Will Obama Repeat the Mistakes of Bush and FDR?

Amity Shlaes, author of an excellent economic history of the New Deal (The Forgotten Man), explains how President Roosevelt made the economy worse – somewhat akin to the erratic policy of the Bush Administration. The key question now is whether President-Elect Obama makes the same mistakes:

The United States has entered the era of the experiment. President-elect Barack Obama is putting forward an infrastructure program whose plans and price tag are unclear. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson whipped up the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy up bad mortgage instruments, and, expanding on that experiment, President Bush wants to try extending TARP to autoworkers. The idea that experiments are warranted in current circumstances comes from the New Deal. …there is significant evidence that the very arbitrariness of the New Deal made the Depression worse. In 1932, stunned market players and citizens wanted to know what the new rules were. They voted for a party with a platform so moderate it could have been written by today’s Concord Coalition: stability, sound money, balanced budgets. That was the Democratic Party, led by Roosevelt. …Using emergency powers, FDR yanked the country off the gold standard. …Some of the worst destruction came with FDR’s gold experiment. …Roosevelt was right to want to introduce more money into the economy (the United States was deflating). But his method was like trying to raise an ocean level by adding water by the thimbleful. What horrified markets even more was that FDR managed the operation personally, day by day, over a breakfast tray. No one ever knew what the increase would be. One Friday in November 1933, for example, Roosevelt told Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau that he thought the gold price ought to be raised 21 cents. Why that amount, Morgenthau asked. “Because it’s three times seven,” FDR replied. ….The arbitrary quality of other initiatives reinforced concerns. The New Deal centerpiece, the National Recovery Administration, helped some businesses compete and criminalized others for the same behavior. Sometimes Roosevelt goaded federal prosecutors into harassing corporate executives. Other times, he schmoozed the same execs at the White House. …Uncertain, markets froze. Businesses refused to hire or invest in equipment. Unemployment stayed stuck in the teens. The ‘deal’ part of the New Deal phrase was problematic; businesses didn’t want individual favors, they wanted clear laws for all. ….Today, uncertainty also chills. Questions abound over the future regulation of stocks and derivatives, over tax policy, over bailouts. All this makes it hard for the market to settle on equity or home prices.

Read the whole thing.

Just a crappy way to end the year

A man covered in his own feces attacked a flight attendant on a trip to Omaha last Friday.  While we understand his desire to not go to Nebraska, there has to be a better way to get out of it.

He’s facing serious charges, which is just a crappy way to end the year.

Gov. Blago attempts to appoint an Obama successor, Democrats say no, race card immediately flies.

Blago and Obama: They hardly know each other...Just a guy from the neighborhood.

Forget daytime soap operas, the happenings in Illinois are much more entertaining.  Today Governor Blagojavich, under pressure to resign of be impeached from everyone on the planet with any sense of common sense, decided to defy the State Senate and appoint a successor to Barack Obama anyway.  His choice is Roland Burris.  How or why Burris is, as yet, unknown, except that there is little doubt Burris or his people were not caught on tape offering the governor anything (maybe they had the good sense to handle their dealings in person?).

But Senate Democrats, wanting not to be tainted by any more scandal than they already are, have said “thank you, no” to Blago’s pick, stating publicly they will not seat Burris in the Senate.

Immediately the race card was played by Congressman Bobby Rush, well known race-baiter.  Congressman Rush said,

“This is a matter of national importance. There are no African Americans in the Senate, and I don’t think that anyone, any U.S. senator who’s sitting in the Senate right now, wanna go on record to DENY one African American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don’t think they want to go on record doing that”…

So again we have a liberal saying that only blacks can represent blacks, thereby only whites can represent whites.  But what do you really expect from the party of tolerance?  Tolerance or something?

Fred Thompson on the economy – some brilliant satire.

This gets off to a slow start but once it gets going it is brilliant.  Fred Thompson’s satire on the economy has the perfect tone and content.  If you watch this and still don’t understand why bailouts are a bad idea, well, there’s really no hope for you.

Dave Barry’s “Year in Review ‘08″

If you have some time check out Dave Barry’s look back at the year that was.  Very amusing.  Here are some highlights.

On the Iowa Caucuses

* On the Republican side, the winner is Mike Huckabee, folksy former governor of Arkansas or possibly Oklahoma, who vows to remain in the race until he gets a commentator gig with Fox. His win deals a severe blow to Mitt Romney and his bid to become the first president of the android persuasion. Not competing in Iowa are Rudy Giuliani, whose strategy is to stay out of the race until he is mathematically eliminated, and John McCain, who entered the caucus date incorrectly into his 1996 Palm Pilot.

* On the Democratic side, the surprise winner is Barack Obama, who is running for president on a long and impressive record of running for president. A mesmerizing speaker, Obama electrifies voters with his exciting new ideas for change, although people have trouble remembering exactly what these ideas were because they were so darned mesmerized. Some people become so excited that they actually pass out. These are members of the press corps.

Caroline Kennedy – The more “you know”

Speaks for itself.

Caroline Kennedy – Clueless (which may help her fit in in the Senate)

Caroline Kennedy - "lucky sperm," dim bulb.

Caroline Kennedy, the last remaining blood member of the “Camelot” most people think was some sort of mythical moment in US history, is on a quest of her own – to be appointed US Senator from New York.  Unfortunately for her, she comes across like a valley girl in this interview with the New York Daily News.   Quoted saying “you know” 11 times in the interview (God knows how many times she said it when they didn’t quote her), it is pointed out that she has never voted for a Republican.

Despite her closeness with the mayor, Kennedy said she has never voted for him, or any Republican for that matter, and insisted she will support the Democratic candidate for mayor next year.

While that would make her a mind-numbed moron who simply follows the party she was born into without looking at the issues under normal circumstances, she’s really not.  She hasn’t voted often enough for that to be the case, which comes as a surprise to her, too.  When this was pointed out to her she told the Associated Press:

“I was really surprised and dismayed by my voting record.  I’m glad it’s been brought to my attention.”

What do they teach people at Harvard?  That you can simply register to vote, vote once, and that covers you for the rest of your life?  It’s pretty clear that the Harvard faculty would prefer if elections didn’t happen regularly, as long as the “right” people were in power, but you’d think the professors would let it slip that they occur more than once in a lifetime.

Is this really the best the Democrats in New York can offer up?

Merry Christmas and all that…

Obviously there are other things happening the rest of the week and we probably won’t be blogging much, if any. There also won’t be a Douchebag of the Week this week, not that there aren’t many candidates, just a lack of time. But don’t forget to vote for Douchebag of the Year and to check out the Year in Review Podcast.

Thanks for reading and listening. Here’s a couple of Christmas favorites of ours to help get you in the spirit, or whatever. Sadly there is no actual video for the Tom Petty song. See you next week.

Make Caroline Kennedy a Senator, then she will tell you if she will tell you if she’s qualified to be one.

Caroline Kennedy demonstrates the fact that she's got the political thumb point thing down, so she'll at least bring that to the job.

A funny thing happened on the way to coronation for Caroline Kennedy…People didn’t bow down and kiss her feet because she was the lucky sperm that ended up with the right last name.

There was a time when simply having the Kennedy name was enough to get Democrats to  bend to your every whim, a Kennedy could drive drunk and crash their car or kill a woman and their percentage of the vote wouldn’t suffer at all.  But that day is done, thankfully.

Now when a Kennedy wants something handed to them they are asked simple questions, questions like “Why?” and “What makes you qualified?”  Questions that make the entitled class very uncomfortable.

Now comes word that Caroline is refusing to make simple disclosures to show she wouldn’t have conflicts of interest as a Senator and where her money comes from.  Basic information any candidate would make.  Well, any candidate who didn’t feel like they deserved the seat.  You know, someone who was trying to earn something.  But when the concept of earn is foreign to someone…

Guilty verdict in the Fort Dix six terror case, Keith Olbermann must be crying.

It was just last year that Keith Uberdouche, er, Keith Olbermann discounted the plot to attack our soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey (see the video below of Glenn Beck ripping KO a new one with his own words), but today those “six morons” were convicted of plotting to kill those soldiers in that case.

There is no truth to the rumor that Olbermann’s audience shrunk today by five people (one already pled guilty)…only because that would imply he gets more than five viewers.

Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to do for the country what he’s done for California – destroy it.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t mind being President of the United States.  Scary thought.

That means the squish would like to do for the country what he’s done for California.  No thank.

We don’t need any more big spenders who slap phony economy-killing environmental regulations in a recession, making the problem worse.  California is expect to be broke by February, for crying out loud.  While we like the fact that he’s shutting down the government occasionally to save money, you can’t tell us there isn’t massive waste in the state budget. 

The fact that his instincts are to raise taxes and seek federal cash to cover his ass makes us very thankful that he can’t Constitutionally be elected President.  Though if there were a few more liberals appointed to the Supreme Court, who knows how they would “interpret” that clearly written section of our founding document.  They’ve never let the plain meaning of the words stand in their way before.

Joe Biden needs to find some new friends.

Vice-President elect Joe Biden is known for stepping in it, and by it we mean shit.  Just Google “Biden gaffes” and be prepared to spend the better part of the week catching up on some of the dumbest political arrogance of the last 30 years.

Never on to rest on his laurels, Biden is at it again.

When talking to George “Snuffleupagus” Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Biden stepped in it again.  When talking about the economy and how to “fix” it, Biden said:

“Every single person I’ve spoken to agrees with every major economist. There is going to be real significant investment, whether it’s $600 billion or more, or $700 billion, the clear notion is, it’s a number no one thought about a year ago.”

REALLY?  No one?  Who is he talking to?

So the Obama/Biden Administration is married to the idea of pissing away at least $600 billion more dollars in ways that haven’t worked with a trillion.  Hold on to your wallets.

Only problem with the plan is it won’t work.  Why?  Check out the video below about Keynesian Economics and why it doesn’t, and can’t, work.

Russia rewrites the history of Stalin, how long till they relive it?

Josef Stalin was responsible for more than 50 million deaths, but there was a good reason for his madness, if new government approved history books in Russia are to be believed.

Of his actions, the new official line is that there were “rational reasons behind the use of violence in order to ensure maximum efficiency.”

Yeah, like they may have had original thoughts and not agreed with the communists.  How long till text books here adopt this line?

Submit Your Question for the RNC Chair Debate.

On January 5th at 1:00 there will be a debate between all the candidates for Chairman of the RNC at the Nation Press Club.  If you’re in DC and can make it, you should.  If you’re not in DC, you can watch it online and submit your questions by going here.

Don’t miss out on this chance to have some input.

Music and Topics from the “Year in Review” Podcast.

You can hear the show on our homepage, http://www.itsfirstfriday.com/ (New shows every Tuesday, unless Monday is a holiday, then the new show is posted on Wednesdays.) You can download and play all our shows on your iPod or media player and have the ability to fast forward and rewind by going to the archives here. Or you can just cursor over here and press play on the window that pops up and be able to fast forward and rewind here. Or just click on it and it should open in a new window and play.

IF YOU LISTEN IN THE ARCHIVES YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FAST FORWARD AND REWIND ALL YOU WANT WITHOUT HAVING TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW. JUST MOVE YOUR CURSOR OVER THE LINK FOR THE SHOW YOU WANT TO HEAR AND CLICK PLAY IN THE WINDOW THAT POPS UP.

Podcast theme
Fearless – The Bravery

Welcome and intros.  Governor Blagojavich trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat, general Chicago corruption and how this could be shocking to anyone.  The incest that is Chicago Politics.  Will Blago turn on anyone?  Could this be the end of the Chicago Machine?  Rahm Emanuel’s “colorful” language and the tapes. What will happen?  The year in elections, Al Franken’s douchebagery, Ted Stevens loses, as does William Jefferson.  Bad year to be a corrupt politico. 

Bumper music
Do They Know its Christmas – Band Aid

Best of Ads
Edwards Poverty Tour
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – Mozart

The Adventures of Superdelegate
1950s Superman TV Show Theme

Bumper Music
Christmas in Hollis – Run DMC

The year of the bailout, how much of our money can government piss away?  The banks, the auto companies, what’s next?  Paulson’s worthlessness.  The Car Czar with a “secret plan” and $14 billion is a bridge too far, but $700 billion is cool?  Gas prices all over the place and Obama not having a problem with $4 a gallon gas, just not that fast.  The politics of gas taxes.  The stupidity of “green” and wasting our money on failed technology. Ethanol, solar panels and windmills.  A defense of the Obama plan to “stimulate” the economy and an attack on it.  The highway system and Heath the Squish. 

Bumper Music
Holy, Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives

Best of Ads
I Can’t Believe it’s not Socialism ad
Cocaine Socialism – Pulp

Shame on You by Barack Obama
1812 Overture – Tchaikovsky

Bumper Music
It’s Christmas All Over – Tom Petty and Heartbreakers

Douchebag of the Year Nominees, Heath and Brian are blocked from nominating each other.  A discussion of the people you can find listed in the post below, personal attacks and jokes at each other’s expense.  Good times, good times.

Thanks to everyone for their support, listening and coming out the happy hours.  No First Friday Happy Hour in January but we’ll be back with a vengeance in February and the Podcast will return the first full week in January with the “winner” of Douchebag of the Year.  Don’t forget to vote!

Taxpayer money for movie makers in Texas.

Short and typical – government money for liberals.

New York seeks to tax existence.

A desire to piss away more tax dollars rather than reign in spending (crazy talk), New York Governor David Paterson wants to tax everything, or damn near.

The governor is proposing creating taxes on the following: audio/video/photo downloads, taxi/limo/bus rides, entertainment of damn near any sort, beer (an outrage!), clothes and shoes, cable and satellite (as if that stuff doesn’t cost enough already), non-diet sodas (behavior enhancement) and much, much more.

Remember this famous quote from President Reagan?

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Paterson seems to have only learned the sentiment mocked in the quote and not the meaning behind it.

Iran pissed off at a movie (again) – *YAWN*

It wouldn’t be a year if the Iranian government didn’t get pissed off at some random thing that makes no difference in the world.  Well, it’s a year now.  Seems they’re pissed about the new Mickey Rourke movie because he’s mean to an Iranian flag.

You really can’t expect Americans to care when we have a right to burn ours.  If we are free to do that to ours what makes anyone think we’d give a damn about theirs?  And we seem to recall some footage of Iranians burning our flag, too.  Oh, and the storming of our embassy, which is actually our country, a few years ago.  So Iran can go stuff it! 

This is flag burning we can support!

By the way, what the hell are Iranians doing watching a Mickey Rourke movie?  No one watches Mickey Rourke movies outside of 9 1/2 Weeks on DVD.  We didn’t even know he was still alive.  But now that we know his work pisses off the Iranian government…

The AP and Global Warming – They haven’t just jumped the shark, they had sex with it.

Bow before Pope Goreus the IV (and don't forget to buy his Carbon Credits!)

The once-credible Associated Press has officially jumped the shark. While in recent years they have exposed their lack of journalistic integrity (a phrase fast becoming an oxymoron), they have gone even further. Not content to simply slant towards liberal candidates and politicians, they are have now become a full-service left-wing site that advocates for liberal causes as well.

This articleabout how Barack Obama has to move quickly on the issue of global warming because, and you’re going to love this, the cooling that the Earth is going through “actually illustrates how fast the world is warming.”

Drink that in for a second.  Read the article for yourself to see the fact that that quote is not taken out of context.

The article starts out with the objective paragraph:

When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can’t avoid.

Can you hear it?  Tick, tick, tick, boom! 

Only there’s no boom.  Not even a fizzle. 

The AP writer Seth Borenstein (we dare not call him a reporter, it has a definition that doesn’t apply to what he does) could have, with a simple Google search, found countless facts and figures about how his dire statements are, just like the religion of global warming, not based in fact.

Take this onefrom Jennifer Marohasy, Australian scientist:

…there has been cooling, if you take 1998 as your point of reference. If you take 2002 as your point of reference, then temperatures have plateaued. This is certainly not what you’d expect if carbon dioxide is driving temperature because carbon dioxide levels have been increasing but temperatures have actually been coming down over the last 10 years.

Or, this douchebag could have simply read this story, ignored by most of the media because it doesn’t fit with their dogma, that shows the oceans have been cooling.  Hard to imagine how a planet warming could have 2/3rds of it cooling at the same time.  (By the way, for you true believers, there is nothing that cools the ocean, the whole ocean, naturally.)

The fact that the Earth has been cooling since 1998 is roundly ignored, even though it was announced by NASA, where all the true believers get their data.  The year 1998 was NOT the warmest on record, it was 1934.  You remember 1934, right?  The year the Hummer came out and people were awash in cash to buy them and drive for fun?  Oh wait, that was the Great Depression.  Seems odd the planet could have been warming then, doesn’t it?

These religious zealots want control, period.  Control over you, your life and, most importantly, your money.  And they will try to scare the hell out of you and lie to you to get it.  And now they have a President who wants the same thing.

We swear to Earth.

Douchebag of the Week – Colin Powell

Our winners this week could have easily been any one of the many corrupt Democrats involved in the Governor Rod Blagojevich/Barack Obama scandal, but it’s not.  There will be plenty of time to explore their douchebaggery in the future, no doubt.  No, this week’s winner is none other than former darling of the left, then enemy of the left, and now darling of the left again – Colin Powell.

What could Colin Powell have done to out D-Bag the corrupt Chicago machine gang, you ask?  Well, first off, the corrupt Chicago machine gang hasn’t been convicted of anything…yet.  And since the stories of everyone involved keep evolving, it’s who exactly did what douchey thing is constantly changing (never for the better).  But Powell’s douchebaggery is crystal clear.

Colin Powell thinks Republicans need to become Democrat Lites, of full-blown Democrats with an (R) after their names like him, in order to win elections.  He told CNN that Republicans attempted “to use polarization for political advantage.” 

What polarization, Colin?  Considering the fact that we just ran a candidate that is a squish on a great many issues, what polarizing moves did he make? How did he not fit the template exactly of what you’re hoping the party becomes?  McCain wouldn’t mention Reverend Wright, didn’t bring up race (though that’s all the Democrats seemed to talk about) and didn’t run on gay marriage bans or anti-abortion crap.  He even engaged in the Democrat’s favorite past-time, truly polarizing politics, by engaging the same class warfare as the Dems did. 

The fact of the matter is Democrats win when they run as though they’re Republicans and Republicans lose when they govern as Democrats.  Powell either doesn’t get this fact, or he doesn’t care.  Since he’s spoken out on it, it would seem he cares.

So we thank you for your service to our great country, General Powell, we’re going to pass on your advice.  We will continue to fight for individual liberty, free-markets and free enterprise.  You are free to sell out, though we don’t recall you ever actually having bought in, and free to leave the Republican Party, since that is clearly not where your heart is.  (Seriously, why try to change your party into something that already exists in the other party?  Just join them.)

As you walk out the door, to jump the shark in our opinion, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.  And don’t forget to pick up your trophy for Douchebag of the Week.

Truth in Advertising – What Obama Campaign song should have been considering his relationship with Blagojevich and all the other liars.

Let’s be honest, this would have been much more fitting. Seriously, the guy is a the product of the Chicago political machine, so no one can really claim to be surprised.

Entry Level DC job opening

Policy Issues Coordinator
Major Trade Association
Salary- Low $30’s

Great entry-level policy position at an established and respected trade association! Start your policy career with a position that allows you to support the CEO, EVP, and general counsel. Here you will be using your exceptional organizational and people-skills to assist with coalition building, PAC fundraising, and becoming an integral liaison to senior management. If you’re looking to get your career on the fast track, there is no better place than to join this fast-pace, professional trade association!

Reports to: Executive Vice President & General Counsel

Position Overview: Provides administrative support to the President & CEO, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, and to other Policy and Politics staff personnel.

Responsibilities:

• Schedule conference calls for task forces and meetings such as a conference and be responsible for logistics of in-house meetings and.
• Assist with PAC administration and fundraising activities, including: make follow-up phone calls as necessary, logging in and depositing contributions; other duties as assigned.
• Perform administrative functions for coalition efforts, including state tax coalitions.
• Provide administrative support to lobbying, grassroots and fundraising activities, including preparing lobbying folders for different initiatives.
• Format, prepare and distribute electronic newsletters
• Assist in the production of Board of Governors meetings materials (three times per year.)
• Assist in the administration of the annual nominations and elections process for the Board of Governors and for Leadership awards.
• Participate with operations team in association projects, customer service and office management such as covering the reception desk and answering telephone calls as directed by the Director, Administration.
• Assist with activities as follows: maintain member contact lists and letterhead, monitor budget, send e-mail communications, arrange and host in-house meetings, process invoices, prepare lobbying folders, format letters and correspond with consultants, maintain web site and maintain records of hill meetings.
• Provide registration and other support at off-site meetings.
• Coordinate travel and meeting itineraries for the President & CEO, the Executive Vice President & General Counsel and other staff when needed.

Interested parties should send their resume to Sarah Smith, at ssmith@positionsincwdc.com with “Policy Coordinator” in the subject heading.

Liberal Hero Worship – Mass Murderers Che and Mao.

This video should make a dent in the stupidity that is the left-wing worship of these killers, but since the American liberal elite love him, their drones will continue to follow blindly. 

Auto Bailout Humor – Because sometimes you just have to laugh…

Hat tip

The Auto Bailout hits a pothole in the Senate (Hopefully)

Despite the clear bias in this AP story and the desire of Democrats to pass the first round of the auto bailouts (make no mistake, there will be more or else the unions would actually have to make real concessions) while Bush is still President so they can hang this and all future monies on Republicans, the US Senate is moving closer to sanity and blocking this disgrace.  While $14 billion may not seem like a lot considering the $700 billion we dished out not that long ago to the financial sector (we opposed that, too), it sets a horrible precedent for the future and is anti-free market.

The 3 US auto makers (the name Big 3 hardly seems to qualify for companies seeking to suckle to government teet) claim they need this money to avoid disaster by the end of the year.  But what would that disaster be?  Bankruptcy.

That’s right, that’s all, just bankruptcy.  Not closing up shop forever, just reorganizing in the most profitable way, cutting jobs, both colors of collar, and reopening very generous union contracts that are aiding in ruining these once great companies.  Rather than face reality they’d prefer our tax dollars.  Well, hell, who wouldn’t?

Pay someone not to work and they won’t.  Pay someone to keep doing the same things that brought them to near financial ruin and guess what happens.

Sanity looks like it may be happening where is rarely does, in the US Senate, however, where more Senators are speaking out against the bailout.  Big props to them.

Ford, GM and Chrysler need to reorganize, cut the fat and find a way to support themselves or else they deserve to fail.

One of the most disgraceful parts of the House passed bill is the creation of a so-called “car czar” to make sure they’re making the right decisions.  Can you imagine that?  A government stooge to tell private companies how they should run things.

Pop quiz – name one thing the government actually runs efficiently without massive waste, fraud and abuse.  You can get back to us on that one.

While the fact that Democrats are willing to once again violate free market principles and spend our money like it was theirs, below is the list of Republicans how decided to sell-out and join them.

We suggest you call your Senators and tell them you oppose the bailout, that the auto companies need to act like the companies they are (or at least used to be) and use the bankruptcy laws to get their act together.  Just call (202) 224-3121 and ask for one of your Senators to let their office know what you think.

Here is the Squish List:

Barton (TX)         Manzullo
Buyer                   McCotter
Camp (MI)           McCrery
Capito                  McHugh
Castle                  Miller (MI)
Ehlers                  Murphy, Tim
Emerson              Porter
English (PA)        Ramstad
Frelinghuysen     Regula
Hoekstra             Rogers (MI)
Hunter                 Ryan (WI)
King (NY)            Smith (NJ)
Knollenberg        Souder
LaHood               Upton
LaTourette         Walsh (NY)
Lewis (KY)          Young (AK)

Was Jesse Jackson Jr. Candidate #5? ABC has been told so.

As we said yesterday, ABC News is reporting that sources have told them that Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is Candidate #5, the person who offered up to a million for the Senate seat.

Jackson says he’ll cooperate fully with the investigation, but what else could he say?  If true, he should resign immediately.

Obama lied about contact with Governor Blagojevich over Senate seat.

President-elect Barack Obama’s camp “corrected the record” about contact he’s had with disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich regarding his vacated Senate seat, saying the two men never spoke about it. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, since the two were to meet the day after the election to discuss just that, according to this local news story.

While Obama’s campaign manager said the two had spoken, they have quickly tried to back peddle from that statement. But this new revelation casts more doubt on their fuzzy memories.

It’s never the crime, it’s the cover-up. With a movie about Nixon in theaters now you’d think someone would remember that point.

UPDATE: Since the link to the story has been disabled (for reasons unknown), we thought we’d post the screen capture of the story.  Note: It doesn’t matter if the meeting took place or not, it’s clear from the story that Obama and  Blagojevich talked about it the appointment at some point, thus making his new statements lies.

Dick Durbin calls for special election to fill Obama’s Senate seat since Gov. Blagojevich is tainted.

Machine politics at its best. Blagojevich, Obama and Daley.

Senator Dick Durbin today called for the Illinois state legislature to change the law and allow for a special election to replace Barack Obama in the Senate.  Why?  Aside from the fact that the Governor has been arrested for attempting to sell the seat (and as yet unconfirmed rumors that Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. offered $500k for it), Republicans have held the governor’s office before, recently, in fact.  Also, changing the law to require an election shifts the initiative from the state house, which has a better than even shot of being GOP-controlled, to Chicago machine politics.  And just look how well that’s turned out in the past…

This would explain why (Democrat) Governor Blagojevich hasn’t picked a successor for Obama – arrested on corruption charges.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested and charged along with his Chief of Staff and charged with attempting to sell the appointment to the US Senate to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat. What a jackass!

Well, this would explain what was taking so long to fill the seat, with the credit crunch it was probably difficult to scrape together the cash…

An interesting thing to note it the complete lack of mention of Blagojevich’s party in the news stories, he’s a Democrat, by the way. Only the Smoking Gun makes mention of it. Were he a Republican it would be THE headline. Odd.

Music and Topics from this week’s First Friday Podcast.

You can hear the show on our homepage, http://www.itsfirstfriday.com/ (New shows every Tuesday, unless Monday is a holiday, then the new show is posted on Wednesdays.) You can download and play all our shows on your iPod or media player and have the ability to fast forward and rewind by going to the archives here. Or you can just cursor over here and press play on the window that pops up and be able to fast forward and rewind here. Or just click on it and it should open in a new window and play.

IF YOU LISTEN IN THE ARCHIVES YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FAST FORWARD AND REWIND ALL YOU WANT WITHOUT HAVING TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW. JUST MOVE YOUR CURSOR OVER THE LINK FOR THE SHOW YOU WANT TO HEAR AND CLICK PLAY IN THE WINDOW THAT POPS UP.

This week we were fortunate enough to be joined in studio by two former Members of Congress, Congressman Ernest Istook from Oklahoma and Senator Jim Talent of Missouri for a funny and insightful look into the election results, the future of the conservative movement and the Obama transition.

Prozac Obama ad
Serious Drugs – Gigolo Aunts

Podcast Theme
Fearless – The Bravery

Welcome, thank yous to Tucker Carlson and everyone who came out to First Friday. The 28th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon to explain the music in this week’s show and Heath’s launching of Pork Barrel BBQ Rub. www.porkbarrelbbq.com.  No First Friday in January since it’s the 2nd and many people will be out of town.

Obama is not the savior with all the answers he ran as, says things will get worse before they get better. Not exactly how he ran. Trying to give himself the ability to blame Bush for any and everything that goes wrong. The auto bailout, private jets and electric cars that can’t drive very far. The arrogance of Nancy Pelosi and the small, vocal slice of the population that want enviro-cars. The inconsistency of opposing $15 billion for car companies and $700 billion for God knows who in the financial sector. The Auto Czar and the difference between shareholders and the government calling the shots in business. Obama to meet with Gore, the man who helped kill the auto industry, with no sense of irony.

Bumper Music
Come Together – The Beatles

Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club Ad
Pick up the pieces – Average White Band

Bud Light
Real American Heroes
Mr. Dishonest Cable TV Hooker-Upper

Bumper Music
Help – The Beatles

Left-wingers not very happy with Obama because he’s not “progressive” enough.  ”Choke Keith Olbermann.” The prospect of another Kennedy in the Senate, Caroline’s name mentioned as an appointee for Hillary’s seat and the entitlement mindset of the “lucky sperm.” Who will take Obama’s seat? And what’s the hold up on these appointments?  The Obama holiday in Alabama, celebrate the lack of accomplishment.

Bumper Music
Instant Karma – John Lennon

Hope Energy Drink Ad
I’ll Buy – The Replacements

Bud Light – Real American Heroes
Mr. Chinese Food Delivery Guy

Bumper Music
Revolution – The Beatles

William Jefferson loses! About damn time!!!

News of the Weird, News of the World, News of…Whatever!

Woman in China has eardrum blown out from a kiss. How in the hell does this guy kiss?

Politicians in Australia may soon have to take a breathalyzer to prove they’re sober in order to vote. We should require ours to be drunk.

Neighborhood watch meeting cancelled because they tripped the alarm of the place they were meeting. You’d hope they’d have a clue how to deal with an alarm.

Man finds 3 feet long venomous snake in his office printer. That would suck.

Dog saved by morbid obesity after freezing to sidewalk over night. Fat saves the day!

Wrap-up and goodbye.

End Music
A Day in the Life – The Beatles