Watcher's Council

You can see the winning Watcher's Council entries here -- it's The State of Obama Edition!

Un-American

You have to admire China and Cuba; they are doing everything they can to provide oil for their countries, everything that Obama refuses to do for his:

"While Obama dithers on Keystone, America's chief energy competitors are making hay on the international energy market. Canadian officials have made it clear they will build a pipeline that will either go south to supply the United States or west to supply China. Officials in Beijing are probably cheering for Obama's supposed concern for the environment. The Chinese are also rapidly consolidating their status as Brazil's preferred partner in developing the South American company's rich offshore oil resources. And China's government-controlled energy industry is investing substantial sums in Canadian and U.S. exploration and drilling firms. It never hurts to own a substantial piece of your competitor's key industry.
Then there is Cuba, which just this week saw the arrival off its northern coast of the Chinese-built Scarabeo 9 drilling rig. The Spanish energy giant Repsol will use the Scarabeo 9 to drill wells located about 70 miles off the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico in waters claimed by Cuba."

Obama is un-American, in my opinion, and the Republican candidates should be stressing this issue every chance they get (when they're not too busy attacking on another, that is.) We don't want a President who puts America last.

Saturday Evening Rockwell

Here are some Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers and the stories behind them.

Bringing Poetry to Life

I had never read "The Lady of Shalott" until I heard it sung many years ago by Loreena McKennitt. (via American Digest)  Her rendition of "The Highwayman" is also wonderful.

Translating Obamish

If you missed -- or ignored -- the State of the Union speech, Paul Greenberg has translated it for you!  Here's an excerpt:

"The State of the Union is much better thanks to my efforts over the past three years to improve your poor wretched lives -- efforts unparalleled since Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon Johnson, and maybe Martin Van Buren -- to restore our nation's economic health. Those efforts have been highly successful, no matter what you think. Or feel or see or know.
Thanks to our federal government's having invented the fracking process to extract natural gas from shale formations, much the way Al Gore invented the Internet, we are making dramatic progress in solving the Energy Crisis and generally repairing the damage done to the middle class by the previous administration. (Middle Class: a general term for everyone in the sound of my voice who can vote.) Rest assured: If anything's wrong with this country, it's George W. Bush's fault. But I must be honest: It wasn't all his fault. Some of it was Dick Cheney's."

Manic Media Bias

Howie Carr shows examples of  how the media treats Democrats and Republicans much differently.  The Media Research Center's CyberAlert has this item on Bob Schieffer's nauseating reaction to the meeting between Obama and Gov. Brewer.   Liberals always see Obama as a victim of evil Republicans and continue to give him a free pass.
Also, read Ed Koch on media bias against Israel:  "The lack of media attention given to these Arab threats and the constant unfair attacks by the media, cowardly governments and U.N. officials on Israel is what angers people like me."

Why Obama Must Be Defeated

And they wonder why we fear four more years of an Obama Presidency?  Here are just two reasons. Neal Boortz has a good analysis of the issues dividing our country. 

"You can thank Barack Obama and his incessant class warfare campaign for this spike in people who recognize the growing conflict between the rich and the poor.  Unable to run on his record, Obama must create a conflict so egregious among a segment of the voting population that they are driven to the polls by rage or envy, convinced of the fact that they will never get ahead in life without Barack Obama at the helm to take money away from the evil rich people."

And at Nealz Nuze I found this American Thinker column that states,

"America stands at a crossroads in 2012, for this is the year when the American people will decide irrevocably whether they wish to see their country transformed into a European-style welfare state. At this crossroads the choice is between two very different futures.  The welfare state promises lifetime benefits for the entire population.  Every American will be entitled to a safety net of food support, housing, education, medical care, child care, child tax credits, transportation, and a host of other benefits regardless of whether he or she chooses to work.  Everyone will enjoy the right to this wide array of government benefits covering the necessities of life, but to pay for it, those who choose to work will be taxed to the point that they too live near the level of welfare recipients. Eventually, the logic of the welfare state dictates that few will choose to work.  Instead of a nation divided into "takers and makers," America will become like Greece: a society composed mostly of takers.  And those takers will never willingly relinquish their lifetime benefits."

Yes, America is being "fundamentally transformed", all right -- into a socialist nation we can't even recognize as the country we so proudly grew up in.

The Hole Story

Here's a nice story about Muslims and Jews who like one another: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/24/145539430/muslim-men-rescue-bagel-shop-and-keep-it-kosher">"Muslim Men Rescue Bagel Shop And Keep It Kosher".

"Pot Calling the Kettle Black" Award Winner

Incredible:
"Mother of 'Toddlers & Tiaras' star Isabella Barrett claims three media outlets tried to sexualize the 5-year-old’s performance in web video".

The Rich Are Evil

Michael Tanner analyzes the Redistributive State of the Union: "The president’s vision of the state of the union is a zero-sum one in which, if some people get rich, it must make other people poor. If Warren Buffett makes money, then Peggy Joseph won’t have gas for her car. The only alternative is for the government to step in and make Mr. Buffett pay for Ms. Joseph’s gas".  What an embarrassment Obama is, and what a pathetic country he has turned this into!  Speaking of embarrassing, this headline is from Haaretz: "U.S. Jewish democrats: Obama’s address is an endorsement of our values". Well, it certainly wasn't an endorsement of my values!