Cozying up to Cuba

It's no secret that Obama wants to be embraced by his socialist and communist brethren. Since Cuba is close to home, and we have so many Cubans living in the US that would like to reconnect, his assumption that that is the place to test the waters.

After all, it stands to reason that this is where he can garner the most support. His stated objectives are to "recast" relations with the island nation, with whom we've kept in embargo status for the past 47 years.

There is good reason for that. When Fidel Castro decided to alienate his nation, remove freedoms, and oppress and starve his people, we took the high ground for moral reasons, not political ones.

Unfortunately, with Obama, ideology trumps human values.


And at the end of the day, this is Obama's fatal flaw, and it is tripping him up now. He came into office with very little experience on the state level and none on the national or global level. (Yes, he was in the senate, but he spent all that time campaigning for president.) In other words, an intellectual with no experience based in reality. Naive.

When he went on his worldwide "apology tour", bowing to Petro-tyrant kings and handing out iPods to the Queen, his assumption was that with enough kowtowing and abdicating his assumed title of Leader of the Free World, the rest of the globe's leaders would make nice with us.

But now he's starting to see that this is not how it works in the real world where political and economic reality is ruthless. His numbers are slipping into the sea, and no number of NYC fly-over pranks and beer summits will distract the American public from the fact that he is ill-prepared to lead the nation, and certainly not lead on a global level.

He is, as we say in Texas, "All hat and no cattle."

How Dangerous will North Korea Get?

North Korea's latest missile test is problematic to say the least. Them saying they're launching for a satellite program is like saying OJ Simpson wasn't guilty (the first time, not the looney-tunes act in Las Vegas).

North Korea has arguably one of the strangest societies in the world. It's like quirkiness going exponential. The caricature that is Kim Jong il is enough to boggle the mind. The public's worshiping of him makes the whole thing stranger. If that's possible.

What do they see in him? The inner Elvis?

The question in my mind is this, "How is Obama going to handle this?" He'll be expected to be a leader. But how will he react?

He's practically advocating demilitarization, at least out of one side of the mouth. The other side is committing more action in Afghanistan and maintaining a continued presence in Iraq.

He needs to get on the stick and light the fire beneath Korea. Tell them to cease and desist. It'll be humiliating if Barak pulls another bow-at-the-hip act, but this time with Kim "Elvis" Jong il instead of the Sheik.

Obama Appoints Yet Another Tax "Mistaker"

Being a tax avoider seems to be one of the most common traits of Obama's appointments. The latest "detail overlooker" is Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius.

Sebelius, who is the Governor of Kansas, and her husband, who is a federal magistrate judge, overlooked $7,040 in back taxes. Not just a single mistake either; they began overlooking details in 2005 and continued through 2007. Wow.

Now, I'm not trying to throw stones here; anybody can make a mistake. Some of theirs were ones that, well, I bet most of us make all the time. Especially it we're Governors and federal magistrate judges. Here's an interesting sampling of how this couple's finances went so wrong:

• Not keeping paperwork for three charitable deductions.
• Not enough documentation for various business expense deductions.
• They took mortgage interest deductions for payments they continued to make even after they sold the home. I hate it when I keep paying for a house somebody else owns! I could've had a V-8! Argg!
  

OK, I'm just wondering here. Now that the Democrats are in charge of the whole game now, and the people getting appointed and confirmed can't seem to pay their taxes, doesn't it seem logical that they might take a look at simplifying the federal tax code?

I mean, if these people are smart enough to be running the country and can't figure it out, what hope is there for us serfs?

Chavez Diggs in His Heels

Hugo Chavez, the barking chihuahua from Venezuela, claimed a victory by winning the right to run for that country's lead job for life. And the way he buys votes it will likely happen. Kind of like Fidel Castro's little brother.

In fact, at a recent rally, announced that he would accelerate “the construction of true socialism” in Venezuela. Really? Too slow for you, Hugo? He's already taken control of the nation's oil fields. It really boils down to thievery.

While it's true that Venezuela produces a huge quantity of petrochemicals, there is one issue; the crude drilled there is extremely sour, meaning that the sulfur content is very high. It takes special refining units to process it.

If we adopted the Pickens plan to use more natural gas, it would be possible to wean ourselves from Chavez and his red-shirted lackeys. What would that do to his Bolivarian revolution? Probably not stop it, but it might take a bit of wind out of his sails.




Whether we take this opportunity or not is largely in the hands of Obama and his Democrat majority. They are extremely anti-energy, but it's got to come from somewhere. Time will tell.