University of Oklahoma Sooner Women's Softball National Champions Visited the White House Yesterday

Most impressive Women's Softball Team I have ever seen -- they were simply the best last year after being runner-up the year before.  One of the neatest things was seeing the number of male athletes from other sports especially football that were there to support them during the spring and in the College World Series.  Class all the way when meeting the President and representing The University of Oklahoma!

Head Coach Patty Gasso about President Obama's comments on female athletes:

“One thing that really stuck with me was that he was appreciative of the female athletes that were there,” Gasso said. “He talked about how far we had come and our role as leaders for the future and young women. I really appreciated that he recognized female athletes and the importance of what we do.”

This President has done a lot for equality and love having a President who is into sports!  

The Sooners visited Washington D.C. and met with President Barack Obama to celebrate OU's 2013 national championship, which they capped with a 4-0 over Tennessee.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS VISIT WHITE HOUSE

March 11, 2014

NORMAN, Okla. – The celebration of Oklahoma’s 2013 national championship culminated Monday afternoon with an invitation to the White House to meet President Barack Obama.

“It was fantastic,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “It was one last grand celebration, and to do it this way in getting to see a piece of history and meet the most powerful man in the world who was recognizing your accomplishments, it was phenomenal.”

The team arrived in Washington D.C. on late Sunday night, around midnight local time. The next day the Sooners ate breakfast before heading to the U.S. Capitol Building to meet United States Congressman Tom Cole (4th District – Oklahoma) and get a tour.

“Each state has a representation of a statue and Oklahoma’s is Will Rogers so we took a photo around him,” Gasso said. “There’s a story that one of his shoes has the shine off and there’s a legend that you touch his shoe for good luck, so everyone was rubbing on the shoe.

“We got to see some neat history, statues and art; it was all very interesting and kind of an ‘awe’ moment to see all of that in front of us.”

After spending approximately two hours at the U.S. Capitol, the Sooners departed for lunch and then back to the hotel to change before leaving for the White House. After passing through multiple security checkpoints, the team was permitted to explore certain areas like the Green Room and the Red Room.

“I used to watch the show The West Wing in history class, and then I found myself looking out the window starting at it, so it was interesting to see all the different areas you’ve heard about,” junior Lauren Chamberlain said. “Being in those same rooms where so many historic political figures had been and the history of it all was pretty cool.

“I was surprised at how many rooms there were; it’d be easy to get lost there are so many rooms. They’re all connected and there were a lot of little things about each room that were unique.”

The team then gathered back up and was assigned to Green Room, along with a few other national championship teams, for their meeting with President Obama.

“We were the fourth team he was going to meet and he talked to each of us and shook each of our hands,” Chamberlain said. “He talked about how his niece played softball and basketball, but ended choosing basketball. He said he was a fan of softball and talked about how competitive it was getting and congratulated us before heading off to the next room.

“I thought it was really incredible because we were shaking the President of the United States’ hand. To be in the same room as one of the most powerful men in the world and have him take time out of his day to meet with us, congratulate us our season, commend us on our work ethic and handle stress on a daily basis like he does, I thought was pretty cool.”

Gasso said that when she spoke with the President he asked how many games they played in a season, how the current season was going and who the seniors were.

“He shook everyone’s hand and they got to introduce themselves,” Gasso added. “When he got to Michelle [Gascoigne], she introduced herself and he said Michelle was a great name. He was very friendly and engaged with us.”

After the photo opportunity, the team was escorted to the South Lawn where the President gave a short speech to welcome the teams and congratulate them.

“One thing that really stuck with me was that he was appreciative of the female athletes that were there,” Gasso said. “He talked about how far we had come and our role as leaders for the future and young women. I really appreciated that he recognized female athletes and the importance of what we do.”

Once the ceremony had ended, the Sooners headed to dinner before stopping to visit the Lincoln Memorial and then headed back to the U.S. Capitol to see it lit up in the night.

“I talked to Lauren, Jessica Vest and Callie Parsons over dinner and we were talking about some of the things that this team has gotten to do and experience over the last six to eight months,” Gasso said. “It has been amazing. They’ve gotten to do more things in that short amount of time than most people get to do in their whole lifetime.

“I think it all caught up to me when I was standing in that Green Room with this team, this is the last and biggest icing on the cake.”

See more on the Sooner Softball visit to The White House  

Spring is Around the Corner

After months of cold weather include -13 chill factor in Norman a short time ago, it was over 70 degrees today and is still 69 degrees at 8:35 p.m.  What a difference!  We have one more day of warm and then here comes slightly colder but now near as cold as it has been.  Looks like spring could be on the way.

With that in mind, I spent most of my afternoon outside and finally was able to start planting the early garden where if this keeps up it will run into the other.  This year I am not trusting the frost free date to be 1 April -- could be a real April Fool!

There is a lot to do outside and decided instead of sitting in here doing my blog, I would be outside working and it felt great.

The only thing really going on over the weekend was CPAC which I refuse to cover as I didn't like it when I was a so-called conservative which seems a long time ago -- cannot feature being a member of the same party as that group at CPAC.  Just shake my head at abject stupidity on display and was trying to figure out which I thought was the dumbest and think that has to go to Michael Medved who said it was liberal lie that some red states banned gay marriage.  Where has he been.  Oklahoma had a referendum shortly after the turn of the century to ban gay marriage.  Now when it has been overturned by the SCOTUS, a state legislator wants to be all marriage to keep gay marriage from happening.  What has Medved been?  Obvious he has been in any of our states.  Heard some people in OK were really mad he said it and thought he was making of Oklahoma for having it overturned.  OOPS!

The other major happening which is much more serious is a Malaysian Airlines 777 airliner that has disappeared at 36,000 feet two days ago -- search and rescue cannot find the wreckage so they are looking at other areas the plane might have gone.  It is just strange with all kinds of intrigue with two Syrians with stolen passports with tickets from a code share with one number after the other.  A lot of theories banded around but no one knows.  Prayers go out to the over 200 passengers and crew.  Not knowing would be horrible.

Hopefully with expanding the range of search they will be able to locate the plane and find the boxes if they haven't been turned off.  This is not a deep area and the Navy's Orion planes can see something that is very small which would explain expanding the search area.  It looks like it is not located in the flight path over the seas before entering Vietnam as that area has been gone over with a fine tooth comb.

Really strange that no ships have spotted anything.  Hopefully morning will bring some news to families.

Rep Issa Needs to Resign as Head of House Investigation Committee NOW!

Rep Issa (R-CA) may be the biggest jerk of either party to head the Investigation Committee while Speaker Boehner is flat out wrong after seeing this video, if he bothered to watch, defend this lowlife.  Do Republicans not know any shame or what the word "decorum" means?  For the non-educated in the Republican Party:  

Decorum:  correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners 

Decided to use the Merriam Webster Learner's Dictionary to make it easier for Republicans to understand the word "Decorum" because it is obvious they have no clue.

This interview on Hardball including the clip of President Reagan saying he paid for the microphone when they tried to cut him off in the campaign is well worth watching.  This is a reminder of the man that Speaker Boehner and the Republicans in the House stand behind.


What kind of a House is Boehner running when someone can run a committee like this -- turning off the microphone of the ranking member of the Democrats on the Committee.  Do Republicans want the Democrats to have no voice?  This is not how the Congress worked up until the Republicans took the House in 2010 and Republicans started filibustering in the Senate in 2009 when President Obama won the White House which has been more then all the time in the history of filibusters.  Republicans have lost it and look like mean, angry, old white guys who act like bullies.  Do Republicans refuse to honor the results of the election since President Obama was elected twice by the Country, and the lowlife Republicans are still filibustering in the Senate to stop anything from passing.
After things I have learned this week, I cannot believe these Republicans are even in charge of the snack cart in Congress.  They deserve to be banished to the dust bin of history -- in fact the whole party does with the spectacle going on at CPAC in DC this weekend which makes me cringe but that has been happening for years.  Difference is this group of hard right are now in charge of the Republican Party.  
In my lifetime, I have never seen someone who as head of a committee be so rude and nasty to the Ranking Member of the opposite party.  Issa is the worst example of a thug in a suit I think I have seen.   Republicans in Congress have lost it between the trumped IRS Scandal, Benghazi, and voting the 50th time in the House to repeal ACA. 
It gets even worse as the lawyer for the person they wanted to answer questions on the IRS Scandal agreed to answer the questions for the witness but Issa was having none of that after all he is King of this House Committee on Oversight and Investigations and everyone will do as he says.
The Republicans truly are "USELESS."
Have a terrific weekend and get ready next week for the road to the NCAA March Madness to begin with Conference tournaments of the larger conferences.  This is the time of year that it is basketball 24/7, spring football for colleges, and regular season opens for Major League baseball.  What you have is a trifecta for the sports fans of America!
Boomer Sooner!

Republicans in US Congress are "USELESS!"

After the 50th vote to repeal Affordable Care Act (ACA) by the worthless Republicans in the US House of Representatives, I started searching for a word that described what I thought of Republicans in Congress and their spokespeople that was fit for a website.  I immediately settled on the word USELESS and decided to look it up in the Oxford-American dictionary -- it was a fit for these do-nothing Republicans in the Congress:

USELESS Syllabification: use·less
Pronunciation: /ˈyo͞osləs   /ADJECTIVE 

1.  Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome: a piece of useless knowledge

SYNONYMS:

futile, to no avail, (in) vain, pointless, to no purpose, unavailing, hopeless, ineffectual, ineffective, to no effect, fruitless, unprofitable, profitless, unproductive • archaic bootless

1.1  informal Having no ability or skill in a specified activity or area: he was useless at football  

SYNONYMS:

incompetent, inept, ineffective, incapable, unemployable, inadequate, hopeless, no-account, bad • informal pathetic

How would you like to be so USELESS yet be paid $223,000 to be Speaker of the House, $193,000 to be Majority/Minority Leaders of the House and Senate, and a paltry $174,000 to be a regular member?  Republicans planned the obstructionism of President Obama on the night of his inauguration in January 2009 and they are still at it with their dumb ideas and continual threats of shut-down of Government unless they get their way.

Came to a boiling point this week on Ukraine and the comments coming from some of the Senate Republicans and some House Members calling this President weak and wanting him to start a war with Russia.  Stupidity needs added to USELESS.

This week in addition to Ukraine, there was Cong Issa with the integrity of a gnat who heads the House Investigative Committee  in the Committee Room for a hearing turning off Ranking Minority Member Rep Cumming's microphone on the IRS scandal when he was correcting Issa's lies.  No decorum and probably the worst person to have lead the House Investigations Committee ever is Issa. Republicans don't seem to see any problem in Issa being unethical and a liar, not to mention a car thief and a crook from the past who is suspected of hiring someone to torch his building for pay.  Yesterday took the cake for obnoxious out of Issa for his USELESS hearing:

So this happened.On Wednesday, after former IRS official Lois Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination, Issa quickly moved to adjourn the session, saying he could “see no point in going further.” But as Cummings began to ask a procedural question about the issue, the Chairman tried to cut his mic, leaving Cummings to shout from his seat. 

“I am a member of the Congress of the United States of America! I am tired of this,” he said, adding that after spending at least $14 million, the Committee has uncovered “no evidence to support allegations of a political conspiracy against conservative groups.” 

Issa tried to abort the meeting after Lerner invoked her 5th Amendment right, and Cummings attempted to ask a question, prompting Rep. Issa (R-National Enquirer) to pull an O’reilly: cutting Rep. Cummings’s mic, and since he can’t cut to commercial, literally running from the room.

Bonus Video from Little Green Footballs:

Read more at LittleGreenFootballs

This IRS Investigation is a total sham and perfect for the word USELESS as Issa has wasted $14 million of taxpayer dollars as it has been proved almost immediately IRS targeted both sides which Issa refuses to admit. He is only one of some of the most arrogant, unethical Republicans in the House who the word 'decorum' is foreign.

In the House we have the Issa IRS scandal that Republicans keep going after and in the Senate we have Benghazi which Senators especially Graham (R-SC) will not let go.  That is $358,000 wasted on their two salaries not including benefits to go after worthless investigations that have already been finished but neither Issa or Graham will let go.  Maybe they should be looking in the mirror and asking themselves what is driving them because the the two words 'common sense' are completely missing as they make fools of themselves.

The list of Republicans making fools of themselves who are USELESS in the Congress is quite lengthy starting with the Speaker who has said nothing will get done before the election.

Taxpayers pay Speaker Boehner a base pay of $223,000 to tell us nothing major will be voted on before the election.  Guess that puts ACA into the minor category as anyone with a brain knows that ACA is the law of the land no matter how much Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act which is something they touted in the early 90's but now since Obama and Democrats came up with the idea, it is no good.  

Then there is Majority Leader Cantor who determines the House Calendar:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is rewarding the least popular House in history by cutting their number of scheduled work days from 126 in 2013 to 113 in 2014. 

The 2014 House calendar reveals where the Republican majority’s priorities really are. House Republicans are scheduled to be in session for only 12 days in each of the first three months of the year. The “busy month” for House Republicans will come during the usually slow July political season. 

This schedule is all about giving House Republicans the time to campaign in their districts and fundraise. They will be on vacation for the entire month of August, in session for 10 days in September, and will only be working for a laughable two days during the month before the 2014 election.

The idea that they can spend more time in their district meeting with constituents is laughable unless you count donors.  Town Halls are almost non-existent by Republicans which means Oklahoma has very few if any since our whole delegation is Republican.

One of the dumbest statements I have heard recently (there are plenty) for just being dumb is Rep Joe Barton, R-TX, who is a big supporter of oil and gas and against wind power:

"Wind is God's way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it's hotter to areas where it's cooler. That's what wind is. Wouldn't it be ironic if in the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up? Now, I'm not saying that's going to happen, Mr. Chairman, but that is definitely something on the massive scale. I mean, it does make some sense. You stop something, you can't transfer that heat, and the heat goes up. It's just something to think about."

Lest we forget the shutdown we had comments from these two brainiacs last year who voted to shut down the Government:

“I need my paycheck. That’s the bottom line. I understand that there may be some other members who are deferring their paychecks and I think that is admirable. I’m not in that position.” (Rep Rene Ellmers, R-NC) (later gave it up when constituents got mad) 

“I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college, and I’ll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That’s just not going to fly.” (Rep Terry, R-KS)

Then there is this one from Rep Steve Pierce, (R-NM):

A Republican member of Congress says in a recently released book that a wife is to "voluntarily submit" to her husband, but that it doesn't make her inferior to him. 

Rep. Steve Pearce's (R-N.M.) memoir, "Just Fly the Plane, Stupid!" was released last month. Its publication -- and his acknowledgment in the book of the controversial nature of the submission debate -- come as the Republican Party reevaluates how it talks to and about women.

Less then a month into the year we had this from Long Island's Rep Grimm when he didn't want to answer a question:

Rep. Michael Grimm (R—N.Y.) physically threatened a local news reporter during a heated exchange following an interview after Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, telling the reporter, “I’ll throw you off this f—–g balcony.”

Then along comes these two from the House Republicans:

Republican Congressman Randy Forbes (VA) led a crusade to convince members of the National Republican Campaign Committee not to support openly gay Republican candidates running for Congress.  

Gays have bad plumbing. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) stated earlier this month that judges who rule in favor of same-sex marriage, “need some basic plumbing lessons.”  No list for dumb comments would be complete without Gohmert.

Republicans as a whole today have a real problem with the people speaking for them to the stage there are days you want to hit your head on the wall for stupid comments out of Republicans. Not only is it Congress but the RNC is trying to figure out why women are deserting them in droves after the 2012 comments on rape by their candidates?  Add those comments to these from Mike Huckabee who is thinking of running for President as a Republican:

Mike Huckabee and the giant libido. At last week’s RNC meeting, Mike Huckabee stated that Democrats want women to believe that they are helpless, without “Uncle Sugar” providing them birth control since “they cannot control their libido … without the help of the government.”

When you thought people speaking for Republicans couldn't get any dumber, think again as this time it is against gays and minorities.  Don't think the rebranding of the GOP by the RNC is working out very well, e.g.,

Demonizing gays is “common sense.” RNC committeeman Dave Agema astoundingly stated a few weeks ago that Russia’s anti-gays laws are “common sense.”  (ask to resign)

Iowa GOP’s “fun with racism” quiz. On Friday, Iowa’s Republican Party posted a flowchart “quiz” on its Facebook page that jokingly asked people to determine, “Is Someone a Racist?” The chart concluded, “If you think this flowchart isn’t funny, then this flowchart is racist.”  

Sarah Palin misplays the race card. To commemorate last week’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Sarah Palin commented on Facebook, “Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card.” 

My next question is why are people voting for Republicans today who can think because it is obvious the hard right has not only forgotten how to think and reason but they have no common sense.  Boggles my mind that any woman or a minority could keep supporting Republican candidates who think they are less then equal.  Makes no sense to me -- it is like the hard right is so into Fox News and their pundits along with talk radio,  they have lost the capability to think for themselves.  Little did I know when the Democrats were talking about Rush Limbaugh's mind numbed robots that were right in a lot of instances as I have met some of them over the years and just shake my head.

Hope you enjoyed this article on the obstructionists Republicans and why I consider them USELESS as members of Congress and Spokespeople for the GOP!  Wish I could say it was satire because that is how it reads but the comments are sourced.  That's how far the Republican Party has sunk when you think their comments could be satire.

Please open up your eyes with your brains and look very closely at who you are voting for in 2014 -- we need to get this Country moving forward at a faster pace for all Americans not just the wealthy. That requires ousting Republicans in Congress who put the wealthy over the average America like Cong Paul Ryan (R-WI) is doing with his new budget which is an insult to anyone who thinks as he is doing Tax Cuts for the Rich on the Backs of the Middle Class. 

Welcome to the world of today Republican candidates who are mostly bought and paid for by wealthy donors starting with the Koch Bros and Karl Rove who pull the strings to get what they want.  Do us all a favor and think hard before you vote, remember this, and vote accordingly:

Why do Some Republican Senators Act Like They are Entitled to Make all Decisions for the President?

“It seems to me that trying to speak with one voice — one American voice — seems to have become a quaint thing of the past. I regret that enormously.” Former SecDef Gates

The fault of that lays right on the doorstep of Republicans in Congress especially in the Senate led by Graham, McCain, and Inhofe who cannot seem to comprehend they don't run the Government.  Truly shocking and the Republicans in Congress seem to have forgot the history of how foreign policy used to be handled in this Country.  Shame on them!

What was so amazing to me about this article from David Ignatius was the fact I was talking to someone about this very topic over the weekend after all these broke and the usual suspects went running out to microphones.  Here was Scoop Jackson one of the leading hawks in 1980 recommending prudence.  We needed a lot of that out of LBJ on Vietnam and instead received a micro manager of our military forces on the ground costing many lives.  Poor example of a wartime President. Many bought into the GOP hype that Jimmy Carter was a weak President and that is why the Iranian hostage situation happened. Today the Republicans are using the same mantra on President Obama that he is a weak President which couldn't be farther from the truth.  It is like replaying the late 70's and 80's today in the GOP.

Shame Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and the granddaddy of them all Bush 43 didn't pay attention to what Senator Jackson was saying.  Might have have saved this country a lot of lives, military resources, and our budget if we didn't spend so much on military weapons which far exceeds what the next country spends.  What we are doing is not only upgrading but now those upgrades are keeping big defense companies rolling in dollars when they can pay their CEO 26M+ a year with bonuses.  DoD has turned into a money maker for their companies who depend on war.  How many cruise missiles did Clinton send basically into tents or factories?  They had to be replaced at a fairly high cost.  Made Boeing happy.  Where would we be if those Presidents mentioned above had listened to Jackson?

The year was 1980. The Iranian revolution had toppled the shah’s regime, the Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan and the United States’ president, Jimmy Carter, was widely perceived as a weak leader. Looking for a sharp-edged evaluation of the situation, I decided to interview Sen. Henry M. Jackson, a leading hawk. 

What Jackson (D-Wash.) said was surprising, even at a distance of nearly 35 years. Rather than demanding tougher statements or more saber-rattling, he said he worried about “overreaction” to events: “We appear to be going from one crisis to another,” with Washington dispensing “red-hot rhetoric at least once a week about the dire consequences of this or that or something else.” 

“We need to be prudent,” said Jackson, who was perhaps the most prominent Cold Warrior of his day. “There is a need for the U.S. to make careful decisions, stand by those decisions, and avoid sending false or conflicting signals” to U.S. allies or the Russians. David Ignatius (Wash Post)

I purposely left out Bush 41 because the first Iraq War was to free Kuwait who Saddam Hussein had invaded with his forces.  The United Nations was clear that Hussein had to leave Kuwait or he would be thrown back into Iraq.  Bush 41 and General Schwartzkopf and along with their staffs did a excellent job of planning and executing those plans of the coalition to remove Saddam from Kuwait. They planned for the future after he was removed from Kuwait.  In the aftermath, sanctions plus a no-fly zone were instituted against Iraq.  That also meant it was near impossible for Saddam to have the amount of WMD's/chemical weapons touted by the Bush/Cheney Administration when there were also mandatory inspections.

Looking back invading Iraq to remove Saddam had no relation to the Taliban or Al Qaeda in Afghanistan as Saddam did not allow Iraq to become a haven for them to operate out of Iraq.  Why did the US invade with trumped up evidence? M-O-N-E-Y for companies like Halliburton where Cheney came from before becoming the Vice President candidate when he couldn't find anyone else.  How convenient.  SecDef Rumsfeld was part and parcel to the invasion of Iraq and using phony evidence in a presentation to the United Nations.

This time the combination of Cheney/Rumsfeld didn't plan for the peace when Saddam was ousted which cost many more lives then the actual invasion of Iraq.  I do vehemently disagree though with some pundits who compare our going into Iraq with Putin going into Ukraine.  First of all there was a no-fly zone in Iraq along with sanctions that Saddam thumbed his nose at time and time again plus he was a brutal dictator so IMO even with trumped evidence it was no big loss to remove him and his sons from power.  What was a travesty was no plan in place for Iraq following his removal.  I also believe any action against Saddam should have been delayed until we had firmer footing in Afghanistan and more help from the locals.  We had no business fighting two wars at the same time.

In 2001, President made the famous comment that to this day I cringe:

We are talking about Putin who was KGB and frankly I along with others think that Bush 43 was suckered into believing Putin.  Putin may not have an honest bone in his body, he lies openly and when confronted Putin loses it as we saw earlier this week when asked a question.  From New Republic:

Slouching in a fance chair in front of a dozen reporters, Putin squirmed and rambled, and rambled and rambled.  He was a rainbow of emotion:  Serious! angy! bemused! flustered! confused!

Today Putin is on a charm offensive and we are expected to trust this man?  What else was Bush 43 led down the primrose path by Cheney and company?

Yet these same Republicans who supported Bush on Iraq 100% now go after President Obama as being weak?  Former Mayor Rudy Guiliani made a fool of himself on Fox News going after Obama like Rudy is some sort of military guru.  On Fox, Giuliani Praises Putin: He's "What You Call A Leader," In Contrast To Obama.  Found it sickening and disgusting coming out of the grandstander.

Seems the German Chancellor Merkel has a different take on Putin then Rudy when she talked to President Obama:

By Tony Paterson, Berlin1:42PM GMT 03 Mar 2014 

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have become “really annoyed” about Russian President Vladimir Putin and has questioned whether he “was still in touch with reality.” 

The German mass circulation Bild newspaper wrote on Monday that during a telephone conversation she held with US President Barack Obama to discuss the growing crisis in Ukraine she complained that Mr Putin was “living in another world.” 

“She appears to have become really annoyed,” Bild remarked. The paper said it had gained inside information on the telephone exchange between the US and German leaders from American sources. 

The two leaders roundly criticised Mr Putin in their conversation and agreed that Russia’s military intervention in Crimea was in violation of international law. A German government spokesman said that both stressed that it was important for the international community to respond to the crisis in unison. 

Both were said to be in favour of sending an immediate fact finding mission to Ukraine and backed the idea of setting up of a contact group, possibly overseen by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the aim of ending the crisis through political dialogue.   

Read More at The Telegraph

McCain and Inhofe I have to come to expect BUT and it is a big one I do not understand how Senator Lindsey Graham who is an Air Force Reserve Officer can attack his Commander in Chief as being a weak President and try to undermine him at every turn.  The US Taxpayers pay his salary in the reserves.

IMHO he should be subject to the UCMJ, Section 88, Contempt toward Officers, for his derogatory remarks over and over again against President Obama.  If he wants to speak out against the President who is his boss, then resign his commission today.  He is an affront to the men and women who serve honorably.  For a JAG officer to act like this is even more sickening.  He deserves no respect from anyone.  It is not about the man who is President but the fact he is the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces which Graham does not seem to comprehend.   If that wasn't enough to make you think Graham has lost it, this should do it:

My son sent that to me -- what I said when I saw this I don't use on here.  How stupid can one man get because Graham is approaching the lowest levels of some pretty dumb Republican comments.  He cannot let Benghazi go no matter what which brings into question his teaching any classes in law while in the Reserves to fellow JAG officers.  He doesn't sound like a lawyer but someone who cannot stand anyone but a white guy as President and along with his buddies, McCain, Inhofe, now Rudy, and some others will never give President Obama any credit.  I cannot even fathom how they would treat a woman the way the GOP treats women today.

When I read in the Washington Post about what former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Gates had to say, I couldn't agree more.  Maybe it is time that those GOP jokers decided to put aside their internal feelings to support the Country -- what a novel idea.  Excerpted comments from Ignatius interview with Secretary Gates:

I asked Gates what he thought about the criticism of Obama by McCain and Graham. “They’re egging him on” to take actions that may not be effective, Gates warned. He said he “discounted” their deeper argument that Obama had invited the Ukraine crisis by not taking a firmer stand on Syria or other foreign policy issues. Even if Obama had bombed Syria or kept troops in Iraq or otherwise shown a tougher face, “he still would have the same options in Ukraine. Putin would have the same high cards.” 

Gates, a Republican himself, urged the GOP senators to “tone down” their criticism and “try to be supportive of the president rather than natter at the president.” 

Gates can be an emotional person when he talks about national-security issues, as any reader of his recent memoir, “Duty,” can see. And he showed some of that emotion when he said, near the end of our conversation: “It seems to me that trying to speak with one voice — one American voice — seems to have become a quaint thing of the past. I regret that enormously.”

That sums up what I many of us are thinking that today's Republican Party has lost all sense of decorum and traditions of the past to become grandstanders who do not accept the outcome of elections. What we have witnessed out of Republicans in Congress since January 2009 is driving many of us to leave the Republican Party.  I won't remain in the same party with a bunch of arrogant jerks like Graham, McCain, Inhofe, Rubio, Rudy, and the list goes on and on in the Senate and House as well as Governors and members of state legislatures.

Want to do the Country a huge favor?  Oust the GOP in 2014 from leadership and get some common sense back in the Congress where work will actually get done!

 

What Happened to Foreign Policy Stops at the Water's Edge?

This is what I grew up with that foreign affairs stop at the water's edge:

Senator Arthur Vandenberg (1884-1951) of Michigan delivered a celebrated "speech heard round the world" in the Senate Chamber on January 10, 1945, announcing his conversion from isolationism to internationalism. In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, Vandenberg became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Asserting that we must stop “partisan politics at the water's edge," he cooperated with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. As recalled by Francis Wilcox, the first chief of staff  of the Foreign Relations Committee, Vandenberg's Senate career stands as a monument to bipartisanship in American foreign policy. Vandenberg died in 1951, but his legacy continues. (From US Senate)

This past weekend I witnessed in politics something I never thought I would see and which disturbs me with sitting US Senators from the Republican Party McCain, Graham, Inhofe calling President Obama weak on Ukraine when he wants diplomacy and the saber rattlers want more war.  Then there is the Junior Senator from Florida Rubio telling the President what to do.  Throw in former SecDef Rumsfeld and you have five men who are still angry President Obama was reelected and defeated Mitt Romney by fairly large numbers.

The words in this house are not fit to print on here but suffice to say that being mad was mild.  Never in my life have I been so angry at five men who forgot they don't don't run the Country and obviously don't give a moment's thought to the Oaths they took as US Senators.  This is all politics all the time and President Obama is always wrong.  If I had my way, I would throw the four out of the Senate for cause.  I am sure there are more but these five men and their comments stood out:

Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called President Obama weak and indecisive for not already having done something about Russia invading Ukraine 

Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., blamed President Obama's "feckless" foreign policy for inviting the crisis in Ukraine on Monday, telling a pro-Israel group that the president has repeatedly failed to demonstrate American strength in the face of adversaries. 

Sen Jim Inhofe "The arrogant actions of President Putin and Russia in recent days is a direct result of President Obama's disarming of America since the beginning of his Administration." said Inhofe, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (may be most hated SecDef ever by troops) on Fox News:  Rumsfeld called America weak. He said, “The U.S. is behaving in a way that tells the world we’re in decline, that we’re in withdrawal. We’ve created a leadership vacuum in the world, and it is being filled by the Putins of the world, by people without our values or our interests.” 

Then there is the Junior Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, who knows all about the Ukraine and has "8 Steps Obama Must Take to Punish Russia" -- please forgive me while I laugh -- this guy couldn't even get straight when his parents came from Cuba or why. The very fact he lectured the President sent me through the roof.  Rubio is the Senator with no backbone because when things got tough with the Immigration Bill he took off for the hills.  The fact that McConnell was dumb enough to put Rubio on the Senate Intel Committee makes me cringe.  Republicans have a habit today of putting junior people on key committees.  Intel of all committees should be reserved for those who have been in the Senate for more then one term and are known not to leak or grandstand which leaves Rubio out as he is one of the biggest grand standers ever.  He also likes to run out to a microphone at every chance.

Some might ask why I am so irritated but my irritation goes way back when it comes to getting this Country into war.  If we are not there to win, then get out or if we don't have a vested interest in going to war like after our Country was attacked on 9/11 from terrorists harbored by Afhanistan, then use diplomacy not troops.  We had no business going into Iraq on trumped up evidence by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Company that made Halliburton (Cheney's Company) and other defense contractors piles of money.  These same Republican Senators voted against veterans just recently but now want to send our military into another clash?  What is the Republican mantra?  Send our troops to war but don't take care of them when they get home?  Beyond words I can use on here.

I lived through the Vietnam War working at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and witnessed kids I went to school with being killed in Vietnam.  I knew countless Air Force officers who were serving in Southeast Asia a lot of them in Thailand because so many Air Force missions came out of Korat AB Thailand or from the B-52's out of Andersen AFB, Guam.  When military from Wright-Patterson started getting spit on when they went to shop in Dayton, word went out if you were an officer not to wear your uniform after work in downtown Dayton.  We also had the bad luck of being close to Berkley of the East at Antioch College with their band of spoiled rich kids who didn't take baths demonstrating every Saturday outside the main gate which last time I was back at Wright-Patt a few were still there.   Don't know if the same guy with the long white hair is still demonstrating or not but he was there probably 6-7 years ago on a Saturday.

Antioch College closed their door the other year and must admit that this pro-education person thought it was awesome the lowlife college shut down.  Nothing but trouble -- trying to shut down our gates, jumping on the cars, spitting on the military, calling us all kinds of names and to this day I can remember protesters surrounding my car and pounding on my windows.  They were the trashiest/scariest looking people I ever saw with their faces pressed the window which frighted me.  It wasn't just military but civilians working at Wright-Patt they were attacking.  After that incident when they called for protests, the guy I sat in an office with picked me up.

I don't care if they were against Vietnam, my friends had died over there and had people close to me still in the area and here are a bunch of unwashed, dirty long hair people, trying to block cars from going in the gate and pounding on our windows.  It left a really bad taste in my mouth for protesters of any kind that is still there today.

We were told if we had a decal on our car not to drive through Yellow Springs on the way to the Upper Valley Mall in Springfield.  They were not non-violent people -- more like stoned on something and very seldom wandered to class.  On of my friends had a rock thrown at her car in Yellow Springs just driving through which broke a side window.  Very non-violent. (sarcasm)

Had my younger brother with me shopping at the mall and he goes "Look there is a hippy" and guy just glared at us -- out of the mouths of a young boy!  He also went with me to the dedication of the new AF Museum at Area B when President Nixon spoke in 1971.  Protesters were sticking daisy's in the guards gun barrel's and taunting them.  They were arrested, taken on buses, dumped out in the middle of nowhere and had to find their way home.  Worked in the Command Section so I had tickets and remember some snotty girl with long dirty hair making a comment as we walked in and I just looked at her and glared -- no way was I going to answer back.

Still love visiting the Air Force Museum and if we when go back in the Wright-Patt area that is a definite stop -- my three kids grew up visiting the AF Museum.  Seeing the history of aviation and all those planes with the new building additions and then taking in IMAX is well worth a trip.  Makes you so proud to have been part of this Air Force tradition in some small way.

When the War in Vietnam was escalated by President Johnson there wasn't this automatic trashing of Johnson by members of Congress like we saw this weekend by Republicans which I am still having trouble comprehending why they would want us in another war this time on Ukraine against Russia.   My only explanation is like Iraq -- money for defense contractors who are seeing their budgets shrink which is about time.  The Defense budget is so far out of control, I have to laugh at Inhofe and others complaining about cuts.  They want cuts to troops now not defense contractors who are their big donors.

How can these same men who pushed so hard to go into Iraq under false pretenses, which led to fighting two wars at once, want us to get into military action against Russia over the Ukraine?  Look at facts:  Putin is not Saddam - KGB versus dictator, we had a no-fly zone over Iraq after the 1st Gulf War, Russia has a military force of airpower, seapower, and ground while Iraq's military was decimated not to mention Iraq is a lot smaller.  If members of Congress would have stopped to think on Iraq, they would have figured out that Saddam was bluffing and he didn't have new weapons -- there was no way with the 'no fly zone' and weapons inspections he could have pulled that off.

This article from the Washington Post is so true today because politics in today's Republican Party who cannot get over Romney lost to the man in the White House, is still against anything President Obama does no matter what.  I swear if Obama said he was going to use our military to go after Russia instead of diplomacy, this group of hard right would be out there calling him a war monger and we need diplomacy.  Those names of Senators and former Sec Def mentioned above have lost all credibility and deserve not one ounce of respect -- Graham, McCain, Inhofe, Rumsfeld, and Rubio.  Know there are more but these five stood out to me.

Found this article on Foreign Policy stopping at the water's edge interesting from Washington Post.  He is right today that politics doesn't stop at the water's edge but I can remember in the years of President of OU then Senator Boren of OK as head of Intel and Senator Sam Nunn of GA as head of Defense making sure partisan foreign policy stopped at the water's edge back in the 80's and early 90's on the First Gulf War-- people like those two great men who worked across the aisle are few and far between today and almost non-existent in the Republican Party:  

Does polarization in domestic politics affect foreign policy as well? There is a long-standing belief that it should not. A classic statement of that view can be found in the widely cited words of a leading Republican senator in the early days of the Cold War. Speaking in 1947, Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (Mich.), the influential chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, provided key support to Democratic President Harry S. Truman and admonished his colleagues that “we must stop partisan politics at the water’s edge.”  And in practice, when it comes to military intervention, both the urgency of events and rally-round-the-flag effects are often conducive to wider support within Congress and among the general public. Thus Gallup has found that in 10 conflicts over the past two decades, initial public approval averaged 68 percent.   

Eventually, as the memory of recent conflicts recedes, and with new threats and challenges, public opinion will evolve yet again. At the same time, partisan loyalties and presidential politics will continue to manifest themselves. In short, politics does not stop at the water’s edge. 

(ROBERT J. LIEBER, 10 Feb 2014, Professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University)

Thank God that President Barack Obama is in the White House not Romney or any Republican because America can be assured he is standing for our Country with a backbone of steel no matter what the Republicans say.  You could see it in his face while talking to the Israeli puppet of the hard right Netanyahu -- he was not happy as he wants progress in the Middle East.

A lot of us have your back Mr. President and our Prayers.

Snow, Sleet, Bitter Cold Affects Oklahoma and Heads East!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate winter and this winter in Oklahoma seems to be a lot longer than most.  Usually by now my daffodils are blooming but this year are just coming up through the snow/sleet that came down Sunday.  Daffodils get morning sun so they are always out early but this year full sun has not been that plentiful either compared to the past.

Yesterday at 2:00 in the afternoon it seemed like dusk it was so dark -- finally this afternoon the the temperatures are 23 degrees after spending most of the morning around 10 degrees and at one time the child factor hit -12 below.  Feel like I am back in Ohio not in Oklahoma.  Finally this afternoon snow is melting off the rooftops but now saying it will be dangerous driving tonight as it refreezes.  Hibernated yesterday and doing the same today.  There is absolutely no reason to go outside -- none!

Welcome to winter in Norman, Oklahoma that doesn't want to end!

Picture was taken in the afternoon and after that more came down and streets became totally covered in Norman.  This shows how dark it was yesterday afternoon.  (Norman Transcript)

March 3, 2014 

Layer of ice causes closures, wrecks 

By Jessica BruhaThe Norman Transcript 

NORMAN — After a layer of ice covered roadways this weekend, several area schools canceled classes and activities for today. School closures included Norman, Moore and Noble Public Schools, the University of Oklahoma and Moore Norman Technology Center. 

Oklahoma Highway Patrol stayed extremely busy responding to accidents due to the slick roadways. Lt. Brian Orr said officers responded to 25 to 30 accidents in Cleveland County alone Sunday, many being non-injury accidents. 

“There have been some minor injury accidents, but nothing major,” Orr said. “They’ve been mainly on the interstate.” 

Norman dispatch reported Sunday the police department stopped responding to non-injury accidents and no major collisions occurred. Norman Fire Department reported they did not respond to any weather-related calls Sunday. 

National Weather Service Meteorologist Marc Austin said the Norman area received anywhere from an eighth of an inch to maybe a half-inch of snow and sleet Sunday, with a half-inch possibly being a little inflated of a number. 

Austin said Sunday night there should have been a transition from sleet to snow with more cold air filtering into Oklahoma. There was a possibility for an inch to an inch-and-a-half of snow overnight in the area, he said. 

Low temperatures Monday morning were expected to be in the single digits with wind chills anywhere from -5 to -12, Austin said. In addition, any precipitation that fell Sunday night will most likely stick, causing roadways to still be slick today. 

Highs for Monday will be around 20 degrees, he said. However, it will warm up and melt off later in the week, with temperatures getting closer to the 50s by Wednesday. 

More stories at The Norman Transcript

When the University of Oklahoma closed early last night, you knew that the weather was getting worse and would be a mess today with the roads.  This has to be the most snow days for schools since we have lived in Oklahoma.  Just don't remember the bitter cold that we are seeing this year -- maybe once a year but this is becoming a habit.

After the win against University of Texas in men's basketball on Saturday, don't mind hibernating for two days!

Here's looking forward to warmer temperatures later this week but hearing another storm headed in next week.  Ready for spring!

Boomer Sooner!