The Past Week: January 25-31, 2009 (Two Ex-Presidents Acting Like Misogynistic Jerks; Coins; Grammy Awards Sound Truck Stops by for a Visit [Pics!])

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

By far the most aggravating part of this week involved the disrespect shown by the Bush I-Clinton banter from the past Monday.  The video is self-explanatory and is a disgrace.  Our “leaders”…and now Obama playing around with women as a bargaining chip (failed) with the Republicans. Birth control BEFORE pregnancy for Medicaid recipients…it could have been a real WINNING issue if Rahm Emanuel and Chicken Obama hadn’t set it up as a “negative.”  I guess all those “pastors” filing in to discuss all the taxpayers’ money that they’ll be getting as Obama continues Bush’s “faith-base” crap must be feeling mighty fine.

I’ve been looking up information on some old coins we have had for years. The one I like the best looks like an old silver dollar, but it’s 5 French francs with King Louis Phillipe pictured as Caesar which dates from 1847.  I haven’t looked into this coin but I’m figuring it might be worth something.

Along the way I’ve picked up a couple of useful sites to share…

The first one is a guide to the grading of coins from the U.S. Mint; the second is a guide to coin value trends. It’s really fascinating to look at!   And there’s some basic information about buying gold and silver at the site of the American Numismatic Association and some really interesting articles on subjects like the value of the Kennedy half dollar.

In another exhausting week, the one bright spot was the quick, overnight visit of one of my nephews, whom I haven’t seen in 5 years. He’s on his way to California from the East Coast in one of the XM sound trucks that will be used during the Grammy Awards. He’s driving the smaller of the two mobile studios that are being ferried to Los Angeles  from New Jersey. He’s spending the next week getting the sound right during rehearsals, then will be working with about 5 or 6 computer screens in the main truck, keeping things on track during the actual live broadcast February 8.

Here are a couple of pics showing the “Truck behind the Stars” parked outside my house!

Grammy Sound Truck 1

Grammy Sound Truck 2

Grammy Sound Truck 3

Grammy Sound Truck 4

Grammy Sound Truck 5

I have to say that it was sort of nice seeing Jersey license plates again!

I’ll be taking a few days off to re-group.  Lots to catch up with and a few things I’m working on need some more research. So, unless I just can’t tear myself away, we’ll be quiet here for a few days this week…Besides, Groundhogs Day (Prairie Dog Day in these parts) is on Monday and that’s a big day for me…another birthday that I’d like to forget!

THE PAST WEEK

Molly Ivins: 2 Years After Her Death, People Who Knew Her Are Putting Words into Her Mouth (Are They Holding Seances?)

The Bush I-Clinton Roadshow Takes the Low Road in New Orleans at Guess Who’s Expense? (Hint: Women, of Course)(UPDATE 1X–FULL VIDEO)

PALIN LAUNCHES “SarahPAC”!! (Updated 1X–It’s Not Just the Alfalfa Club for Palin This Weekend)

Take Action: Call Your Representative about the House Vote on the “Stimulus Package” Today! (Info on the Bill, Including ACORN, too) (Update 1: Birth Control OUT OF BILL!)

Drip-Drip-Drip: Obama Top Aides, Associates Named in U.S. Attorney’s Subpoena (Last Friday’s News Dump)

Environmental Three-Card Monte? Obama *May* Grant Emissions Waivers to States Today? (”Immediately Work on It” vs. “Reconsider”) (But Other Policies Already Having a Negative Effect on Bears–Warning, Pic!) (Updated 1X) (Update 2X–After Announcements, NY Times Still Pushing Obama Kool-Aid) (Update 3X–Gore Surfaces)

The Past Week: January 18-24, 2009 (Condi Rice Getting Booked; Pat Paulsen, We Need You!; VOA and wwiTV.com; Questions)

The Bush I-Clinton Roadshow Takes the Low Road in New Orleans at Guess Who’s Expense? (Hint: Women, of Course)(UPDATE 1X–FULL VIDEO)

On Tuesday night (January 27)  as I passed by the TV, I saw Greta Van Susteren introducing a segment near the end of the show  called ” The Best of the Rest.”

There they were, former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton laughing it up on Monday in New Orleans at the National Association of Auto Dealers conference.  Greta has spent quite a lot of time featuring this duo; you can check out several videos at the “On the Record” site. However, the video I saw has not shown up on the site…buried, I guess.

First, here’s the only report that I can find on the event:

Bush, Clinton offer morale boost for auto dealers at New Orleans conference

by Jen DeGregorio, The Times-Picayune

Tuesday January 27, 2009, 7:18 AM

Eliot Kamenitz / The Times-PicayuneFormer Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton embrace during their address at the National Association of Auto Dealers conference in New Orleans on Monday.

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, who were in New Orleans on Monday to speak to members of the National Automobile Dealers Association, tried to assure one of the nation’s most troubled industries that it would survive an economic maelstrom that has swallowed more than 2.5 million jobs in the past year.

But survival will not come without sacrifice, they said. Clinton and Bush evoked the image of Hurricane Katrina to describe the level of perseverance they said will be needed to carry the nation through a recession that has been widely compared with the Great Depression. Citizens must pitch in to help one another as they did after Katrina, when countless volunteers descended upon New Orleans to help rebuild and donated millions of dollars to a relief fund headed by Clinton and Bush, the former presidents said.

SNIP

While Bush and Clinton focused on the economy, they also made time for some banter and shared personal anecdotes about their time in the Oval Office.

Clinton and Bush sat down for a casual chat with outgoing association Chairwoman Annette Sykora, who quizzed them about their victories and regrets in office.

SNIP

Both men sang the praises of President Barack Obama, saying his administration already has set the right tone to weather the economic crisis by encouraging an era of responsibility.

“We are bound together, and divorce is not an option, ” Clinton said.

There’s something missing in this report…the bit that Greta showed.

Greta prefaced the video with a big grin and much enjoyment over what Bush said and added that Clinton had a great quip after that.

I didn’t even hear the Clinton quip because I as so ticked off at what George H. W. Bush decided to deliver to the audience.  I was fuming from Bush’s rendition of how he was confronted by women protesters over reproductive issues.

According to Bush, he was irritated when he was in his limo and some women got right up to it waving a sign saying “Stay Out of Our Wombs.”  He mused about he couldn’t understand how they even got that close…then wisecracked (sic) “Believe me, that’s one place I wouldn’t want to go”…

Well, the audience ERUPTED in UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER from the audience!  I’m assuming the majority of  the audience was men.  Clinton was laughing, too, and delivered his line. The camera didn’t catch the reaction of Chairwoman Sykora, who was off camera in the video.

As I mentioned, I have no idea what Clinton said, but Greta thought it was very funny and, in fact, thought the whole segment was a laugh riot. Which makes me wonder about Greta.  We’ve got a former President mocking women about their intense feelings about controlling their own bodies and she thinks that’s funny?

I guess I should be grateful that she showed it since the newspaper report from The Times-Picayune chose not to report on it. WHY didn’t they?

As for Clinton…I wish I knew what he said.  Then again, maybe I don’t want to go there…

Frankly, writing this at the end of a day when I learned that Barack Obama dumped money for birth control from his bilious “stimulus package” to please Republicans, that video makes me even angrier than when I saw the clip on Tuesday night.  It seems like a gratuitous slap in the face considering that the bill was going to pass anyway.

But “3-Card Monte” Obama seems set into his groove.  One minute he gives the OK for family planning groups working overseas to talk to women about abortion, the next he’s robbing access to low-cost birth control to women in need here in the U.S.   What does he really think of his own wife and daughters?  Apparently he’s willing to sell women cheap when it comes to “bringing us together.”

This guy seems to like playing with women, keeping them on a string, giving them a little bit, then taking it away. He’s shuffling around issues as we expected because he has no consistent core values.  Keeping an eye on all his moves will be difficult.  All I’m sure of  is that women will ultimately lose the game with this guy. The misogyny exhibited in the campaign in the form of demeaning gestures, the behavior of Jon Favreau with a cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton, and the apparent comfort with the likes of Ludacris’ video support is now in firmly in place at the top of our government.

What a inspirational role model for all of us…NOT!

By the way, apparently Medicare drug plans stopped covering  “sexual performance” drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra back in 2007 except for treating certain medical conditions like pulmonary hypertension (saving a CBO projected $2 billion between 2006 and 2015) . Let’s see if the Obama crowd reinstates coverage and gives women ANOTHER insulting slap. Nothing would surprise me at this point…

UPDATE 1

Many thanks to Harold who found a video of the exchange…from his comments!!  I will try to embed the video when I get back later…

Clinton laughed and said something along the lines of “I cannot afford to make a joke like that. You know what people would say if *I* made a joke like that” and he continued a while like that, then made a pretty stupid joke himself which I forgot.

Harold, on January 29th, 2009 at 9:02 AM Said: Edit Comment

I found the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXuRlcUjoAE

Here is the video from the link provided above…but it’s from CNN, not Greta’s show.

So, the woman was “the ugliest” woman Bush I had ever seen… what a PIG he is…and Clinton just goes along for the ride.

PALIN LAUNCHES “SarahPAC”!! (Updated 1X–It’s Not Just the Alfalfa Club for Palin This Weekend)

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-UNQUALIFIED) has launched a political action committee…dubbed SarahPAC!

Here’s the link:  http://www.sarahpac.com/

From the site:

Sarah Palin’s Official PAC

Dedicated to building America’s future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.

SarahPAC believes America’s best days are ahead. Our country, founded on conservative principles and the fight for freedom, must confront the challenges of the 21st century with integrity, innovation, and determination.

SarahPAC believes energy independence is a cornerstone of the economic security and progress that every American family wants and deserves.

SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all. Health care, education, and reform of government are among our key goals. Join us today!

YOU GO, GIRL!!!  It will be interesting to see who receives help from SarahPAC in the future…

I don’t agree with everything in her political viewpoint…BUT, I give her high marks for GUTS in standing up to the shitty media, shitty Democrats, and shitty Republicans, not to mention shitty so-called “feminists” who have worked to demean her accomplishments as a sitting governor who has worked her way up the ladder.

Could she represent a better wing of the Republican Party?  Anybody is better than the slugs in D.C. right now…Republican AND Democrat!!

P.S.–Memo to Hillary Clinton: When you echo words like “clenched fist” exactly as Obama says them, you are disappointing.  You apparently very willingly got kicked upstairs as other people make big announcements about upcoming Obama foreign policy “events.”

Damned shame. Oh, and remember “always fighting for us?”  ……Not so much…

***

Repeating from prior post on the stimulus package vote:

Hat tip to Tennessee Guerilla Women….Obama Axes Birth Contol Funds to Please Republicans

So the F*cking SOB has begun demonstating his love and respect for women by trading our birth control for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. And won’t it especially hurt POOR women??   And when do we stop paying for VIAGRA????

If I hear one complaint against upfront Sarah Palin, who has NEVER overturned a law that secures the rights of women and gays, I will put another HEX on NARAL, NOW, Ms. Magazine, and Planned Parenthood.

UPDATE 1   6:30 PM MT, January 29, 2009

Looks like Palin will be real busy in D.C. and it won’t be just the Alfalfa Club dinner this weekend…From CNN:

Palin is slated to attend a dinner Friday night at the residence of Fred and Marlene Malek. Fred Malek is a businessman who served Republican presidents Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush. High-profile guests from both political parties are expected to attend the function.

The governor’s office also says Palin will attend a luncheon at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Saturday before heading over the to Alfafa Dinner.

There will be other “non-partisan” events as well.  The visit to the Center for Strategic and International Studies is VERY interesting, isn’t it?

Gossip columnist Cindy Adams over at the New York Post opines:

ASK not what Sarah Palin can do for your country, ask only what you can do for Sarah Palin. And the answer is, pay attention. Trust me, Alaska’s governor is moving faster than those glaciers.

Adams goes on to say that it’s really significant that Palin is attending since she  “may only leave the frozen tundra  two days a month.”

She adds:

Next month she addresses a Washington gathering of prominent conservatives. She’s going ahead with a book. Her Facebook page has 410,000 friends. She wants to influence policy knowing the nation must turn to Alaska as its energy resource. She’s planning to be president.

Well, I’d say this is “developing”….