Obama Veep Week: Is That all There Is?

Obama: All Foreplay, No Finale
Nancy Morgan
Right Bias.com




The last two days of foreplay leading up to Obama's announcement of Joe Biden as his VP pick have left me exhausted. I, along with millions of other Americans, got suckered into the Obama campaign's carefully orchestrated media orgy surrounding his choice of Vice-president.

First, the news that Obama, The One, has decided on a VP. But he's not saying, just yet. The media reacts as anticipated. "You'll just have to wait!", Obama says. Then, right on cue, a full day media watch, with cameras set up outside the homes of those on the short list. Cameras, beaming out to the world, the picture of four houses. No action, just speculation. The tension builds, the world awaits.

Then, in the waning hours of Friday, select bits of information are released to an anxious nation. No, its not Kaine...oh. No, its not Hillary either. And did you know she wasn't even on the list? Each announcement is timed for maximum media exposure.

Then the biggy. Headlines on Drudge breathlessly report that Obama - Bayh bumper stickers are being manufactured. The firm refuses to confirm. Could it be? Or is it just another fake-out? Speculation swirls.



Millions of Americans have been whipped into a frenzy of anticipation. Who will Obama pick? More leaks tantalize the eager public. Talking heads claiming the inside scoop are interviewed ad naseum. Finally, finally, a News Flash: Secret service agents are heading to Sen. Joe Biden's home. Could it be??

Millions of eager Obama acolytes check their Blackberries every few minutes, relying on Obama's promise that they would be the first to know his VP pick. Alas, they waited in vain.

AP jumped ahead with a carefully worded announcement with built-in deniability, just in case they've been suckered again. They were willing to risk a replay of the infamous Truman headlines in order to be "the first to report." They lucked out.

Around 3 am Saturday morning, it became official. Sen. Joe Biden is THE GUY. Whoosh. After all that foreplay, I was left flat. Biden? Mr. logorrhea himself? Mr. political expedience with hair plugs? Say it ain't so.

Michelle needs to give Barack a good talking to. She needs to tell him that its not good policy to engage in extended foreplay unless he can actually deliver the goods. Joe Biden? Aargh. It was for this I waited up two hours past my regular bedtime? It's not fair. I feel used and abused.

Once again, I fell for honeyed promises from the lips of a master wordsmith. Once again, the actions didn't match the rhetoric. I have only myself to blame. Once again, I realize the truth of the statement, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. I should have known.

Obama should have known also. His political handlers should have known. When you tease and tantalize, you better have the goods to back it up. This, every woman knows. Apparently, Obama doesn't.

Obama has used up his share of the headlines, his last quotient of goodwill from a fickle media. From now on, the headlines will focus on Bill and Hill. Obama has just proved, once again, that he doesn't know how to pick his wars. He doesn't know that big promises require, uh, lets say, culmination. And Joe Biden is not a 'culminator.' Sigh.

This morning, I don't respect Obama. I feel used and abused. And if I were a liberal woman, I would exact my revenge in the voting booth.


by Nancy Morgan


Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina

Article may be reprinted, with attribution

Mandatory Paternity Tests: Another Intrusive Goverment Program Waiting to Happen

Good Intentions, Bad Laws and Unintended Consequences



A reader sends in an article which uses the John Edwards' affair to propose another onerous, intrusive government-mandated plan. It would take decisions from the people most directly involved and put them in the hands of bureaucrats in the social welfare agencies.

From Make Paternity Mandatory:

The recent extra-marital affair has ended John Edwards' political career, at least his chances for running for president. I often wonder how some men (and often women) can be so stupid.

What is really sad is Rielle Hunter, Edwards' ex-girl friend, saying she will not participate in DNA testing to establish the paternity of her daughter. Her decision means that the issue of who the father is will remain open, and may never be known.

Our government should demand that the father's name of every child born in America be put on the birth certificate.

We have all seen fathers who impregnate a girl, then run off or fail to live up to their responsibility of child support and fatherly duties.

The child, who is an innocent victim, is not given a fair chance in life, and faces enormous difficulties, and often goes through life without a father who is very much needed in every family in today's society.

Charles Harrington

Interesting idea; however, too many "interesting ideas" are picked up by the "there oughta be a law" crowd, make their way onto the books as law and become subject to another law: the law of unintended consequences.

Whenever the government makes anything mandatory, a little more freedom is lost. In this case, not only the freedom of the mother, but also the freedom of any guy suspected of being the father.

What of the single, professional mom who has no desire to establish paternity? Why encroach upon her freedom of choice? It is to be supposed that the mother would have some choice in the matter of who--if anyone--helps raise her child. Are we to believe that the government can make a better choice than the mother?

IF the mother applies for public assistance, there's more of a case to be made for demanding a paternity test. But as someone at DBKP pointed out, "How many times does Maury Povich have four guys on his TV show take DNA tests and none of them are the father?"

If this were to become law, expect that men who are subjected to DNA testing and are not found to be the father of the child in question, to reasonably demand some type of compensation for their time and trouble. Who's on the hook for that?

What about mothers who know who the father is and choose not to have that man around their child for a variety of reasons? Paternity payments mean visitation rights. Are we to force such mothers into an unwanted choice?

It's all one more Pandora's Box of freedom-stifling government regulations, with an all-too-familiar, "For the Children" sticker slapped on the outside.

We're sure the Mr. Harrington, like too many people today, had the best of intentions when writing his suggestive piece. Good intentions are always easier when it's someone else's freedoms and choices that are being infringed upon.

Maybe that's one reason they serve as the paving stones, not only on the road to hell, but also on the road to serfdom.

by Mondoreb
[hat tip: BR549]
image: djfeathers

Union Card Check: Best Choice is a Free Choice

[Click image to enlarge.]

Red Planet Cartoons recently addresses the issue of union coercion in "Prepare To Be Carded".

RPC quotes Glenn Spencer's Union’s Card Check Gimmick.

Today, unions represent a scant 7.5 percent of private-sector workers, with the rest of their members employed in government, their only significant growth market. Demographically, the news is even worse: The largest single group of union members is between the ages of 45 and 54, nearing retirement — while just 6 percent of unionized workers are between 16 and 24.

Sadly, many unions seem to be choosing government power and restrictive legislation as their way out of the wilderness, instead of enhancing their value proposition. The AFL-CIO and its affiliates plan to spend $200 million of their members’ money to elect pro-labor candidates in 2008…

Of course, there's much more at Red Planet, including the usual supporting links at the end for readers who want more information.

Anyone who was raised in a family of a union member knows that unions--especially in the construction trades--serve useful purposes. But unions have to argue their cases on its merits and let potential members decide freely--and without fear of possible consequences--for themselves if union membership is in their best interests.

Having someone looking over your shoulder is no good, whether it's company management or union organizers.

The best choice is a free choice.

by Mondoreb
image: Red Planet Cartoons
Source: Prepare to be Carded