Obama Springs Into Action, Ready to Impose Sanctions on Libya

This could be a very clever strategy. Khadafy will die laughing.

The White House says the U.S. is moving forward with plans to impose unilateral sanctions on Libya in response to violence there.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney says the U.S. is finalizing that process Friday. He says the U.S. is also working with European partners on additional sanctions and other multilateral actions that could be taken.

The announcement comes as hundreds of Americans are evacuated from Libya following days of violence. Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have been firing on protesters demanding the Libyan leader's ouster.

This is the leadership we've all waited for, the transformative and fearless change. Waiving meaningless pieces of paper around and pretending you're doing something.

Flashback: Colonel Gadhafi Khadafy Qaddafi Praises Obama's Foreign Fundraising Prowess

Interesting the gems one can unearth with this here Internet thing. Thanks, Algore!

In June, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a public speech praising Obama, claiming foreign nationals were donating to his campaign. “All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man,” the Libyan leader said. “They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency…”

[O]n July 31 that donors from the Gaza strip had contributed $33,000 to the Obama campaign through bulk purchases of T-shirts they had shipped to Gaza…. A pair of Palestinian brothers named Hosam and Monir Edwan contributed more than $31,300 to the Obama campaign in October and November 2007, FEC records show. Their largesse attracted the attention of the FEC almost immediately. In an April 15, 2008, report that examined the Obama campaign’s year-end figures for 2007, the FEC asked that some of these contributions be reassigned. The Obama camp complied sluggishly, prompting a more detailed admonishment form the FEC on July 30. The Edwan brothers listed their address as “GA,” as in Georgia, although they entered “Gaza” or “Rafah Refugee camp” as their city of residence on most of the online contribution forms…. The latest Obama campaign filing shows that $891.11 still has not been refunded to the Edwan brothers, despite repeated FEC warnings and campaign claims that all the money was refunded in December.

But hey, let's look at the upside. At least none of this funny money came from those evil Koch Brothers.

Candidate Obama: 'I'll Walk on That Picket Line With You'

Another broken promise from Obama. Don't these unions folks know how empty his promises are? Besides, he's got parties and golf to tend to.

Shameful: Obama Partied While U.S. Citizens Were Stranded in Libya

It's all about The O.

Hundreds of Americans trapped aboard a rescue ship that was too small to sail in rough weather have finally left Libya this morning.

The 167 stranded U.S. citizens have been holed up on the Maria Dolores since Wednesday, as rough weather has prevented the ship from leaving.

The Dolores left Tripoli at 6:37 am EST and is expected to reach its destination port of Valetta, Malta at around 3:00 pm EST.

'The ferry carrying American and international citizens from Libya to Malta is finally underway,' U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted.

According to the State Department there are 285 passengers on board the Dolores, including 167 U.S. citizens and 118 people of other nationalities.

President Obama has been under intense criticism for his muted response to the bloodshed in Libya, with speculation that Colonel Gaddafi had intimidated the White House into silence by blocking the evacuation of U.S. citizens.

And last night, while the Dolores remained stranded, the president enjoyed a White House pop concert in celebration of Black History month.

Could you imagine the media firestorm is President Bush parties the night away while Americans were in danger?

There is no question about it, they [U.S.] should have been out of there long ago - why haven't they chartered a bigger boat like the Greeks or Turkish.

'At the very least, the government should have had a larger back up vessel on the way.'

Obama's been too busy helping organize protests in Wisconsin to even notice, apparently.

Grassroots Groundswell! NJ Unions Paying Members to Protest

I've been wondering why these union thugs around the country seems to always have so much free time on their hands. For all the nonsense from the Democrats about "the workers," I never see any of them actually working. They're always too busy whining, demanding more and more and roughing up women.

So it's curios to see how they're managing to drum up protesters in Trenton today as they continue to whine and snivel.

There appears to be efforts from unions to get more members to beat the drum today in Trenton. According to an e-mail obtained by The Star-Ledger, CWA Local 1038 is preparing for the rally with boxed lunches, leaflets and ponchos because of the expected rain.

The union is also offering to reimburse wages for anyone who takes a half-day off to participate in the rally.

"You must use your own time, either vacation or AL (administrative leave), and give the local a photocopy of your paystub. Please note that the payment for lost-time wages will be mailed to you; it will not be paid tomorrow," the e-mail states.

"What the union does internally is an internal union matter," Local 1038 President Paul Alexander said. "We’re not paying thousands of people to attend the rally."

Really, Paul? Reimbursing wages and free lunch isn't paying someone?

The rank-and-file at least seemed buoyed by the spirit of Wisconsin on Wednesday. Some 100 toll collectors protested outside the Turnpike Authority offices in Woodbridge to oppose Christie’s efforts to privatize toll collections in the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

"We gotta get this guy Christie out of office, he’s killing us," said John Dunphy of Kearny, a 25-year member of Local 194. "It seems like they’re picking on the little guy more than the big guys."

Privatizing toll collections has been going on nationwide for years, long before Christie showed up. If there was ever a job that can easily be eliminated, it's getting rid of these belligerent fat-asses at the toll booths. I wonder if this leech Dunphy even knows when the next gubernatorial election is?

'Spitzer Thinks She's Holding Him Back'; Update: Parker Out

Obviously a major talent like Eliot Spitzer realizes there'd be no ceiling for him if it weren't for this faux conservative woman holding him back. That and the fact he works for low-rated CNN. And in that true gentlemanly fashion of his, he sneakily throws her under the steamroller.

Stay classy, Client No. 9

Eliot Spitzer is telling friends his CNN co-host Kathleen Parker "will be gone within a week." Relations between the ex-gov, who once called himself a "[bleep]ing steamroller," and his conservative co-host are at an all-time low. A source said, "Spitzer thinks she's holding him back. The ratings surged when she was out sick, and he anchored alone during the turmoil in Egypt. Only very few anchors have the power to wipe out a co-host, and Spitzer thinks he has it. CNN bosses are high on Spitzer, and he might get his own show. Kathleen has been weighing her options. There's this sense of dread among middle management." We've reported that Parker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, could be dumped due to lack of chemistry with Spitzer. But our source said, "She's putting up a fight."

Update: She's gone.

Kathleen Parker, the co-host of "Parker Spitzer," CNN's four-month-old, ratings-challenged primetime show, is being dropped from the program, according to sources inside the CNN newsroom. Eliot Spitzer, her co-host, will remain.

Maybe she can get a gig at Current TV.

Loyalty: Pregnant Wisconsin Fleebagger Chooses Greedy Unions Over Her Own Kids

I can't be the only one mortified reading about this selfish woman who decides it's in her own self-interest to support spoiled union members over her own family. But for her, abandoning two young children at home while you're already six months pregnant is a teachable moment or something.

Of all the Wisconsin Democrats on the run for the last week, one is moving a little more slowly than the others.

State Sen. Julie Lassa is six months pregnant.

Instead of spending her days near her doctor and family, Lassa, 40, is counting down to her due date on the lam in Illinois.

Lassa is one of 14 senators who skipped the state to block a vote on a controversial budget-reduction bill that would strip municipal unions of most of their collective-bargaining powers.

Besides the baby on the way, Lassa has a husband and two small daughters at home.

Now most people would sit bank and weigh their decision. What do I do here? Care for my little children or sell my soul for pampered, angry union goons?

It's clear where Lassa's loyalties lie.

"I am teaching my daughters who are 6 and 3 that it is very important to do what you can to help your neighbors when people need help," Lassa told a reporter recently.

Must be some comfort when the kids go to bed at night and wake up every morning wondering where mommy is. But hey, they'll cherish this moment when they grow up, I'm sure.

Lassa was defeated by Sean Duffy in the race for David Obeys's old congressional seat last fall. Duffy noted during the campaign that Lassa gave herself a pay raise two years ago while the state was already hemorrhaging money.

Maybe she told her kiddies a story about helping themselves at the expense of their neighbors.

Obama's Plan to Coast To Reelection Using Slogan Lifted From a Newt Gingrich Book Failing Miserably

Good grief, even Politico is growing tired of Obama's 'Winning the Future' mumbo jumbo.

Could it be that empty rhetoric and a functioning pair of teleprompters just won't be enough this time around for Obama?

Doesn't look like it right now, does it?

The White House’s theme for this week — and the week before, and the one before that — has been all about “winning the future.” President Obama has mentioned his new favorite catch phrase so often in the last month that you’d think he was being paid for each reference.

In fact, when Obama now makes a speech, he’ll do so in front of a small backdrop with the words “winning the future” streaming across it. Talk about message discipline:

At Penn State, on Feb. 3: “These are places where the future will be won.”

In Cleveland, on Tuesday: “Winning the future involves out-educating, out-innovating, out-building, out-hustling everybody else.”

At a Baltimore middle school, on Valentine’s Day: “Over the last few weeks, I’ve traveled the country, talking about what we need to do to win the future.”

By our count, Obama has sung his battle cry — or some variation of it — nearly 40 times since his State of the Union address on Jan. 25. (By the way, in that speech, he mentioned in 10 times.)

But is the message getting through? We decided to ask the prominent linguist and neuroscience expert George Lakoff, a liberal by any measure, whether he thought the ad nauseam repetition has proven effective in a month’s time. His diagnosis: Not so much.

The problem, Lakoff determined, is that while a repetition of ideas can work — like the notion of “change” in the 2008 campaign to tap into voters’ emotional desires, or Republicans’ consistent message on less intrusive government — simply saying a slogan over and over is less tangible, and therefore more difficult for voters to recognize as meaningful.

“Nobody cares about winning the future,” he said. “It doesn’t mean much to anybody.”

Cross-posted.

Revealed: Palin's Silent Marriage; Special Added Bonus: Bogus Photo from 2008

The folks at the Daily Mail may be the last on earth to find out this photo is bogus.

Idiots.

They breathlessly report gossip, and run a Photoshopped image that was quickly exposed as a fake in 2008. Hard-hitting stuff, folks. If they can't get something so basic right, why should anyone buy the gossip they're pushing?

Hedge Fund Wonderboy Running Business From Mom's Basement

Just an average kid pursuing the American dream, of course. Being the son of a powerful Democrat senator sure doesn't hurt, either.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden’s son has started a hedge fund in the basement of the former family home. That doesn’t mean his father is getting in on the ground floor.

Adam Wyden, 26, started the fund under the name ADW Capital Partners LP and runs it from the Washington house that now belongs to his mother, according to a private placement notice filed last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund is modeled after the investment partnership billionaire Warren Buffett ran in the 1950s and 1960s before acquiring Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Adam Wyden said in an interview.

Quite an ambitious young man. And it's nice to see that stereotype where only Republicans are known as the party of the rich imploded.

“Right now it’s just me,” Adam Wyden, 26, said when reached at his home in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington, from where he’s been running his $3 million fund since September. “I am the CEO, I am the secretary, and I am the chief marketing officer.”

Three million dollars? Nice to have connections.

In 2005, he landed a paid summer internship at D.E. Shaw & Co., working as an analyst on what he described as a $700 million long-short fund that bet on and against media, technology and telecommunications stocks.

“Not many college kids get to intern on a D.E. Shaw portfolio for the summer,” Brian Marshall, who ran the D.E. Shaw fund and now works as a senior analyst in the San Francisco office of investment bank Gleacher & Co., said in an interview.

Sure, not many college kids get those opportunities. I'm sure daddy's job in the Senate had nothing to do with it. Or the donations that then followed from Shaw.

David Shaw, who is no longer active in day-to-day operations, lent $100,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee for Bill Clinton in 1993, the Center for Public Integrity reported in 2000. He and other D.E. Shaw employees ranked third among hedge-fund donors last year with $569,049 in campaign contributions, 97 percent going to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org and the Center for Responsive Politics.

Ron Wyden received contributions totaling $9,600 from Shaw and his wife, Beth, during 2009, with each giving the maximum $4,800 that individuals are allowed to donate for any election cycle, OpenSecrets.org said. Shaw gave $5,000 last year to Holding Onto Oregon’s Priorities, a political action committee set up by Wyden to help other Democratic candidates, and $33,500 to the party’s senatorial and congressional campaign committees.

Nothing illegal here, I suppose. Just a good thing nobody is named Koch, or we'd really have some hot news.

Meager Budgets Cuts Now Declared an 'Un-American Atrocity'

We obviously never have any hope of getting our fiscal house in order when you have these people calling paltry budgets cuts an un-American atrocity.

Describing the House spending bill as an un-American atrocity, the heads of the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors announced Thursday they are launching a major lobbying effort against its cuts.

The effort, going on behind the scenes this week, could culminate in a march on the Capitol in mid-March if the mayors don't get what they are seeking, said conference President Elisabeth Kautz, the mayor of Burnsville, Minn.

“We are going to have a major march and meeting in halls of Congress,” Bill Gluba, the mayor of Davenport, Iowa, said. He said the conference has decided to take the lead in organizing local and civic organizations to come to Washington to protest the cuts in the GOP spending bill.

“The impacts are devastating. … As we stand here knowing what happened in the House, our only hope is in the Senate,” Kautz said.

The group is focusing above all on stopping a 62.5 percent cut to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which House Republicans have included in the spending bill funding the government after March 4. The cut is intended to save $4 billion.

President Obama in his 2012 budget request released last week also called for cuts to the program, which the administration has said is flawed because results are difficult to measure. Obama called only for a 7.5 percent cut that would save $300 million, however.

The mayors said the 2012 fight with Obama will have to wait until another day.

“When you have a bazooka pointed at your head, it is hard to think about what you will have for breakfast tomorrow,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter explained.

He described the House bill as “un-American” and said it is aimed at hurting the poor, elderly and children.

“You cannot run a country while attacking its own people,” he said.

Really? Obama has spent two-plus years attacking Americans. We finally have a slight pushback and any efforts are called un-American. Isn't that considered an attack on anyone?

New Tone Alert: Union Hothead Threatens Sodomy, Drops F-Bombs, Hurls Gay Slur at Cameraman

The action begins at the 7:32 mark.

If you are a Fan of Disruptors™ like Nancy Pelosi, you might want to get out your oversized foam finger for this one.

Just don't hold your breath waiting for MSNBC to play the clip.



Michelle Malkin has more.

Cross-posted.

Student Planned Attack on George W. Bush

I blame the left's incendiary rhetoric.

A Saudi Arabian citizen going to college in Texas has been arrested by the FBI on charges that he was planning a violent attack.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late Wednesday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential US targets.

Aldawsari is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Lubbock at 9am Friday. Aldawsari, who was lawfully admitted into the United States in 2008 on a student visa and is enrolled at South Plains College near Lubbock, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

According to court documents, Aldawsari has been researching online how to construct an IED using several chemicals as ingredients. He has also acquired or taken a substantial step toward acquiring most of the ingredients and equipment necessary to construct an IED and he has conducted online research of several potential US targets, the affidavit alleges. In addition, he has allegedly described his desire for violent jihad and martyrdom in blog postings and a personal journal.

"As alleged in the complaint, Aldawsari purchased ingredients to construct an explosive device and was actively researching potential targets in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of many agents, analysts and prosecutors, this plot was thwarted before it could advance further," said Assistant Attorney General Kris.

The affidavit alleges that on Feb. 1, 2011, a chemical supplier reported to the FBI a suspicious attempted purchase of concentrated phenol by a man identifying himself as Khalid Aldawsari. According to the affidavit, phenol is a toxic chemical with legitimate uses, but can also be used to make the explosive trinitrophenol, also known as T.N.P., or picric acid. The affidavit alleges that other ingredients typically used with phenol to make picric acid, or T.N.P., are concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids.

Khadafy Blames Koch Brothers for Libyan Unrest

Think that sounds insane? Just as nutty as blaming them for everything else under the sun, as has become the left's latest obsession. But considering hos nutty madman Moammar has sounded of late, it can't be far off.

LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi said protesters should return to their homes, as he made an audio address on state TV today.

Gaddafi claimed rebels of drug-taking and links to Usama bin Laden.

He accused protesters of being under the influence of al Qaeda and taking drugs as he made the statement, apparently from the town of Zawiyah, which has been the scene of heavy fighting throughout the day.

He said, "Teenagers feel trigger happy, they shoot especially when they get stoned with drugs."

Meanwhile, a little flashback from the Libyan nutcase.

He said, "Now, ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined – that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama."

Gaddafi stressed that Obama's presidency is "a major historical gain" and said, "He is someone I consider a friend. He knows he is a son of Africa. Regardless of his African belonging, he is of Arab Sudanese descent, or of Muslim descent. He is a man whose policy should be supported, and he should be assisted in implementing it in any way possible, since he is now leaning towards peace."

As Teachers Face Layoffs, UFT Spends Millions on Parties

No wonder Obama is joined at the hip with the teacher's unions. They like to waste as much money on parties as he does.

It's for the children or something.

As nearly 5,000 city teachers face the ax, their union shells out millions of dollars on feasting, boozing and partying, the Daily News has learned.

Free-spending United Federation of Teachers brass last year spent nearly $1.4 million for the UFT's 50th anniversary gala at the Hilton - complete with a movie, a book and a paperweight.

Records show they:

* Ponied up $514,000 to 16 separate caterers.
* Dropped $278,417 on the annual Teachers Union Day ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria.
* Bought $6,100 in gift baskets from a lower East Side candy store - and plowed $179,000 into training retreats at a Connecticut resort boasting golf, scuba diving and aqua aerobics.

In one amazing feat of spending, they shelled out $114,870 for annual "coffee supplies" at their five offices across the city - paying the Coffee Distributing Corp. on Long Island $324,000 over three years, records show.

And while most New Yorkers spend hours trying to find a parking space, the UFT rents 25 slots in Brooklyn's Renaissance Plaza Garage for members at an average annual cost of $75,000 over three years.

"I'm not going to apologize for spending money to service our members," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

"These people are heroes dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our children. They never get the respect they deserve. A cup of coffee, a bottle of water and a few parking spots is the least we can do for them."

A cup of coffee, a bottle of water, a lavish $1.4 million bash. Hey, they work hard for 200 days a year. Let's cut them some slack.

The spending orgy comes to light a week after after The News disclosed that cops bounced 24 rowdy UFT reps from an Albany eatery after they caused a ruckus over an $1,800 tab - and the modest size of a $40 gourmet quail.

Turns out over-the-top spending and a party-hearty culture is a union trademark.

No wonder they're so terrified that the public has caught on to their scam. When the free parties stop it's time to mobilize and demand even more from the taxpayers.

They're Not Gay, They're Flexisexual

Stop paying attention for five minutes and you miss all these trendy new terms.

Ever since Madonna planted that wet kiss on Britney Spears in front of millions of television viewers at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, women have been loosening up sexually with other women.

These so-called flexisexuals say that although they are not gay or even bisexual, they enjoy flirting and kissing girls -- but they still enjoy having sex with men.

One female senior at Hofstra University in New York said she is apt to turn to women when she's had too much to drink.

"I just kiss girls because it's funny and entertaining to do when under the influence," she said. "When you just kiss a guy, you deal with the pressures of feeling like you have to go further, and with girls that is never an issue."

If you're not comfortable with flexisexual, there are other terms you may use. One can only imagine who sits around dreaming this stuff up.

Flexisexual is also known as heteroflexible, pansexual or queer, all subtle variations that mean they are not closing any doors.

Liberals Accused of Using Psyops on Legislatures

Nah, actually the headline says Army used psyops against legislatures, but the headline is catchy but hardly what I would call psyops.

Soon, though, Caldwell ordered the unit to gather profiles of visiting dignitaries, including their likes and dislikes and "hot-button issues," the magazine reported.

Shock I know. Why I can't think of single time where this has ever been attempted before. This is earthshaking and sure to send shockwaves all through the civilized world. Well except for everyone older then 5 years old who learned the art whether trying to manipulate their parents or get their friends to go along with their latest scheme to get back at Suzy.

I know, I know, right now anybody who is involved in sales is scratching their heads and mouthing the open ended question of "so what".

Folks, throughout my military career I hosted more then one congressional delegation and I am here to tell you, you had better know their likes, dislikes, and hot button issues or they would be sure to inform you, normally in a very stern manner. Ain't that right former congresswoman Schroder? Sorry you had to wear that helmet and flak vest while observing the live fire demonstration of grenades being thrown. She was worried about the photos doncha know with mussed up hair or something.

The shocking part of this story is that commanders are having to go begging to these people for the resources necessary to prosecute our war on terrorists.

"How do we get these guys to give us more people?" Caldwell asked, according to the magazine. "What do I have to plant inside their heads?"

So Rolling Stone, which has been receiving awards and having praise heaped upon them since forcing Gen McChrystal to retire writes yet another sensational headline trying to parlay their bringing down and ending the career of Gen McChrystal to apparently try and repeat the coup again.

We have met the enemy, and it is us.

Now you want to talk about psyops let's talk abut Saddamm and his broadcasting messages prior to Desert Storm about Bart Simpson carrying on an affair with our wives and girlfriends. 100 hours later and I am sure he was regretting that.

After Devoting Five Minutes to Libya Crisis, Obama to Host Yet Another Concert Tonight

Need another sign sign this White House is completely tone deaf? After ignoring the Libya crisis for a week until yesterday, and then merely offering a perfunctory statement, it's back to party time in DC. Let's just hope Michelle has jetted back from her lavish ski vacation in Vail so she doesn't miss anything. Can't wait to see what's on the menu.

President Barack Obama is celebrating classic rhythm and blues on Thursday, spotlighting the music of Motown in a White House concert.

Stars invited to tonight's event include Motown icon Smokey Robinson as well as contemporary singers Sheryl Crow and John Legend, who will perform Motown hits. It's the latest musical tribute hosted by the president and first lady, and will be broadcast March 1 on PBS.

It wouldn't surprise me if he went golfing beforehand.

If Smokey Robinson appears any more at the White House he'll become an honorary Trumka.

Poll: Majority of New Yorker's Say Teacher's Unions Play Negative Role in Education

Yes, folks, you read that correctly: New Yorkers. These aren't some wild-eyed "teabagging" radicals beholden to the evil Koch Brothers cartel. These are the same folks who give Andrew Cuomo overwhelming approval, for now. Now that you've digested the fact there's been a huge shift in public sentiment towards the unions, an even greater amount of the public is for allowing administrators to use merit over tenure when deciding where to apply layoffs and firings.

A staggering 85 percent of New Yorkers favor empowering school administrators to choose merit over tenure when firing teachers, bolstering Mayor Bloomberg's dogged fight to ditch the union-backed "last in, first out" protections, according to a new poll.

The statewide Quinnipiac University survey, released today, found voters prefer performance over seniority -- 85 percent to 12 percent -- as the principle measure to determine which teachers to lay off during budget cuts.

The margin was the same across gender, geographical and party lines.

"By a huge majority, voters from every group oppose LIFO," said Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll.

"Voters, especially voters with kids in public school, want to keep the best teachers on the job -- and to heck with seniority."

Surprisingly, the poll found 75 percent of voters in households with union members support using merit and performance in determining layoffs of teachers rather than seniority. Only 20 percent of those voters questioned favored the seniority-based protections.

In general, New York state residents believe that it should be easier to fire public-school teachers, 62 percent to 33 percent.

At the same time, the support for rewarding "outstanding" educators with pay hikes is backed 64 percent to 33 percent.

The poll found widely divergent views on individual teachers and the powerful unions that represent their interests in the halls of government and across the bargaining table.

Some 50 percent of New Yorkers report favorable opinions about the state's public-school teachers, compared to 22 percent who had unfavorable views.

However, 51 percent say teachers unions, like the city's 164,000-member United Federation of Teachers, play a "negative" role in the state's education system. Some 39 percent believe the unions have a positive impact.

That's a dramatic shift from the last time Quinnipiac asked that question in 2004. At that time, New Yorkers said teachers unions had a positive role, 48 percent to 35 percent.

Gee, now what could have possibly caused this dramatic shift in public opinion. Could it be the increasing belligerence and militancy of the unions? Could it be the public sees they're basically an arm of the Democratic Party? Could it be we see billions poured into education with increasingly poor results? All of the above?

I've got my differences with Michael Bloomberg. This sure isn't one of them.

Meanwhile, a state senator introduced a bill Wednesday night designed to end, or at least modify, LIFO.

It'll be curious to see whether the White House unleashes their union shock troops on Michael Bloomburg any time soon. I realize they're now tied up on several fronts in the midwest and it may take time to ship the goons back east.

Rather than wage war on the public in this time of fiscal crisis, the sooner the Democrats and the union partners realize they're fighting a losing battle against public sentiment. Maybe then we can begin addressing why confiscating money from union members to support the Democratic Party is now just unfair, but downright contemptible. They'll fight this one to their last drop of blood. Once the union spigot is cut off, their party withers on the vine.

Is it any wonder why Obama has poured more effort into the Wisconsin temper tantrum than he has into monitoring developments in Libya? Or is it Lybia?

'Certainly Wu is Becoming an Embarrassment'

Just now he's becoming an embarrassment? What, all his erratic behavior before now was OK just because he has a "D" after his name?

Seven-term Democratic Rep. David Wu faced increasing pressure Wednesday to step down amid a series of bizarre revelations in recent days about his mental health, including a photo he sent to staffers during his re-election bid showing him wearing a tiger costume.

The state Republican chair and one of Oregon's largest newspapers said Wu should resign, but Wu says he has no intention of quitting.

"He has a really important job, and the citizens of Oregon and the citizens of the congressional district deserve to have a congressman who's completely focused on serving them and being a great congressman," Oregon Republican Party Chairman Allen Alley said Wednesday.

Wu said Tuesday that it was "unprofessional and inappropriate" to send pictures of himself wearing a tiger costume to staff members while he was in the middle of a heated campaign last year. He also acknowledged taking two tablets of a pain killer that were given to him by an unnamed campaign donor.

Really clear judgment there, taking pills given to you by some stranger.

The Eugene Register Guard, Oregon's second-largest newspaper by circulation, published an editorial Wednesday calling for Wu's resignation "for lack of candor, not because of treatment."

"Wu should have been forthcoming about his medical treatment when it began," said the paper, which publishes outside Wu's district.

Another paper, the Daily Astorian from Clatsop County in Wu's district, planned to publish an editorial Thursday also suggesting that Wu should step down, saying the congressman has served the region well but "certainly Wu is becoming an embarrassment."

Wu's spokesman said the congressman has no plans to resign and will seek re-election in 2012.

That photo of him dressed as a tiger should make great campaign fodder.