Message #162319

[Harconen]

            Obama’s choice of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg to be U.S. ambassador to the Vatican is rejected because of her pro-abortion stance. (Two other candidates are rejected for the same reason, leading some to wonder why Obama is unable to comprehend that a pro-abortion ambassador would not be welcomed by the Vatican.) [2530, 2532]

            Rasmussen’s April 12 poll places Obama’s Presidential Approval Index at its lowest point so far, +2, with 34 per cent of those polled strongly approving of Obama’s performance and 32 per cent strongly disapproving. [2145]

            It is reported that the Obama administration may, in fact, participate in the United Nations’ anti-racism Durban II conference scheduled for April 20. (In late February, it had been suggested that Obama would not send representatives to the conference.) Israel and Canada are boycotting the meetings because of its expected anti-Semitic bias, and Jewish groups in the United States have been pushing for a boycott. The keynote speaker for the purported anti-racism event will be Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called Israel a “stinking corpse” that should be wiped off the map. [1448, 2370]

            After several months in Washington, D.C. the allegedly Christian Obama is still looking for a permanent church to attend. His indecision is likely the result of trying to choose a church that helps him politically (or at least does not hurt him politically). His first appearance in church since the inauguration takes place on Easter, at St. John’s Episcopal Church (located across the street from the White House). [2302, 2356]

            Obama finally gets around to giving to his daughters the dog he had promised during the campaign. The “first pet” is a six month-old Portuguese water dog named “Bo.” The dog is a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy. [2310]

            Obama moves closer to getting one more leftist vote in the U.S. Senate when a Minnesota court declares comedian Al Franken the winner in his contest against Norm Coleman. Coleman, who argues that thousands of absentee ballots were not properly counted, has 10 days to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. As long as appeals continue, Governor Tim Pawlenty can keep Franken out of the Senate by delaying the signing of a required election certificate. [2316]

            “Unnamed sources” state that Obama is less than thrilled with the performance of his Vice-President, Joe Biden. Some advisors believe he has been unpredictable and frequently “not on message.” The recent accusation by former Bush advisor Karl Rove that Biden fabricated a story about the former president likely did not help matters, especially when even many Democrats believe Rove over Biden. [2320]

            Virginia legislators vote to turn down the portion of Obama’s stimulus funds allocated for higher unemployment compensation benefits because the money comes with expensive strings attached that will cost the state money in the future (and which would force it to raise taxes on businesses). [2322]

            While Obama worries about his war in Afghanistan, concerns rise over Pakistan because its government is weak and the Taliban has control of the large Swat and Malakand regions where it has imposed strict Shari’ah law. Terrorists are increasingly moving from Afghanistan into Pakistan, where al-Qaeda is already headquartered. Terrorist control of Pakistan’s estimated 50–100 nuclear weapons would create a much greater problem than now faced by American troops in Afghanistan or Iraq. David Kilcullen, former Bush advisor and now consultant to the Obama administration, states, “We have to face the fact that if Pakistan collapses it will dwarf anything we have seen so far in whatever we’re calling the war on terror now.” Many members of Pakistan’s military may not be willing to take up arms against the Taliban, who are “fellow travelers” in Islam’s fight against western culture. (The Pakistani Army may be engaged in only half-hearted fighting, just enough to keep the flow of money from the United States coming.) If that reluctance to fight allows the Taliban to take control of Pakistan, its nuclear weapons may end up in the hands of al-Qaeda, other terrorists, or any nation willing to purchase them. (At that point Obama may wish that Musharraf, who he was happy to see resign in 2008, were still in power.) [2336]