The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week begins… can you stand the excitement?

• Messiah College hosted a “Faith in Public Life's Compassion Forum” this past weekend that featured appearance by both Democratic presidential candidates… with each one getting an opportunity to present their case about religion in politics.
• The weekend saw Clinton stumble again when she responded that a question about the last time she fired a gun or attended church services wasn’t “a relevant question in this debate” proved once again that she’s missing something. Common sense says that to reference the importance of a certain issue in a stump speech and then say it doesn’t matter is poor campaigning… and proves that she is getting some god-awful advice…
• Sen. Obama had a better weekend, but only slightly. After he referenced some voters last week as being “bitter” over their poor economic situation… supporters and opponents jumped on the soundbite. While he apologized for the poor choice of words, I want someone to explain to me please how it’s incorrect…
• 28%...
• “President” Bush is going ALL OUT to welcome Pope Benedict, even driving out to meet the Pope’s plane, something he’s never done before for any other leader, including his lapdog, former British Prime Minster Tony Blair. He’s also hosting a state dinner, which the Pope will not attend. (Seems sort of silly to me to host a state dinner where the guest of honor won’t even be in attendance, but after all, Bush is starting to act like a lame-duck president usually does; pomp and circumstance and very little substance. About time…)
• Sen. Clinton unveiled her anti-crime plan in which she proposes to spend $4 billion a year on crime reduction measures and help communities hire more police and prosecutors…
  Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said this past weekend that Iraq is paying it’s share of the cost of the war… and if you believe that, he has a nice bridge to sell you over the Tigris…
• A survey by Scottrade and BetterInvesting shows that “more than two-thirds of Americans aged 27 to 42 don’t think they will ever be able to stop working” while 64% of those responding that were 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry…
• Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson leaves office this week, and one has to wonder how much blame he should get for the current housing crisis. While foreclosures for loans insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration rose and default rates hit a record high, Jackson started a $7 million auditorium and cafeteria at HUD’s headquarters, used taxpayer money to solicit an “emergency bid to obtain oil portraits of Jackson and four other HUD secretaries and hired a personal chef and security detail…(so in other words; while the housing market burned, Jackson fiddled…)
• Former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin on the vice-presidency; “Dick Cheney has changed the nature of that office. This brilliant man has made that office completely relevant.” (can I get a sample of whatever she's smoking?)
• And have we mentioned? That the person who oversees our nation’s security is apparently as clueless as our President? Yesterday on ABC’s This Week, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, when talking about the human rights abuses that have taken place in Tibet, repeatedly, at least 8 separate times, confused Tibet with Nepal. (Wouldn’t you think, and hope, that someone in Hadley’s position would do a little homework before appearing on a talkshow to present the president’s view… at the least know which country is the basis for the appearance. To not do so shows, once again, just how little this administration cares…)