Actually, Mr. Keith (#16), you are wrong on that one. There is such a requirement (still). I worked at Fannie Mae, you didn’t.

L3 @ #71: now THAT’s a LIMERick!

Can we all agree that the “hope, “change” and “transparency” part of the Barack Obama media carnival is officially over, and it’s finally time that we start holding our new president accountable?

Consider the tale of the ubiquitous “Hope” poster that helped get Mr. Obama worshiped, inoculated and elected — and the anti-capitalist street artist who “created” it.

Shepard Fairey last week was sued for copyright infringement by the Associated Press, which claims he stole photographer Manny Garcia’s work and made it the basis of the iconic off-red, white and blue posters whose signed editions are being sold on eBay for thousands of dollars.

Chinese, Latin American and former Soviet Communist artists may also have a claim against Mr. Fairey, whose style is brazenly ripped off from the propaganda campaigns of totalitarian states. If regimes that murdered tens of millions of innocent human beings can be so revered and redeemed, can the swastika be reappropriated, too?

Mr. Fairey’s previous “street art” sensation was “Obey” posters that littered urban America for a good portion of the Bush administration. Mr. Fairey was artistically positioning someone to cleanse the body politic of corruption and cynicism.

“The whole concept of ‘Obey’ was getting people to question their obedience,” Mr. Fairey told Wired magazine.

Yet Mr. Fairey and his fellow artists are now part of a seemingly endless artistic vanguard pledging obedience to their new leader. Those who codified the slogan “dissent is patriotic” now march lockstep with the new president, no matter what he does, and use their elevated place in society to cast an evil eye on those who question his early blunders.

—Full article is in the Washington Times

Never before has it been so transparently obvious that they will conceal whatever they want, whenever they want, from whomever they want, whenever they unilaterally decide they want to.

I have segued into flip so I will remove myself for awhile but it is worth considering when we become inundated with praise for the debate/committee/study/analyze approach to problem solving – Smart Conflict Resolution – not a magic pill and surely not a substitute for backbone that’s there when you need it – usually after you’ve studied history and lived to reach that certain age.

A bi-partisian solution to the 2001 recession – let that be a lession for us.

My post was not necessarily to bash Bush. His Tax Cuts were absolutely necessary, and worked very well. In 2003, the percentage of tax revenue largely under the Clinton Tax Structure had fallen to 16%, the lowest level in post war history even though tax rates were still largely at the highest level since Carter. Those huge earlier deficits were caused because the rich were not making money as they used to at that time , because the high tax, highly progressive tax system of that time discouraged earning higher incomes and thus overall revenue. The Bush Tax Cuts were responsible for lowering the Budget deficit to about $154 billion in 2007, through raising revenue through lower taxes.

My problem with Bush is that he turned into a wimpy moderate on too many issues like immigration, taxes and Iran, after 2005. Check out the John Bolton interview in the Jerusalem Post of a view days ago linked by Doug or someone in else in a previous thread. It’s pretty devastating.

My problem is with moderates like Arlen Spector on the Stimulus today, who have repeatedly sold out Republicans and the country for reasons I just can’t comprehend.