Surfing around the news sites, as we usually do........

YAHOO! news - Obama inauguration costing the American taxpayer 150 million dollars.  In contrast to the Bush 2005 inauguration which cost 42 million, a price tag Bush was castigated for at the time by the lefty media.  We understand the need for gonzo security, between the home-grown fruit-cakes and wack-a-doo terrorists out to get some free publicity, but maybe it would have been cheaper to put the guy in a bullet proof ballistic glass bubble, like the Pope, and spare us all the extravagant expense.  

AP News - (courtesy of Drudge) Obama exclaims anything is possible.  We admit that we didn't read this article, the title alone caught our eye and ire.  We don't usually follow the inaugural ritual, be it Democrat or Republican.  It's like a big Government paid variety show - all splash and almost no substance.  We are particularly not interested as much in what President Obama says, we are far more interested in what he does.  As far as anything being possible - our challenge to Obama and Congress is cut and save our way out of this morass, not spend ourselves literally to destruction.  There are plenty of talking heads out there that claim Obama is going to sell out his far left core base, and govern from the center.  We'd like to see that, but we are highly, highly skeptical.   One thing for sure is that if Obama re-affirms his Marxist/socialist agenda, it won't be possible to cease gargantuan deficit spending.  And if you don't know where that leads us, then congratulations, you are member of the Stupid Nation cadre.

Changing subjects...

Breitbart.com has an article about Warren Buffet's comments on the economy.  He is also ebullient about Barack Obama.  But this quote in particular caught our eye - Buffett:

"It's never paid to bet against America," he said. "We come through things, but its not always a smooth ride."

What's of interest to us is that indeed it does pay to bet against America - case in point:  According to conservative she-devil Ann Coulter, as interviewed by the conservative he-devil Rush Limbaugh, George Soros did exactly that.  Coulter details in her new book that  immediately after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Wall Street patriotically tried to orchestrate a market rally to flip the bird, as it were, to our enemies.  Many signed up to buy securities the next market opening,  but one glaring opt out -  the naturalized US citizen Soros - the same guy that is using his billionaire deep pockets to fund far left political movements and media propagandists.  Yes, according to Coulter, George Soros shorted US securities after 9/11.   The effort at a rally failed, the market tanked, and Soros made money -  betting against the US.  Somebody break the news to Buffett gently.

Last but certainly not least........

FoxNews.com has an AP article on the rescue of those lucky passengers from the US Air jetliner that crashed in the Hudson River last week.  In the article, it is noted that the critical element in the prevention of loss of life was the rapid response of ferry boat captains who were nearby when the plane crash-landed.  They spontaneously responded to the emergency, and rescued many of the passengers stranded on the wings of the sinking aircraft, well before authorities mustered a response.  This incident is metaphoric for the problems we face as a nation - these people were saved by other people, not by big all powerful Government.  Despite the extensive resources of NYC emergency response, as well as nearby US Coast Guard assets, it was ordinary people helping ordinary people that saved the day.  Government services took a back seat during the initial response to the emergency.    That's the way it should be - Americans helping Americans, relying on their own abilities and ingenuity to solve problems.    We salute those ordinary folks who rushed to the aid of those in dire need. 

One last quickie observation - are we the only ones who smirk at the freakishly coincidental timing of Israel's Gaza cease-fire deal, and the proximity of the US Presidential inauguration?