Dinner in Brentwood

Susan, I am a staunch conservative. Never have liked your politics. But I have to agree with this article 100%. Thanks.

Our president is not presidential. He's a total jerk!

Re: Jon39 I do, too. Frankly, I was surprised, as well as pleased, with the article.

Ms. Estrich, I have always appreciated your sincerity and use of reason. Our politics take different paths, but I want to say thank you for adding substance to our national discussion. BTW, once I finish my PhD at Claremont, I hope to have you as a Law Prof at USC.

The best politician money can buy, how much lower can we go?

The Rattlesnake Republicans have been raising money for years and constantly sniping at Obama. He has just as much right to fund-raise as any of those so-dalled candidates. Some of those Republicans have been raising money for years and have ZERO intention to run for President. It is all about the money. Newt and Haley B are not serious candidates but are serious money raisers. They then use that so-called campaign cash like their personal piggy banks. The law on political fund raising is way too lax. And now we have idiots like Rick Santorum, who could not win re-election in Pennsylvania once we found out what kind of a nut case he was, running around the country raising money. This is sick.

Susan Esterich is not as partisan as "robert lipka" - thanks for that Susan! I have read many of her articles over the past year and found many are not even political. I find this article nothing to do with "politics" and everything to do with "funding". Accurate, informative and original - not many are looking at "root causes" of our failing "body politic" - and certainly the money and power are the base reasons. Take the money out and we would have "public servants" again. Our forefathers acutally PAID to serve - now it's just a money grab for and by professional political hacks, liars and theives - of all parties.
Thanks Susan for bringing some "niceness" and sanity to political commentary.

Re: robert lipka

Since his inauguration 65+ games of golf, vacation after vacation for himself, the first lady moocher and his brood, countless parties for his people at the Whitehouse, pickup basketball games, date nights in New York and endless fund raising all at the taxpayers expense. Like all of his kind Obama will do anything but work the job he was employed to do and Moochelle just runs up the taxpayer credit card. The sooner these two parasites are fired the better.

Re. joseph wright
I agree with you 100 persent. Well said

Re: joseph wright

Dear Joseph,
I presume that you think it is okay for a philanderer like Newt Gingrich and another philanderer like Rudy Guiliani to raise funds knowing full well that they stand no chance of being nominated by true conservative family values Republicans. The money they siphon off from legitimate candidates is money that could fund a decent politician. Also, I was not aware that President Obama was prohibited from having some personal time. As for Golfing, I remember that President Bush went golfing right after Katrina hit New Orleans. (The same day Condi Rice went to a Broadway show) I guess that was Okay in your mind because Saint W could do no wrong. I'm sorry but I did not see any Conservative speak up against W's golfing....especially while people were still homeless and dying. I am sorry but your kind lacks any credibility when all you do is Bash the president.

Re: robert lipka
He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool to be shunned. You presume wrongly that I was a supporter of Bush, I never have been, never will be. Bush was no conservative. He was the epitomy of RINO and a progressive. Indeed hold him personally responsible for enabling the election of the present fool and proven Indolent Obama. As with all apparent liberals you never let the facts get in the way of liberal dogma. Bush, to his credit, forsook playing golf for the vast majority of his terms as President in expresed respect for our armed forces at war. Conrast this with the current, as I say "Indolent in chief" for whom vacationing, golfing, partying, dinners in Brentwood, basket ball brackets and the like are more pressing issues than the turmoil in the middle east, the finacial crises we face because of his profligate unconscionable deficit creation and the joblessness he has also created all to specifically overload the economy with entitlement spending. Bush, to his credit was no enemy of America as Obama on any objective look clearly is. Again you seem to wrongly presume that I condone any sort of philandering. Still if I were you I would not be keen upon touching the moral issues especially given the proven history of Bubba Clinton, and the fact that Obama is clearly a congenital liar to whom the truth is a stranger he has yet to meet and extortioner par excellance. Some personal time you say. If I recall correctly, and I do, it was the liberal media that piled on Bush for a few games of golf but like you in true liberal hypocrisy are prepared to turn a completely blind eye to 65 plus full days spent by the Indolent in Chief on the links or getting there and back, and who knows how many other vacation days, I have lost count. At this rate Obama's personal time will soon eclipse the time we are told (but of which there is little evidence) he works at the job he was employed to do. I say little evidence because the President is supposed to lead. For all of his term thus far Obama as has been his habit, simply votes present and punts on all substantive issues. Indolent in Chief indeed! Credibility ! As with Obama being a stranger to work and truth so too are you a stranger to credibility. As was said by Benjamin Franklin the sting od a rebuks is the truth. Clearly you were stung by the truth about Obama

Re: joseph wright
Thanks for setting me straight on Bush,,,,,but I recall that he famously said that he was giving up golf in respect for the troops and then Jon Stewart ran footage of him teeing off on one of his vacations...The press secretary at the time said that he did it because the game had been scheduled many months in advance. What a phony. But you are right that Bush had the biggest hand in getting Obama elected. For the record, I voted for McCain but have come to regret that vote as I learned more about Sarah Palin and her scatterbrain and simplistic answers to complex problems. McCains recet trip to Libya wwas very ill-advised. What if the rebels he supports turn out to be Al-quada or minions of Khomeni? No one knows World politics has become a nightmare of understanding. I wish Obama would go on more vacations and get us the hell out of Afghanistan. It will bankrupt us. If you don't think so just ask all the pensioners in the USSR ////////Oh wait,,,where is the USSR ... Seriously, wshen a candidate comes along who does more than call Obama names and presents us with a legitimate alternative agenda, that candidate will get the support of Americans everywhere. Nice to see that one of the money sappers Haley Barbour finally called it quits on his fundraising. Now we need the rest of the pretenders to hit the road Nice talking with ya !

Re: robert lipka
Regretting a vote for McCain (also a wothless RINO but yet better than Obama) is like regretting a vote against an enemy of America. The vast majority of those who voted for McCain did so with noses held firmly shut in order to look to the lesser of two evils and many would not have done so much as that had Palin not been on the ticket.Genius, it has been correctly said is making observations that others do not see, in making associations that others do not recognize and in seeing simple patterns when others see complexity. All of Obama's policies are designed with one thing in mind, to wit, the destruction of the economy. That pattern is obvious to all that are prepared to see. The pleasure in talking was all yours.

Re: joseph wrig
Dear Joseph,
It is the obligation of every good American to want BOTH nominees of the major parties to be the best persons in the field. In order to determine that, we have to examine the agenda of each candidate carefully and firmly reject those who do not fit the bill philosophically. In addition, we have to examine them to determine if they have the right stuff (intelligence and personality) to do the job.. So far that eliminates a lot of candidates. Sarah Palin quit her job as governor after two years because it was too much for her. Things like that should have eliminated her long ago from consideration. Donald Trump has proven himself to be a liar on this birther thing. (Can't call it an issue) because he refuses to read Title 8 Section 1406 of the US Code which clearly establishes that Obama is a legitimate citizen of the United States, Many other of these various candidates have NO AGENDA for improving our system. They only bash the president and offer no alternative. That is not leadership. I only hear people saying that President Obama is trying to kill this economy.....How so?? What specifically has he done that has destroyed this economy. I note that he almost singlehandedly developed a policy that has saved General Motors and that is a huge chunk of our economy yet he gets no credit for that. Why? Hade GM gone under, our last hope to keep this industry in America might have gone by the wayside. Who would have picked up the pensions of the men and women who retired from this company? That is a huge chunk of our economy. I live not far from Youngstown Ohio and I can tell you that many of the retirees are glad Obama saved that portion of the economy. Now come the question...I voted Republican in the last election....will I do so again? So far I do not see any of the current crowd of Republicans as worthy of the nomination. The Republicans had better find a moderate like Brad Johnson of New Mexico who might appeal to more than just the choir if they want my vote ad the votes of swing voters. Otherwise, it is another four years of Obama.

Re: robert lipka
Seems that you have come back for yet another taunting. General Motors at the time of its crony capitalism bailout was no longer primarily in the business of making cars (which was why it was in trouble) but was primarily in the business of pension provider, health care provider, general benefits and outrageous wages provider for a bunch of union and early retired union deadbeats whose union had held GM hostage for years and had ruined it as a producer of quality cars. Unions destroyed all industry in this country years ago, GM was no different. It was dead, it just didn't know to lie down. Rather than let it go under or seek bankruptcy protection and recover stronger (if it deserved to recover at all) it was bailed out by Obama as a sop to the unions at my expense as a taxpayer and so I and the other taxpayers of this land (perhaps including you) are now the healthcare and pension and other benefits providers for a bunch of union and early retired union deadbeats. Congratulations and thanks for nothing Obama. Further have you seen the GM figures? The taxpayer, to wit myself along with other employers and small business owners will take a bath on Obama's so called and laughable investment and union payback money laundering deal. What has he done to destroy the economy? Are you serious? Well just off the top of my head , has destroyed energy production in the USA and intends to eradicate it, has left us dependent upon those that hate us for energy, has placed us in everlasting debt to the Chinese, has just today has taken steps to ensure futher rocketing gas prices, has deliberately created monster deficits that just cannot be sustained and is endeavouring to create more , TARP , Obamacare , has caused the dollar to plunge in value, has grown government exponentially, has created the situation where more money is paid out weekly in welfare state benefits than is earned in wages in productive economy sustaining work (working for the government is not productive work) has created the situation where the percentage of the available workfoce actually employed is the lowest in one could go on and on. As I said earlier, genious is in seeing simple patterns where others see complexity. Self evidently you cannot see patterns. It is the obligation of every good American to defend the Constitution and the freedoms it bestows upon all of us and to do so against enemies foreign and domestic, Although it plain that Obama is an enemy of the Constitution and of American values and freedoms (economic, poperty and all other freedoms) the jury is still out as to whether he is enemy foreign or enemy domestic. He has yet to establish for certain that he is enemy domestic. Four more years of Obama and America will never recover. But that Robert is the Obama endgame. Robert a word to the wise, just privately as between you and me, tis better to remain silent and appear a fool than to speak and have it confirmed.

Re: joseph wright

Finally, you put things in writing instead of making wild generalities. First of all, It was George W. Bush who enslaved the American people to Chinese debt. That debt and the trillions it takes to service that debt coupled with tax cuts for the wealthy have combined to make us a debtor nation. Then couple that with our involvement in two wars that were initiated by the Bush administration and you have the answer to what is causing our deficit problem. We desparately need to get out of Afghanistan. WE gain nothing by staying there. We gained nothing by going in in the first place. The USSR , which did not have the logistic problems that we have went bankrupt by their participation in the war in Afghanistan. The cost in American treasure(I am referring to our troops) and money does not justify a continuation of this war. The leaders in Afghanistan are all corrupt thieves and we continue to toss money down this rathole. But where is the political will to stand up and insist that this be ended. Certainly not in the leadership of the House of Representatives. Neither Pelosi or Boehner made any move to stop the funding of this budget buster. Why no political will???? Because average Americans just want to sit around tossing out insults and refuse to write their Congresmen and Senators threatening them with being voted out the next election if they don't lead on getting us extricated from these foreign budget-busters.
Thanks for calling me a fool. I take it as a compliment

Re: robert lipka
Me thinks you forgot 9/11. Bush didn't start war, Islamic Extremists did!
It's ok, that's a typical liberal mistake!

The president has just given permission to the state of Hawaii to release his long-form birth certificate. The birthers will still deny this as proof but I offer one more bit of evidence that Barack Obama IS a citizen. The President of the United States is REQUIRED to have a security clearance. The investigation for this is handled by the FBI, CIA, NSA, and various other entities. Any birther who questions Obama's citizenship is questioning the integrity of all of these agencies. That is just nuts.
This morning in New Hampshire, Trump addressed the Birther issue again and during the course of the news conference, he stated that CNN had done a poll which showed him leading in a face to face race with Obama. CNN's Carol Costello IMMEDIATELY BROKE IN AND SAID THAT CNN HAD NEVER DONE SUCH A POLL. Trump is a liar and cannot be believed on anything. He said that investigators had told him the birth certificate was "MISSING" Who are these investigators, Mister Peabody of the Bullwinkle show using the WABAC machine or maybe Michael J. Fox and Chris Lloyd using the Delorean from the BAck to the Future movie to go back and confirm this???? Now that Trump has proven himself to be a Titanic liar, can we get on to serious candidates and issues???