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Energy Czar Carole Browner, responsible for the Executive Branch’s “Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy,” has not read the bill that passed the House of Representatives in its entirety.

Hat tip: Townhall.com’s Greg Hengler

Rod Blagojevich was in the news for one of the more bizarre “post-scandal” things I have ever seen.

Former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich says it’s difficult watching his wife, Patti, fill in for him on a reality show, but he appreciated the former Illinois first lady’s televised exercise in tarantula-eating as an “act of love.”

Perhaps CNN thought it was irrelevant to mention the Islamic religious affiliation of those planning to bomb a synagogue and shoot down a US military airplane.

The CNN article doesn’t once mention any sort of religious affiliation, desire to avenge muslim deaths, nor the desire to, “do jihad.”  I suppose it was not an important detail.

Obama’s recent visit to Notre Dame certainly stirred up emotions on the issue of abortion.  I agree with many that it is fine to honor the office of the President of the United States and have Obama come speak at any university.  The bestowal of an honorary doctorate however, seems out of place.  I think ASU said it best when they opted to not award an honorary degree.

The university decided against awarding Obama the degree because it is customarily awarded for “lifetime achievement,” ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler told POLITICO.

“It’s normally awarded to someone who has been in their field for some time,” she said. “Considering that the president is at the beginning of his presidency, his body of work is just beginning.”

People will always disagree on different political issues, but abortion is something that steps beyond the plain old arguments of what the government ought to do with tax dollars.  Instead, it involves the most profound and fundamental actions we take with regard to the moral and ethical issue of life.  For Notre Dame to award a doctorate to someone that “talks out of both sides of his mouth” on the issue just doesn’t make sense.

While news of this report circulated, many on the right were flabbergasted that this administration’s Department of Homeland Security would release such a report. There seemed to be an overall knee jerk reaction to it from many republicans.  However, I think that when one considers it as a report dealing primarily with white supremacist groups and the like, it seems plausible, but still in line with the juvenile mistakes Obama’s administration has been making since day one.  Some of the language is ambiguous at best, identifying extremists as advocating fundamental conservative issues such as states rights and abortion.

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Can you imagine a report during Bush’s administration that said to “be on the lookout for left wing extremists that advocate an anti-war opinion and favor impeachment of the President?” And on top of that, states for all to see that there is no evidence of anything bad being planned.

Overall, the report lacks a solid foundation when it comes to details and facts.  Jonah Goldberg seems to capture my feelings in his article at the National Review.

The problem with it is that it makes little effort to document or demonstrate its contention that “extremist” groups are resurgent, that they are right-wing, or that they may be formed from the ranks of “disgruntled military veterans.” Worse, it’s very sloppy about what qualifies someone as “extremist” in the first place. Basically, it’s fancy bureaucratese for: We’re guessing bad people will do bad things because the economy is bad and the president is black. But we have no real evidence.

Charles Krauthammer has some of the most outstanding articles on current political discourse and happenings.  Wouldn’t it be great if he wrote more than once a week?

In this one, he talks about Obama’s budget claims and what not.  One of the best parts is where Obama is identifying huge savings down the road.

The boast that he had “identified $2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade.” It takes audacity to repeat this after it had been so widely exposed as transparently phony. Most of this $2 trillion is conjured up by refraining from spending $180 billion a year for 10 more years of surges in Iraq. Hell, why not make the “deficit reductions” $10 trillion — the extra $8 trillion coming from refraining from repeating the $787 billion stimulus package annually through 2019.

Larry King recently interviewed Meghan McCain, who has been in the press recently.  Inspired by this post at all-encompassingly.com, I’ve pulled a few gems out to share.

On whether Obama is becoming overexposed with too much media attention?

Meghan McCain: I think he is on the verge of it. I do think you have to be careful. But it is a different generation. [My] generation … we like our celebrities. And I think that he realizes that because he is very much a Generation Y president. However, he is on the risk of alienating his older followers.

???

On social issues:

Meghan McCain: I believe in gay marriage. … I personally am pro-life, but I’m not going to judge someone that’s pro-choice. It is not my place to judge other people and what they do with their body.

Maybe a fuller explanation would indicate I’m wrong with my assumption about her position, but isn’t being pro-life mean that you do judge and want to limit what others do with their bodies?  Pro-choice being exactly the opposite, advocating a woman’s right to choose.

On the “war of words” with Laura Ingraham:

McCain: I had never heard of her before until this happened.

Enough said.

Campbell Brown, like other journalists, is starting the inevitable (re)discovery of the man, Barack Obama. Let alone the United States Congress.

Never thought I’d enjoy seeing David Gregory lay the smack down so much.

Obama is trumpeting the news that 60 jobs (you read it right, 60 jobs) have been created to help resurface a road in Montgomery County, Maryland, the county I grew up in.  While I find it comical to mention this number as an accomplishment, obviously he is pointing to the speed with which this stimulus bill is having effect.  To me it seems like more of a miracle that legislation passed so recently actually made it through the red tape to getting spent already.  I suppose the bill was written with that goal, but goodness knows that we’ll be hearing horror stories about how some of the money was spent in this frenzied fashion.

If the government can’t account for millions during a “non-crisis” time, who knows what will happen when we’ve got hundreds of billions burning a hole in our pocket.

But Obama doesn’t disappoint, he goes on to talk about deaths on roads and somehow accounts 14,000 to poorly maintained roads.  Really Mr. President?  This stimulus bill is going to save lives on roads because there won’t be pot holes?  Or maybe the lines weren’t painted well and during a rainstorm someone drove off the side of the road?

Thank goodness Obama and crew are here to save us from ourselves!