Presidential politics is about storytelling. Presented with a vivid storyline, voters naturally tend to fit every new event or piece of information into a picture that is already neatly framed in their minds.

No one understands this better than Obama and his team, who won the 2008 election in part because they were better storytellers than the opposition. The pro-Obama narrative featured an almost mystically talented young idealist who stood for change in a disciplined and thoughtful way. This easily outpowered the anti-Obama narrative, featuring an opportunistic Chicago pol with dubious relationships who was more liberal than he was letting on.

A year into his presidency, however, Obama’s gift for controlling his image shows signs of faltering. As Washington returns to work from the Thanksgiving holiday, there are several anti-Obama storylines gaining momentum.

The Obama White House argues that all of these storylines are inaccurate or unfair. In some cases these anti-Obama narratives are fanned by Republicans, in some cases by reporters and commentators.

But they all are serious threats to Obama, if they gain enough currency to become the dominant frame through which people interpret the president’s actions and motives.

To read about the seven storylines Obama needs to worry about, go to: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29993.html

Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Fed has been approved by the House Services Committee. The Bill is intended to bring congressional oversight and transparency to one the most secretive institutions. The bill reached 300 congressional co-sponsors and passed  43/26 as an amendment to another financial reform bill. The Bill is awaiting its final approval by the Committee.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke opposes the Bill, claiming it will interfere with Monetary Policy. There has been a three decade ban on audits of the Fed. The Bill still has to face the Senate and awaits Obama’s approval, who has proven to favor the status quo in regards to Monetary Policy.

Rep. Barney Frank who chairs the House Financial Services Committee opposes the Bill saying, “It’s going to be seen as weakening the independence of monetary policy with consequent negative implications.” Frank supports a competing measure sponsored by Democrat Mel Watt that Paul says will make it even more difficult to audit the Fed.

That is false propaganda because the Fed is beholden to private bankers rather than Congressman who can be held accountable by the electorate. Paul says, that “this is the bill that would allow the people to win over the special interests, and that “There is no doubt that the individuals opposing this amendment represent the secrecy of the Federal Reserve. An audit shouldn’t hurt them in any way.” Paul blames the financial crisis on lack of oversight of financial institutions.

Ron Paul who has long been an opponent the Federal Reserve and advocate for a sound constitutional currency was joined by leading democratic Fed critic as a Co-sponsor to the Bill. Grayson said, “there’s a crying need to expand it because the Federal Reserve has completely changed the way it’s done business since a year and a half ago.”

What most people do not know is that the Fed is a private bank. The Fed continues to print money out of thin air to bail out Wall Street, subsidize our nation building overseas, as well as to pay our debt to private bankers. With the recent financial crisis and the bailouts of Wall Street, Congressman Ron Paul’s warnings about our unsustainable financial policies have been vindicated. Ron Paul believes that the Federal Reserve should be abolished all together and replaced with a Constitutional sound currency such as a gold standard. The Constitution grants Congress the right to issue currency, therefore the Federal Reserve in Unconstitutional.

While Paul is a lone voice for abolishing the Fed all together, the movement to audit the Fed has gained popular support in congress. His campaign was responsible for making the Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy a major issue. This Bill is the first major milestone since the Fed was created Secretly and Unconstitutionally in 1913.

http://www.examiner.com/x-9462-LA-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m11d19-Ron-Pauls-audit-the-Fed-Bill-approved-by-House-Panel

Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature November 10^th to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state’s huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.

To some lawmakers it’s nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn’t cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month.

“We’re going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations,” Paterson said.

The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how — or else. The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.

“I will mortgage my political career, but I will not mortgage the fate of the State of New York,” Paterson said.

But Senate Democrats, with their tenuous 32-30 hold on the upper house, are terrified to make school and hospital cuts because, they said, the cuts could mean increases in local property taxes.

And that could mean suburban Democrats on Long Island, in Westchester and other parts of the state could have trouble getting re-elected next year.

Remember, high property taxes led to the ouster of many suburban Democrats last week, including Westchester County Executive Andy Spano. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi could also lose once absentee ballots are counted.

“Personally, I do not favor mid-year school cuts,” said State Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx.

“Last year, in the midst of this financial crisis, the Senate and the Assembly together with the governor decided to raise spending by $12 billion,” added Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island.

“I’d rather present 96 or 97 percent of a check to school districts, to hospitals than to have them call up and say where’s my check? And the state says, sorry, we didn’t have any money,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.

The governor has ordered lawmakers into special session Tuesday to close the budget gap. Right now there is no agreement and he could flex his muscles by keeping them here until there is.

Also on the agenda Tuesday are bills to legalize gay marriage, toughen drunk-driving laws, impose a cap on state spending and reform the state’s public authorities.

http://wcbstv.com/cbs2crew/david.paterson.special.2.1300362.html

New Yorkers are fleeing the state and city in alarming numbers — and costing a fortune in lost tax dollars, a new study shows.

More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the United States from 2000 to 2008, according to the report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy. It was the biggest out-of-state migration in the country.

The vast majority of the migrants, 1.1 million, were former residents of New York City — meaning one out of seven city taxpayers moved out.

“The Empire State is being drained of an invaluable resource — people,” the report said.

What’s worse is that the families fleeing New York are being replaced by lower-income newcomers, who consequently pay less in taxes.

Overall, the ex-New Yorkers earn about 13 percent more than those who moved into the state, the study found.

And it should be no surprise that the city — and Manhattan in particular — suffered the biggest loss in terms of taxable income.

The average Manhattan taxpayer who left the state earned $93,264 a year. The average newcomer to Manhattan earned only $72,726.

That’s a difference of $20,538, the highest for any county in the state. Staten Island was second, with a $20,066 difference.

It all adds up to staggering loss in taxable income. During 2006-2007, the “migration flow” out of New York to other states amounted to a loss of $4.3 billion.

The study used annual US Census reports, which showed which states had increased population, combined with Internal Revenue Service data, which show which states, cities and counties had lost people.

While New York City and the state were the losers, the Sunshine and Garden States were winners. More than 250,000 New Yorkers who lived in and around the city fled to Florida. Another 172,000 city taxpayers ended up in New Jersey.

Why all the moving vans?

The center, part of the conservative Manhattan Institute, blames the state’s high cost of living and high taxes.

The study also revealed surprising details about how city residents moved from borough to borough.

Manhattan lost 64,480 taxpayers, and more than half — 34,383 — went to The Bronx.

Brooklyn lost 68,951 taxpayers — including 43,688 who went to Staten Island.

The study also had some good news. The peak loss of New Yorkers was in 2005, when nearly 250,000 residents left the state. But last year, only 126,000 left, the lowest figure over the eight-year period.

by Sue Lowden

Ronald Reagan once quipped that when you start referring to government as “we” instead of “they,” you have been in office too long. Not only is Senator Harry Reid referring to his liberal majority in Washington as “we,” he complains to reporters about the “smell” of American taxpayers when they visit our nation’s Capitol. Harry Reid has been in Washington far too long.

While families struggle in the face of rising unemployment, the housing crisis, and falling income, Harry Reid has chosen to carry out the bidding of Washington’s special interests and his party’s extreme liberal base. He has proven to be completely out-of-touch with overburdened taxpayers in my home state of Nevada. Currently, Nevada leads the nation in home foreclosures and we are second in the nation in unemployment. And despite Harry’s promises, Nevadans continue to lose their jobs and homes.

In 2004, voters held another out-of-touch Senate Democrat Leader accountable for failing the American people and his constituents. It took the right leadership, conservative principles and the support of conservatives from across the nation to defeat Tom Daschle.  Now we have the chance to do it again.

As the opponent in the Republican primary that Harry Reid has attacked by name, I am the candidate that Harry Reid fears the most. Polls from Rasmussen Reports, Mason-Dixon, and even Daily Kos show me defeating Harry Reid by as much as 10 points. As the front-runner in the Republican primary election, I can defeat Harry Reid.

But this campaign is not just about Harry Reid, it is about electing a common sense, conservative advocate to the U.S. Senate. While a number of Republicans have announced their intentions to run in the 2010 Republican primary, it is critically important that our eventual nominee have a strong record in fighting for conservative values and the ability to actually win in November.

In 1992, a year Bill Clinton won in Nevada, I filed for office against a powerful, longtime Democrat incumbent in a nearly 3-to-1 Democratic district.  My opponent that year wasn’t just any senator: he was the Majority Leader of the State Senate, who previously served as the Speaker of the Nevada Assembly.  Despite his powerful position, I outworked him and beat him, switching the Nevada State Senate control from the Democrats to the Republicans by just one vote.

After running on my conservative principles, I was immediately voted into Senate leadership by my Republican colleagues as Senate Majority Whip and Chairman of the Senate Taxation Committee.

I took strong stands against those legislators and special interests seeking higher taxes and government fees. When pro-tax legislators tried to run higher taxes through the committee, I shut it down, earning the committee the nickname the “Senate NO-TAXATION Committee.” When the union bosses tried to force unionization, I served as the deciding vote in the Nevada State Senate to protect Nevada’s Right-to-Work status. I was also one of the original architects of Nevada’s Charter School law and the author of legislation requiring parental notification for parents of children seeking abortions.

When I announced my candidacy for the U.S. Senate, I proudly signed the ATR Taxpayer Pledge to not raise taxes and said I would join with Senate conservatives in fighting for earmark reform, as well as tax and spending cuts. I made it clear that I am a strong opponent to the pork-laden Reid/Pelosi stimulus/spending bill they passed earlier this year.

While I am running on my solidly conservative record, I am not a career politician. I am a successful businesswoman who, over the last several years, has seen an opportunity to serve and has found the right answers to our challenges in common sense, conservative principles.

Harry Reid’s answer is to take more money out of the pockets of taxpayers and bring those dollars to Washington.  He believes that Washington having and spending that money is more effective than leaving it here for families to decide how to spend it. I strongly disagree.

As a mother and grandmother, I want a better future for our kids and grandkids. Washington cannot and will not provide that better future. The CBO already projects $12 trillion of deficits over the next 10 years – and that is before Harry Reid helps pass the government takeover of health care.  In December of 2009, the Congress and Harry Reid will have to vote to increase our nation’s debt limit.  No doubt, they’ll support that effort so they can continue to spend more and run our nation further into debt.

I have taken on an entrenched, powerful politician in a difficult district — and I have won. Nobody else in the Republican Primary can say that. I have served our taxpayers as a conservative legislator, and I have been effective in fighting for conservative principles. I am asking you to join my campaign and help defeat Harry Reid.  Please join the fight now by signing up at www.SueLowden.com

Vytautas Cekanauskas, a former Hughes Aircraft electrical engineer who served as honorary consul general of Lithuania in Los Angeles for more than 30 years, has died. He was 80.

Cekanauskas died of cancer Nov. 30 at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, said his daughter, Vida Bruozis.

The Lithuanian-born Cekanauskas was appointed by the chief of the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service in 1977 and served in the uncompensated position until his death.

In 1990, during his tenure, the Baltic republic’s legislature declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

“I care about my heritage,” Cekanauskas, who became an American citizen in the 1950s, said in a Times interview in 1986. “Our consular and diplomatic service represents a continuation of our country. We are recognized officials of our country. It is important for us to have a continuity, just standing as a reminder that the U.S. government never recognized this illegal occupation.”

Cekanauskas gave numerous speeches to Lithuanian communities across the country and to local groups in Southern California, some of which were published in Lithuanian-language newspapers in the U.S. and Lithuania.

“He was a very loyal American citizen; he loved this country for what it stood” for, said Albinas Markevicius, a past president of the Lithuanian American Council, who knew Cekanauskas for more than four decades.

“At the same time, he came from Lithuania as a boy, and he worked diligently in every possible effort toward the eventual restoration of freedom and independence” in Lithuania, said Markevicius.

Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, on March 7, 1929, Cekanauskas left Lithuania when the Soviets occupied the country in 1944 and finished high school after the war in Ravensburg, Germany.

Before immigrating to the United States in 1949, he worked at the headquarters of the International Refugee Organization in Neuenburg, in the French Zone of occupation in Germany.

While in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he served with the Korean Military Advisory Group and received a Purple Heart after being wounded in action.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1957, he worked at North American Aviation from 1957 to 1963. He then worked at Hughes Aircraft Co. until 1991, first in the Space System Division and then in the Missile System Division.

Before his appointment to honorary consul general, Cekanauskas served on the board of directors or as chairman in numerous organizations, including the United Lithuanian Relief Fund of America, the Lithuanian American Council, the Captive Nations Committee, the Lithuanian American Assn. and the Lithuanian Republican Club.

In addition to his daughter Vida, he is survived by his wife, Janina; daughters Daiva Navarrette and Rita Zukas; his brother, Algirdas Sprindziunas; and nine grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Casimir Catholic Church, 2718 Saint George St., Los Angeles.

2009 H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) & You

http://www.thebody.com/content/art51476.html

He had more people come screaming up to his house than ever. But, he decided to take the dummy down after two days.

His main reasons were…

First, the cops advised him that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder, almost killing herself putting it against his house, and didn’t realize it was fake until she climbed to the top. She was not happy! By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that.

Third, his yard couldn’t take it. He had more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up on his yard.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have received several requests for an update on the Frank Lombard case. Lombard is the (now former) Duke administrator who was accused last summer of attempting to allow, and even arrange for, strangers he met on the internet to rape his adopted child.

A few days ago, WRAL, a Raleigh-based news station, released an update on the case. That update is worth re-printing here, along with my commentary, both for what the update says and what it does not say:

“A former Duke University employee has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of sexual exploitation of a minor, authorities said Tuesday.”

Here, the “sexual exploitation of a minor” is not described in any great detail. That is good because the sexual exploitation Lombard inflicted upon his own child is simply too graphic to reprint fully. I have read all of the documentation in this case. It contains descriptions of conduct, which can only be described as sub-human.

“Frank M. Lombard, 42, of 24 Indigo Creek Trail in Durham, will enter the plea in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 17, authorities said. He likely will face 15 years in prison, authorities said.”

It is interesting that the first demographic mentioned is age, as opposed to race or sexual orientation. As I proceed with my commentary it may be worthwhile to ask, once again, a question I will ask now: Is Frank Lombard’s age the most relevant demographic variable in relation to the charges to which he agreed to plead guilty?

“Authorities on Tuesday filed a criminal information in the case, indicating that they were negotiating a plea and didn’t want to pursue an indictment against Lombard. According to the filing, Lombard coerced a minor, identified only as ‘M.L.,’ into engaging in sexual conduct so that Lombard could transmit a live video of it over the Internet.”

And now we have another mention of the “minor” followed by the assertion that the criminal information only identifies the minor as “M.L.” But WRAL knows precisely what the “L” in “M.L.” means. It means Lombard. It is his adopted black son.

But to acknowledge that “M.L” is the son, not daughter, of Frank Lombard is to acknowledge that Lombard is gay. And the Gods of Diversity frown upon the notion that males can be victims of rape and that the perpetrators can be homosexual men.

And to acknowledge the race of the victim is to suggest that homosexuals might be capable of committing hate crimes, even if they do not play Lacrosse. Hate crimes legislation is supposed to protect, not prosecute, gay men.

And, finally, there should be no mention (yet) that his son was adopted. The public, when confronted with such information, might use it to form dangerous opinions – such as the opinion that gay men should not be adopting little boys.

According to the news media, the general public is not capable of processing all of this information. People in the news media are the only ones who can be trusted with all of the benefits (and responsibilities) that attach to the full disclosure of information.

“Lombard was arrested in June after authorities said Washington police caught him in a sting operation soliciting an adult to have sex with his adopted 5-year-old child.”

This is certainly odd. WRAL finally mentions that Frank Lombard’s child was adopted. But they fail to mention his sex or his race. In fact, the way this paragraph is worded, it is not entirely clear that the incident leading to his arrest is the incident leading to the information – or that it led to any formal criminal charges.

So let me clarify this very sloppy portion of the WRAL release. The child coerced into engaging in sexual conduct on a webcam was Frank Lombard’s adopted black son. Lombard performed oral sex on every portion of the little boy’s body that was capable of expelling human waste.

I hope this clarifies any ambiguity. I will withhold further details.

“Duke fired Lombard in July from his position as associate director of the university’s Center for Health Policy.”

I think we can now see why WRAL has withheld certain relevant information. Lombard was a high-level administrator in the area of health policy. To reveal his sexual orientation would raise certain questions, which might violate someone’s right to feel comfortable at all times. For example, “Are certain sexual practices both detrimental to individual health and prevalent in the gay community?” And, “Could such practices, if widely adopted (no pun intended), be detrimental to the public health?” Finally, “Is a homosexual man the best candidate available to help run a Center for Public Health and teach a course about AIDS at Duke University?”

According to the people at WRAL, and many at Duke University, Frank Lombard is no ordinary white racist. Nor is he an ordinary white rapist. He is gay and entitled to special treatment in the court of public opinion. To refuse to treat him differently would promote hatred and discrimination.

And that would send a dangerous message to small children. Above all else, we must protect small children from danger.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MikeAdams/2009/12/07/wral_white_rapists_and_lombard?page=full&comments=true

This video has received a lot of attention. As of right now, it is showing well over a half a million hits since it was posted on March 1. It is also controversial. Many Obama supporters have claimed to debunk the video by pointing out that the events were not comparable. They argue that the event in Anbar province that President Bush attended in September 2007 was informal. The Camp Lejune event that President Obama attended, on the other hand, was more formal. They point out that it is not fair to compare two events in which the Marines are subject to different rules of behavior.

In fairness, they are correct. The events were different in many ways and the Marines present were subject to different behavioral expectations. There is, however, more to this video than that. If the content of this video were that easily debunked it would not still be drawing tens of thousands of hits per day. The different degrees of formality aside, this video is quite revealing.

In the video, the Marines exhibit obvious love and respect for President Bush. His visit was not an event that followed closely on the heels of 9/11. This video was taken after the worst days of the war and after the surge created major progress in the region. The President is visiting the troops in Anbar Province, the home of the infamous Falluja and Ar Ramadi killing grounds. This visit took place after the province had been pacified. In other words, the Marines showed their love of Mr. Bush even after the darkest days of the war.

The Lejune video, on the other hand, shows Obama entering with all the pomp and circumstance of a royal visit to the peasants. Hail to the Chief plays in the background; something that President Bush didn’t allow during his military visits. Obama knows that keeping the Marines locked at the position of attention means that no comparison can ever be made to the loving reception President Bush regularly received from the troops. Obama knows how the Marines feel and will always treat them exactly like the rabble he sees.

This is the real truth of the video and why it is so popular. It warms the heart of Bush supporters to see President Bush receive the love, gratitude and respect of these warriors. It angers Obama supporters because they also see the love President Bush receives and they know their man will never see anything similar from the troops. They know that these warriors loved the last president and will never give similar respect to this one.

A good YouTube video stirs the emotions and this one does that. It elicits different emotions in different people but the underlying truth that is the catalyst for the emotional response is the same for everyone. The Marines loved President Bush in a way they will never love Obama.

http://therealrevo.com/blog/