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Tom Daschle withdrew his name from consideration as Health and Human Services Secretary amid another tax controversy for President Barack Obama’s young administration. From Reuters:

Obama said in a statement he accepted [Daschle's] decision “with sadness and regret” because Daschle was highly qualified for the post, and he acknowledged in television interviews later that he had erred in not anticipating the problems.

“I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up and I take responsibility for it,” Obama told CNN, adding he did not want to send a message there is one standard for the powerful and another standard for ordinary people.

There are a couple of things here that concern me. The first, President Obama’s assertion that he had erred in not anticipating the problems. Applying the rules of common English usage, the President appears to be saying that he knew of Daschle’s tax issues in advance, but failed to anticipate that they would controversial. I would have to respectfully assert that, controversy notwithstanding, the tax issues themselves should have been grounds to disqualify Daschle from nomination, whose name should have been withdrawn by the President, as soon as the they were revealed.

Second, and this brings us to the barn door, is President Obama’s assertion that he doesn’t want to establish a double standard, whereby ordinary citizens are be held to a higher standard than Cabinet officials. I’m sorry to be the one to have to point this out, but the double standard has already been established by President Obama’s failure to withdraw Timothy Geithner’s name from nomination immediately upon learning of his tax troubles and subsequently allowing him to be confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury.

President Obama claims his administration has in place a set of ethics requirements that exceeds those of any previous administrations. That may be true, but what good are those requirements if all the White House is doing is boasting about them without really applying them to the process of governing?

Read the full Reuters article.

2/3/09 Update

From Maureen Dowd:

…Americans were desperate to trust someone when they made Barack Obama president. His debut has left them skeptical about his willingness to smack down those who would flout his high standards or waste our money.

Just taking another opportunity to point out that saying you have high standards does not equal having high standards. In the first weeks of his presidency, President Obama has failed to demonstrate that his high standards are anything more than empty words.

Does your definition of “a fine young man” include arson in the name of animal rights? To PETA founder, Ingrid Newkirk, it does.

watch?v=gI9FXEi0uro

To eco-extremists and animal rights activists, I guess it’s okay to set fires as long as you’re a school teacher. Yeah. I think we definitely need more domestic terrorists in the classroom. So Rodney Coronado and Bill Ayers, team teaching. Dynamite combo!

There is a disturbing undercurrent of thought, here, that says terrorism is okay if your motives are pure. This seem to be distressingly common in the Pacific Northwest. In March of 2008, an arson fire attributed to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) caused $7 million damages to four homes in an uninhabited green housing development. In June of 2008, Briana Waters was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $6 million dollars for her participation in the firebombing of the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington, also an action of ELF.

ELF has been particularly active in the Pacific Northwest and one might be so naive as to think that people of good conscience would reject acts of domestic terrorism out of hand. While that might be true in some parts of the country, I’m sorry to say that here in the Greater Seattle area, you don’t have to go far to hear people making excuses. People who you know to be otherwise rational, apparently throw all reason to the wind when the environment is involved. They are the ones who will say things like, “Well I can understand what drove them to it.”

Huh? Terrorism is wrong and motivation is irrelevant. Why don’t people say, “Setting fires is wrong and I don’t cary why they did it?” Whether it’s right-wing extremists fire-bombing abortion clinics or left-wing extremists fire-bombing housing developments, terrorism is wrong. People who engage in terrorism are not “fine people” no matter what their motives are and by contributing money to their defense, you condone their actions, which pretty much makes you something other than a “fine person” as well.

In case you had any doubts as to just how “fine” Rodney Coronado is, you can read his “fine” biography here. And if you’re interested in knowing just how “fine” an organization PETA is, you can find that here.

Watch this video, then ponder the question: Do you suppose the Democrats in Congress realize this is just how stupid they appear when they vote for a nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill?

As I often tell my acquaintances farther along toward the left end of the political spectrum, the answer to questions such as the one posed here is often a matter of perspective.

If the objective of our public schools it to produce citizens who are capable of independent, critical thought and with enough historical, economic, and civics knowledge to function as good citizens in our republic, our public schools appear to be abject failures.

On the other hand, if you believe that “Education is the motor-force of revolution,” as does Bill Ayers, then our schools have succeeded quite nicely. Please see this excellent article by Phyllis Schlafly for more information about the leftist takeover of our schools.

A silent revolution has transformed our public schools from halls of learning to indoctrination centers for leftist thought. As a parent, I experienced first-hand the constant push to advance of the leftist agenda, for example, a kindergarten project asking the question, “How did the tree feel,” (when it was cruelly cut down and put to use) and high school math texts that ask questions, not about the numbers involved in a particular problem, but about the social implications.

So the next time you’re wondering why our public schools are failing and our students continue to lag behind other industrialized countries in math and science, stop and ask yourself, do the people in charge really consider our schools a failure?

Featuring CatholicVote.org in the role of the dauntless youth and NBC as the evil giant.

An update from Brian Burch on CatholicVote’s attempt to place an ad during the Superbowl. If you haven’t see this incredibly effective video, you can see it here. The news isn’t all bad!

We broke this news yesterday, but wanted to make sure you have the full story – NBC has slammed the door on running our ad during the Super Bowl!

After several days of negotiations, a representative in Chicago told us that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving ‘political candidates or issues.’

We were in the midst of raising the money needed, and had confirmed interest from several very generous pro-life benefactors. Airing the ad would have been very expensive, and a ‘Super’ opportunity.

But NBC’s rejection is calling even more attention to the ad. We have been appearing on radio programs across the country for the past two days, and NBC’s New York affiliate (imagine the irony), is covering the controversy. Bill O’Reilly of the FOX News Channel featured the ad on his program Wednesday night calling it “brilliant” and “genius.” His show alone reached nearly 4 million people.

All of this is driving more traffic to the commercial online. We reached almost 1 million online views in less than two weeks!

So why did NBC reject the ad?

The network claims that they do not allow political or issue advocacy advertisements during the Super Bowl, but that’s simply not true.

The network was willing to air an ad by PETA, which is definitely an advocacy group, if PETA would tone down their ad’s sexual suggestiveness.

Also, the first ad scheduled to run during the Super Bowl is a creative spot about Pedigree’s pet adoption drive. The ad ends with the line: “Help us help dogs.”

In recent years, some Super Bowl advertisements have caused controversy. But there’s nothing objectionable about our positive, life-affirming advertisement. We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC’s parent company GE has done for years. We don’t attack Barack Obama, but focus on him becoming the first African-American President. We simply ask people to imagine the potential of each human life.
What now?
We’re not intimidated by NBC. We plan on getting this ad out so that many millions of Americans can imagine the potential of each human life. Here are some things you can do:

We are preparing a virtual protest of NBC’s decision. We want other networks to know that hundreds of thousands of people want to see this ad aired, and we will not give up easily. Stay tuned for our plan on this in the next few days.
The Catholic television station EWTN will be airing the commercial before, during and after the Super Bowl. Feel free to turn your channel to EWTN during halftime and watch our ad there.
You can still share the commercial with friends and family. Tell them to go to CatholicVote.org and watch the ad NBC doesn’t want them to see! Heck, show it at your Super Bowl party!

We’ve been humbled by the donations we’ve received to help get this ad out. We are especially grateful to the group of very generous benefactors that agreed to help if we got air time for the Super Bowl.

We aren’t certain they will still help, but we will use any funds we receive from you and others to air the ad in the most prominent and cost-effective venues available.

Perhaps the ad should run during the Academy Awards or maybe American Idol, which is popular with the youth. Maybe we should run it following President Obama’s first State of the Union address?
If you have ideas, tell us what you think.
Brian Burch
CatholicVote.org

P.S. You may recall that this is the first ad in our new “Life: Imagine the Potential” campaign. We are having a huge impact with our campaign already! Our message is positive, life affirming, and hope-filled. And it is reaching audiences that normally don’t listen to us.

CatholicVote.org has produced another excellent video promoting a culture of life. Their goal, when the contacted me last week via e-mail, was to raise $3million to buy ad space during the Superbowl. The ad was positive, uplifting, non-controversial and, apparently, too effective for NBC, who has refused to allow the video to air.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CaBR3z85c&hl=en&fs=1]

NBC has rejected an uplifting and positive pro-life ad submitted for its Super Bowl broadcast this Sunday. After several days of negotiations, an NBC representative in Chicago told CatholicVote.org today that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving “political advocacy or issues.”

Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org reacted: “There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement. We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC’s parent company GE has done for years. We congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first African-American President. And we simply ask people to imagine the potential of every human life.”

“NBC told CatholicVote.org that they do not allow political or issue advocacy advertisements. But that’s not what they told PETA,” said Burch. “There’s no doubt that PETA is an advocacy group. NBC rejected PETA’s ad for another reason altogether.”

According to an email posted on PETA.org, Victoria Morgan, Vice President of Advertising Standards for Universal, said: “The PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards.” Morgan even detailed “edits that need to be made” in order for the spot to run during the Super Bowl.

“NBC claims it doesn’t allow advocacy ads, but that’s not true. They were willing to air an ad by PETA if they would simply tone down the sexual suggestiveness. Our ad is far less provocative, and hardly controversial by comparison,” said Burch.

“The purpose of our new ad is to spread a message of hope about the potential of every human life, including the life of Barack Obama,” said Burch. “We are now looking at alternative venues to run the ad over the next several weeks.”

Wow! I’ll say this for NBC…they don’t really make it easy for you to register a complaint. The offer this contact form, which I’ve used a few times and will do so again. I’ve never gotten a response, so who knows if anyone other than the mail clerk sees them. Another option is to sign up for my.nbc.com and make a blog entry.

For comparison purposes, here’s a link to the PETA ad that NBC deemed too suggestive – and it is, which is why I’m not embedding it  here – but which they would apparently air if the sexuality were toned down.  If you do go view it, just take a minute to soak in the smugness over how incredibly clever they think they are to make these porn-lite ads.

Eleven Democrats broke with their party and voted against H.R.1. They voted against mortgaging my children’s and grandchildren’s future and for that I am grateful.

• Bright
• Boyd
• Cooper
• Ellsworth
• Griffith
• Peterson
• Minnick
• Kratovil
• Kanjorski
• Shuler
• Taylor

Please show them your gratitude with a phone call or e-mail.

(Hey, I’m also pretty dang proud of the House Republicans; all voted against. The only bi-partisanship in evidence on today’s vote was against passage.)

From Pro Publica:

Bank Employing GOP House Leader’s Wife Got Bailout Bucks

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, a rising star in the Republican party, has been a prominent voice demanding accountability in how the government doles out hundreds of billions for bank bailouts.

“I think most American taxpayers now are sort of scratching their head,” Cantor told CNN in December, “wondering when all this bailout stuff is going to end. And probably thinking, ‘You know, when is my bailout coming?’”

This Thursday, Cantor cast a high-profile vote opposing release of another $350 billion in bailout funds. Unpublicized until now was a recent development: The Treasury Department used $267 million of taxpayer funds to buy preferred stock in a private banking company that employs Cantor’s wife.

Why is this news?

I can understand that if Cantor had voted for the release of additional TARP funds and if he could have known in advance how the funds would be distributed and if he had the ability to direct the funds why this might be construed as a conflict of interests. But none of that is true.

In my opinion, that makes this a non-story, which becomes apparent to anyone who reads the entire article. However, for those who read just the headline and possibly the first paragraph or two, the clear implication is that Eric Cantor is guilty of some kind of shady dealings to benefit his wife’s employer.

Of course, as professional journalists, Aram Roston and Paul Kiel should know that. By choosing to publish this non-story as news, Roston and Kiel reveal their bias and make the choice of headline all the more revealing. Pro Publica’s tagline of “Journalism in the Public Interest” makes it all the more disappointing.

As a little add-on to yesterday’s post, Thanks, Rush!, here are transcripts of the audio clip that the DCCC has cobbled together to condemn Rush Limbaugh’s words, followed by a transcript of what he actually said, with full context.

The Democrat’s spin:

If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicans have laid down. I don’t want this to work. So I, I’m thinking of replying to the guys, okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four. I hope he fails.

Rush, in his own words:

If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicans have laid down.  And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him.  Look, what he’s talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care.  I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don’t want this to work.  So I’m thinking of replying to the guy, “Okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.”

[Interruption] What are you laughing at?  See, here’s the point.  Everybody thinks it’s outrageous to say.  Look, even my staff, “Oh, you can’t do that.”  Why not?  Why is it any different, what’s new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails?  Liberalism is our problem.  Liberalism is what’s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here.  Why do I want more of it?  I don’t care what the Drive-By story is.  I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: “Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.”  Somebody’s gotta say it.

Were the liberals out there hoping Bush succeeded or were they out there trying to destroy him before he was even inaugurated?  Why do we have to play the game by their rules?  Why do we have to accept the premise here that because of the historical nature of his presidency, that we want him to succeed?  This is affirmative action, if we do that.  We want to promote failure, we want to promote incompetence, we want to stand by and not object to what he’s doing simply because of the color of his skin?  Sorry.  I got past the historical nature of this months ago.  He is the president of the United States, he’s my president, he’s a human being, and his ideas and policies are what count for me, not his skin color, not his past, not whatever ties he doesn’t have to being down with the struggle, all of that’s irrelevant to me.  We’re talking about my country, the United States of America, my nieces, my nephews, your kids, your grandkids.  Why in the world do we want to saddle them with more liberalism and socialism?  Why would I want to do that?  So I can answer it, four words, “I hope he fails.”  And that would be the most outrageous thing anybody in this climate could say.  Shows you just how far gone we are.  Well, I know, I know.  I am the last man standing.

I heard from my good friend, Erick Brockway (check out A TowDog’s Blog), that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was collecting signatures for a petition to be sent to Rush Limbaugh because, according to their website, “When members of the Republican Attack Machine like Rush Limbaugh kick into action, we need a strong grassroots response.”

Ooooh, scary. The Republicans have an Attack Machine!

Erick is encouraging conservatives to send Rush a message of support, courtesy of the DCCC’s petition. So I did. What fun! I can only hope that someone will be screening the messages, even if it means that mine gets screened out, because I laid it on really thick.

Dear Rush:

Thank you for the strong stand you’re taking against President Obama’s Socialist agenda. Rush, I know – as does anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of the English language – that you didn’t say anything that even remotely implies that you hope President Obama fails to meet our great country’s challenges. It must be terribly frustrating for you to be continually misquoted and your remarks mischaracterized by the leftists in the Democrat Party.

I know you love this country as much as I do, and that you’re hoping against hope that our new President does succeed in reversing our current economic situation. Unfortunately, we both know that won’t happen if President Obama is successful in passing his pork-laden stimulus bill, enacting new Socialist programs, and piling onerous new regulations motivated by inconclusive science onto our struggling industries.

So thanks again, Rush. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all you do to advance the cause of personal liberty in the United States.

God bless.

Please, send your message to Rush, too. They only need 2,400 more signatures!

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