Annoying Distraction???

Check out this headline:

Pirates pose annoying distraction for Obama

By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters)

 

Annoying distraction? Is that all it is to President Obama, an annoying distraction? Here’s the first paragraph of the article:

“Ragtag teams of modern-day Blackbeards are posing an annoying distraction for Barack Obama, forcing him to add Somalia to an already long list of foreign policy challenges.”

 

Yo-ho-ho, a pirate’s life for me! It all sounds so romantic, doesn’t it? Eye patches, wooden legs, parrots on shoulders. Woohoo! Pass the popcorn!

 

Here’s the next paragraph: “American presidents are told to expect the unexpected, and Obama is seeing that this week. First it was a North Korean test of a ballistic missile last weekend. Now comes a swashbuckling high-seas standoff with armed renegades.”

 

First it was a little missile fired over Japan by a tyrannical dictator. Now its “a swashbuckling high-seas standoff with armed renegades.” Doesn’t the rest of the world know that the election of Obama was going to be the end of unrest in the world? When are these people going to put aside their own ambitions of world domination and let us get on with accomplishing peace in our time?

 

So here we are. Pirates (who, by the way, are Islamic terrorists) have hijacked American citizens on the high seas and it’s considered a distraction and described in flowery language of a by-gone era, almost longingly so. VP Biden says the US is working ‘around the clock’ to come up with a solution for the crisis. The clock should have never had to go all the way around to come up with a solution. Here’s the solution: decisive and aggressive use of force to defend American citizens. In this day and age of perceived rights and government involvement in almost every facet of our lives, we lose sight of what the government MUST do according to its Constitutional authority. Consider this, the preamble to the Constitution:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

 

Look a little further in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8: “The Congress shall have the power to…provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States…(Paragraph 1), To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the Law of Nations (Paragraph 10)”.  Now I’m no Constitutional scholar but I think I can see the authority to rectify this situation; no working around the clock is necessary.

 

Our inaction to secure the blessings of liberty for these Americans is appalling. It is a show of weakness and the world is watching. The next line in the sand will encroach America a little more, and give more ground to those who seek our destruction.

 

Say Hello to Big Brother Tim

As Author, Obama Earns Big Money and a New Deal

By JEFF ZELENY

Published: March 19, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/us/politics/20disclose.html?_r=2&ref=books

WASHINGTON — The power of President Obama’s pen is $8,605,429, and counting.

Four years ago, Mr. Obama became a millionaire through the popularity of his autobiography, which was quickly followed by a second book, “The Audacity of Hope.” It is a gift that keeps on giving: $3.89 in royalties for Mr. Obama for each hardcover, $1.03 per paperback and $4.50 for an audiobook.

In a week when Mr. Obama scolded business executives for creating a culture of runaway salaries and bonuses, a disclosure form filed Tuesday showed that he signed a new $500,000 book agreement five days before taking office in January.

Aides said Mr. Obama would receive $250,000 of that for an adaptation of his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” for young readers. The other $250,000 will go to the publisher in the deal, which was first reported Thursday by The Washington Times.

The publishing agreement was not announced by the White House but was noted in a routine financial disclosure form in the Senate Office of Public Records. It is the latest indicator of how Mr. Obama has profited from his books as the reach of his celebrity has grown.

When Mr. Obama wrote “Dreams From My Father,” which came out in 1995, he did not sell enough books to pay back the advance of $30,817. But when it was reprinted after his speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004, sales flourished, which led to another book deal worth $1.9 million.

For that, Mr. Obama agreed to write another nonfiction book and a children’s book. He wrote in his disclosure report that he intended to delay both books until he left office.

Robert B. Barnett, a Washington lawyer who represents Mr. Obama on his publishing work, said Thursday that the $500,000 agreement was not for a new book but rather for a license so the president’s autobiography could be condensed into a book for middle-school students. Mr. Obama has already signed about 50 similar licensing arrangements, Mr. Barnett said, typically when the book is translated into another language.

A review of Mr. Obama’s disclosure reports since he arrived in Washington four years ago as a senator from Illinois shows a rapid ascent in his wealth, thanks to his work as a best-selling author. In 2005, he reported royalties of $1.23 million and in 2006, $572,490. In 2007, after his second book was published, royalties increased to $4.1 million. They were $2.46 million in 2008.

He will continue to receive book royalties while president.

As he talks about his proposal to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, Mr. Obama counts himself in that category. That was not the case before his book sales soared.

“Before the book, we had gone through some pretty tough financial times,” Mr. Obama said in a 2005 interview. “Part of it was getting us out of the hole that we’ve been in. None of that at all is to cry poor. It’s just that we still worry about paying the bills.”

Will Mr. Obama keep the $250,000 from the latest book agreement or give it to charity? The president has not yet decided, a White House spokesman said Thursday.