Gross Insensitivity From Obama Following Shootings

President Barack Hussein Obama showed extreme insensitivity in his first remarks regarding the Ft. Hood shootings on Thursday.  You know it’s bad when an NBC affiliate calls him “insensitive, “frightening”, and ”wildy disconnected and inappropriately light”.  He’s such a flippant ass this just can’t be ignored, even by the liberals.

This article is so good I’ll just take bits and pieces from it.

Obama’s Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting

A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama.

 President Obama didn’t wait long after Tuesday’s devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership…

… instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks

…the president thanked various staffers and offered a “shout-out” to “Dr. Joe Medicine Crow — that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.”

Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That’s the least that should occur. 

…an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post…

The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on — and the initial words coming out of their president’s mouth was jolting, if not disturbing.

It must have been disappointing for many politically aware Democrats, still reeling from the election two days before. The New Jersey gubernatorial vote had already demonstrated that the president and his political team couldn’t produce a winning outcome in a state very friendly to Democrats (and where the president won by 15 points one year ago). And now this?

If the president’s communications apparatus can’t inform — and protect — their boss during tense moments when the country needs to see a focused commander-in-chief and a compassionate head of state, it has disastrous consequences for that president’s party and supporters.

All the president’s men (and women) fell down on the job Thursday.  And Democrats across the country have real reason to panic.

Read about the disconnected president here.

NASCAR Twitter Rankings

Jeff Gluck just came out with the top NASCAR Twitter rankings this morning.  Here they are with Jeff’s commentary:

1. Juan Pablo Montoya (Jpmontoya): 37,593 – Had the biggest gain in followers, more than 11,000 in a month
2. Kevin Harvick (Kevinharvick): 19,373 – Trying to hold off Michael Waltrip for the No. 2 spot
3. Michael Waltrip (Mw55): 19,080 – Perhaps the funniest NASCAR tweeter has become more interactive lately
4. Kenny Wallace (Kenny_Wallace): 15,356 – Often reminds followers he’s a driver first, but his TV stardom got him to No. 4
5. Elliott Sadler (Elliott_sadler): 13,249 – Passed DeLana Harvick for the No. 5 spot
6. DeLana Harvick (DeLanaHarvick): 13,012 – The No. 1 team owner on Twitter
7. Kasey Kahne (Kaseykahne): 12,132 – Gain of 3,500 followers helped him pass Bobby Labonte on this list
8. Bobby Labonte (Bobby_labonte): 10,694 – Having more than 10k followers can’t hurt his search for a ride next year
9. Ricky Carmichael (Rickycarmichael): 6,822 – Newcomer to the list used to be “RC_Racer” but took over his account from a fake
10. Max Papis (Maxpapis): 6,812 – Papis still proud of his “Twitter tribe”
11. Denny Hamlin (Dennyhamlin): 6,530 – After Martinsville win, he tweeted a picture of the congratulatory banner across his driveway
12. Brian Vickers (Brianvickers83): 5,222 – Moved up a position to 12th, the same spot he’s in for the Chase
13. Joey Logano (jlogano): 5,212 – Dropped two places, but not bad for a guy who hasn’t tweeted since August
14. Steve Wallace (Stevewallace66): 3,247 – Has a solid following as the No. 2 Nationwide Series driver on Twitter
15. T.J. Majors (tjmajors): 2,403 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s spotter gains two spots, which won’t sit well with No. 16 on this list
16. Brett Griffin (19spotter): 2,319 – Sadler’s spotter up one position, but gets passed by buddy Majors
17. Michael McDowell (Mc_Driver): 2,273 – Drops two spots, but still overachieving – just like on the track
18. Max Siegel (Max_siegel): 2,132 – Qualifies for this list now thanks to his involvement with Revolution Racing (diversity program)
19. David Ragan (david_ragan): 1,999 – Another Twitter rankings newcomer, Ragan has had spurts of communication
20. Kelly Bires (Kellybires): 1,921 – Up one spot this month and expected to climb thanks to his new ride at JR Motorsports
21. Brad Coleman (bradccoleman): 1,718 – Hasn’t been on the track much lately and dropped a spot here
22. Landon Cassill (Landoncassill): 1,462 – Maintains his position after first start of the year, still lots of followers for a guy with no ride
23. Justin Allgaier (J_Allgaier12): 1,380 – Perhaps will move up once people figure out how to spell his last name
24. Joe Nemechek (FrontRowJoe87): 1,085 – New to the list but is high up because he follows so many people
25. Aric Almirola (Aric_almirola): 1,034 – Almost got a big boost in exposure with Talladega truck race
26. Colin Braun (Colinbraun): 894 – Puzzling why Braun doesn’t have more followers. He’ll be in the Nationwide Series next year
27. Marc Davis (Nascarmdavis): 797 – Going to class for now, still trying to make it as a driver
28. Mike Calinoff (MikeCalinoff): 556 – Matt Kenseth’s spotter tweeted pics of his new tattoo
29. Keith Rodden (KMRodden): 530 – As engineer for Kahne’s team, interacts with fans and answers technical questions
30. Regan Smith (Regan_Smith_): 523 – When he goes full-time in Sprint Cup again next season, should get more followers
31. Rocky Ryan (Rocky_Ryan): 438 – Jeff Burton’s spotter got passed by Rodden and Smith
32. Chris Lambert (3widemiddle): 260 – New to the list, Lambert is the spotter for Brian Vickers
33. Kyle Busch (kylebusch): 166 – Busch says he won’t do Twitter because it’s a fad, but his account is set up if he changes his mind
34. Jeffrey Earnhardt (SlickEarnhardt): 149 – Shouldn’t take long to get followers once people hear an Earnhardt is tweeting
35. T.J. Bell (Racingwithtj): 126 – Twitter account for the Truck series driver needs more followers to stay on the list

Read Jeff’s article here.

Patrick Near 2 Year Deal With JR Motorsports

Danica Patrick, NASCAR's Sexy Star?

It’s been confirmed that Danica Patrick is near finalizing a 2 year deal with Dale Earnhardt, Jr’s Nationwide Team.

Pieces of two articles:

Patrick is expected to make her debut with the team at Daytona next February.

Patrick signed a three-year extension with Andretti Green Racing to continue driving for the team in the Indy Racing League, which made many believe she would not enter NASCAR any time soon.

The IRL has a 17-race schedule, meaning Patrick will probably not race a full-time schedule for JR Motorsports’ Nationwide team, ESPN reports.

“Danica Watch” has been a season-long source of headlines and garage gossip in IndyCar and NASCAR throughout the 2009 season, as the 27-year-old driver made repeated trips to North Carolina to chat with potential stock car suitors, including Tony Stewart’s Stewart-Haas Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. A decision to sign with JR Motorsports would establish a direct tie to Hendrick, which supplies engines, cars and technical assistance to Earnhardt’s operation — as well as Stewart’s.

A source close to the situation characterized team owner Rick Hendrick as an “important player” in the deal

…even those who have advised her to resist the temptation to double dip admit that the potential financial windfall might be worth the grind of logistics and the learning curve of stock car racing.

Notably, GoDaddy.com is a sponsor of both Patrick and the No. 88 Chevrolet that JR Motorsports runs in the Nationwide Series. Brad Keselowski currently pilots that car, but is leaving at the end of the season to drive for Penske Racing in Sprint Cup.

Read the report here from The Sporting News and ESPN.

Illegal Immigrants Impact on Texas Town

Mexican immigrants in Victoria, Tx decided to boycott all caucasian businesses.  Here’s a copy of a newspaper article reporting the outcome.

This sort of thing makes me want to remind all classes of people to consider this outcome before trying to teach another class a lesson.

2009 Fall Talladega Race

The 2009 fall Talladega race is over and I’m feeling less than satisfied.

The new, smaller restrictor plates were supposed to take away enough horsepower to keep the cars from going airborne like Carl Edwards did in the spring race.  Well, the cars slowed down, but Ryan Newman still flipped.

Mike Helton said after the race he thought the race was competitive.  Ok, if all the lead lap cars running nose to tail with no passing most of the day is competitive then he’s right.

Some will argue that with so many lead changes the race must have been exciting.  I’ll give you that, for about 25% of the race.  Again, nose to tail just isn’t fun.

At one point during the race I actually thought the drivers must have gotten together and conspired to run in a single line.

I sure hope they fix this, or there’s going to be more empty seats at the track and less TV’s tuned in next year.

As Recession Continues, Waists Expand

I haven’t been to an AYCE buffet in a long time, but I wonder if Golden Corral’s bottom line has increased as much as their customer’s waistlines during these difficult times.

Wallets may have gotten thinner during this recession, but waistlines have expanded.

As the unemployment rate inches toward 10 percent and U.S. consumers continue to find themselves strapped for cash, many are turning to cheaper fare to better balance their budgets. That often means fast food and canned and frozen processed foods that are higher in fat and calories and are made with refined grains and sugars.

The result: More Americans are getting fatter and becoming more at risk of getting illnesses such as diabetes.

Wallets may have gotten thinner during this recession, but waistlines have expanded.

As the unemployment rate inches toward 10 percent and U.S. consumers continue to find themselves strapped for cash, many are turning to cheaper fare to better balance their budgets. That often means fast food and canned and frozen processed foods that are higher in fat and calories and are made with refined grains and sugars.

The result: More Americans are getting fatter and becoming more at risk of getting illnesses such as diabetes.

You can find the full article here.