A Letter to Ann Romney, wife of Mitt Romney

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Over three years ago Barack Obama was sworn in as president of the greatest nation on earth at a difficult time in our history.

He promised hope.
He promised healing.
He promised change.

And the people of America gave him a chance to deliver.

But instead of hope he gave us fear.
Instead of healing he gave us class warfare.
Instead of change he gave us paralysis.

His were words of promise, such lofty and ideal words for a new and better future.  Now they have been given the test of time, and those inspirational words have been exposed as nothing more than the sham of political expediency so typical of our broken political system.

Barack Obama's promises were empty.

His strategy was divisive.
His actions failed to deliver.
In short, he failed America.

The people are the heart and soul of America and they deserve far better than being treated as pawns in an international chess game.  You see, the people are not pawns in a game of political partisanship and social engineering.

For President Obama the record is clear, and the record is dismal.  The conclusion is obvious.  His policies of division, exploitation and paralysis must end.

It is time he recognize the obvious.  His game has reached checkmate - his game is over.

The people will no longer accept being pawns in his game.  It is time he put his chess board away and go back home to Chicago or Hollywood.

So today the people of American have a clear choice.

When the dust settles on the Republican primary your husband Mitt Romney will be the last one standing.

Mitt is not a rock star or a celebrity, he is a gladiator prepared to roll up his sleeves and lead us through the difficult decisions we must make in order to restore America.

Once upon a time America was the dream of all people on earth.  Recapture the dream and you will stimulate the dreamers, those rugged patriots, entrepreneurs, pilgrims and freedom fighters, the melting pot called America.

In truth the vast majority of Americans reflect the richly diverse cultural background and diversity of those many generations who came to America as pioneers in the New World.  It is our duty to guarantee our beloved nation and people that the dream that made us strong will be there for future generations to keep us strong.

Your Mitt can restore the American dream and guide America through the dangerous waters and dark clouds of our present into our future.

Perhaps he doesn't have a warm and fuzzy image but what he does have is a determination of steel.  His style of leadership may not make him everyone's best friend but it most certainly will give us a tough chief executive and decisive commander in chief.

At this precarious point in the world and national affairs do we need a nice guy or a person of steel nerves and broad based experience?

Romney has been there.  He has proven what leadership means and how it can foster success.

After graduating from BYU and Harvard law and business graduate schools with high honors no one can question his education or the methods of leadership and success, or theorize about his philosophy of executive decision making.  He has demonstrated it over and over again.

Mitt proved that success does not come from New Age visualization but from the Old Age style of education and experience, of blood, sweat and tears, by fighting one battle after another, and climbing one step at a time.

Polarization, partisanship and cronyism have no place in politics or in oval offices.  That is what has tarnished the American dream and disappointed the American people.

Mitt was not a career politician, a special interest lobbyist, or a charter member of the smoke filled rooms in Washington and Chicago where political deals are hatched and political payoffs are expected.

All his life he demonstrated a love for the challenge of leadership and welcomed the responsibility for improving the lives of those around him.  It must have been a difficult task but one he was good at and his experience in the real world must have taught him a lot more than can be learned in the Halls of Congress or walls of an academic institution.

For example, he developed a strong faith in God, a strong family foundation and a strong desire to help and help not just a handful of friends, financial contributors or special interests but all people.

In the classic Midwest definition of "serving the public", that means transforming success into helping others and dedicating a few years of one's life to public service to help and serve all the people, not just a privileged few.

All must benefit from the fruits of their labor and realize the rewards of their success.

My question to the silent majority of Americans who don't complain, don't demand and don't expect favoritism is this.

Do you want lofty words or gritty determination?
Do you want empty promises or bold actions?
Do you want theoretical probability or proven experience?

We gave a young president full of bold promises a chance to prove he was true to his word. He could not deliver what he promised.  The lack of experience he brought with him as president proved more than promises are needed to understand our problems, to develop meaningful plans to attack those problems, and to direct the forces and resources of government in executing the plan and solving those problems.

Mitt Romney has the education, experience and achievements needed to guide our nation out of these difficult times.  He knows the price of leadership and the responsibilities of how to lead.  And he knows effective leadership cannot be achieved through ill-conceived plans by inexperienced people or a world view of America that is not shared by your fellow country men and women.

Mitt must ignore the nitpicking media or the political pundits and just be Mitt Romney, not some figment of a consultants imagination.  His strength is his resolve and his legacy is his years of unselfish performance.

We know he can figure out a way to fix the economy, immigration, education and energy issues because that is what a successful business executive can do while most politicians cannot be trusted to serve the public over special interests or their own interests.

Romney is not a professional politician.

He is a man that can be trusted.  He proved that to the people of Massachusetts, the Olympic movement, and many others what happens when you are trusted.  You succeed at solving the problems.

In the aftermath of the Super Tuesday primaries there is a stark lesson to be learned.  It seems that those who know your husband best, the people he and you as first lady served in Massachusetts when Mitt was governor and chief executive, gave him the greatest victory margin of the campaign with over 72% voting for Romney.

What do they know that we don't?

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Obamaville - Campaign 2012 - A Millionaires Delight?

With just two days until the GOP primary in South Carolina a new player has unexpectedly joined the Republican fracas as the Obama White House has officially broken a promise to stay on the sidelines of the GOP primary politics.

Apparently the Obama advisors just can't resist a chance to influence the vote and for the first time this election the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, used the podium of the White House to blast Mitt Romney over his personal income tax comments.

To be fair, Romney was left unprotected and unprepared by his campaign staff on the issues relating to releasing his income tax records.  For a campaign that has maintained a sharp focus on the economy for the long haul and the battle against Obama for the presidency, this was a serious media blunder.

Sensing blood in the wind, the Chicago gang of Obama simply could not resist joining the effort to distort and smear their probable opponent.  In perhaps a blunder on their own part, it was rather odd they left the hatchet job to the White House Press Secretary, paid for by US tax dollars, when all the good Obama mouthpieces are with the campaign and not on the government payroll.

But then they also have President Obama, also on the taxpayer payroll, racing around the country raising hundreds of millions of campaign dollars while acting like a president.  In another related development the Obama campaign is starting to air political campaign commercials in battle ground states even though he is unopposed and the GOP opponent will not be selected officially until the end of August.  By my calendar that is still six months away.

So Romney comments on his probable tax rate of 15%, speakers fees of $300,000 and is ill-prepared to defend his right to be successful, make a lot of money, and be an example for others.

Carney used the White House podium to say Romney is evidence of the need for the millionaire's tax to prevent the rich from paying lower tax rates than middle class Americans.  This is what he had to say.

“The president feels very strongly that everybody needs to pay their fair share and that everybody, therefore, gets a fair shot at the American dream,” the White House press secretary Jay Carney said at his press briefing.

"That includes millionaires who might be paying an effective tax rate of 15 per cent when folks making $50,000 or $75,000 or $100,000 a year are paying much more,” Mr. Carney added.

Though he tried to keep Obama out of the fray by saying his comments were not "specifically" discussed with the President, anyone with any knowledge of the workings of the White House knows nothing is said by the Press Secretary without the approval of the President.

One might consider this politics as usual but there are a couple of potential issues that might benefit Romney as his taxes are released.

First, most of his income came from investments, not salary, just like Obama advisor Warren Buffett and most millionaires.  There is a fixed tax rate of 15% for such income so that is the law.  Romney has supported comprehensive revision of the entire tax code.

While the capital gains tax, which is lower than individual tax rates, favors the wealthy, it was set up to encourage the investment of such funds into building businesses which generates jobs.  If anything, reinvestment in America seems to be a good thing.

Romney is the only presidential candidate who has called for a means test to limit capital gains to only the rich, $200,000 plus income.  The media and political pundits forget that many Americans are subject to this tax for their mutual funds and other investments.

According to U.S. News almost half (42%)  of all Americans use 401(k), IRA, Keogh or other type of retirement account.  A record low 23% of Americans expect to receive pension income, while 20% expect stocks and mutual funds to be a major source of retirement income.  Withdrawals from retirement accounts are taxed as normal income while stocks and mutual fund withdrawals are taxed at the lower capital gains rate.

In addition, when the Romney taxes are released don't be surprised if it shows Romney gave more to his church than anyone else, quite possibly more than all the other candidates and President Obama combined.  His other charitable contributions may also dwarf the other candidates.

Taxes are complex.  There are thousands of pages of US tax code.  It needs an overhaul but attacking classes of taxpayers and calling for the redistribution of wealth is no way to achieve it.  All candidates and both political parties must work together to make the system fair and just.

Obamaville & GOP Primary Campaign

Obamaville January 17, 2012

With the presidential election just 9 1/2 months away and the South Carolina primary this weekend perhaps it is a good time to review the current state of affairs.

On the GOP side Romney is headed for the nomination although watch for Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Ron Paul to keep things lively for a few more primaries. None have a chance to catch Romney but the news networks are working overtime to keep them in the race both to damage Romney's position against Obama and to keep up the already rather dismal TV ratings.

Truth is Romney wins in South Carolina and Florida this month could end the contest.  No doubt Ron Paul will stay in, probably until the convention.  While Obama campaign leaders want Romney to be bloodied by Paul and the others, me thinks the Chicago backroom boys are miscalculating the Paul impact.

Truth also is Ron Paul is not costing Romney votes.  Paul pulls the youth (Democrats) and Independents and those are the two groups that gave Obama his narrow win in 2008.  The longer Paul stays in the more votes he costs Obama and the general election is already too close to call.

At least the primaries so far have seen Romney withstand a withering and blistering stream of attacks from his opponents, the Obama thugs, the news media and the Democratic pit bulls.

Conventional wisdom from the Democratic pundits and news media is Romney can't win the conservatives or Christian right therefore he is the best opponent for the billion dollar kid, our President Obama.

Do they really think the conservatives or evangelicals could embrace Obama over a Republican after the three year on the job training record of Obama?  The Obama boys from Illinois may know what makes Chicago tick, I mean the last two governors of that state are in jail, but they do a very arrogant and horrible job of reading Joe Six Pack.

As if the economy alone, yes Obama's economy, is not enough to toss the gang out of the White House and Congress, and the billion dollars Obama will spend to get re-elected is not insulting to the whole concept of democracy and free elections, they have bigger problems than Romney.

When Obama took office in 2009 crude oil sold for $36.51 per barrel and the cost of a gallon of gasoline was $1.85.  Just three years after he took control of the economy the price of crude oil is now $101.56 a barrel and gasoline is $3.44 a gallon.  According to conventional math that is a 278% increase in crude oil and 186% increase in gasoline in just three years. Some management of the economy.

That means the price of not just gasoline but everything derived from oil like cosmetics, plastics, fertilizers, and thousands of other items people use every day will continue skyrocketing right up until election day.  We won't be better off under Obama, we will be broke.  Of course he can blame that on Congress but Obama doesn't even have an energy policy for independence that Congress can vote up or down.

So besides the lack of much of anything in the record of the Obama team, the still sputtering economy, and in spite of the billion dollar campaign war chest built up by Obama while he was supposed to be governing, what else could go wrong for him?

How about a Republican National Convention surprise?  One of two things could happen at the GOP convention that could radically alter the election in November.  If Romney wins the presidential nomination as expected he could pick either Chris Christie of New Jersey or Marco Rubio of Florida for Vice President.

Christie would not just solidify the conservative and social conservative vote but would energize them with his no holds barred campaign and governing style and it has been a long time since we have had a leader like Reagan not afraid to stand up and fight for the people.

Rubio would seriously erode Obama's need to maintain the Hispanic vote in order to win, and he would also pull the conservative, evangelical and Tea Party voters.  Yet another potential powerhouse ally for Romney, both Christie and Rubio would also appeal to a lot of Independents.

So in spite of what the Obama campaign says there may still be a lot of surprises ahead for the those who think the White House is for sale to the highest bidder.

Obama To Face Another Defeat - How Will He React?

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With the White House positioning itself to blame everyone but themselves for the potential defeat in the Massachusetts Senate race for Ted Kennedy's seat, a continuation of the hard line bully mentality of the Rahm Emanuel school of political fisticuffs, America waits to see if our young and inexperienced president finally learns his lesson or is willing to let his entire presidency go up in flames.



Today's election has all the potential to be not a cliffhanger but an avalanche in favor of the Republican candidate who will win because he ran as an independent, not a Republican. The race between the once invincible Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican outsider Scott Brown is a classic textbook example of political arrogance and presidential indifference driving the prohibitive favorite Coakley into one of the greatest last minute campaign collapses in political history.



However, the signs were there since the Virginia and New Jersey governors races last November when the White House tried to interfere in local races and got trounced. It seems the boys at Pennsylvania Avenue just don't get it. The people of America, be they Democrat, Republican or Independent, are not going to stand by and let some rookies in the White House drive America into self-destruction with some pie in the sky view of what is best for the people.

Deficits, the economy, honesty and truth still are held sacred in this country and the Obama gang has lost sight of all of them. No, Mr. President, this is not your nation but of the people, by the people and for the people. When you made your last minute trip to Massachusetts to salvage your sputtering candidate you made, once again, a huge mistake.

The speech was peppered with "I" and "We" know what is best for you. It was condescending at best, arrogant at worst, and delivered as an elitist professor bored with teaching who is intent on telling his students what to think and why they are wrong in thinking different than he tells you. In short, it was more of the same partisan politics that seem to characterize this supposedly "new" politician who was going to lead us away from the mean-spirited world of politics as usual toward a new breath of fresh air in politics.



Obama proved once again he is nothing more than a Chicago South side politician who knows better than the public and who scolds the public for daring to challenge his words. Even the pro-life heckler who disrupted Obama for about three minutes left him startled and mad that someone, anyone, would dare challenge his credentials. What credentials?

In his latest speeches Obama suddenly saw the light and attacked the banks, the same ones he saved, the same ones who have given millions of dollars to his and other Democratic leaders campaign funds. He attacked pharmaceutical companies while helping Coatley raise money from them. He acts as if we will never know the House majority leader, his man Steny Hoyer, has raised nearly a million dollars from the bad guys and other Washington politicians have raised over $150 million from them.

If Obama does react to a potential loss with even more arrogance, and continues to try and slam unpopular trillion dollar spending bills down our throat, then he might as well lock the doors on the White House and Congress for the last three years of his term because he will be well on his way to being the most ineffective president of all time.

Maybe he learned all about socialism in Ivy League schools and from his many left wing radical friends but he didn't learn enough from the practical applications of socialism in the real world. Socialism only works when people are weak. Americans are not and never have been weak. The people will never stand for an agenda they did not know he intended to pursue and that the people have rejected over and over again throughout our history.



If our young president cannot learn the virtue of humility, and drop his idiotic spending bills and his fast track toward bankruptcy for our nation, he should resign. Our presidents are supposed to lead all the people, not just those few he likes or gave him money. In the 21st century the president of the United States cannot be an on the job training program and the White House is not a frat club for the elite. He must realize he serves us, we do not serve him.

If he cannot learn that simple lesson of Democracy then he should step aside. Because if he cannot learn that lesson of Democracy the people will have to throw him out. That is the Constitutional solution when a president does not serve the people. Wake up Mr. President before it is too late. You have awakened a sleeping giant in the American public and they are mad as hell at what you are doing to our nation. In America, people are Americans first, then members of political parties. When parties ignore the wishes of the public they no longer serve a useful purpose.

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The Day of Reckoning Has Come - for the White House, Congress and Wall Street

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It is now time for an end to the senseless babble in our nation's capitol, an end to the claims by the politicians to know what is RIGHT for America. Now is the time to end the meaningless charges and counter-charges, the pointing of the finger in blame, and the bias and bigotry, hatred and paralysis that dominates Washington.

The Democrats continue to point the finger at Bush for the troubles that now belong to the Democrats. They point the finger at the Republicans for opposing whatever the Democrats want to do. But the Democrats control everything, the House, the Senate and the presidency, if they want something the Republicans can't stop it.



As for the Republicans, the minority party gives them a new perspective, at least in the Senate and presidency. Don't forget, the House has been controlled by Speaker Pelosi since 2006, not 2008. But the Republicans often act more like spoiled kids than a constructive force to bring reason and sanity to the insanity of the Democrats.



So far, there really is no difference between the two parties. Oh the circumstances might have changed a little but in truth there is no difference. We still have the same two wars. We still have a crippled economy. We still debate how to increase the size of government rather than reduce it. Health care reform has little to do with real reform and a lot to do with control.

The Democrats want to control health care costs by spending about a trillion more dollars. What kind of math is that? The White House refuses to offer anything for fear it will be yet another failure on its dismal post-election legacy. Is that leadership? And the Republicans, well they have the right ideas to reduce costs but no ability to rise above the fight and present their case.



Dig a little deeper and whatever philosophical differences might have existed between the two parties is lost in a fog. That fog is the millions of dollars pouring in from Wall Street and special interests to make sure that our current system of legalized corruption remains alive and well. Both parties run around with their hands out and the money keeps flowing in.

Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lectured the Afghanistan president Karzai on the need for meaningful actions to fight corruption or the United States would withhold support for that struggling nation. It was impressive. But it was the wrong audience. Before we worry about how Afghanistan runs it's country we should look in the mirror at our own country. Hillary needs to make that speech to the White House and Congress where it is really needed.

Congress and the Obama administration, just like Bush and his Administration, have made corruption such an established way of life in Washington that the keys to the Treasury have been lost and the door remains open wide. For all the mistakes made by Bush, it seems Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid and Franks have not fixed one, not one, of the obvious flaws in our system in a year.



Lobbyists rule the halls of congress. Special interests are pouring billions of dollars into the campaign coffers of all the Democrats and Republicans. Wall Street would be laughing all the way to the bank if they didn't already own the bank. Our politicians have given Goldman Sachs, Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America and who knows who else an unlimited ATM card to draw upon the national treasury. And we are not requiring repayment, not charging interest, could care less about bonuses, and don't care how they spend the money.



Democrats and Republicans alike are equally to blame and equally benefit from this, the greatest raid on the Treasury in our nation's history. Has Pelosi, Reid or Franks passed any campaign finance reform? No! Restrictions on lobbyists? No! How about closing the loopholes on unregulated banks? No! Well have they at least stopped illegal securities scams from being sold? No!



Has Obama or the folks at Treasury stopped almost interest free loans to banks that refuse to give loans to our citizens or businesses? No! Have they blocked the billions of dollars in bank bonuses being paid from money stolen from the government? No! Has Barney Franks stopped the mortgage mess? No! How about at least prosecuting the perpetrators of high crimes against the government who stole our money? No! Well has he at least disclosed which Senators and Congressmen were given sweetheart loans by the corrupt mortgage companies? No!



Of course none of these things have happened because the politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, don't want all their friends and partners in crime to be sitting in jail. As long as they are fighting with each other and pointing fingers they figure the public is distracted from the truth and too stupid to figure out it allows them to continue ripping off the government, us, and they will do this for as long as we let them.



There simply is no difference between a Democrat and Republican. Both parties cry foul as they continue to feed off their enemies. No one can fix Wall Street because everyone from the president to congress is beholden to Wall Street for being elected. Now, when there is a force so powerful that it has obliterated the difference between what used to be competitive political parties, what chance is there a beneficiary of the bribes and gifts will turn on them?



In America there are no politicians left with NO STRINGS ATTACHED in our nation's capitol. Still we might forgive them their digressions if they would actually acknowledge the mistakes, apologize for them, and fix the mess but that is just not going to happen. When the bushel of apples is rotten it doesn't matter if you throw one out of the bushel, the bushel still remains rotten.



This is a very sad time in America. The people have been abandoned by their elected officials and their government. Our banks and medical services have been contaminated by the same evil forces just as our mortgage and credit card companies have abandoned us. They are all in control. They don't care about anything but feeding an insatiable appetite of greed and they won't stop until they have bled our nation dry.



Once upon a time in America the news media used to be the fifth estate who looked out for the interests of the people. It was the media that exposed the dark side of our capitalist and political systems. Now the media, thanks to their rejection of the concept of neutrality and impartial reporting, are just as much a part of the problem as the politicians.



The Day of Reckoning is upon us. The first vestiges of it were felt in the New Jersey and Virginia races for governor when the president and Democrats lost. But the Republicans were not the ones who won. No, this was the first groundswell of what started 17 years ago when Ross Perot took on the Washington establishment because of their bungling of the economy, giving away our manufacturing capacity and jobs through NAFTA, campaign finance corruption, poor schools and heath care costs that were out of control.



Clinton and Bush, Sr. along with the Democratic and Republican parties, smeared him. Al Gore, VP at the time, even debated him on the benefits of NAFTA. The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, which did more than any one thing to destroy the manufacturing base in America, was opposed by Perot. Isn't it rather interesting that this agreement was proposed by Bush, Sr. when he was president and approved by Bill Clinton when he was president. Now tell me, what is the difference between the two parties?

The combined forces of the two political parties, Clinton and Bush, Sr. along with a media that did it's best to make Perot look like a fool did not stop him from influencing the outcome of the 1992 election as he received the most votes (20%) by an Independent in the 20th Century. Nor did they stop him from laying the groundwork for a true opposition grassroots movement of the people against the political parties and politicians.



This year the old boys and gals in our nation's capitol suddenly realized the Perot legacy is alive and well because his populist movement was always about what was best for the people. Had Perot become president back then or in 1996 half of congress, the bureaucracy and Wall Street would be in jail right now, not running or pillaging our government.



Two products of the system (New Jersey and Virginia governor's candidates) have already lost this fall to the new grassroots movement. Congress got a little roughed up in health care town halls by the same populist movement. Still the fools in our capitol and Wall Street do not get it. They have one year left before the movement becomes an avalanche and the politicians start getting thrown out by the droves in the elections next fall. Yes, the Day of Reckoning is Upon Us. The Time is at Hand.

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Biden Tells Real Intent of Obama Health Care Reform

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Vice President Biden is no stranger to sticking his foot in his mouth or telling too much when asked a question. Yeserday, he may have finally revealed the real intent of the Obama health care reform in a speech everyone thought would get no notice because of the United Nations meeting.

In a discussion of the health care reforms needed, and after mauling the insurance industry which is required of every card carrying liberal, he made the following comments.




"You can't rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. We've got to change ships here!"

Is that liberal code for throwing out the system 70% of the people want to keep and replacing it with the government run public option program sought by the far left and socialist crowd? The goal has always been to eliminate all competition and eliminate private sector involvement in health care so the new system can be controlled by the unions and liberals.

At least he said what he meant this time. There was no effort by the White House to clarify what Biden meant, even when Obama's press secretary was asked directly if Biden was speaking for the president.

Obama Calibrates Racist Remarks in Cameo Appearance???

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So Obama has inflamed racism in America by not speaking from a teleprompter, you might say he pulled a Joe Biden foot-in-the-mouth act, and then tried to soften the criticism with an impromptu news briefing he called a "cameo" appearance at a White House Press briefing.

Only a Harvard educated elitist would describe an apology as he did, "And I could've calibrated those words differently." Calibrated those words differently? Calibrate is a scientific technique to validate test results in scientific instruments. What in the world does that have to do with a personal apology for saying stupid things? Now this is from a highly educated Ivy L:eague president never at a loss for words.

One can only assume he was thinking of scientific polls when he mentioned calibrate and that the polls showed his remarks of accusing the Police of "acting stupidly" might just have been a little more stupid than the Police action. Here is what an Associated Press reporter had to say about the fiasco.

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer Nancy Benac, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama concedes his words — that a white police officer "acted stupidly" when he arrested a black university scholar in his own home — were ill-chosen. But, while he invited both men to visit him at the White House, Obama stopped short of publicly apologizing for his remark.

The president personally telephoned the two men, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley, in an effort to end the rancorous back-and-forth over what had transpired and what Obama had said about it. Trying to lighten the situation, he even commiserated with Crowley about reporters on his lawn.

Hours earlier, a multiracial group of police officers had stood with Crowley in Massachusetts and called on Obama to say he's sorry.

It was a measure of the nation's keen sensitivities on matters of race that the fallout from a disorderly conduct charge in Massachusetts — and the remarks of America's first black president about it — had mushroomed to such an extent that he felt compelled to make a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room to try to put the matter to rest. The blowup had dominated national attention just as Obama was trying to marshal public pressure to get Congress to push through health care overhaul legislation — and as polls showed growing doubts about his performance.

"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," Obama said of the racial controversy. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."

The president did not back down from his contention that police had overreacted by arresting the Harvard professor for disorderly conduct after coming to his home to investigate a possible break-in. He added, though, that he thought Gates, too, had overreacted to the police who questioned him. The charge has been dropped.

Obama stirred up a hornet's nest when he said at a prime-time news conference this week that Cambridge police had "acted stupidly" by arresting Gates, a friend of the president's. Still, Obama said Friday he didn't regret stepping into the controversy and hoped the matter would end up being a "teachable moment" for the nation.

"The fact that this has garnered so much attention, I think, is testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America," Obama said.
Obama, who has come under intense criticism from police organizations, said he had called Crowley to clear the air, and said the conversation confirmed his belief that the sergeant is an "outstanding police officer and a good man."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to say whether Obama had apologized to Crowley.

Asked repeatedly about that, Gibbs said if Obama "doesn't want to characterize" his remarks to Crowley, "I'm not going to get ahead of him."

The story had taken on a life of its own, and the White House scrambled to keep up.
Gibbs said just Friday morning that the president had probably said most of what he was going to say, and that the only problem was media "obsession."

Hours later, Obama showed up to try to put the issue to rest.

There were signs both that Obama's statement had helped to ease tensions and that his critics were not about to let that be the end of it: A trio of Massachusetts police organizations issued a statement thanking the president for his "willingness to reconsider his remarks." The statement said Crowley was "profoundly grateful" Obama was trying to resolve the situation. But a Republican congressman from Michigan, Thaddeus McCotter, said he would introduce a House resolution calling on Obama to apologize to Crowley.

Obama tried to lighten his tone in his public remarks about his phone conversation with Crowley.
He said the police officer "wanted to find out if there was a way of getting the press off his lawn."
"I informed him that I can't get the press off my lawn," Obama joked.

In his conversation with Gates, aides said, Obama and the professor had spoken about the president's statement to the press and his conversation with Crowley.

The case began on Monday, when word broke that Gates, 58, had been arrested five days earlier at the two-story home he rents from Harvard.

Supporters including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson called the arrest an outrageous act of racial profiling. Public interest increased when a photograph surfaced of the handcuffed Gates being escorted off his porch amid three officers, two white and one black.

Cambridge police moved to drop the disorderly conduct charge on Tuesday — without apology, but calling the case "regrettable."

That didn't end the national debate: Some said Gates was responsible for his own arrest because of his response to Crowley, while others said Gates was justified to yell at the officer.
Obama's criticism of the police only added fuel to the racial debate.

Meanwhile, the police union and fellow officers, black and white, rallied around Crowley, a decorated officer who in 1993 tried to give lifesaving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Reggie Lewis, a black Boston Celtics player who collapsed at practice. Lewis could not be revived.
Crowley, 42, had been selected to be a police academy instructor on how to avoid racial profiling.

A multiracial group of officers and union officials stood with Crowley on Friday at a news conference to show support and to ask Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is black, to apologize for their comments. Patrick had called Gates' arrest "every black man's nightmare."

Obama's take on the situation: "My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in a way that it should have been resolved."

Democratic activists around the country were hopeful the president's latest remarks would quell the uproar.
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Associated Press writers Bob Salsberg in Cambridge, Mass., Charles Babington, Ben Feller and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington, Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., and Tim Martin in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

Sotomayor to be First Latin Supreme Court Justice

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Sonia Sotomayor will become the first Latino and only the third woman to serve on the US Supreme Court when the US Senate confirms her nomination in the next few days. In spite of media efforts to say the Republicans are trying to stop the nomination, there is no evidence they are going to do it.





In fact Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, has vaulted into the national spotlight with his most thoughtful questioning in Committee hearings on the nomination. Graham is the only person to question her so far who did not work from a script intended to highlight her strengths or weaknesses depending on whether you are a democrat or republican. Graham talked with her about honest questions regarding her previous statements, speeches and rulings.





Sotomayor, of Puerto Rican descent and a lifelong New Yorker from the Bronx, would be the only person on the Supreme Court with trial experience in addition to being a federal judge and in spite of some very strange statements she made some time ago. In the end she will be confirmed because we need a Latino on our highest court and she does have the necessary credentials.

Letterman Cannot Stop Sucking Up To Obama - Trashes Palin

This week acerbic-tongued Letterman once again demonstrated he can be the liberal mouthpiece and hack for Obama by trashing Sarah Palin in his monologue and Top Ten List for reasons that defy explanation. His raw sexual innuendos about Palin and raunchy jokes about how her 14 year old daughter got "knocked up" defy reason and good taste and demonstrate that as a lackey for Obama he is doing him no good.

Maybe he has been told to finish the hatchet job on Palin that he started during the campaign because after all the smear tactics of the liberal left media Palin remains more popular than ever. And with oil prices having more than doubled since Obama was elected and refused to authorize more domestic oil drilling, his popularity has been taking a fast track down.

Letterman was always the tool of the leftists with his tirades against McCain and Palin but this time he went far beyond his worst performances to date. Perhaps it was because this was the first week that Conan O'Brien took over the far more popular Tonight Show making Letterman a two-time loser to Leno and O'Brien as the King of Late Night TV.

Letterman has been known to have an acid tongue and he even apologized to Paris Hilton for raging about her jail time, but then Paris was an Obama supporter and she is a millionaire, two requirements to be friends with good old Dave.

Well Letterman has been a distant second to NBC's Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and now Conan O'Brien so maybe it is time CBS retire the old man before be gets them in lawsuits.