The President's Vacation

20% of Americans now believe President Obama is a Muslim. This is the same percentage of Americans who admit to peeing in pools and the same number who believe extraterrestrials are already among us. Not surprisingly, the uptick in the Muslim thought coincides with his support for the Muslim Center--sort of near the Twin Towers site. Ground Zero in my lexicon is Hiroshima. Sadly, the White House actually felt compelled to issue a statement about the President's Christianity and details of his daily devotion and prayers. The Miami Herald ran a piece on the ministers who spiritually advise the President, one of whom married the Bush girl. I long for the day that a President tells people his or her religion is none of anyone's business.

Now Michael Gerson,W's former speechwriter, pens a piece today lamenting the rapid demise of President Obama and his failure to create a non-partisan atmosphere in Washington. Gerson quotes the Nation about Obama's lack of producing results. Astonishing chutzpah. But this is the line from Republicans. R. Emmett Tyrell writes in the American Spectator a piece of how Obama is worse than Jimmy Carter. O what potential lost!

Let's hear it for Eugene Robinson and his column in today's Washington Post, which points out that President Obama is on a quiet winning streak right now. Robinson reminds everyone that expectations for Obama on his inauguration were absurdly high. Robinson writes,even if Obama had done back flips across the Potomac River, people would still ask why he hadn't found a cure for cancer, solved the Arab-Israeli conflict and ushered in an age of universal peace and prosperity.

This past week, the last American combat brigade in Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait. Commentators questioned why Obama didn't do a version of getting in a flysuit with a codpiece and proclaiming "Mission Accomplished". The Left either felt the White House had muffed a photo opportunity or were snarky like Dennis Kucinich who said you're not out until you're all the way out. Just a FYI, there are still 2,500-5,000 soldiers still linked to the combat operation who will be coming home in a week. By September 1, President Obama will make the official announcement that the combat phase has officially ended. He promised he would end the Iraq War in this timeline and he did so two weeks early. He also said he would wind down the war responsibly and is stationing 50,000 troops in training Iraqis for another year. He has fulfilled a difficult campaign promise.

What do we hear from the conservatives and Republicans? Crickets. Only MSNBC covered the withdrawal in any depth and the great heroes returning did not receive coverage from the right-wing echochamber. Silence about their number 1 project of the last 7 1/2 years.

Conservatives and the Left have created a drumbeat about Social Security. The President said he was not going to "privatize" Social Security as long as he was President and would maintain the benefits. He went further and said that with only a few adjustments the program would be strengthened and last another 75 years. Hardly, the sound of major alterations.

You knew something was up that caused George Will to chide the Obama White House about lecturing Israel about peace. On September 2, the so-called Quartet of Powers announced that Israelis and Palestinians would begin direct peace talks in Washington with President Obama presiding.

Much to the consternation of the neo-conservatives, who have been using the threat of an Israeli attack on Iran to pressure President Obama to act against Tehran, the administration informed Tel Aviv that Iran was having trouble with its nuclear program and couldn 't even get around to thinking about a bomb for a year.

President Obama made a commitment that troop withdrawals would begin next summer from Afghanistan. General Petraeus has been lobbying the Hill to make the timetable more flexible . For now, he has been shut down by the White House.

President Obama continues to be criticized for the BP oil disaster. But the well is now contained and BP has been forced by the President to put up $20 billion to guarantee Gulf Residents compensation for their damaged livelihoods. The administration also ramped up its response operation and effectively found ways to keep the oil from the shore, although the total environmental damage remains unclear.

Then we had the announcement this week that General Motors would start selling stock again on Wall Street and begin paying back the government bailout. President Obama's much-criticized bailout of the auto industry saved nearly 17% of the U.S. economy. His bet has paid off but you don't hear much about that here in D.C.

And, Gene Robinson, is right. The President didn't do the popular thing but he did the right thing by defending the constitutional right of the construction of the Muslim Center in lower Manhattan.

So what disaster will strike while President Obama is gone? The good news is that Congress is out of session so he doesn't have to jet in and sort out a late minute glitch in a bill. But something will happen.

We're just lucky we have an over-achieving Black man cleaning up the mess left by the White boys. I think that's the heart of the argument.

Clearing the Desk

The co-founder of Focus on (Your) Family and the Family Research Council, the Reverend George Alan Rekers returned to the Miami airport from a vacation in Bermuda with a male prostitute. The Baptist minister claimed he had undergone an operation and needed someone to carry his luggage for him. The "travel assistant" was hired through Rentboy.com, where he advertised his qualities as having a "smooth,sweet, tight ass" and "a perfectly built 8-inch cock (uncut)" and being wild and likes lots of fun. Rev. Rekers' most recent achievement was helping write the new Florida law preventing gays from adopting. Rekers' Facebook entry mentioned his luggage troubles (he should have used "baggage") and joked ,of course, he wasn't gay. He only learned of his companion's profession once they were overseas, although he did use Rentboy to procure his services. His companion was very discrete in describing the whole transaction. E-mails have surfaced that the Rev. really enjoyed the whole experience and wanted to take him to London.

Rev. Rekers is known for his quiet role in influencing almost all anti-gay legislation on the Hill and through the various states. He virtually commutes to legislatures. Among his many works are "Who am I, Lord?" and "Growing up Straight: What Families Should Know about Homosexuality." He is also on the board of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which sponsors "going straight" cures for gays.

Meanwhile Kansas Democrats are demanding Senator Brownback denounce his roommate Rev. Lou Engle, Republican prayer leader for his support of legislation in Uganda to "kill gays". Unfortunately for Engle , his performance in urging the Ugandans to kill gays was on tape.

Grover Norquist, alleged conservative leader, denounced President Obama using the term "tea baggers" for the tea party people, saying it was like using the "N" word. Grover, dear, that's what they called themselves before the media pointed out the meaning of the gay slang.

Neo-Nazis have circulated flyers to declaring Cinco de Mayo as the day to "catch illegal immigrants". The Neo-Nazi role in the bill has become more overt as Arizona papers exposed the number of Republican legislators who follow the Stormfront website.

Arizona isn't faring too well. Tucson and Flagstaff have joined the mayor of Phoenix in suing the state over SB1070. The Phoenix Suns are sporting Los Sons uniforms for the next playoff games. The Major League Baseball Players Association has called on Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game next year and reconsider Spring Training in Arizona. Chicago has asked the White Sox to get out of the Cactus League. Several Ladino Major League Players are refusing to play games in the state. And the Diamondbacks have been picketed around the league.

Feeling left out, Virginia's Attorney-General the "Cooch" has opened an investigation into the research of Dr. Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist here in Virginia. Cuccinelli is demanding the professors' scientific papers and research so as to determine whether the professor is guilty of defrauding the taxpayer by applying for research grants. Presumably, the Catholic Cuccinelli will be consulting the Inquisition's methodology in handling Galileo.

Virginia's Governor "Jobs" McDonnell happened to spend the early days of the Gulf oil disaster at a conference advocating off-shore drilling sponsored by none other than BP. As if to demonstrate their obtuseness, House Republicans led by "Tan Man" Boehner yesterday held a press conference reiterating Republican support for offshore drilling. I guess they didn't want to be accused of political correctness. And they wanted to draw a sharp contrast with Obama ,who has put all future plans on hold until safety reviews can be conducted. Dubai-base Fox News turned down ads criticising America's dependence on foreign oil. Maybe Cheney put in a word with the Saudis on this point.

The BP oil spill is a disaster on a scale we can't comprehend. The oil should be hitting the current that takes it to the Florida Keys very shortly. Even my oil and gas guys in Texas are apprehensive about the total environmental damage that will occur. But Ann Coulter says we shouldn't do anything about it. But that hasn't stopped Ann and Rushbo from actively trying to prevent sea turtles from nesting near Palm Beach. Curious double standard. Governor Perry says it was a warning from God. The Governor of Alabama says residents shouldn't sue BP but pray. As of today, BP has successfully lowered a concrete pyramid over one leak and will try two more tomorrow in an attempt to stop the leaks and pump the oil into tankers.

When considering this ecological disaster, Americans should remember that the oil isn't American oil ,it's international. The total effect of full-blown drilling throughout the country would only yield a maximum of one year of America's total consumption. The net effect would be a few cents on a gallon of gas at the pump. Is destroying the environment worth it?

The vendor who tipped Police off to the Times Square bomber is Aliou Niasse, a Muslim who sells framed photographs of New York City. By early this afternoon, Faisal Shahzad has been linked to Jaish-e-Muhammed, one of Al Qaeda's farm teams.

In the military commission trial of Mr. Khadr, the young Canadian, his interrogator testified the defendent was exposed to "fear techniques". What the defense could not get on the record was that the interrogator has been court-martialed by our military for "torture" and "abuse of prisoners".

At the Heritage Foundation yesterday during Eric Cantor's critique of Obama's foreign policy, an audience member called the President a "domestic enemy" much to the applause of the gathering. Cantor had to refute this but he looked liked he had been teabagged.