PJMedia Sues Department of Defense for Climate Conference Info
Almost three months ago, PJMedia reported the story of a simple Freedom of Information Act request.
Our own Richard Pollock submitted a request to the Department of Defense to try and find out just who was on the four airplanes that flew to Copenhagen for the climate change conference in 2009, how much fuel they burned doing it, and how much it cost. The general thrust of the story was likely to have been “look how much fuel they used going to a conference to decide how much fuel we get to burn.”
Fifteen months later, Richard got back … four blank pages.
After making a few calls and rattling a few cages, we were told that there were many more documents but that the various reporting agencies hadn’t released them yet and a release was “forthcoming soon.”
Two months later still nothing.
So PJMedia got together with Judicial Watch, a non-profit watchdog group in Washington, D.C., and we sued the Department of Defense. The case was filed just last week.
According to the release announcing the lawsuit, Judicial Watch, on behalf of PJMedia, is asking the court to order the Air Force to conduct a search for “any and all responsive records,” set a specific date that PJMedia is to receive the requested documents, and provide PJMedia with a Vaughn index describing the records that are being withheld under claims of exemption.
In the release, Roger L. Simon, CEO of PJMedia took the administration to task:
What happened to the transparency that candidate Obama promised? It has taken almost a year for this administration to turn over a flight manifest and then that document was heavily redacted. The Obama administration has proven itself to be one of the most secretive administrations in history.
I spoke to Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, last week. He says there’s more to it than just the administration not wanting to turn over records. The dirty little secret is that the Air Force has a fleet of luxury jets they make available to high government officials and members of Congress. Fitton also said the records we’ve asked for are readily available.
With this administration showing this much indifference to the peoples right to know, think about what it will be if the ONE is re-elected.
I hope Judicial Watch becomes the conservative counterbalance to the ACLU. It’s about time some organization stands up for the rights of people as we see it, and not as interpreted by a bunch of far-left liberals.
They are not far left liberals, there is nothing liberal about this bunch, they are Marxist’s that have hidden their agenda as well as they could but it shows around the edges; think Van Jones and Bill Ayers and Bernadine. Communists have murdered over 200 million of their own citizens, its what they do and what they are if they have a chance, we have the Alinsky/Piven Plan in play right now and it will break the United States down into a race war if they can accomplish it before the elections; Obama really is an abomination of Democracy. The Democrats have to be ostracized for 50 years for running this Manchurian Candidate, they and the propagandists of the MSM and union have put our country in great danger of being usurped.
I suspect that the main reason this “conference” insight is so tightly wrapped is because it was so politically steeped. This confab was, pure and simple, a Dem play.
Here in financially strapped New York, after much internal hand-wringing, then-Governor Paterson demurred from the trip, however, the State’s then-Commissioner of Environmental Conservation and the President of the NYS Energy Reseach and Development Authority, and a Governor’s staffer or two, slipped off and flew commercially to be “Observers” at this conference–all under a complete shroud of secrecy. Nobody on agency staff, and certainly not the media, was to know about it then, or now.
How these Observer travel costs were funded remains to be seen, but I’m willing to bet that NYSERDA, being an authority, with fungible cashflow from electric ratepayers fees and bonding, covered the costs–all off-budget.
And all this to what end? It was at least a Democrat daisy-chain and at most a worthless, expensive holiday pilgrimage for the AGW True Believers to observe, commune and polish their creedo for the coming statewide elections wherein NYS could “lead by example” in a regional cap-and-trade REGGI gambit.
How many other states sent “observers?”
“AGW true believers” is your way of saying that AGW isn’t real. Then, there’s this: arctic sea ice is in steady retreat [current issue of National Geographic]. Fires and record heat in the American Southwest. Generally high temperatures, year in, year out, with many more record highs recorded than record lows.
Migration patterns indicating earlier Spring and later Winter in the North.
Plant species range moving to higher altitude or further North.
Retreat of almost all alpine glaciers. Glacier National Park has lost most of its glacier mass, for instance.
Breakup of various ice sheets in the Antarctic.
All this in a context of steadily rising atmospheric CO2 levels, CO2 that we know perfectly well comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal.
There is nothing clever, or superior, of flying in the face of all this evidence. The earth orbited the sun, and not the other way around, no matter what Church Authority said. And now, the earth is warming, because CO2 is a greenhouse gas and we’re causing its atmospheric concentration to rise. Facts are facts. Head in sand is no way for a face-the-facts, realist, conservative to be.
Two words. Satellite. Data.
…that absolutely demolish the assertion that there’s been a rise in global temps during the past 30 years or so. None, bucko. The whole thing was a fabric of lies. There is NO documented rise in global temp’s in the satellite data. Not a whit.
Remember the mystical ozone hole that was going to wreak UV havoc on the planet? And the damage that chlorofluorocarbons had already done to the atmosphere that would take two centuries to repair if industial civilization stopped using CFC’s NOW!!! – Didn’t happen. None of it. Hole’s gone.
I attended seminars in the early 80′s, some 30 years ago, about the Coming Ozone Catastrophe. Scared the crap out of me. Now I just shake my head at it all …and at people like you: the new converts to the religion of the gullibile.
The science was …bad. Stunk to high heaven actually.
AGW …is a myth. Foisted upon the gullible by hucksters & politicians (but I repeat myself). You’re being lied to son. (For profit, if you’d care to actually draw your head out of the sand. Yep: a scam. That makes you: Mr. Sucker.)
Of course, since your new faith precludes you from discerning substance from doctrine, you will continue to sit in your pew, listening to the words of the pastor, all snug & cuddly with your little sermon. Smugly thinking – like all True Believers – that you are so oh so clever and superior …but in the final analysis, believing a lie.
Just the latest Big Lie. Like, well, like the ozone myth I used to “believe” in …until the data just smacked me so hard up-side the head that the blinders fell off.
And I realized that I had become a Luddite.
AGW is just the newest form of Luddism. You, my friend, are essentially a believer in a flat earth. At the edges of which maps are marked by the warning “Here be monsters”.
News you can use: you are not the sophisticated savant you think yourself.
And all your pathetic little “data” that you replied with? – Lies.
Ponder this kiddo: the weather cannot accurately be predicted for next week, and seldom even tomorrow. And next year? HAHAHA. And yet you have these clowns patting themselves on the back and asserting that their predictions for the next CENTURY are going to be accurate? And you, mister intellectual, believe ‘em.
…because it don’t take a genius to figure out that if they can’t get next week right, they got about a snow-drop-in-the-Sahara’s chance of getting the next century right.
Fail, dude. Utter. Fail.
Davisbr, to use your own reasoning, “It doesn’t take a genius to know that Vegas casinos can’t predict the next spin of the roulette wheel, and they got about a snow-drop-in-the-Sahara’s chance of making a profit at the end of the month.”
Uhhh … but that reasoning would be dead wrong, wouldn’t it?
As for the satellite data, one group’s early analyses showing cooling turned out to be mistaken … nowadays all four independent satellite measurement programs show global warming clearly, in good agreement with surface and radiosonde measurements.
Those are the facts … conservatism should face up to them.
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Radiosonde_Satellite_Surface_Temperature.svg
Climate is weather with different time scales. Weather and climate are described by the Navier Stokes differential equations, which describe fluid flow with changes in temperature and density. They are nonlinear and chaotic, meaning that the error doubles every 3 days of so, and over long term (more than a few days) there is no way to predict the future. Average temperatures are an artifact of the way the data is collected, and has no ability to predict the future long term.
Keep in mind that warm is good. Warm leads to high crop yields, more fish in the ocean, more food, reduced area lost to desert, greater human prosperity. There is little agriculture under a mile of ice, and few fish in an ocean that has no diatomic plant life.
The sun is described by similar differential equations, and again, they are non-linear, chaotic, with no ability to predict the future long term.
Climate models are weather models with different time constants. Of course inputs and feedback loops that change weather have to have their effect in a short period of time. Even more inputs and feedback loops can have effect on climate models.
When climate scientists leave out feedback loops, they find that the climate gets hotter. That projected change might be reality, or might be due to their error in leaving out the feedback loops, or setting the feedback loops to to low a level. We don’t know, and can’t know until it happens.
One feedback loop not usually included is the evolution of plant life to use more CO2, and to thus remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and lock it up into biomass. That happened many years ago, and left us with oil and coal/lignite deposits that we are still finding and using today. Any plant that can exploit higher levels of CO2 will have a significant competitive advantage, growing faster, having a higher rate of metabolism, and putting other plants into the shade. Domestic plants with that advantage will be selected for higher crop yields, more crops per growing season.
Climate is weather with different time scales. Weather and climate are described by the Navier Stokes differential equations, which describe fluid flow with changes in temperature and density. They are nonlinear and chaotic, meaning that the error doubles every 3 days of so, and over long term (more than a few days) there is no way to predict the future. Average temperatures are an artifact of the way the data is collected, and has no ability to predict the future long term.
Keep in mind that warm is good. Warm leads to high crop yields, more fish in the ocean, more food, reduced area lost to desert, greater human prosperity. There is little agriculture under a mile of ice, and few fish in an ocean that has no diatomic plant life.
The sun is described by similar differential equations, and again, they are non-linear, chaotic, with no ability to predict the future long term.
Climate models are weather models with different time constants. Of course inputs and feedback loops that change weather have to have their effect in a short period of time. Even more inputs and feedback loops can have effect on climate models.
When climate scientists leave out feedback loops, they find that the climate gets hotter. That projected change might be reality, or might be due to their error in leaving out the feedback loops, or setting the feedback loops to to low a level. We don’t know, and can’t know until it happens.
One feedback loop not usually included is the evolution of plant life to use more CO2, and to thus remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and lock it up into biomass. That happened many years ago, and left us with oil and coal/lignite deposits that we are still finding and using today. Any plant that can exploit higher levels of CO2 will have a significant competitive advantage, growing faster, having a higher rate of metabolism, and putting other plants into the shade. Domestic plants with that advantage will be selected for higher crop yields, more crops per growing season.
20k years ago there was a sheet of ice a mile thick across the entire northern hemishpere. The earth got warmer, it melted. It has been trending warmer ever since. We didn’t and still don’t have a darnded thing to do with it.
Obama Gives New Grant to ACORN; Did He Violate Federal Law? By Matthew Vadum on 6.30.11 @ 1:34PM http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/30/obama-gives-…
Consider this:
The lower ranking personnel in the DoD aren’t particularly supportive of this administration. Some clerk could have simply complied. The fact that such a mundane request is being resisted like this indicates that it was sent well up the chain of command. At the minimum, some General decided to resist rather than comply; possibly higher than that. I don’t think a Captain made this decision.
Heh, see the previous story on this, I was bucked all the way up to SecDef’s office.
Pat
Unless the rules have significantly changed (which I seriously doubt) since I was an Air Force Transportation Officer anything and everything that is loaded onto an aircraft is on a manifest. An like alluded to it would easily be found in the records of the base the flight originated from. This is stonewalling by DOD and the Administration.
Looks like Bobbie Gates got out of town when the gittin’ was good. I never thought Gates was any more than a left-wing academic. If the lawsuit comes to fruition, I’ll bet Gates’ fingerprints are all over that manifest.
Gates … Gates … why, that would be the Robert M. Gates who just won the Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal … who served seven presidents in four decades.
Yeah … it’s typical of the peculiar brand of conservatism that PJM/Tatler advocates, to smear American patriots like Robert M. Gates, rather than praise their service.
Gates ends historic term as defense secretary
American Forces Press Service
URL: http://www.woundedwarrior.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123262447
I generally think rather well of Gates, but DoD still isn’t meeting its legal obligations. Introducing Gates personally is at best a straw man. In any case, as the guy who suggested the military would blow up the Fukushima reactors with nuclear weapons, you’ve got no place to complain about smearing American patriots.
Yeah, ‘Thanks’ for posting Uhbama’s speech. Real heartfelt, genuine coming from him.. ):
Honestly, if Robert Gates ‘served his country’ with any gravitas, he’d have done so in a limited-time capacity. ANY politician who serves for as long as Gates did is ‘In it to win it’. Yet you ‘A Physicist’ is trying to sell Gates as some kind of noble do-gooder on the front-lines! Ludicrous.
7 Presidents. That’s A LOT of being on the public dole.
Are you telling me this guy didn’t get too comfortable in his position and spoke up on issues, decisions with which he felt were not in America’s interests? To borrow Jon Stossel’s tagline, ‘Gimme a break’.
Gates is your typical ‘Yes Boss’ political strategist, not swaying a bit from the CiC’s lap.
Look forward to yours and other unwarranted kudos, ‘tinker tape parade’ like nonsense for Navy Admiral’s longest serving paper pusher, Mike Mullen’s retirement.
Yep, a real ‘detrimental’ character in the Armed Forces, let me tell you.
Mullen’s another, ‘al Qaeda is the biggest terrorist threat..’ dribble.
I wonder if he’s got a hand in the SOP to indoctrinate, err, ‘teach’ gay sensitivity training to M E AOR soldiers in hot zones.
Our son has served five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a US Marine. And so family attends carefully to what leaders like SecDef Gates, Adm. Mullen, Gen. Petraeus, Gen. Mattis, and CinC Obama say about the war. And we attend even more carefully to what our son and his fellow Marines tell us about the war.
From top-to-bottom, what we hear from ***all*** of these people is the same sobering narrative … the same harsh truths … about this long, grinding, damn tough war. Those who have ears to hear may not like they hear about the war … but from top-to-bottom, there’s been no lying. And this strict adherence to truth-telling has helped greatly to make the stress of these many deployments bearable for our family.
For many years, a reliable source of information about the war … a source recommended to me by BTDT Marines … is the web site Small Wars Journal. It was SWJ who provided the following link to (what amoutns to) Gates’ farewell address.
Those of PJM/Tatler‘s readers who smear the likes of SecDef Gates scarcely do themselves credit.
Speech at the United States Military Academy (West Point, NY)
By Robert M. Gates
URL: http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1539
I argee with what you are stating. If there was anyone with a back bone in the higher positions of the military I would have expected to see a significant number of resignations in protest to the obama handling of military matters .
…pension trumps conviction ..or there was no conviction from the start.
On a forum on which vile slurs are not uncommon, the anonymous slur that there is “no back bone” among America’s military leaders, is the most vile that I have seen.
It would be a most peculiar brand of conservatism, that allowed such slurs to pass unchallenged.
What evidence, sir, do you offer?
John, John, Johnny Boy…
Project much? No one’s smearing Bobby Gates. He was following orders. As to redactions, your comments are so often off-topic it’s a wonder you’re allowed to post at all. This is a private company. They can post or not post anything they want. Typical of a liberal like yourself to scream cenosorship when a private company chooses not to post your drivel…
Patrick
(Yes I know I’m feeding the energy creature but he just begs for it)
A private company that has an awful lot about free speech, transparency and censorship. Walk it like you talk it.
LOL … Patrick, it’s pretty funny that PJM/Tatler has redacted all the reader comments on that previous thread … apparently ideology-first politicians ain’t the only ones who like to redact public information … PJM/Tatler‘s editors are mighty fond of redaction too!
Most Transparent Administration In History: 15 months, 4 blank pages
(comments redacted by PJM/Tatler)
URL: http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/04/08/most-transparent-administration-in-history-15-months-4-blank-pages/
Actually, the difference is between government and the private sector.
If you can’t grasp that, I wonder whether or not you got your doctorate out of a Cracker Jack box.
Before you start crying “ad hom! ad hom!” like you usually do, John, note that I made it conditional… “If you can’t grasp that…” Also note that I am not discounting your argument because I doubt your intelligence… quite the opposite, in fact: I doubt your intelligence because of the vacuity of the argument.
ConservativeWanderer, if you are saying that private enterprise and republican government both require wise checks-and-balances … why … it’s clear that two centuries and more of historical evidence … from the founding of the USA to the corporation-created disasters in the Gulf and at Fukushima … show clearly that checks-and-balances are essential to liberty, security, and prosperity … and that unbridled democracy and unbridled markets equally are fatally flawed in practice.
In a nutshell, America’s Founders were wise to pursue immoderately liberal ideals by moderate conservative means.
Yep. Doctorate out of a Cracker Jack box.
Follow me closely, “Doctor” John… I’ll type slowly so you can comprehend better.
Per the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), signed by reliable lefty Lyndon Johnson, the government must–I say again, must–respond to requests for information unless it is covered by one of 9 very specific exemptions. The Act only covers executive branch agencies, which includes the Department of Defense. This article is about a lawsuit to force the DoD to comply with that law.
Pajamas Media is not an executive branch government agency, therefore it doesn’t have to follow FOIA rules. It is also a private entity and therefore may pick and choose what it allows on its server and by extension, its website, which is its own private property. If Roger Simon decided to ban me (G-d forbid), there’d be nothing legal I could do about it… it’s his property, he can do with it as he pleases.
That’s what I meant by “the difference is between government and the private sector.” Since you clearly could not comprehend that, I now have a very valid reason for questioning your intelligence.
PJM/Tatler regards itself as free to censor posts … regards itself as free to (silently) alter posts … regards itself as free even to unilaterally strip the anonymity from posters.
Conversely, some folks (including me) regard themselves as free to opine … that any ideology that embraces these practices … and yet calls itself “conservatism” … is regrettably mistaken, and does great harm to the honorable traditions and values of conservatism.
I post here pseudonymously, and I haven’t had any comments removed or edited yet, nor has my identity been revealed… and as PJM editors, they have the same info about me that they do about you, John.
If ya don’t like it, please, go back under your bridge. If you choose to stay here under these conditions, then you lose all right to complain about said conditions without being ridiculed for your whining.
Scram, troll!
John, I realize reading comprehension isn’t among your strong points, but you might refer to the comment policy:
“We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion.”
Don’t hide behind legalisms and private versus public. That is an argument for a propaganda site, not one that truly respects free speech as opposed to being compelled to indulge in it.
If one really believes in freedom of expression on does not ban people or censor them. This is what this site pillories other public entities for doing from Jon Stewart to the HuffPo to MSNBC.
Be real.
For the most part PJM is very good about allowing most anyone to post most anything in the comments so long as they don’t go overboard. The problem is John tends to hijack every thread he posts on, has no concept of on topic and generally abuses the privilege to post here he’s afforded.
People tend to forget that with freedom of speech comes responsibility for what you say. There are consequences to speaking one’s mind, ask the Dixie Chicks.
John boy wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wishes to speak his mind, but like most liberals, wants to be free of the consequences of doing so.
John, the biggest check and balance on a private enterprise like PJM is the choice to vote with your feet. let me be the first to invite you to do so.
Charlie, it’s (literally) axiomatic that efficient markets require transparency … … this is as true in the market of ideas as in any other market. So it’s good that your posts and mine provide a vivid side-by-side basis for scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians (STEM professionals) to evaluate whether STEM values are compatible with PJM/Tatler‘s peculiar brand of conservatism.
As Charlie said John, if you don’t like it, beat feet. Those of us who have never been shy about revealing our identities really don’t care for people who make inflammatory statements behind a curtain of anonymity.
You have no right to be here. It’s a privilege, one you routinely abuse. It’s only the forbearance of the editors which allows you to continue.
ConservativeWanderer, Charlie Martin, Patrick Richardson, and paul_unalaska … you are all four arguing for a narrow, censorship-embracing, exclusionary ideology that calls itself “conservatism.”
If it should happen, that President Obama is re-elected in 2012, because voters of conservative inclination were excluded by PJM/Tatler‘s peculiar insistence upon ideological purity …
… then to assign responsibility for that loss, you will need only to look in a mirror.
Because never yet, in all of history, has there been a republic in which every voter thought alike … despite what many on this forum dream.
John, I’d settle for signs that you think at all.
John, don’t be more of a fool than your mother made you. Only governments can censor. Look it up. When it happens in the public sector it’s called “editing.” Which if you check out the disclaimer at the top the editors at PJMedia reserve the right to do. You do not own your posts boyo, once you hit submit PJM does.
John, given your obvious comprehension problems, I think I’ll reject your advice. In point of fact, if you told me stone was hard I’d try a rock as a pillow.
I side with physicist on principle on this one; your comments about censorship and taking a hike are utterly worthless.
What is it about an opposing voice that so frightens you? You sound like Obama, the man you profess to hate.
Debate? What’s that I guess? You got no call for saying such things on a site that takes out the liberal media for the exact same stance.
Actually, I’m all for a real debate… if he’d ever stick to the topic at hand and provide reliable and unbiased sources, I’d be quite happy to debate him. The problem is, he does neither. He tosses out red herrings by the oceanful and his sources are nearly always heavily biased, unreliable, or don’t even say what he claims they say.
So, since he is not capable of a real debate, I treat him accordingly.
And, you must remember: you are, in essence, in the PJM place of business. They can enforce rules of conduct just like any other business. If you don’t like it, you’re not required to stay. I’m certain that you’d do the same in your home or business, if you own one… or do you just let your guests run rampant in your home? If you can enforce codes of conduct in your own home, so can the PJM management enforce them here.
Centralized control of questions … ideology-driven censorship of answers … don’t these amount to a mighty peculiar version of “conservatism”?
ConservativeWanderer, you had best get used to the notion that, throughout history, there have been plenty of conservative-minded folks who abhor these practices … and say so.
Wrong again, John.
Here’s the evidence that lefty comments are allowed to stand, even today.
And you’re still confusing government censorship with a business enforcing an internal code of conduct. Are you really that slow, or are you doing that deliberately to try to make PJM look eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil?
I suspect the latter.
ConservativeWanderer, every regular on PajamaMedia knows that there are certain subjects that PJM/Tatler censors heavily … by deleting comments, by smearing posters, and (most effectively of all) by simply never raising questions.
A good example us the recent catastrophic triple reactor melt-down at Fukushima. At first PJM/Tatler editors denied the disaster was serious, then they smeared posters who disagreed, then they erased factual posts to the contrary, and now they refuse to discuss the subject at all.
The Fukushima disaster raises serious questions about whether corporations can be trusted to tell the truth, and also whether corporations can be safely deregulated. And it answers those questions too: “no” and “no”.
PJM/Tatler has imposed a similar censorship-driven strategy as TEPCO, to prevent readers from being “confused” by inconvenient facts.
So I’ll ask it again … centralized control of questions … ideology-driven censorship of answers … don’t these amount to a mighty peculiar version of “conservatism”?
If that’s the peculiar brand of conservatism that Americans are offered at the voting booth — they’ll reject it (and rightly so).
Japanese Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation
URL: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
And have they used nuclear weapons on Fukushima, as you, yourself, the exalted Dr. John Sidles predicted?
No.
And the fact that you keep bringing up your own failed prediction says a lot about you. Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t say good things.
John-boy: Want to discuss Global Warming on a trip to the range? Trouble with sites like this that allow all to speak their mind, is that sometimes it shows how vacuous their cranial vaults are.
The release of the Climategate crap by the Russians is why the orgy didn’t go as planned. The Big Green Machine seems to be suffering from fouled spark plugs.
With what we have seen, continue to see! why would anyone elect a democrat to any federal office in 2012? They are all about themselves and their perks. So to, unfortunately too many republicans fall into this category. Folks- we need “BIG”
changes if we are to continue to be the America we grew up in! Take care everyone.
I can’t seem to break through with my own name, email or any link whatsoever in the link box at PJM.
It’s not real clear what you’re trying to do that you can’t do, but from your description it sounds like Akismet thinks under your other name that you’re a spammer.
Try only posting one link in an article.
Antarctic sea ice is now at its greatest extent since measurements began over 30 years ago. I have also discovered why every leftists in the world just loves the global warming issue:
THEY HAVE FINALLY FOUND A WAY TO TAX THE WEATHER.
Do you really think obama or holder will allow the truth to come out, your`
From press reports, the 45,000 attendees to the conference consumed all the private jets, limousines, and prostitutes in central Europe. On the second day, the discussion quickly shifted from scientific issues to how much the US owes all other nations for using carbon fuels.
The reason the reasonable request was not promptly answered is that some powerful person does not want the American people to know what he/she did. It is this mind set that has driven us to either raising our national debt limit or defaulting on our debts. Our government is led by irresponsible people who hold that our money belongs to them.
…yup that about covers it.
Some people have a lot of time on their hands…
Take off at max weight at sea level and climb to 32000 feet of altitude will require approximately 20 minutes assuming average traffic and weather conditions. This will use about 20,000 pounds of fuel [6.7 pounds per US gallon] and another 15,000 gallons for the next 40 minutes while the aircraft stabilizes at altitude. From there on the average fuel burn will be between 20 and 25 thousand gallons per hour depending on weather, altitude, and flight stability. A flight from Washington [Dulles or Andrews] to Copenhagen will take 6 to 7 hours depending on wind. That would work out to about 160,000 pounds of fuel. Jet-A at Dulles Airport today is $8.14/gallon or $1.21 pound. One assumes that the military has much cheaper contract rates. If DoD would report their “real” costs per hour of operation for a B747-400 [C-33/Air Force One] it would probably be over $12000 per flight hour.
don’t forget to factor in all the other aircraft that need to be rerouted or in holds waiting for the pompus as$ to depart priority one.
You’re only talking about one of the several aircraft that would have generated for the operation. The spare has to be online, too. Then there are the aircraft carrying “The Beast” and accompanying SUV herd, the Secret Service and other support people, the press plane, etc.
I just read an interesting story in The Gaurdian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/02/biofuels-land-grab-kenya-delta
and……
http://developmentafrique.com/?p=75
I wonder how many at the conference in Copenhagen are also buying land now for food security? It would be very interesting to have that flight manifest.
From across the pond. Whatever the accretions of power to Washington DC. However great the perceived / actual shortcomings of your Congress….you good people get down on your knees each night and thank the Good Lord that you have a WRITTEN CONSTITUTION. A precious document that serves the rest of the Planet as a Template to this day.
You want to really know how bad it can really get? Try living in the European Union
Jez @ Chichester. UK.
Jez, the debate on this side of the Atlantic centers on the plain fact that large corporations largely escape the checks-and-balances of the constitution, and evade also the the responsibilities that ordinary citizens accept.
And yet, there are peculiar brands of conservatism that work overtime to ensure that corporations remain free of those checks-and-balances and responsibilities.
Plenty of conservative-minded folks are opposed to these peculiar brands of conservatism … because they are wrong. Wrong for conservatism, wrong on the facts, wrong for America, wrong for the planet, and morally wrong too.
——
A peculiar brand of conservatism
URL: http://pajamasmedia.com/comment/1129722/
Good Lord, John, are you really that dense?
The Constitution tells us how government should be run, not how private businesses should be run!
Do all corporations have to have a President who is at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen? Does that President have to be elected by people from every state, stand for re-election every four years, and is he/she limited to two terms?
Your idiocy is truly astounding, you know that?
ConservativeWanderer, please let me commend to your attention the Wikipedia pages on the US Constitution’s “Commerce Clause” and “Necessary and Proper Clause”.
What is your understanding of (1) the framers’ appreciation of the necessity for these clauses? and (2) their applicability with respect to regulating the activities of global-scale corporations within the United States?
In plainer English, how are we to prevent corporation-caused disasters like the BP’s Gulf Oil spill, TEPCO’s triple reactor melt-down, and the Wall Street’s financial collapse … without exercising these powers?
To pretend that the Founders had a clear appreciation of the grave consequences, both national-scale and global-scale, of oil-well blowouts, reactor-core meltdowns, computer-traded markets, and AGW … would be foolish in the extreme.
The US Constitution’s “Commerce Clause” and “Necessary and Proper Clause” are powerful tools that the framers provided for mitigating these disasters … as every prudent conservative appreciates.
Of course, there have always been some peculiar brands of conservatism that deny these powers. But as President Eisenhower wisely wrote:
In the control that this peculiar “splinter group” exerts upon the Republican primary process rests the Democrats’ best hope of victory in 2012. That is why prudent Eisenhower-style conservatism must speak against it.
The Presidential Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower, #1147
URL: http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1147.cfm
John, your idiocy is reaching new lows.
Both those clauses are part of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which begins, “The Congress shall have Power…” and then goes on to list a number of “…to…” statements.
In short, both of those clauses are referring to Congress, you halfwitted dunderhead!
I know you’ve had real problems with reading comprehension in the past, but this one takes the cake. Clearly you have absolutely no idea what the Constitution really says, you just know what other lefties tell you… and most of that is flat wrong.
I strongly recommend that you take some time away from PJM and use it to read the Constitution. Several times, in fact, so that the true meaning sinks into the block of granite you use for a head.
hey, this is getting interesting. I can’t decide which I want to see first: the explanation how the Commerce Clause empowers Congress to prevent earthquakes and tsunamis, or the argument where John explains that the US Military was preparing to save the people of Bhopal but dropping an atomic bomb on the plant.
Glad I can entertain you, Charlie.
Yeah … we’re all looking forward to Charlie’s/Tatler‘s next post on “Lessons-Learned from the TEPCO/Fukushima Crisis.” Uhhh … Tatler *is* planning to continue its posts on the Fukushima triple melt-down, right Charlie?
Here “crisis” is the Japanese term for it … not mine. There’s nothing like having your kids forced to wear radiation meters, to justify the word “crisis.”
Engineers question meaning of nuclear power
in wake of Fukushima crisis
Mainichi Daily News
URL: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/news/20110626p2a00m0na015000c.html
Since you choose not to rebut my statement regarding the Constitution and Congress, I will consider that point accepted by you as won by me. Thankyouverymuch.
As for Fukushima, I am still waiting for them to use nuclear bombs to solve the problem there, John… something you predicted. I am sure Charlie can dig up the relevant post if you wish to deny that you ever said such a thing.
You’re batting 0-for-2 today, John, why don’t ya just head for the locker room?
ConservativeWanderer, it ain’t complicated. Shall the government control enterprise? Absolutely “no”. Shall the government regulate enterprise? Absolutely “yes” … and the framers took care to ensure that the Constitution explicitly conveyed that regulatory power to government.
This principle was the bedrock of Abraham Lincoln’s conservative vision, and in particular, Lincoln’s appreciation of the moral necessity for regulating (even unto extinction) the immensely profitable business called “slavery.”
Needless to say, those who profited most from slavery, were those who opposed Mr. Lincoln’s brand of conservatism most fiercely. Indeed, they slew him.
Sorry, by tossing out the Fukushima red herring–AGAIN!–you accepted the point I was making.
Since I already stated that, and you’re the one obviously trying to backpedal to cover your lapse, I’m not “weaseling out” of anything, so don’t even try accusing me of that.
And you still haven’t answered the question I’ve posed many times about Fukushima… have they used nuclear weapons to solve the problem there yet, as you predicted? Just so ya know, every time you bring up Fukushima I am gonna throw that back in your face.
LOL … I’m happy to help you out, ConservativeWanderer … the Tatler thread you’re referring to is Charlie Martin’s “I was told there wouldn’t be maaaaath….” and I’m entirely pleased to have folks read that thread, including my posts!
No-one’s crystal ball is perfect (mine most especially). In particular, we now know that at the time of Charlie Martin’s post, what he (optimistically) called “just a conventional fire” was actually a triple core meltdown of TEPCO Reactors 1, 2, and 3.
Charlie can’t be blamed for his mistaken belief … he was fooled by statements from TEPCO corporate executives who were either lying, or willfully ignorant, or else grossly self-deluded (or all three simultaneously).
TEPCO’s corporate falsehoods provide a vivid example of what Abraham Lincoln said: “You may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
In retrospect it’s clear that the US government knew early-on that TEPCO was lying … and that’s why the US aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan was ordered to leave port and monitor the situation (as described in my post).
IMHO, it’s way overdue for a PJM/Tatler post describing lessons-learned for conservatism from the TEPCO/Fukushima crisis. Uhhhh … assuming there *are* some lessons-learned?
——
I was told there wouldn’t be maaaaath….
by Charlie Martin
URL: http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/03/16/i-was-told-there-wouldnt-be-maaaaath/
Wrong again, John.
The thread I am referring to is this one, where you state quite categorically:
Have they done so, John?
LOL … thank you ConservativeWanderer! Nothing pleases me more than to have people read that whole thread (link below) where I specifically foresee the best possible solution:
Since TEPCO now admits that reactor cores 1–3 *did* melt-down … and *did* breach the pressure vessels … and TEPCO is proposing to entomb the reactor buildings … why, it appears that my assessment of the Fukushima crisis has proved to be substantially more timely, thoughtful, fact-driven, and accurate than any of PJM/Tatler editors … as everyone is encouraged to read for themselves!
Whereas Charlie Martin’s assessment at the time was “it still doesn’t look like there’s that much contamination” … uhhh … that assessment wasn’t so accurate, was it? … because by then Fukushima reactors 1-3 had already dumped molten “core on the floor” … and radioactive contamination was already spreading across north-central Japan.
It was a common mistake at the time to believe what TEPCO executives were saying … but almost no-one in Japan makes that mistake any more. Isn’t that the case, ConservativeWanderer?
In retrospect, we appreciate that Japan was tremendously lucky that in the early weeks of the accident, the prevailing winds *were* off-shore, rather than blowing towards (say) Tokyo. But for that lucky accident of weather, we now appreciate that the consequences for Japan of the Fukushima triple melt-down would have been many times worse even than Chernobyl.
Are there lessons from Fukushima for conservatism? Hmmmm … it seems that no one will ever learn these lessons by reading PJM/Tatler.
—–
Fuel rod fire? Maybe not
URL: http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/03/15/fuel-rod-fire-maybe-not/
Backpedal as fast as you can, John! But you still can’t get away from the fact that you said “the sole technical answer”–as in the only thing they could do–was to use nukes on Fukushima.
You predicted it, it didn’t happen. Your credibility–the few shreds you had left–is gone.
Possibly the most amusing part is watching John try to spin things on the assumption no one looks back or remembers the whole thread. Anyone who does will see that your best-case prediction was contamination much more massive than Chernobyl, where the actual contamination is still by measurement an order of magnitude less I131 and several orders of magnitude less in other isotopes.
In fact, as of yesterday’s readings, the actual dose rate at the plant, three months out, is 0.005 times the actual dose rate at Chernobyl now, twenty five years after.
And no, “construct a building” isn’t the same as “entomb”.
ConservativeWanderer, at least you and I agree on this: the more folks who read those posts, and meditate upon the profound lessons of the TEPCO/Fukushima crisis for conservatism, the better!
Fuel rod fire? Maybe not
URL: http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/03/15/fuel-rod-fire-maybe-not/
Actually, the only lesson most people will learn from reading that is that you’re a blow-hard who thinks he knows everything but really has no clue.
I’d stay and play with you some more, but I really have more important things to do… like trimming my mustache.
Charlie, there’s no need for me to provide my own opinions … `cuz the engineers in the UCB Nuclear Engineering Department are providing some mighty sobering news … and I seem to recall that you’re a major advocate of professional engineering websites.
Is PJM/Tatler going to cover the implications for conservatism?
Radiation in Japan: Professor Kosako:
“Come the harvest season in the fall, there will be a chaos”
URL: http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/node/4867
John, does it bother you even slightly that you’re mis-citing that to Berkeley when the actual article merely links, without comment, a blog post by someone else?
In any case, the dose rate they’re talking about is comparable to the natural background dose rate in Leadville. Since Leadville has a very low cancer rate, I fail to be frightened.
Why Charlie … I had no idea that Leadville … or any American town … was contaminated with radioactive cesium the same as central Japan … you know cesium … the radioisotope that gets chemically concentrated in children’s growing bones?
Are yah sure of yer facts, Charlie? `Cuz it would be morally to deny this, if it were really happening, right?
—-
Cesium found in child urine tests
The Japan Times
URL: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110701a2.html
More reports are appearing that Fukushima’s children are accumulating radioactive cesium.
What’s peculiar is … TEPCO’s not helping … Japan’s government isn’t helping … why do you think that is, Charlie?
What’s similarly peculiar is that PJM/Tatler is giving TEPCO a free pass on their stone-walling about Fukushima’s children … why do you think that is, Charlie?
IMHO Dial C For Cocktail Waitress has called it right, in saying that if PJM/Tatler is going to talk it [namely transparency], then PJM/Tatler ought to walk it too … otherwise PJM/Tatler comes across as behaving no more responsibly than TEPCO.
A Physicist. Point taken God Bless you.
Everyone- Happy 4th July. Have a really Happy day.
Jez @ Chichester. UK
You have a president that has suddenly made eliminating tax breaks for corporate jets a campaign theme and you wonder why government use of jets is a big secret? A little prescient of you?
Lots of luck with expectation that Judicial Watch will actually accomplish anything. It’s the legal version of shock and awe with the awe dropping leaflets saying, “Play nicer’.
My bet is that the Judicial Watch/PMJ suit will prevail … and I hope it does. For the same reason that Judicial Watch/ACLU suits have so often prevailed … and I am glad when they do.
IMHO, political ideologies that can’t handle the truth … whether liberal or conservative … deserve to perish. That’s why I am grateful to the rule-of-law that the FOIA represents, and that PJM and the ACLU both advocate, and that Judicial Watch impartially supports, which speeds this beneficial process.
The President is perfectly consistent in following his belief that Government should and must dominate “Business,” if Government is to be able consistently to provide adequate rewards for its leaders and supporters. Marxism is only one of the implementing philosophies for the desired ends.
As the props supporting the ideal of the Republic can be weakened generally and some be removed altogether, as some have been; as historical facts can be deprecated, then, farther and farther removed from the consciousnesses of progressive generations of voters; as voters ignorant of the Republic and of democratic ideals of personal freedoms and liberties can be imported wholesale to march in disarray alongside the latter-day citizens of the realm in ignorance; as the Rule of Law can be selectively applied and selectively withheld for the benefit of the new Rulers; as We the People become acclimated to intrusive Governmental rule over what foods we may have to eat in restaurants and homes, what States our employers may build new factories in, what light bulbs we may see by in our home and outside, what vehicle we may use to meet our legitimate needs and desires for economy, utility, comfort and life safety, what we must pay for our core needs of energy, food, shelter, and medical care; thus, the light of Liberty may be dimmed and ultimately extinguished among hoi polloi, the great unwashed of Fly-over Country. Physicist decries the damage done by “oil-well blowouts, reactor-core meltdowns, computer-traded markets, and AGW,” and still, he ignores the expansion of those damages perpetrated in the name of the responsibilities, roles, & actions of Government in each of these areas. E.g, the weeks stretching into months of delays the Federal Govt. imposed upon BP’s and Louisiana’s efforts to bring sufficient repair and clean-up resources to bear, and the ill-advised economic damage hugely inflicted by the 6 months Presidential Moratorium and the refusals of various Federal agencies to permit normal business activities for many months after the announcement that the Moratorium was “lifted.” Not to mention that the drilling processes and procedures implemented on the oil well that failed were, when it failed, fully documented, certified, and approved by the Federal agencies involved and charged with the responsibilities to ensure the protection of the public interests.
Those who have eyes to see, have witnessed monstrous rip-offs of funds borrowed from foreign governments among the handing out of $700,000,000,000.00 of the TARP Law (that was not used to rescue the homeowners and absorb the “toxic assets” as it was sold to the public to do) with no accountability permitted by that Law for both the Wall Street princes of finance and the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury (BTW, what ever happened to him, and where is he now, and what has he been doing, and how has he been supporting/enriching himself and family, since leaving that high office?); as well, the aggravation of the “toxic assets” generated by Federal regulations, threatening Federal pressures upon the lenders for housing, and and Wall Street financial firms; then followed by the $864,000,000,000.00 of Stimulus 1 (that didn’t stimulate as it was sold to do, and did not generate millions of jobs with immediately “shovel-ready projects” as it was touted to do); and uncountable hundreds of $Billions more in Stimulus 2, and the rapid inflation in basic costs of living (glossed over, but very real) inflicted upon low income families by Federal management of the Money Supply that is called Quantitative Easing, along with the previous boondoggles. And the Federal agency that suppressed the revelations of illegalities of Bernie Madoff’s empire, and the Federal agencies called Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac that drove their respective franchises into effective bankruptcies costing more hundred$$ of Billion$$ of dollar$$?
Yes, mistakes were made in certain large Corporations. Perhaps it is worth considering: Were the effects of these few Corporate failures more costly to the public than were the aggravated damages inflicted by the derelictions of both the past and the present U.S Congresses, the Federal Presidential Administrations, and their bureaucracies, with their overarching powers?
To Physicist, to C.W., to Dial C, and All:
The President is perfectly consistent in following his belief that Government should and must dominate “Business,” if Government is to be able consistently to provide adequate rewards for its leaders and its supporters.
Among the world’s philosophies capable of implementing the desired ends, Marxism is only one. As the props supporting the ideal of the Republic can be weakened generally and some be removed altogether, as some have been and more must be; as historical facts can be deprecated, then farther and farther removed from the textbooks and the consciousnesses of progressive generations of voters; as voters ignorant of the Republic and of democratic ideals of personal freedoms and liberties can be imported by millions to march in disarray alongside the latter-day citizens of the realm in ignorance; as the Rule of Law can be selectively applied and selectively withheld, for the benefit of the new Rulers; as We the People become acclimated to intrusive Governmental rule over what foods we may have to eat in restaurants and homes, what States our employers may build new factories in, what light bulbs we may see by in our home and outside, what vehicle we may use to meet our legitimate needs and desires for economy, utility, comfort and life safety, what we must pay for our core needs of energy, food, shelter, and medical care, and more and more; thus, the light of Liberty may be dimmed and ultimately extinguished among hoi polloi, the great unwashed of Fly-over Country.
Physicist decries the damage done by “oil-well blowouts, reactor-core meltdowns, computer-traded markets, and AGW,” and still, he ignores the expansion of those damages perpetrated in the name of the responsibilities, roles, & actions of Government in each of these areas. E.g, the weeks stretching into months of delays the Federal Govt. imposed upon BP’s and Louisiana’s efforts to bring sufficient repair and clean-up resources to bear, including, but in no way limited to, the refusal to permit the timely and thorough implementation of the existing, Federal mitigation Plan published during the Clinton Administration by the NOAA, and the ill-advised economic damage hugely inflicted by the 6 months Presidential Moratorium and the refusals of various Federal agencies to permit normal business activities for many months after the announcement that the Moratorium was “lifted.” Not to mention that the drilling processes and procedures implemented on the oil well that failed were, when it failed, fully documented, certified, and approved in advance of the start of the operation, approved by the Federal agencies that were charged with the responsibilities to ensure the protection of the public interests.
Those who have eyes to see, have witnessed monstrous rip-offs of funds borrowed from foreign governments among the handing out of $700,000,000,000.00 of the TARP Law (that was not used to rescue the homeowners and absorb the “toxic assets” as it was sold to the public to do) with no accountability permitted by that Law for both the Wall Street princes of finance and the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury (BTW, what ever happened to him, and where is he now, and what has he been doing, and how has he been supporting/enriching himself and family, since leaving that high office?); as well, the aggravation of the “toxic assets” generated by Federal regulations, threatening Federal pressures upon the lenders for housing, and and Wall Street financial firms; then followed by the $864,000,000,000.00 of Stimulus 1 (that didn’t stimulate as it was sold to do, and did not generate millions of jobs with immediately “shovel-ready projects” as it was touted to do); and uncountable hundreds of $Billions more in Stimulus 2, and the rapid inflation in basic costs of living (glossed over, but very real) inflicted upon low income families by Federal management of the Money Supply that is called Quantitative Easing, along with the previous boondoggles. And the Federal agency that suppressed the revelations of illegalities of Bernie Madoff’s empire, and the Federal agencies called Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac that drove their respective franchises into effective bankruptcies costing more hundred$$ of Billion$$ of dollar$$?
Yes, mistakes were made in certain large Corporations. Perhaps it is worth considering: Were the effects of these few Corporate failures more costly to the public than were the aggravated damages inflicted by the derelictions of both the past and the present U.S Congresses, the Federal Presidential Administrations, and their bureaucracies, with their overarching powers?
Excellent points, sir/madam.
If you’d like to discuss them further, you can contact me via my humble little blog (link is in my username), where there’s a “contact” link prominently displayed.
Oh, and John… conservatives do not as a rule consider their leaders to be divinely infallible. Lincoln made mistakes. Eisenhower made mistakes. Reagan made mistakes. Bush (both of them) made mistakes.
It’s lefties like you who tend to make your leaders into secular saviors, who are divinely infallible.
That’s Mr. Dial C, and I didn’t vote for Obama who I considered a soup kitchen racist totally out of his depth.
Him and his think the entire world revolves around the problems of black people and anything without some racial dimension to it doesn’t really excite them.
What more do you have to say about a guy who came out of a church that would make the KKK proud?
LOL … Perhaps it is Worth Considering makes me smile …
“Mistakes were made”???
No one told us it was “Tribute to Nixon Day”!!!
Heck, that principle is solid Abraham Lincoln-style conservatism.
Indeed this principle was the moral basis for Mr. Lincoln’s conservative opposition to that peculiar (and immensely profitable) business called “slave-owning” … and Mr. Obama *is* known to be a student of Lincoln!
Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society
URL: http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/fair.htm
Ahhh… I see, so Lincoln was a socialist, but a conservative, so therefore socialism and conservatism are the same thing. INTERESTING.
*holds up a card with a “10″ on it*
Certainly the mental gymnastics required for John to draw these conclusions of his are impressive. Definitely a perfect score.
It is characteristic of PJM/Tatler‘s peculiar brand of conservatism, that the ideals, writings, and accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower all are reviled — even though conservative and liberal historians agree in ranking them as the three greatest Republican presidents in history.
Should the Democrat party succeed in capturing the votes of every American who agrees with historians that Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower were pretty good presidents … well … then it will be game-over for the Republican party in the 2012 election.
The point is, there never has been, and never will be, a republican democracy in which every voter thinks alike. And at the present time, the Democrat Party is showing a better practical understanding of this reality than the Republican Party.
Theodore Roosevelt was a died in the wool progressive. Dwight was a good but not great president, I don’t know many people who would rank him even in the top 10 — He certainly was no Reagan whom conservatives consider the greatest president of the 20th century. I’ll grant you that Lincoln was a great president, but not for the reasons you seem to believe.
You show your ignorance of history, sir. Lincoln was not only a great president, but also the greatest tyrant in American history. He suspended habeus corpus, issued edicts such as the emancipation proclamation which were of dubious legality and jailed without trial people who disagreed with him politically.
In point of fact, the secession of the South was only illegal because Lincoln possessed the force to make it so. The freeing of the slaves ditto.
He was a great president because he managed to win the Civil War and keep the union together — do not blind yourself to the tactics he used to get it done.
Patrick, a trait that for you diminishes the conservative lustre of the Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower administrations is for me the trait that shines most brightly. Gen. Petraeus Commander’s Guidance describes that trait concisely:
It’s not a coincidence (IMHO) that Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower were outstanding conservative presidents *and* outstanding military leaders \mdash; a Petraeus-style “learn-and-capability” being essential to both kinds of leadership.
Whenever America requires doctrinal purity of our military strategists … we get bad strategy (think Rumsfeld or McNamara).
Whenever America requires doctrinal purity of our presidents … we get bad presidents (think Harding or Hoover).
IMHO, CinC Obama’s rotation of Gen. Petraeus to CIA, CIA chief Panetta to SecDef, and (it is rumored) Biden to SecState, are ample evidence of his determination to staff his administration with “learn-and-adapt” talent at the highest levels. In these appointments CinC Obama is showing himself to be a keen student of Lincoln … and so the Republican Party had best get busy and draft some comparably deep strategic talent.
… and just to state the obvious … any president (liberal or conservative) who was exasperated by discoordination between the military and intelligence services could fix that problem mighty d*mn quick by the Petraeus-Panetta swap that Obama has ordered.
Its notable these two appointments were confirmed by the Senate with *no* dissenting votes … everyone in both parties appreciated that CinC Obama’s maneuver was timely, smart, and necessary to war-winning.
… and just to state the obvious … any president (liberal or conservative) who was exasperated by discoordination between the military and intelligence services could fix that problem mighty d*mn quick by the Petraeus-Panetta swap that Obama has ordered.
John, as someone who has spent a number of years in the intelligence community, I can’t decide whether I think this is more laughably naive, or simply ignorant and foolish.
Charlie, anyone who foresees that Gen. Petreaus will be ineffective as Director of the CIA, is unfamiliar with Gen. Petraeus … fortunately the Senate *is* familiar with him … as Petraeus’ immediate, unanimous, bipartisan confirmation by the Senate affirms.
Charlie, if you have information to the contrary, well … please enlighten us.
I think perhaps more highly of Lincoln than some, but then I’m not a “conservative”. My own opinion is that slavery was an evil that could no longer be tolerated.
Accounting for Lincoln as in any way conservative just displays a completely ahistorical lack of cultural literacy. Or in this case, more likely a sophists willingness to make any argument at all, no matter how dishonest, to score supposed debating points.
Mr. Obama is a student of Lincoln when it suits his needs and at no other time. His programs or shall I say “pogoms” are useful to a people that wants to be enslaved and nothing else. The AGW debacle is an excellent example but only one cog in the wheel. The rest of the cogs (that we know of are mentioned above). The physicist needs to remove his blinders. Blinders were used for a reason ON HORSES. People with blinders on wear them at their own peril. With 50% of the citizens wearing blinders we are all in jeopardy of enslavement to these Marxists. This will not end well.
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