The Conservative Libertine

We Are The 53%

2011-10-28T17:34:00.004-04:00

After initially hearing about the occupodos claiming to represent the 99% (people who make less than $343,000) my reaction was "No you are not! You are the 47% who don't pay any taxes!".

So if you go on and do the math, that means the rest of us are the 53%. The people who actually pay taxes.

Apparently there is a burgeoning movement coalescing under the banner of "We Are The 53%". I get it. And in fact I am for whatever storyline is required to unravel the lies of the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET crowd. But let's be frank. The 53% is the Tea Party. It was the Tea Party that got out first to protest the bank bail outs, and to put an end to the Fed. The main difference is that the Tea Party blames the government for the bailouts while the occupodos blame Wall Street and the free market capitalism system that has made America great.

Let me go on to stipulate my own grand conspiracy theory surrounding the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET movement. It is not a grass roots movement inspired by sudden frustration as was the case with the Tea Party. It is part of a vast left wing conspiracy to get President Obama elected to a second term. It is no coincidence that the community-organizer-in-chief reignited the class warfare front with his business bashing rhetoric, and that Warren Buffet declared the rich should be taxed more, and that then college students, unemployed recent grads, and ancient hippies reliving their glory days, suddenly began to occupy ( camp - party - defecate ) public parks close to financial institutions with the support of unions and the ACORN infrastructure.

Everybody now knows, including the Presidents supporters, that the Emperor has no clothes, and so he has brilliantly orchestrated events to rev up his base. Not that his base was going to vote for the other team, but maybe they just weren't going to show up. Even better, maybe the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET astro-turf movement will get his base "to get in the face" of the independants that he will oh so desperately need.

But I could be wrong. Just say'in.

The Rich Should Pay For EVERYTHING!

2011-10-28T12:14:00.000-04:00

Ummmm..... No!

"You do not make the poor rich by making the rich poor"

-Abraham Lincoln

H/T to Micheal Graham for pulling out this video. And according to his wishes I want to pass it on to you.

A Single Economist Destroys The Entire Premise Of The Occupy Movement In 7 Minutes

It takes Professor Richard Epstein less than 7 minutes to demolition Liz Warren’s economic idiocy, President Obama’s far-Left insanity and the entire premise of the Occupy movement.

Not bad for one PBS interview.

Please watch this, then send the link to your “The Rich Can Pay For EVERYTHING!” friends.

Watch Does U.S. Economic Inequality Have a Good Side? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Marc Ash Is Still A Moron: #OWS

2011-10-27T16:27:00.003-04:00

Atlanta #OWS Rally

Pigheaded progressive propagandist March Ash over at Reader Supported News is waxing poetically over the Occupy Wall Street movement. It wasn't too long ago that I posted about his fear and loathing over Tea Party protests and how he wagged his finger at their violent overtones.

Marc Ash is a Moron.

It's time to set the record straight. The reason that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the brain, "through and through," was that an individual hated and feared her political objectives enough to commit the cowardly act.

His hyperbolic contortions to blame the Tea Party for the violence done to Gabrielle Giffords were pornographic, never mind a complete lie.

And now? Now that violence has come to the streets he wells up with pride and adulation at the stinky dirty occupodos currently occupying the streets of Oakland.

A Witness to the Violence in Oakland

Whatever meaning the Occupy Movement represents to the protesters who participate, to the Oakland Police Department, and the system they are paid to protect, it obviously represents something to be feared and repressed ... violently, and even lethally, if necessary.

Apparently, now being feared is good. He goes on to lie about their non-violent nature.

Armed only with a growing chant of "Our streets!" the marchers moved forward towards the line of police in riot gear. Shoulder to shoulder in non-violent defiance, the marchers tried to filter through the line of riot-armored police.

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it? Only, as usual, it's not the whole story.

Occupy Clashes Test Mayors

The trouble began after some demonstrators in front of the Oakland Library Tuesday afternoon began throwing "paint or other hazardous material" at officers, said a statement from Oakland police posted on Twitter.

Oh c'mon! A little paint and "hazardous material" never hurt anyone. I wonder if by "hazardous material" they mean feces? But what the hell?

Police said protesters threw M-80 fireworks at the officers as well as objects including bottles, rocks, pots and pans.

Damn police! They never let anyone have any fun!

Marc Ash goes on to preach about how this movement can never be stopped.

And there is no indication that police violence can stop it.

That maybe so, but unlike an old hippie like Marc Ash who's Marxist vision can never be extinguished, the useful idiots that make up the Occupodos are in fact learning something from this experience.

Remedial Economics

Nan Terrie learned an expensive lesson last week about the importance of property rights. "Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment," the 18-year-old protester told the New York Post. "I had my Mac stolen—that was like $5,500." Why? Because she left it in a public place, amid a crowd demanding the redistribution of wealth. Imagine that.

It's always going to be a good day when a Wall Street Journal Op/Ed piece can give you a good chuckle, but it's a great day when they can make you laugh out loud (lol - for you occupodos who might be reading this).

Perverse incentives were at work at Occupy Boston, where 36-year-old Andrew Warner told the Boston Herald: "It's turning into us against them." By "them" he didn't mean rich bankers but street vagrants: "They come in here and they're looking at it as a way of getting a free meal and a place to crash, which is totally fine, but they don't bring anything to the table at all." The same is true in New York, where "sanitation committee" member Lauren Digioia told the Daily News: "There's a lot of takers here and they feel entitled."

Really! You cannot make this stuff up.

Marc Ashe ignores the reports of beatings, rapes, robberies and does not talk about the fact that the encampments have begun to put together their own brown shirt squads to try and police themselves, mostly because it's embarrassing to have to call the police you have been battling to come to the aid of a rape victim.

More than anything else, given his completely based in no fact at all indictment of the Tea Party and their violent imagery, I would like to know what he thinks about the violent imagery and intimidation being used by the occupodos?

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed....said in a statement. Among his apparent concerns were an unauthorized hip-hop concert held at the park last Saturday, which drew large crowds, and a protester who circled the park Tuesday toting an AK-47, which he had a permit to carry but which unnerved others in the park.

Such are the travails of a hard core propagandist.

Occupy Providence

2011-10-18T12:26:00.000-04:00

I went to check out the Occupy Providence encampment yesterday. There is not a lot going on there. Honestly there were more tents set up than there were people. My best guess was that the residents of those tents were attending the classes that Mom and Dad paid for, or sneaking back to the dorm to take a shower and would likely return the nights festivities. It really did feel like a normal campground. Everybody was very nice and non-threatening, but it also lacked a feeling of passion. People were just hanging out.

In the video you will see that they did put together a protest against the Bank of America. I thought it was lack luster and not very well attended. One of the chants they used was "Banks Got Bailed Out! We Got Sold Out!". This chant made me want to ask one of them; 'If you are angry about the bailouts, then why did you not go to the Tea Party protests? And aren't you protesting the wrong people? The Government gave the banks our money, and the banks had to take it. It was not optional'. But I had chosen just to observe. Something about the vibe suggested that logic would not take the day. I now regret that decision.

At least the homeless people who typically who inhabit the park seemed to enjoy the company of the student and their willingness to share their food and water. That was nice.

So Much for Peaceful Protestors

2011-10-07T05:30:00.000-04:00

The story line that police are beating innocent and peaceful protestors is bullshit. But you have to go outside of the U.S. to see the truth reported.

Police confront barrier-storming protesters

There is a line of policemen right beside me and a few minutes ago they put up this barricade. That is because about 15 minutes ago a call went around the group [0f protestors] for anyone who wanted to be arrested to move to the front of the group. They did so, they locked arms, and they tried to push through the steel barricades at the top of Wall Street.

None of these types of provocations are being reported by mainstream left wing media.On the contrary, they are reporting the propaganda line about "innocent people being beaten and arrested". And now that the union organizers have shown up, the violence will be more organized and bloodier.

Occupy Wall Street vs Tea Party

2011-10-06T14:16:00.000-04:00

It is amazing to sit back and watch the main stream media lavish the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET crowd with pity and support, all the while remembering how peaceful Tea Party Protests were depicted as angry and violent mobs.

With the cries for 'civility' from the left now just a distant memory, they can no longer suppress their penchant for hate and violence. The party that loves to hate is back on the street, and they are pissed!

One of Saul Alinsky's rules for radicals was to "accuse your opponent of the awful things that you are doing or about to do"

Clearly accusing the Tea Party of violence fell into the "about to do" category.

And now that there is some blood in the water the unions are joining the fun. The self proclaimed thug army for Obama can't stay away from a good street fight.

Of Course America is Soft Mr President! It's what progressives have been wishing for!

2011-09-30T17:27:00.000-04:00

In a continued campaign to blame anything and everything except his leadership for the current state of the union, the economy, our international prestige and everything else he is supposed to be in charge of, President Obama has stopped blaming bush and now blames all of us.

"I mean, there are a lot of things we can do," Obama said. "The way I think about it is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft and, you know, we didn't have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades. We need to get back on track."

Of course America is weaker then it was decades ago Mr President Thanks to the progressive movement we now live in a politically correct society where competition is frowned upon. It's not good form to have an honor roll at school. Young soccer players don't keep score so as not to make the other team feel bad. Being successful and making money is a sin for which you will be punitively taxed while being ridiculed, and you better not push back either.

Gee Mr President, I wonder how America got soft?

Careful what you wish for.

Michael Graham: About Those Millionaires Not Paying Their “Fair Share”

2011-09-28T14:03:00.000-04:00

Obama deflected the charge of resurecting the class war the other day by saying:

“If asking a billionaire to pay the same rate as a plumber or a teacher makes me a warrior for the middle class, I wear that charge as a badge of honor,”

He lies to the American people by suggesting that Billionaires don't pay the same rate as regular people. Well, they don't. THEY PAY A HIGHER RATE!

as I pointed out in a post the other day, IRS data shows they do pay a higher rate.

Krugman's Social Contract and the Coming Class War

and in a post today by radio talk show host Michael Graham, more IRS data to prove the point. The post is so good I am posting it here in it's entirety (without his permission. I hope that's OK Michael.)

About Those Millionaires Not Paying Their “Fair Share”

Economist Veronique de Rugy continues to fight the media-driven ignorance on taxes and who pays them.
In 2009, millionaires made up 0.1 percent, or just fewer than 240,000, of the 140 million tax returns filed that year. Despite their small demographic imprint, the magnitude of their contribution in paid taxes is hard to overlook. Over the past ten years, millionaires have paid 17 to 28 percent of total income tax returns per year.
Also note that, under evil George W. Bush and his “tax cuts for the rich,” the share of the income tax bill went UP—not down—by about 60%.
Add all the other facts about the people earning 20% of the income but paying 30% of the income tax bill, and I ask you again: How much more do they have to pay before you’ll call it “fair?” If they pay double their share—40%—would that be “fair?” Triple? 60%?
The LAST thing angry extremists like Elizabeth Warren want is “fairness.” They want “equal outcomes” for the hard-working and the lazy; for the smart and the dumb; for the risk-taker and the coward. Everybody gets to share the wealth.
What could be less “fair” than that?

Micheal Moore's Class Warfare

2011-09-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

Can you imagine if some Tea Party spokesman came out and said:

"The people coming to these town hall meetings are mad! They are sick and tired of their tax money being wasted. They are sick of the welfare state and they are not going to take it any more. If the government doesn't change,there could be violence.No one wants to see that but that's what could happen"

Holy crap! Oh my god! Nancy Pelosi's head would have exploded.

Just speaking your mind at a town hall meeting was a violent threat in their minds. And now, real threats of violence, and real acts of intimidation are ignored by the main street media. The same band of propagandists who wanted you to think those Tea Party were crazy and violent are now telling you, " uh oh, These Marxists might be violent, we better appease them!".

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But it's OK when the class warriors on the left threaten you with violence.

The violent left is getting impatient with Obama.

Krugman's Social Contract and the Coming Class War

2011-09-23T15:51:00.002-04:00

Coming to the defense of Elizabeth Warren, and foreshadowing the go for broke rhetoric that is to come in 2012, Paul Krugman become a class warfare denier.

The Social Contract

This week President Obama said the obvious: that wealthy Americans, many of whom pay remarkably little in taxes, should bear part of the cost of reducing the long-run budget deficit. And Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan responded with shrieks of “class warfare.”

OK. Stop right there. Could someone please first make the case that the rich do not pay their fair share? Could someone please tell me what that fair share is?

I guess not. Paul Krugman doesn't even make an attempt to answer either of these question. He does cite a meaningless statistic though.

Meanwhile, over the same period, the income of the very rich, the top 100th of 1 percent of the income distribution, rose by 480 percent. No, that isn’t a misprint. In 2005 dollars, the average annual income of that group rose from $4.2 million to $24.3 million.

So what? That means such an individual's share or tax burden increased by 480 percent. Right? Good for everybody!

From the Wall Street Journal

Let's actually look at some hard data, and make the case that top earners pay more than their fair share.

If we were really talking about a fair share, then everybody would pay the same percentage. A flat tax. And as you made more money your contribution would rise proportionally. But, as you can see from the chart nearby, the data bears out that the more you make, the larger your piece of the pie becomes.

So we already have the system that Paul, Elizabeth and the other Marxists are haranguing for.

How much is enough?

There isn't enough. There will never be enough. Why? Because this is a class war.

Paul goes on to say:

Which brings us back to those cries of “class warfare.”

Republicans claim to be deeply worried by budget deficits. Indeed, Mr. Ryan has called the deficit an “existential threat” to America. Yet they are insisting that the wealthy — who presumably have as much of a stake as everyone else in the nation’s future — should not be called upon to play any role in warding off that existential threat.

I can't decide whether this is extraordinary hyperbole, or an out right lie. THEY DO CONTRIBUTE Paul!

I am so sick of the class warfare, whinny sanction of the victim crap that if it would actually solve everything, I would capitulate. Fine. Sorry rich people, I know it's unfair, but we have to shut these people up and fix all of our problems.

The fact of the matter is that it would not even come close. There just aren't enough rich people to pay for the prolific spending the government is doing. This turns out to be further evidence that this is class warfare. These people are un-serious about solving problems. It is class warfare, and if you think "so what? I'm not rich", guess what. They are coming for you next.

From the Wall Street Journal

Like I said. There just aren't enough rich people to pay for the prolific spending the government is doing. So where will they go next?

So to all of you 'tax the rich' cheer leaders, what are you going to say when the political class turns around and says 'OK, now it's your turn to pay your fair share'?

The Class Warriors won't be happy until we are all unhappy.

Right, Wing-Nut!: Elizabeth Warren: A Poison To The Body Politic

2011-09-23T12:13:00.000-04:00

Great minds think alike.

While I was putting together my own version of the Elizabeth Warren video rant, the Jersey Nut put into words a well articulated disection of what is going on in the video.

Go read it.
Right, Wing-Nut!: Elizabeth Warren: A Poison To The Body Politic

No need for me to duplicate, but I will share my video with commentary.

Al Gore's High School Logic

2011-09-20T11:49:00.000-04:00

Just like Jason from Halloween, or Hillary Clinton, just when you think you have slayed the evil monster, they come back to life. Just like in the movies.

How is it that we are still talking about Global Warming as settled science? But just like any other religion, if you use logic or ask thoughtful questions to one of it's true believers you need to expect a caustic reaction if it challenges their belief system.

So it goes with Al Gore. Since the climate gate scandal broke he's been livid.

High School Physics

That's how Al Gore described the science of climate change this week, by which we suppose he meant it's elementary and unchallengeable.

I think that is both precious and prescient. It reveals and seems to advocate the simpleton logic behind the pseudo-scientifc belief that man made carbon causes Global Warming or Climate Change or whatever ails you.

Even if the data had not been manipulated and it actually did show that that an increase in carbon coincided with an increase in temperatures; that's your scientific theory? Really? It is foolish logic on par with the reasoning that the earth is flat. It has to be flat! Otherwise the oceans would have spilled off and we would have no oceans! That's what the "scientific minds" of the day thought when a flat earth was considered settled science.

What about the 4 billion years of climate change before man even showed up? What about the ice age, and then the warming, and then the next ice age and so on and so on. How did all of that happen without man made carbon? You can't explain to me how or why all of that climate change took place, but you're positive that this time it's because of man made carbon. Great. Fine. Thanks, but I need to speak with the Jehovah's witness waiting behind you. Have a nice day.

Well, Mr. Vice President, meet Ivar Giaever, a 1973 physics Nobel Laureate who resigned last week from the American Physical Society in protest over the group's insistence that evidence of man-made global warming is "incontrovertible."

In an email to the society, Mr. Giaever—who works at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute—wrote that "The claim (how can you measure the average temperature of the whole earth for a whole year?) is that the temperature has changed from ~288.0 to ~288.8 degree Kelvin in about 150 years, which (if true) means to me . . . that the temperature has been amazingly stable, and both human health and happiness have definitely improved in this 'warming' period."

Mr. Giaever was an American Physical Society fellow, an honor bestowed on "only half of one percent" of the members, according to a spokesman. He follows in the footsteps of University of California at Santa Barbara Emeritus Professor of Physics Harold Lewis, a former APS fellow who resigned in 2010, calling global warming "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist."

It's a fraud because they pretend their belief is based in science, while it is nothing more than a belief system on par with any other religion on earth.

One of the least savory traits of climate-change advocates is how they've tried to bully anyone who keeps an open mind. This is true of many political projects, but it is or ought to be anathema to the scientific method.

Climate Change Denier is just a code word for heretic. The fire and brimstone label pinned on those who would even dare question the idea that man made carbon is responsible for climate change.

Global Warming is Real!

Right, Wing-Nut!: Redefining "Civility" Down...

2011-09-06T12:58:00.000-04:00

Right, Wing-Nut!: Redefining "Civility" Down...

So "civility", like so many words in the Age of Obama, has been redefined, to mean you are forbidden to speak ill of of me, but I am free to say the most horrible, hateful, and untrue things about you that my imagination can conjure up.

My thoughts exactly!

If you are an actual thug, who actually uses violence to advance your cause you can use violent rhetoric as long as your cause is favored by the left.

"War!"
"We like a good fight!"
"Let's take these sons of bitches out!"
"President Obama! This is your Army!"

But if you're merely a fed up citizen who is concerned about deficit spending that has no end in sight then don't even think of using words like

"Target"
"Lock and load"

You'll make Nancy Pelosi and Patches Kennedy cry.

The Audacity of Hate

Where are the Cries for Civility?

Change You Were Dumb To Believe In

2011-08-12T14:34:00.001-04:00

"When I said ‘change we can believe in’ I didn‘t say ’change we can believe in tomorrow.’ Not change we can believe in next week. We knew this was going to take time because we’ve got this big, messy, tough democracy.”

-Barack Obama

Even kids know it's wrongt to hide behind fine print.

Obama Finally Creates Bipartisanship Through Dissapointment

2011-08-10T10:00:00.002-04:00

It's expected that over at the Wall Street Journal you will find critiques of president Obama's policies a little more in depth than at left leaning lame stream media outlets. Yesterdays opinion piece by Brett Stephens was notably pointed though well said.

Is Obama Smart?

"I think I'm a better speech writer than my speech writers," he reportedly told an aide in 2008. "I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm . . . a better political director than my political director."

On another occasion—at the 2004 Democratic convention—Mr. Obama explained to a Chicago Tribune reporter that "I'm LeBron, baby. I can play at this level. I got game."

Stuff we have come to expect from our promiser-in chief. But just like he explained last week that he never meant that change would come tomorrow or next week, it appears that many are wondering if he really has 'got game'.

Then there is Mr. Obama as political tactician. He makes predictions that prove false. He makes promises he cannot honor. He raises expectations he cannot meet. He reneges on commitments made in private. He surrenders positions staked in public. He is absent from issues in which he has a duty to be involved. He is overbearing when he ought to be absent.

Again, not surprising coming from the WSJ. But it appears that the sentiment is not purely partisan. Support on the left is becoming shaky. Especially from Hillary supporters who held their nose and voted for Obama anyways.

Hillary Told You So

At a New York political event last week, Republican and Democratic office-holders were all bemoaning President Obama’s handling of the debt-ceiling crisis when someone said, “Hillary would have been a better president.”

“Every single person nodded, including the Republicans,” reported one observer.

At a luncheon in the members’ dining room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, a 64-year-old African-American from the Bronx was complaining about Obama’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the implacable hostility of congressional Republicans when an 80-year-old lawyer chimed in about the president’s unwillingness to stand up to his opponents. “I want to see blood on the floor,” she said grimly.

"Blood on the floor". Glad to see that the left is staying the course with their appeals for civilty and their discomfort with rehtoric that could be seen as threatening or violent. But we'll save that for a different post. This post is about the left becoming unnerved with the Obama administrations continued dissapointments.

In his New York Times Sunday Review essay “What Happened to Obama?” Emory University psychology professor Drew Westen summed up the president’s lack of experience with devastating succinctness.

“Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president, having never run a business or a state; that he had a singularly unremarkable career as a law professor, publishing nothing in 12 years at the University of Chicago other than an autobiography; and that, before joining the United States Senate, he occasionally, as a state senator in Illinois, voted ‘present’ on difficult issues,” wrote Westen, author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation.

The presidential scholar Matthew Dickinson went even further with a post under the headline “Run, Hillary, Run!” on the blog Presidential Power. “She did warn you,” Dickinson reminded his readers.

“Remember that 3 a.m. phone call? Remember the warning about the rose-colored petals falling from the sky? Remember about learning on the job? Sure you do. Doesn’t a part of you, deep down, realize she was right?” wrote Dickinson, a political-science professor at Middlebury College. “If I heard it once this last week, I heard it a thousand times: You were duped by Obama’s rhetoric—the whole ‘hopey-changey’ thing. And you wanted to be part of history, too—to help break down the ultimate racial barrier. That’s OK. We were all young once. But now it’s time to elect someone who can play hardball, who understands how to be ruthless, who will be a real ... uh ... tough negotiator in office. There won’t be any debate about Hillary’s, er, ‘man-package.’”

Wow! Is a Hillary run a possibility? During her run for the presidency, at many different points when others pronounced her demise, I never bought in. I always knew, and wrote that Hillary is like Jason from the movie Halloween or a vampire from any vampire flick you want to select. When you think Hillary is dead, DO NOT TURN AROUND AND DROP THE KNIFE, STUMBLING AWAY THINKING THAT YOU HAVE VANQUISHED THE MONSTER!

Until I see a decapitated Hillary, who has been dragged into a church and surrounded by a ring of garlic will I ever count Hillary Clinton 'out'.

Obama: The great Communicator?

2011-08-09T17:46:00.001-04:00

Here is Charles Krauthammer's dead on short analysis of Obama's AAA downgrade speech.

“He went out there with the Dow minus 400. After he spoke it went down to minus 600. He looked weak, plaintive, and small: weak and plaintive because he comes out there and he blames the Tea Party, Europe, Japan, Middle East -- probably God because he's the author of earthquakes -- everybody except him.”
-- Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report w/Bret Baier” 8/8/2011

Pretty much sums it up.

My big take away was the mostly "Nothing to see here" message that he pursued. After weeks of posturing, scare tactics, and partisan sniping suddenly the downgrade of the credit rating for the USA is no big deal. It wasn't even a week ago that the democrats were howling about the eminent danger of a downgrade, and so reasoned that the Tea Party should just shut up and raise the debt limit. Obama got what he wanted in exchange for a paltry 1 trillion dollar cut in government spending over ten years, and the USA was still downgraded. Mainly because S&P had already warned the government that it need to see a 4 trillion dollar ut in advance of the deal. The worst case scenario that would mean Armageddon for the US economy happened anyways, even though the debt limit was raised.

Obama Bid to Boost Confidence Falls Short

"Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America," Mr. Obama said. "No matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a triple-A country."

What?!?!?!? Nothing to see here?!?!?!?

What about the disaster that would occur if we were downgraded?

It is becoming apparent to both the left and the right that this president is over his head. More to come on that.

Obama Gets A Grade: AA+

2011-08-09T09:22:00.005-04:00

Sounds pretty good right? Well it's not.

America Gets Downgraded
A spend and tax policy mix always leads to economic decline.

Friday's downgrade by Standard & Poor's of U.S. long-term debt to AA+ from AAA will be the first of many such humiliations if Washington doesn't change its economic and fiscal policies.

Unfortunately Washington doesn't get this. All weekend long democrats have been blaming the Tea Party for the downgrade. Ha! What a hoot! a real ROTFLMAO! Unfortunately there are people who believe this partisan propaganda. In our new upside down world reality the Obama administration can put this talking point out there despite logic and facts, and people will still prefer to believe the lie.

So let's think about the Tea Party's guilt in this national embarrassment. For over a decade Democrats and Republicans have been spending like drunken sailors. Then a third party almost arises, but then loosely aligns themselves with old school spendaholic Republicans so that they might have more than a snowballs chance in hell to win some seats in the House and the Senate. Their stated mission is to reduce Government spending and save the country from the fate we are witnessing in Greece. Ergo, the downgrade is the fault of the Tea Party. Yep! Just like the villian in Saturday morning Scooby-doo cartons used to say "Those meddling kids! I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for them".Yep. Nobody would have figured out that massive runaway deficit spending would eventually collapse like a Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.

Yet is there anything that S&P said on Friday that everyone else doesn't already know? S&P essentially declared that on present trend the U.S. debt burden is unsustainable, and that the American political system seems unable to reverse that trend.

This is not news.

The very idea that if the Government had just quietly raised the debt ceiling with no debate, then everything would be just fine is laughable! Think about these numbers.

The Bush Presidency and previous GOP Congresses contributed to the current problem by not insisting on domestic cuts to finance the cost of war, and by adding the prescription drug benefit without reforming Medicare. But as recently as 2008 spending was still only 20.7%, and debt held by the public was only 40.3%, of GDP.

Pretty bad huh? I remember the Hate Bush Party (sort of the opposite of the Tea Party) freaking out over this. My own mother lamented with crocodile tears about the horrible debt her grandchildren were going to inherit.

In the name of saving the economy from panic, the White House and the Pelosi Congress then blew out the American government balance sheet. They compounded the problem of excessive private debt by adding unsustainable public debt.

They boosted federal spending to 25% of GDP in 2009, 23.8% in 2010 (as TARP repayments provided a temporary reduction in overall spending), and back nearly to 25% this fiscal year. Meanwhile, debt to GDP climbed to 53.5% in 2009, 62.2% in 2010, and is estimated to hit 72% this year—and to keep rising. These are all figures from Mr. Obama's own budget office.

From 40% to 72% in three short years. If pre 2008 spending drove you to the Hate Bush Party, then why isn't your head exploding today! Where is the seething hate? Even my mother no longer seems to be overly concerned about the debt her grandchildren will inherit despite these eye popping numbers.

But what is even more astonishing is the notion that if it were not for the darn Tea Party, everything would be fine. Standard & Poors would have never taken notice.

Yea.....riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

Think of it in real world terms. If you get a credit card and you pay your bills your credit score goes up. But, If you keep adding more credit cards and piling up more debt, at some point your score will go down, even if you are paying your bills. Your income to debt ratio makes you suspect in your ability to catch up on your bills. That's what happened to America on Friday. And it's not the Tea Party's fault, it's the fault of all those who would not listen to them. I hate to be the one to say it but "They tried to tell you so".

And as for yesterday's collapse in the stock market, it is my opinion that the correction is due more to the recent announcement that first half GDP number that was less than 2% growth. How could the market claim it is more valuable (11000 in January to 12750 in July) if the GDP is not growing at a similar rate? Hmmmmm... My stocks must be over priced. I'm outa here!

Obama was right about one thing yesterday "It's not rocket science".

Bernie Sanders is Right! Americans are Angry! He Just Has No Idea Why.

2011-07-29T13:45:00.001-04:00

In today's Wall Street Journal Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spins his version of "Why Americans Are So Angry". He is absolutely correct in his assertion, however his reasoning as to why is way off base and is a testament to his out of touch socialist ideology.

Why Americans Are So Angry

The rich are getting richer. Their effective tax rate, in recent years, has been reduced to the lowest in modern history. Nurses, teachers and firemen actually pay a higher tax rate than some billionaires. It's no wonder the American people are angry.

I don't understand this accusation. I pay taxes and I have seen the progressive tax tables. I invite someone to show me some math as to how this is possible, unless of course it's due to tax loopholes that were granted by Congress.

Many corporations, including General Electric and Exxon-Mobil, have made billions in profits while using loopholes to avoid paying any federal income taxes.

Yes. We are very angry about this. This is why we want a short term deal on the debt ceiling. We want you to have just enough time to reform the tax code, and deliver on promises of spending cuts. The Corporate Tax rate should be lowered to 20% or 25% and all loopholes should be eliminated. 35% is the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and what good does it do you if you can't collect it, other than scaring away other multi-national corporations who might come here and create some jobs, and hurting the small businesses who do have to cough up the 35% because they don't have armies of accountants searching for loopholes. Imagine if we collected 20% of General Electrics profits?

If the Republicans have their way, the entire burden of deficit reduction will be placed on the elderly, the sick, children and working families. In the midst of a horrendous recession that is already causing severe pain for average Americans, this approach is morally grotesque. It's also bad economic policy.

This type of demagoguery does not help. What American's want Congress to do is to increase revenue by fixing the tax code and to reduce spending. Just increasing taxes doesn't even come close to fixing the problem. It's like pissing in the ocean in an effort to raise its temperature. It shows that liberals are more interested in scoring a victory in their culture war rather than fixing the problem. Sen. Sanders sanction of the victim argument is just an excuse to ignore the tough reality we now face.

What's more, Mr. Boehner's plan would reopen the debate over the debt ceiling, which is now paralyzing Congress, just six months from now.

Exactly Bernie! We don't trust you! We don't trust the promises of tax reform and spending cuts. If we give you the money to keep on spending thru the election you and the rest of Congress will move on to less important issues. We will have let you "kick the can down the road". We want you and Congress held accountable. We want this debate to happen again in six months so that we can take measure of your performance in advance of the election. If you do not increase revenues by fixing the tax code and you do not deliver on your promises to reduce deficit spending then we will send you all packing.

Now shut up and get to work!

Climate of Hate Making a Comeback

2011-07-21T15:44:00.000-04:00

After the shooting of Rep Gabby Giffords the left came out and and basically blamed Sarah Palin for the whole thing. Her rhetoric was violent when she said things like "Lock and load", and her imagery was violent when she used cross hairs to identify districts locked in close races. Never mind that phrases like 'battleground state' have been used by many for as long as I have been alive.

I have always said that there are a lot of democrats who have the need for hate. They have to have someone to hate. For 8 years it was Bush derangement. Now it's Sarah's turn. And the big irony was that they used hate as their instrument to project hate! Saul Alinsky would be proud.

• RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address. One way of doing this is to accuse your enemy of what you are doing or going to do)

Well, now things are heating up in Washington over the debt and the seething hate by the left is turning into violent rehtoric. It's OK for them to do it though.

Larry Summers the Cable Guy

Larry Summers is a brilliant guy, or so he's told us. But the former Treasury Secretary, Harvard University president, and until this January the most senior White House economic aide sure can say some dumb things.

Take his remarks yesterday comparing Republicans in Congress to terrorists. "Is the President right to not yield to terrorism?" Mr. Summers, who is once again a Harvard don, told Bloomberg TV. "Yes, the President is absolutely right to not yield to threats to send the country into default. You can't run the country that way."

and the article went on to quote Mr Summers as saying

"The financial terrorism threats are untenable."

So calling someone a Nazi is out, and terrorist is in. Did everyone get the memo?

comparing a debate over spending and debt to murderers who hijack airliners and target civilians is overwrought even by the standards of modern cable television.

And with this pithy close the editorial piece gets another good jab in.

Mr. Summers could at least be a little less Keith Olbermann-like in his choice of words toward those trying to clean up his mess. Unless, of course, he's looking for a gig on MSNBC.

And on the same page we see another example of the left cranking up the violent rhetoric.

Elizabeth Warren Forgets

In the hyperbole department, does anyone do it better than Elizabeth Warren? Yesterday she told reporters that today's House vote on a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reform bill is an effort to "try and kill this agency." Little did we know that accountability and murder were synonymous in the Harvard law professor's vocabulary.

Where are the Cries for Civility?

Lefty Liberals Still Own Hate and Violence: and they HATE Glenn Beck!

2011-06-29T13:35:00.001-04:00

As we have observed on these pages many times before, it is the left who is the party of hate, and the irony is that they vigorously and actively accuse the Tea Party, Republicans, and anyone else who does not buy into their Marxist ideology as being the purveyors of hate and violence.

This is of course right in line with Saul Alinsky's Rules for modern American radicalism; A religion for the true believers on the left.

• RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address. One way of doing this is to accuse your enemy of what you are doing or going to do)

So, in order to document yet another hypocritical act of indecency here on these pages this post observes the treatment of Glenn Beck and his family in public.

Glenn Beck’s Wife Attacked in NYC Park

Glenn Beck says his family was accosted while watching a movie in a New York City park Monday night. On his radio show and his website today, Beck described the incident and said an angry moviegoer kicked a glass of wine onto his wife Tania’s back, and as she got up to walk away, a man shouted: “We hate conservatives here.”

Glenn went on to observe:

“I swear to you I think, if I had suggested, and I almost did, ‘Wow, does anybody have a rope? Because there’s tree here. You could just lynch me.’ And I think there would have been a couple in the crowd that would have.”

Nice, The guy can;t even go out in public with his family. Now, it's completely O.K. to disagree with Glenn, but if you don't have the intellect or command of the facts or even worse if you are just flat out wrong, then you need to resort to personal attacks, and violence; Just like Saul Alinsky told you to.

• RULE 5: "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

I have long advocated that the Tea Party should adopt Sauls 'Rules for Radicals'. My view on this comes from the old adage "Fight Fire with Fire".

D-Day: 67 years ago on this day

2011-06-06T10:51:00.002-04:00

this day in history: 67 years ago today.

Just imagine. Could you have done that?

Listen My Children and You Shall Hear the Midnight Ride of ..... Jack Jouett?

2011-06-04T15:05:00.001-04:00

June 4th, 1781

A little more than 5 years after Paul Revere called the Minute Men to arms in what would be the "Shot Heard Around the World", another man would quietly save the revolution.

JACK JOUETT of VIRGINIA the "Other Ride"

Jouett was a Captain of Virginia Militia and was stationed in the Charlottesville, Virginia area. Late on the evening of June 3rd of 1781, Captain Jouett was asleep on the lawn in front of the "Cuckoo Tavern" (now a private residence). He was awakened by the sound of a large number of horsemen. Sitting up, he observed a large unit of the dreaded "White Coats", a nick-name given to the British Dragoons in Colonel Banastre (the Butcher) Tarletons regiment. Tarleton himself was leading the cavalry column. Jouett was quick to realize the objective of this force. The Virginia General Assembly was in session at Charlottesville, some forty miles from the Cuckoo Tavern, and Governor Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and many other notorious 'rebels' were there. They were virtually helpless, as most of Virginia's fighting men were up north with General George Washington, and the local Militia was ill-equipped and too few in numbers to stop Tarleton. The young General Marquis de LaFayette, who had been so successfully harassing the British, Tarleton in particular, was too far away to be of any assistance. The enormity of the situation sat squarely on Captain Jouetts broad shoulders.

Col Banastre Tarleton A.k.a "Bloody Bana" or "the Butcher" is the historical figure for which Col. William Tavington from the 2000 film "The Patriot" is loosely based on.

Revere rode only 15 miles over good roads. Col. Tarleton certainly had advance scouts on the road to Charlottesville, hence that route was denied to Jouett. He had to go through the tangled Virginia backwoods.

No sooner had the hoofbeats of the British Dragoons faded into the night, when Captain Jouett saddled his horse and plunged into the dense woods.

I have stood in awe of Paul Revere's great deed most of my life, so I have to give props here. Jack had 40 miles between him and Charlottesville where Thomas Jefferson was staying at his Monticello.

With the first light of dawn he arrived at Thomas Jefferson's famous home, Monticello. He awoke Governor Jefferson and some of the Virginia Legislators who were staying at Monticello. Then, without hesitation, the exhausted Captain turned his horse and galloped to Charlottesville to spread the alarm. The Assemblymen at Charlottesville scattered, but only after voting to reconvene on June 7th at Staunton.

Shortly after Governor Jefferson received the warning, he dispatched his family, gathered his important papers and then, he too departed.

Imagine if the British had captured Jefferson on June 4th? Being one month before the 5th anniversary of the Declaration of Independance the loss of Jefferson would have been a serious blow to morale.

God Bless America. Truly the Home of the Brave!

Barack O'Bama and the Luck of the Irish!

2011-05-23T18:57:00.000-04:00

How fitting it is that a place in Iresland called Moneygall claims President O'bama as their native son.

Obama Arrives in Ireland for Six-Day Trip to Europe

MONEYGALL, Ireland — President Obama may not be related to everybody in this postage-stamp Irish hamlet of 300, which claims him as its native son. But on Monday, Mr. Obama appeared determined to hug, kiss, shake hands or raise a glass with every last one of them.

He must have found a pot-o-gold at the end of a rainbow, because Ireland is stoked!

Moneygall’s association with Mr. Obama has transformed it into an instant tourist destination. Or, as Susan Wallace, a lifelong resident said optimistically, “The name might change to Money-all.”

Even if they don't get the tourist traffic they are hoping for they still might call it Money-all.

Obama Promises U.S. Support for Ireland’s Efforts on Economy After Bailout

President Barack Obama, on the first stop of a four-country European trip, pledged the U.S. will “do everything that we can to be helpful” to aid Ireland’s economic recovery.

This has lead many to speculate that O'bama is contemplating a U.S, Sponsored bailout for Ireland? Just like Egypt?

This guy is throwing money at countries like a drunken sailor! And then he's going to come back and read the riot sct to congress because they won't raise the debt ceiling. Apparently they have a problem borrowing money from the Chinese and then turning around and giving it to other countries.

Faith and Begorrah!

World Ends Tomorrow: So just in case.....

2011-05-20T11:51:00.000-04:00

I am going to finish my best bottle of whiskey tonight.

Also, I pledge to get in one more round of golf. I'll need an 11:30 tee time just to be sure to have enough time to finish the round and have a few beers at the club house before 6pm rolls around.

My recommendation for movie viewing tonight is "The Seventh Sign". You can stream it on NetFlix.

On Sunday, I expect to be replacing that really good bottle of whiskey, and maybe playing another round of golf.

Hey Santana! Shut Up and Play!

2011-05-17T15:00:00.001-04:00

Long respected rock and toll oldie Carlos Santana has put aside his tiresome but distinctive sound for a new but even more tiresome tune.

Carlos Santana uses Phillies-Braves ceremony to criticize immigration law

Carlos Santana was given the Beaconof Change award before the Atlanta Braves' fifth annual Civil Rights Game on Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies and he used the opportunity to criticize Arizona and Georgia for their new immigration laws.

Saying he represented immigrants, the Grammy winner said at Turner field, “The people of Arizona, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

On Friday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill that requires many employers to check the immigration status of new hires and authorizes law enforcement officers to check the status of some suspects. The law, one of the toughest in the nation, is similar in some respects to one enacted last year in Arizona.

“This law is not correct. It's a cruel law, actually,” Santana, who emigrated to San Francisco in the 1960s, said after the ceremony. “This is about fear. Stop shucking and jiving. People are afraid we're going to steal your job. No, we aren't. You're not going to change sheets and clean toilets. ...

“This is the United States. This is the land of the free. If people want the immigration laws to keep passing, then everybody should get out and leave the American Indians here.”

The notion that there should be no immigration laws and that any one should be able to come to this country any time and be able to pick and choose what laws they feel like following is absurd. No country on earth has such a policy. Santana, a Mexican immigrant himself, should look to reform his Motherland, and it's hypocritical position on immigration.

Viva la Crimmigrants!

Even in Europe, the open borders within the EU are retreating. They are relearning why there are good reasons to have a secure border.

Someone please tell Carlos that it has nothing to do with fear. It has nothing to do with racism. It has everything to do with the rule of law. If you don't like the law, well that's OK, you are free to set about getting it changed. It's a democracy here in the United States, and that's the way it works, but spare us your whiny holier-than-thou condescension and your preposterous notion that anyone can come here anytime they want without permission.

Illegal immigration posts

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-08T13:03:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there

Ocho de Mayo

Headline: Osama Bin Laden Is Still Dead

2011-05-03T13:10:00.000-04:00

May Day! Osama Bin Laden is Dead!

2011-05-02T10:42:00.001-04:00

Happy belated May Day.

What is usually a celebration of communist ideals will hopefully be replaced with a day remembered for nothing other than the death of Osama Bin Laden.

We rejoice at his demise. We now know that his life for the past ten years was to cower in a mansion that was his self imposed prison, in Pakistan, very close to a Pakistani military installation.

My only wish is that like with the death of Hitler, that this meant the end of the war. But, I fear not.

Homeland Security has elevated it's threat level/stance/guard or what ever the hell they are using these days, because of perceived possibilities of retaliation.

Fear not. The Al Qaeda animals would have already attacked us if they had the capabilities. They have never held back. When they have the chance, they take their shot. Any cries of reprisal from Bin Laden's followers means nothing.

Maybe the people that brought you the shoe bomb, and then the underwear bomb are now working on the turban bomb or brazier bomb, but you should not fret as they will fail in the same laughable way.

Screw you Bin Laden!

Your burial at sea befits your subhuman existence. You belong at the bottom of the sea. May the fish and the crustaceans rip the flesh from your bones, and may eels and snails use your skull as their new homes.

God Bless Seal Team Six!

Topics for another day: Obama sanctions state sponsored assassinations? The seal team went in with orders to kill. Unlike Bush who said he wanted Osama dead or alive, Obama clearly wanted him dead. Don't get me wrong, I do not criticize that decision. It just seems to me that some one with his ideology would never sign up for state sponsored assassination. Perhaps it was the thought of the nightmare that bringing Osama to the what should be closed Guantanamo prison would bring that made the president say "screw it, just kill him!".

Union and Labor Organizations Lay Siege to the Massachusetts Capitol

2011-04-29T19:01:00.004-04:00

Well, not really.

But that is the headline you would have expected to read given the actions and the media coverage that took place when Wisconsin moved to revoke some collective bargaining rights, why wouldn't the same thing happen in Massachusetts? Because Massachusetts is union strong and would never do such a thing? Wrong!

Union Busting, Massachusetts Style

Pop quiz: What political party, in what state, this week passed a bill in the dead of night stripping public-sector unions of their collective- bargaining powers? Republicans in Wisconsin? The GOP in Ohio or Indiana?

Try Democrats in Massachusetts. Maybe the debate over public-sector benefits isn't all that ideological after all.

Where are the banging drums? Where is the overnight occupation of the capitol building? Why aren't union thugs physically blocking lawmakers from entering the premises to vote?

There are none. The unions are stunned. This is not how the corrupt system of collective bargaining is supposed to work! Especially not in true blue Massachusetts!

Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, was so irked he forgot to stick to the union script about "rights" and a "war" on the "middle class." He skipped to the real outrage—that the 81 Democrats who voted for the bill were failing to play by the political rules. "These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns," he complained. The unions would fight this to the "bitter end," he vowed. "Massachusetts is not the place that takes collective bargaining away from public employees."

The system where unions collect dues from employees (against their will if necessary) and then hand that money to politicians who in return strengthen the unions position and funnel more tax payer money to the unions is a vicious circle of corruption. But like most criminals their greed knows no bounds and they have negotiated themselves agreements that the tax base can no longer afford. They are willing to kill the goose that lays their golden eggs.

Municipal health costs have as a result averaged near 11% growth annually—for a decade. The average premium is today 37% higher than in the private sector, and one-third higher than premiums for federal plans. The numbers have so exploded that personnel costs—salaries and benefits—are now eating up an astonishing 75% of local Massachusetts budgets.

So where are the SEIU and AFL-CIO armies? Where is the siege of the capitol and the intimidation of local businesses to support the unions? Why didn't the Democratically controlled State House members run away from themselves and take refuge in nearby New Hampshire or Rhode Island?

Wisconsin moved to rein in collective bargaining powers that are crushing the state. Massachusetts moved to rein in collective bargaining powers that are crushing the state. The only difference is that Democrats have chosen to portray Mr. Walker's legislation as "union-busting" while presenting their own as necessary reform.

Now, everybody act surprised!

Trump for President: The Art of the Spiel. Trump 1 Obama 0

2011-04-28T16:30:00.003-04:00

It's been fun watching and listening to all the varied spin, er, I mean analysis on the Trump/Obama birth certificate story.

It was surreal to be watching cable news and hear that President Obama would be speaking to the nation in ten minutes regarding his birth certificate, and then immediately after that watch Donald Trump get out of his Helicopter in Portsmouth NH and claim credit for being the one who finally got the President to release his birth certificate.

Trump Takes Credit For Obama Releasing A Birth Certificate

"I'm taking great credit and you have to ask the president, 'why didn't he do this a long time ago? Why didn't he do it a long time ago?' When Hillary Clinton was asking, when everybody was asking, why didn't he do it? It's shocking. It's shocking," Donald Trump said at a press conference this morning on President Obama's birth certificate.

I was literally laughing out loud, shaking my head, clapping slowly and thinking "Beautiful, just Beautiful".

Having grown up in New Jersey, and having gone to college in New York City I have been exposed to the Donald a little longer than the rest of the nation. I respect and like Mr Trump, but when I heard he was running for president I thought, "here we go again". Yes, I was dismissive. But my head is now turned, and I am listening closely.

Here is what others are thinking and saying.

Right, Wing-Nut!: Birthers 1, Obama 0

Even with an offical long-form birth certificate, Obama has lost this round badly to the "birthers". If they're the crazy nincompoops that the media makes them out to be, and yet are able to bend the president to their will, well...what does that say about his mental capabilities,exactly?

Keith Olbermann: Maguffins 1 Obama 0

It is another reflection of our well-meaning but sometimes utterly tone-deaf President that he really dug up the long-form birth certificate – even after the previous one had been released,

Going on to say that of course this is all due to racism.

And then from the Wall Street Journal.

Born in the U.S.A.

As for Mr. Obama, he easily could have allowed the birther bubble to grow, further tarnishing the mainly right-leaning crowd that either fell for it or, as with Sarah Palin, was willing to give it too much credence. He then could have pricked that bubble by releasing the certificate at a moment of maximum political convenience to his re-election campaign. That the President didn't do so is an act of leadership that deserves a note of appreciation.

Pretty charitable of the WSJ. But, sorry, I can't agree. Obama did this to himself. He could have put this to bed a long long time ago by releasing the very same birth certificate he released yesterday, but the fact of the matter is that he did not. The super genius - smarter than all of us president held it back for all of the cynical political evil genius motives that the WSJ suggests, and insiders have confirmed. And sorry, it was not an act of leadership that lead him to release the birth certificate, it was Donald J Trump who was beating the president like a baby seal over this issue, and the president wanted it to stop. I think that is a form of Karma when you do something for evil selfish purposes and it comes back to bite you. Mr Obama really has no one to blame but himself.

Not ever being a "birther" myself I do have to admit to taking immense amusement and schadenfreude over the whole ordeal. After all, it was the democratic party that first went after John McCain as being not qualified to serve as president because he was born in Panama. More Karma, don't you think?

And in the Irony department? This whole movement was born of a Clintonista dirty trick. Her team originally made the assertion. The "birthers" are not just GOP'ers as the main stream media would have you believe. There are a lot of female Hillary supporters out there who hate the president for what he did to their Hillary.

Anyways, I guess in the big picture, it is good when the circus leaves town, but somehow you still miss it a little.

the thinker: Being A Skeptic

2011-04-26T17:08:00.000-04:00

Interesting post over at the ThinkingProf Blog.

the thinker: Being A Skeptic

He writes what I consider to be an irrefutable truth. Especially with the 'I get my news from John Stewart' demographic.

At times, I'm not sure people are even reading--much less reading critically and carefully--the information that they present and the links that they post.

And then goes on and uses one of my posts as an example.

I like the post because imparts some historical details I previously did not know (historical perspectives is a stated goal of this blog). It's worth a read.

I think his overall point is that in the arena of discourse facts can be used fast and loose and details may be obscured?

In this day and age of the sound bite, 'John Stewart as a Journalist', and hyperbolic propaganda, I could not agree more. I just feel a little self-conscious that I was singled out (not really). I would urge the professor to cite examples of the left committing similar transgressions (if that is what in fact he thinks they are) as well.

I am not sure the professor necessarily debunked the message I tried to convey by using the quote which was "The girl couldn't quite communicate the point of her sign. She was just super smart and if you didn't get it then you were just too dumb"

Kiss My Hamas: Part X

2011-04-25T17:37:00.000-04:00

While there is zero national interest for the United States to be bombing Libya, we are there, and we are actively participating in the bombing of targets of opportunity.

Now in Syria the Military has turned on it's protestors in much the same way that Qaddafi did.

Seeing regime change in Syria is in the national interest of the United States.

Syria is the lynch pin to the Iran, Hamas, & Hezbollah triad. Through Syria, Iran is able to supply Hezbollah and Hamas with weapons with which they can perform acts of terror and acts of war on Israel. President Obama has an opportunity to influence a significant shift of power among Mideast blocs to be further in the pro-west camps.

Will he do so? Doubtful.

Either by massive miscalculation, stupidity, naivete, wishful thinking, or just plain dumb luck President Obama has made the wrong move in every critical turn with his dealings in the Mideast.

First the president was unable to convince Iran to stop it's nuclear ambitions with his unicorns and fuzzy bunny era of detente.
Then the president ignored the Green Revolution. When the population of Iran came out to protest the corrupt election, and protest their oppressive government much like they did in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, the president showed no support and let the movement be brutally put down by their government, much like Libya and Syria are trying to do.
The president publicly cooled relations with America's staunchest Mideast ally Israel.
Despite remaining quiet and inactive when our enemies in Iran were threatened with public uprising, President Obama publicly comes out and calls for regime change in Egypt (which he never did for Iran). Mubarak wasn't a nice guy, but he was in the pro-Western bloc, and faster than you can say Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama through Mubarak under the bus.
Having witnessed the United States throwing Mubarek under the bus, Col. Qaddafi a recently reformed western antagonist determines he must take take matters into his own hands, and uses military force to quell the uprising. Just like they did in Iran when the west did nothing. President Obama sends the military into Libya on humanitarian grounds.

Now what? Just like Libya, the Syrian government is using it's military to quell the public uprising. Will Syria get the Libya treatment or the Iranian treatment?

If they are not treated the same way Libya has been handled, then what does that say? Does it mean that if you are friendly towards the United States or at least not an antagonist you can be sure that America will stab you in the back? But if you are an open aggressor of the great Satan you can rest assured that your enemy is too timid to dare and reproach you (at least with anything more than words).

Or worse, does it merely mean that the Obama doctrine is that we only fight wars for oil.

Most of Obama's Mideast blunders are documented on this blog.
Kiss My Hamas
Very Foreign Policy

Right, Wing-Nut!: A Tale Of Two Pulitzers....

2011-04-20T14:19:00.001-04:00

Right, Wing-Nut!: A Tale Of Two Pulitzers....

Another good post over at the JerseyNut's blog.

This one is interesting because one of the subjects of the posts stops by the blog to leave a reply in the comments section. David Cay Johnston.

If you are a fan of Ayn Rand, or just of her tome "Atlas Shrugged" then it's worth stopping by and soaking in what people who are not fans of Rand think.

And if you are not a fan of Rand, it's worth stopping by to see how fans interpret her work.

Rhode Island Tea Party Hosts Tax Day Protest

2011-04-19T14:51:00.001-04:00

April 15th 2011. It was a fine afternoon and many fine patriots turned out to express love for their country and their contempt for the Government that is hell bent on spending it's way to prosperity, and increasing taxes on it's citizens to fund it.

You'll see in the video some Anti-Tea Party "infiltrators" walking around holding up their protest signs, with messages made to mock the the "Taxed Enough Already" platform held by the Tea Party. BAsically their message was an aloof "duh, we need taxes for all the stuff goverment pays for, so like, just shut up and pay them"

The pseudo intellectual, earthy crunchy student from Brown University carried signs with slogans that read:

"Astroturf"

"I want crumbling roadways"

"Healthcare is only for the rich"

"I want to close all the libraries"

The "we are as smart as Obama" Ivy League youngsters did not do well when confronted to explain what their signs meant. You can see the "Astroturf" kid get confronted in the video, and over hear the "I want crumbling roadways gal" get heckled.

When "I want to close all the libraries" gal was confronted by the fact that the library system in America was invented by none other than Ben Franklin before there was an American government, and a hundred years before there was an income tax she seemed stunned. After all, these Tea Party people aren't supposed to know any history. When confronted with the logic that we didn't need taxes for libraries before, why do we need higher taxes now to keep them open, she just held her sign up in front of her face, turned around and walked the other way.

enjoy.

Happy Birthday Tea Party, Happy Bithday to You!

2011-04-15T12:20:00.000-04:00

Two years ago I attended Boston's Tea Party. Today I will be in Providence.

It's a beautiful day here and I urge you to get out and join the 'angry mob'. They are nice people and you will enjoy yourself.

Then it's off to see Atlas Shrugged.

I'll post pictures this weekend.

Atlas Shrugs Tomorrow

2011-04-14T15:55:00.004-04:00

I have already purchased my tickets on-line for tomorrow night.

There was a very good article in the WSJ today about Ayn Rand.

Remembering the Real Ayn Rand

When Rand created the character of Wesley Mouch, it's as though she was anticipating Barney Frank (D., Mass). Mouch is the economic czar in "Atlas Shrugged" whose every move weakens the economy, which in turn gives him the excuse to demand broader powers. Mr. Frank steered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to disaster with mandates for more lending to low-income borrowers. After Fannie and Freddie collapsed under the weight of their subprime mortgage books, Mr. Frank proclaimed last year: "The way to cure that is to give us more authority." Mouch couldn't have said it better himself.

So true. So true.

I have pointed out more than a few times on this blog that being a Conservative Libertine means that you are embraced by neither the Left or the Right. In this article the author, Donald Luskin, reminds us that Ayn Rand also rankled the Left and the Right.

Rand was not a conservative or a liberal: She was an individualist. "Atlas Shrugged" is, at its heart, a plea for the most fundamental American ideal—the inalienable rights of the individual. On tax day, with our tax dollars going to big government and subsidies for big business, let's remember it's the celebration of individualism that has kept "Atlas Shrugged" among the best-selling novels of all time.

Not to get carried away with labels like our liberal friends tend to do, but I prefer the term Conservative Libertine over individualist. Individualist does sound a bit selfish, and that's not what Ayn Rand was advocating. Conservative Libertine I think better conveys the message that your ideology puts you on both sides of the fence. It just depends what the issue is.

Atlas Shrugs Posts

It's Happening.............
Another Victory for the looters.
Mediocrity Trumps Winning
Going Galt
Reason.com: She’s Back!
Atlas Shrugged - The Movie! Finally!

Update: And, this post would not be complete without some references to the WhoIsJohnGalt blog. It seems as though John has returned from the far side of Galt's Gulch just in time for the movie.

Welcome back John!

Winning the Future? or Duh Losing!

2011-04-13T16:01:00.000-04:00

Today President Obama spoke at George Washington University to dig in his heels, and fire the first volley in the coming battles that will be the debt limit and the 2012 budget.

He began by painting everyone who does not agree with his ideas as evil cold hearted evil doers by lecturing the country on social responsibility. Like these were thing the country did not know or understand

Transcript of Obama's Speech on the National Debt

“There but for the grace of God go I,” we say to ourselves, and so we contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, and those with disabilities. We are a better country because of these commitments. I’ll go further – we would not be a great country without those commitments.

For much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens. As a country that values fairness, wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden than the middle class or those less fortunate.

And then he moved on to blame Bush for 40 years of entitlement and social program government spending.

But after Democrats and Republicans committed to fiscal discipline during the 1990s, we lost our way in the decade that followed. We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program – but we didn’t pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts – tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade.

To give you an idea of how much damage this caused to our national checkbook, consider this: in the last decade, if we had simply found a way to pay for the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit, our deficit would currently be at low historical levels in the coming years.

riiiiiiiight.

While President Bush did in fact double the deficit he inherited during his eight year tenure, President Obama wants to ignore the fact that he double the deficit yet again in a mere two years. Yet this deficit problem is still Bush's fault (read: any republican who dares utter an idea toward cuts).

And then as a preamble to sharing his super genius plan for the budget (well his second one anyways) he attacks the opening bid proposed by Republicans. The cuts proposed in the Ryan proposal.

These aren’t the kind of cuts that Republicans and Democrats on the Fiscal Commission proposed. These are the kind of cuts that tell us we can’t afford the America we believe in. And they paint a vision of our future that’s deeply pessimistic.

It’s a vision that says if our roads crumble and our bridges collapse, we can’t afford to fix them. If there are bright young Americans who have the drive and the will but not the money to go to college, we can’t afford to send them. Go to China and you’ll see businesses opening research labs and solar facilities.

Great. China is his model. Centrally planned economies and trickle up poverty (communism) are the ideals he is looking to for inspiration. The fact of the matter is that the phenomena he is observing is due to the fact that China is moving toward free markets while America is moving away from them.

South Korean children are outpacing our kids in math and science.

And it's not due to lack of money. America has been throwing money at education for years to the extent that the amount of money per pupil has doubled in the last ten years in real dollars with no appreciable improvement. (statistics and reference to come shortly).

Worst of all, this is a vision that says even though America can’t afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can’t afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy

Well Mr President, as you said earlier in the speech

Even after our economy recovers, our government will still be on track to spend more money than it takes in throughout this decade and beyond. That means we’ll have to keep borrowing more from countries like China. And that means more of your tax dollars will go toward paying off the interest on all the loans we keep taking out. By the end of this decade, the interest we owe on our debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion. Just the interest payments.

So let's get to the super genius idea then. What do we do? Nope. We need to perform the eat the rich ritual first.

Think about it. In the last decade, the average income of the bottom 90% of all working Americans actually declined. The top 1% saw their income rise by an average of more than a quarter of a million dollars each.

Really? I think we need a fact check on that one. If that's correct, then why are state tax revenues that are addicted to Millionaire taxes in so much trouble?

The Price of Taxing the Rich
The top 1% of earners fill the coffers of states like California and New York during a boom—and leave them starved for revenue in a bust.

Nearly half of California's income taxes before the recession came from the top 1% of earners: households that took in more than $490,000 a year. High earners, it turns out, have especially volatile incomes—their earnings fell by more than twice as much as the rest of the population's during the recession. When they crashed, they took California's finances down with them.

If Obama's outright lie were true, probably would not be having this discussion because we would be getting a good chunk of their purported prosperity already!

But back to the speech.

The first step in our approach is to keep annual domestic spending low by building on the savings that both parties agreed to last week – a step that will save us about $750 billion over twelve years

There we go. Finally an idea. Though he bemoaned those very cuts a week earlier, now they are his idea. Great. Whatever.

The second step in our approach is to find additional savings in our defense budget.

Fine. Everything is on the table. We should evaluate defense spending from many angles
( Charles Wolf, Jr.: The Facts About American 'Decline' - WSJ.com)
And finally the president makes his third point.

The third step in our approach is to further reduce health care spending in our budget. Here, the difference with the House Republican plan could not be clearer: their plan lowers the government’s health care bills by asking seniors and poor families to pay them instead. Our approach lowers the government’s health care bills by reducing the cost of health care itself.

Uh oh. Here we go again. Entitlements will save us, not sink us. If the president hangs onto the idea that Obamacare is saving the country money and that more Obamacare will save even more money, then say bye bye in 2012. The public at large has already roundly rejected that silly lie.

And finally

The fourth step in our approach is to reduce spending in the tax code.

Wow? What does that even mean? It takes a second to sink in, but what it really means is raising taxes. Is that not the mother of all euphemisms?

So, that's it really. Nothing new to see here.

Hope and change has been replaced with winning the future. Big government is still the solution to all that ails, and all those opposed will be destroyed.

Resistance is futile.

Right, Wing-Nut!: Barack Obama: Deficit Hawk? Or Pathetic Poseur?

2011-04-11T11:48:00.001-04:00

Exellent post by the "Jersey Nut".

Use of his art work is posted nearby without permission. But as exhibited on this blog we have a real penchant for mocking the the "hope and change" decor, and couldn't help ourselves.

Right, Wing-Nut!: Barack Obama: Deficit Hawk? Or Pathetic Poseur?

Usually, poseurs were easily pinned out, and roundly mocked, for their insincerity and cluelessness. Expect Obama to experience the same, by, oh...Thursday morning, latest.

Bingo!

But we may not have to wait until Thursday. I think the President's "group or subculture" is already starting to pin him out. By none other than Paul Krugman.

The President Is Missing

What have they done with President Obama? What happened to the inspirational figure his supporters thought they elected? Who is this bland, timid guy who doesn’t seem to stand for anything in particular?

It's an accusation he goes on to make in a rather apologetic tone, but then......

What’s going on here? Despite the ferocious opposition he has faced since the day he took office, Mr. Obama is clearly still clinging to his vision of himself as a figure who can transcend America’s partisan differences. And his political strategists seem to believe that he can win re-election by positioning himself as being conciliatory and reasonable, by always being willing to compromise.

But if you ask me, I’d say that the nation wants — and more important, the nation needs — a president who believes in something, and is willing to take a stand. And that’s not what we’re seeing.

Muahahahahaha!

Poseur!

Government Shutdown - Thank Nancy Pelosi

2011-04-07T12:43:00.000-04:00

Shutdown shmutdown. Who cares!

This Obama drama is brought to you by ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). And it really is just drama. Basically the democrats are engineering what they perceive to be a win/win proposition if the Republicans refuse to fund all of their drunken sailor spending. Win #1; A government shutdown really will equate to a paid vacation for the public unions, just as it did in 1995. Yes, that's right, we shut down the government in 1995 and everybody still got paid. WINNING! Win #2: With the help of the mainstream media the evil Republicans will get all of the blame for the government being shutdown. WINNING!

Let's remember that this fiscal year started last October. Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic controlled 111th congress never even considered funding the federal government in 2011. In the real world budgets are planned for and approved before the fiscal year begins. But no, They concentrated on spending. Huge spending with things like Obamacare, without worrying about how to fund it or even just keeping the government running. And then, in the second week of January 2011 they handed over this big stink bomb to John Boehner and the Republicans of the 112th congress.

How beautiful is that! It's like some sexist 1950's sitcom. Nancy Pelosi gets to play the part of the stay at home wife who takes the credit card and runs up a huge bill, and John Boehner gets to play the part of the hardworking husband who gets to come home from work and open the envelope and read the bill. "We cant afford this!" screams John. To which Nancy quips "That's not my problem" as she turns and shakes her hips as she walks away.

And now the drama we are witnessing is like the scene when the repo man comes to the house to collect things, and the wife (Nancy) is chasing him around a clinging to the things she could not afford, still not understanding why her things are being stripped away.

Obama Meeting Fails to End Stalemate Over Federal Budget

“It would be inexcusable, given the relatively narrow differences, when it comes to numbers, between the two parties that we cant get this done,” Mr. Obama said.

Really? What is irresponsible Mr. President is that you, and Ms Pelosi, and Harry Reid have done nothing to rectify the solvency of this nation. You want it all paid for and you'll need to raise the debt ceiling to do it. Standby for more Obama drama when that fight comes to the floor.

Mr. Reid accused Republicans of seeking a “shortcut around doing our jobs” by proposing another one-week, stop-gap funding measure to keep the government operating.

Well, a shortcut to doing your job is a lot better than just flat out not doing your job Harry! Why weren't you and Nancy doing your job before last October when it was supposed to be done! How dare you! Really!

All of this brings the "Yes we can" slogan to a new level. Thanks to Obama and Madison Ave in the upside down world we now live in 'No' equals bad, and 'Yes' equals good.

Boehner: "We can't afford all of this"
Obama: "Yes we can!"
Boehner: "No, really! We can't"
Obama: "Yes we can!"
Boehner: "But we would have to raise the debt ceiling and borrow even more money from the Chinese."
Obama: "Yes we can!"

Eric's Epic Edict - Eric Holder Relents on KSM Tribunals

2011-04-05T13:05:00.002-04:00

Eric Holder should resign. In his role as Attorney General he has demonstrated that he is out of touch with the law, out of touch with what is good for America and generally just out of touch with reality.

Well, I guess you could argue that yesterday's pronouncement that Khalid Sheik Mohamed and his cohorts would not be tried in Civil Court was somewhat of a reality check, but the Attorney General pretty much stated that he still doesn't get it. In what was a complete about face, the Obama Administration has retreated to the position put forth by the Bush administration.

Vindicating Guantanamo

KSM and his fellow murderers will now be tried by military commissions of the kind that President George W. Bush proposed in the earliest days of the conflict formerly known as the war on terror. Someone should write the headline: Holder vindicates Ashcroft, as in Mr. Bush's first AG. Or how about: Current State Department Counselor Harold Koh vindicates John Yoo, the much-maligned Bush Justice Department official whose views on Presidential power have also been increasingly adopted by Team Obama.

Somehow we doubt we'll hear the same moral denunciations we once heard about Mr. Bush's policies. The Europeans are mute about Guantanamo, and Newsweek hasn't come up with any more pseudo-scoops about Gitmo guards desecrating the Quran. Mr. Holder made clear he's not about to apologize, much less thank his predecessors for their foresight, but we suppose his vindication of Guantanamo is enough.

We declared in 2009 on these pages that the thought of trying KSM and other terrorists in civil court was a boneheaded idea.

This is your idea of Hope?

Mr Holder has demonstrated that he is out of touch with the law by thinking that it was appropriate to bring enemy combatants who were apprehended in other countries to the U.S. without any precedent. He has demonstrated he is out of touch with what is good for America for thinking it was appropriate to have the civil trials just blocks away from ground zero. And he has demonstrated that he is out of touch with reality by communicating that he still does not get it with his begrudged declaration that because of congress he was not getting his way.

Eric Holder should resign.

Union Terror Continues in Madison Wisconsin

2011-04-02T01:00:00.002-04:00

He Even Looks Like Tony Soprano!

Along the lines of yesterday's post, the terror being executed on small business bystanders continues without any notice from the main stream media. Unless you visit the Wall Street Journal, or Fox News, or certain blogs (Althouse), you won't hear about the protection racket thuggery being dealt to Madison Wisconsin businesses. Nothing on CNN, nothing at the L.A. Times, nothing at NPR, and nothing at the Grey Lady.

The problem that we are observing here is that our main stream media who collectively, and in a collusive fashion, whipped the country up to a maelstrom cry for civility is now silent and obtuse to the hypocrisy of what is happening in Madison Wisconsin. What was once considered 'violent rhetoric' is now not even newsworthy. The unions are cracking down on hapless Madison store fronts in a way analogous to what Quadaffi might do to his own people. Unions are threatening coffee shops, store fronts, and other small businesses to put the signage sent to them by the union prominently displayed in the windows, "or else".

Wisconsin Unions Get Ugly - WSJ

Dated March 28, 2011, the letter is addressed to "DEAR UNION GROVE AREA BUSSINESS OWNER/MANAGER," in Racine County. And it begins with this warm greeting: "It is unfortunate that you have chosen 'not' to support public workers rights in Wisconsin. In recent past weeks you have been offered a sign(s) by a public employee(s) who works in one one of the State facilities in the Union Grove area. These signs simply said 'This Business Supports Workers Rights," a simple, subtle and we feel non-controversial statement given the facts at this time."

Really? Given the facts at this time? What facts are they looking at? What facts suggest any state can afford the fat cat deals betrothed to the unions via the corrupt system of collective bargaining?

Everything You Need To Know About Gov’t Unions You Can Learn From R.I.

Government Workers Pay Next To Nothing For Their Benefits.

Government Workers Are Doing Better Than The Rest Of Us In This Economy.

These Generous Benefits Are Crushing Taxpayers And Exploding Budgets.

the taxpayer cost of providing a comfortable retirement for public-sector worke

The Problem Is So Bad, Even With The Increases, The Taxpayer Is Screwed.

And so what would normally be protected by RICO statutes is going completely unreported by main stream media.

Hey you White House, ha ha, charade you are
You house proud town mouse, ha ha, charade you are
You're trying to keep our feelings off the street
You're nearly a real treat
All tight lips and cold feet
I know you feel abused

- Pink Floyd

Pigs ( 3 different Ones )

Where are the Cries for Civility?

2011-04-01T12:07:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about the Wisconsin teacher who threatened as many as 16 GOP Wisconsin State Senators? If you weren't paying close attention, you may not have. What we are witnessing right now is the demonstrable extreme bias in the main stream media. Remember when the media at large contorted themselves to blame Sarah Palin's use of cross hair's on her web site for the violence of the lefty loon who shot Arizona Representative Giffords? We endured weeks of mainstream propaganda lecturing the country about the danger of mixing rhetoric that might be interpreted as violent with political speech. Don't use words like 'target'. Don't ever say 'reload'. And when Tea Party protester's we're chanting 'kill the Bill', we saw the likes of Nancy Pelosi snivel about how she was concerned about the Tea Party rhetoric because she has witnessed political violence before (referring to the democratic lefty loon who shot and killed democratic political figure and gay activist Harvey Milk). The most condescending lecture/indictment came from Paul Krugman and editorial board at the New York times.

Jared Loughner is a lefty loon.

Left wing zealot Paul Krugman was part of the choir bemoaning the 'Climate of Hate'. At first blush, after reading the title you would have to be forgiven for momentarily thinking that the piece might be about the Bush years and the dementia, outrage and hate that surrounded the Bush / Haliburton conspiracy

And even low life lefty loon Marc Ash struck the pose of the indignant holier than thou phony.

But as soon as protesters in Wisconsin started chanting 'kill the Bill' the media went silent. No more lectures about violent rhetoric and petitions calling for 'civility in political discourse' were replaced by petitions for solidarity with the teachers in Wisconsin.

So, now that the media is looking the other way will they accept the blame for what are overt threats of violence coming from the left? or will they some how once again try and pin this too on Sarah Palin?

Woman faces charges in threatening emails to lawmakers

MADISON (WKOW) -- Authorities say 26-year-old Katherine Windels sent disturbing emails to 16 Republican senators, repeatedly threatening to kill them.

...

According to the complaint, Windels told the senators "you will be killed and your families [sic] will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks." She threatened to "put a nice little bullet in your head," and made reference to several bombs.

Libya is in our National Disinterest

2011-03-29T12:15:00.001-04:00

Many were waiting with bated breath for President Obama's speech last night. Dying to hear what the carefully considered, nuanced, multinational logic would be for sending American forces to Libya.

And it came down to this...

Qaddafi declared that he would show "no mercy" to his own people. He compared them to rats, and threatened to go door to door to inflict punishment. In the past, we had seen him hang civilians in the streets, and kill over a thousand people in a single day. Now, we saw regime forces on the outskirts of the city. We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi — a city nearly the size of Charlotte — could suffer a massacre - it was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen.

Does our law professor president understand that his rationale is flawed? Where is the school girl cheerleader clique ridicule that was so often tossed at George W Bush for his pronunciation of the word "nuclear"? When George Bush misspoke it was considered a direct reflection of his lack of intelligence.

But I don't think this is the case here. Our law professor super genius president surely knows that just because something is not in your national interest necessarily means that it is in your national interest. These are not positions or states that are mutually exclusive. No, this was what he and his elitist administration considered a clever trick of wordsmith meant to convince their logic lacking lackeys that what the president was doing in Libya is in America's best interest. So this is not a reflection on the presidents intellect, but it is a reflection of what he thinks about the "we're so smart and superior that we make fun of the way people pronounce the word 'nuclear'" left. The "I get my news from John Stewart" crowd does not like to do their own logic math, and they sure don't know what mutually exclusive means, so you have nothing to worry about Mr. President. In fact you probably accomplished your goal of appeasing the violently anti-war wing of your party by convincing them that we had to go to Libya.

But for the rest of us the President did not come anywhere close to making a convincing argument that didn't leave more questions than it answered. Will the U.S. come to the aid of any country where a dictator might "kill over a thousand people in a single day"? or does it only matter if they produce a rare type of crude used by the continentals?

Our most effective alliance, NATO, has taken command of the enforcement of the arms embargo and No Fly Zone...

So what? We run NATO! The supreme commander of NATO is always an American! It's still 90% U.S. blood and treasure that will be doing the heavy lifting. Here is another example of the president pulling the wool over the eyes of his easy amused admirers. This is the "I am not" Bush pose. I do not act in the unilateral way that George W. Bush did. Sorry Charlie. Fact: more countries were involved in the invasion of Iraq than are involved with the Libya operation. But it's easier for the left to sleep at night by believing what they want to believe.

Finally! A Real Blood for Oil War - Libya

2011-03-28T14:35:00.008-04:00

And no one cares.

In 2003 thousands of war protesters turned out to decry a war they proclaimed was a war for oil, even though it was not.

Cities jammed in worldwide protest of war in Iraq

Demonstrators converged near the United Nations to protest the possible war in just one of the more than 600 anti-war rallies around the globe. Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 375,000, but Police Commissioner Ray Kelly estimated turnout at 100,000.

Besides protests in large cities such as Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California; rallies were held across the United States in smaller towns such as Gainesville, Georgia; Macomb, Illinois; and Juneau, Alaska, according to the anti-war group United for Peace and Justice.

Where are these people now? And if you go to the United for Peace website, not a mention of Libya. They do however have call to actions for Egypt though.

In New York on Saturday, a giant puppet depicting President Bush holding buckets of blood and oil towered over the cheering crowd that was pressed against police barricades near U.N. headquarters.

Even though oil had nothing to do with the U.S. going into Iraq, you just can't let the truth get in the way of a good slogan. The U.S. didn't get any more oil by going to Iraq, and we are not getting it for cheaper. That's for sure!

This time, it is all about the oil. France, UK, and Italy are addicted to the special 'light sweet' crude brand of oil that Libya produces, and it is rather rare.

West Shuns Libyan Crude

Part of the problem for markets is that Libyan oil is light and sweet—low in density and levels of sulfur—and is hard to replace. Light, sweet crude is more desirable as it yields more gasoline and easy to process.

Italy, France, China, Germany and Spain are the largest buyers of Libyan oil, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Some refineries in those nations will have to search for new sources of supply to make up for the lost Libyan crude, which could send oil prices higher in other markets.

Even if the bulk of the lost Libyan oil is made up by production in Saudi Arabia, some refineries can only process light sweet crude and have to turn to a handful of other countries for supplies, including Nigeria and Algeria, which are themselves the subject of some popular unrest.

Libya is also closely located near it's customers and so transportation cost are lower than getting it from anywhere else. So, now you know why France is leading the charge. They are not dithering around. While Anti-war Obama says we're just protecting the civilians and we are not there for regime change, France is saying it is prepared to take that Bastard Qaddafi out and end this mess now! This is Europe's war for oil and Obama is their stooge. So I ask you. where the hell is the Obama effigy with buckets of blood and oil?

What she said...

...what she meant

"are you kidding? Syria doesn't have any oil! Dumb shit!"

Olberman Pushes Lefty Loons Over the Edge. Greed is Good But Schadenfreude is Better

2011-03-25T01:41:00.002-04:00

–noun

satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

A la Walter Cronkite "When you've lost Olberman, you have lost the loony left"

Special Comment: Libya, Obama, and the Five-Second Rule

and the comments and reactions are precious. Here are just a few.

# Pat Tibbs 2011-03-24 11:06

Watching sausage being made is not a healthy activity. I suspect that the administration didn't sync its messages sufficiently and now we're left to wonder whether the administration wants Qhadafi to do, or not.

Given the tightness of message out of POTUS presidential campaign it's surprising how inept the administration has been since taking office.

Really? We are suprised that no experience but for some Acorn community organizing does not properly prepare you to lead the greatest nation on earth? E gads!

# Loup-Bouc 2011-03-24 12:01

PART 1

Congress ought force Obama to stop invading Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.

Obama’s Libya invasion goes beyond the UN authorization; so it is illegal. Congress did not authorize it; so it is illegal.

The other invasions are clear violations of international law and, so, illegal.

The House of Representatives ought impeach Obama. The Senate ought convict him. He is an arch criminal, like Bush & Cheney, and for the same reasons, and more.

The D of J ought prosecute Obama, Bush, and Cheney. The federal judiciary ought imprison all three for life without chance of parole.

Not only are Obama, Bush, and Cheney arch criminals, but their military crimes have cost the federal budget a deficit of more than $6.6 Trillion, while social services, clean & safe energy, and infrastructure have suffered huge funding-lacks.

Do not vote for Republicans or Democrats, except the very rare Democrat true progressives. Vote for independent progressives and progressive third party candidates. Join the Wisconsin labor revolution.

Progressive third party candidates? What is that? I have never seen one.

# Susan W 2011-03-24 12:58

Obama learned his lessons well from Dubya and company. Since the Constitution says only Congress can declare war, just go invade some faraway country for "humanitarian reasons" and even though it looks like a war, sounds like a war and seeems to be a war it isn't a war if you don't call it one. Really, does Operation New Dawn, or whatever it is named, sound like a war?

Up is down, black is white and war is peace.

And That's Why They Call It Reason(.com)

2011-03-24T11:43:00.002-04:00

Brilliant! Compelling.

An air tight case that reads like a Bam! Bam! Bam! indictment.

The entire article is a great read, here is the link and some highlights.

Obama's Fatal Attraction to War

It's a good thing we didn't elect John McCain in 2008. A McCain victory would have meant an escalation in Afghanistan, a third war in the Middle East, and a president sending U.S. forces into harm's way heedless of public opinion or congressional power.

Instead, we elected Barack Obama, who firmly rejected military action for purely humanitarian reasons. In his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq war, Obama insisted that though Saddam Hussein "butchers his own people to secure his own power," the war was unjustified.

Hussein, he pointed out, "poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors" and "can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history."

*****

Obama's defenders insist that what he did in starting the Libya war is not as bad as what President George W. Bush did in starting the Iraq war. True: In some ways, what Obama did is worse.

Bush made the case for removing Hussein over months. Bush got approval from Congress. Bush acted against a dictator who aspired to acquire nuclear weapons. He invaded a country of large strategic value. He stated plainly the purpose of the invasion.

Obama did none of those things. He rushed into a war, ignoring Congress, to punish a ruler who had abandoned his nuclear ambitions, in a country of peripheral importance.

While it is a country of peripheral value to the U.S. Libya is very important to France and Britain. Here you have an actual "Blood for Oil" war and no one will call it that. It is all about keeping access open to the close by (read cheaper) brand of oil that they have become addicted to. Hell! Britain gave back the Lockerbee bomber back to have access to that oil. All that for naught? Not if they can get the U.S. to help stop it!

Maureen Dowd Spins Her Way to Hawkdom

2011-03-23T12:10:00.005-04:00

In stark contrast to yesterday's post where I queried;

Where Have All the Peaceniks Gone?

Today I stumbled onto Maureen Dowd's column where she is singing the praises of the ladies who pushed for war in Libya. Wow, what a difference a new administration makes. You might recall what a prolific "dubbya" basher she was back in the day. She was one of the leftist operatives who exploited Cindy Sheehan for partisan gain. She clings to a shred of integrity with a very hushed and nuanced hint of disapproval for the military action in Libya at the very end of her piece. But, for the most part it's a 'you go girl' cheer with pom-poms and all.

Fight of the Valkyries

There is something positively mythological about a group of strong women swooping down to shake the president out of his delicate sensibilities and show him the way to war. And there is something positively predictable about guys in the White House pushing back against that story line for fear it makes the president look henpecked.

A classic case of 'careful what you wish for'. What? This wasn't the kind of change you were hoping for?

How odd to see Rush and Samantha Power on the same side.

It's even more odd to see Maureen Dowd acquiesce to the politics of armed conflict.

It wasn't that long ago that Maureen was a firebrand for the anti-war left.

Why No Tea and Sympathy?

There's an angry mother of a dead soldier camping outside his Crawford ranch, demanding to see a president who prefers his sympathy to be carefully choreographed.

Cindy Sheehan, a 48-year-old Californian with a knack for P.R., says she will camp out in the dusty heat near the ranch until she gets to tell Mr. Bush face to face that he must pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq. Her son, Casey, a 24-year-old Army specialist, was killed in a Sadr City ambush last year.

It's amazing that the White House does not have the elementary shrewdness to have Mr. Bush simply walk down the driveway and hear the woman out, or invite her in for a cup of tea. But W., who has spent nearly 20 percent of his presidency at his ranch, is burrowed into his five-week vacation and two-hour daily workouts. He may be in great shape, but Iraq sure isn't.

Here are some column ideas for you Maureen. Cindy is still protesting, and despite her 'knack for P.R.', she doesn't seem to be able to get the time of day from the main stream media who propelled her to fame. I would have hazard to say that 'she can't get arrested' these days, but in fact she was arrested at the white house for protesting not too long ago.

An Open Letter to War Loving (Democratic/Republican) Frauds by Cindy Sheehan

In March of 2010, I set up a Peace Camp called Camp Out Now on the lawn of the Washington Monument for two weeks protesting Obama and his wars. Near the end of that Camp, I was arrested in front of the White House and jailed for 52 hours, then given a four month "stay away" order from the White House

I think she means you Maureen. And jeez Maureen, I don't remember you covering that one? No sympathy? That would be kind of awkward now wouldn't it?

Where Have All the Peaceniks Gone?

2011-03-22T17:19:00.002-04:00

Where is Cindy Sheehan? Where is code pink?

One would think that having a blood thirsty, oil hungry president starting yet another military adventure in the Mideast would draw out the throngs of people that regularly protest war. Oh, that was just for Bush. It was so vogue to hate Bush, and what could be a better vehicle for that hate than taking the phony pose of a humanitarian against the idea of war.

Yeah right!

You really can't blame Cindy though. While she may have hit the sauce a little bit on St Patty's day, got drunk, and confessed her partisan ways, she has recovered and climbed right back on top of that horse!

So why is it that instead of angry, loud protests all you can hear is the sound of chirping crickets?

Remember back when?

MediaMatters

SUMMARY: Bill O'Reilly claimed he was not "vilifying" anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan, just stating the "fact" that Sheehan was being "run by far-left elements who are using her, and she's dumb enough to allow it to happen."

Guess what Cindy. He was right.

I sort of admire Cindy because she hasn't abandoned her cause just because a democrat was elected. I wonder if she was shocked or stunned when she came to the stark realization that her supporters were nothing more than partisan operatives doing whatever they could to put Republicans in a bad light, rather than being dedicated to the ideal of a world with no wars. I also wonder if it is as fun doing anti-war protests when the media no longer cares to cover it.

Fingernails on a Chalkboard - Still Funny

2011-03-21T15:15:00.001-04:00

Horrible!

But horribly funny too, I think.

It will make you cry.....
......on some level......
.....I promise.

Apologies to Cee Lo Green. Respects!

Kiss My Hamas Part IX

2011-03-18T09:56:00.003-04:00

In yet another comic display of 'very foreign policy' the Obama administration and the U.N. have been handling the situation in Libya like Keystone Cops. Weeks ago Obama came out and said

NYT

"we send a very clear message to the Libyan people that we will stand with them"

Encouraging the Libyan people, and emboldening them to take up arms against their oppressor of forty years. And then Obama did nothing. Abdicating the traditional leadership role the U.S. has had in global affairs, Obama made the same mistake that George H.W. Bush made when he incited Iraqi Shiites to rebel and then stood by and watched them be slaughtered in a crack down by Saddam Hussein.

Mr Obama does not understand the prime directive of leadership. "It is better to be respected than to be loved". Being a true believer of the lefts idea that America must be wrong because of their perception that the world does not like us, Mr Obama has overtly demonstrated that America has decided to be a follower on the global stage. Note to President Obama, following is not leading.

Because of all this inaction it was not until yesterday that the U.N. finally decided that a 'No-fly Zone' wast the right thing to do.

The Battle of Turtle Bay

Perhaps in some future Bob Woodward tome we'll learn why President Obama flipped late Wednesday—in a matter of hours—from skeptic of intervention in Libya to proponent of military strikes against Moammar Gadhafi's surging forces

Included in the resolution was a call for a cease fire, which was immediately rebuffed by the Libyan government.

Gadhafi and sons have understandably assumed the opposition would get no foreign help. "In 48 hours everything will be over," his son Saif al-Islam said yesterday, mocking the U.N. as his forces advanced on Benghazi. "Whatever decision is taken, it will be too late."

And then, when the Gaddafi regime learned that the response would be lead by the fighting French rather than the U.S. they backed down.

Libya Calls Ceasefire After Britain and France Vow Action ‘Soon’

Libya performed what seemed a remarkable about-face after weeks of defiance, saying it would call an “immediate ceasefire and the stoppage of all military operations” against rebels seeking the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

And sure, why not. The rebels have already been crushed. They control only the city of Benghazi. The rest of the country is back in the control of the regime. What will the world do now that Gaddafi has claimed to have put down his guns? What will they do about the siege on Benghazi? How will France handle the reality that they are still cut off from the special brand of Libyan crude that they have become addicted to?

What a mess. Thank you Mr. President.

It Ain't Over Until The Union Fat Cats Sing

2011-03-15T15:48:00.000-04:00

Scott Walker

Not willing to accept the reults of the 2010 elections, and not willing to accept the will of the people as represented by the newly elected officials in Wisconsin, the unions dig in and man the barricades.

Wisconsin union fight not over

Volunteers worked the phones in an office a block from the Capitol, where a day before, about 100,000 people protested a law signed by Walker to curtail collective-bargaining rights for 175,000 public employees statewide.
Republicans say the move is necessary to rein in government spending; foes say it is an effort to break organized labor's back and dilute its impact on elections.

Dilute the impact of organized labor's impact on elections. Bingo! Union labor is a substantial minority compared to the rest of us working in the real world. Why should they get a bigger voice than the majority? While they are out campaigning for the rest of us to be stuck with Obamacare, they get exemptions and get to keep their gold plated plans. They don't even have a dog in the Obamacare fight but they are out actively pushing Obama's Health care agenda on the rest of us.

•Wisconsin. The state doesn't permit ballot issues. Constitutional amendments require approval from two successive legislatures before going to voters.
The state allows recall efforts to start a year after a person is elected. Eight Democrats and eight Republicans are currently eligible to be recalled. The process is tough. Recall petitions need signatures equal to 25% of the votes cast in the last governor's election in the district — a high hurdle but achievable for such an emotional issue.

They will need more than 540,000 signatures. Good luck with that. If they get more than 175,000 real signatures I'll be shocked. They will have to fake the rest. It will be a healthy exercise for the unions to see how out of touch they are with true middle America. Not that it will matter.

Cowboy Poetry Festival

2011-03-08T17:58:00.001-05:00

Do they hold that near "Brokeback Mountain"?

This is just beautiful.......

$14T in Debt, Reid Defends Funding for Cowboy Poetry Festival

The National Endowment of the Humanities is the reason we have in northern Nevada every January a cowboy poetry festival. Had that program not been around, the tens of thousands of people who come there every year would not exist

What? Tens of thousands of people would not exist if were not for the festival? I don't think I am even sure what he means to say here. I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt but there is no correction that comes to mind that would make a plausible defense for continuing deficit spending that is any where near current levels. I don't care if cowboys need love too!

More Harry Classics

Making (up) History......

Trumka's Tragic Travesty

2011-03-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

Thug-in-Chief and Union Fat Cat Dick Trumka had the temerity to publish an op/ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal. In his ridiculous diatribe he clearly illustrates that he just doesn't get it. This of course explains why his puppet, president Obama, also appears obtuse and feckless. Trumka rants about corporate profits and the destruction of the middle class while completely ignoring the ire of the middle class tax payer and the Tea Party.

Scott Walker's False Choice

The business climate couldn't be stronger. Corporate profits reached an annualized level of $1.7 trillion in the third quarter of 2010, the highest figure since the government began keeping statistics 60 years ago.

Are you out of your mind? The business climate could not be stronger? That shows how much lunkhead Trumka knows about business. Just because profits were up does not mean that everything is hunky dory. In fact it suggests that big business is sitting on their cash because of uncertainty caused by the anti business administration, and Dick Trumka wants to shake that money from the corporate trees.

He goes on to rant that Republican Governors are:

demanding steep cuts in wages and pensions for public workers, they also want to take away workplace rights, so that workers can no longer bargain for better compensation and benefits.

Their claim is that public workers have become parasites, busting state budgets with bloated wages and benefits at a terrible cost to taxpayers.

Dead on Dick! We have the second highest corporate tax in the world and even record corporate profits could not fill the deficit void for every state save one. So clearly, yes, it is left to the middle class to be soaked by taxes to try and even get close to even, and we are taxed enough, and we have had it, and we want cuts, and the gold plated benefit packages, and the lifetime employment attitude of the public service sector is a good place to start. Why should we be taxed to death to create an upper middle class of government employees who live better of than we do and contribute less to society and the overall economy than we do?

So here's working America's message to governors like Scott Walker and New Jersey's Chris Christie: We believe in shared sacrifice. But we don't believe in your version of shared sacrifice, where the wealthy and Wall Street reap all the benefits of economic growth, and working people do all the sacrificing.

Again. Enough of the Wall Street bashing. What do you want? you already get 35% of their profits which were record high and we still can't afford the government we have? Exactly what is your solution, other than "don't take my gold go take some from someone else". We'll that someone else is us. The taxpayers you referenced earlier.

it's crucial that we sit down at the table together and find a way to grow without taking more away from the middle class

Exactly! Except sitting down at the table doesn't mean "what else can the tax payers give us". Start making some real suggestions and give the people a reason to come to the table. Otherwise, we have ideas of our own.

(h/t Jersey Nut)

Democrats Demonstrate Disdain for Democracy

2011-03-01T18:54:00.002-05:00

I know we now live in 'Upside Down World', but it's still hard to fathom in what way the people protesting in Wisconsin think they are fighting for freedom and democracy?

As President Obama once quipped "elections have consequences". Didn't the public union employees get the memo? Democrats got shellacked in November, and now Republicans are trying to do what voters sent them to do, so the democrats are subverting democracy by leaving the state and avoiding the vote.

And freedom? In what way, slant or angle can you associate unions with freedom? You don't usually get a choice about joining the union if you get a job with a company that has on. Your compensation isn't based on merit or how good you are. The only thing the union values is how long you have been there. And make sure not to work too hard and make everyone else look bad. Once upon a time at a brand new job, I got in trouble for plugging the electrical cord to my new computer into the outlet on the wall; a union guy was supposed to do that. Does that sound like freedom to you?

Unions vs. the Right to Work

How ironic that Wisconsin has become ground zero for the battle between taxpayers and public- employee labor unions. Wisconsin was the first state to allow collective bargaining for government workers (in 1959)

Pretty much explains why they'll be the first to enact such a comprehensive rollback. It's not working.
And riddle me this. If collective bargaining was only introduced by law in 1959, how did it became a basic civil right? Laws are enacted and laws get repealed.

Labor unions like to portray collective bargaining as a basic civil liberty, akin to the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and religion. For a teachers union, collective bargaining means that suppliers of teacher services to all public school systems in a state—or even across states—can collude with regard to acceptable wages, benefits and working conditions. An analogy for business would be for all providers of airline transportation to assemble to fix ticket prices, capacity and so on. From this perspective, collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty.

And if they had not been so greedy and pushed the corrupt system that leaves know one at the bargaining table representing the tax payers, and enriched themselves well beyon what the average taxpayer get for pay and benefits, they might not be in this position.

The current pushback against labor-union power stems from the collision between overly generous benefits for public employees— notably for pensions and health care—and the fiscal crises of state and local governments. Teachers and other public-employee unions went too far in convincing weak or complicit state and local governments to agree to obligations, particularly defined-benefit pension plans, that created excessive burdens on taxpayers.

The system is corrupt, and it must be abolished.

A Union Education

We've previously mentioned FDR and Fiorello La Guardia. But George Meany, the legendary AFL-CIO president during the Cold War, also opposed the right to bargain collectively with the government.

Why? Because unlike in the private economy, a public union has a natural monopoly over government services. An industrial union will fight for a greater share of corporate profits, but it also knows that a business must make profits or it will move or shut down. The union chief for teachers, transit workers or firemen knows that the city is not going to close the schools, buses or firehouses.

This monopoly power, in turn, gives public unions inordinate sway over elected officials. The money they collect from member dues helps to elect politicians who are then supposed to represent the taxpayers during the next round of collective bargaining. In effect union representatives sit on both sides of the bargaining table, with no one sitting in for taxpayers. In 2006 in New Jersey, this led to the preposterous episode in which Governor Jon Corzine addressed a Trenton rally of thousands of public workers and shouted, "We will fight for a fair contract." He was promising to fight himself.

And leading the way is AFL-CIO thug Rich Trumka.

Current AFL-CIO chief Rich Trumka has tried to portray Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's reforms as an attack on all unions, but they clearly are not. If anything, by reining in public union power, Mr. Walker is trying to protect private workers of all stripes from the tax increases that will eventually have to finance larger government. Regarding public finances, the interests of public union workers and those of private union taxpayers are in direct conflict. Mr. Walker is the better friend of the union manufacturing worker in Oshkosh than is Mr. Trumka.

Tax payers cannot afford to lose the battle of Wisconsin!

Judge Kessler's Exercise in Poor Judgement

2011-02-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

In what continues to be partisan line decisions on the constitutionality of Obamacare, the left leaning judges are doing contortions and gymnastic to attempt plausibility in their judgments. While it is clearly self evident that the mandate by the government to force people to buy health care insurance is unconstitutional and un-American, Judge Gladys Kessler tries to convince us otherwise.

Regulating 'Mental Activity'

The crux of these cases is whether the government's power to regulate "Commerce . . . among the several States" is so broad that it can mandate that everyone buy health insurance. Judge Gladys Kessler of the D.C. district court says in her 64-page opinion that this power includes regulating even "mental activity, i.e., decision-making."

The distinction between activity and inactivity is "of little significance," Judge Kessler writes. "It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not 'acting' . . . Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin."

Wow. Rather than basing her judicial opinion on legal precedence, or looking to the constitution to ponder what freedom in America was intended to be, she clearly is drawing from a song by the rock band Rush.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Ironically the name of the song is "Freewill".

I don't think Judge Kessler or all of the other proponents of Obamacare get this whole "freedom" thing.

Greedy Teachers in Providence Staring at Wisconsin Teachers Fate

2011-02-24T12:09:00.004-05:00

On the same day that Rhode Island teachers and public service union employees were rallying in support of teachers in Wisconsin, the city of Providence was finalizing plans to fire all of it's teachers.

Providence plans to pink slip all teachers

The school district plans to send out dismissal notices to every one of its 1,926 teachers, an unprecedented move that has union leaders up in arms.

How ironic is that? Poetic justice perhaps?

“This is beyond insane,” Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith said Tuesday night. “Let’s create the most chaos and the highest level of anxiety in a district where teachers are already under unbelievable stress. Now I know how the United States State Department felt on Dec. 7 , 1941.” That was the day the Japanese government bombed Pearl Harbor.

As Michael Graham points out on his blog 'The Natural Truth', it was good and appropriate that the Providence Journal pointed out that Dec. 7, 1941 was the day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor since most of their readers were probably educated by Smith’s public school colleagues and would have no idea what that date meant.

Taveras, in a statement issued Tuesday night, said the uncertainty around the city’s finances, combined with the March 1 deadline, led to this decision.

State law requires that teachers be notified about potential changes to their employment status by March 1.

Hmmmm... I wonder why there is a state law which requires that teachers be notified about potential changes to their employment status by March 1? I am going to go out on a limb here and wildly speculate that this was a law supported by the teachers union in an effort to limit the states ability to downsize the teaching workforce. File this one under the law of unintended consequences. Since the state is obliged to follow a law that the union wanted the union is accordingly up in arms.

He (Steve Smith) said it makes no sense to send out dismissal notices to every teacher because the district has a legal obligation to educate all of its students, regardless of budget considerations. “You have so many students,” he said. “You need so many teachers. You have a student-teacher ratio of 26 to 1. Do the math.”

Ha! Do the Math. Classic! Sorry Steve, but if they were educated in Providence then they probably can't.

The Mayor of Providence Angel Tavares in that same statement from Tuesday night said;

“As a Providence public school graduate, I understand how great teachers can change lives,”

Oops.

Let this be a lesson in cause and effect.

Rhode Island State House - Union Solidarity Demonstration

2011-02-23T16:40:00.001-05:00

It was lame.

The Rent-A-Mob started filling the State House rotunda around 4:30. State workers and members from other unions were in attendance. It seemed like a large crowd because the rotunda is deceptively small and everyone was packed in.

I have to say that the event was very tame. The closest thing to violent imagery was the guy with the sword, and he was actually a nice guy. No Hitler stuff, no cross hairs, just union people showing up and doing as they are told.

After it was all over you can see people leaving the State House and crossing the street to the state administration building. You know, going back to their desks to collect their stuff and go home. It was after 5pm by then.

Andrew Brietbart in Wisconsin Sums It Up

2011-02-22T11:32:00.000-05:00

Pretty much says it all.

Nice Try Frank Rich!

2011-02-20T16:03:00.001-05:00

Red meat for the faithful.

In an opinion piece from the New York Times yesterday, February 19th, 2011, Frank Rich distracts his readers from the very serious demonstrations happening in Wisconsin. Because some very core liberal tenants are about to take a poignant shellacking, Frank chooses to wax fondly on the Tuscon tragedy, and his perception that politicizing a national tragedy was a brilliant political success. How evil is that?

The G.O.P.’s Post-Tucson Traumatic Stress Disorder

SIX weeks after that horrific day in Tucson, America has half-forgotten its violent debate over the power of violent speech to incite violence.

No Frank. We have not forgotten. Talk about violent speech inciting violence is being suppressed by you and the rest of the lame stream media because of what is going on in Madison Wisconsin. Violent speech and imagery, and all the other things you whined about are being bandied about like the violence debate never happened. When the left is being violent, you don't want to talk about it. You would rather reminisce about that period of time when you were blaming the right for being violent, even though they weren't.

But all those arguments over political language did leave a discernible legacy. In the aftermath of President Obama’s Tucson sermon, civility has had a mini-restoration in Washington. And some of the most combative national figures in our politics have been losing altitude ever since, much as they did after Bill Clinton’s oratorical response to the inferno of Oklahoma City.

Arguments over political language that had nothing to do with Tuscon. Here is where he pats himself on the back and gives a warm hug to his fellow partisans over the success he's seen in politicizing the assassination attempt on Gabriel Giffords. Frank Rich continues to indulge in some escapism by spinning data to cheer those still mourning the one party rule system. Reporting on the impending doom for the lefts two favorite punching bags Rich writes:

Glenn Beck’s ratings at Fox News continued their steady decline, falling to an all-time low last month. He has lost 39 percent of his viewers in a year and 48 percent of the prime 25-to-54 age demographic. His strenuous recent efforts to portray the Egyptian revolution as an apocalyptic leftist-jihadist conspiracy have inspired more laughs than adherents.

ah, to not think of the hypocritical violence spewing angry mobs in Wisconsin and to be able to cackle over the eminent demise of the reviled Glen Beck! Truly chicken soup for the soul.

But wait a minute. There are some facts that Mr. Rich left out. As Samuel Clemons once said "There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics" (Paraphrased). The raw fact is that Glen Beck continues to beat the competition with an audience that is still 4 times larger than his closest competitor. When Beck's all time low is 4 times what the competition is doing, I am not sure it's time to gloat.

And then there is the favorite punching bag, Sarah Palin. Frank almost appears to be doing a parody of the Glen Beck conspiracy theories that he scoffs at by insinuating that Sarah not speaking at CPAC and canceling a speaking engagement is proof that Ms Palin and the GOP are in an unstoppable death spiral. Whatever you say Carnac. However, I'm sure it helped his readers restore that tingle up their legs that they've been missing for a while now.

Sarah Palin’s tailspin is also pronounced. It can be seen in polls, certainly: the ABC News-Washington Post survey found that 30 percent of Americans approved of her response to the Tucson massacre and 46 percent did not. (Obama’s numbers in the same poll were 78 percent favorable, 12 percent negative.) But equally telling was the fate of a Palin speech scheduled for May at a so-called Patriots & Warriors Gala in Glendale, Colo.

More important than an ABC News - Washington Post poll is a Rasmussen poll. The Rasmussen polls are more relevant because they only poll people who vote, rather than those who believe their civic duties stop at watching John Stewart's Daily Show. In the Rasmussen daily tracking report of the president's approval index you can see that Mr. Obama is well into the the negative double digits.

He goes on to say:

If the right puts its rabid Obama hatred on the down-low, what will — or can — conservatism stand for instead? The only apparent agendas are repealing “Obamacare” and slashing federal spending

Well that would be because those are the most important issues to the majority of the electorate, you elitist dictatorial, know better than everyone else progressive!

I'm sure this little diversion from reality was a welcomed weekend getaway for the left who are staring down the barrel of a tax payer revolt over public sector unions living high off the hog on tax payer money, and unwilling to pitch in and help get through some hard times. The face of the greedy unions is now bare for all to see.

And while Frank Rich may have performed an illusionist act for his audience the automatic re-election of Obama for devout obambies, he's not scaring anyone who is paying attention.

Gilded Unions and Greedy Teachers in Wisconsin

2011-02-19T12:48:00.004-05:00

Teachers in Wisconsin are demonstrating......................that their greed knows no bounds.

The teachers in Wisconsin are so greedy that they would rather kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and get those golden eggs now rather than help to set up a sustainable system that continues better than average compensation.

What's at Stake in Wisconsin's Budget Battle

The real assault this week was led by Organizing for America, the successor to President's Obama's 2008 campaign organization. It helped fill buses of protesters who flooded the state capital of Madison and ran 15 phone banks urging people to call state legislators.

Mr. Walker's proposals are hardly revolutionary. Facing a $137 million budget deficit, he has decided to try to avoid laying off 5,500 state workers by proposing that they contribute 5.8% of their income towards their pensions and 12.6% towards health insurance. That's roughly the national average for public pension payments, and it is less than half the national average of what government workers contribute to health care. Mr. Walker also wants to limit the power of public-employee unions to negotiate contracts and work rules—something that 24 states already limit or ban.

And in their temper tantrum over keeping every nickel they managed to flim flam out of a corrupt process they can't even make a consistent or logical arguement over why they should have a higher standard of living over the tax payers who provide their compensation.

"Ending dues deductions breaks the political cycle in which government collects dues, gives them to the unions, who then use the dues to back their favorite candidates and also lobby for bigger government and more pay and benefits," Mr. Siegel told me.

And the so called reasoning for keeping all of their spoils?

"This is about the clean government Wisconsin has enjoyed over the past century versus the corrupt government that Scott Walker proposes," thundered the liberal Madison Capital Times newspaper earlier this week. Democratic State Sen. Bob Jauch called Mr. Walker's move "the end of the democratic process" during the committee debate on Wednesday night.

What? Really? How so? Talk about your flat out whopper of lies. Unless of course by democratic process Sen Bob Jauch means a political process where the democratic party gets it's way on every issue despite what the people they supposedly represent want. That clearly must be the case because once the literal democratic process began to move forward they themselves dismantled the democratic process by leaving the state and halting a vote, which would have been the democratic process in action.

And talk about an astro-turf demonstration. Union fat cats run their business like a big business.

See the nicely printed signs?

And which one of the grass roots protestors was smart enough to bring along the porta-potties?

Well, at least the kids made their own signs. It was probably a homework assignment given to them on the last day they attended classes.

Civil Rights? Sorry kid. You get an F. I don't know what the lazy teachers who don't make their own signs are teaching you, but dictating the terms of your compensation to your employer is not a civil right!

Atlas Shrugged - The Movie! Finally!

2011-02-19T00:41:00.002-05:00

I am so psyched! I loved the book. I just hope the movie doesn't suck!

Atlas Shrugged references appear on these pages somewhat regularly.

I am keeping my hopes high. Perhaps that's a bad idea.

I can't wait!

"Who is John Galt"

"Who is the destroyer?"

Do you think this might spark some philosophical reflection among the dumb ass I get my news from John Stewart liberals? Will they finally see the ruse that is the "Sanction of the Victim"?

Probably not. They don't even see their own hypocracy when one week they are whining about violent Tea Parties and the next week they are parading around with Hitler signs, and gun scopes trained on the Governor of Wisconsin.

But I am going love having some video cuts to help out on this blog!

Visit the Official Atlas Shrugged Movie Web Site!

Thank you god for answering my prayer. Now, if I may ask for one more thing, could we please have a blockbuster movie production of "It Can't Happen Here" by Sincair Lewis? Please?

Civility - An Inconvienient Ruse

2011-02-17T17:46:00.002-05:00

And the in your face hypocrisy of the violent left just keeps rolling. The do anything and say anything to push their agenda crowd will wail and cry about civility one moment and then beat you over the head with a tire iron the next moment if it doesn't look like they will get their way.

After the attempted assassination of Rep Giffords (D-AZ) in Tuscon the left went crazy! They actually blamed Sarah Palin for using cross hairs on a political graphic depicting races for public office which her organization was focusing on to win. This, according to the democratic talking points, created a hostile environment that promotes violence.

Marc Ash is a Moron.
Jared Loughner is a lefty loon.
J Eric Fuller - Violent Lefty Loon
Angry Olbermann - Keeping it Accusatorial

And back when the Tea Party was making headway and gaining support across the nation? My god! You would have thought that female reporters were being gang raped by men wearing tri-corner hats!

All Patches has to fear, is fear itself!
Manufactured Violence
The Code Pink Party Tax Protests

But now in Wisconsin where Governor Scott Walker is taking some drastic measures to avoid putting his state in extremis, the public unions are going nuts, pulling out the Hitler signs, using cross hairs, and doing everything that upset them so badly during peaceful Tea Party protests. Classic Saul Alinsky! the Saul Alinsky tactic of accusing the other side of the things that you are doing is still a primary tool of the left.

Hypocritical Hypocrites!

But this video sums up the whole upside down world, I can't believe what my eyes are seeing and I can't believe what my ears are hearing, world that we now live in.

Barney Being Frank

2011-02-17T01:41:00.001-05:00

I'm Sorry, what was the time of death for the liberal left cries for civility in political discourse?

As has been pointed out on these pages many times, the cry for civility is really just code for "you shut up and sit down while I bash your brains in, and don't even think about defending yourself".

The Audacity of Hate

"Hate Works"

The presidents words last night were nothing more than another insult to one's intellect by trying to position himself as someone we know he is not.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.
Just like his claims for bipartisan relations with Congress, which amounted to 'sit down, shut up, and vote like I tell you; or you are an obstructionist!", this veiled platitude means nothing more than 'talking with each other in a way that heals means sit down, shut up, and vote the way I tell you to or you are speaking in a way that wounds"

You knew it was crap when the president said it, and in typical Barney Frank fashion he took as many cheap shots as he could get in, but that's OK because he is a know it all progressive.

The problem frankly is that we don't know what the Republicans are going to do...ya know; here's the problem, the republican leadership has dissolved. The Republican leadership now is the Tea Party People. And so the problem is that you don't even know if there is going to be an ability to negotiate. I mean the the the, It's hard to negotiate with a negotiating committee that consists of John Boehner, Eric Cantor, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit.

Stay classy Barney! And another memorable quote:

"I'm a little fuzzy on the concept of non-combat troops"

Are we really surprised?
I mean he's also a little fuzzy on economics and free markets.

Another Dodd-Frank Triumph

Like ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank was rushed through by Democrats before the curtain came down on their one-party control of Washington. Also like health care, we are now finding out what they really passed and its very costly consequences.

and the resulting reality?

The regulators are now trying to figure out how to reduce the impact on taxpayers from the very moral hazard that financial reform was supposed to prevent. Instead of reducing systemic risk, Dodd-Frank has created more institutions whose failure would create it.

Nice work Barney!

CL

Lara Logan Rape = Tea Party

2011-02-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

First of all, I wish Lara Logan all the best and pray for her speedy recovery. I can't even imagine how a political celebration turns into a gang rape that happens out in the open with thousands of witnesses.

But...........Let's see how long it will take for the lame stream media to equate this act to a Tea Party Tax Protest.

Just say'n.

Oh, and let's all wait to hear the islamo-fascist apologists explain how this is really just part of their culture and they shouldn't be judged by western standards. Evidence like this should in no way suggest that their culture is barbaric. No. Really.

Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday

2011-02-06T00:01:00.018-05:00

Happy Birthday Mr. President.

from presidentialtimeline.org

Presidency

January 20, 1981

to

January 20, 1989

On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar. Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit. A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. In 1986, Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. At the end of his administration, the nation was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression. In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve “peace through strength.” During his two terms he increased defense spending 35 percent, but sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union. In dramatic meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

Judicial Activism? Are You Kidding Me!

2011-02-04T18:34:00.001-05:00

Since the moment that Judge Roger Vinson declared that Obamacare was unconstitutional the left has been howling that this ruling was nothing more than a clear example of judicial activism.

OMFG!

You have to be kidding! This is more than lefty spin, this is a grotesque distortion of reality. It is humorous to watch the left act so surprise though. People and politicians have been screaming that this bill is unconstitutional since before it was signed into law! At least 26 states are joined and united in pressing their law suit because they know the law is unconstitutional. This is a classic "the Emperor has no clothes" moment and yet the left has the audacity to act surprise. "What? Hey! How did that happen! This must be judicial activism!"

Bolox!

Judicial activism is when the courts use their power to expand the role of government beyond what a law says or was intended for. Kelo v. City of New London, is an excellent example. Here a law that was intended for using 'eminent domain' or the taking of private land into the public trust for the benefit of all was extended to include the taking of private land and handing it over to private for profit business. Eminent domain was created so that roads could be built, power lines extended to distribute electricity to all, maybe even to build a library or police station. It was never intended to be a vehicle for well connected developers to get below market prices for real estate ventures that, if everything goes correctly could possibly benefit the community if the venture is a success. The court extending government powers to include that type of scenario is a clear case where the court created new law or powers that should have been created as legislation by the representatives of the people.

The opposite of judicial activism is when the courts use their powers to limit the power of government, beyond the enumerated powers that the constitution provides for. That's what Judge Roger Vinson did and that's why he is a constitutionalist.

Media Bias Strikes Again! Schumer Blooper fails to Attract Note

2011-02-01T09:58:00.003-05:00

we have three branches of government: we have a House, the Senate, we have a President,

Who said that? Many would probably guess it was a quote from Sarah Palin. Wrong. And you know you are wrong because if Sarah Palin had said that you would be seeing it played over and over again on all the networks right now, and well into the future. In fact, I am certain they would never have let this one go.

But alas, it was the arrogant, condescending super genius Senator from New York Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that we have three branches of government: we have a House, the Senate, we have a President,

Then again, maybe this is a super genius moment. Given that the judiciary declared that Obamacare is unconstitutional, maybe this is an attempt to brainwash the stupid masses that believe something like Obamacare was good for the country would also believe that the Judiciary is not one of the three branches of government and therefore their verdict is meaningless. Look away, nothing to see here.

Really! Think about it. What would the air waves look like today if Sarah Palin had said this!

Obamacare is Unconstitutional!

2011-01-31T15:03:00.004-05:00

Federal U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has declared that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional and that the mandate is unseverable from the rest of the law. This basically revokes the entire law!

Will this open up the door to forget repeal and go directly to replace?

UPDATE: 3:33pm

Judge Rules Health Care Law Is Unconstitutional

Judge Roger Vinson said as a result of the unconstitutionality of the "individual mandate" that requires people to buy insurance, the entire law must be thrown out.

"I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here," Vinson wrote.

Kiss My Hamas Part VIII

2011-01-28T17:46:00.001-05:00

Wow.

Denial is not a river in Egypt, but it probably is an accurate description of how the White House is feeling right now.

The president really has to be regretting not supporting the Iranian uprising. If only he had and the Iranian government had fallen, this Egyptian uprising would be a welcomed example of another society of people freeing themselves from the shackles of despotism.

But now, since that did not happen, the thought of the Egyptian government is a horrible nightmare that provides an opportunity for Iran to install a Hamas style government. Can you imagine? The Egyptian army under the control of a Muslim Brotherhood inspired Hamas or Hezbollah?

So now, the president, who should have supported the people of Iran, but did not because he thought it would benefit his failed attempts to negotiate Iran away from their nuclear program, is now faced with supporting the popular uprising in Egypt, and moving the Middle East closer to a large scale war.

Israel cannot be sleeping comfortably tonight.

Chomsky is still a Chump!

2011-01-28T12:11:00.000-05:00

How does this guy continue to be revered as some type of philosophical guru while speaking complete untruths in front of supposedly learned audiences? I've pointed out before how this guy appears to exist in some opposite upside down world universe.

Chomsky the Chump
And he's still at it!

Noam Chomsky lectures on nation’s problems

"The military budget is half of the deficit," Chomsky said. "The other half is the heavily privatized health care system. We would not have debt and might even have a surplus if we did not have (the health care system)."

I've heard him say this many times, including in the video below, and it is just simply not true, yet none of the brilliant know it all intellectuals call him on it. A little over half of annual spending by the government goes to defense, and what Noam calls health-care which he means medicare, and medicaid. Now, if half of your annual budget goes to health-care and defense, then how are you able to apportion those two line items to 100% of your debt? Unless you are cooking the books, all of your expenditures are proportionally responsible for your overage.

Chomsky also discussed terrorism and the post-Sept. 11 United States.
"Bush said terrorists committed crimes because they hate our freedoms," he said.
Contrary to this statement, Chomsky said that Muslims actually hate our policies, not our freedoms.
Chomsky said United States' policies actually benefit Jihadists.

Wrong again Noam! The Jihadists do hate us for our freedoms. Unless of course by policy you mean policies like educating our women. Policies like not requiring women to wear burkas. Policies like not incarcerating homosexuals. Policies like allowing people to listen to western music.

"The U.S. remains Bin Laden's only ally," he said.
Chomsky discussed the United States' support of dictatorships in Egypt, Tunisia, Georgia, Jordan and Colombia. He said this too falls under the "guiding principle."

Really? Last time I checked Columbia was a real democracy with a real freely elected president. Georgia too!

"The United States has a violent labor history," he said. "The rallying cry of the late 19th-century labor movement was, 'Those who work in mills should own them,'" he said.
Chomsky said this holds significance today, specifically with the automobile industry.
"Obama took over the auto industry, so the government owns it," he said. "The government is closing plants when they could turn them over to the workers and let them run it for profit."

Well, you get partial credit here Noam. The labor movement truly has been violent. Violent thugs who feel they deserve the property of people who took risks and became succesful. It's funny how labor only wants too take ownership of the successful businesses, which is precisely why, Noam, that the workers have not taken over those closed plants you claim they could run.

"Democrats today are what used to be moderate Republicans, and today's Republicans are so deep in the pockets of business, you have to have a magnifying glass to find them," he said.

Oh my god! Who lets him get away with such fantasies? Does he really believe a John F Kennedy, cut taxes and be strong on defense democrat would be tolerated in today's party? The democratic party has moved so far left that communist principles and leaders are openly praised and adored.

"Social Security is actually in good shape, despite what you read," he said. "The rich want to get rid of Social Security, because it is based on the principles of compassion and solidarity, and (the spread of these principles) could be dangerous for the rich."

No Noam, it's because it's a ponzi scheme, and all ponzi schemes eventually implode. As soon as it's mathmatically impossible to expand the base of the pyramid to pay the few at the top, it collapses.

Students said they gained valuable insights from Chomsky's lecture.

God help us all!

Really? Can't they let the Tea Party Violence Thing Go?

2011-01-21T16:07:00.002-05:00

No! afterall :

You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.

- Rahm Emanuel

After the anti-climactic attempt to smear the Tea Party where the the left shot it's load a little to soon in trying to paint Jared Laughner as an Afghan Vet and Tea Party activist, they do not want this effort to die too early of a death, less they be seen as the boy who cried wolf and ignored at the next opportunity, er um, I mean national tragedy. And because, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Police Investigate Threatening Graffiti Targeting California Gov. Brown

Police are investigating graffiti messages found in Santa Ana threatening to kill California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said officers were called to two different areas of the city Thursday where threatening messages were found. One message said, "We're gonna kill Gov. Brown 2/14/11." In the other, a vandal spray-painted in red, "27 more days 4 Brown" and included a swastika.

So what is the over under? Was this done by crafty Tea Party evildoers, confessing their plan like evil genius super bad guys in a '007' spy flick? or is this the work of another stupid militant gay democratic party volunteer?

Manufactured Violence

Remember the militant gay democratic party volunteer? The one that used a hammer to break the windows of the Democratic party headquarters in Colorado?

When the left commits violence its a lone wolf loon who is to blame. If a lone wolf loon on the other side does wrong, well then the entire opposition is violent and they should shut up and stop opposing socialism. There is nothing, no dirty trick, no ethical boundary, and no violent act that would stop Obama supporters from trying to shut down and marginalize the Tea Party.

Puhleeeeeeeeeeeeze!

CL

Liberal Logic Lacks Lucidity

2011-01-20T10:53:00.001-05:00

"People will no more advance their civility to a bear, than their money to a bankrupt."

Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, 4th Earl

Well that didn't take long!

As predicted on these very pages, the wails for civility and a more sober tone were never meant to apply to democrats. Of course to them, in their eyes, they are always civil and merely stating self evident truths. Right?

So in an attempt to incite Republican wrath or ire, Rep Steve Cohen (D-TN) gives us another glimpse into the innate inability to reason using logic or analogy.

Democratic Congressman Compares GOP Health Care Attacks to Nazi 'Lies'

So much for the new era of political civility.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., compared Republican attacks on the health care overhaul to Nazi propaganda advanced by Joseph Goebbels that led to the Holocaust.

Cohen, who is Jewish, made the remarks to a mostly empty chamber on Tuesday night as he argued against a Republican bill to repeal the health care law.

"They don't like the truth so they summarily dismiss it," Cohen said. "They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like (Nazi propagandist Joseph) Goebbels."

"You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing," he said.

So let me get this straight? It's not OK for Sarah Palin to use the 'Blood Libel' analogy because it might offend people who were also persecuted by baseless lies, but it is OK to portray the assertions of your political opponents as being on par with the atrocities of the Holocost?

Riiiiiiight........

And in another stunning display of using circular arguments to bedazzle your opponents by stunning them with stupidity Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) asserts that if health care is repealed people will die, and Neil Cavuto isn't falling for it as quickly as she would like.

Amazing!

CL

Angry Olbermann - Keeping it Accusatorial

2011-01-18T14:36:00.003-05:00

Angry people screaming angrily about the Tea Party's anger is where we now reside. And, there is nothing like spreading misconception and distortions to achieve a more civil tone in political discourse. The preplanned storyline and tactic for blaming the Tea Party for what ever the next national disaster was going to be went awry. Several sources have already suggested that this story was written in advance a la JournoList, and like a prepared obituary for a famous person was ready to go and be launched at the necessary moment. The accusations and the unanimous chorus from state-run-media after the tragedy in Tuscon was so fast that one has to at least consider the plausibility of such a conspiracy.

But alas, it did not turn into the home run they were hoping for. The perpetrator was not the veteran from Afghanistan who was a Tea Party supporter, as was reported while victims were still being transported to the hospital (even on Fox News). It was a Marxist leaning, pot smoking lefty who had been attending Rep. Giffords events since 2007. Before there was a Tea Party and before anyone outside of Alaska knew who Sarah Palin was.

Instead of keeping their powder dry, the state-run-media shot their load too soon. It almost worked. It was such a great plan! Well, the media can't wait for another tragedy to try this tactic again, so the slam the Tea Party campaign must continue!

And who better then Gen. Keith Olbermann to lead the charge!

Olbermann Cherry Picks Poll to Bash Tea Party as Violent Threat to Elected Officials

Keith Olbermann on Monday cherry-picked a new poll to bash the Tea Party as a violent threat to elected officials.

As he discussed new findings in a Daily Kos/Public Policy Polling survey about who thinks violence against the current American government is justified, the "Countdown" host highlighted the Tea Party's number while conveniently ignoring demographic groups that responded at an equal or higher rate

In the on air broadcast Obermann goes onto say:

A new poll taken after the shooting showing only a handful of Americans, 5 percent or 6 percent, calling violence against the current U.S. government justified, but 13 percent of the Tea Party says it is.

And then the author Noel Sheppard points out

That's true, but as Mediaite's Tommy Christopher noted, the highest positive response to this question was 17 percent from folks aged 18-29.

and

"Other" under race scored at 14 percent while folks making less than $30,000/year pulled 13 percent. Also of note, under party affiliation, "Independent/Other" polled at 10 percent.

Some more interesting numbers from this poll were that Liberals polled at 7 percent, ahead of moderates and conservatives at 6 percent. This means Liberals not only polled higher than the rest of the country, but also higher than conservatives.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

The real irony here is that all this rhetoric took place on Martin Luther King day. It is ironic because while it is true that Dr. King lead a non-violent effort to bring about justice and civil liberties he was being excoriated by the press for fomenting the violence being perpetrated by Bill Ayers and the Weather Underground, the Black Panthers,and other violent radicals.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

CL

J Eric Fuller - Violent Lefty Loon

2011-01-16T16:18:00.002-05:00

So once again, the left demonstrates it's penchant for violence. Amidst all the calls of curtailing speech, and changing the tone of the rhetoric they have not changed any plays in their playbook. As we knew all along the story line behind the howls on the left is really only intended to be observed by people who oppose them. They on the other hand will continue in their self righteous endeavors of limiting your freedom, redistributing wealth, and stagnating the economy; for your own good of course.

Man Shot in Tucson Rampage Is Arrested at a TV Taping

The man, J. Eric Fuller, 63, a military veteran who supports Ms. Giffords, was involuntarily committed for a 72-hour mental health evaluation, said Jason Ogan, a spokesman for the Pima County sheriff’s office.

The sheriff's office has forwarded charges against Mr. Fuller of threats and intimidation, as well as disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, to the county attorney's office, Mr. Ogan said.

Mr. Fuller, who was shot in the left knee and back on Jan. 8, was among several victims, medical personnel and others who attended a special forum at St. Odilia Catholic Church hosted by Christiane Amanpour to be televised Sunday on ABC.

State Representative Terri Proud, a Republican, was sitting two rows behind Mr. Fuller. The topic of gun control came up in the forum, she said, and one of the speakers made a comment about a bill introduced recently in Arizona that would allow faculty members on college campuses with concealed weapons permits to carry guns.

Ms. Proud said she spoke up to clarify the bill’s language. Trent Humphries, the founder of the Tucson Tea Party, who was sitting one row behind her, rose to speak and suggested that discussion about gun legislation be postponed until after the funerals. He started to say that he had also been affected by the tragedy because a neighbor was a victim.

At that point, Ms. Proud said, Mr. Fuller blurted out to Mr. Humphries, “You’re dead.”

So clearly it was the Tea Party's fault. Once again inciting people to violence. Only, the violent keep turning out to be those in opposition to the ideals of the Tea Party. Violent opposition!

And if you're thinking "oh man, give the guy a break, he was shot just a few days ago", I would confess to subscribing to that very sentiment. However, this is not the first time.

Mr. Fuller was also involved in a confrontation on Jan. 8, shortly before the attack on Ms. Giffords, which occurred at an event she held for her constituents outside a Safeway supermarket. He said in a long interview last week with The New York Times that he had argued there with a man he described as a former Marine after a heated discussion over politics. Gabriel Zimmerman, an aide to Ms. Giffords, separated the two.

Mr. Zimmerman was killed in the attack later that morning.

Mr. Fuller spoke dismissively of Republicans during the interview. “They appeal to simple-minded rednecks,” he said.

Leading by example in the tenor and tone of civil discourse is not part of the democratic plan.

CL

L.A. Times: Wrong again

2011-01-14T17:47:00.000-05:00

The conversation about Sarah Palin's official post-Arizona statement: She really messed this one up

In using "blood libel," a term rooted in anti-Semitism, however, she created a bigger mess for herself. Quoting from James Oliphant's Los Angeles Times article, Sarah Palin's charge of 'blood libel' spurs outcry from Jewish leaders:
"Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a 'blood libel' against her and others," said David Harris, president of the National Democratic Jewish Council, in a statement. "This is of course a particularly heinous term for American Jews, given that the repeated fiction of blood libels are directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries -- and given that blood libels are so directly intertwined with deeply ingrained anti-Semitism around the globe, even today."
Even conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg is with us on this one. Blogging for NRO, he said:

"I should have said this a few days ago, when my friend Glenn Reynolds introduced the term to this debate. But I think that the use of this particular term in this context isn't ideal. Historically, the term is almost invariably used to describe anti-Semitic myths about how Jews use blood -- usually from children -- in their rituals. I agree entirely with Glenn’s, and now Palin"s, larger point. But I’m not sure either of them intended to redefine the phrase, or that they should have."

um....not exactly. I think Rabbi Shmuley Boteach got it right.

Sarah Palin Is Right About 'Blood Libel'

Murder is humanity's most severe sin, and it is trivialized when an innocent party is accused of the crime—especially when that party is a collective too numerous to be defended individually. If Jews have learned anything in their long history, it is that a false indictment of murder against any group threatens every group. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Indeed, the belief that the concept of blood libel applies only to Jews is itself a form of reverse discrimination that should be dismissed.

The L.A. Times is leading the way in the replacement for Bush/Cheney/Haliburton dementia, Sara Palin obsession.

CL

The Audacity of Hate

2011-01-13T15:41:00.003-05:00

Gordon Gekko told us that "Greed is Good"

Barack Obama has shown us that "Hate Works".

Last night in Tucson, Barck Obama gave a speech hearkening back to the tenor of his 2008 campaign. Just like that campaign, he spoke of lofty ideals that he has no intention of pursuing.

In his 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack talked about being a 'post-partisan' president and about reaching across the isle. Despite all the evidence given by his voting record, this was received as a truth that would gladly change Washington. The reality was that the country was victimized by a Health Care bill that was rammed through congress despite bipartisan opposition, and that the country did not want, and rejected in the 2010 mid-term elections.

I have said on these pages before that Barack Obama was not elected because of any particular vision he espoused. He was elected because for no other reason than 8 years of 'hate Bush' rhetoric paid off.

"Hate Works"

The presidents words last night were nothing more than another insult to one's intellect by trying to position himself as someone we know he is not.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.

Just like his claims for bipartisan relations with Congress, which amounted to 'sit down, shut up, and vote like I tell you; or you are an obstructionist!", this veiled platitude means nothing more than 'talking with each other in a way that heals means sit down, shut up, and vote the way I tell you to or you are speaking in a way that wounds"

The left's move to lay the blame for the tragedy that was brought by an individual divorced of reality and living on his own planet, was nothing more than an attempt to deny the people who oppose them the very weapon that has served them so well.

In the world of politics, there is no high ground to take. It's trench warfare. It always has been, and it will always be.

CL

Symbolic to Ironic: Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton Agree

2011-01-12T14:00:00.007-05:00

It is ironic that Rep Gabriel Giffords read the first Amendment from the well of the House of Representatives in a historic and symbolic reading of the constitution in it's entirety, and that now her purported allies want to pass laws to curtail that very right guaranteed by the Constitution.

Rep Robert Brady has said that he will draft legislation to do just that.

In an interview on CNN, Robert Brady (D-Penn) said he wants to make it a federal crime to use threatening language or symbols against federal officials.

There are already so many laws providing special protections to members of congress, this particular law would do nothing but provide incumbents a cudgel to any rival that might dare to challenge. After all, what is 'threatening language or symbols'? It's up for interpretation I guess.

Jared Loughner is a lefty loon.

2011-01-11T11:03:00.003-05:00

While information is beginning to uncover who Jared Loughner is, the state-run-media outlets continue to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. Incredible. Left wing zealot Paul Krugman was part of the choir bemoaning the 'Climate of Hate'. At first blush, after reading the title you would have to be forgiven for momentarily thinking that the piece might be about the Bush years and the dementia, outrage and hate that surrounded the Bush / Haliburton conspiracy. But no. The piece entirely leaves out the Bush years, but interestingly it does reach back to the Clinton years?

When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?

Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008 campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.

Conveniently leaving out the Bush years he points the finger directly at Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. But guess what? Once again it turns out that the opposite is true. This guy was a one time supporter of Rep. Gabriel Giffords.

Ex-Friend: Loughner Wanted Eyes of Public, Media

On CBS' "Early Show" Tuesday, Tierney recalled Loughner's obsession with Giffords goes back to a 2007 event where Loughner posed a question which he didn't feel she answered, and became angry. Tierney said Loughner asked Giffords: "What is government if words have no meaning?"

Another report speaks of a letter in Jared's possession from the Representatives office thanking him for attending another event. But we've seen this before. They want their narrative to be etched into the minds of their blind faith followers before the facts get in the way of reality.

Remember the guy who flew a plane into an IRS building? Yep. Same drill. Blame those opposed to big government and higher taxes and then quietly mumble out of the side of your mouth that 'by the way thie guy who flew the plane into the IRS building was a democrat.

Lefty Loon Turns Suicide Bomber

And sometimes they even purportrate the violence themselves on themselves so that they can play the victim and demonize their opponents at the same time.

Manufactured Violence

Shame on you Paul Krugman. You have revealed yourself to be nothing more than an opportunistic political operative who would use the tragic deaths of six people to further your ideological pursuits. But we already knew that about you.

Marc Ash is a Moron.

2011-01-10T13:48:00.003-05:00

The leftist wing-nut founder of TruthOut and now Reader Supported News was one of the pseudo-news lefty operatives to come out early and start blaming Sarah Palin for the horrific events in Arizona.

Political Assassination in Arizona

It's time to set the record straight. The reason that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the brain, "through and through," was that an individual hated and feared her political objectives enough to commit the cowardly act.

Really? 'hated and feared her political objectives' ? Now there is some journalistic integrity for you. Using the deaths of six people and the horrid assassination attempt of a member of congress to jump to a politically convenient conclusion is an obscenity. All indications are that this was nothing more than a full on Mark David Chapman crazy guy.

But OK. You don't believe in defective humans doing random craziness? You need a political motive? I think they might be on to something over at The Jersey Nut blog.

Cover-up: Gabrielle Giffords targeted for being Jewish?

But what I find interesting is why the media absolutely refuses to raise the question of Congresswoman's Giffford's faith. She is Jewish, the first Jewish congressperson from the state of Arizona. In and of itself that could be coincidental, but being that Jared Loughner lists Mein Kamp as one of his favorite books, well - don't you think it is odd a few alarm bells didn't go off? Imagine if a Muslim in a similar situation were killed by an assassin with pockets full of Tea Party literature - the media would go nuts? But a pioneering Jew killed by a man who professed love for Hitler's classic tome? Strangely, the media is silent.

There you go. The so called progressives who want to bring you a European style welfare state also harbor a little bit of that European antisemitism that rears its ugly head every couple of years. So they won't be talking about that much. It's difficult enough to explain why we have been treating our allies in the the middle east, the Israeli's, the way we have to the American people. Well, it's actually not difficult if we just don't talk about it.

But no, the best defense is a good offense, so Marc Ash goes on to say

When men like John Boehner and women like Sarah Palin tell you that they are shocked and saddened by what has occurred you may well assume that they are indeed. They inspired the rampage, and they are now confronted by what they have wrought.

Yeah ok, we'll just pretend that we've forgotten about the videos of president Bush being hung and burned in effigy. We will pretend to ignore all the evidence that the left (can you say Bill Ayers) has always taken the lead in political violence.

All Patches has to fear, is fear itself!
Manufactured Violence
Lefty Loon Turns Suicide Bomber

Mr Ash ends his little rant with

Let this day go down in history with April 14, 1865, November 22, 1963, April 4, 1968 and June 5, 1968.

What? No Reagan assassination attempt?

William Daley - Obama's Fat Cat Chief of Staff

2011-01-06T18:16:00.002-05:00

The Chicago Gang continues to roll!

How odd. Richard Daley vacates his mayoral seat so that Rahm Emmanuel can run, and then the Mayor's brother gets the Chief of staff gig that Emmanuel vacated. Wow!

It probably makes good sense for Obama though. After all, Wall Street donated more money to the Democrats in the 2008 presidential race than they did to Republicans, and now it's time to start thinking about 2012. With the Presidents approval ratings as low as they are, no one is going to believe in another miracle micro donation bonanza again, so it's time to go crawling back to Wall Street after two years of vilifying them and calling them "Fat Cats".

Yeah, his base will probably howl a little bit

A decision to bring Mr. Daley into the heart of the administration could further annoy Mr. Obama’s liberal base, who frequently accused Mr. Emanuel of encouraging the president to compromise on liberal principles to achieve legislative goals.

Mr. Daley, who was chairman of Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, helped Mr. Clinton pass the North America Free Trade Agreement, which is blamed by many union workers and liberals for helping to move jobs overseas.

Mr. Daley is also the Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co., who also serves as the bank’s head of corporate responsibility. If selected to join the Obama administration, his ties to Wall Street are among the elements of his background that would likely be criticized by left-leaning groups.

But who cares? What are they going to do? Vote Republican?

This move along with some of the other White House organizational changes is a clear signal that the Kamikaze mission is over, and the name of the game right now is 'getting re-elected'.....for now.

Get Ready for the Fiercely All Gay Military (FAGM)

2011-01-04T16:56:00.000-05:00

The first official act of rescinding the "Don't ask Don't tell" policy was to relive Captain Owen Honors of his command. The fiery gay politics that has distracted so many other aspects of our society will now loom large in the military. Here I think the shift and cultural change could be monumental.

Don't get me wrong. This not an anti-gay rant. Gays have rights. They deserve to be treated equal, including some equivalent status as married couples (just don't call it marriage because that would be like deciding to call the sky green instead of blue - but that's a post for another day). And they do deserve to serve in our military.

"Don't ask Don't Tell" merely glossed over what might be considered a logistical problem.

Look at it this way. What if when we decided to let women serve in the military we said "OK ladies you can serve in the military now. Just one thing though. You have to be housed and share showers with the males who serve in the military. What? That's a problem? You feel uncomfortable? Oh get over yourselves. Frankly your not that good looking so I am sure you have nothing to worry about. What? You still feel uncomfortable? What is your major malfunction!?!? Are you some kind of heterophobic sicko? I mean really!"

I think if we had made it that uncomfortable for women, not many of them would have joined up. I think unless they make the same type of accommodations they made for women (separate housing) or just say tough everybody, suck it up, everyone is being housed together from now on (see "Starship Troopers"), we may see the military culture shift to a point where only gay people will feel comfortable serving.

By not wanting gays to feel uncomfortable everyone else needs to be made uncomfortable.

Captain Owen Honors - Leader!

2011-01-03T18:38:00.002-05:00

I never cease to be amazed by the politically correct shallows that rear up every now and then. This latest bunch of crap over Captain Owen Honors possibly losing his job for providing Saturday Night Live like content for his crew is over the top even for the most intolerant leftist fascist.

Did anyone reporting on this story watch the video?

If you watched the video and you were offended, then you really need to get a life. If you watched the video and you think that Captain Owen Honors should be fired from his post then I expect to see you protesting at 30 Rockefeller Center petitioning NBC to pull that oh so offensive TV show "SNL" off the air.

Our military personnel are real people who are living real lives. Like most of us who are normal and have a sense of humor we are able to get over it if we don't get or don't like a joke. What is abnormal is the ridiculous expectation that our military stand at attention and marches with a stiff spine everywhere they go twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

It's only January 3rd and we have already stumbled onto 2011's most un-newsworthy story of the year.

Post Partisan Polemic's

2010-12-08T17:34:00.000-05:00

Party of "No" becomes party of "Whoa!"

It really is a beautiful thing to watch. After two years of complaining that Republicans were being too partisan, and too obstructionist, suddenly an agreement between the President and the GOP is a monumental betrayal.

This is not the first act of bipartisanship. There have been many bipartisan oppositions to various Pelosi shenanigans, that were rammed through by a purely partisan majority. It just never gets reported that way.

Until yesterday, bipartisanship meant "sit down, shut up, and vote how I tell you to vote. Otherwise you are obstructing". Apparently they became very accustomed to this environment, and despite the results of the mid term elections they refuse to come to terms with the change that was voted for and is about to take place.

Now, at the first attempt of a truly bipartisan deal in congress since the election of "He who walks on water", the one who spoke earnestly about "reaching across the isle", it is absolute schadenfreude to watch the presidents base lose their minds.

What was that phrase that was so popular two years ago? Oh yeah......"elections have consequences!"

The Tsunami is Here!

2010-11-01T18:01:00.001-04:00

After the last of the primaries was over back in September, the Wall Street Journal wrote an excellent piece beautifully describing the mood of the country and I think accurately predicting the political massacre that will take place tomorrow.

The Tsunami Heads to Shore
The GOP casualties are over. Now the voter uprising is aiming right at the Democrats.

The pros tell us that 2010 will be a "wave" election, and if that's true then think of Republicans as passengers on a ship who have just watched the tsunami roll over them. A few were washed overboard on the port side, but the GOP is likely to suffer no more losses. Now the huge wave is roaring toward shore, heading directly for the Democrats who are running American government.

That they did not see it coming is all the evidence you need to know about how out of touch they are.

The real story of this election year is that the voters are massing to repudiate two years of the most liberal governance in two generations. It is Mr. Obama's agenda that has polarized the electorate and set off this voter backlash. Democratic candidates, incumbents or not, are admitting as much by fleeing from Mr. Obama, his priorities and even their own voting records.

What will the Ideologue-in-Chief do now?

Liberal Fascism on the March

2010-10-21T18:24:00.001-04:00

there is no 'liberty' in 'liberal'. You tow the line, you follow the herd, and you never go off the reservation!

It was absolutely stunning to hear that Juan Williams was sacked by NPR. the irony here is that his comments that supposedly offended somebody came out during a conversation about the absurd and intolerant actions of the ladies on the tv show 'the View', who stormed off stage when guest Bill O'Reilly stated that it was 'muslims who killed us on 9/11'. Never mind that his statement was factually accurate, the ladies could not tolerate any point of view that did not fit into their politically correct belief system, and happened to be true. So they got up and walked away. Argument over.

Arguing with most liberals is a painful exercise in round-a-round non-sequitors, combined with indignant statements of unrelated facts that are supposed suggest that they prove some unelaborated point. Not Juan Williams though. Whether you agreed with his liberal point of view or not, you always understand how he came to his conclusion using logic rather than squishy slogans. Maybe you didn't agree with the conclusion, buy you respected the point of view.

It is evident that a new wave politically correct intolerance for alternative points of view to the progressive narrative has arrived, and the Battleship NPR has fired the first salvo demonstrating to all that it is not afraid to kill one of it's own for committing political heresy. And in his self respecting fashion Juan continues to call them like he sees them.

Juan Williams: My Words Were 'Not A Bigoted Statement'

Jaun said that in his opinion NPR had:

"Used an honest statement of feeling as the basis for a charge of bigotry to create a basis for firing me. Well, now that I no longer work for NPR let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought."

It's not just NPR Juan, It's the entire political left. It's fascists who want to tell you what you can say, who you can say it to, and what will happen to you if you don't.

10/2: Union's Flex their Muscles

2010-10-01T18:32:00.001-04:00

they say that mimicry is a form of flattery. Despite the ridicule and the condescending condemnation of tea party protests and the Glenn Beck / Sarah Palin 8/28 rally, self proclaimed progressives have decided to respond in kind. While all along belittling these gatherings, while yanking and rolling their eyes, the back on their heels leftists are holding a 'see we can have a rally too' event.

I can't wait to see the results.

Will Nancy Pelosi demand a congressional investigation into who is financially backing this group? Will she weep crocodile tears of fear? No, she won't. It's widely known that this operation is organized, by the most experienced organizing organizations known to man.

Heck, the speaker list is a who's who of union royalty.

the ideology between the 8/28 and the 10/2 messages could not be further apart. 8/28 was about individualism and freedom, and 10/2 is clearly about the progressive (not to be confused with the word progress) agenda, including all out support for illegal immigrants, and community unity (aka Communism).

Is it coincidence that a union operation such as this is held so close to the anniversary of a bloody union triumph?

One Nation Working together

When asked what he thought about media attempts to classify this rally as an anti-Tea Party movement, Garland said that he thinks “that’s an over simplification. Media tends to do that.”

“This is really not about the Tea Party,” he said. “This is about America. This is about bringing people together who have a positive vision for what America can be, not the Tea Party, which is all about negativity, about hatred, about discrimination, about racism. And we’re not about that, we’re about bringing America together with positive energy and a positive agenda for a positive future.”

Or we (the unions) will kill you................

Because you can; does not mean you should.

2010-09-11T08:19:00.004-04:00

the firestorm over the 9/11 mosque has been interesting to watch. It is yet another waypoint that demonstrates the upside down world we live in. the furor started when opposition to announced plans to build a mosque / community center / weapons cache was going to be built 2 blocks away from the flattened world trade center.

Understandably there was a group of americans that protested and testified that this was an intolerable affront. terror loving miscreants posing as patriotic preservers of rights made the argument that because they could do it, they should do it, and that is what makes this country great. Even though there was never any assertion that the muslims did not have the right to build their mosque, religious freedom and the right to build the mosque became the reason that the mosque should be built. this is a lot like the immigration debate where pro open border supporters argue that 'because you can't deport all the illegal immigrants, you should not attempt to enforce existing law's. Just like the mosque argument, it is a dumb one. Ask any of these dopes if that it stands to reason that because you can't catch all the rapists, why should we pursue them? If you can't arrest all the drunk drivers, then why should you peruse them?

Anyways, back to the mosque. I am opposed to the construction of the 9/11 mosque. I do not deny their right to build their mosque, I merely beg their empathy and understanding, and appeal to them that a mosque built on that location would be hugely offensive to many Americans.

Somehow the muslim world did not care of about any affront to 'non-believers'.

After America was admonished by it's own president for suggesting that a religion ought not to exercise a right it definitely has guaranteed to them, a little known pastor, thousands of miles away decided

to exercise a right that was undisputedly his. Pastor Jones announced that he intended to exercise his right to free speech, and to ceremonially burn a Koran on the 9th anniversary of the september 11 attacks.

Well, that got people's attention. Suddenly people were imploring him not to do this. It was too much of an affront to muslims to do this. Suddenly the idea became that because you can do something, it may be the better part of valor not to do it. the President again got involved, and also called for this pastor to not exercise his right to burn a Koran, and now as of this morning, hundreds of death threats later, and after international demonstrations, he has declared he will not burn the Koran and that he never will.

Now that the politically correct crowd has taught everyone that religious symbolism can be an incitement to violence and that the threat of that violence justifies not exercising a right, will they apply that same logic to the building of mosque near ground zero?

Probably not without the threat of violence.

At least this year we were spared the 'day of service' crap, and it looks as though this year the Obama's will strike a pose of solemn remembrance.

McCain's Last Stand

2010-08-24T18:42:00.004-04:00

the tea party is facing a huge test tonight. Senator John McCain is someone who most tea party members have probably voted for at one time or another. Senator John McCain is war hero; He has been a dutiful public servant, and he has served his state well whether you always agreed with him or not. Senator McCain is someone deserving of respect.

But, the tea party platform has been fairly absolute. "throw the bums out!". Nary an incumbent has been spared, and neither should Mr. McCain. American's don't like losers, and Mr. McCain has lost two presidential bids. He was on the wrong side of the last immigration debate, and while he is currently repentant on that issue, you never know when the Maverick will appear and be unable to to resist the temptation to appease the other side of the aisle.

the latest polling suggests that Mr. McCain will survive tonight. I can understand the conflict that might arise in the voting both. "I voted for him to be President? How come I don't think he should be my Senator?".

the answer is: he has his chance, we need real change, and we intend to get that by ridding ourselves of the incumbents.

If Mr. McCain is returned to the Senate, it will be the real first big defeat for the tea party.

thanks for the service Senator. Here's your hat. What's your hurry?

Mosque on the Hudson

2010-08-19T19:07:00.002-04:00

the Ground Zero Mosque controversy has morphed into a political issue that I never dreamed would rise to the level of discourse that it has. It's not that I didn't think it an important issue, but I never foresaw the collateral damage that this issue would do to the president.

the initial announcement that this issue was a local one, and that they would have no comment was probably the correct course. Many disagreed and thought the president should chime in, and even I saw the 'no position' position as cowardly.

then last Friday, the President announced his support for the Ground Zero Mosque. Ok, ok, he did not really state support for it, but it sounded darn close, and that is what middle America heard. they heard, that he did not believe what they did, and that mosque should not be stopped. the crowd he was speaking to at a muslim Ramadan kickoff dinner, erupted into applause, clearly buoyed by the presidents appearance of support.

the very next day the president was back peddling. He quickly got the message out that while he was merely stating the obvious, that by law the mosque had a legal right to be built, he was not, and would not, comment on the wisdom of building a mosque there.

Well thanks for nothing.

How transparent. Waltz in, feign support, get applause, and get back to non-committal the next day. And then! then the administration claimed that there was nothing political about the statements. What!?!?!?!? Really?!?!?!?!

So today, things get worse. and the state-run-media felt the need to ride to the aid of their anointed leader. Early AP headlines read "An Increased Number of Americans Wrongly Believe that Obama is Muslim".

My first reaction was, "wrongly? really? how do you know?". Not exactly objective reporting. the headline was the message. Reports about the poll ignore some obvious questions.

White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily

A new poll showed that nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, believe Obama is Muslim. That was up from 11 percent who said so in March 2009. The survey also showed that just 34 percent said Obama is Christian, down from 48 percent who said so last year.

Wow? Why would that be? think. think. think. the number went up? Now, if a certain percentage of the population was just unaware of the religion he claims to profess, well that happens. they are just uninformed, and they think his muslim sounding name suggests that he is muslim, and perhaps they don't even care. that's fine. Who cares. But when the number increases, and suddenly more people think you are a muslim, something is going on. It's no longer a mistaken perception. the president's words and actions have persuaded people that he really is a muslim, despite what he says.

So of course the headline that said "An Increased Number of Americans Wrongly Believe that Obama is Muslim" had to be changed to a clarifying "White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily".

Me thinks they doth protest too much!

The Empire Strikes Back

2010-07-23T17:27:00.000-04:00

Well, it's not a reason to wish for a political defeat in November. The time is right to through the bums out no matter what the consequences. However we are reading more and more that a popular revolt, and a power shift in the House and/or Senate could mean that we witness an episode that might be called "The Empire Strikes Back".

More than a few people have predicted the possibility of a lame duck congress heading home for good would have nothing left to loose, and in good old fashion Chicago Style Pay-To-Play vote selling.

The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy

party leaders are planning an ambitious, lame-duck session to muscle through bills in December they don't want to defend before November. Retiring or defeated members of Congress would then be able to vote for sweeping legislation without any fear of voter retaliation.

Then there is pork. A Senate aide told me that "some of the biggest porkers on both sides of the aisle are leaving office this year, and a lame-duck session would be their last hurrah for spending."

Beware the lame duck

Leading Democrats are already considering this as a way to achieve even more liberal measures that many of their members dare not even talk about, let alone enact, on the eve of an election in which they face a widespread popular backlash to the already enacted elements of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda.

Obama's follow-on reforms are dead. Except for the fact that a lame-duck session, freezing in place the lopsided Democratic majorities of November 2008, would be populated by dozens of Democratic members who had lost reelection (in addition to those retiring). They could then vote for anything -- including measures they today shun as the midterms approach and their seats are threatened -- because they would have nothing to lose.

This would be the political version of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). And we know they can be deadly yet effective.

NAACP is a racist organization

2010-07-14T18:47:00.000-04:00

The definition of racism is making a decision or forming an opinion based on the color of someones skin.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has racist intent built into their name. They are in favor of advancing certain people based on the color of their skin!

And now, this organization has moved beyond their race based agenda and they have become nothing more than a shill for the democratic party. The reality is that this race based political action committee is nothing more than an Uncle Tom race affinity political action committee.

NAACP blasts 'racism' in Tea Party

The historical perspective here is littered with irony and upside down world spin. I commented a while back on the irony of Harry Reid's perverse jab at being on the wrong side of the vote with issues like slavery.

Making (up) History......

Historically speaking it was the Southern Democrats who fought the Civil War in an attempt to prevent the emancipation of slaves. It was the Republicans who executed the war that eventually won black people their freedom. And honestly, not much has changed. The democrats are still selling their version of share cropping in order to keep black people down on the farm by incentivising them into poverty with entitlements and hand outs.

I wonder if the NAACP showed any video on that big screen behind the podium that made their charges of racism evident? My wish would have been for them to show the video of the two white SEIU union thugs beating up a black guy because he was protesting with the Tea Party.

If the NAACP is worried about organizations that tolerate racism, they should look into the mirror.

Obama, and the Spies who love him

2010-07-09T18:21:00.001-04:00

My antennae went up the moment this starry broke. Having a Russian spy ring busted up and hauled in a mere day after a high level meeting with Vladimir Putin's messenger boy, Medvedev, was just too much to let lie as coincidence.

I wrote about it right away knowing there was something very deep going on here.

To Russia with Love

From the beginning this felt like an Obama overture to ingratiate himself to the Russians. This ideologue actually believes that kind gestures to evil people will yield positive results. You can't fault him for not being a true believer, however naive that may be.

And now the evidence piles up.

US began deliberating spy swap well before arrests

The White House began deliberating a spy swap with Moscow nearly a month ago

In the course of the following negotiations with Moscow, the United States put forward the names of the four people who were released by Russia on Friday as their part of the bargain

Four people? What four people? It is interesting that the names and profiles have not yet been released. What a deal! Obama confesses, and then cleans up some massive loose ends that the new KGB left for us. Loose ends that could have been played, turned, or designated for misinformation at an important moment. You just don't hand over assets like this. Especially for 4 people the nation has never heard of!

the official said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

Reporters?!?!?!? You mean someone held an anonymous press conference? Usually leaks happen in one on one situations where anonymity can easily be granted. Here we have state-run-media colluding with an orchestrated intelligence leak and pretending like it's an unknown source. White House ground rules? I have been calling the main-stream-media the state-run-media for over a year. Now you have the proof.

The U.S. government has declared itself pleased with the outcome, saying it got everything it wanted out of the case.

Yip. Nothing to see here. President Obama has offered up yet another gift at the feet of Vladimir Putin, and what did he get in return?

xx

To Russia with Love

2010-06-30T18:19:00.001-04:00

President Obama continues to lift up his skirt and give gifts to the Russians to prove that he is not a useful idiot, but that he is a true believer. As pathetic as a love struck teen trying to curry favor with the popular girls this president thinks he can win over the Vladimir Putin. First it was the oath to eliminate the plan to deploy defensive missiles into Poland. Then it was the looking the other way when democratic ally Georgia was attacked and is still being occupied by Russia. And now this. Obama has ordered the termination of a long term counter-espionage project.

Now you know why it was all smiles and and fond back slapping at the burger joint.

Comrade! Thank you so much! Knowing our program was compromised is a huge relief! Imagine if you had continued the investigation. Oh my God! The risk of turning one of our agents or using them to collect information on our intelligence gathering methods? Oh my. Thank God you put an end to this potential nightmare.

Oh, and by the way, Vladimir says he does think you are cute and he is sorry for calling you a creepy geek.

Yes, yes. Russia has a little egg on their face, but not knowing and not having the investigation shut down was far more risky.

Think about it. Why did the FBI move in? There are clearly more than 11 of these deep cover agents here. They could have used these guys to get to those guys. And the timing of this is just too curious. I mean mere days after the visit from the Russian president? Are we to believe that Obama didn't know about this prior to the visit? And if he did (which he did) are we supposed to believe it was not a point of discussion?

The reset in Russian relations is a euphemism for the capitulation by the United States.

Stark Raving Mad!

2010-06-29T17:51:00.002-04:00

stark [stahrk] adjective, -er, -est, adverb : harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc.: a stark landscape.

Wow! This is the best example of the condescending political class dismissal of what Americans, citizen Americans that is, are concerned about.

Rep. Stark Mocks Border Security Advocates: Who Are You Going to Kill Today?

And the mockery did not stop there. The constituent asked serious and valid questions and this guy replied with nothing but disrespecting condescending quips in an embarrassing attempt to dodge a question.

"This is a very serious matter and you're sitting there making fun of it," the Minuteman responded.

"I don't have to make fun of you sir, you do a fine job all by yourself," Stark said.

Watch the video and decide for yourself who is the smarmy asshole!

Stark earned his primary challenge after he slammed a constituent who voiced his opposition to Obama's health care plan last summer at a town hall meeting.

"Mr. Congressman, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining," the constituent told Stark, referring to what he called the smoke and mirrors of the president's plan.

"I wouldn't dignify you be peeing on your leg," Stark fired back. "It wouldn't be worth wasting the urine."

Wow. This guy does not deserve to represent Lovey and Thorsten Howell III.

At one point in the video he proclaims that our borders are safe. How disconnected can you get.

Financial Reform: The Big Lie!

2010-06-25T18:21:00.001-04:00

If liberals are good at anything, they are good at applying warm and fuzzy, mom and apple pie labels to issues. Usually the issues are so disconnected from the topics at hand that when reflected upon, the label makes no sense. Take the latest example. The battle cry is 'reforming Wall Street". And the state run media is all to willing to comply.

Federal regs set to restrain Wall Street risk

The legislation creates a new federal agency to police consumer lending, set up a warning system for financial risks, force failing firms to liquidate and map new rules for instruments that have been largely uncontrolled.

Leaving the White House for Toronto, Obama said the package will "help prevent another financial crisis like the one that we're still recovering from."

ummmm...not quite.

Bank stocks soared as investors appeared relieved that the rules were not as strict as they'd feared. Bank of America Corp. stock rose more than 2 percent, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. each posted 3 percent gains.

Again, not quite. This bill does very little at all to Wall Street. The real impact is to mom and pop Main Street. That's why the fat cat's got the market boost that they did.

The New Lords of Finance
Why Wall Street and Washington both like 'reform.'

The Democrats who wrote the bill are selling it as new discipline for Wall Street, but Wall Street knows better. The biggest banks support the bill, and the parts they don't like they will lobby furiously to change or water down.

Big Finance will more than hold its own with Big Government, as it always does, while politicians will have more power to exact even more campaign tribute. The losers are the overall economy, as financial costs rise, and taxpayers when the next bailout arrives.

A perfect example of how the label does not fit the bill (pun intended)

Let's also not forget the Senate's rendering of a "resolution process" for failing financial giants. This provision is ostensibly the reason for this entire exercise—to end the notion of too-big-to-fail banks and create a process in which regulators feel comfortable allowing failure.

Yet the discretion handed to the FDIC as the resolution overseer allows a replay of the AIG debacle, in which the company was used as a conduit to pay counterparties 100 cents on the dollar. The FDIC will now be empowered to do the exact same thing, except that it will be allowed to discriminate even further—with the discretion to give some creditors a total bailout while imposing losses on others. Think United Auto Workers versus Chrysler bond holders.

The bill being passed only makes it easier for the Chicago Gang to line their pockets and the pockets of their allies.

The Conservative Libertine

We Are The 53%

The Rich Should Pay For EVERYTHING!

Marc Ash Is Still A Moron: #OWS

Occupy Providence

So Much for Peaceful Protestors

Occupy Wall Street vs Tea Party

Of Course America is Soft Mr President! It's what progressives have been wishing for!

Michael Graham: About Those Millionaires Not Paying Their “Fair Share”

Micheal Moore's Class Warfare

Krugman's Social Contract and the Coming Class War

Right, Wing-Nut!: Elizabeth Warren: A Poison To The Body Politic

Al Gore's High School Logic

Right, Wing-Nut!: Redefining "Civility" Down...

Change You Were Dumb To Believe In

Obama Finally Creates Bipartisanship Through Dissapointment

Obama: The great Communicator?

Obama Gets A Grade: AA+

Bernie Sanders is Right! Americans are Angry! He Just Has No Idea Why.

Climate of Hate Making a Comeback

Lefty Liberals Still Own Hate and Violence: and they HATE Glenn Beck!

D-Day: 67 years ago on this day

Listen My Children and You Shall Hear the Midnight Ride of ..... Jack Jouett?

Barack O'Bama and the Luck of the Irish!

World Ends Tomorrow: So just in case.....

Hey Santana! Shut Up and Play!

Happy Mothers Day

Headline: Osama Bin Laden Is Still Dead

May Day! Osama Bin Laden is Dead!

Union and Labor Organizations Lay Siege to the Massachusetts Capitol

Trump for President: The Art of the Spiel. Trump 1 Obama 0

the thinker: Being A Skeptic

Kiss My Hamas: Part X

Right, Wing-Nut!: A Tale Of Two Pulitzers....

Rhode Island Tea Party Hosts Tax Day Protest

Happy Birthday Tea Party, Happy Bithday to You!

Atlas Shrugs Tomorrow

Winning the Future? or Duh Losing!

Right, Wing-Nut!: Barack Obama: Deficit Hawk? Or Pathetic Poseur?

Government Shutdown - Thank Nancy Pelosi

Eric's Epic Edict - Eric Holder Relents on KSM Tribunals

Union Terror Continues in Madison Wisconsin

Where are the Cries for Civility?

Libya is in our National Disinterest

Finally! A Real Blood for Oil War - Libya

Olberman Pushes Lefty Loons Over the Edge. Greed is Good But Schadenfreude is Better

scha·den·freu·de

And That's Why They Call It Reason(.com)

Maureen Dowd Spins Her Way to Hawkdom

Where Have All the Peaceniks Gone?

Fingernails on a Chalkboard - Still Funny

Kiss My Hamas Part IX

It Ain't Over Until The Union Fat Cats Sing

Cowboy Poetry Festival

Trumka's Tragic Travesty

Democrats Demonstrate Disdain for Democracy

Judge Kessler's Exercise in Poor Judgement

Greedy Teachers in Providence Staring at Wisconsin Teachers Fate

Rhode Island State House - Union Solidarity Demonstration

Andrew Brietbart in Wisconsin Sums It Up

Nice Try Frank Rich!

Gilded Unions and Greedy Teachers in Wisconsin

Atlas Shrugged - The Movie! Finally!

Civility - An Inconvienient Ruse

Barney Being Frank

Lara Logan Rape = Tea Party

Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday

Presidency

January 20, 1981

to

January 20, 1989

Judicial Activism? Are You Kidding Me!

Media Bias Strikes Again! Schumer Blooper fails to Attract Note

Obamacare is Unconstitutional!

Kiss My Hamas Part VIII

Chomsky is still a Chump!

Really? Can't they let the Tea Party Violence Thing Go?

Liberal Logic Lacks Lucidity

Angry Olbermann - Keeping it Accusatorial

J Eric Fuller - Violent Lefty Loon