The AP and Reuters continue to revel in Obama exercise porn while the President-elect is spending 12 days vacationing in a Hawaiian “paradise” while his selected chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is hiding out in Africa.

And here’s the thing that, you know, you read it, and when you just get it, it’s 4:30 this afternoon, and it gives — and it gives you a headache. It’s so calculated. You know, to put it out now, it’s calculated to make the thing — Obama is in Hawaii. Rahm Emanuel is in Africa, so they don’t have to answer any questions.

Look, there are not big questions left, but there are some questions left, and they don’t want to answer any of them.

Meanwhile, actual news is happening all around us. Gee, I feel so safe and secure.

The Chicago Sun-Times isn’t feelin’ the love of a transparent Obama transition:

The Obama team, pledging the ”most open and transparent transition in history,” gets an ”A” for disclosing donors to the Jan. 20 inauguration and a ”F” when it comes to revealing transition meetings with groups. Contrary to its own ‘’seat at the table transparency policy,” meetings are not posted on a Web site.

I’m giving a ”B” to the Obama transition report on staff contacts with Gov. Blagojevich. The report was a summary narrative released last week of an internal inquiry into Gov. Blagojevich’s selling-of-a-Senate seat scandal. While the Obama team deserves credit for disclosure — including that President-elect Barack Obama and incoming White House staffers Valerie Jarrett and Rahm Emanuel met with federal prosecutors — offering some notes or transcripts to support the conclusions would have been helpful.

They’ve covered the Chosen One for years — they should know. Meanwhile, the Chinese have given the world and US a hard look and find some pretty large chinks in Uncle Sam’s armor:

The United States has been acting as the world’s only superpower in 2008, but the financial turmoil, which broke out in Wall Street in September, showed its vulnerability.

In addition, the country is still deep in trouble with its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has undermined its international image.

Some analysts attributed the waning U.S. strength to its policy of unilateralism and expansionism on international issues, and its practice of a laissez-faire free market economy at home. It remains to be seen what consequences of these policies will have on U.S. national strength.

Oh and by the way, for the first time ever, the Chinese and the Russian military have a direct phone link to each other. That should drive our President-elect to imbibe in his next couple of Mai Tais, oh, ya betcha! If not, then this should. Israel is kicking the livin’ crap out of Hamas in Gaza.

Israel bombed Gaza for a third day Monday in an “all-out war” on Hamas, as tanks massed on the border and the Islamists fired deadly rockets in retaliation for the blitz that has killed at least 318 people.

Anger over the mammoth bombing campaign spiralled in the Muslim world , UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon again deplored the violence, and efforts to hold talks between Syria and Israel were suspended as a result of the bombardment.

With Israeli tanks idling along the border of the battered Palestinian enclave , the army declared the area a closed military zone — a move that in the past has often been followed by ground operations.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has warned of a possible ground offensive, declared that the Jewish state was in “an all-out war with Hamas and its proxies”.

The Congo is dealing with another Ebola outbreak. That probably made Christmas for University of Texas professor Dr. Eric R. Pianka.

Now that we’ve bailed out GM and Chrysler so that they can continue to pay the UAW highway-robbery wage rates that got their sorry tits caught firmly in the current financial wringer, it is wise to note that said UAW owns and operates a $33 million resort, complete with a $6.4 million golf course on the shores of Michigan’s Black Lake. I feel so much better knowing that they can still play golf and luxuriate at the resort on the public’s dime, don’t you?

Think that if you buy the politically correct high-mileage vehicle and limit your gasoline consumption that you will be rewarded by your state government? If you live in Oregon, better think again.

A year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated that a new way to pay for roads — via a mileage tax and satellite technology — could work.

Now Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he’d like the legislature to take the next step.

As part of a transportation-related bill he has filed for the 2009 legislative session, the governor says he plans to recommend “a path to transition away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation.”

What that means is explained on the governor’s website:

“As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system.”

According to the policies he has outlined online, Kulongoski proposes to continue the work of the special task force that came up with and tested the idea of a mileage tax to replace the gas tax.

The governor wants the task force “to partner with auto manufacturers to refine technology that would enable Oregonians to pay for the transportation system based on how many miles they drive.”

Let’s face it folks. They want ALL our money! The sad part is that if we keep voting the way we have the last four years they’ll probably get it. To put some extra icing on this pre-New Year’s cake, Yellowstone is having a Quake swarm. Goody!

BTW — calling Dick Tracy! Your wrist phone awaits!

Buckle up buckaroos, 2009 is gonna be a bumpy ride!

Technorati Tags: Obama transition, Oregon Department of Transportation, ileage tax, Quake swarm

This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 10:43 am and is filed under Focus On Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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