My Idea of a President

Like most people, I have a vision of acceptable Presidential behavior.

For starters, my President should display a minimum amount of “class.” He should make it clear he stands above the political norm. He would never openly employ cheap political tricks to make a point over the opposition. He would always remind us that he is acting in the best interests of the country, not his political party. In no case, would he ever, ever criticize the members of the opposition by name.

My President would display big servings of plain old “apple pie” Americanism. He would make it clear he believes our country is exceptional, and he will fight to defend all it stands for. My President would believe that we may have national misgivings, but they are far outweighed by our contributions to world society. Under my President’s leadership, the world would know they can rely on our moral compass in difficult situations.

While he goes about doing great things for the country, he would display a casual sense of humility. This is not about him. It is all about presiding over a great country as it fulfills its destiny. Our country is the exceptional entity, not him. He merely presides over it.

My President would not tell me every minute of every day how smart he is. If he were really smart, he would realize his job is not about “smarts.” Instead, My President would rely on character, courage, and a desire to continually project the strong moral foundation of America to the world.

My President would realize that this great country was built on creating an environment that allows anyone to succeed. Making citizens dependent on government handouts destroys that incentive and causes the national foundation to crumble. Punishing the successful is the flip side of that travesty. America is not Europe. Income redistribution is anathema to my President.

I only realize I have these Presidential expectations when they get violated. Sadly, Barack Obama fails every aspect of my Presidential test. Under this President, alarm bells have been ringing off the wall signaling levels of violation never reached before.

America Desperately Needs a Leader

The distinguishing feature of the American character is the willingness to face and overcome challenges no matter how severe. There were the harsh days of colonial Jamestown. With brilliant foresight our forefathers formed our country in separation from England. Previous generations of American pioneers overcame many challenges to develop the western part of the country. The country survived a disruptive Civil War. My own parents suffered mightily in the Great Depression, but survived with no government aid and with their beliefs and principles intact.

In World War II our country mobilized rapidly after a surprise attack. It is hard to find a person, male or female, who did not actively contribute to the response. Our troops fought gallantly and unselfishly on two fronts of the war. This effort cast aside any doubt that the spirit underlying the United Sates was unequaled among the roster of nations. All the surviving Americans knew silently, but for sure, they were part of something special.

In summary, America and Americans have shown time after time they will come together to overcome any threat to our country. Today, we face a new and different challenge that threatens the survival of our way of life.

First, we learned we have been living in an unrealistic bubble of prosperity. The bursting of that bubble led to depressed economic activity with high unemployment levels. Housing values plummeted and the American dream of home ownership was threatened. For the first time Americans fear the next generation will not be as prosperous as this one.

We are no longer the world’s acknowledged super power, a role we inherited for the past 40 or 50 years. As a nation we are living beyond our means. The economies of other countries, especially China, have established a degree of equality with ours.

The American people have signaled they wish to address these issues. The last election showed their disgust with the existing political response. For example, despite the obvious need to control spending, our leaders tell us we need to spend even more.

There is no doubt the American people are willing to do whatever it takes to move the country into the future on a strong footing.. They are not afraid of sacrifice. Our governing system is so politically driven that it is paralyzed and ineffective. What the country needs is a strong leader to bring about the needed changes. Unfortunately, Barack Obama has shown he is not that leader. He is the very symbol of actions based purely on political objectives.

In this great country, is there not some person who will provide the leadership we so desperately need as our country faces yet another critical moment in our history? If he will just step forward, climb on his white horse and yell “charge,” the American people will respond to the challenge. Remember, they always have.

Will liberal policies lead to California bankruptcy?

At first, I was dismayed at the outcome of the recent California election with a Democratic sweep of the major offices. On reflection I think that is a good thing. Faced with huge budget deficits and massive unemployment solutions must come from an all-Democrat ruling group.

The signs aren’t promising, however. Californians continue to slumber on and ignore the huge problem of a looming fiscal reality. For example, the Financial Times recently published this item:
“Across the country radical solutions have been shot down by powerful public sector unions. For example, a referendum in San Francisco that would have raised public sector employee contributions was defeated this month. By 2013 that city will be spending as much on pension contributions as its police and fire departments and main public hospital combined, and it has set aside no cash at all for retiree health care promises.”

In other words liberal San Franciscans refused to allow economic reality to interfere with their sense of limitless entitlements for all, especially public employee unions.

Meg Whitman charged that Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial campaign was bought and paid for by these very same unions. It will be interesting to see how the geriatric Moonbeam will face up to his union supporters on retirement issues. The retread governor has pledged no new taxes without voter approval. With the anti-tax sentiment so prevalent today that equates to balancing the budget by cutting spending. Whoops! That would defy the ultra liberal sentiment of entitlements, income redistribution, and chasing environmental fantasies without regard to cost.

Will the Democrats who control every segment of California government allow the pressure of the huge state deficit to trump their costly liberal priorities? It will be an interesting next few years in the already tarnished Golden State.

The San Francisco Chronicle

A ChronWatch reader recently asked why we no longer critique the Chronicle. Here’s the story.

ChronWatch was formed almost ten years ago to critique the S.F. Chronicle, hence the name of the website . At that time, readers did not expect the flagrant media bias that exists today. News content was assumed to be reported without bias with opinions restricted to the editorial pages. The Chronicle was among the first newspapers to ignore these traditional media rules as it adopted an unfailing and unapologetic liberal bias.

Naively, ChronWatch hoped its critiques would influence the Chronicle to adopt a more balanced political tone.

At the same time, the quality of the Chron offerings deteriorated markedly. Predictably, circulation dropped. That downward trend continues today with Chron circulation down over 11% in the past year.

Several years ago, ChronWatch finally realized it no longer made sense to continue to critique the Chron. The bias was still there, even more so. But, the newspaper’s quality and substance deteriorated so badly critique no longer seemed appropriate. In fact, the offerings were so poor that ChronWatch editors began to feel sorry for the Chron. Accordingly, we stopped our critique. With some remorse I canceled my Chron subscription after some thirty years of daily delivery to my home.

The S.F. Chronicle is a sad tale of institutional decline. The Chron was once a proud media establishment that now struggles in its pretense at relevance.

"Progressive" virus infects California

Californians elect a geriatric moonbeam, Jerry Brown, as their retread governor. Barbara Boxer is reelected despite a totally ineffective career. Even the over-board lib newspaper the SF Chronicle could not bring themselves to endorse her The flaky San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom is elected Lt. Governor. Remarkably, voters in the city of San Francisco cast ballots in favor of these candidates at the 80% level. The proposition to temporarily set aside the global warming initiatives was defeated. This, despite the fact these initiatives have negative economic consequences in a state with massive unemployment. The state faces huge deficits that will require herculean efforts to overcome, but social priorities continue to command politician’s attention.

How can you explain this totally irrational behavior of Californians?

ChronWatch believes there must be a serious virus infecting large numbers of the residents of the golden state of California. The virus is a peculiar strain of liberalism that causes citizens to react emotionally and illogically to issues of importance. Unlike most diseases, those with the virus become quite proud of their condition and justify it by proudly calling themselves “progressives.” The virus is concentrated in the San Francisco area, but has spread into other areas in the Bay Area as well.

Virus victims habitually elect as their leaders those who possess the most active form of the virus. Leaders in advanced stages of the disease include Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Pete Stark, George Miller, Lynn Woolsey, Gavin Newsom, and others. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors exhibits the most serious characteristics of the disease. Their deliberations are so far out they become comical. Mayor Newsom acts as their ringmaster as they gaily ban plastic shopping bags and McDonald’s Happy Meals, while supervising the citizenry on properly recycling their garbage and serving as their food police. In a bold display of “progressive” leadership Mayor Newsom rips out the grass in front of City Hall and plants a victory garden. How impressive! Meanwhile, large budget deficits get lip service.

The virus even strikes those of a different political persuasion causing them to react in the same manner as the “progressives.” For example, Republican Governor Schwarzenegger loudly supports the Al Gore global warming hype. The virus has obviously reached as far as Sacramento.

Fortunately, the people in the rest of the country seem to have built a strong resistance to the “progressive” virus, leaving Californians to suffer alone.

Barack and the media caused more damage than the oil spill

No one wants to admit it, but the BP oil spill was blown totally out of proportion by the Barack administration. The Obama clan furiously beat all the drums they could find in predicting the worst environmental disaster ever. Politically appropriate,it was caused by an evil Big Oil company. As usual, Barack put his mouth all over the oil spill. He, Ken Salazar, physics professor Chu, and Admiral Allen became totally delusional as the spill progressed.

The government group came to believe they were in charge of the spill control operation. In reality, none of them had the slightest experience in any operational endeavor. They collectively or individually had no clue of how to get the well under control. Obama deficiencies are popping up everywhere he turns. His inability to develop an awareness of reality is becoming more and more apparent.

The Obama administration set the stage for a media literally panting to ballyhoo the story into a non-stop dramatic portrayal of impending disaster. The picture of the oil spewing from the well occupied a space on our TV screens even though there was no newsworthy reason to do so. Gulf residents, fishermen, restaurant owners were all paraded before us nonstop with the same tale of woe. Their lives were wrecked and would never be the same. The media saw all this as paradise indeed.

As a result of all these shenanigans, BP became viewed as a community pinata by anyone even remotely connected to Gulf life. Barack and company made sure everyone knew the pinata was filled with endless dollars. Barack promised all who were remotely concerned they would get a chance to swing the stick at the piñata in the hope money would come tumbling their way. Barack even appointed a referee to see that on one missed their turn. BP would be forced to keep the pinata filled with dollars. The public would be encouraged to swing away until BP had no more money. No sentiment or sorrow would be expressed when the money ran out. It would be treated as good riddance of a greedy oil company.

Certainly, BP has to step up to the plate first in paying damages. However, the actual damages have so far been relatively light. The major damage was caused by the administration’s and the media’s continually hyping an impending disaster of epic proportions. If there were any justice, the majority of the monetary claims should be directed at Obama and the media for promoting an impending disaster that never occurred. Fat chance of that happening!

BP Oil Spill: Worst Environmental Disaster Ever?

For 100 days the media and the Obama administration shouted in their loudest voice, incessantly, all day, every day. The BP oil spill is the worst environmental disaster in world history. They painted a sweeping picture of oil spreading across all the gulf beaches. They warned that it may even sweep around to the Atlantic side of Florida. The Louisiana marshlands would be decimated with all the wildlife wiped out. The fishing industry was sure to be ruined for decades. The administration and the media joined forces to portray a total regional disaster that would last for decades. BP was threatened and trashed by all sectors of the Obama administration as the unfeeling greedy purveyors of this tragedy.

Naturally, people listened. They stayed away from this area destined to soon be totally destroyed. After all, who would want to look like the oil drenched pelican so repeatedly photographed? No one went to the beach resorts. Restaurant goers across the country did not order Gulf sea food. A drilling moratorium was issued by Barack’s fear mongers to the detriment of the thousands dependent on jobs in the industry. Gulf real estate prices dropped.

Now, switch to the present. On this past Saturday we have Mike Tobin of Fox News giving an up to the minute report from Grand Isle, Louisiana. Mike calmly states there was no oil on the beaches nor was any oil visible in the Gulf waters. This segment was followed by President Obama vacationing in Pensacola Beach, Florida stating that the Florida beaches are clean. He and Sasha are pictured paddling around in the Gulf waters. Most of the Gulf areas have been reopened to fishing and the seafood has been found free from contamination from oil. The marshes are already showing new growth. Only three mammals were found coated in oil. Fewer birds were killed as a result of the oil spill than in California’s Altamont Pass by the ultra-green wind turbines every six months on a year-in, year-out basis.

Now, it is infinitely safe to say that the disastrous predictions of the BP oil spill were nothing more than a combined media and political overreaction. In retrospect, there was no need for Barack and company to issue the dire panic notices, or for the media to parrot them ad nauseam. The region suffered unnecessary economic harm. BP deserved to be blamed, but not to be so mercilessly assaulted, both verbally and financially.
So, Barack and Sasha vacation in Florida putting out the message that things are back to normal. The real message should be they never were anywhere near the level of panic the administration projected. Does Barack offer any admission of that? Of course not. Is there an apology to BP for the administration’s misreading of the potential impact and the resulting over reaction? Are you kidding?
As for Fox News, you could sense their disappointment that this big, big 100 day story had disappeared as fast as it came up. Things are back to normal. The very next day, Fox’s Breaking News segment featured the story of a grizzly bear killing a camper in Yellowstone Park. At least that was better than the oft used car chase scene from Houston or L.A.

This is a sad story in misdirected public attention that caused great economic harm. The administration should be ashamed for jumping in with both political feet emphasized by Obama’s ever-present mouth. The media simply added another sad chapter in the “Journalisms Is Dead” book.

All along the story should have focused on the 11 men who died in the fire and explosion. At least that was the real long lasting and sad consequence of this disaster.