BloggeRhythms

There’s all kinds of talk about the fix the incumbent put himself in by tacitly promoting illegal immigration. That has now led to endless streams of aliens, many of them children, searching for assistance and support, costing U.S. taxpayers additional billions.

Coincidently, it turns out the incumbent himself visits Texas today, to attend multi-million dollar fundraising events in Dallas and Austin, but has absolutely refused Governor Rick Perry's pleas to fly further south and see the border himself.

The reason most pundits attribute to the incumbent’s invitation turndowns stem from his desire to stay away from the horrendous problem he’s caused by refusing to stop the tide of illegals presently flooding border states. However, an article today by Christian Toto of Breitbart discloses an incredible display of arrogance compounding the issue to an even greater extent.  

Mr. Toto writes that: “Obama will visit the home of Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez this week as part of a trio of Texas fundraisers. The Austin visit features tickets ranging in price from $5,000 to $32,400. The July 9 fundraiser also will feature actors Rosario Dawson, Danny Trejo and Jessica Alba.

Both Trejo and Alba star in Rodriguez's ultra-violent Machete franchise. The first film in the series demonized a politician (Robert De Niro) who sought tight border control as well as a Minuteman-style American who delighted in shooting a pregnant Mexican woman. Alba's character, a champion for immigrants' rights, utters the following line in the first Machete feature: “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.”

Consequently, there can be little doubt as to where the incumbent’s allegiances lie, regardless of any contrary statements he chooses to utter.  

However, borders here at home aren’t the only one’s the incumbent’s abandoned.

 

Yahoo News via Drudge states that: “Little noticed among the disturbing tableau of images coming out of Iraq in recent weeks is a changing of the guard evident at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). As the crisis has deepened, U.S. contractors, U.S. Embassy personnel and most of the U.S. service members from the embassy’s Office of Security Cooperation have abandoned the threatened capital. The exodus has coincided with Russian contractors and support personnel pouring into BIAP to help launch the 25 Russian SU-25 warplanes that Moscow is rushing to Iraq in its hour of need.”

 

But Russia isn’t the only nation filling the vacuum that the U.S. departure created, as pointed out by Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt in the New York Times, who write that: “Deepening its involvement in the crisis in Iraq, Iran has sent three Russian-made attack planes to the Maliki government that could be deployed against the Sunni militants.

 

So, after all the years of our involvement and treasure spent, these two nations are now taking unfettered advantage of the opportunities we created in Iraq and have now abandoned to them.  

 

As far as the home front goes, acquiescence to overblown, or totally non-existent, environmental threats have caused another financial burden for citizens for purely political reasons.

Grant Smith of Bloomberg notes that according to Francisco Blanch, head of commodities research at Bank America Corp.: “U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter. The country became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2010. The International Energy Agency said in June that the U.S. was the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids. 

 

The U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer, still imported an average of 7.5 million barrels a day of crude in April, according to the Department of Energy’s statistical arm. 

 

The shale production story is bigger than Iraqi production, but it hasn’t made the impact on prices you would expect,” said Blanch. “Typically such a large energy supply growth should bring prices lower, but in fact we’re not seeing that because the whole geopolitical situation outside the U.S. is dreadful.”

So, here we have another ramification of extremely poor judgment in foreign policy, compounded by inhibiting domestic decision making,  once again harming American citizens economically while jeopardizing the nation’s physical safety as well.    

Which brings us to another case which goes far deeper than what’s seen on the surface.

 

USA Today’s Nina Mandell writes that, “Self-serve beer machines have arrived in Major League Baseball.”

 

She goes on, “Target Field is giving baseball fans total control over their own beers with a new self-serve beer machine." Customers buy a card from a concession worker (who checks ID) and then can be used at the vending machine to tap 48 ounces every 15 minutes.”

 

In this case, while the introduction of self-service refreshment vending reflects significant technological advances, it’s also precursor to an expected wave of change predicted here often in the past. Because, it’s not only a new way to sell beer that’s demonstrated here, but a major step toward replacing workers with machinery whereas businesses are facing minimum wage increases spurred by the current administration.

 

So, once again we see short-sighted, wrongheaded politicians seeking headlines while severely damaging, or perhaps even eliminating, a whole sector of American workers.

 

Which brings us, once again, to Bill Clinton’s wife’s latest headache.

 

According to Emily Smith and Ian Mohr in Page Six of the New York Post”: “The former secretary of state’s tome sold 161,000 copies in its first three weeks, according to Nielsen BookScan — but 85,000 of those were sold in the first week. That number has dropped sharply to 48,000 and 28,000 in subsequent weeks, with the most recent numbers due out Wednesday

 

Reports have said the early numbers for “Hard Choices” reflect that it will not sell enough to cover Clinton’s advance, or to sell the million copies shipped, which are sent on consignment, with unsold copies ultimately going back to the publisher.”

 

Now, since there now seems to be a chance that, depending on how her contract's written, perhaps she might have to refund some of the advance she was given, one has to wonder how those dollars would be repaid. Because, where would someone like Mrs. Clinton who had such a hard time financially, and even today whines about her lack of money, ever get the funds to pay back the shortfall?

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios