiness in a pub.

I’ve read some critiques of his visit. Some have said he decided to visit Ireland to appeal to Americans who claim Irish ancestry. Others have said it was done to stress that he is half white. Who knows if either of these played a role. All I know are two things: The photo ops were corny, and there’s no way you will see him visit Kenya before the next election.

While at the Cannes Film Festival promoting the documentary The Big Fix, Peter Fonda shared some of his thoughts on President Barack Obama:

“I sent an email to President Obama saying, ‘You are a f—— traitor,’ using those words… ‘You’re a traitor, you allowed foreign boots on our soil telling our military – in this case the coastguard – what they can and could not do, and telling us, the citizens of the United States, what we could or could not do’.”

Those are pretty strong words. What I find funny is the lack of outrage from the left. Why is it that the left will criticize a Tea Party member, sometimes calling them racists, for supporting limited government, but not a fellow left-winger who calls the President a traitor in a profanity-laced tirade?

This is some of the most obvious hypocrisy I’ve seen, and it raises some questions. First, is Barack Obama losing the the far left? It looks that way. Second, is it safe to criticize the President without being called a racist? Just wondering.