A few rantings . . .

1. Jimmy Carter has a way with words, doesn't he? The ONLY reason anyone pays attention to what that cranky old guy says any longer is that he used to occupy an office suite at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. No other reason. He has not added anything meaningful in the public arena in many years.

As far as what he said this last week, clearly, there are racists still in this country. That is indisputable. I suppose it is safe to assume that most racists are offended by having an African-American President. But to come out and suggest, as Carter did last week, that opposition to Obama is tied to racism is less than honest, at best, and manipulative of headlines at worst. This kind of "analysis" is clearly intended to quiet down the opposition. Who wants to be called a racist? Not too many people.

Jimmy, go build some houses for folks. Do something useful. For a change.

2. Missile Defense. Right or wrong with the decision, what we did this week will undercut our credibility with Central European countries (and possibly others) for a long, long time. The Czech and Polish leadership went out on a limb in an effort to help the U.S. with its missile defense plans. Now it looks like they walked the plank instead. We left them hanging and they won't forget it.

And, for what? To placcate the Russians? Seems to me that without something tangible (i.e. specific promises and actionable items in return for this move), we just pissed off our friends to try to curry favor with our enemy.

3. Stop Spending. Please Stop Spending. Is anyone in Washington listening? We are saying this pretty unambiguously and consistently. The American Public does not like spendthrifts and the current Administration (and, let's be fair, the last Administration) are turning us all into spendthrifts.

We are in a hole. The quickest way out of the hole is to stop digging and start climbing. Seems that the Wrecking Crew in charge of our Government right now is intent on digging.

4. Arrogance. If you want to view arrogance up close and personal, then check out Henry Waxman's actions these last couple of weeks. He is throttling any chance of correcting a clearly flawed law (yes, I am referring to the CPSIA) that is inflicting real, and lasting damage on corporations in a wide array of industries.

This type of "leadership" will end up costing the Democrats . . . big time.