The Supreme Court Cuts the Exxon Valdez Verdict by 80%...

...and YOU should be glad!

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court cut Exxon-Mobil’s verdict FROM $2.5 BILLION to $500 MILLION.

In 1989 punitive damages of $2.5 BILLION were awarded against Exxon-Mobil over the Exxon Valdez disaster.

The court ruled that victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. history may collect punitive damages from Exxon Mobil Corp., but not as much as a federal appeals court determined.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter wrote for the court that punitive damages may not exceed what the company already paid to compensate victims for economic losses, about $500 million compensation.

Exxon asked the high court to reject the punitive damages judgment, saying it already has spent $3.4 billion in response to the accident that fouled 1,200 miles of Alaska coastline.

A jury decided Exxon should pay $5 billion in punitive damages. A federal appeals court cut that verdict in half.
The reason YOU and I should be happy is that those punitive damages amount to a “cost of doing business,” for Exxon-Mobil and that cost, as ALL such costs are passed onto the consumers – that includes YOU and I.

So far, I have the U.S. Supreme Court at two and two – they got two (nixing the D.C. gun ban and slashing the Exxon Valdez punitive damages) RIGHT, and two (giving foreign terrorists access to U.S. courts and nixing the death penalty for child rapists) WRONG.

U.S. Supreme Court Throws a Bone to Child Rapers...

...Nice!

On the heels of their decision to extend access to U.S. courts to foreign terrorists, the U.S. Supreme Court handed child rapists a victory, by claiming, in a 5-4 vote, that the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Yes, the “Kelo Justices” (Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter and Stevens), the same core that brought us the ill-conceived Kelo Decision that has sparked a wave of anti-Eminent Domain statutes across the country has handed foreign terrorists the right to be heard in American courts and now apparently bows to the all important NAMBLA lobby.

A Glaring Example of The Illogic of Liberalism

In writing the dissent over the recent Decision that struck down the D.C. gun ban, Justice John Paul Stevens posited:

that the majority "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons."

He stated further that such evidence "is nowhere to be found."

Apparently Justice Stevens isn’t familiar with the wording of the 2nd Amendment, as the very last fourteen words of that Amendment say exactly what Justice Stevens claims there is no evidence of;
“...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

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There's nothing to INTERPRET about ANY of the first ten Amendments (Our Bill of Rights). Most of them are quite clearly written and are NOT open to much interpretation. For those who'd wish to re-interpret those Amendments, it stands to reason that America's Founders own views (clearly spelled out in such documents as The Federalist Papers) make those abundantly clear.

The Supreme Court’s Vile Left-wing

It’s amazing how much damage four activist Justices can wreak on this country. The same core justices (Breyer, Ginsburg, Stephens, Souter and Kennedy) that inflicted the Kelo decision on America (the decision that allowed Municipalities to use Eminent Domain to take private citizens homes for businesses that might generate higher property taxes) also inflicted the recent Guantanamo decision that gave terrorists the right to be heard in American criminal courts, and the recent decision against Capital Punishment for child rapists.

Four members of that same core (Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter and Stephens) have been in the dissent on very positive decisions like the recent one striking down D.C.’s gun ban.

George Carlin – Counterculture Comedian RIP

*THIS COUNTRY IS FINISHED* GEORGE CARLIN ON COUNTDOWN*

George Carlin died Sunday of heart failure.

Carlin authored and delivered some legendary satire. His comparison between baseball and football is a classic, as is his “Seven Dirty words” bit.

But there was also a darker side to Carlin, who became a 9-11 Truther and a bitter old man who never seemed to mature beyond that youthful idyllic libertinism that most folks go through in their teens, as seen in this clip he did with Keith Olbermann.

And Yet ANOTHER LIE, errr Flip-Flop...

A lot’s been made of Barack Obama’s recent reneging on his promise to abide by the current public financing system.

He’s the first general election candidate to do that since the system was set up.

But overlooked in most of the stories about Obama’s reneging on that earlier promise is the long litany of such uh-huh “changed” views.

After bashing Hillary Clinton for her vote to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, he changed his view AFTER Clinton conceded that point, saying that he NOW accepts that definition.

Back in October, he claimed to support Free Trade and the expansion of NAFTA, but in March, while campaigning in Ohio, he called for renegotiating that trade agreement. NOW he says that NAFTA has had a very positive impact on the U.S. economy.

After months of claiming he’d meet with the leaders of rogue, terror-supporting states “without preconditions” he NOW has outlined a number of, yes, preconditions for such meetings and has said that he sees no reason to meet with Iran’s Ahmadinejad as, “He’s not the most powerful person in Iran.”

Late last week, after publicly signaling opposition to nuclear power, he told Democratic Governors that he’s willing to consider expanding our nuclear generator program.

On the whole, he’s taken to moderating his positions when confronted on them, which is good – supporting free trade and expanding NAFTA, supporting nuclear generation of electricity and putting preconditions on any meetings with terror-supporting states are all positive steps, from this view, although the penchant to say one thing and mean another is troubling, to say the least.

Yet Another MSM Ooooops!!!

Way back in 1986, Newsweek magazine ran a cover story that heralded that it was more likely that single women over 40 were to be killed by a terrorist than to find a husband.

Newsweek apologized and retracted that story in 2006, and yet despite the apology and the retraction the myth still lives.

Of course that was not nearly even close to the truth. In FACT, a woman's chances of marrying over the age of 40 are closer to 40 percent and the chances of being killed by a terrorist on American soil? That’s less than one-hundredth of one percent.

That's some bad math eh?

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Not that that's the only such pernicious myth that's plagued us lately. Remember the ubiquitous, “There are more black men in prison than in College.”

Remember when Barack Obama repeated that inane canard that John Kerry and Jesse Jackson had previously used back in 2004?

Well, in fact, it seems that there are more than twice as many African Americans in COLLEGE than in JAIL.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000): African Americans in college: 2,224,181

While according to the U.S. DoJ Office of Justice Programs: "Prison and Jail Inmates at MidYear 2003" (p.11):

"Table 13. Number of inmates in state or federal prisons or local jails" -- Black Americans in jail: 899,200.

Ooooops!

New York’s Judges RULE for HIGHER PAY...For THEMselves!...

You’ve gotta love this!

It’s an “Only in New York,” kind of deal. Last Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 a State Supreme Court justice ruled that Governor Paterson and the State Legislature must give pay raises to state judges within 90 days, in response by a suit brought forth from four NY State judges, separate from a similar lawsuit brought by New York’s Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye this past April.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward H. Lehner (pictured above and to the left of Ed Koch) - who was assigned both cases - ruled the state's executive and legislative branches "unconstitutionally abused their power by depriving the judiciary of any increase in compensation for almost a decade" and that their practice of linking judicial salary hikes to raises for legislators was illegal.

Judge Lehner ordered the state to raise judicial pay to reflect cost-of-living increases since 1998, which the four judges claim should produce a raise to $175,264 as of last year. They currently are paid $136,700.

Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye's (who’d brought a similar siuit last year) lawyer, Bernard W. Nussbaum, said in a June 11 phone interview, "We are pleased with Judge Lehner's thoughtful decision, and we now trust that the Governor and the Legislature will do the right thing."

Really!? Somehow, that’s not surprising at all, given the personal gain involved and all.

Only a day earlier, however, the lawyer representing both Governor Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver submitted a brief in the Kaye lawsuit questioning whether state judges were truly underpaid.

Attorney Richard H. Dolan, who was retained after State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, whose office normally represents the state, recused himself because of a possible conflict of interest, since he also has dealings with the judiciary - contended that once fringe benefits and pensions were included, judges' total compensation was as much as $162,900 a year.

He also cited two previous instances, one between 1887 and 1926, the other between 1952 and 1975, when judicial pay was frozen for significantly longer periods than at present.

WoW! No wonder judges, legislators and other politicos don’t need Unions...apparently they can simply raise their own salaries (at OUR expense) any time they want!

Congress Considers Yet ANOTHER Bad Idea...

Reacting to popular resentments over up soaring oil prices and with lots of people blaming Wall Street speculators, Congress is considering a host of rules aimed to limit the inflow of investor money into oil contracts.

But oil traders rightly caution that while more disclosure is a good thing, making it harder for speculators to invest in oil futures could have the opposite effect intended, and send prices higher.

High prices stimulate the parameters that create lower ones. When profits are high, it’s advantageous for Big Energy companies to embark on expensive new projects that bring more oil to market. It also encourages OPEC nations (like Saudi Arabia) to consider that higher prices stimulate alternative energy research which would ultimately greatly reduce demand for their product, which stimulates a surge in production.

Ironically enough, Congress is considering these kinds of Bills at the same time many analysts are warning of a price crash for oil.

The Fed's recent comments about inflation fears, have many savvy investors believing that interest rates could soon be lifted. A boost in interest rates will immediately lead to a stronger dollar, and could (and should) result in a sell off in crude.
For instance, Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at Wachovia Securities, believes that "commodities are likely to be flat to down over the next year or so, and falling oil prices are going to help the better economic scenario we're projecting."

Moreover, the Supply of Mideast Oil has risen and NOT gone down over recent years.

In fact, Saudi Arabia that promised a 300,000 barrels a day increase in production in response to Bush’s recent visit has upped that to over 500,000 barrels a day!

Even Iraq’s oil production has increased over levels PRIOR to the U.S.-Britain led invasion in 2003. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Iraqi oil production is above the levels seen before the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

The IEA said Iraqi crude production is now running at nearly 2.5 million barrels per day, compared with 1.9 million barrels at the start of 2006. This is higher than pre-invasion production levels!

One of Murphy’s Laws states “When a politician gets an idea, he usually gets it wrong.”

That couldn’t be more true in this case.

An Exchange With a Misguided Liberal...

“If you don’t realize that the oil companies own every Republican in national politics, you're kidding yourself. Come on! For most Republicans, the need for energy independence struck them some time in the last five minutes, as they’ve read the polls of how most Americans feel about the issue.” (A Liberal neighbor)
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Actually, it’s Conservatives and most Republicans (there are BOTH Conservative Dems & Republicans) have loooong supported energy impendence in the form of INCREASING the global supply of oil – we have at MINIMUM over 55 BILLION barrels of oil on hand now in the continental U.S. – probably a LOT more.

Republicans and many Conservative Democrats supported “saw grass ethanol,” as opposed to the Pelosi-Reid “corn-based ethanol fiasco that’s raised grain prices and fed the global food prices inflation!

Democrats have opposed drilling off our coastlines and in ANWR. Those are the folks OPPOSED to true “energy independence.”

So, it’s actually Liberal Democrats who’ve opposed ENERGY independence at EVERY turn!

Ireland Rebuffs the EU...

...Ireland, with a population of 4.2 million rejected a June 12th referendum deciding whether the European Union gets a full-time president and a single, more powerful, foreign policy chief. The voters in the Irish Republic rejected the European Union's Lisbon treaty by a 53.4% to 46.6% margin.

The poll is a major blow to leaders in the 27-nation EU, which has a population of 490 million. The European Union requires all its members to ratify the treaty. To date, only Ireland has held a public vote.

Declan Ganley of Ireland’s anti-treaty lobby group Libertas said: "It is a great day for Irish democracy." He added: "This is democracy in action... and Europe needs to listen to the voice of the people."

The No campaign was a broad coalition ranging from Libertas to Sinn Fein, the only party in parliament to oppose the treaty.

One of the initiatives that appeared to worry Irish voters was the EU's long-standing ambition to harmonize the way in which corporate taxes are levied. Ireland's economic boom was helped by some of the lowest taxes on corporations in the union.

Irish voters were also reluctant to accept the EU’s proposal for broader powers of a proposed new full-time European president, its planned foreign policy chief, and its embryonic diplomatic service.

The European Union's executive currently has offices around the globe that deal with issues like aid and trade. The idea of the Lisbon Treaty was to give all these a bigger role in supporting the new, more powerful foreign policy chief. But critics worried aloud that the union would assume some of the current responsibilities of national governments and that, among other concerns stopped the Lisbon Treaty being passed in Ireland.

Sad News on a Friday the 13th...

I’m generally not one for superstitions, certainly not triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number 13), in fact, I know that researchers in the Netherlands have determined that fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur on Friday the 13th than other Fridays. Still, there are many people won't care. About $800 million to $900 million will be lost in business today because people won’t do things they normally do.

But on this particular Friday the 13th, comes the very sad news that Tim Russert has died at only 58.

Apparently Tim Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast when he collapsed. Although he was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, resuscitation efforts were not successful.

Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.

Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it had been reportedly well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April.

Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” recalled Russert as “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time.”

Despite his Democratic roots, in 1976, he worked on the Senate campaign of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo’s campaign for governor of New York, he routinely vexed both Liberals and Conservatives.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984. He began hosting Meet the Press in 1991.

Recently, Tim Russert wrote two books — Big Russ and Me in 2004 and Wisdom of Our Fathers in 2006.

Like Brokaw, who authored The Greatest Generation, Tim Russert seems to be a consensus “good guy” according to people from across the political spectrum.

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Tim Russert was definitely one of the media people who questioned both sides hard, not that he didn't have a definite ideological bias, he did....you don't work for Moynihan and Cuomo without being a dyed in the wool Liberal.

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In a way, what the MSM's done is to deliberately move the debate LEFT by calling the Center-Left (moderate Liberals) "the Center," and people like Tim Russert and others were a part of that.

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The fact that Russert stands out as "one of the good guys" (his books on fatherhood attest to that) and "one of the few who wasn't completely driven by ideological bias," shows just how far Left the MSM in America has gone.

Sometimes bad things do happen on Friday the 13th...even if it’s just a coincidence.

Why The Winner’s Party in 2008 May Wind up a Loser...

I’ve said this for some time now, that I fear a McCain win might only serve to have the GOP share in the misfortunes brought about by a Democratic Congress.

Recently more a number of national columnists have voiced similar concerns.

Last month, Illinois political columnist Russ Stewart argued that the 2008 winner, regardless of Party, will face such intractable problems that he’ll almost certainly be a one-termer, damaging his own Party over the next four years and very possibly turning Congress over to the opposition in 2010 and probably surrendering the White House in 2012.

I agree and I acknowledge that many, in fact MOST of the coming, even current problems have little if anything to do with who the President is.

I won’t acknowledge that should a Liberal occupy the White House of course, in fact, I’ll join everyone else in heaping scorn and derision on the “failed policies” of the Liberals.

Not that an Obama administration would be blameless, certainly NOT to the level that a McCain administration WOULD BE. After all, it’s the Democratic Congress that’s poised to let the Bush tax cuts expire and even raise other taxes, a move almost certainly destined to REDUCE government revenues as those taxpayers with more disposable income seek to avoid the tax bite via deferring more of their income tax-deferred, and since the top 10% of income earners (those with the MOST disposable income) already pay 80% all income taxes, it’s only logical that tax revenues would go down as those people defer more of their income.

Couple that DECREASE in revenues with more social spending and a return to ignoring the war on terror and you have a prescription for disaster borne of Liberal policies!

The questions facing Conservatives are, “Do we want McCain to simply share the blame for the coming economic malaise with the Democrats? Is the issue of Supreme Court justices worth the possibility of having the more Conservative GOP blamed for Liberal Democrat failures?

Those are questions that can only be answered individually.

This is what I KNOW:

The Democrats already control Congress and almost certainly will continue to control Congress next January.

That Congress is set to let the Bush across the board tax cuts expire.

Those tax hikes, coupled with reckless Liberal social spending will almost certainly hasten and deepen the coming economic hard times that are being brought on by forces beyond our control (rising global inflation, a spiraling demand for oil, etc.).

There’s no question that the Party that occupies the White House takes the blame, so I have to wonder what purpose a McCain Presidency might serve other than to share the blame for the coming economic misery.

Asia is already looking at rampant inflation that threatens to spread globally. World demand for oil continues to escalate amidst a relatively stagnant supply. The Liberal’s hiking taxes and thereby decreasing revenues and investment, will only hasten and deepen any economic misery.

I have to consider whether a one-term Obama, disgraced as “the second coming of Jimmy Carter” and alienating another generation of voters to Liberalism, isn’t a better, or at least preferable scenario than having a Liberal Republican (John McCain) disgrace the GOP by “sharing the blame” for the failed Liberal policies to come with the Liberal Democrats.

Liberals on the Supreme Court Put America at Risk...

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Thursday's (June 12, 2008) 5-4 decision in Boumediene v. Bush, a decision that awarded the "unlawful combatants" at Gitmo (a/k/a terrorists) the "privilege of the writ of habeas corpus" has left millions of Americans, especially those in the law enforcement, military and First Responder communities stunned.

The decision led Chief Justice Roberts to declare that the court’s majority had struck down “the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants,” and in doing so had left itself open to accusations of “judicial activism.”

The High Court’s preeminent Constitutional scholar, Antonin Scalia, went even further in writing in the dissent; “America is at war with radical Islamists. The enemy began by killing Americans and American allies abroad: 241 at the Marine barracks in Lebanon, 19 at the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, 224 at our embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, and 17 on the USS Cole in Yemen. See National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 60–61, 70, 190 (2004). On September 11, 2001, the enemy brought the battle to American soil, killing 2,749 at the Twin Towers in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon in Washington, D. C., and 40 in Pennsylvania. See id., at 552, n. 9. It has threatened further attacks against our homeland; one need only walk about buttressed and barricaded Washington, or board a plane anywhere in the country, to know that the threat is a serious one. Our Armed Forces are now in the field against the enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last week, 13 of our countrymen in arms were killed.”

The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”

You can’t get any more clear and plain-spoken than that.

Joining Justice Anthony P. Kennedy’s opinion on Boumediene v. Bush, No. 06-1195, were Justices John Paul Stevens, Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter. Opposed were Justices Clarence Thomas, John G. Roberts, Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia.

New Jersey Landmark of Americana Sued

On July 7th, 2006 Scott Harris (shown recuperating with his Mom and finacee), an actor at the western theme park Wild West City in Netcong, NJ was shot in the head with a live round, when a fellow actor, seventeen year old (whose identity is being withheld) shot him in the head with what he apparently thought was a blank round. According to court papers it’s alleged that the teen received only five minutes of training before the incident.

Reports note that while the firearm used in the shooting, a Heritage 22-caliber revolver, was owned by Wild West City, re-enactors were allowed to bring their own weapons and live ammunition was also permitted, according to the lawsuit.

That, if true, would seem to be a reckless standard on behalf of the theme park.

Apparently, after inadvertently loading the gun with real bullets, the teen - who was taking part in a skit with Harris, one watched by numerous spectators - fired several times. Harris crumpled to the ground after being struck in the head.

Aside from the Civil Suit filed last Thursday (June 5th) there are also criminal charges pending. In 2007, Michael Stabile, McPeak and the theme park were charged with the third-degree crime of violating a law intended to protect public health and safety and with recklessly causing serious bodily injury.

Scott Harris’ attorney Andrew Fraser said, “"We hope to hold them accountable for what will be a lifetime of care."

Harris, 39, of Byram, is currently living in a group home in Harding township, NJ as he undergoes physical and speech therapy. He is paralyzed on his right side and grappling with "severe cognitive difficulties," although he has regained the ability to speak and has shown other improvements.

Asked about his ongoing recovery, Harris responded, "Long road." He said, "no," when asked if he felt any bitterness toward Wild West City.

Harris smiled and gave a thumbs-up when asked about his church's role in his recovery. Later, he rose from his wheelchair for about a minute by leaning against a conference table.

Wild West City has long been a major attraction in Northwest, NJ. It would be unfortunate if it’s time has passed.

Could the Price of Oil be Heading Toward Collapse?

In the wake of oil’s recent (Friday 6/6/08) $11.33 surge, when it hit a record high of $139.12 before retreating a little, America’s leading auto industry e$139.12 before retreating a little, America’s leading auto industry expert, David Cole, the head of the Center for Automotive Research, fears the price of oil may soon plummet.

David Cole says, “We have seen this before. In the late 1970s the price ran up to previously unimaginable heights and once it reached a peak it came crashing down, way below the levels before prices started to rise.”

Even as many analysts predict oil reaching $150/barrel, many also agree that as fast as prices rose, they could soon come crashing down.

Tom Kloza, the chief oil analyst with the Oil Price Information Service, believes such a move could come, but seems a ways off. Kloza says, “I think that prices could certainly give up chunks of their gains.”

While industries from aviation to package shipping, to transport and beyond are calling for cheaper oil, David Cole sees nearly as much economic disruption in a price drop as in the recent price run up, noting that, “in the late ‘70s all the investment in alternative fuel technology cease and that led the auto industry to the mess it is in today.”

From an economic perspective the price run up in energy (oil and gas) are an economic bomb that has to be dealt with.

A collapse in oil prices of some kind would certainly be a welcome relief to the economy.

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U.S. oil analysts see 55 BILLION barrels of oil AT HAND NOW within the continental United States! That counts some 20 BILLION barrels in shale oil, another 31 BILLION barrels in oil on federal lands, like ANWR and another 4 BILLION barrels from Montana's Bakken formation. And that's just currently known supplies! It's more than likely that there's far more shale oil and oil sands available within the United States, to say nothing of the HUGE supplies we know just off our own coasts. Consider that Canada has more oil available in oil sansds than all of Saudi Arabia has oil. That's why Alberta is currently booming...and that's why the price of oil may be set to come down, in light of all this available supply.

Federal Appeals Court Backs LIMITS on Speech in Schools

Earlier this month a New York Federal Appeals Court ruled that a high school had a right to punish a student for criticizing the school administration in an online blog.

Avery Doninger, 18 (pictured with her mother, Lauren) called school administrators “douche bags” in an April 2007 blog entry and was subsequently stripped of her position as class secretary at Lewis S. Mills HS in Burlington, Conn.

The Second Court of Appeals ruled that even speech off school grounds could lead to disruption in the hallways and therefore can be prohibited.

The ruling said in part, “Vulgar or offensive speech – speech that an adult making a political point might have a Constitutional right to employ – may legitimately give rise to disciplinary action by a school.”

Certainly schools have been judged to have fewer Constitutional protections, for instance school lockers can be searched for contraband by law enforcement, with merely school approval, not a warrant, but this speech restriction outside of school, a criticism of the administration and NOT speech that would seem to “lead to disruptions ion the hallways,” seems thin, at the very least.

Is It Even Remotely Possible?...

...That the Clinton’s and their minions stop kicking their own collective asses?

Well, it seems unlikely, to say the least.

What ever happened to all that Clinton Teflon?

Must have went the way of “the Teflon Don’s,” which disappeared after he was convicted. The Clinton’s has seemed to disappear after Bill left office.

At any rate, the most recent was a rant, the other day, by Clinton staffer, Harriet Christian who called Barack Obama, among other things, an “inadequate black man.”

WoW! The hits just keep on coming from the Clinton camp, but somehow, we’re told that despite all this partisan passion within the Democratic Party and polls showing that a full 29% of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain over Obama, the Democrats will eventually “come together.”

Oh, I hope not. I mean, they’re just so cute at this age!

The Incredible Shrinking Sarkozy...

...After getting elected with such fanfare and promise barely a year ago, Nikolas Sarkozy (“Sarko the American”) finds himself mired with an approval rating worse than G W Bush’s and only slightly better than the Reid-Pelosi Congress, at 20%.

WHY?

Well, he’s managed, as reformers, especially ineffectual ones, are wont to do, to piss off BOTH the Left and the Right, BOTH supporters and detractors, alike.

He’s failed to provide anything more than lip service to his centerpiece issue – Third World immigration to France. Add to that his failures to get real concessions from France’s massive and militant Unionists, and that’s provided a recipe for disaster!

Had he followed through on his immigration platform alone, the Right would not be put off and his approval ratings would’ve more than doubled, perhaps, some say, even tripled!

But now, at long last he’s looking to do something substantial – END France’s 35 hour work week. France’s annual hours worked (1,555 hours) ranks only above Germany’s 1,433 hours, and trailing other Western nations like the USA (1708 hours) and Italy (1,800 hours).

France’s Unions were caught off guard by this move and were set to meet this Thursday (June 5) to decide whether to strike.

Ironically enough, the French workweek was reduced from 39 hours to 35 hours back in 1998 to allow more people into the French workforce and although initially more jobs were created, the results have been “mixed” since that initial surge.

Once again, it seems as though we can look forward to yet another Summer of labor unrest in France.

Albany Attorney General Balks...

...at releasing transcripts of testimony about the Eliot Spitzer “Dirty Tricks” plot, and in so doing, is currently violating a court order to release those scandal files.

In short, David Soares is blatantly violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but apparently, because he’s doing it to protect yet another Liberal wrong-doer (Eliot Spitzer), it’s being largely overlooked!

It is believed that the testimony would likely provide further proof that Darren Dopp (Spitzer’s Communication Director), Eliot Spitzer and others lied to Soares and other investigators to get Soares (a major Spitzer ally) to issue a report that contradicted the earlier one issued by Andrew Cuomo (the New York State AG) that charged that top aides to then Governor Spitzer had blatantly misused the State Police in a plot against GOP State Senate chairman, Joe Bruno.

So much for support for the FOIA.