What happened to the love? Mr. Sarkozy was also reported yesterday to have cracked a dubious joke about Europe’s “Obamamania”. According to L’Express news magazine, he mentioned Mr Obama’s planned visit to Normandy for the D-day anniversary in June, saying: “I am going to ask him to walk on the Channel, and he’ll do it.”

It doesn’t seem as though the honeymoon’s going all that well, as the French president also described Obama as weak. And if there’s one area in which the French can be regarded as authorities, it’s weakness. Maybe the President of the USA ought to stop trotting around the world, bowing to kings and apologising for the fact that America is America. That just might be seen as a sign of weakness. Or lameness.

KIRO 7’s Essex Porter did an investigative report earlier this month which should concern every Washingtonian.

Looking for ways to bridge a massive multi-billion dollar budget gap, the state legislature is considering a bill to restrict how doctors prescibe medicine to those on state-subsidized care. We all know about generics. They’re usually cheaper. The only problem? Some people can’t take generics. As Essex Porter found out, the side effects can be pretty nasty.

As the Washington Policy Center points out, this is a bad case of bureaucracy getting between doctors and the effective treatment of their patients. Who pays when someone like the patients in Essex’s report have a severe reaction because some bureaucrat thought it’d be a good idea to use a cheaper medicine?

The doctor? The pharmacist? The state? Folks, this is what government-run healthcare looks like. Fewer choices for the consumer, and potentially being denied effective treatments because the bureaucrats are in control of your healthcare–not you.

Veterans are pissed…as they should be. Funny thing is that now, after this slight, a lot who were not very disgruntled…are.

And Napolitano’s attempt to appease them is pointless when she has said she stands by the report’s conclusions.

US govt faces veteran anger at extremism report

The US Homeland Security Department, under fire for saying US forces returning from the Iraq and Afghan wars were potential right-wing extremist recruits, said Wednesday it honors US veterans.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to douse anger among conservatives and veterans groups like the American Legion over a report from her department warning of a rising threat of right-wing extremism.

“We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not — nor will we ever — monitor ideology or political beliefs,” Napolitano said in a statement amid charges that the department had done just that.

My friend Karma forwarded an interesting piece of e-mail with a proposed solution to the economic problems we’re having. According to the original e-mail this was a suggestion from a respondent to an article in the St. Petersburg Times business section.

Dear Mr. President,

Patriotic retirement: There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force - pay them $1 million apiece severance with the following stipulations:

1. They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2. They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3. They either buy a house/pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

Can’t get any easier than that.