Massachusetts, Germany foreshadow failure of ObamaCare

The signs of course have already reared there ugly heads, such as this one: Hope and change: "The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away" from ObamaCare high risk pool. AP: ObamaCare may mean longer ER waits, crowding. And this one: ObamaCare: Doctors refusing new Medicare patients because of low government reimbursement setting a new high. Massachusetts in particular was in the news over the course of the ObamaCare debate because of its high cost and long lines. In fact, I have shown these videos several times before:

From the Wall Street Journal via memeorandum: The Massachusetts Health-Care ‘Train Wreck’

President Obama said earlier this year that the health-care bill that Congress passed three months ago is "essentially identical" to the Massachusetts universal coverage plan that then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law in 2006. No one but Mr. Romney disagrees.

As events are now unfolding, the Massachusetts plan couldn't be a more damning indictment of ObamaCare. The state's universal health-care prototype is growing more dysfunctional by the day, which is the inevitable result of a health system dominated by politics.

In the first good news in months, a state appeals board has reversed some of the price controls on the insurance industry that Gov. Deval Patrick imposed earlier this year. Late last month, the panel ruled that the action had no legal basis and ignored "economic realties."

In April, Mr. Patrick's insurance commissioner had rejected 235 of 274 premium increases state insurers had submitted for approval for individuals and small businesses. The carriers said these increases were necessary to cover their expected claims over the coming year, as underlying state health costs continue to rise at 8% annually. By inventing an arbitrary rate cap, the administration was in effect ordering the carriers to sell their products at a loss.

Mr. Patrick has promised to appeal the panel's decision and find some other reason to cap rates. Yet a raft of internal documents recently leaked to the press shows this squeeze play was opposed even within his own administration.

In an April message to his staff, Robert Dynan, a career insurance commissioner responsible for ensuring the solvency of state carriers, wrote that his superiors "implemented artificial price caps on HMO rates. The rates, by design, have no actuarial support. This action was taken against my objections and without including me in the conversation."

Read the rest (it's a very good read), but you get the point. The healthcare system isn't about healthcare anymore. It's about politics. Why in the world would anyone think that ObamaCare will be any different on the national level? In related news across the pond is this from Steve at motorcitytimes: A Glimpse of Our ObamaCare Future. Via Spiegel International:

Facing a projected shortfall of 11 billion euros for Germany’s health care system in 2011, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed on Tuesday to increase contributions. But the plan is a far cry from radical reform, leading to calls for the country’s health minister to resign.

Germany’s government has been arguing for months about how best to reform the country’s chronically indebted health care system. On Tuesday, leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition finally reach agreement.

The deal, presented by Health Minister Philipp Rösler — from Merkel’s junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats — calls for contributions to rise from 14.9 percent of employee income to 15.5. The contributions remain split 50-50 between workers and employers. In addition, additional charges demanded by insurers to eliminate shortfalls will no longer be capped at one percent of employee salaries.

...Rising costs have dogged Germany’s health care system for years, and multi-billion euro deficits have become the norm.

Artificial price controls do not contain cost. A bureaucrat saying that a $5 product is worth $2 doesn't make the product cost any less to produce. And if that producer is forced to sell it at a loss, it doesn't make any sense to make that product any more, does it now?

Blood money: Obama offering money to Kenya to approve a new constitution that would legalize abortion for the first time

Why of course he does! And he broke federal law to boot by lobbying other countries in regards to abortion. This is quite literally offering blood money to his homeland. Don't get on me by the way for calling Kenya his homeland. Blame Michelle (at 0:47 mark):

The most radical pro-abortion President in history is dangling taxpayer money at Kenya, money we don't have by the way. The condition? That Kenya starts butchering its children. From FoxNews:

The Obama administration is offering incentives to Kenya to approve a controversial new constitution that would legalize abortion for the first time, promising that passage will "allow money to flow" into the nation's coffers, including U.S. aid.

But there's a hitch to that pledge. A federal law known as the Siljander Amendment passed in 2006 makes it illegal for the U.S. government to lobby on abortion in other countries -- and three U.S. lawmakers say they want a federal investigation into the promises made by the administration.

How, exactly, is that going to happen as Obama's finger puppet Eric Holder is releasing black panthers for racial reasons?

...according to anti-abortion groups in and outside of Kenya, the constitution will cause harm to the nation by overturning its ban on abortion.
Article 26 of the proposed constitution states that abortion is allowed if "in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger or if permitted by any other written law."

The problem for some is how much that provision is left open to interpretation.

"There are parts of this constitution that violate human dignity," Rebecca Marchinda, director of advocacy for the human rights coalition World Youth Alliance, told FoxNews.com.

"A trained health professional could be anyone who has health training, including a student or a physical therapist," Marchinda said. "The provision is also broadly defined to include any kind of health, including psychological health or emotional health. Finally, this clause opens the way to create other laws that make abortion available on demand."

That's just sick. But such is the state of Obama's stunted, corrupted conscience. I keep harping on this, and will continue to do so as long as Obama is in office, but he is the most viciously pro-abort zealot to ever sit in the Oval Office did the following:

• signed an Executive Order opening up taxpayer funding for destroying embryos for research, even though the effort is moot (more here)
• directed the Department of HHS to overturn regulations that protected medical professionals from being forced to perform or refer for abortion (more here)
• second act in office was to authorize US dollars to fund abortions oversees (more here)
• voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (more here and here), thereby outright condoning infanticide (this was before he was elected President, but something that no one should forget). Not just once but 4 times!
• signed an Executive Order authorizing taxpayer funding for the destruction of human embryos for research and overturned a prior administration EO pressing for forms of stem cell research that wouldn't require embryo destruction. Even though destroying embryos is likely already moot at this point
  
• announced $50 million for the UNFPA, the UN population agency that has been criticized for promoting abortion and working closely with Chinese population control officials who use forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations.
• defunded all abstinence-only education, instead going with contraceptive-only education that is proven not to decrease pregnancy or abortion
• Signed a new budget including taxpayer-funded abortions in Washington D.C.
• Is having the Pentagon stock the morning after pill that prevents implantation of an embryo, which is an abortion in the earliest stages of life 
• Pushed through bribes and threat the ObamaCare bill that bypassed normal Congress procedure. It includes taxpayer abortion funding by subsidizing insurance plans that cover abortions.  
• Offered Kenya taxpayer dollars to approve a new constitution that would legalize abortion in that country for the first time

The multiple pro-infanticide votes are the most egregious of the above egregious acts:

And who can forget this ghoulish stump speech where Obama likened babies to STDs and called them a punishment:

"By their fruit you will recognize them." But don't question his faith:

Good News: National Education Association (NEA) wants to train teachers, “What would the profession look like if we, the union, actually controlled teacher training, induction and licensure, evaluation, and professional development?”

Good freaking grief. The NEA - the one entity that by itself is more responsible for decreasing quality of education than perhaps any other - now wants to train teachers to teach. From the Grand Rapids Press via MLive: Should the union play a role in teacher training? NEA president thinks so. The NEA doesn't care about teaching, it only cares about union dues from teachers.

National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel called for the union creating a Commission on Effective Teaching that he said would address “questions that have been avoided for far too long,” reports Education Week’s Stephen Sawchuk.

The union’s national convention is in New Orleans this weekend, and Grand Rapids Education Association President Paul Helder is tweeting that dramatic things are in the works, such as a potential no confidence vote in national Race to the Top plans.

Sawchuk reports that Van Roekel called for the commission at near the end of his keynote address, which also included some criticism of President Obama.

“What would the profession look like if we, the union, actually controlled teacher training, induction and licensure, evaluation, and professional development?” Sawchuk quotes Van Roekel.

Kind of like this if I don't miss my guess:

Apparently, the union wants to preempt a national debate as to how best to evaluate teachers, one they see as inevitable. But the NEA is a labor union that fights for wages and benefits. It uses education as an excuse for outlandish demands at the bargaining table, but when you get down to it, the union itself has no educational understanding nor is it meant to. The NEA getting involved in teachers qualification will put them in denial of the lack of educational quality just like they are now in denial of fiscal limits on their demands. This is like BP wanting to police itself.

Media blackout on NASA mission to explore Muslims' Uranus

With such a mountain of evidence, it's hard to figure out what 'exhibit A' is of liberal media bias. Plenty of candidates to choose from, including this story that the media elites have blacklisted. As I have said many times on this blog, liberal media bias can be seen in how they report news, but the biggest chunk of bias is what they choose not to report, and that is far harder for the average Joe to see because... well, there's nothing to see. Thank goodness for the internets. A couple of days ago I wrote a post regarding NASA's chief Charles Bolden who in no uncertain terms said that NASA's 'foremost' mission, by order of Obama, is to seek out Muslims and tell them that 'NASA will explore Uranus' - with puckered lips and all:

You can see the whole interview at my former post: Mission creep: Obama’s new mission for NASA is to reach out to Muslim world. So you would think the MSM would report on a huge bombshell like that one, right? Check this out from Byron York via Instapundit: The NASA (non) feeding frenzy

From a Nexis search a few moments ago:
Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the New York Times: 0.
Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the Washington Post: 0.
Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on NBC Nightly News: 0.
Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on ABC World News: 0.
Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on CBS Evening News: 0.

If you were to receive your news from any one of these outlets, or even all of them together, and you heard about some sort of controversy involving the Obama administration redefining the space agency’s mission to feature outreach to Muslim countries, your response would be, “Huh?”  Among all the news these distinguished outlets have seen fit to cover in recent days, the NASA story has not made the cut.

I check at The Detroit Free Press, a bastion of liberalism in the Midwest. The last story they ran on NASA was June 11, almost a full month ago. Not a single word on the current story that can only be described as scandalous. Does anyone out there think that if Bush had NASA's foremost mission to be one of reaching out to Christians that the MSM would bury it? By the way, a former NASA astronaut was incensed at the new mission:

Previously:
Mission creep: Obama’s new mission for NASA is to reach out to Muslim world
Video: No Nasa employees were allowed at the President’s Nasa Speech
New Missile Defense Logo A Mix Of Obama 'O' Logo And Muslim Crescent
Mission creep: NASA, by order of Obama, plans more outreach to Muslim countries

Good news: Michigan school district effectively bans white teachers from being hired

UPDATE: On second thought, it is interesting that liberals want to beat conservatives over the head with a legal shovel when it suits their purposes. But when the law is against their ideological goals, they flip it the finger. The handgun ban recently passed in Chicago comes to mind right after the Supreme Court upheld the 2nd amendment. This case of discrimination in violation of the Michigan Constitution and the equal protection clause of the US Constitution are 2 really good examples of that mentality. ****

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. - SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts

Somewhere out in cyberspace, I can hear Glenn Reynolds saying "they told me if I voted for McCain, racism would be the order of the day. And they were right!" Isn't it interesting that the same people that have been gnashing their teeth and wringing their wrists over the Arizona law because of racial profiling concerns are the same ones that of racial preferences in college admissions and government hiring say 'you can have my racial discrimination when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!'? I have often said in this blog that liberal positions are not based on reason, but rather feelings. Without reason, one tends to have diametrically opposing viewpoints on issues at the same time that can not be reconciled. Abortion of the innocent yes but capital punishment for the guilty no. Racial profiling is in the same league. Take for example the Plymouth-Canton school district here in Southeatern Michigan. From The Detroit News (HT: Jennifer Gratz on FB):

...A recent directive in the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools urges administrators to scan resumes for "cues" that applicants are from a minority racial group. Tip-offs can include job-seekers' residence, college attendance, fraternity or church membership and employment history.

Nearly a quarter of Plymouth-Canton's nearly 19,000 students are minorities, compared with less than 3 percent of its educational staff. District officials say they want to close that gap while hiring the most-qualified candidates.

Why do these diversiphiles insist that if 25% of the student population is minority (black? hispanic? asian?) that the teacher population needs to mirror that percentage? And why limit it to the district and not apply it to individual schools? Or down to the classroom?  If the teacher population were 50% minority, do you think they would be trying to fire half the minority teachers? And why don't these diversifiles apply this 'proportional representation' theory to sports? Why not tell the NBA that since the US population is only 12% black that only 1 black guy can be on the floor at any one time between the 2 teams playing?  As stupid as that sounds, and it should, that is exactly the 'logic' that they are using. Yet diversiphiles like Ann Marie Hudak - chairwoman of the Plymouth-Canton Citizens for Diversity and Inclusion - are pushing skin pigmentation diversity rather than quality education:

"Our teaching population should reflect the student population, because, based on statistics, kids who see themselves reflected in teachers tend to score higher on tests, and it's important for our children."

Why doesn't the school district discriminate on the basis of ideology? Based on the voting record of the district, why aren't teachers hired for being of a certain ideology based on how the districts votes? Or on eye color? Or on height and weight? Why the obsession with just skin pigmentation? The Michigan Education Association (MEA) supports the racial discrimination. Natch. I should point out that Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) back in 2006 (called proposal 2 on the ballot) that was supposed to have removed any discrimination in the public square based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, etc. That included the so-called affirmative discrimination action programs in public schools and universities and in hiring. Apparently, it didn't quite turn out that way in Plymout-Canton. But at least not all school districts are on the skin pigmentation diversiphile bandwagon:

Bob Freehan, a district spokesman, says the Warren schools have no plans to use race as a factor in hiring.

"The system we use for hiring doesn't look at the cultural background," Freehan said. "We look for teachers who are student-focused and curriculum-focused."

As it should be. I did my schooling as a kid through Warren Consolidated, so thumbs up to my alma mater school district! Exit question: shouldn't a prosecutor be looking at charges against the leaders of this school district since they are plainly violating state law?

UPDATE: Linked by Instapundit! Thank you!

Previously:
Ann Arbor elementary school bans white students from field trip, principal defends discrimination - Part 2
Ann Arbor elementary school bans white students from field trip, principal defends discrimination
Cal School District Segregating Students By Race! Call it "Heritage Assemblies"
"Disproportionate Representation" in Special Ed?
Teaching racism

Video of the Black Panther that Obama let loose: "you want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies"

I've written several times regarding the black panthers that were intimidating voters being let off the hook by Obama's finger puppet Eric Holder, a decision that a DoJ lawyer that quite say was motivated by race:

Behold one of the black panthers that was released in the case, publicly calling for killing whiote people and their babies (via BreitbartTV):

According to this report, there is even more support coming out of the woodwork for the former DoJ lawyer that is blowing the lid off of the corruption around this case: BREAKING: Former DOJ Officials Stepping Forward to Support J. Christian Adams (Updated)

Former DOJ employees want to go on record praising Adams' outstanding work record, and — pay attention, DOJ press liaisons — maybe corroborate Adams' charges about DOJ hostility to race-neutral law enforcement.

Eric Holder took an oath to uphold the rule of law. He either broke that oath and should be fired, or he didn't take it seriously and should quit. Here's one more vid of Bill O'Reilly talking about the black panther case:

UPDATE: Via Instapundit:

DON SURBER ON THE NEW BLACK PANTHER CASE: “This is a case of prosecutorial privilege and abuse. The Department of Justice reviewed it and decided it had no case, because it did not want to prosecute an ally of the president. That is the real reason this case was not pursued.”

UPDATE: DOJ Official: “We abetted wrongdoing and abandoned law-abiding citizens.”

Previously:
Racism: Former Justice Department Lawyer Accuses AG Eric Holder of Dropping Black Panther Case for Racial Reasons
Obama Justice Department Drops Complaint Against Black Panthers Who Blocked Polls, Wielded Weapons - Part 2
Obama Justice Department Drops Complaint Against Black Panthers Who Blocked Polls, Wielded Weapons

Of course: Obama to bypass Senate, will use recess appointment for Donald Berwick who said it's "Not Whether or Not We Will Ration Care--The Decision is Whether We Will Ration Care With Our Eyes Open"

Berwick believes that only a healthcare system that redistributes wealth is 'fair:'

Obama is once again using the recess appointment to install a radical that would likely not make it past public Senate confirmation hearings. Earlier this year he appointed the radical SEIU puppet Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. From the AP via The Detroit News: President to bypass Senate to fill Medicare post

President Barack Obama intends to use the congressional recess to bypass the Senate and appoint Dr. Donald Berwick, an expert on patient care who has drawn fire from the GOP, to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, the White House announced late Tuesday.

The appointment was to be made today, with lawmakers out of town for their annual July Fourth break, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in a post on the White House blog.

The decision means Berwick can assume the post of administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services without undergoing confirmation hearings in the Senate. Republicans have indicated they're prepared to oppose him over comments he has made on rationing of medical care and other matters. Democrats want to avoid a nasty confirmation fight that could reopen the health care debate.

Unbeknown to Democrats, the debate over ObamaCare hasn't stopped in the public square. It will be front and center on November 2nd this year. Berwick, the so-called "expert on patient care" is actually and expert on a patient's lack of care. As in rationing. I wrote about him back in March of this year. From that prior post:

President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs Medicare, is a strong supporter of the government-run health care system in Britain, who said in a 2009 interview about Comparative Effectiveness Research: “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care--the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”

The $787-billion stimulus law signed by President Obama created a Federal Coordinating Coucil for Comparative (Effectiveness) research in health care that some critics argue was a step toward rationing of heatlh care in the United States. 

A step towards rationing? It is the very foundation of rationing! Comparative effectiveness takes only 2 factors into account when deciding to give a thumbs up or down (just like the Caesars did centuries ago in the Colosseum): 1) your age, and 2) the cost. It's called comparative effectiveness and is the lynch pin of the rationing that will be handed out by a group of bureaucrats given great power over all decisions medical that will essentially put them between you and your doctor. Obama's fidelity-challenged budget director Peter Orszag spilled the beans recently on what are essentially death panels:

Obama's rationing czar, Ezekiel Emanuel, was involved in this ghoulish graph that speaks far more than 1,000 words:

More from CNS News:

In choosing Berwick, the Obama administration is implicitly admitting that the health care law passed by the Democrats in March will lead to the rationing of health care, said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in a May 19 press release.

Concerning Berwick’s 2009 comment about the rationing of health care, the White House released a statement to several news organizations in which spokesman Reid Cherlin said the following

“No one is surprised that Republicans plan to use this confirmation process to trot out the same arguments and scare tactics they hoped would block health insurance reform. The fact is, rationing is rampant in the system today, as insurers make arbitrary decisions about who can get the care they need. Don Berwick wants to see a system in which those decisions are transparent– and that the people who make them are held accountable.”

There's only one problem with the liberals trotting out the red herring. If you don't like your insurance company, you have the freedom to change it. Or if you're stuck with it you can sue. Good luck doing any such thing when the federal government is behind the effort enforced by the IRS. As for Cherlin's statement, can we now coin a new term: "transparent rationing?" Obama is also using a recess appointment for a Wall Street fat cat: Obama skips Senate on pension pick

UPDATE: From The Hill: Dem Baucus joins GOP in blasting Obama CMS recess appointment

Terrorist enabling CAIR supports arrest of Christians in Dearborn

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has come out in support of Christians arrested outside a Muslim festival in Dearborn, MI for exercising their free speech rights on public sidewalks. For those that have been living under a rock (preferable to Detroit but anyway), here is background video from Answering Muslims:

From The Detroit News:

Officials with the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said they support the Dearborn police in their decision to arrest the men, who were passing out Christian missionary literature. In a statement, CAIR said the group did not play by the rules of the festival, which require religious groups to pass out their materials at a paid booth or outside of the festival area.

Uh - they were outside the festival area! On a public sidewalk. And still got arrested. What of their 1st amendment rights to free speech. In fact, since they were recording the even, what  of their first amendment right to freedom of the press? At least one state legislator has come out publicly against the arrests, and that happens to be my very own State Rep Tom McMillan of the 45th District:

State Rep. Tom McMillin is asking the Attorney General's Office to investigate an incident involving four Christian missionaries who were arrested at the Arab International Festival in Dearborn after talking to festivalgoers about religion.

The foursome was arrested June 18 for disorderly conduct.

"Both the Constitution of Michigan and the United States guarantee the right of every person to enjoy free speech and practice their religion freely, just as these men were doing," McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, said. "Those rights can't be just pushed aside for political correctness or to accommodate certain circumstances or locations."

Or to accommodate Sharia law. Keep in mind that Dearborn - aka Dearbornistan, in Wayne County, Michigan, is the 2nd largest Muslim population outside of the middle east. Recently, via Adreinne's Catholic Corner, a Christian volunteer coach was fired for allegedly exposing Muslim students to Christianity, and a lawsuit is still pending in the case. A judge was also facing a lawsuit for ordering a Muslim woman to remove her headscarf until it was fortunately dismissed. In addition, last year Christians were attacked in Dearbornistan by Muslims. Via Doug Ross @Journal:

Arab-American students at Dearborn's Edsel High School also made t-shirts glorifying the 911 terrorist attack.

It's official: Obama sues over Ariz. immigration law that just holds up federal law that Obama doesn't want to enforce

2 days ago, we celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence that amongst other issued listed this one as a reason to tell King George to go pound sand (via moonbattery):

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. -- United States Declaration of Independence

Does that not perfectly describe our community organizer-in-chief? Now that Obama will sue Arizona through his finger-puppet Eric Holder at the Department of Justice, it will be front and center during the midterm elections. A significant majority of Americans support Arizona's law. Could he have shot his agenda in the foot? Maybe not as the Dems seek to go into mad duck mode during the lame duck session. From The Politico via memeorandum: DoJ sues over Ariz. immigration law

The federal government filed a lawsuit Tuesday aimed at blocking a controversial Arizona law that instructs local police and sheriffs to question and arrest anyone whom they suspect is in the country illegally.

Uh - that's not true and the Politico knows it. Suspects can only be questioned if police are engaged with them in another matters such as suspicion in a crime, traffic violation, etc. The law also explicitly prohibits racial profiling.

The Justice Department lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, argues that the new state law violates the U.S. Constitution by usurping federal authority over immigration policy, traditionally the jurisdiction of the federal government.

The Arizona law simply enforces federal statutes that are far tougher on illegals than the Arizona law is. Enforcing federal statutes is not unconstitutional. Making up you own immigration laws is since Article 1 Section 8 explicitly puts immigration in the federal arena. Thus Arizona isn't doing anything wrong.

“Setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility,” Holder said. “Seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it solves.”

The long-awaited legal salvo from federal authorities comes about three weeks before the Arizona legislation, described as the toughest in the nation, goes into force on July 29. If the law is enacted, it will “conflict with and undermine the federal government’s careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives,” the Justice Department’s legal complaint said.

...While the federal government “welcomes cooperative efforts by states and localities” to actively enforce the nation’s immigration laws, the Constitution “forbids Arizona from supplanting the federal government’s immigration regime with its own state-specific immigration policy,” the Justice Department suit said.

Again, Arizona is not usurping the law but simply enforcing it. They have that right. Holder also implied that we need comprehensive immigration reform. We do not. We just need the federal government to do the job we pay them to do. They won't. For the record, Bob isn't happy about today's news:

UPDATE: From FoxNews: Illegal Immigration Costs U.S. $113 Billion a Year, Study Finds

Chicago Sun-Times: We elected Obama--what were we thinking?

Here's an excerpt from the Chicago Sun Times:

...the people of Illinois -- that would be us -- elected a narcissistic goof of a President who was all show and no substance.

The man was an empty suit, albeit a $5,000 custom-made Oxxford empty suit.

...he disparaged and largely ignored the actual business of governing.

It is a lesson we hope to remember (OK, yeah, we endorsed Sen. Obama) ...

Character counts before all else. Real accomplishments count.

And all else, if there is anything else, comes third.

The most stunning revelation of the Obama Presidency so far is not that he may be a crook ... It's how utterly lacking he was in good sense and commitment to the public good.

Replace Obama with Blagojevich (and a coupe of other words) above and you get what the Sun-Times really wrote about. But what's the difference? Interchanging one Chicago thug for another seems just as believable. Obama is a narcissistic goof who is all show but no substance. He is an empty suit. He seems to be more into being President than actually doing anything Presidential, shirking his duties in matters like the deficit and the Gulf oil spill. And he is utterly lacking in any good sense and commitment to the good of America. Quite the opposite as he seems hell-bent on destroying America as fast as possible to then remake it in his own image - an image diametrically opposed to what the Founding Fathers gave us. The Chicago Sun-Times may want to examine their endorsement of Obama as they lament their endorsement of Blago, especially since they want "no more craven self-serving lightweights." Uh guys - Obama?

Detroit Free Press: GOP efforts to tackle the deficit is making Americans victims or something

"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. . . . After eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. . . . And an enormous debt to boot!" - Henry Morgenthau, Roosevelt's own Treasury secretary, 1939

You see, when people collect 50 weeks of other people's money, and they want 99 weeks and can't get it, that makes them victims. Victims are those subject to oppression, to mistreatment, injured. Apparently from the freep's point of view, that's what you are when you can't get a hold of 99 weeks of other people's money. That's pretty warped, but that's what I've come to expect from the Detroit Free Press, a continued bastion of liberalism despite continued losses of readership. The freep is playing the hypocrisy card today, blaming the GOP for not wanting deficit spending:

This is a party that inherited a $230-billion annual surplus when it took control of the White House and both houses of Congress in 2000, but blew it on two wars and big tax cuts. Where were the GOP leaders now decrying the growth of deficit spending when the beneficiaries were those in higher tax brackets? President Barack Obama inherited a budget that was $400 billion in the red.

The freep is partly right - Bush left a $400 billion deficit. What they fail to mention is that Congress makes budgets, not the President, and that Congress the last 2 years under Bush was under Democrat control. The FY 2007 federal budget - the last one put together by Republicans - was $2.7 trillion. Since Pelosi and Reid took over the federal budget is at $3.8 trillion. The deficit is entirely comprised of new Democrat spending since 2007. And as bad as a $400 billion deficit sounds, it is absolutely puny compared to what has happened since Obama took office:

It's makes the Bush years look quite fiscally conservative by comparison. In fact, Obama did more deficit spending in his first 421 days in office than Bush did in more than 4 years! So the freep can spare me their feigned moral indignation at what Bush supposedly left. But even worse, they are blaming Republicans for not extending unemployment benefits and other goodies with money that doesn't exist. The House is run by a large majority of Democrats. The Senate is run by a large majority of Democrats. The executive branch is entirely run by Democrats. You can see the problem for Democrats here, right? It's not just Republicans opposition to spending that is not itself paid for, but Democrat opposition as well. The freep might want to check out who's in charge of the government, and who's getting cold feet about news spending. Their referencing Paul Krugman as to why more money needs to be spent adding to a staggering deficit is, to say the least, unimpressive.

CNN Editor Mourned Death of Hezbollah's Spiritual Leader On Independence Day

A recent Gallup poll revealed that Conservatives Are 2 1/2 Times as Likely as Liberals to Be Strongly Patriotic. I also asked this question yesterday on the 234th birthday of our nation when we demanded our independence: On this 4th of July, I am asking myself why liberals celebrate independence from the British at all since they now want to be just like them. Some liberals didn't even bother. Case in point, CNN senior editor of Middle East affairs Octavia Nasr. From the Weekly Standard via memeorandum:

How did CNN senior editor of Middle East affairs Octavia Nasr celebrate July 4? By mourning the passing of Hezbollah's Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. Here's what the CNN editor posted on her Twitter account:

Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot..#Lebanon

Fadlallah "famously justified suicide bombings," as the New York Times recalls in its obituary for him:

In a 2002 interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, he was quoted as saying of the Palestinians: “They have had their land stolen, their families killed, their homes destroyed, and the Israelis are using weapons, such as the F16 aircraft, which are meant only for major wars. There is no other way for the Palestinians to push back those mountains, apart from martyrdom operations.”

The Times also reports in its obit that Fadlallah is believed to be responsible for the killing of 241 U.S. Marines during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings:

Western intelligence services, however, held the ayatollah responsible for attacks against Western targets, including the 1983 bombings of two barracks in Beirut in which 241 United States Marines and 58 French paratroopers were killed....The administration of President Bill Clinton froze the ayatollah’s assets in 1995 because of his suspected involvement with terrorists. And in 2006, Israel bombed his house in south Beirut, but he was not there at the time.

In 2008, Fadlallah said on Palestinian TV that "Zionism has inflated the number of victims in this Holocaust beyond imagination."

You wonder how libs like Nasr celebrate Memorial Day. Or Thanksgiving. Or Christmas for that mater.

Leonard Pitts Jr: Getting on an airplane is a fundamental human right just like slavery issue, and it's being taken away by... George W Bush!

According to Leonard Pitts Jr, a favored mouthpiece of the Democrat party and the liberal movement, not being able to get on an airplane is equivalent to having shackles on your ankles and told to pick cotton. You may be thinking I'm exaggerating. You would be wrong. Check this out in Pitts' diatribe against no-fly lists that, as usual, the Detroit Free Press picks up:

It calls to mind a poignant scene from history. When the Civil War ended 145 years ago and slaves were told they were free, many struggled to define the word. In candlelit meetings in barns and bogs, they debated it. What does freedom mean? How do you know you are free?

And many decided that if freedom meant anything, it meant they could move around without permission or pass. So they tested it. They walked away. They walked across towns, across states, across country. That was, they decided, the fundamental definition of freedom: It meant that you could go.

And today... you can still walk around any town or state. Boarding a commercial airliner with a firecracker up your butt is another matter entirely. So who's fault is it of this slave-like oppression of people that simply want to board a private product? The guy thats been gone for almost 2 years now:

Of all the insults to personal liberty imposed by George W. Bush's War on Civil Rights, this is in some ways the most profound. And it is fitting, as we marked the 234th anniversary of American freedom, that the ACLU lawsuit forces us to ponder a fundamental question: What sort of freedom is this?

A War on Civil Rights? In caps? What insults have been imposed by Bush? What freedoms have been curtailed, exactly? Since Pitts brings up the 234th anniversary of American freedom (actually it was the 234th anniversary of Declaration of Independence, hence Independence Day, something that didn't come to fruition until after much blood was shed), I'll remind him that fundamental unalienable rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights are bestowed on us by The Creator, a notion that Pitts rejects. Fact is, Pitts is a rabid pro-abort (but anti-death penalty). He thus doesn't really believe in the most fundamental unalienable right - life. Nor does he believe in liberty because he's a 100% supporter of ObamaCare that will force every citizen under penalty of fines and imprisonment to purchase a private product, something never before done in the history of this country. That Mr Pitts, is slavery - slavery to the state.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a writer for the Miami Herald of the McClatchy Newspapers, which have incidentally been caught feeding its readers propaganda printouts from the Communist government's Cuban NewsAgency (ACN) and passing them off as legitimate news. He also writes articles with facts spoon-fed him by radical left-wing special-interest groups. Pitts has accused Christians of being like Nazis, but then turned around a few columns later and used the Bible to push ObamaCare. He didn't learn the lesson of irony, or hypocrisy, and has doubled down on biblical passages when they suit his views. He thinks the gay agenda is equivalent to the issue of slavery, is pro-abortion but anti-death penalty, yet falsely blasted Republicans for not helping babies in Haiti after the earthquake. He recently smeared the entire tea party movement as racist without a shred of evidence, and plenty of evidence to the contrary. I could go on and on, but the man is a loon and a contradiction within a contradiction. He will use both sides of any argument, any disaster, anything at all, to blast conservatives and push his leftist views. He is bereft of logic or reason. The Detroit Free Press, unfortunately, continues to give this hate-monger a microphone along with monetary compensation to publish his leftist diatribes.

Previously on Pitts:
Leonard Pitts Jr brings teh stupid: claims limited government proponents cannot ask for federal assistance in federal issues
Leonard Pitts Jr: all white children "soiled by the prejudices that stain their elders"
Leonard Pitts Jr, heal thyself -- of hypocrisy
Leonard Pitts Jr: Arizona immigrtion law makes it like Poland under Nazi occupation or something
Leonard Pitts Jr: The 21st century is going to be totally gay or something
Despite evidence to the contrary, Leonard Pitts Jr repeats lie that tea party movement is racist because of DC incident that didn't happen
Leonard Pitts Jr: Don't give into GOP fear-mongering or You. Will. All. DIE!
Leonard Pitts Jr: Tea Partiers are raaaaacist and need to go to the back of the bus
Leonard Pitts Jr Likens Obama Gesture To One Made By GOD!
Pro-abort Leonard Pitts: Conservatives Don't Have A Conscience Because They're Not Helping Babies In Haiti Or Something
Pro-Abort Leonard Pitts Jr, staunch opponent of death penalty, conflicted on execution of terrorist DC sniper John Allen Muhammad
Leonard Pitts Jr compared Christians to Nazis, now invokes The Bible to push heathcare, likens "lies" to terrorism
Leonard Pitts Jr: Townhall Protesters Are Racists Because A Black Man Brought A Gun To A Rally Or Something
Leonard Pitts Jr: Obama Policies Not Like Nazis Because Nazis Killed Babies And Obama Would Never Do That Or Something
Video: Black Cambridge Police Officer: "I voted for Obama, will not vote for him again"
National Black Republican Association calls on Democrat Party to apologize for racism
What Does The Media Do When Dems Get In Trouble? Bash Bush!!!
Pitts in the Free Press: Gay Marriage is Like Civil Right Movement, Slavery or something
Pitts Jr. In The Detroit Free Press - Christians Are Like Nazis Or Something
Journalistic Integrity In The Pitts

Proof #91,659 that the Detroit Free Press is Biased

Rush Derangement Syndrome - Free Press Edition

Democrats Launch Petition Against Rush Limbaugh

Dana Milbank: Criticizing Elena Kagan's activist judge mentor like criticizing 'Mother Teresa and Gandhi'

The activist judge mentor to Elena Kagan was liberal hero Thurgood Marshall, who saw the Constitution as flawed and made it clear that the Constitution was to follow his rulings, not the other way around. Republicans brought up Marchall last week at Kagan's hearings she she clerked for him. The Washington Post's Dana Milbank didn't take kindly to having his hero questioned: Kagan may get confirmed, but Thurgood Marshall can forget it. First of all, Milbank says that Marshall is a bona fide saint:

The guy is a saint -- literally. Marshall this spring was added to the Episcopal Church's list of "Holy Women and Holy Men," which the Episcopal Diocese of New York says "is akin to being granted sainthood."

The Episopal Church is an utterly corrupted denomination that believes abortion is a blessing from God. I kid you not! See my post on that here: Dean of Episcopal Divinity School: "Abortion is a Blessing". Conferring anyone a Saint by this group is akin to the KKK designating someone a civil rights leader. Only to liberals like Milbank does this hold any weight whatsoever. And what would an article by Milbanks be without him pointing out that you really can't criticize Marshall because he's the first black SCOTUS justice, which is pretty much in line with the WaPo's assertion that you can't criticize the first black President either lest they call you racist:

Did Republicans think it would help their cause to criticize the first African American on the Supreme Court, a revered figure who has been celebrated with an airport, a postage stamp and a Broadway show?

It wasn't of course an attack on Marshall personally, but rather an attack of his judicial activism. But midway through the article is where Milbank went off the rails:

With Kagan's confirmation hearings expected to last most of the week, Republicans may still have time to make cases against Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Gandhi.

Because Thurgood Marchall - adamant supported of the murder of the unborn - was so much like leading religious figures. Marshall, as well as being an abortion supporter, also considered the death penalty unconstitutional. Of course, as with judicial activists, he ignores the constitutionality of the death penalty in the 5th amendment to the Constitution that contains the due process clause which reads in part "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." That part clearly implies that one can be deprived of life after due process. End of story, right? Never for judicial activists. Thus, certainly not for Kagan. No man is above the US Constitution. We live in a Republic under the rule of law, not the tyranny of the robe. Kagan is not qualified to sit on any bench whatsoever. 

Flint, MI Sees The Passing Of The 26th Anniversary Of Auto World Fiasco

Hard to believe that it's been 26 years already. What a disaster that was. What's even worse is the Flint auto disaster, but more on that later. Last year The Detroit News noticed the silver anniversary: It's 25th anniversary of Flint's Auto World fizzle.

The city of Flint has long been a symbol of America's industrial decline. It also has never quite gotten over the self-inflicted black eye called AutoWorld.

The indoor theme park opened on Independence Day 1984 amid marching bands, speeches from politicians and fireworks. AutoWorld closed just six months later, far short of its attendance goals, and opened afterward only for holidays and special events.

It was demolished in 1997. The 24-acre site is mostly vacant except for a University of Michigan-Flint building named after William S. White, president of the Charles S. Mott Foundation -- which lost more than $50 million on AutoWorld.

White tells The Flint Journal he had doubts about the park's chances of success, but civic and business leaders pressed ahead because they were "sold on this dream."

Civic leaders, eh? And what dream was that? A celebration of failure? Yeah - that'll attract a lot of people. Here's the thing, though. Flint didn't have to remain a failed city. Toyota (and Nissan for that matter) wanted to build a plant in Flint, Michigan after the Buick plants were closed but were not allowed to by the UAW. The UAW wanted union control and drove both Toyota and Nissan out of town before they even established their presence. Had this been a right-to-work state, rather than the forced unionization type, Flint might not be a symbol of misery today. Thanks UAW! Commercials shown at Auto World back in the day:

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

John Dingell: The Filibuster is "undemocratic." And HE'S RIGHT! - Part 2

John Dingell is right - the filibuster is undemocratic. So is our system for convicting someone of a crime. So is the amendment process to our Constitution. So is, in fact, the US Constitution and, as many of us celebrated yesterday, the Declaration of Independence. When I wrote my first post on Dingell (Part 1), there was no available video of Dingell's assertion. That has changed:

For the record, we live in a REPUBLIC, not a DEMOCRACY. A pure Democracy can do whatever it wants if 50%+1 want it. In a Republic, the rule of law overrides what even a majority want. It is the law (the US Constitution) that matters. The Founding Fathers did not want majoritarian rule here in the US. What they envisioned is summed up nicely in this YouTube video that I reference often:

Linkaround 7-5-2010

Independence Day:

HotAir: 1300 words that shook the world
Creative Minority Report: The 4th of July and Happy Endings
Gateway Punidit: Planned Parenthood Celebrates Independence Day By Pushing For Military Base Abortions
No Sheeples Here!: One Nation Under God
Villainous Company: The Declaration of Independence, Deconstructed
American Power: 'You Got to Make People Understand That There Are Certain Principles and Values Upon Which This Great Country Was Established'

Kim Priestap:  Happy birthday, America!
Dan Riehl: Happy Independence Day 
Cynical Synapse: Independence Day—What It Really Means
Dewey from Detroit: Happy Birthday America!
Hall of Record: Declaration Of Independence - Item 2
Lola Sez: Happy Fourth of July!!   
Paco Enterprises: Happy 4th of July!

It's the economy, stupid!:

Ace of Spades: The media finally uses the dreaded "D" word
Doug Ross: What's the definition of insanity again?
Gabriel Malor: ObamaCare Ties Cement Shoes to the U.S. Economy. "White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson."
Big Government: Obama Says Stimulus Worked, Created Jobs… Here’s a Reminder of the Waste

• $5 million to create a geothermal energy system for a shopping mall in Tennessee. The mall is over half empty of tenants and has had falling shopper attendance for years *
• $1.57 million to Penn State University study fossils in Argentina *
• $100,000 to a puppet theater in Minnesota *
• $2 million to build a replica railroad tourist trap in Carson City, Nev. *
• A boat cruise company in Chicago got almost $1 million to “combat terrorism” *
• $500,000 went to Ariz. State Univ. to study ant genetics *
• Another $450,000 went to Uinv. of Arizona to study ants *
• Almost $400,000 went to Univ. of New York to pay students to drink beer and smoke marijuana for a study there *
• $219,000 to the Nat’l Institute of Health to study if young people “hook-up” after getting drunk *
• $210,000 to the Univ. of Hawaii to study bees *
• $700,000 to crab fishermen in Oregon to pay for lost crab pots *
• $5,000 a person tax rebate if you buy a new electric golf cart (Wall Street Journal)
• Up to $1 million went to prisoners in $250 stimulus checks (FoxNews)
• $54 mil to a New York Indian tribe to run its casino (New York Post)
• $1 billion for a power plant in Mattoon, Illinois that is based on speculative science and may not even work **
• $15 million to back-road bridges that get little traffic in Wisconsin **
• $800,000 for a practically unused airport in Pennsylvania **
• $3.4 million for an animal walk way under a road in Florida **
• $1.15 million to install a guard rail for a lake that doesn’t even exist in Oklahoma **
• $10 million to renovate a rail station that has stood unused for a decade **
• $578,000 to battle homelessness in Union, New York even though the town says they have no homeless people there **

Doug Ross: 'Obama has created a wasteland of economic ruin and depression that looks much like... Mad Max'
The Rhetorican: Want to See Obamanomics In Action?
Sundries Shack: Wealth Does Not Come From the Wealth Faeries (Trog say that Jimmie is wise)
Verum Serum: Left Party Changes Name to “Welfare Party” (in Sweden). Truth in advertising!

Media matters:

Ace of Spades: Obama, Designated Hero. "Note the headline: "Obama v BP". The hero is alone, but not giving up. See his lowered head, his obvious heartache as he turns half-away from the sight of the offshore rig. Don't miss his rolled-up sleeves, his arms akimbo. The hero's not done yet. Needless to say, the accompanying article is vomit-worthy."
Gateway Pundit: It Begins. Team Obama Now Strong-Arming Outspoken Politicians & Detaining Reporters Near Oil Spill
Legal Insurrection: What Passes For Praise of Conservatives At WaPo
Dan Riehl: Big Peace: The July 4th Happy Birthday to America Launch!

Miscellaneous:

A Conservative Teacher: President Obama Defends Slavery? "President Barack Obama said something pretty darn surprising in a speech recently. He said "(?) have been the labor force of our farmers and agricultural producers for generations. So even if it was possible, a program of mass (?) would disrupt our economy and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable.""
motorcitytimes: Green Energy Failure: Windmills, Solar Panels and Hydro Project Can’t Reliably Provide Power For 87 People
Nice Deb: Video: John Boehner Hits Back

Wade's Conservative World: Scaling Back the Fed Way Overdue   
American Thinker:  My Shaky Government Pensions. "My very sustenance during my retirement arrives via the government, acting in a role that I believe is improper. Ugh!"

Don Surber: Judges: Mr. Obama, no you can’t. "During the presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama said we needed a Manhattan Project to develop an alternative energy form. We already had one in the 1940s. We called it the Manhattan Project." Heh.

The Other McCain: Worst Side Effect of Recession? Endless Plague of Perpetual Grad Students

Just for laughs:
moonbattery: Hippiegasm. "Hey, I dig rainbows, too, but come on."

theblogprof passes 1,000,000 visitors today!

This blog has reached the 1,000,000 visitor milestone - something a couple of my blogging buddies hit this last year:

American Power Celebrates 1,000,000 hits

Legal Insurrection Celebrates 1,000,000 hits

Thank you to all of you that come visit this blog, link to it, and comment on it. Some of the big happenings on this blog were being referenced by Rush Limbaugh on his radio talk show for this post, by Sean Hannity on his nightly FoxNews show Hannity, and linked many times by Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit, by HotAir, Ace, John Hawkins, The Other McCain, and many, many others:

After blogging for 17 month, this blog passed the 1 million mark for visitors this morning, albeit I didn't install sitemeter until February 2009, so I likely reached that milestone about a week ago. I caught the stats just as I woke up this morning:

Appropriately, the stats passed the 1,000,000 mark due to an Instalanche. I am thus obligated, probably for the last time, to rehash my blogging suggestions. Starting a blog and writing posts has surely helped focus my thinking on many topics. Before blogging myself, I was an avid blog reader, spending hours each day keeping up on current events. But it is the difference between being a student and being the teacher. When I made the shift to teaching, I had little idea of how much more of a challenge it was, and how much I would learn every time I taught a class, even those that I have already taught many times. That is one aspect that I simply love about my job - learning as I am teaching. I get some of that same benefit from blogging, and would encourage anyone out there to do the same. To this end, this post will serve to be a reference to those that want to start a blog. I will myself lean heavily on the following contributors as they have written many tips:

Stacy McCain at The Other McCain: How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog in Less Than a Year
Donald Douglas at American Power: How to Become a Successful Conservative Blogger
Nick De Leeuw at RightMichigan: Building a Better Blogosphere -or- Where to Start!
and this via Instapundit : 10 Ways To Become A Famous Blogger!

I encourage anyone to read all 4 in full. Stacy's post in particular is an internet classic. Stacy (and Donald for that matter) has 5 rules for blogging, kind of like Patch had in Dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge! For bloggers, it would be blog, scour, pimp, scour and blog. (kind of a triangle of priorities if you will) So without further ado, my 5 Commandments for Bloggers (where did this rule of 5 start anyway?):

Commandment #1 - Write
Look, if you're not writing, nobody's reading. I'm not talking 100 posts per day. But commit to at least one. When you start building a reader base, they will expect more posts! Write about what you like. Writing about something for which you have zero interest will turn into an exercise in futility. Don't try to emulate anyone else's writing, just do what comes natural to you. In the beginning, I tried a bit of the Glenn Reynolds blog style at Instapundit - very short. It didn't work that well for me as I am too opinionated not to add a whole bunch of my own thoughts. In short order, I started writing like I was thinking. For me, I'm a visual guy, so every post I put up has some sort of visual - a picture, YouTube video, cartoon, etc. Something. That's just me. Writing a blog that looks a lot like a Denny's menu. So where to start? Go on Google Blogger and set up an account. Do it now. It's easy. The details will come later. Get to it. I'll wait here...

Still waiting...

Got it? Then continue reading:

Corollary to C1 - original reporting (ie - make your opinion/analysis the emphasis of the post). If you simply rehash/copy-paste someone else's blog post, forget about it. There are some fare-use issues here, but a lot of variability in what people think that means. To some, no more than 1/4 of your blog post can be anything you copy/paste. For me, it's the quality, not the quantity. I've exceeded that 25% threshold but not to the detriment of my posts. There have been times, as in the case of breaking news, that most of your post will point to a current event unfolding right now. Just note that the more original reporting you do, the fewer posts you will write, but they will likely be of higher quality.

Commandment #2 - Material
Where will you get your material from? For politics, start at memorandum for some fodder. Link memorandum and sooner or later the algorithm will pick you up automatically. There are many sources out there. Memeorandum is a good one for politics (there are others), but there are other blogs regarding health and nutrition, nature, education, etc. Whatever your interest, you probably either know these or can find them. I also scour the local papers for information (on the internet, not the dead tree versions).

Commandment #3 - Linky Love
There are blogs that you are likely a fan of. Link them often. Let them know you link them too. Establish relationships with bloggers like yourself with similar interests. Make sure to make comments now and again at those sites, reciprocate links to your blog posts with links to theirs. Don't just link the big blogs, link your buddies. Heck, look for an excuse to do so. Also, keep a robust blogroll. Update it. Someone blogrolls you, you blogroll them and visa versa.

Commandment #4 - Pimp Your Blog
And don't be afraid to do it. I write daily emails to a whole bunch of blogs, including the biggies like Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, HotAir, Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, and many people on my blogroll up, sideways and down. In addition, make sure that the search engines know of your blog, such as:

http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl/
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/
http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html/
http://www.technorati.com/signup/
http://www.technorati.com/ping/
http://www.feedburner.com/

Commandment #5 - Make comments
Not just on your buddies blogs, but your own. Try to not leave a comment without your response. Now and again, you may get a troll that comes on just to make trouble. These are people that make no rational case for disagreeing with you. Rather, they just come on to call you a liar. At some point, you may be faced with banning them altogether. But rational debate is healthy and you should encourage such on your blog. Welcome everyone.

And that's it! Now get to it!