Snow, Blizzard, Winds and Ice - Mother Nature Shuts Up Politicians

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It started snowing about 2 pm yesterday, Friday, and has not stopped snowing since. So far we have about 20 inches of new snow, some areas have over 30 inches,and it is supposed to snow for 6-7 more hours.



Incredibly the politicians of Washington, DC went silent and have not been heard from since the snows came. I think it is Mother Earth's way of protecting us from a severe political overdose.



Now there are a few unusual things about this monster storm as the media likes to hype it. First here at Coltons Point 60 miles down the Potomac River from our nation's capitol we have had a blizzard and flood warning in effect since the storm began.

That means we are supposed to be overrun by river water while suffering blinding snow, we call it white out conditions, with wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour.



Instead it rained all night meaning we got a lot more precipitation than the snow areas up north. You see every inch of rain equals 10 inches of snow and we had well over an inch of rain all night, probably two inches.

However, this morning it did start snowing and by 2 pm this afternoon we had over 12-16 inches of fresh snow on top of the 1-2 inches of rain which was on top of the remainer of the 12 inches of snow last weekend and the 24 inches of snow about 30 days ago.



So here in our little Southern Maryland outpost we have had about 50-60 inches of snow this winter, the most in history, and the magnolia trees are getting mad as hell.



I grew up in Iowa and Nebraska so this is more like a typical winter for me but these St. Mary's County natives long ago got spoiled and expect tropical winters.

Send Al Gore a message, where the heck is the global warming that has filled your bank accounts.



More than 300,000 people around here have no power and the Super Bowl is a little over 24 hours away. You can bet there will be power by then since Super Bowl commericals are the best thing on television.

I have a great many readers in Florida. Bet you are happy you fled the Northeast for the orange groves. There is also a strong contingent from New Orleans where Super Bowl fever has hit an insane pitch.



All the hotels in New Orleans are booked the nght of the Super Bowl even though the Super Bowl is in Miami about 500 miles away. Those cajuns are throwing the biggest party other than Marti Gras to celebrate the first team appearance in the Super Bowl and no matter who wins they will probably be happy.



You see, it is the first trip for the Saints but if Indianapolis wins the star of the Colts, Peyton Manning, grew up in New Orleans and his father has been with the Saints for 39 years as a player and executive.



For those of you outside the US and there are readers from over 100 countries don't believe all you hear about the storm in the media. We are quite well prepared for storms like this, even for the power outages. Many of us grew up with them.

It will make for good headlines but it will not disrupt much of our way of life because we were all going to be watching the Super Bowl anyway tomorrow.



And for those of you who are conspiracy seekers this could be a good one. The threat of a paralyzing storm emptied all the stores in the entire northeastern United States, where 55 million people live, of food, supplies and survival gear not to mention snow shovels, generators, water, etc.



I saw people so panicked they were buying shopping carts full of stuff. I mean how much food and toilet paper can you go through in a weekend? So wouldn't that threat of a huge storm help the Obama economic recovery with the burst of consumer spending in the biggest markets in America after a bad week on the stock market? What do you think Glenn Beck?

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Sarah Palin Crashes National Gridiron Club - Five Blocks from White House

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Sarah Palin showed no fear in entering the belly of the beast when she shocked the Washington elite and agreed to be featured co-speaker at the National Gridiron Club, home of the nation's elite journalists in our nation's capitol.

Last Saturday she traveled to Washington, DC and joined fellow co-speaker Barney Frank, yes that Barney Frank, and won raving reviews for her series of one liners. Interest in Palin by the enemy camp was so great that the attendance doubled from normal and they even agreed to waive the normal rule that the talks were off the record so the many journalists could cover the speech.

Since the media were incapable of giving a full review of the speech, as the left leaners could not allow themselves to say too many nice things about Sarah, I am reprinting the entire text of her talk.

It was a new, confident and self assured Sarah Palin who stood before the gang who once said she was afraid to confront the major media of America. Enjoy...



Text of Remarks by ex-Gov. Sarah Palin to the Gridiron Club, Dec. 5, 2009:

Good evening. It’s great to be in Washington and I am loving the weather.

I braved the elements and went out for a jog! Or, as Newsweek calls it, a cover-shoot.

It’s a privilege to be here tonight at the Washington DC Barnes & Noble. Tonight, I'll be reading excerpts from my new book. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? “Going Rogue”

Yukon wasn’t sure if I’d go with that title and somebody suggested I follow the East Coast selfhelp trend and go with, “How To Look Like A Million Bucks…For Only 150 Grand.”

Todd liked, “The Audacity of North Slope.”

Hey, I considered not having a title at all.



I’ve said it before, but you Beltway types just don’t seem to get it. You don’t need a title to make an impact. But anyway, let’s get started. I’ll begin my first reading on Page 209.

It was pitch black when we touched down in Arizona late on August 27, 2008. The next morning we drove to John McCain’s ranch in Sedona. John was waiting on the porch. Before he can say a word, I tell him, I'm quoting now:

I know why I’m here, and I’m ready. But, I'm worried. The cost of credit protection for the largest U.S. banks is rising precipitously. Have you given any thought to the run on the entities in the parallel banking system? Do you realize the vulnerability created when these institutions borrow short term in liquid markets to invest long
term in illiquid assets?

John said, “You betcha!”

I thought, “You betcha?”

Who talks that way?

Well, sometimes you just have to trust your instincts. When you don’t, you end up in places like this.

Who would have guessed that I’d be palling around with this group? At least now I can put a face to all the newspapers I read.

It is good to be here and in front of this audience of leading journalists and intellectuals. Or, as I call it, a death panel.

To be honest, I had some serious reservations about coming to visit your cozy little club. The Gridiron still hasn’t offered membership to anyone from my hometown paper in Wasilla, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley Frontiersman.

And my dad thought it was just a plain bad idea to leave the book tour for some football game. He might have a point!

I’ve been touring this great, great land of ours over the last few weeks. I have to say, the view is much better from inside the bus, than under it!

But really, I am thrilled to be with you. And I’d like to thank the Gridiron for the invitation and Dick Cooper for his introduction.

To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, this has to be the most extraordinary collection of people who have gathered to viciously attack me since the last corporate gathering at CBS.

Despite what you have read, or more likely, despite what you have written, I do feel a real bond with all of you. I studied journalism, earned a communications degree and for a time only wanted to be a journalist. I was even a television sportscaster back home.

I’m guessing some of you probably got your start the exact same way… once there was television.

Let me get back to the book. I know that many of you are still upset because I wouldn’t play that silly Washington game. You know, the one where all of you read a book in its entirety, from the first page of the index to the last.

But think about it, because you actually had to read the whole book in the vein hope of finding your name, you now know all about Denali, mom, dad, ungulate eyeballs, slaying salmon on the Nushagak and Ugashik near Alegnigak, where we make AGOOTAK and moose chili! You’re welcome.

Still, I want to do something very special for this audience of Washington elite. So, I’ll read from the index--which I chose not to include in the hardback. Would you believe me if I said I didn’t include it because we wanted to save trees?

Under A we have…

Alaska, media not understanding. Pages 1-432.

Under B…

Biased media. Pages 1-432

And under C…

Conservative media. See acknowledgments.

I’ll stop there.



I know this can be a long night, and as I understand it, we’re going to break with a Gridiron tradition. Normally, the Democrat speaker would deliver a speech after me. But instead, John McCain’s campaign staff asked if they could use that time for a rebuttal.

A lot has been made of a few campaign relationships. The closeness. The warm fuzzy feelings. John and I both agree all those staffers should just move past it. It’s history.

Let’s just say, if I ever need a bald campaign manager, it appears all I’m left with is James Carville.

I don’t want to say that I’ve burned a bridge, but I know all about cancelling a bridge to nowhere.

That Democrat speaker I referred to is, of course, the one-and-only Barney Frank.

And I’m the controversial one?

Barney, the nation owes you and the government a debt. A huge, historic, unbelievable debt. But, it’s good to be here with you, Mr. Chairman.

Because by Chairman, I don’t just mean the House Financial Services Committee. As far as I can tell, Barney’s also the Chair of AIG, CITI, and the Bank of America.

I don’t want to say that the U.S. Government is taking over the role of the private sector, but I have to admit, on the flight here, thumbing through a magazine and looking at a photo of President Obama with the President of China, the person next to me pointed at it and said, “Hu’s a communist.”

I thought they were asking a question.

Still, when I see this administration in action, I can’t help think of what might have been. I could be the Vice President overseeing the signing of bailout checks. And Joe Biden would be on the road, selling his new book, "Going Rogaine."

Speaking of books….

Did I mention mine? “Going Rogue”

Makes a great stocking stuffer. Available now at a bookstore near you.

Hey, I have to pay for my campaign vetting bill somehow.

Really, the response has been great. So I’ll close by reading a final passage. Page 403:

I’ve been asked a lot lately, “Where are you going next?’

Good question!

Wherever I go I know that, as with anyone in the public eye, I’ll continue to have my share of disagreements with those in the media. Maybe even more than my share. It will come as no surprise that I don’t think I was always treated fairly, or equally.

But despite that, I respect the media very much. It’s important. A free press allows for vigorous debate! And that debate is absolutely vital for our democracy.

So as hard as it can sometimes be, we must all look past personal grievances. We must move beyond petty politics. And we must allow these incredibly talented and hard-working women and men to ask the hard questions and hold us, and our government, accountable.

Because their mission is as true as the sun rising over the Talkeetna and Susitna Mountains. OK – so none of that is actually in the book. Not a word. But I do believe it!

And I believe we live in a beautiful country blessed with so many different people who want the best for their children, families and for our great nation. I’m so proud to be an American.

And that is what I’ll be talking about when I travel to, really where I’m headed. No better place than here to announce where I’m going. I’m going to Iowa!

I’ll be there tomorrow from noon to 3:00 pm at the Barnes & Noble on Sergeant Road in Sioux City. Come early. Long lines are expected.

Thank you everyone. God Bless the U.S.A!




NEWS COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

THE WASHINGTON POST
TODAY'S NEWSPAPER

Sarah Palin in the belly of the beast: Washington

By Steve Holland
Reuters
Sunday, December 6, 2009; 1:07 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican firebrand Sarah Palin invaded the city she loves to hate on Saturday and rubbed shoulders with the herd of journalists she usually holds in disdain.

Palin was the guest speaker at the annual winter dinner of the Gridiron Club of leading Washington journalists -- a venue at which many potential presidential candidates have made an appearance, including Barack Obama a few years ago.

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Sarah Palin: What she said at Gridiron dinner
By Dave Cook | 12.06.09

Sarah Palin served up 11-1/2 minutes of gentle gibes aimed at Democrats, the media, the McCain campaign, and herself during an appearance at Saturday evening’s Gridiron12 dinner in Washington.

Ms. Palin’s powerful impact as a cultural figure and potential future presidential candidate was much in evidence at the black tie event. The club’s winter dinner is usually a low key, off-the-record affair. This year’s dinner, featuring Palin and liberal Rep. Barney Frank (D) of Massachusetts as speakers, drew 190 journalists and spouses, an increase of 17.3 percent from the number who attended last year. The Gridiron Club’s members are veteran reporters and bureau chiefs.

In a nod to the intense media interest in Palin, the Gridiron Club’s board dropped a 100 year old rule – often violated – that comments made at the dinner were off the record and could not be reported. Instead, twittering was allowed, although not during speeches or songs. Palin tweets herself and noted in her dinner remarks that she had “the Twitter thing going.”

It's the way she tells them: Sarah Palin jokes with journalists

Former Alaksa governor mocks her reputation for foreign policy naivety at Washington dinner


THE NEW YORK TIMES
Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Comedy Duo of Palin and Frank
By JACKIE CALMES

Sarah Palin may have some ‘splainin’ to do with the conservative fans on her book tour as word spreads of her partying Saturday night with the elites of the dread Mainstream Media. In her featured “roast,” the media types even got off easier than her former associates on the McCain campaign.

Sometimes you’ve got “to trust your instincts,” she told the group. “And when you don’t, you end up in a place like this.”

The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate stopped in Washington to be the Republican speaker at the annual white-tie winter dinner of the Gridiron Club, the 124-year-old assemblage of veteran Washington reporters. She gamely appeared opposite Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, one of the capital’s funniest people.


THE GUARDIAN UK

Andrew Clark in New York
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 December 2009 15.20 GMT

The former Alaska governor Sarah Palin revealed a hitherto hidden capacity for self-parody when she delivered a string of quips at a dinner for journalists in Washington on Saturday, likening the event to appearing before a "death panel".

Palin – who became a deeply divisive figure in the US while campaigning as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate – joked to a gathering of the Gridiron Club about her reputation for foreign policy naivety.

"I came down from my hotel room and I could see the Russian embassy," she said – a play on a much-mocked election attempt to shore up her foreign policy expertise by remarking that Russia was visible from parts of Alaska.


THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

BY Andrew Malcolm

POLITICS AND COMMENTARY, COAST TO COAST, FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Sarah Palin speech: The view's better from inside the bus than under it
December 5, 2009 | 8:08 pm

The lines began forming Saturday morning outside the Sioux Falls Barnes & Noble bookstore, fully 35 hours before former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was to arrive there to sign her new book, "Going Rogue."

But the mother of five was far from South Dakota tonight. In fact, she was only about a half-dozen blocks from the White House that she didn't help John McCain win.

Palin appeared in a brand-new role for the possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate -- joke-teller as the GOP's representative at the annual winter Gridiron Dinner, a 124-year-old group of Washington writers and guests who hold such regular opportunities for political writers to mingle with the power people who really matter.

Speakers there -- past ones have included someone named Barack Obama -- are intentionally funny -- or trying to be, anyway -- and usually off the record.

But an exception allowing news coverage was made tonight given the intense interest in Palin, who attracted about twice the usual dinner crowd.

And she appeared to succeed better than her Democratic counterpart, Rep. Barney Frank. It was a refreshingly different look at Palin, who's more often quoted as a media scold and harsh critic of what's-his-name in the White House.

Palin, whose intelligence has been widely challenged by many in her audience, said she....
...was pleased to appear before an elite audience of intellectual heavyweights: "Or as I like to call it, a death panel."


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Where is the Main Stream Media - Hiding Behind Obama?

On September 12 protectors descended on Washington, DC to express outrage against many of the new policies of President Obama and the mainstream media chose to totally ignore the event, drawing perhaps the largest crowds of the past year.

First reports from liberal media said about 15,00 to 25,000 attended but the turth is in the pictures that the media refused to air. As you can see from the videos in this story the crowd was most likely well over a million, as some newspapers estimated 1.5 to 2 million.

How can America learn the truth about voter outrage and how this outrage covers many topics, not just health care, when the media decides over 1 million people are not important? Do they really fear people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh so much that they can ignore the largest gathering since Obama was elected president?

People need to demand fair news coverage by our mainstream news services and what we got this past weekend was indicative how the media could care less about America and the concerns of people from throughout the nation.

Spot interviews by the Coltons Point Times with participants at the gathering found former Obama supporters who traveled thousands of miles to protect the direction of the person they elected president. Many were registered Democrats. A lot more than Glenn Beck supporters were there as you can see from the time lapsed video of the crowd marching toward the Capitol.

Wake up media and wake up Obama or the revolution will take place without you.

The following was reported in the Baltimore Examiner.

The Baltimore Examiner

The 9/12/09 Taxpayer March on Washington not being reported by the main stream media

There have not been any official estimates released yet for the number of attendees to the Taxpayer March on Washington yesterday, September 12, 2009, but there are many suggested estimates ranging from the tens of thousands up into the millions.

What is extremely disappointing is the fact that the main stream media has continued to turn their backs on reality by not reporting on the event. Americans from every walk of life showed up to express their overwhelming disapproval of how government officials are misrepresenting them, not just on the health care issue, but all around.








Tell your favorite news source to start reporting the news.

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