Experience? What Experience?

H/T to Melissa Clouthier via Twitter.

The Obama administration has less real-world administration than any administrationsince 1900. Seriously.

Less than 10 percent have worked in the private sector. The previous low was John F. Kennedy with just below 30 percent.

Their experience has been almost exclusively feeding at the public trough in one form or another. Politics. Bureaucracy. Community organizers. Lawyers. Academie.

Here’s the chart (via The Handwriting On The Wall):

Most of them haven’t run even as much as a lemonade stand.

Says Cole:

I guess when we’re not hiring people who think animals should be represented by lawyers in court, we are hiring people who know squat about the private sector.

These guys know little about how real economic growth is created, how jobs are created, how to run anything. Their first answer to anything is … Government. Government this. Government that. Government, government, government.

Government knows best.

No wonder we’re headed to a national trainwreck.

Clock Is Ticking On The Hoan Bridge

The bureaucrats and politicians dawdle, while the clock ticks on the decision to either repair or replace the Hoan Bridge.

Steve Jagler, executive editor of the Biz Times writes more about it here.

Right now, they’re dawdling. Some want the bridge torn down and replaced with a ground-level street connecting downtown Milwaukee to the south suburbs. Of course, since the Port of Milwaukee is located under the current bridge, that would necessitate the creation of a drawbridge that would have to be opened to let ships in and out of the port.

I’ve driven over the Hoan Bridge to and from the new Lake Parkway. There’s nothing under that bridge that would remotely encourage the type of development advocates of tearing down the bridge claim. There’s no there there.

Peter Beitzel, vice president at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), and state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) both called for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a full study, assessing all of the options for the Hoan Bridge.

“We need to do this right. I want good information. I think it’s key to the Milwaukee region,” Stone said. “I’m going to argue we need a full study.”

Why a full study unless the proponents already know the outcome? Why is MMAC behind tearing down the Hoan Bridge unless someone stands to make money off a lousy idea? Remember: these are the same folks who gave us the trainwreck of tearing down the Park East Freeway for no reason and nothing of use. It’s still an empty lot.

What is the fascination with the so-called enlightened folks in Milwaukee with tearing down things that work? The Hoan Bridge connects downtown Milwaukee to the south suburbs and makes it easy to get from one to the other.

Jagler cites Milwaukee County Supervisor Pat Jursik as a leadng opponent of tearing down the bridge:

Jursik cited several reasons the Hoan must be retained in its current form:

• Residents on the South Side need a direct, efficient traffic link to Downtown jobs and entertainment.
• The Port of Milwaukee needs a clean, unimpeded route for ships.
• The Hoan provides a direct link for Downtown residents and visitors to General Mitchell International Airport.
• A reduction in traffic capacity on the Hoan would force more traffic onto north / south Interstate 94.
• Commuters on the South Side use the Hoan as a route to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
• The Hoan offers an inviting, impressive first view of Downtown Milwaukee for first-time visitors from the airport or the Lake Express High-Speed Ferry.
• Properly marketed, the bridge could become an icon of the city’s skyline.

Here’s a brief history of the Hoan Bridge, with the large part of the article focusing on the 2000 partial collapse and repair.

Why do I get the feeling they’re going to screw this up?

PETA To University: Drop Animal Mascot

This looks like it’s from The Onion, but sometimes real life is a parody of itself, especially when PETA is involved.

The animal rights wackos have requested the University of Georgia drop its bulldog mascot.

An animal rights organization says the use of a live bulldog mascot contributes to the breed’s health problems and wants the University of Georgia to consider an alternative. 

PETA suggests Georgia could use a robot dog or a costumed mascot instead of the white English bulldogs that have represented the school at football games since 1956. 

Last week, bulldog mascot UGA VII died at the age of 4, apparently of a heart ailment.  Desiree Acholla of PETA says bulldogs are prone to heart problems and other medical issues because of inbreeding.  Acholla made the comments in a letter to university athletic director Damon Evans.

Again, this looks like it could have come from out of The Onion, but sadly it’s not. PETA really is requesting that UG get rid of its mascot. Here’s the doggy:

For the record, I love animals and am a pet owner. Have been for years.

But PETA is just freaking insane. And to think that the UG AD’s office actually gave these nutjobs the courtesy of a reply which said that their demands had good points which merit consideration.

All that does is encourage them, folks. Grow a set and tell them to take their radicalism and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine and then rotate on it. People are intimidated by these bullies, and that’s exactly what PETA and their ilk are. Bullies.

Did you know that PETA is routinely given access to children in America’s K-12 schools without parental consent? Read here to find out more. What part of education does pushing this radical agenda do with educating children? Nothing.

Here’s the PETA Kids website. More brainwashing.

Here’s a PETA comic book labeling Mommy a “killer” and showing a mom maniacally stabbing a rabbit. Enough blood and gore for a Jason movie.

These people are extremists and it’s way past time that we kick them to the curb of society with the other trash.

The GOP Purity Test

There are some activists in the Republican Party who are proposing a litmus test for GOP candidates on major issues. Stray too far from the correct responses and no RNC money for you.

Conservative Republican Party activists want to withhold money from GOP candidates who stray too far from party orthodoxy.

Ten Republican National Committee members are distributing a plan to impose a purity test – calling for money to be withheld from anyone who disagrees with conservative principles on more than two of 10 core issues.

Among the required stances: oppose President Barack Obama’s health care and cap-and-trade proposals as well as his stimulus plan; reject government funding for abortion; vote “no” on legislation to help unions organize; and support keeping the Defense of Marriage Act.

“The problem is that conservatives have lost trust in the Republican Party that we will govern as conservatives,” said James Bopp Jr., an Indiana lawyer and one of 168 RNC members who will debate the idea during the party’s winter meeting in January. “And I think that loss of trust is warranted to a certain extent because of the fact that we in the final several years of the Bush administration were supporting increased government, earmarks and, ultimately, bailouts.”

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to respond to this today. I read Erick Erickson’s thoughts at Red State earlier. I’ll react in a bit.

The Republican Party doesn’t need any more Dede Scozzafavas or Charlie Crists or any of the sort. RINOs at best — Republican In Name Only. DIABLOs at worst — Democrats In All But Label Only. And quite frankly I am sick and tired of the GOP party elites in both Wisconsin and in Washington telling me I have to eat a RINO or DIABLO crap sandwich and like it, just so they can get invites to the really cool cocktail parties and gain acceptance from the liberals and the state-run media.

But this type of litmus test doesn’t serve anyone’s best interest. First, as Erick correctly points out:

I am afraid this will do what the ATR pledge did in Scozzafava’s case — give a lot of candidates cover to pretend to be conservative. People are naturally inclined to short circuit educational processes. People will look at this list to see if a candidate signed off on the issues. If the candidate did, well by God they must be conservative — never mind their voting record or prior statements. After all, only a week before Scozzafava signed the ATR pledge she was bashing Hoffman for having signed it. Never mind though, all was forgiven once Scozzafava signed it too.

Conservatives in the RNC, however well meaning they may be, risk giving liberal candidates easy opportunities to get conservative endorsements simply by checking the box without ever meaning it.

Exactly. Answer the questions correctly, get the money then go off and do whatever you want. There’s no legal requirement for a candidate to actually follow what he or she answers on this form. It’s words on paper. Think George H.W. Bush and “Read my lips: no new taxes.” How’d that turn out?

The problem that is not addressed by this proposal is the tendency of the dolts at the RNC, along with the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee, to interject themselves into Republican primaries and pick candidates from Washington rather than trust GOP voters to pick their own candidates.

NY-23 was a classic example. No primary, just selecting a DIABLO pushed by GOP progressives and rubber-stamped by party officials. If Scozzafava had been selected in an open primary, fine. Same with Crist. Or Carly Fiorina in California. Or any other place. Then it’s up to the party to unite behind the voters’ choice.

The RNC, NRCC and NRSC need to stay out of state and local primaries in terms of endorsements, money or any other sign of candidate preference then get behind the winner. And the conservative activists have to learn to deal with disappointment if their guy isn’t the voters’ choice.

Collective Bargaining For Cops?

Mandated by … Washington, D.C., no less.

A bill in front of the House of Representatives, sponsored by a Democrat — gee, what a shock there — proposes giving all public safety officers in the United States full collective bargaining rights.

It’s HR413, entitled the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009:

To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or their political subdivisions.

Let’s see: both health care takeover bills grant enormous power to the purpleshirts at SEIU. Wanna bet all of our law enforcement officers will be represented by the same purple-shirted goons?

Navy SEALs Capture Jihadist And They Face Charges

This is incredible.

Three Navy SEALs capture one of the most wanted jihadists in the world and it’s the SEALs that wind up facing charges in ObamaWorld.

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

The three, all members of the Navy’s elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral’s mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named “Objective Amber,” told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.

This could only happen in the bizarro world of Barack Hussein Obama. Amazing: three military heroes get a military tribunal and the masterminds of the September 11th attacks, the reason we are at war in the Middle East, are awarded the same protection of the U.S. Constitution as American citizens and given a federal trial.

Texas Fred is justifiably outraged:

Assault charges? Against our Navy SEALs? Am I the only one that sees the unbelievably PC hand of the Obama administration at work here? Am I the only one that sees the biggest appeaser to ever inhabit the White House doing his thing? Or, maybe, having it done at his behest?

Once upon a time, this piece of garbage would have been brought in beat ALL to hell and back, he would have been kept alive, but just barely. He would have been interrogated and once the desired information was extracted, he would have been unceremoniously disposed of.

But, that was before we forgot how to fight wars. That was before we lost the definition of the word VICTORY! That was before we had our warfighting strategy dictated to us by the likes of Nouri al-Maliki and Hamid Karzai. And it was long before we became the WUSSIES that are more concerned with the RIGHTS of WAR CRIMINALS than we are with the safety of our own people.

I’m with him on that one. I am also with Texas Fred on this item (boldface mine):

FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.

The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.

“I gave the detainee a glance over and then left,” the SEAL wrote. “I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health.”

United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.

Just what happened to this jihadist thug when he was in the custody of the Iraqis? Inquiring minds want to know. As Texas Fred points out:

[S]uppose Ahmed Hashim Abed actually was in great condition when he was turned over to the Iraqis? Suppose they conspired to make the SEALs look bad and punched Abed in the mouth in an effort to make that happen? It is not out of the realm of possibility.

Or, perhaps they just punched him out of anger because of what he was. Remember: the Iraqis aren’t bound by the same laws and regulations as the U.S. military are. It’s not unfathomable that the Iraqis used this piece of human debris as a punching bag for any reason.

Now, regular readers here know I generally find myself in agreement with Hot Air’s Allahpundit, but AP steps in it here:

[T]he fact that this turd got the Iraqi authorities involved may have left Central Command with little choice here. The last thing the military needs right now is another detainee-abuse headache, especially with some Iraqi pols already leaning on them about withdrawal. Giving the SEALs a zero-tolerance wrist slap reminds other troops not to do anything more seriously stupid that might be exploited politically. And it will be a wrist slap, I’m sure: The last thing The One needs after shipping KSM off to NYC for his close-up is the image of SEALs being hauled off to prison for busting some jihadi in the face. In fact, according to Fox, the SEALs requested a court-martial rather than nonjudicial punishment, presumably because they know full well how awful this looks for the military. Prediction: Wrist slap.

Predictably, he’s called out on it from multiple sources. One is Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive:

That wrist slap would be a career-ender in Spec Ops for these men. You understand? We take three guys who accomplish more in a lazy afternoon than you have in your entire anonymous, snarking-from-the-sideline, existence and we put them out of work making dead tangos. And that sounds like what should have happened to this ass clown. If he dies during the take down we have no problems.

Uncle Jimbo also reminds readers that the jihadist captured was responsible for the horrible massacre of Blackwater security forces in Fallujah in 2004. Remember this image?

Those are our fellow countrymen whose bodies are hanging from that bridge in Fallujah, desecrated by those bastards.

Here’s something else Uncle Jimbo brought to memory:

Do you remember what Kos said about the four men this scumbag killed …? I’ll remind you “F**k them”.

I remember the vitriol and hatred directed at the victims of this massacre from the Kos Kidde Day Center, the DUmmies and others. These were Americans whose brutal slaughter other Americans were cheering.

Uncle Jimbo has more over at Ace of Spades HQ. Read the comments section. The readers weigh in with a vengeance.

I’m with Uncle Jimbo. I couldn’t possibly care less what happens to these vermin once we capture them.

Sex Pervert Arrested, Still On Public Payroll

A teacher at Milwaukee King High School has been arrested on charges of child pornography.

A 61-year-old man who teaches math at King High School asked a 15-year-old student to tutor other children at his home but instead showed child pornography to the girl, according to court documents.

The teacher, Darrell Seppanen, was arrested Friday and was in custody Tuesday at the Milwaukee County Jail, according to police and jail records.

Seppanen has not been charged. The district attorney’s office is reviewing the case, said Kent Lovern, chief deputy district attorney.

However, Seppanen still remains on the payroll of Milwaukee Public Schools:

Seppanen has taught at King since 1985 and has been suspended with pay, said Roseann St. Aubin, spokeswoman for Milwaukee Public Schools.

Glenn Frankovis raises an interesting question over at Badger Blogger: why should MPS teachers charged with crimes be allowed to remain on the public payroll when Milwaukee police officers are not?

State Sen. Spencer Coggs and Mayor (now gubernatorial candidate) Tom Barrett both supported eliminated suspensions with pay for police officers. Why not the same treatment for MPS teachers?

The Narcissist-In-Chief’s Reading Material

Guess what Our Lord and Savior Barack Hussein Obama takes along for reading material? The latest GQ magazine with Himself on the cover.

As the JammieWearingFool says:

Nothing like stroking your ego on the way to the golf course. Guess reading about himself is more important than perusing the monstrous 2074-page healthcare bill from the Senate.

Most guys use Playboy or Penthouse, but a narcissist like Obama needs material on Himself to get off. Hopelly the pages won’t get stuck together.

Maybe they could just put a full-length mirror on every hole of the golf course for Him.

Suspensions For ‘Kick A Jew’ Day

Wonder what the punishment would have been if they had just simply said something critical of the Religion of Piece (of Arm, of Leg, of Torso).

A group of Florida middle school students were suspended for participating in Kick a Jew Day. Actually, a slap on the wrist. It was a one-day, in-school suspension.

This situation called for expulsion. It would have been had the target been Kick a [N-word] Day. Or a homosexual. Heck, even if the target had been illegal aliens. Clearly, Jews are no longer a politically correct victim group.

Needless to say, area Jewish groups are upset:

David Barkey, south area council for the Florida Anti-Definmation League, said the organization had been made aware of the incident.

“You are talking about an incident that has anti-Jewish bias if not anti-Semitism. You have Jewish students being singled out, harassed and assaulted,” he said. “If the allegations are true, it is possible these students violated Florida’s new anti-bullying law. And, if students were physically assaulted, it could rise to the level of criminal conduct.”

Rabbi James Perman, of Temple Shalom in North Naples, called the situation “alarming.”

“I can tell you this: I haven’t seen anything like it in my 17 years in Naples. No child deserves this kind of treatment,” he wrote in an e-mail Monday. “Their parents are understandably outraged. So far it seems that the school system has taken appropriate measures and we applaud their efforts. At this point, teaching sensitive awareness is more important than punishing anyone.”

Perman said how the situation is handled is of concern to those at the Temple because it involves children.

“Beyond that, there are critical issues for the entire Jewish community and beyond. … These are not new issues for us here in Naples,” he wrote. “These 10 kids did not invent anti-Semitism. They found a sympathetic response that was already there on some level.”

The tolerance for anti-Semitism in communities run by the Left, which includes gummint-run skoolz, has grown. Next to Christians, particularly Catholics and evangelicals, Jews have become a leading punching bag for the hatemongers of the Left once again.

Hitler would be so proud that his legacy is still alive on the American Left.

Under 30 Turning Against ObamaCare

Sure, when they learned that not only were they going to pay for it, they’d also be headed to five-year terms in federal prison for failing to participate.

From Dick Morris:

[W]e ran television advertisments and an Internet campaign aimed at young people focused in Arkansas, North Dakota and Maine. The results are incredible! Now under-30 voters are the strongest opponents of the plan. In the table below, we show you the vote on the Obama plan broken down by age. (We aggregated all three states so we would have enough interviews to make the age subsets statistically meaningful.)

Support/Oppose Obama plan, combined data for Arkansas, North Dakota and Maine

Age / Support & Oppose Obama Plan

Under 30 = 25 Support & 65 Oppose
30-49 = 28 Support & 60 Oppose
50-64 = 41 Support & 50 Oppose
Over 65 = 32 Support & 55 Oppose

The polling had predicted that the young would swing sharply and dramatically against the Obama program once they got the key information about it, but we are blown away by these results.

These data are from polls the League of American Voters commissioned John Zogby to conduct. Commenting on the results, John said, “These results among 18- to 29-year-olds are striking. It puts in jeopardy the whole theory of the new Democratic majority, because young people are essential to that base.”

How’s that hope and change workin’ out for ya?

Here’s the ad: