When You've Lost Ruth Marcus ...

Ruth is a lefty pundit with whom, I must confess, I am not familiar. I came across this excellent column of hers in a link on RCP this morning where she calls this administration the "Where's Waldo?" presidency. Here's a nice snippet.

Obama performs best on a stage that permits the grandest sweep. He rises to the big occasion, from his inspiring introduction to the public in his 2004 Democratic convention speech to his healing words in the aftermath of the Tucson shootings.

The president has faltered, though, when called on to translate that rhetoric to more granular levels of specificity: What change, exactly, does he want people to believe in? How, even more exactly, does he propose to get there? "Winning the future" doesn't quite do it.

Ruth has got the guy dialed in pretty well. She lists many of his equivocations and failures to lead and is seeing a very disturbing pattern. Unfortunately for all of us, she's not likely to see a change over the next two years. The dude is a progressive academic, not a leader. He'll be big on stroking his chin and lecturing to us in a superior, patronizing tone, but leading, not so much.

Buckle up, Ruth. It's going to be quite a ride for you. Mostly downhill.

Blogspot Banned in Turkey!!

Dear faithful friends of my blog,

First of all, apologies for the lack of post yesterday, Tuesday, my usual day for posting.  Here in Turkey we are experiencing some unprecedented problems with Blogger : my blog and indeed all blogs which use this programme cannot be accessed within the country right now and nobody can post anything directly on their blog.

So we will try another way and hope that all will be well! Check my blog on Saturday as usual and inşallah you will see my next recipe! Those of you outside the country will have no difficulty in accessing it and for those here in Turkey, my daughter or sister will post it on Facebook as per usual. It should be possible.

Many many thanks for all your hundreds and hundreds of pageviews: it all means a lot to me and I certainly plan to continue despite the odds : )).

Nobody knows how long this ban will last.

So in the meantime, warmest wishes to you all,

Claudia

  

Nasi Uduk by me :)

When im quit from work, i spend much time at home. And since early February i started learning to wake up in the morning. After that i follow my mom to market, buys vegetables and fruit, then cooking! Yes, i am cooking! and this is one of food that i cooked. Named Nasi Uduk, or in Malaysia called Nasi Lemak. Its from rice and coconut oil. it is really delicious. LEKKER! Because of this, im forgot that i was in diet. hahaha. One thing i found is I LOVE COOKING. Following, i often cooking many kind of food,but unfortunately i cant upload the picture. I cooked green pasta, baked potato, soup, egg rice, etc. hahaha. And i dont know why, everytime i cook it is always taste good. later i will upload more. Do u love cooking too? Have some recipes that worth to try?


Groetjes,
Ketty Tressianah

How The Democrats Could Have Avoided Caving In To The Republicans And Their Wild Attacks On The Poor

They could have passed a budget on time (or at all) last year.

There is no FY2011 budget for the United States, thanks to a deliberate dereliction of duty by the Pelosi / Reid legislature. All of the talk of a government shutdown that is going on now would have been avoided, had they executed their primary job - passing an annual budget. Now they're "caving in" to Republicans.

Senate Democrats conceded Tuesday that House Republicans won round one of the budget fight, but they are vowing a bigger battle later this month ...

(L)iberals worry that Democratic leaders will roll over and accept another deal on Republican terms in an attempt to bolster the reelection chances of vulnerable incumbents in red states.

They fear a reprise of last December when Obama and Republican leaders agreed to a tax-cut deal that was widely panned by the left.

By and large, GOP leaders want to keep negotiating short-term deals as part of a strategy to put pressure on Democrats and win concessions such as they did this week.

If they'd just passed a budget, they wouldn't be fighting to protect their favorite programs' funding in continuing resolutions now. Pathetic.

Too-too healthy Spinach Salad

Trying to become healthier is 

HARD

Sometimes I just wonder why life can't be "just a box of chocolates".

My problem is I truly love healthy food.

I also whole-heartedly love unhealthy food.

Fried chicken, chocolate, 

those cheap frosted cookies that seem to station themselves in every grocery store in America.  

You know the ones?  

Little sprinkles on top?  

They change color and sprinkles depending on the season of the year.

Delicious, I say.

But I DO like healthy food.  I munched happily on this salad.

It's just that I could've  eaten it with one  of those frosted cookies from the grocery store.  

Or two.

Or...even three!

My Too-Too Healthy Spinach Salad:

Spinach!

Cherry Tomatoes

Chunks of Tofu
Spanish green olives with herbs (Whole Foods)

Thin Slice of Black Forest Ham

Slivers of yellow Bell Pepper

Chipolte Soy Nuts (sprinkle)

Sunflower Seeds (sprinkle)

Newman's Own: Sesame/Ginger dressing (drizzle)