Dine and Dash

After a photo op with some troops (yesterday was flag day after all) at a DC BBQ joint - where Mr. Obama proposed using barbers to disseminate government information to help fathers raise their kids -- yeah, that doesn't make sense, but it happened -- The POTUS ran out the door sticking the troops with the tab.

Ironically - or to add sauce to this story - it's just after Mr. Obama had complained that his predecessor, W. had eaten a steak dinner and run off without paying.

“It’s like somebody goes to a restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, a martini and all that stuff, then just as you’re sitting down they leave and accuse you of running up the tab.”

Yeah, he said that the day before.

I guess he assumed the troops would 'get his back?'

This will be a Romney ad in 3...2...

Eurozone Analogy

From the BBC, this clip provides a great analogy that explains the Eurozone financial crisis from the beginning to the where where they are now.

 In order to simplify this extremely complicated situation John Finnemore uses an analogy of German's, Spaniard's and Greek's along with the rest of the EU players enjoying a fancy dinner out. 

 The problems start of course when the bill is presented.  Skip to 1:44

Walker Wins

Morry Gash/APWisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker (right) 
celebrates his win over Democratic challenger Tom Barrett 
at Tuesday night's victory party in Waukesha, Wis.

Dear Wisconsin Democrat friends, I've got some words to share with you. You probably already know what I'm going to say. I'm sure there are a lot of other people who have a mouth full ready to shove it into your ear canal. Let me patiently stand in line and give you a couple pointers. The rest of you might want to listen in, it affects you too -- you just don't know it yet.

First up, if you're going to do a recall, you better have a winner up against your incombent that you didn't beat in the previous election. Didn't you have a wrestler or a strongman to run? See also Arnold Schwarzenegger vs Gov. Gray Davis. So to drive the point further, it would have been wise not to run the same guy who lost in 2010 to your advisory against him again in the recall. It's why Gore didn't run against W in 2004. No, it was much wiser to run longfaced John Kerry....

Two - You really just hosed all of the Public Sector Unions. You've now validated Walker's approach, and you just did the exact opposite of what a Union is supposed to do - help the cause through solidarity. Well, maybe you helped the taxpayers by losing -- but you certainly didn't help your cause, nor your negotiating ability. You may have even brought forth the question of whether Unions will survive the rest of the 21st Century. Too far fetched? You and I won't be here to see Venus transit across the face of the sun again, and I somehow doubt your membership drive is going to see an uptick again in my lifetime as well.

Three - Expect concessions to start... across the nation. Even in Illinois, there was "talk" about austerity - don't worry, they didn't act on it. Heavens no. It's almost making me chuckle. No, but other states that handed out fat pension deals and free healthcare to State employees will soon be taking a pick axe to those promises. And then expect private Unions to start losing ground. Across the board. Yes, Wisconsin is going to be the first of the Dominios to fall. There are 49 right behind it.

Four - You just put Wisconsin in play for the General. Obama counted on the dark blueness of Wisconsin about as cavalierly as he did the Greece-like-State of Illinois that he hails from. That dark vein is now kind of pink. It's no longer a sure thing. Expect massive amounts of dollars and some presidential visits to Green Bay before November. I would even put the over/under of Obama wearing a Pack jersey before the General at about dead even. Nah, who am I kidding? You and I both know it'll be the Blaspheme's banner for November.

Five - If the primaries and the 'selection' of Mitt was like a bad fishing trip, that's all over now for the Conservatives. It's Disneyland now for the hardliners. Their "fringe guy", the one with the guts to try hard-core conservative governing - and created results, without raising taxes - and then survived an angry recall vote - just won. And won big. All the whining about the GOP needing to be more centrist will be silenced about ... hold on... now. George Will, quit whimpering. Okay. Now the platform has been presented. The path to success has been laid out for them. Now they have the precedent to step on it. And they will. And after a couple of careful tiptoes in wingtips, they'll have themselves an old fashioned ho-down.

Six - Big money in elections are here to stay. So much money poured into this election, most of it out-of-Wisconsin cash, and it got returns. Big lines at the ballot box, and big wins for the 'investors.' Actual results? An exact re-showing for the numbers (almost identical) from the 2010 governor's race. But I am impressed of the 85% participation, no matter how you voted.

Seven - If you wanted Walker to disappear, you blew it. Expect him to be running for President sooner than later. He'll be doing speeches at the NRA, the GOP convention, I'd even expect him to be running some kind of committee or fundraising entity before too long.  Now he's the Republican Superman. And you just created him.

Have a super day.

Surprised?

Forty-six percent of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form at one point within the past 10,000 years, according to a survey released by Gallup on Friday.

That number has remained unchanged for the past 30 years, since 1982, when Gallup first asked the question on creationism versus evolution. Thirty years ago, 44% of the people who responded said they believed that God created humans as we know them today - only a 2-point difference from 2012.

"Despite the many changes that have taken place in American society and culture over the past 30 years, including new discoveries in biological and social science, there has been virtually no sustained change in Americans' views of the origin of the human species since 1982," wrote Gallup's Frank Newport. "All in all, there is no evidence in this trend of a substantial movement toward a secular viewpoint on human origins."

The second most common view is that humans evolved with God's guidance - a view held by 32% of respondents. The view that humans evolved with no guidance from God was held by 15% of respondents.

Dan Merica-CNN

Forever Bush

Meanwhile, at the White House, George W. came back to have his presence become a permanent feature of the property.

The current government employee recounted how he and Bush met him for the first time, when he said "hehe, pull my finger." W. promptly declined to finish the story. 

 

"Dang, I wore the wrong suit..."