My idea of a “Golden Ticket”

Guinness offers drinkers chance to win space flight

The brewer is putting three once-in-a-lifetime experiences up for grabs themed on the colour of its famous black stout beer.

To mark its 250 years in business, the company is sending one winner into space,…

…Off to the store I go…

They told me if I voted for…

click to enlarge

McCain, there’d be no HOPE® and little CHANGE®, and they were right!

(This meme brought to you by Glenn Reynolds.)

Chicago sucks slightly less today

One picture alone cannot convey how cool this would be to see in person, go watch their slideshow….

Sears Tower unveils 103rd floor glass balconies

U.S. Will Suffer So Dems Can ‘Save the Planet’

How does that feel America? No glove, no nothin'...

The recently passed House bill on global warming is a 1,500-page political sucker punch that could give family finances a bloody nose and ultimately flatten the economy while proponents pretend it will save the planet.

In and of itself, it won’t do an inch of good. Assume if you want that all the talk of unperturbed greenhouse gases finally frying us is true and that the bill would slowly reduce carbon emissions in the United States to roughly the level of 100 years ago. The impact of holding down an increase in world temperatures by the end of this century would still be something utterly unnoticeable.

That’s right, all the current sound and fury would signify nothing unless the rest of the world joined in, especially China and India, which probably won’t do any such thing. As we all know, those two countries are growing like crazy, but still remain fundamentally poor and will stay poor if they should sign on to really, truly serious efforts to phase out fossil fuels before markets and entrepreneurs come up with efficient, cost-effective alternatives beyond the capacity of central planners to devise.

Of course, the House bill is not really, truly serious.

via RealClearPolitics

From the Mailbag

My friend Bud sends this:

Voted Democrat

I voted Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want.
I’ve decided to marry my horse.

I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.

I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

I voted Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

I voted Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they are doing because they now think we are good people.

I voted Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can’t tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don’t start driving a Prius.

I voted Democrat because I’m not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.

I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.

I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite The Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my butt that it is unlikely that I’ll ever have another point of view.

BTW, hey Budly, now that I’m on the other side of 40, I have to tell ya there’s nothing to be afraid of….

See you on the dark side soon.

signed,

jcrue

Iraq: Never doubt what the American military can accomplish

Michael Ramirez, Political Cartoons, Editorial News.

Six Mousavi supporters reportedly hanged in Mashhad

Iranian protestors hanged by mullahs.

More deep concern expected from President Obama in the coming week.

Quote of the Day: Inhofe ain’t lying

Inhofe said the much-anticipated conclusion of a Senate race in Minnesota that will give Democrats the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican filibusters would not be enough to save the climate change bill.

“I’ll tell you what a lot of people are thinking, and that is it looks like things are going to be over and we are going to get the clown from Minnesota,’’ he said.

“They are not going to get more than 35 votes.’’

Asked if he was referring to Al Franken as the clown from Minnesota, Inhofe confirmed he was.

“I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I don’t know the guy, but … for a living he is a clown,’’ the senator said.

“That’s what he does for a living.’’

via Inhofe says climate change bill will be ‘dead in the water’ in Senate

Iraq: Win

My father-in-law had the nerve to say returning to Iraq was a mistake. He didn’t appreciate my response.

“Asked any Iraqis about that?”

Then he went on immediately to Bush/Cheney/Halliburton/Repubicans and the whole shallow tired liberal litany against BushCo in less than a minute.

To which, I replied, “I’ll take that as a ‘no’, huh?”

Quietest dinner EVAH!!!

Gateway Pundit: Dem Leaders Avoid Thanking Bush For US Victory In Iraq Today

It doesn’t matter what the military accomplishes, they will always be someone victim in all this so someone can get more votes.

Franken: Congratulations, Minnesota!!!

Your streak of electing your best and brightest continues!

1. Humphrey
2. Mondale
3. Ventura
   
4. Coleman
5. and now, Franken
   

Who was handed an election that had among other problems, more votes than voters.

That’s outstanding!

The education of Barack Obama

Gateway Pundit:

The Duke rape story you may NOT have heard

Neighbors close in after sex charges:

Sitting in a Durham County jail cell, Frank M. Lombard, the Duke University researcher accused of offering his adopted 5-year-old son for sex, awaits a trip to Washington, D.C., this week to face federal criminal charges.

After waiving an extradition hearing Friday morning, he was locked in the Durham jail Saturday without bail.

[...]

Lombard, associate director of Duke’s Center for Health Policy, was arrested Wednesday evening at his home. Investigators seized two webcams, five computers and a sex toy, among other items, after searching his home.

Will the Men’s Lacrosse Team sign a letter in protest of continued sexual abuse and its practioners at Duke?

And they will make us look like idiots….

for committing “progressive suicide” in this nation:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her plan to cut taxes despite the country’s soaring budget deficit as she introduced her conservative alliance’s manifesto ahead of national elections in September.

Lower incomes taxes would “provide motivation” and encourage economic growth, Ms. Merkel told a conference of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union.

“It would be wrong not to do what is right and necessary for growth, and so prevent ourselves emerging quickly from this crisis,” Ms. Merkel said in her conference speech.

via WSJ.com

Hopefully, Obama is watching and that he might learn something useful to our nation.

Quote of the Day: ObamaCare to benefit everyone else it appears…

“If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it.”

via Doug Ross.

Illegal? According to whom? You, Mr. President?

I guess we have to get on board and make sure the Hondurans know what you expect, Mr. President.

The country’s supreme court disagrees, but oh well. The One hath spoken. Regarding the lip service he pays here to “democratic traditions,” does the fact that Honduras’s congress blessed Zelaya’s ouster and installed Micheletti as president factor at all into the calculus about how democratic this was? What about the fact that Zelaya was organizing his referendum towards anti-democratic ends, as a first step towards installing himself as a Chavez-esque strongman? And since Obama’s so worried about setting “terrible precedents,” how about the precedent of piping up in support of a Chavez stooge instead of simply staying out of this? He goes so far here as to say that Zelaya’s still the president of Honduras, which risks forcing an impossible situation where he’s returned to power despite all other arms of the government — military, legislature, and judiciary — being openly hostile to him. What could go wrong?

via Hot Air: Video: The coup in Honduras was illegal, says Obama.

No one remind the President we chose to honor the corruption of the Iranian election and chose to “wait and see” trying to avoid meddling in the affairs of others….

Team Obama: Um, yeah, about those promises…

Nothing to see here, move along…

Moving the Stimulus Goalposts:

With public confidence in the stimulus package showing signs of ebbing, the Obama administration is continuing to sell its impact with nation-wide events and press appearances.

Today brings this explanation, from Christina Romer, the chairman of the president’s Council on Economic Advisers: Stimulus spending, Romer told the Financial Times, is “going to ramp up strongly through the summer and the fall.”

“We always knew we were not going to get all that much fiscal impact during the first five to six months. The big impact starts to hit from about now onwards,” Romer said.

We’ve known for some time that the money takes a while to get out the door.

But top Obama advisers haven’t always been so cautious in predicting how the long the stimulus would take to be felt.

Back in February, with Congress moving swiftly to approve President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package, White House budget director Peter Orszag said the benefits of the stimulus would be “take weeks to months” to be felt.

Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, was even more optimistic: “You’ll see the effects begin almost immediately,” Summers told CNN in February.

Just last month, Jared Bernstein, Vice President Joe Biden’s top economic adviser, joined administration officials in asserting that the stimulus was already working, despite rising unemployment rates.

“The idea here is that, yes, the unemployment rate is rising, but it would be rising more quickly [without the bill],” Bernstein said on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line.” “We’re spending about $1 billion a day — and, by the way, with very careful oversight — and that’s creating, again, economic activity that would not have occurred in the absence of this plan. That’s the essential point.”

Then there’s the case of the now-famous chart, prepared in January by the Obama transition team to forecast employment rates with and without a stimulus bill in place.

Obama’s economic advisers saw unemployment cresting at just below 8 percent with the stimulus in place; without it, they forecast the national rate topping out around 9 percent.

This image takes the item referred to in the text and adds the actual numbers for correction...

The stimulus, of course, did pass, though the national unemployment rate is now 9.4 percent. Two weeks ago, President Obama predicted that unemployment will top 10 percent this year.

Won’t someone please call a community organizer?!?

Dateline Chicago: 6 Shot Dead In City This Past Weekend; Several Others Shot Or Stabbed And Wounded

What ever happened to HOPE® and CHANGE®?

More Obama confusion

Why would Obama get involved in South America and not Iran?

Hot Air: Coups, interference, and the shifting standards of Obama.

What jobs? What recovery? – What S–t!!!

Via Hot Air:

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a few choice words about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) landmark climate-change bill after its passage Friday.

When asked why he read portions of the cap-and-trade bill on the floor Friday night, Boehner told The Hill, “Hey, people deserve to know what’s in this pile of s–t.”

Using his privilege as leader to speak for an unlimited time on the House floor, Boehner spent an hour reading from the 1200-plus page bill that was amended 20 hours before the lower chamber voted 219-212 to approve it.

Someone has to oppose these idiots destroying our country, too bad it seems to be left to the Republicans to do the work and not everyone who values this nation.

Obama can say nothing about what was "left" to him by the previous administration.

The ineptness of the White House and their allies can easily be shown in the numbers.

Obama is to blame for this, no one else.

Take that America,…

How does that feel America? No glove, no nothin'...

right up the kiester.

Democrats narrowly passed historic climate and energy legislation Friday evening that would transform the country’s economy and industrial landscape.

But the all-hands-on-deck effort to protect politically vulnerable Democrats by corralling the minimum number of votes to pass the bill, 219-212, proves that there are limits to President Barack Obama’s ability to use his popularity to push through his legislative agenda. Forty-four Democrats voted against the bill, while just eight [soon-to-be-retired - ed.] Republicans crossed the aisle to back it.

Despite the tough path to passage, the legislation is a significant win for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Ca. and the bill’s two main sponsors – House Energy and Commerce committee chairman Henry Waxman D-Ca. and Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey D – who modified the bill again and again to get skeptical members from the Rust Belt, the oil-producing southeast and rural Midwest to back the legislation.

“We passed transformational legislation which takes us into the future,” Pelosi said at a press conference following the vote, after she and other leaders took congratulatory phone calls from Obama, former Vice President Al Gore and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

via House passes climate-change bill – POLITICO.com.

They told me if I voted for…

McCain, terrorists would be held indefinitely as part of administration policy, and they were right!

(This meme brought to you by Glenn Reynolds.)

Andrew Malcolm explains:

In yet another sign of political perfidy, the White House of President George W. Bush has drafted a presidential executive order that would allow that double-dealing Republican chief executive to hold suspected terrorist detainees indefinitely.

According to the president’s intentions, such suspects could be detained for long periods of time, virtually indefinitely. Is this really what the nation voted for last November?

Oh, wait. No. According to an exclusive Washington Post/Pro Publica report this afternoon, it’s the refreshing new Democratic administration of Barack Obama that’s now preparing this new executive order to hold certain terrorist suspects indefinitely.

This is an obviously inspiring sign of the new style of leadership the Democrat promised and is finally bringing to the White House. As one blogger put it, George W. Obama. And it shows the kind of powerful political pragmatism with which the ex-senator from Illinois approaches this job at such a crucial and globally turbulent time.Strangely, it was leaked to the Post on a slow summer Friday afternoon when it wouldn’t gain much attention.

According to the Post report, the 44th president is now starting to think that closure of the internationally-reviled Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which Obama announced with so much fanfare on his first day in office last winter, may be impossible to actually accomplish before the one-year deadline he set for himself before actually planning where else to put these prisoners.

In other words, fanfare aside, status quo ante. Democrat or Republican, same deal. Ex-Vice President Dick Cheney will be so pleased that the Obama-Biden folks finally accepted his advice to protect national security.

Another sign, finally, of real change after eight long years of the very same thing.

Can I get a ‘McSame” from Code Pink? How about you all at MoveOn.org? Hollywood? Oh wait, sorry for interrupting the slobber fest over MJ for something serious, move along…

And when does Bush/Cheney receive their apology for the derision of a complete fool and rookie statesman during his two year campaign for the White House? Honestly, I don’t think the current President has the integrity nor the character to apologize for being so damn wrong about our national security and our enemies.

Mark this up for another Liberal playing politics with our national security to get votes.

Hot Air covers this story with the same excellent analysis: The rank dishonesty of the Obama administration:

Obama has essentially endorsed the detention policies of George Bush without the courtesy of apologizing for slandering him over the last two and a half years. Obama and his allies screeched endlessly about indefinite detentions, and not just in Gitmo, either. They specifically railed against the holding of terrorists without access to civil courts in military detention facilities around the world, specifically Bagram, but in general as well. Not even six months into his term of office, Obama realized that Bush had it right all along.

I got a delivery for the American people.

Did he even have the grace to admit that? No. Instead, the White House took the cowardly method of a late-Friday leak to let people know that Obama had adopted the Bush policy all over again. Barack Obama just appeared at a press conference this last Tuesday to discuss Iran, energy policy, and ObamaCare, where he could have told the national press that he had changed his mind on indefinite detention. Instead, he kept his mouth shut, and had his media staff whisper it into phones to a couple of White House favorites in the press.

It’s a shameful performance, and the measure of the man in charge.

Obama and House of Reps to America: Screw you all for opposing Cap and Trade

Watch all the videos she does on this government debacle.

Gateway Pundit: It’s Cap & Trade Friday– The BIGGEST LIBERAL TAX In US History …Updated With Newt Tweet

Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers.” – Candidate Obama, 2008

They dropped a 300 page amendment on the bill this morning at 3 a.m.!!!!

Your government does not give a sh#t what you want. This is about what they want for themselves and to punish those they oppose through activist legislation.

Here is a list of 15 reasons to oppose the destruction of our economy by those who do not want America to be #1 at anything:

National Energy Tax: This is a tax that will affect constituents in every aspect of their lives. From transportation, to food, to electricity, to income – this is the ultimate regressive consumption tax to the tune of nearly $3,000 per year according to the Heritage Foundation. The costs per family for the whole energy tax aggregated from 2012 to 2035 are estimated to be $71,493.

Exacerbates the Economic Crisis: Studies from numerous independent research groups, including MIT, the Heritage Foundation, and CRA International, all agree that implementing a massive cap and tax scheme will cost millions of jobs, reduce earnings for the average U.S. worker, and devastate GDP.

Massive Job Losses: According to the Heritage Foundation, employment will be lower by 1,105,000 jobs per year. In some years, the national energy tax will reduce employment by nearly 2.5 million jobs.

Winners & Losers: The bill transfers wealth from rural areas to cities. States like California, Washington, and New Jersey would receive more emission credits than they need, enabling them to sell surplus credits to smaller facilities in states like Ohio that receive maybe half of the credits they need – making the rich, richer, and the poor, poorer.

Little Environmental Impact: The bill will cost consumers trillions of dollars, while reducing, by a very small amount the carbon dioxide that is contained in our atmosphere. World-wide emission reductions would be negligible without the full participation of all nations. Additionally, just because the government requires a certain decrease in emissions within a certain timeframe, does not mean such decreases can occur in that time period.

Green Jobs Are a Proven Failure: According to a recent study (PDF) that reviewed the impact of “green jobs” in Spain, the U.S. can expect 2.2 jobs to be destroyed for every 1 renewable job financed by the government. Only 1 in 10 of the jobs actually created through green investment is permanent, and since 2000, Spain has spent 753,778 U.S dollars to create each “green job,” including subsidies of more than $1,319,783 per wind industry job.

Free Money to Select Corporate Titans: Government-run “cap and trade” is, by definition, a central economic planning scheme in which the government decides which industries and companies deserve more or fewer credits and what business factors and economic outputs are “necessary.” Small business and rural interests never had a seat at the table when discussions occurred on how to craft H.R. 2454.

Creates a Derivatives Market for Companies like AIG: Companies like AIG and ENRON will be participating in a new derivatives market that is much more volatile than housing or natural gas. This new unregulated derivates market will be more perilous for companies like these than the traditional ones that got them into trouble in the first place. In addition, since the created artificial market contains no transparency, it is more likely to attract traders intent on imposing Ponzi schemes in the same spirit of Bernie Madoff and swindle thousands of Americans.

Devastates Rural America: According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the monthly residential electricity bills in 25 states will increase 15 to 28 percent for every $20/ton of carbon dioxide allowances. Rural households spend 58% more on fuel than urban residents as a percentage of their income. The Heritage foundation estimates farm income will drop by $50 billion by 2035.

Concedes to the Competition: Currently, China accounts for 85% of global growth in coal each year and is the world’s largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases. China’s energy usage rose by 7.2% last year and they are building approximately two coal fired power plants per week to keep up with demand. Recently, at a U.N. conference, the Chinese government’s advisory panel on climate change asserted that the cap and tax targets were too low by stating Given that, it is natural for China to have some increase in its emissions, so it is not possible for China in that context to accept a binding or compulsory target. In addition, India will not agree to any cap on their total energy production, and many believe India will double their coal-fired-capacity by 2030.

Discriminates Against Developing Nations: The bill creates a new program under USAID to provide U.S. foreign aid to developing countries for their efforts to adapt to climate change. Essentially, the bill is sending taxpayer funds to encourage third world nations to not develop carbon emitting energy sources – keeping them at a competitive disadvantage from developed nations for even more decades to come.

Establishes an Unrealistic Renewable Energy Standard (RES): “Cap and tax” does not take into account the fact that additional hydropower, nuclear and advanced fossil coal power plants cannot be deployed quickly enough to meet expected growth in electricity demand while also dramatically reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since renewable technology accounts for a small percentage of energy demand, consumers can expect not only higher rates, but more transmission problems during peak hours of demand. Additionally, the bill preempts at least 23 state renewable electricity standards.

Davis-Bacon: “Cap and tax” expands Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements to many provisions of the bill. This policy ahs [sic] been shown to increase public construction costs by anywhere from 5 to 38 percent above projected costs for the same project in the private sector.

Bloated Bureaucracy: The bill establishes a myriad of new federal agencies intertwined between at least 21established agencies with the mission of reallocating trillions of taxpayer dollars in a supposedly fair and efficient manor. According the U.S Chamber of Commerce (PDF), the bill will impose 397 new federal regulations that require traditional agency rulemakings.

Countless Federal Mandates: The bill imposes over a thousand mandates and even mandates efficiency requirements on electric appliances like Jacuzzis.

ReasonTV on healthcare

New additions to the store

Quote of the Day: San Fran Nan lies again

The leadership’s solution to this problem is to simply claim the bill defies the laws of economics.

via The Cap and Tax Fiction – WSJ.com

Large Democratic Donors Help Shut Down July 4 Atlanta Tea Party

Pajamas Media: No surprise Democrats would be behind shutting down free speech and assembly.

They are afraid.

1000 Words

Via Michael Ramirez Editorial and Political Cartoons

Via Doug Ross

Original image via Doug Ross

Embrace healthcare rationing and other lies…

It is coming.

White House Backtracks on Promise That Americans Will Be Able to Keep Their Doctors

More via Instapundit:

HEY WAIT, DIDN’T HE SLAM MCCAIN OVER THIS? Obama not closing door on possible health care tax.

Why yes, yes he did.

And he also promised no tax increases on people who make less than $250,000 a year.

New York City non-Republicans agreeing with Glenn Beck

How beautiful is this?

Iran: Obama’s EPIC FAIL

Hot Air: Massacre near Iran’s Parliament? Audio: Eyewitness describes massacre

The Jawa Report: Iranian Regime Implements Their Own Tiananmen Square Strategy

Gateway Pundit: CRACKDOWN IN BAHARESTAN SQUARE!… 3 People Shot– Police Will Not Allow Protesters to Assist Them …Update: 1 Woman Dead …Update: Several Dead:

“I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads – blood everywhere – pepper gas like war… ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting – from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys…

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground – she had no defense nothing -… so many ppl arrested – young & old – they take ppl away” just in from Baharestan Sq – situation today is terrible – they beat the ppls like animals Ppl gathered in Baharestan but police & plain cloths don’t let the core of the rally to form.

Atlas Shrugged: IRAN: DAY 12 OF THE REVOLUTION – How could Obama do nothing?

I guess we now have a chit chat topic for the President when the Iranians come for hot dogs on July 4th. That is, unless the President is no longer outraged but rather, slightly bothered or miffed….

When the man who was actually qualified to be President, John McCain, was asked about his feelings about Obama’s approach to Iran and his own feelings, McCain answered:

Either Sen. John McCain didn’t hear Joe Klein tell him to “be quiet” or he doesn’t care, because the former presidential candidate went right back at his ex-rival Tuesday afternoon for President Obama’s decision not to insert himself into the Iranian crisis.

McCain wouldn’t say which side of the struggle he thought Obama was on.

“Between Ahmadinejad and the reformers, do you think there’s any doubt what side President Obama is on?” McCain (R-Ariz.) was asked by the Huffington Post. “What would be the advantage…?”

“I know what side I’m on,” McCain cut in. “I’m on the side of the people. I’m not on Ahmadinejad’s side or Mousavi. I’m on the side of the Iranian people and I’m on the right side of history. And I’m not going to walk on the other side of the street while people are being killed and beaten in the streets of Iran.”

McCain said Obama’s reaction wasn’t equal to the situation. “We can’t sit by and watch a film clip on television of a young woman bleeding to death and say that we’re worried about the Iranian reaction or our ability to negotiate with them. We have to stand up for those people,” he said.

This can be examined in historical terms by looking at how Reagan supported the Polish people in their efforts to free themselves of their chains. Now, Poland is free and Reagan revered by the entire nation for his unapologetic support. Just ask Lech Walesa:

GDANSK, Poland–When talking about Ronald Reagan, I have to be personal. We in Poland took him so personally. Why? Because we owe him our liberty. This can’t be said often enough by people who lived under oppression for half a century, until communism fell in 1989.

Poles fought for their freedom for so many years that they hold in special esteem those who backed them in their struggle. Support was the test of friendship. President Reagan was such a friend. His policy of aiding democratic movements in Central and Eastern Europe in the dark days of the Cold War meant a lot to us. We knew he believed in a few simple principles such as human rights, democracy and civil society. He was someone who was convinced that the citizen is not for the state, but vice-versa, and that freedom is an innate right. [Completely opposite of what Obama believes! - ed.]

I often wondered why Ronald Reagan did this, taking the risks he did, in supporting us at Solidarity, as well as dissident movements in other countries behind the Iron Curtain, while pushing a defense buildup that pushed the Soviet economy over the brink. Let’s remember that it was a time of recession in the U.S. and a time when the American public was more interested in their own domestic affairs. It took a leader with a vision to convince them that there are greater things worth fighting for. Did he seek any profit in such a policy? Though our freedom movements were in line with the foreign policy of the United States, I doubt it.

I distinguish between two kinds of politicians. There are those who view politics as a tactical game, a game in which they do not reveal any individuality, in which they lose their own face. [OBAMA!!!! - ed.] There are, however, leaders for whom politics is a means of defending and furthering values. For them, it is a moral pursuit. They do so because the values they cherish are endangered. They’re convinced that there are values worth living for, and even values worth dying for. Otherwise they would consider their life and work pointless. Only such politicians are great politicians and Ronald Reagan was one of them. [emphasis added]

What will the people of Iran say of Obama?

Obama? He left us hanging when we needed him.