In our not-too-distant past, America clearly stood for freedom and free markets around the world, as those concepts were in our best political and economic interests.
Then the Cold War came and we had to do business with sketchy people in order to out-maneuver even more sketchy people bent on world domination. Yet, we promoted transparent democratic republicanism while simultaneously propping up nasty third-world dictatorships on a case-by-case basis. It was the price to pay for ending Soviet communism and saw some positive results, but it tainted our soul and made us look like hypocrites.
Since the early 1990s, we’ve been trying to fix that perception. As the world’s primary superpower, American hegemony has meant interconnected economies, the World Wide Web, and an attempt to encourage freedom abroad. Yet, America foreign policy has also been inconsistent since then and lately we’ve been drifting aimlessly outside of a few platitudes thrown around in speeches in an obligatory fashion.
Just over the past week these latest face palm-inducing American ball-drops emerged:
We’re supporting al Qaeda-affiliated cannibals in Syria. We waited too long to do anything substantive in Syria and are stuck with all bad choices unless we hunker down and “let Allah sort it out” as we watch and react. We generally used to do that before Vietnam (a civil war we should have handled much differently) and should probably find a way to put more thought into our foreign policy actions moving forward. The Defense Department may still be stuck in the Cold War, but the world is moving on. So should we.
Ian Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini teamed up to write an 8-page piece on what they call the “new abnormal” world economy.
As one can imagine, it’s pretty dense, long, and repetitive at points but the gist is clear: the corrections needed after the 2008 meltdown weren’t good enough, and the unstable world the international community has created in the last five years cannot go on forever. Their conclusions are that the US and China are the countries to watch, and that the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) may have more misses than hits.
Perhaps it’s all the hours I’ve spent reading David Stockman’s The Great Deformation, but I tend to see through a lot of the article’s premises. I do agree that our world’s delayed decisions will catch up with us one day, but I differ on the root of the problem.
The real problem seems to be that 20th Century-style Keynesian controls over the economy, as well as the persistence of “state capitalism” (or corporatism, or national socialism, or crony capitalism, or whatever you want to call it), are old ways to deal with new and complex problems. The problem is not the “economy” in the developed and developing world, it’s our leader’s insistence that they can solve any problem through incessant interventions and controls, tweaking this and tweaking that along the margins. We’re way past tweaking the margins — this ain’t the 1990s anymore.
Sound money, free markets, and regulations which set a playing field with moral hazards for acting stupid would go a long way in solving the rut we’re currently in. But here is where I also agree with the authors — only a major earth-shattering crisis can galvanize enough political support to get true reforms accomplished.
There’s no denying that we’re in the film age of the prequel and reboot – Star Wars, Spiderman, Batman, and countless horror movies, etc. Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel is an attempt to reboot the Superman franchise into something a little more modern, with edge, grit, and a bit more character depth. Here’s the trailer:
As someone familiar with the Christopher Reeve Superman franchise (as well as the 2005 attempted reboot) Man of Steel is as solid a reboot that this storyline is apt to get. It’s almost what Christopher Nolan did with the Batman franchise in his extraordinary Dark Knight trilogy. We get more Krypton, more explanation about Superman’s powers, more depth into Superman’s main enemy, the importance of Clark Kent/Superman/Kal El to the grand scheme, more of Clark’s upbringing and Earth parents, and his time in the desert snow finding himself. We get characters we know with those we like and get to see them all develop. That, and the last thirty minutes is a sci-fi visual spectacle love fest.
Yet, the movie was treated harshly by the critics. I went in knowing what only that the trailer looked cool and the critics were “meh” on the whole thing. I left understanding why.
Probably the most disturbing video I saw last week out of DC was when Congressman Jim Jordan got into this exchange with FBI Director Robert Mueller over the status of the IRS scandal:
Awful. However, some of Jordan’s questions were unanswerable since the investigation is ongoing… but it also seems like the investigation into the most serious charges over the last month really isn’t “going” anywhere. Convenient for Mueller who didn’t even to bother to look at any notes or forms regarding these questions.
Here’s the bigger problem — the FBI (as an agency) is being drawn into the Obama Administration’s pattern of obstructionism and that agency’s reputation will suffer. Director Mueller is in charge of the FBI, but answers to the Justice Department, which is headed by embattled Attorney General Eric Holder. The same Eric Holder who lied about the Rosen case, was held in contempt of Congress over the “Fast and Furious” scandal, and who has a history of constantly obstructing Congressional inquiries.
There are a lot of good people at the FBI who do great work. Mueller’s incompetence answering those questions on such an important and relevant topic projects weakness, confusion, and laziness from the highest levels of that agency, which raise disturbing questions: is the FBI led by an incompetent? are members of the FBI obstructing this investigation on purpose? is the FBI doing the political bidding of Holder-Obama-Jarrett? Not good.
Yesterday, Bill Clinton reportedly told a crowd that President Obama risks looking like a “total wuss” if the second black President doesn’t intervene in Syria.
Just a few hours ago, the US government finally admitted that the Assad regime in Syria actually used chemical weapons on the rebels, which killed an estimated 100-150 people. This is the “red line” Obama warned Assad not to cross back when these attacks were initially alleged.
OK, then. What now?
Bill, who really dropped the ball on the Rwandan genocide back in the day, was obviously attempting to distance his wife from Obama in preparation for Hillary’s 2016 run, while egging Obama into a Mideast war which would be very unpopular.
But, what does Obama do? Russia is tied to the Assad regime. So is Iran. As the only nation (to date) which actually nuked another country (twice), America does have a unique responsibility to intervene when WMDs are wantonly used.
If Obama was a leader, we’d have acted months ago with no-fly zones, sanctions, etc. But a leader Obama is not. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few days and weeks, especially since some of the Syrian rebels have openly pledged support for al Qaeda.
Support the WMD-supporting tyrant or support al Qaeda? Not a good place to be — probably should have acted a few months ago before this mess got out of hand.
Feeling frustrated that the ol’ 2007 pro-Amnesty suicide squad of a GOP has returned, to my delight Rush connected two issues (amnesty and the NSA domestic spying program) together on his radio show today in a clever way:
There are 11 million, 10 million, 20 million, whatever it is who were here that we can’t find unless we grant them some pathway, unless we do legalization, we can’t identify, they’re in the shadows, they won’t come forward. What good is the spying program?
…What is it about the 10 to 11 million illegals that keeps them in the shadows? Whatever they’re doing, I want to find out how to do it myself. I want to live in the shadows like they are. I would like to be unreachable by my government. I would like to do something, live somewhere, live in such a way that the regime can’t find me, like they can’t find the 10 to 11 million illegals without legalizing them first.
Those 10 to 11 million, they may not know it, but they have more privacy than anybody else in this country. Because we’re being told that we’ve gotta legalize ‘em first to find out who they are. Only then will they come out of the shadows. They can’t be found, but you and I can be, (snapping fingers) like that.
Peter Jackson’s second installment in The Hobbit movie trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, is set for theaters in mid-December. Here’s the teaser trailer which was recently released:
The first Hobbit film grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide, but it wasn’t up to par with the LOTR movies. It took a bit too long to get moving and the characters weren’t as iconic. Even though the story in Part 2 will be more exciting, the film’s revenues will suffer from the simple fact that this trilogy should have been divided in two — Uncle Peter should have left the extra stuff for the director’s extended cut on DVD.
The first Hobbit movie cost around $250 million. It easily made that back, but many other big-budget films don’t. This is a real concern for the future of huge spectacle movies going forward. Recently Steven Spielberg and George Lucas chimed in about the direction Hollywood is taking, criticizing how so many big-budget films have terrible box office showings. They believe that fact will eventually break the back of the industry without changes. May we one day see a return of big films with more plot than zaz? Perhaps.
I’ve been very critical of Senator Marco Rubio lately, and for good reason — his “evolving” position on immigration “reform” now includes changing his point of view based upon his audience.
First of all, legalization does not begin automatically. We don’t want to wait on legalizing and I’ll tell you why. My original position was that we wanted to secure the border first, then legalize. The problem is we have millions of people here now — by some estimates 10, 11 million. We want to know who they are and freeze the problem in place. I don’t want that number to grow. It behooves us to know who they as soon as possible so it doesn’t get worse.
First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border…. It is not conditional. The legalization is not conditional.
Rubio, the naive Rube. Bit by bit, these kinds of things are chipping away at his reputation, credibility, and viability in 2016. Somewhere, an overweight DNC schlep in his underwear in a dark corner of his mom’s basement is brushing off the stale Cheetos from his bean bag while he adds this immigration flip-flop to his files next to the water bottle fiasco.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting data from (at the every least) Verizon to data-mine billions of phone calls in order to prevent future terror attacks — and they’ve been doing it for seven years (BTW if that’s the case, then they really dropped the ball in Boston, didn’t they)!
It’s not just Verizon, though. Google, Yahoo, Skype, Facebook, Apple and other like websites have had their servers tapped into by the NSA’s “Prism” program for the same purpose over the last few years.
On Fox News and CNN, critics of these programs have ripped them for tearing the Fourth Amendment to shreds, as well as speculating about the end of our concept of privacy even outside the USA. So, as long as one bad guy might be found (I refer you once again to the NSA’s failure to notice the Boston bombers), the rest of us have to give up any pretense of privacy, liberty, or transparent due process from our government?
And of course, our government is a benign and benevolent agency which would never think of letting any data loose for political purposes! Can’t wait until they control my health care. In my life I’ve never seen my liberty shown more disrespect than what’s been revealed about my government’s actions in the last 30 days. It’s simply unprecedented and the same administration which is enforcing this statism tells us to acquiesce because our betters believe it’s in our own best interest to act like subjects rather than citizens.
In the Obama Nation, being a national embarrassment can get you a promotion! In this case, former UN Ambassador and complete embarrassment Susan Rice was just appointed National Security Adviser by President Obama today. But why?
After listening to the pundits and scouring the Internets, I noticed two schools of thought — the obvious school and the sneaky one — but they both really lead to the same place.
The obvious reason is that Obama is merely playing politics — he genuinely likes Rice, but gets the satisfaction of irking the GOP since Rice’s new position is not subject to Congressional approval.
A likely reason for Rice’s appointment is that it’s plausible she knew full-well that she was misleading everyone during her infamous Sunday talk show circuit back in September. Given the remaining questions on the Benghazi incident, it is also plausible that Susan Rice could be called to testify in front of a Congressional committee and put under oath. As National Security Adviser, it will take considerable effort and lots of legal battles just to get her to testify. Obama is both hiding and protecting her, which in turn helps him. Sneaky.
Let’s review: Obama gets to irk the GOP, allow the MSM to let Obama talk about something other than his scandal-plagued White House, all while basically making his friend free from potential prosecution. The GOP will bite and be distracted while the MSM will gleefully indulge the President’s attempt to change the subject long enough to clear some of the scandal debris.
It’s been nearly 240 years since that original “incident with the Tea” in December 1773, which was decades later called the Boston Tea Party. Their modern-day namesake were being improperly targeted by the IRS because of their political beliefs and today had a chance to have their voices heard. It was marvelous!
Here’s the much talked about Tea Party activist and IRS victim Becky Gerritson‘s emotional testimony:
Here’s John Eastman from the National Organization of Marriage, whose donors were improperly disclosed and targeted by leftist groups:
Here’s a little heat between Democrat Jim McDermott and Paul Ryan on the left’s insistence on blaming the victim when that victim is a conservative.
These are just a few tidbits from today’s hearings. Nothing like a little sunshine and fresh air to temporarily clear the murk around DC these days!
The last World War II veteran serving in the US Senate, Frank Lautenberg, passed away this morning at 89. Lautenberg served from 1982-2000, then came out of retirement to replace the disgraced Bob “The Torch” Torrecelli on the Democrat ticket in 2002. He’s been there ever since.
Lautenberg was a self-made man who pushed typically leftist causes in the Senate. From all accounts he was a good man. I voted against him twice solely because of his politics — among other things he pushed for stricter gun control measures and more Amtrak (go to the Secaucus RR station in New Jersey and you’ll see the Northeast’s version of Robert Byrd). Yet, he also helped to get smoking off of planes, which is kind of nice.
However, two minutes hadn’t gone by without speculation about the “high stakes” game Christie must play in replacing Lautenberg. So, the Democrat’s favorite Republican gets to pick a Senator — there’s speculation that Rubio’s favorite rotund “conservative” may even select a Democrat! But, seriously, can’t Lautenberg be mourned for at least the morning of his passing without surface politics stealing the headlines?! It becomes tiresome — some people need perspective.
Yesterday I read an article from ABC News, saying that the Great Recession’s impact on Generation X’s pocket book will impact the rest of their lives, particularly in their retirement years, in a negative way.
The Boomers will suck the system dry due to their sheer numbers, and the Millennials will shape a new system which will work one day (as hard as that may be to imagine today). In the middle is Gen X. Whatever our system is transitioning into Gen X will be in the middle, half in the new system, half in the old, facing the brunt of the changes and the pain of transition.
If there is one thing Gen X is good at, it’s adapting. We’ll figure it out.
The centripetal force of the statist-leaning ruling class in DC is enormous. It gobbles up new, bright-eyed members all the time and spits out more of the same junk.
Unfortunately, a once bright shining star in my eyes, Marco Rubio, has been caught up in it. Nothing proves that more than how he’s become a “rube” (pun intended) on immigration reform. He’s both the face and punching bag of that latest crap-sandwich of an immigration bill.
He can’t really be naive enough to honestly believe that any plan on immigration with Schumer and Durbin behind it is in any way good for the country or the Republican Party. But then again, Rubio is still relatively new on the political scene — maybe he is that naive and gullible.
Not to be solely out on the ledge, Rubio is dragging a few other GOP Senators along to try to cajole chat with House conservatives soon. This article from the Daily Caller points out some real tough questions Rubio and crew will be unable to answer without dodging or squirming at that meeting:
Is there evidence this will help the GOP?
Is there evidence that this plan will actually work?
How is this not amnesty?
How much will this cost?
How much will immigration increase if it’s passed?
Why take Obama’s word on the border?
Why not enforcement first?
If illegal immigration is down in recent years, why reverse course?
The answers are clear and none of them are remotely good for America or conservatism.
How in the hell is any of that conservative? It’s not — it might be OK for blue New Jersey, but it’s not conservative. If Rubio is going to earn that “Tea Party” label, he’d better stop sounding and acting like an Establishment RINO on the big issues of the day.
Until he demonstrates fidelity to conservative principles, I am officially no longer impressed by Marco Rubio.
The embattled Attorney General of the self-proclaimed most transparent administration in America history, Eric Holder, has decided to finally chat with members of the press. Of course, these conversations will beoff the record!
Apparently, Holder didn’t get the memo — when stuck in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
The once fawning press turned belligerent as Fox, the AP, CNN, CBS, NBC (!), the New York Times, the Huffington Post, among others refuse to attend this charade. Politico and ABC will be there — what else are they doing anyway.
Shortly after the flurry of refusals , DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse tweeted the following:
POTUS asked AG to review how leak investigations are done but some in the media refuse to meet with him. Kind of forfeits your right gripe.
Predictably, this was like putting gasoline on the fire! Does Woodhouse’s statement count as intimidation or just d-baggery? Perhaps a special prosecutor could sort all this out.
Here is renowned Establishment intellectual Charles Krauthammer on O’Reilly the other night wanting to know something critically important about the least sexy of the three major scandals facing the Obama Nation at present:
Great question! Personally, I think he went to sleep — he had a busy day of campaigning the following day and needed his beauty rest.
However, let’s entertain a crazy idea for the heck of it! Get out your tin foil hats and read below.
Attorney General Eric Holder testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on May 15 that he didn’t know about the Justice Department’s investigation of Fox News’ James Rosen. When pushed by a Democrat to relate the DOJ’s behavior to the 1917 Espionage Act, Holder said:
“In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material — this is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy.”
Well, it turns out that Holder not only knew of the investigation into Rosen, but NBC reported last week that Holder actually approved the warrants!
Holder and Obama are correct to be upset about the leaking, but their ire should be at the leakers, not the press. When the New York Times outed an incredibly important and useful program by the Bush Administration to monitor terror suspect’s bank accounts, they spilled the beans without remorse even though the Bush Administration asked them not to run the story. But as we already know, despite its faults the Bush Administration was considerably more mature, organized, and apparently less insidious than the Obama Nation.
Today we honor and remember those who lost their lives in defense of this nation. We honor the war dead, those who gave that “last full measure of devotion,” as well as their families and friends. In the recent wars America has fought:
Iraq: (2003-2011) a total of 4,486 Americans were lost with 32,223 wounded.
Afghanistan: (2001-Present) to date 2,228 have been killed with 17,764 wounded.
With an all-volunteer military, the bravery and valor of the fallen bring honor to America in these uncertain times. Please keep them in mind while enjoying the barbeque or the beach today.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since the Obama Nation took charge, it is to always watch what the other hand is doing. Before the Benghazi-IRS-AP scandals, it seemed like Obama was constantly moving from one issue to another and back again: gun control to amnesty to drones to Gitmo to gun control to amnesty and so on.
So if all that is the head fake, what’s the other hand obscuring? Simple: the absolutely horrible implementation of Obamacare, the President’s signature “achievement.”
Well, even some labor unions (and we know how slow they can be) have figured out that Obamacare is a “train wreck.” The following quote is from the president of United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers:
“In the rush to achieve its passage, many of the act’s provisions were not fully conceived, resulting in unintended consequences that are inconsistent with the promise that those who were satisfied with their employer-sponsored coverage could keep it. I am therefore calling for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act.”
Obamacare is working exactly as it was intended to (which is why the administration needs all the subterfuge in the short-term): tear apart the employer-provided private insurance system so that at the end of the day the government can step in to take over the whole thing. Therefore, the inconvenience, disruption, and chaos we’re all feeling is necessary to sink our existing system. Most clear-minded people saw this back in 2009. Four years later, it’s nice to see that even some unions are starting to figure that out — better late than never I suppose.
Thirty years ago today, May 25, 1983, Return of the Jedi hit theaters, completing the original Star Wars trilogy. Here’s the old-school trailer:
ROTJ was the first Star Wars movie I was actually old enough to see in the movie theaters — I saw it three times that summer!
But, it’s not a movie without controversy.
Approaching the first grade, I must admit that I liked the Ewoks at the time, even “Yub Nub” — the Ewoks moved the plot along and were fuzzy bears which any five-year-old could root for. While I still accept them, in retrospect the Ewoks are intrinsically pretty terrible. Star Wars fans had and continue to trash ROTJ for the Ewoks primarily among other reasons. To many hard core fans, ROTJ is the considered the worst of the original trilogy.
At the end of the day, the cultural significance of the Star Wars films is self-evident and people will ignore, embrace, or argue about them for many years to come. Return of the Jedi is an integral part of the Star Wars universe. It’s not my favorite (that’s The Empire Strikes Back), but it’s still not Star Wars without it.
Lois Lerner, the woman who planted the question on May 10 which blew open the IRS Scandal, was called in front of a Congressional committee to address her role in overseeing the improper IRS targeting of conservative groups. As it turns out, Lerner has experience targeting conservative groups as far back as the 1990s.
After insisting on her innocence, she plead the 5th Amendment. The problem is, by making an opening statement (in a sense, testifying), she waived her right not to testify. After a brief exchange about what she may have done, Lerner was dismissed. A few hours later committee chairman Darrell Issa expressed that she did, in fact, waive her 5th Amendment right and will reappear in front of his committee. That should be interesting.
I believe that only an independent counsel will be able to get to the bottom of all this. Until then, we’ll likely hear tense exchanges in committee like this one below, which over time can only hurt the Obama Administration until they come clean.
Over the last few days, Oklahoma has seen more than its fair share of tornadoes. Living in the infamous “tornado alley,” people who live on the Great Plains do expect that eventually a tornado will hit in the same way that those in Florida expect a hurricane or that those in California will experience another big earthquake. It’s simply part of living in that area. However, most tornadoes on the Great Plains hit uninhabited fly-over country.
Not always, though.
Just a few hours ago, a massive mile-wide tornado decimated suburbs around Oklahoma City, the state’s capital and most populous area. The disaster is still developing at this point, but the damage is severe. The storm system still plagues the area, so this story is unfortunately still developing.
UPDATE: Some good news — twenty four hours later the death toll from the Moore, OK, area has been revised downward from around 51 to 24.
JJ Abrams’ reboot of the Star Trek series hits a truly satisfying note in his second installment, Star Trek Into Darkness. Here’s the trailer:
SPOILER FREE
Like Abrams’ original reboot, this latest movie has the energy, pacing, and spectacle which even the non- or casual Trekkie will be able to enjoy. This was just about the fastest 123 minutes I’ve experienced in a movie theater — I need to see it again just to absorb everything in here!
For full enjoyment, those familiar with the original plot, cast, and storyline need to accept that this is a reboot: the characters are the same, but the timeline has changed. If you can do that and just experience the movie, Star Trek Into Darkness shines! The reboot concept also explains why a few critics didn’t really like it, thought it was missing heart, etc. There’s no satisfying some — it wasn’t perfection and has its flaws, but the film was the most entertaining, fun, and visually spectacular film I’ve seen in a while. Then again, I like Star Trek and understand what Abrams is trying to do here.
There are some real mind-blowing plot twists which I will not spoil. Just know that Abrams embraces canon where possible, yet because of film purposes he accelerates their development and relationships. I can’t remember where, but someone posited that Star Trek Into Darkness is a love story. In a way it is, but not the way you expect. The “darkness” quotient in the title is also from a place you don’t expect.
If you have an afternoon to spare and want to see what the buzz is about, you’ll leave feeling that the movie was at the very least a B. If you loved the first film and have some Trekkie in you, it’s a clear A-.
Turns out that in France they don’t view ADHD the same way that we in America do. This fascinating article explains why the French don’t really need to use pills to control their kids. As someone who has been trained to deal with ADHD children, the article’s findings make a lot of sense.
Here in America, we view ADHD as a biological issue which requires biological treatments. Nine percent of our children have been diagnosed and are on drugs to help, compared to 0.5% of French children. In France, they view ADHD as a behavioral issue which requires therapy, dietary changes, and observing the child’s social environment.
The article also points out that bringing up children in France is quite different than in America. The child’s life revolves around a regular schedule set by the parents over there, rather than our flexible schedules often governed by the children themselves. So, kids learn self-control very early in France and need less medical treatment for hyperactivity. Makes sense.
In the face of a growing IRS scandal related to the political targeting of conservative groups in the run-up to the 2012 Election, Sarah Hall Ingram, the woman who oversaw all that malfeasance as it was happening, is getting a new job — running the IRS wing of Obamacare.
Ingram should be dragged in front of a Congressional committee, put under oath, and grilled to pieces. Instead, she’s being shuffled around to a position with considerably more power to ruin the lives of Obama’s political opponents if only asked. The Congressional Q&A may still happen, but this is quite a brazen act by the Obama Nation.
The GOP should learn something here, if they haven’t figure it out already — be thorough and meticulous with these issues because because this administration will go there.
That, and don’t think for a minute that because the press is finally sort-of exposing Obama to a week of what Dubya had to endure for eight years that Obama’s ship-of-state is in trouble: the Dems are already saying enough on a “fully-vetted” Benghazi scandal; the President is positioning himself as concerned and above the fray (as if this somehow isn’t actually his administration) which is a posture which has worked for Obama these five years; the usual hacks are implying that since there are too many scandals, this must merely be “desperate” GOP measures, and so on. In the political world, these multiple scandals could each disappear (or be redefined) within a news cycle and the Dem counterattack is on.
At about 6:20pm EDT, President Obama gave a three-minute statement relating to the IRS scandal, saying that he will accept the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner, Steven Miller, and work within the administration and with Congress to get to the bottom of this growing scandal.
Earlier today, Speaker Boehner made a much better statement: “My question isn’t about who’s going to have to resign. My question is, who’s going to jail over this scandal?”
Had Obama used the word “prosecute” in relation to those involved, there would be sufficient energy sparked to truly get to the bottom of this — and I would have been mostly satisfied. Using the IRS to stymie political opponents deserves that kind of tone.
Unfortunately, Obama’s statement only partially mollifies this issue until his press conference tomorrow, and doesn’t give the impression that those responsible for this will truly be brought to justice. A firing here, or a strongly-worded-letter there isn’t going to cut it.
Every President who has been reelected has had a hard time in their second terms. Some had major scandals, others passed away, others suffered from the public’s fatigue and lame duck status in a way which harmed their legacies.* No one was immune.
Neither is Obama, apparently.
Right now Obama’s second-term agenda is slowly disappearing as four (at last count) potential scandals inundate the Obama Administration:
Philly’s own Dr. Mengele faces the possibility of the death penalty when the jury deliberates further on sentencing. Hopefully there will be some justice here.
In English soccer, if your team sucks it can drop to a lower league. However, if it’s great there’s a possibility your team will get promoted! So, Watford and Leicester were engaged in a series to have the chance to play one more playoff game to get into the highest league in English soccer — the final spot in Barclay’s Premier League. What happened was amazing!
Leicester needed one goal — there’s an 80% chance that they were going to score on a penalty kick. They missed, got another shot, then lost the ball as Watford took it the length of the field in order to cement their victory all in stoppage time! Wow.
