The Day of the Expanding Man

Shakespearean
Thanks to a pending law, next January Florida will become the stingiest state in America when it comes to unemployment insurance benefits. A bill awaiting Republican Gov. Rick Scott's signature will cut unemployment taxes on businesses by reducing the maximum benefits for people laid off through no fault of their own to 23 weeks. That's three fewer weeks than the standard 26 weeks provided by nearly every state for the past 50 years. (Huffington Post.com, 5/10/11)

Oh those mean old Republicans! Denying rightful benefits to those “laid off through no fault of their own.” (Do you love that phrase or what?) Apparently paying benefits for 23 weeks instead of 26 weeks qualifies as stingy. But we read further and learn this….

Florida is one of 25 states where the jobless are eligible for 99 weeks of unemployment benefits thanks to 73 weeks worth of federal extensions put in place to fight the recession.

Oh jobless benefits, where is thy sting(y)?

What Omar Wants
The statement, attributed to Omar bin Laden, bin Laden's fourth eldest son, said the al Qaeda chief's children reserved the right to take legal action in the United States and internationally to "determine the true fate of our vanished father," the SITE Intelligence Group said.

The letter said, in part: "We hold the American President (Barack) Obama legally responsible to clarify the fate of our father, Osama bin Laden, for it is unacceptable, humanely and religiously, to dispose of a person with such importance and status among his people, by throwing his body into the sea in that way, which demeans and humiliates his family and his supporters and which challenges religious provisions and feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims." (Huffington Post.com, 5/10/11)

Sounds to RedStateVT as though Omar is giving President Obama the green light to release the photos showing bin Laden with the extra ventilation provided courtesy of our brave Navy SEALs.

Mal Tiempo
Mr. Obama did not push such legislation in his first two years, when Democrats controlled Congress, and it has virtually no chance of passage now that Republicans have a House majority. That leaves pro-immigration groups pushing for Mr. Obama to take executive actions at least….Yet Mr. Obama does not plan to introduce legislation. (NYT, 5/10/11)

So Obama did not push the issue when he had the chance and will not do so now and yet he still wants the Hispanic vote. And, of course, there is outrage that he may bypass the Congress and issue an executive order. Just kidding about that last one!

Hurt Feelings
The anger and hurt within the Pakistani military and intelligence service over America’s unilateral action against Bin Laden will leave cooperation bumpy for some time, foreign diplomats and analysts predicted. (NYT, 5/10/11)

Also leaving “cooperation bumpy for some time” is the harboring of bin Laden for five years by the Pakistanis just down the street from their version of West Point, RedStateVt predicted.