Mar
12
Blah health care, talk law
By Katie Kieffer
Image credit: Richard A. Bloom/Corbis
Blah, blah, blah. Stop talking about health care for 15 seconds. You have until at least March 18th to analyze Speaker Nancy Pelosi and streakerciser Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel bludgeon Congress to vote for Obamacare.
Let’s talk about the stories of legal manipulation and scandal that this administration is happy you aren’t paying attention to while you’re focused on jobs and health care.
President bashes Supreme Court
It takes uber gall and immaturity to lambaste a comrade. The current administration is well endowed in both deficiencies, so it was smashingly successful in breaking with American history, decorum and the Constitution during the State of the Union Address.
Supreme Court endures the President's chiding words during the State of the Union address. Image credit: latimesblogs.latimes.com
We have yet to hear an apology from the President for ganging up against the Supreme Court and chiding justices for doing their job. The President arrogantly and inappropriately used his State of the Union address as a bloody pulpit to bash the third branch of government and mischaracterize the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Thankfully, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts had the confidence to denounce the President’s actions this week. When a University of Alabama law student asked him about the occurrence, he responded: “I think anybody can criticize the Supreme Court. On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court — according to the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.”
Image credit: Jay Reeves, AP
Pointing out the obvious fact that the Supreme Court justices only attend the State of the Union address as a courtesy to the President, and the justices rarely even applaud throughout the speech to maintain an appearance of impartiality, Roberts said, “I’m not sure why we’re there,” particularly when the President treats the High Court with disrespect and hostility.
Eric Holder’s secret ‘al Qaeda 7′
Last week, Keep America Safe ruffled feathers by demanding maturity, transparency and respect for the law from an administration that just held a casual health care summit where the President rolled up his sleeves and addressed congressmen by their first names.
Since President Obama appointed Eric Holder as the U.S. Attorney General, legal ethics has taken a tumble. Holder completely mishandled the Christmas day underwear bomber national security threat, and he has been unwilling to disclose his previous viewpoints on mirandizing terrorists that differ greatly from those he holds under Obama’s watch. He has also been less than forthright on his work with the infamous Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Now, the Attorney General has refused to release the names and associations of seven of the nine attorneys who represented Guantanamo detainees. This led Keep America Safe to produce the video above. It certainly is not common practice to withhold the identities of either attorneys or clients, so Holder’s silence has led conservatives such as Ann Coulter to question whether there is a political agenda or association to hide.
Federalist Society co-founder, David M. McIntosh, stated: “Was the [Justice Department] person acting merely as an attorney doing their best to represent a client’s case, or did they seek out the opportunity to represent them or write an amicus brief because they have a political or personal agenda that made them more interested in participating in those [terrorist] cases?”
Federal judge lines ACORN’s pockets
This week, U.S. District Judge Nina Gerson unconstitutionally declared that a rotten little nut called ACORN had a “constitutional right” to taxpayer money to continue its “important” work for the community including voter registration fraud, and other nefarious deeds.
I try to think the best of people, so I’m happy to see that Judge Gerson legislates from the bench to keep our President’s pet radical group alive with taxpayer money during a recession. Plus, it looks like you can be a sexy Acorn for Halloween again in 2010! Or, you could be boring and go as Obamacare. Blah, Blah, Blah.
Image copyright Amie Kieffer 2009. All rights reserved.
Feb
05
5 Super Bowl Party Ideas
By Katie Kieffer
Image credit: sports-odds.com
The Vikings didn’t make the Super Bowl this year. You can still have an awesome Super Bowl Sunday. Instead of apathetically watching the Colts steamroll the Saints, take my suggestions to increase the “fun factor” at your Super Bowl party.
Pre Game
You could listen to dancing-sensation, Katie Couric, interview President Obama before the Super Bowl. Or, you could ignore politicians who are trying to control college football, act as sports commentators and snag prime pre-Super Bowl slots instead of focusing on their real job. (We all know Underwear Bombers could care less about football.)
If you’d like the President to start focussing on serious matters like national security and spend less time having fun, here’s a better pre-game idea: Have your guests make the President a paint splash Valentine. Just be sure to finish reading this post BEFORE you start splashing paint, or you’ll end up like my “twin” sister, Blair:
Before the game, give each guest a different colored can of paint and a huge blank canvas. Let them have fun – this is modern art – not Michelangelo. They should write a message to the President such as: “Leave Football Alone!” They can finger paint, spray paint, dump the entire can of paint on the canvas – whatever rocks their boat. Let the canvas dry, and on Monday ship the canvas to the White House for Valentine’s Day delivery.
Food
The Vikings are a good team. Let’s stop moping and celebrate how far they came this season with:
- Energizing Sack-Man Smoothies to honor Jared Allen’s energy that, as Sports Illustrated reveals, carries fans on eagle’s wings. Or, as Brett Favre says, “Jared Allen is a beast, man.” Smoothies taste best Allen-style, when when you’re wearing your Wyatt Earp cowboy hat.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and wine to honor the strength, leadership and skill that Brett Favre brought to the Vikings this season. Wine and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese get better with age, as does Favre. Whether Favre stays with the Vikings or not, I’ve shown how his leadership has improved the team, and we should celebrate that.
Party Favors
Send your guests home looking like Joe Montana and give them all Super Bowl rings. Get the Vince Lombardi Trophy engraved onto an inexpensive ring for each guest. Now that Roger Goodell seems to think it’s fine to mess with the Holy Grail of NFL tradition and alter the look of the Trophy on the Super Bowl logo, you need to preserve it for your friends. Some changes, like going from Sen. Kennedy to Sen. Brown are uplifting, while pointless change for the sake of change is less exciting. 
After Party
TiVo Tebow: Record Tim Tebow’s confident tribute to life and free speech in his Super Bowl ad. Whenever you’re tired of hearing about Tiger Woods’ secret life, turn on Tebow’s ad and restore your faith in super star athletes.
Jan
05
Sexy Os, Breakfast of Terror
By Katie Kieffer
Image credit: Alex Brandon/AP
“Not only is weakness provocative, but the perception of weakness on our part can be provocative as well,” warned Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, when he left the Pentagon on Dec. 15, 2006. Three years later, the “Christmas Day incident” is a haunting tribute to the truth in Rumsfeld’s words.
President Obama successfully attracted his wife, Michelle. However, when it comes to the Mating Dance of Peace, our President is using all the wrong techniques.
Our Chief Executive has portrayed an image of America as a cute, submissive nit-wit that makes Yemen-trained bombers drool. The President’s Trophy of Peace sits in the Whitehouse while American citizens are left to defend themselves from known terrorists on airplanes.
We’ve got the bling. We’ve got the ice. We’ve got a President who naively acts like terrorists are nice. Most of all, we’ve got strategy:
- Refuse to acknowledge the war on terror. Announce that the “Christmas Day incident” was the work of an “isolated extremist” and treat Northwest Flight 253 wanna-be-bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmultallab, as a U.S. criminal instead of a terrorist – “rewarding” him with an attorney and civilian court trial over an appropriate military interrogation. Investigators deem Abdulmultallab a cohort of Al-Qaida extremists, but our President chooses to laugh this off.
Terrorism in America is becoming similar to celebrity extortion in the U.S. in this sense: As it becomes an increasingly low-risk crime, it will be attempted at a higher rate and with greater boldness.
- Abandon the Yemen Embassy - American-protected soil. This is a “surrender in advance” to terrorists as Dennis Prager noted on his talk show and a “victory for Al-Qaeda,” says Bill Kristol.
- Spill your guts to the world: Since his first day as President, Obama has advocated to share U.S. federal security secrets with the world. On Dec. 29, 2009 he recommended the release of up to 400 million pages of previously classified Cold War-era secrets and eliminated the intelligence community’s ability to block public release of certain documents. Steven Aftergood, director of the Project of Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists warns that this move “has tremendous potential to reduce the level of secrecy throughout the government.”
- Nominate shady TSA leader: The White House has nominated Erroll Southers to lead the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Democrats are pushing for a quick January appointment. The Washington Post reports Southers’ appointment has raised eyebrows since he has: Provided “Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws.”
Southers reportedly hacked into confidential private databases to obtain information about “his wife and their son, who had begun living with the (wife’s) boyfriend.” Then, he misled Congress with regard to the details of this intrusion. When our country’s security is at stake, we need confidence in the TSA; a Southers appointment will further weaken the image of the U.S. abroad.
For America to stay safe and peaceful, our President needs to stop spoon-feeding terrorists “Sexy Os” for breakfast – the provocative messages and decisions of weakness that he proudly broadcasts to the world.
Image credit: vox.com
Dec
17
‘Barefoot Burglar’ could be CIA’s Justin Bieber
By Katie Kieffer
Self portrait of Colton Harris-Moore via stolen digital camera
When Usher discovered 15-year-old talent sensation, Justin Bieber, he took him under his wing and helped him use his vocal talents to rise to a star. Likewise, when there’s a superstar teen burglar roaming the country that the cops can’t catch, perhaps the CIA should consider bringing him into its posse.
18-year-old Puget Sound native, Colton Harris-Moore, known as the “Barefoot Burglar” to his nearly 10,000 Facebook® page fans, lives in the woods and is adept at slipping in and out of luxury. However, unlike the Salahi peacocks, who ignore the law in hopes of drawing attention to their salon-enhanced physiques, rugged Harris-Moore does whatever he wants while lurking in the shadows.
Harris-Moore’s conquests include confiscating three planes, speedboats and a car. He’s been known to enter homes for a bite of ice cream, a steamy bath or a quick and hefty credit card purchase on an unattended computer, reports Time Magazine. Such is the life of a smart and stealthy youth who thumbs his nose at the coppers as he joyrides. His third plane theft – and crash – achieved a befuddled police-force and just a few scrapes and bruises on his youthful frame. “We saw him, we think, but it’s like he disappeared in front of our eyes,” said a mystified sheriff pursuing his trail.
Across the coast, the Salahi party-crashers and the Georgia “tourists” have proved that it’s frighteningly easy to obtain access to our top elected official. Clearly, the White House has some explaining to do regarding their “hospitality” to uninvited guests. It is in the interest of our country and our national security to protect President Obama and his family to the highest extent.
I disagree with the logic behind most of the President’s policies – and this is on a different level. This is about our President’s security and our national security. The American people need answers to why characters like the Salahis were able to trounce into the White House uninvited. Do we need a new member in the Secret Service? Do we need a new White House Social Secretary to step in for Desirée Rogers?
I’m amazed at how entrepreneur, Richard Branson, is able to launch Americans into space, but our government can’t track down an 18-year-old bandit who has been running wild since around age seven or provide clear answers to the security issues within the White House. Let’s find a role for this kid that harnesses his natural talents – like Usher did for Bieber – and helps keep our President and country safe. With nearly 10,000 fans on his Facebook® page alone, he’s bound to have copycats. Do we want our police to have to spend time running after ‘Barefoot Burglar’ wannabes?
Here’s an idea: Recruit him into the CIA and he could expand his horizons beyond running from local cops to defying global terrorism. Harris-Moore’s resume certainly seems to fit the bill with lots of upside: We get a criminal off the street – who understands how to evade the highest levels of cops – before he becomes “a career criminal” and mixes violence with his brazen thievery.
Key attributes of successful law enforcement officers include the abilities to outrun and outhink criminals. Harris-Moore has the ability to think like a criminal and outrun the best of them. While he’s still young, he has the potential to be molded into one of our country’s greatest assets. Maybe the Department of Defense could help him advance beyond the flying manual he ordered online and get real pilot training so he could channel his obvious love for aviation into surveillance. We’d all be a little safer at night and more planes would remain intact.
Nov
11
The one thing they died for
By Katie Kieffer
My Grandpa Rick (L) and his brother, Herman (R)
My favorite WWII sailor passed away in January. I was fortunate enough to share supper with him the night that he died. My Grandpa, Richard, taught me some important lessons through his example of service for our country. He gave me the passion and desire to write about the qualities that make America great. Today is Veteran’s Day, so I think it would be appropriate to share the wisdom of “Pops.”
We’ve all met veterans. The most undeniably attractive quality that U.S. veterans share is their patriotism. My grandpa tried to pass this patriotism on to me. In high school, I would sit in fascination as he would tell me stories of his experiences in World War II. I was amazed by his bravery and humility.
I recall one day when he said, “Katie, you’re generation is all about me, me, me.” I think he wanted me to understand that I had not lived through a war and I took some things for granted that he did not. He talked about the skills and values that his generation – the WWII generation – possessed that sometimes seemed lacking in the Gen Ys.
He impressed upon me that it’s easy to focus on your own personal and trivial needs when there’s nothing at stake. My grandpa and his shipmates faced daily stresses ranging from warding off kamikaze attacks to enduring the ship’s monotonous menu of creamed beef on toast, known as SOS: “Sh__ on a shingle.” Vets like my Grandpa Rick had little time to worry about themselves – their jobs, their goals, their fantasy football leagues, their cars, their friends, their pets, their favorite hangouts, their favorite designers. They were focused on one thing: Fighting for freedom.
Very few things in life are worth risking everything for. If veterans teach us just one thing – especially during the current political push for more government control over the lives of average American citizens – it is that a free life is a life worth living.
We can honor my grandpa and all veterans by fighting for freedom and being active citizens in our communities. We may not have the charge to go to war, but we are obliged to preserve and protect the freedom that veterans fought hard for.
I’d encourage you to find ways that you can reach out to the troops and veterans in your community. Lend them a hand. Listen to their stories. Here are some sites to help get you started:
What a stud, right? Thank you, Grandpa, for your service. We love and miss you.
Oct
21
How to keep our country safe
By Katie Kieffer
The Allegory of War and Peace by Pompeo Batoni
Our country is at war in Iraq. We hear of potential terrorist threats on our country on a daily basis. I can’t remember the last time I went to the airport and the Homeland Security Advisory System’s “threat level” was lower than “High” or “Orange.” We are continually bombarded with signs of war and violence. Consequently, it’s easy to become numb to war when most of our daily activities are peaceful. Aloofness puts us in danger, however, of risking the very peace we enjoy.
This past weekend, I went to The Art Institute of Chicago. One of the paintings that jumped out at me was Pompeo Batoni’s painting, The Allegory of War and Peace. This is a famous work of art that can be interpreted in many ways. Here are my takeaways as a young professional on how we can achieve peace in the U.S.:
- Notice War’s physical strength compared to the soft and delicate look of Peace. Reagan promoted a policy of “peace through strength.” Reagan knew that by increasing spending on defense, he would be able to eliminate or lesson violence. Reagan tried it, and it worked. There’s a reason bars keep bouncers at the door – their strength and stature keeps people in line. Likewise, a bouncer can typically control the atmosphere at the bar without having to lay a hand on anyone – he just has to be himself: strong and intimidating. The most peaceful way of allowing as many people as possible into a bar without performing complicated background checks is to simply have a strong presence at the entrance.
- Winston Churchill described appeasement – the opposite of Reagan’s theory – this way: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile – hoping it will eat him last.”
- Winston Churchill described appeasement – the opposite of Reagan’s theory – this way: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile – hoping it will eat him last.”
- An investment in defense is an investment in peace. Notice the protective shield that War holds over Peace’s head in the painting. Without the armor of defense, Peace would not be able to stand there and hold the olive branch. Peace is, by nature, vulnerable. Her vulnerability is one of her greatest attributes, but since humans are inclined to envy, fighting, hatred and other forms of vice and violence, she needs the protection of War’s strength.
- This is not a battle scene. This painting illustrates the fact that we don’t necessarily need to engage in brutal battles to stay at peace. Rather, during times of peace, we need to invest in and possess the defensive and strategic systems and tactics that will show our neighbors that: Anyone – who comes in peace – is welcome into our country. At the same time, the scene isn’t a bread-breaking. War’s shield safeguards Peace, and his sword is at his side, should anyone try to attack her. Peace gently touches War’s hand – urging him to resist an actual battle – yet, she does not refuse his protective battle shield. Peace also does not take the sword from War’s hand – she merely advises it from unnecessary use. Diplomacy alone won’t keep our country safe: Bouncers rarely keep random, intoxicated visitors in line by passing out candy, smiley face stickers and free drinks. The proven way to achieve national security is through the interaction of smart, strategic defense with the goal of protecting the olive branch of Peace.
Just as a healthy, “peacefully functioning” body is dependant on strong bones, tissues and muscles, there is a delicate balancing act between maintaining peace and having a strong national defense system. All too quickly can we forget the dependence of Peace on military strength, and this painting is a gentle and timely reminder.
