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And who's on the cover??



The Best & Worst of 2008
Publication Date: 12/28/2008
We've gathered the year's top news, political events and breakthroughs. Plus, the quirkiest stories of '08.

Obama Gives Jews a Hannukkah Gift (NOT!)

Imagine all those Jews who blindly supported the Obamessiah's "change:"

Report: Obama Team Planning Iranian Outreach Post
The Washington Times reports that Barack Obama's administration will probably include a newly created post meant to reach out to Iran.

Barack Obama is planning to create a new administration post meant to reach out to Iran, The Washington Times reported Friday.

Such a move would support the president-elect's pledge during the campaign to engage the rogue nation.

The Times quoted a State Department official who said Obama's team discussed naming a senior Iranian outreach coordinator in early meetings with Hillary Clinton, Obama's pick for secretary of state.

Iranian specialists also said the position was in the works. Obama's team has made no official announcement on the creation of such a post.

Obama drew criticism from his GOP rival John McCain during the presidential campaign for saying he would be willing to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Though the Bush administration has traditionally refused to negotiate with Iran without preconditions, Undersecretary of State William Burns attended a meeting in Switzerland over the summer with an Iranian nuclear official.

Click here to read the full story in The Washington Times.

The TrekMedic thinks:

Not only is the Obamistake bringing back every Clintonian loser alive, he's bringing back the same ol' "talk, accept at face value, but DON'T verify, act shocked when we get stabbed in the back" Clintonian foreign policies, too!

From TheStreet.com:


This post originally appeared on RealMoney Silver on Dec. 16.

When I understudied for Doug Kass in The Edge, his RealMoney Silver trading diary, way back in February, my theme was "That '70s Show," with the concern at that time being surging inflation caused by the Fed's massive money creation in the second half of 2007.

Well, Fonzie, those certainly were "Happy Days," being pre-Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae Lehman Brothers, American International Group, General Motors and Madoff. Inflation did surge in the first half of 2008, but the financial crisis subsequently intervened, and now we are plunging into what could be the worst recession of the post-War era.

The following quote effectively sums up the feeling:

Not for many years has a Christmas season begun with so many tidings of spreading discomfort and lack of joy about the U.S. economy.... The nation is now also plunging deeper into a recession that seems sure to be the longest and could be the most severe since World War II.... For many Americans, the Yuletide will be a time of less elaborate meals, infrequent parties, fewer and cheaper presents.

Obama - A Seasoned, Professional, Class Act?

Cast of Characters
One More Question...

Incoming Obama administration director of speechwriting Jon Favreau (L) and a friend pose with a cardboard cutout of incoming Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a party. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

Updated 9:22 p.m.
By Al Kamen
Question No. 58 in the transition team vetting document for the Obama White House asks that applicants: "Please provide the URL address of any websites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity (e.g. Facebook, My Space, etc.)"

Question No. 63 asks that applicants "please provide any other information ... that could ... be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the President-Elect."

For a while there this afternoon, President-elect Barack Obama's immensely talented chief speechwriter, 27-year-old Jon Favreau, might have been pondering how to address that question.

That's when some interesting photos of a recent party he attended -- including one where he's dancing with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of secretary of state-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and another where he's placed his hand on the cardboard former first lady's chest while a friend is offering her lips a beer -- popped up on Facebook for about two hours. The photos were quickly taken down -- along with every other photo Favreau had of himself on the popular social networking site, save for one profile headshot.

Asked about the photos, Favreau, who was recently appointed director of speechwriting for the White House, declined comment. A transition official said that Favreau had "reached out to Senator Clinton to offer an apology."

Favreau is not the first campaign aide whose online presence has proved awkward. Last March, John McCain aide Soren Dayton forwarded an anti-Obama YouTube video to his private Twitter feed linking Obama with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, leading to his suspension from the campaign. And in 2007, two bloggers hired by former North Carolina senator John Edwards stepped down after blog posts they had written before he hired them became a subject of controversy.

Favreau's case seems unlikely to be so dire; Clinton senior adviser Philippe Reines cast the photos as evidence of increased bonhomie between the formerly rival camps.

"Senator Clinton is pleased to learn of Jon's obvious interest in the State Department, and is currently reviewing his application," he said in an e-mail.

From the "McSame?" Files,...

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

Obama to Nominate Clinton Secretary of State Monday
Obama plans to announce the New York senator and former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination as part of his national security team at a press conference in Chicago on Monday.

President-elect Barack Obama planned to nominate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of state on Monday, transforming a once-bitter political rivalry into a high-level strategic and diplomatic partnership.

Obama will name the New York senator to his national security team at a news conference in Chicago, a person close to Clinton confirmed to FOX News.

Democratic officials said Saturday. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for the transition team.

To clear the way for his wife to take the job, former President Bill Clinton agreed to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997. He'll also refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference, and will cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

Bill Clinton's business deals and global charitable endeavors were expected to create problems for the former first lady's nomination. But in negotiations with the Obama transition team, the former president agreed to several measures designed to bring transparency to his post-presidential work.

The Clinton pick was an extraordinary gesture of goodwill after a year in which the two rivals competed for the Democratic nomination in a long, bitter primary battle.

The two clashed repeatedly on foreign affairs during the 50-state contest, with Obama criticizing Clinton for her vote to authorize the Iraq war and Clinton saying that Obama lacked the experience to be president. She also chided him for saying he would meet with leaders of rogue nations like Iran and Cuba without preconditions.

The bitterness began melting away in June after Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama. She went on to campaign for him in his general election contest against Republican Sen. John McCain.

Advisers said Obama had for several months envisioned Clinton as his top diplomat, and he invited her to Chicago to discuss the job just a week after the Nov. 4 election. The two met privately Nov. 13 in Obama's downtown transition office.

Clinton was said to be interested and then to waver, concerned about relinquishing her Senate seat and the political independence it conferred. Those concerns were largely ameliorated after Obama assured her she would be able to choose a staff and have direct access to him, advisers said.

Remaining in the Senate also may not have been an attractive choice for Clinton. Despite her political celebrity, she is a relatively junior senator without prospects for a leadership position or committee chairmanship anytime soon.

Some Democrats and government insiders have questioned whether Clinton is too independent and politically ambitious to serve Obama as secretary of state. But a senior Obama adviser has said the president-elect had been enthusiastic about naming Clinton to the position from the start, believing she would bring instant stature and credibility to U.S. diplomatic relations and the advantages to her serving far outweigh potential downsides.

The TrekMedic ponders:
Experience? Who needs experience when you just hire every Clinton re-tread from those mistake-ridden 8 years to prop up your persona?

A Call to Arms!

ALL NEW POSTS WILL APPEAR BELOW THIS ONE,.....

Now is the time to counter the Democratic machine with a few grassroots of our own!

Serious conservative bloggers can contact me at DAFOSSIL-AT-HOTMAIL-DOT-COM for more details on how to join the Red November Initiative!

Just a Reminder,....