I am a firm believer that you can tell a lot about a person by what they do for someone who can't do anything for them. I think this article might be going a little bit overboard, but it is an interesting read.

From American Thinker

July 31, 2009

Obama's revealing body language (updated and expanded))

Thomas Lifson
This picture truly is worth at least a thousand words.

I am stunned that the official White House Blog published this picture and that it is in the public domain. The body language is most revealing.

Sergeant Crowley, the sole class act in this trio, helps the handicapped Professor Gates down the stairs, while Barack Obama, heedless of the infirmities of his friend and fellow victim of self-defined racial profiling, strides ahead on his own. So who is compassionate? And who is so self-involved and arrogant that he is oblivious?

In my own dealings with the wealthy and powerful, I have always found that the way to quickly capture the moral essence of a person is to watch how they treat those who are less powerful. Do they understand that the others are also human beings with feelings? Especially when they think nobody is looking.

Hat tip: Rick Richman

Update from Thomas Lifson:

I think this photo constitutes another major Obama blunder.

As some AT commentators point out, this picture becomes a metaphor for ObamaCare. The elderly are left in the back, with only the kindness of the Crowleys of the world, the stand up guys, to depend on. The government has other priorities.

One of the major subtexts of the health care debate involves the public's fear of indifferent, powerful bureaucrats ruling their lives. It is one thing to wait in line at the DMV to find out which other line you should wait in, in order to begin the process of waiting for multiple bureaucrats to go through the motions of processing your request. I have spent entire afternoons going through this process.

But when we get to health care, waiting often means enduring pain and dysfunction longer than necessary, sometimes a worsening of the condition, and sometimes death.

That's why I think this image will have genuine resonance. It captures something that older Americans in particular can relate to. The President presses ahead with a program that will tell them to take painkillers instead of getting that artificial hip.

At every stage of the entire Gates affair, Obama has provided a revealing tell. The "acted stupidly" blunder revealed that he automatically blames the police and thinks they really are stupid to begin with. It didn't trigger a single alarm bell in his mind as he figured out what to say.

Then, the non-apology apology revealed an arrogant man who cannot do what honest people do: admit it when they make a mistake.

Now at stage three, the beer photo op looked OK. It didn't turn into a disaster.

But then in a small moment that nobody in the White House had the brains to understand, Obama goes and send a body language message like this.

I think he is going to get deeper and deeper into trouble. He is no longer repeating the familiar scripts dreamed up for the campaign. He was a master performer.

But when he goes improv, as a president must do, he lets his true character show. This helps widen the level of doubt that Obama is the same guy a majority voted for. Those doubts can only grow.

Andrew McCarthy has assembled an overwhelming case that Obama has lied about who he is. I predict that more and more Americans will become open to the argument that they have been had by a sophisticated and ruthless effort to foist a phony on America.

Update from Clarice Feldman

A nice comparison of the character of the two most recent presidents. George Bush with Senator Robert Byrd:

Litchfield Park Sprint in the Park. . .

Saturday April 18th was the Litchfield Park Sprint in the Park Triathlon. It was put on by Litchfield Parks and Recreation and Litchfield Kiwanis Club. It wasn't a true "Sprint" by distance they called it that because it wasn't just, "a walk in the park," but a sprint in the park. Hard enough, but easy enough people could do it as a family.

I have to admit I was nervous to participate, but it turned out pretty well. For those of you wondering, yes I am sore. Mostly my legs and the bad ankle...which was expected.

Here's the group from of friends who participated. (Left to right: Tom, Me, Joe, Trevin, Brit, Erin) Next year we'll see if we can get Brittany signed up.

This is me all tagged up and ready to go.

It was pretty sweet to get in the water after waiting for over an hour post registration. My toes were cold and the water was warm. When I do it again i will train in a larger pool. This was six laps to get to the 300 yards and the pool I trained in was 12 laps to get to 300. So more walls to kick off from and less swimming it seemed. Even with that I my 300 yards were swam faster than I did in my training.

The transitions were a concern going into it, but all went smoother than planned. I couldn't get my iPod to work for the first half of the ride. Once it finally kicked in I could tell a big difference.


This was just after the finish line. I will admit I walked 3/4ths of the "Run" becuase of my bum ankle, but it was still enjoyable, and I would do it again.


And the fruits of my labors shown above and below... apparently I slept for over 3 hours. I didn't realize I was that tired except I had gotten up at 3:50am, run a triathlon and did it all while forgetting to eat breakfast.

Family Picture

I figured everyone would like to see a picture of our new family.  This was done by one of our primary kids.  She did a really good job, and was so sweet about it.  We have been so blessed to teach the wonderful children in our ward.  She did a great job depicting us.  Britt has her nice curly hair, Jackson has his little mop up top, and I don't have any at all.  Enjoy!

Yowzers!!!

I thought this was pretty sweet, when I saw it. I watched it without sound, so I can't be held responsible for any talkifying going on, but the concept awesome.

New Hair Do...and excited to be a dad

I am fairly certain a hair did like this will not help with client acquisition or retention. . . but it sure is funny. "Suddenly there's some norm that I just don't get." - Ted

I have been reflecting a lot on how blessed Britt and I are. We both have jobs that we love. I get to help people who begin as clients, and more often than not become true friends for a living.

We are pretty much ready for our little guy. The only thing we don't have are wipes. Those are my quick, and diverse thoughts. Otherwise things are good.