What Will We Leave Our Children?

In No Sheeples Here: America Is Me Carol writes:

We should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls and me must not allow this administration or any other to dismantle the Constitution. It is our turn to defeat the enemy within. Will ours be the first generation to not leave our country better off than we found it for our children?

For me, the answer is easy; I will not leave my grandchildren a country that is worse off then I one have enjoyed. This administration has given my grandchildren a country that is 1.4 TRILLION dollars in debt. Yet, instead cutting back, like millions of American families have been forced to do, our government wants to throw more money in to the wind.

For my grandchildren I pledge to oppose the socialization of our health care. I will oppose Cap and Trade. I will oppose any more "bailouts" and "stimulous." I will oppose the expansion of government (further) beyond it Constitutional mandate. I will oppose any politician who talks about "compromise." This is my grandchildren's future-there is no compromise.

Carol has posted the video American is Me. Watch the video and then ask yourself, Will ours be the first generation to not leave our country better off than we found it for our children?

More at:

The Other McCain

And So it Goes in Shreveport

Pundit and Pundette

At The Point of a Gun

Reganite Republican

Memeorandum

Liberal Racists

A couple of nights ago I saw the exchange between Juan Williams and Warren Ballantine on the Bill O’Reilly Show. They were discussing Rush Limbaugh and needless to say, the discussion became heated. Ballantine made a comment to Williams, which with all the shouting I didn’t catch, but I could tell by the look on Williams face that Ballantine had crossed a line. Last night Williams filled for O’Reilly and I found out that in the previous exchange Ballantine had called Williams a “porch monkey.”

Juan Williams is in that category of people that I like, respect and almost always disagree with. In fact, I usually strongly disagree with Williams. Williams made no secret of his anger at being called a “porch monkey” and I was angry for him. I also got the feeling that this was the first time that Williams had been targeted because of his beliefs by one of his own.

In all kindness I say welcome to the real world, Juan. As a ‘person of color’ you are only allowed to have one set of beliefs and you are not allowed to stray from that belief system and think and speak for yourself. It doesn’t matter that you usually ‘toe the line,’ any variance from the approved script will be met with swift derision. Remember when Colin Powell and Condi Rice were “house negros?” What was your reaction then? Did you stand up for Sarah Palin when her ‘womaness’ was attacked because she didn’t follow the feminist dictates?

The lesson is that it is the Left, not the Right, who are the racists and sexists and all other manner of “ists.” Woe to anyone who refuses, even in a single instance, who wanders outside the parameter of a “proper negro” or “proper woman.” Juan Williams found out what happens to a black man who thinks for himself. I hope that he keeps that “porch monkey” slur in the back of his mind and that he will be more sensitive when others are attacked unfairly for stepping off the liberal plantation.

Video of William’s response is from VotingFemale Speaks:

Leaving the "Republican Establishment" Behind

I knew early on today what I would writing today based on an email that I had received from the Marco Rubio campaign. It turned out that several posts on Memeorandum feed right in to where I am headed. First from Erick Erickson, writing at Red State:

The conservative movement has made NY-23, like the Florida Senate race, a Hill
to Die On. Here, in New York of all places, the conservative movement will tell
the GOP that it will either win with conservatives or lose without them.
Conservatives across the spectrum of conservatism from Fred Thompson to Mike
Huckabee and on and on have told the GOP it is time to turn back to limited
government and will fight the GOP in NY-23 for supporting a woman who embraces
large government and destructive social policies.

As a Floridian, and a Rubio supporter, this is a “Hill to Die On.” According to the email I received, Rubio just won his twelfth straw poll:

As the Palm Beach Post reports, “In what has become a familiar ritual at
gatherings of Republican activists across Florida, former Florida House Speaker
Marco Rubio trounced Gov. Charlie Crist in a straw poll of GOP Senate
candidates…”

This time, it was the Palm Beach County Republican
Party that handed Marco a 90-17 victory, improving his straw poll record to
12-0.

By anyone standards 12-0 is pretty impressive. Rubio has beaten Crist by wide margins from one end of the state to the other, yet he is doing it without the NRCC support. Grass root Conservatives have made their choice clear and in return the GOP leadership has responded with an unapologetic “pound sand.” The reason they give for their support of Crist-they say he is more likely to beat the Democratic senatorial candidate Kendrick Meek. Apparently they are unfamiliar with the August Rassmussen Poll that shows that in a general election Rubio would beat Meek by 13 points.

Bill Kristol writes, Shouldn't the Republican Establishment Help a Republican Win a Congressional Seat? Well, yes, that would be nice, but if the races in New York and Florida are any indication the “Republican Establishment” bears no resemblance to the “Conservative Base.”

Whether it is the establishment’s backing Scozzafava in New York and Crist in Florida or Graham sucking up to John Kerry on Cap and Trade, it has become a bridge too far. Why should I vote for a republican simply because they call themselves a republican? Will Cap and Trade have less financial impact on me and my family because a RINO voted for it? No. I will no less screwed under ObamaCare or Cap and Trade or the next ten stimulus bills because a RINO crossed the aisle to bend me, my family and my country over a chair. If my vote won’t make any difference, I will keep it in my pocket with my money.

The “Republican Establishment” has a HUGE Tea Party problem and it will only get worse by taking us for granted. We are no longer willing to throw our votes away. Going forward, we will vote our principals not a party. If that means that the Republican Party becomes even more marginalized, so be it. Sooner or later, maybe, the “establishment” will get the message. If not, we will leave them standing at the station.


More comment at:

The Other McCain
American Power
Riehl World View
Michelle Malkin

Cap and Trade: Increases Taxes/Decreases Jobs

Via Memeorandum:

The latest word from the CBO on Cap and Trade is not going to make the White House happy:

A House-passed bill that targets climate change through a cap-and-trade
system of pollution credits would slow the nation's economic growth slightly
over the next few decades and would create "significant" job losses from fossil
fuel industries as the country shifts to renewable energy, the head of the
Congressional Budget Office told a Senate energy panel Wednesday.

CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf emphasized that his estimates
contained significant uncertainties and "do not include any benefits from
averting climate change," but his message nevertheless contrasted sharply with
those of President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders, who have
suggested that a cap on carbon emissions would help revive the U.S. economy.

Considering that we don’t even know if there are “any benefits from averting climate change” I think that reasonable people should agree that now is not the time to send our economy even further in the tank over an unknown.

What we do know, in addition to Cap and Trade being a job killer, is that it will foist a huge tax on every American and that every American family will be forced to pay more for every good and service they purchase.

Progressives don’t care about the effects of their ideology on American families. Their “let them eat cake” attitude belies their claims of caring for the little guy. Cap and Trade will hurt the citizens who can least afford it. Congress should shelve it and concentrate on getting our economy back on track.

More at:

Left Coast Rebel
Red State

Meghan McCain's Boobs. Yawn.

Via Memeorandum:

You know it is a slow news day when a skanked out picture of potty mouthed Meghan McCain has everyone A-Twitter.” Honestly, I don’t get the Meghan McCain phenomenon. Dumb blondes are a dime a dozen after inflation, and fat dumb blondes are as common as flies in a stable. McCain reminds me of a low rent Mae West without West’s looks, brains or talent. She’s not even interesting enough to be a train wreck. Yet, there she is.

Stacy McCain has a sampling of the vapid Ms. McCain’s “tweets.” It is a shame that with all of Mommy and Daddy’s money that they never bought the poor girl a vocabulary. Suffice to say, it isn’t necessary to ‘buy a vowel’ to know that she isn’t taking her Tourette’s meds.

Bob Belvedere at The Camp of The Saints has Ms. McCain pegged:

To my friend Stacy McCain, I say: It ain't a woman's size that
matters. Its how they wear it--physically and mentally.

Your cousin wears it well physically, but when she opens her mouth, any
attractiveness is wiped away by the insipidness of her thoughts [I call this
Wellesley Girl Syndrome]. The two sides go hand-in-hand in determining if a gal
is appealing over the long haul.

Meghan McCain suffers the worst of all sins-she is boring. Can anyone think of anything notable that Ms. McCain has ever said? No, I imagine not. But then, notable sayings are rarely asterisk filled.

More at:

American Power
Little Miss Atilla
Moonbattery

Helping a Tortured Soul

Skipping around Memeorandum this morning I’ve read both Ace’s post on Charles Johnson’s attack on Rush Limbaugh and Mark Steyn’s Okay, Prove You Didn’t Say It and it occurred to me that we may be missing the big picture on Mr. Johnson.

I think it is becoming obvious that Mr. Johnson’s attacks are becoming more frequent, more angry and more unhinged. I am not a psychiatrist but has it occurred to anyone the Mr. Johnson may be mentally ill? Perhaps he really heard Rush say those things in his head. I am not sure we should be criticizing someone who is suffering from paranoia and is delusional.

I have heard of mental afflictions that can cause the sufferer to imagine that there are bogeymen (racists) everywhere just as Mr. Johnson does. In addition to irrational ranting, the afflicted also often develops an unusual affection for small farm animals. Does anyone know if Mr. Johnson has suddenly taken up an interest in goats? (I did hear a rumor about an unfortunate incident with a lizard but there is no word from Mr. Johnson on whether he was really performing oral sex on a reptile or if there is some other plausible explanation)

My point is, if, as it seems, Mr. Johnson has lost his mind, we in the blogging community should show him every kindness that he would show us were circumstances reversed. We should begin by gather and reporting any incidences of bizarre or deviant behavior, no matter how far fetched. There’s no such thing as ‘too much information’ when dealing with this sort of thing. Don’t worry about fact checking. If any of the info turns out to be incorrect, Mr. Johnson can simply disprove the negative later.

And remember that immortal line from James Kirkwood, Jr.’s novel P.S. Your Cat is Dead, “Never f*ck with the insane.”

Obama's Latest Award: Thinnest Skinned President Ever

From Cynthia Yockey:

Obama has finally found a war he is determined to win and a foe for whom he has
preconditions before he will negotiate — Fox News

You know how Gov. Sarah Palin keeps pointing out that Obama is allergic to the words “victory” and “win” when it comes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or any conflict where democracy and capitalism are threatened? And you remember how Obama has declared he will negotiate with terrorist and totalitarian regimes without pre-conditions? But he would not talk to anyone on Fox News when he spoke to every other Sunday news show to push Obamacare? Not even with
pre-conditions?

Cynthia couldn’t be more spot on. Obama certainly gives the impression that he is more concerned about Fox News than he is all the actual threats to our country combined. That our president is so thin skinned that he has to avoid anyone who doesn’t slather him with praise makes him appear small and unserious.

A more confident man would welcome the opportunity to present his policies in an open forum. Not only will Obama not deal with anyone who doesn’t experience leg tingles at the mention of his name, he mistakenly believes that belittling Fox News for the entertainment of his base is somehow “presidential.” Actually, it is silly.

Those who allowed Obama to rise to the level of President of the United States without ever experiencing any serious challenge or criticism did him no favor. Fox News, unlike their ’competitors’ are simply doing their job. Obama would do well to learn how to deal with it.

Just a Beautiful Day

Today was a perfect Florida day. Temps were in the low 90s and the breeze wafted off the bay all day. I love Columbus Day. It is a fed holiday so the credit union where I work is closed but everyone else is working and the schools are in session. The result was almost total peace and quiet. There were no cars on my street and no boats on the water. The only sounds were the birds and squirrels. Beautiful.

They say there is a cold front coming and that we could drop in to the seventies. Sigh. I guess even here the seasons have to change. The water hyacinth in my little pond must know that the end of the warmth is coming because several of them burst in to full bloom today.

Back to work tomorrow.

Gays Shocked to Learn That Obama is a Politician

Via Memeorandum:

And for a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me today those bloggers need to take off their pajamas, get dressed and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult.

Those words seem to have some Gay Activists upset;

It doesn't matter why this behavior is occurring, really. What one has to
take away from this message, naturally not attributed to anyone at the WH --
cowards -- is that bloggers are messing up their playbooks. And the answer is to
diminish what influence we have -- it's limited at best. You have to ask why is
this paranoid, juvenile message getting tossed out there. All those big brains
in the White House and the best they can do is to bring up the hoary pajama
game?

.....So which Barack Obama is it -- the one who said to challenge him,
or a fragile flower that panders to LGBTs then has a coward source backstab? To
me the WH has just declared war on us after a wine and dine with the right kind
of LGBTs that don't make trouble for them. Someone has to answer to this.

Or do I just need to fold my hands in my pajama-clad, Cheetos-stained
lap like a good homo?

You know what I say? Welcome to my world. Seriously. What that “anonymous advisor” wanted to say was, bend over and take it like a good little taxpaying constituent. I know because that is the line we Conservatives have been hearing from Republican officials after we elect them for two decades. Do you really think that the Tea Party movement is based on racism? Nope, it is the culmination of years of broken promises from politicians who when running offer up the sun and moon, feel your pain and take your donation and then once elected tell you to go pound sand.

News flash my gay friends-Obama isn’t the Messiah, he’s a politician. What are you going to do about it?

More comment at:

Another Black Conservative
American Power
The Other McCain
Pundit and Pundette
Legal Insurrection

Crist Gets the Money, Rubio Gets the Votes

Fresh on Memorandum is this report from The Hill, Gov. Crist and Freedom's Watch funder plan to fundraise together:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will head to Las Vegas at the end of the month for a well-backed, high-priced fundraiser with perhaps the Republican Party's wealthiest donor.

Crist will benefit from a fundraiser at the Palazzo Hotel and Casino, one of the newest casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, on Oct. 29. His host, Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO Sheldon Adelson, is the 26th-richest man in America, according to Forbes magazine.

Adelson funded the conservative group Freedom's Watch during the 2008 campaign, spending millions of dollars to attack then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.

But the economic downturn hit Las Vegas and the tourism industry hard, and Adelson lost $24 billion — reportedly more than any other single American. He has since quit politics, and Freedom's Watch folded.

This is a case of throwing perfectly good money after bad. Very bad. While it is undeniable that it is better to have too much money when running a campaign than not enough, ultimately, it is the voters who matter. How poorly is Crist doing with the voters? From Senate Guru:

This has been Charlie Crist's summer, getting crushed by Marco Rubio time and
time again and facing rebuke after rebuke by Republicans at the local level. To
recap:

Pasco County: Rubio wins, 73-9 Lee County: Rubio wins,
"7-to-1 margin" Highlands County: Rubio wins, 75-1 Bay County: Rubio wins, 23-2
Volusia County: GOP Committee censures Crist Palm Beach County: GOP Committee
almost censures Crist as motion fails on a 65-65 tie, still a stinging rebuke
Broward County: GOP Committee attempts a straw poll, blocked only by Crist
acolyte eager to avoid embarrassment for Crist

Let’s be blunt-Floridians don’t like Charlie Crist. Crist burned his bridges when he embraced President Obama and accepted the Stimulus dollars. Florida unemployment is currently at 10.9% a full two points higher than it was in January and six points higher than it was in April of last year. With ten of thousands of Florida families hurting how has Crist responded? He broke his promise not to raise taxes.

Crist should enjoy his time at the Palazzo. While he is hanging out in Vegas, Rubio will be traveling Florida shoring up the vote.

Cross posted at Not One Red Cent

Let's Examine the Evidence

From Doug Ross:

So how bad is the government's success/failure ratio? Decide for yourself.

Michael Moore Wants the President to Get Busy

Via Memeorandum:

Michael Moore thinks that with a Nobel Peace Prize under his belt, the President should get in gear and earn it. Of course, by getting in gear he means get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Well, wasn’t that the Nobel committee’s point?

Obama knows full well that if he were to do everything the Left (and the boys in Norway) wants, that he, not they, would be held responsible for the results. No doubt that Obama’s personal positions are far more aligned with the Left than the people he serves but his oversize ego trumps all. Obama will be spending the next several weeks trying to decide the best way to play both sides against the middle so that he comes out in the best possible light. Unfortunately, while Obama dithers Afghanistan burns.

Peggy Noonan, writing in The Wall Street Journal recognizes the idiocy of the awarding the prize to Obama but thinks he can still “redeem” himself:

Assuming the White House did nothing to encourage or lobby for the award, it is
not Barack Obama's fault that he has been embarrassed by this honor. And it may
possibly hold for him an unanticipated benefit. It may give him pause: Look what
idiots my biggest international supporters are. I may have to rethink a few
things.

How to redeem this? That is a hard question, but here is
one idea. The president will deliver a big speech in Oslo Dec. 10: white tie and
tails, a formal, bound statement. The world, as they say, will be watching. He
should deflect the limelight. (Can he?) He should make his subject bigger than
himself. (Is there a subject bigger than himself?) He has been accused of
traveling through the world on an extended apology tour. That isn't fair, but
the tag is there. How about an unapologetic address, a speech, with the world's
elites leaning forward and listening, about the meaning of America? A speech
that shows a grounded and sophisticated love for his country and its great
traditions and history. Not a nationalistic speech, not a prideful one, but a
loving one.

I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The Nobel was awarded with the hopes of changing American policy. It is a test for a young and inexperienced President. Will he pass it?

Other commentary:

And So it Goes in Shreveport
Left Coast Rebel

Gee, Tort Rreform Would Save Billions

Via Memeorandum:

Here's a forehead slapper for you from Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Lost in the shuffle of the CBO scoring of Max Baucus’ non-existent bill on
the health care overhaul system this week is another analysis by the CBO on tort
reform. According to CBO director Douglas Elmendorf on his blog, the CBO
studied the impact of both the reduced cost of litigation and the
elimination of defensive medicine that would result with tort reform.
Elmendorf says that tort reform would reduce the federal deficit $54 billion
over the next ten years, more than the fee Baucus plans to charge insurers for
the privilege of existence.

Of course, we can kiss that $54 billion dollars off because there is no tort reform in the Baucus bill or any of the other proposed bills. Outside of lip service about 'test programs', tort reform is not even being considered. Neither is allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines. Both would save billions of dollars and improve health care but neither would move the government to the desired goal of a single payer system.

Ed continues:

Unlike other mechanisms in the various Congressional plans, this would
actually benefit consumers and accomplish what reformers claim to want — an end
to overuse in the American system. By eliminating the defensive medicine
that providers must practice to avoid predatory malpractice actions, tort reform
will actually make the system more responsive and more flexible for
patients. Less time will get wasted, fewer claims will get filed, and
patients will get the care they need and not what the providers’ lawyers
require.

The administration's refusal to even consider tort reform calls their motives in to question. They certainly aren't acting in the interests of the taxpayers.

Did You Ever Think You Would See

college students protesting against Che Guevara?

From Babalu:

University of Florida students did something you rarely see on college campuses: They told the truth about the Butcher of La Cabaña. Holding up signs and passing out fliers, the students at UF were exposed to the reality behind the murderous Che, which few professors have the courage and integrity to teach.

Nice to see that the students at UF, unlike so many of their counterparts on other campuses, have the ability to think. We can only hope that "No More Che Day" catches on and spreads.

A Case for Selfishness

"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."-- James Madison, speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 16, 1788

The slow erosion of freedom in 'advanced' countries takes place in the comfortable halls of legislatures. There are no tanks in the square or government "hit squads" in the middle of the night. The rights and freedoms of the people aren't taken, they are given.

Freedom is diminished by the acceptance of less. We have entered the "less period" in our national history. We are told we must except less health care so that others might have more. We must use fewer resources so that some might have more. We are told that by improving our own lives that we negatively impact the lives of others. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This country was built and became the most prosperous nation on Earth due to selfishness. People who wanted more for themselves and their children distinguished this country from all others. It is the selfish desire for more that leads people to create, innovate, strive and improve their lives and by extension, the lives of others.

Rather than encouraging selfishness, our government encourages jealousy. The government would have some believe that there is a relationship between what any two people have but no relationship between those same two people's efforts. This results in the false belief that those who achieve do so to the detriment of others. This false belief is typified by the government's line that "fairness" dictates that segments of society should give more. Yet, giving more in the form of taxes has never lifted as many people out of poverty that selfishness has.

We need more selfishness in this country. We need more people who are unwilling to settle. We need to stop giving up our freedom.

Doh! I Thought Women Suffered Under Sharia

Well aren't I just a silly goose! I thought being forced to dress in a sack, being subjected to forced marriage, rapes, beatings, genital mutilation and honor killings were detrimental to women. Shows what I know. Probably some outdated belief of women's equality on my part. I know now that the idea of equality for women, in fact for humans overall, is subjective.

Now before you go thinking that this rant is fueled by a massive nicotine fit let me just be clear that I fell off the non-smoking wagon earlier today after the mother of all bad work days, so ha! I hate stupidity and when it comes to stupidity, it is hard if not impossible to find anything stupider than Obama Advisor Claims Most Women Associate Sharia Compliance With Gender Justice. Gender justice? Give me a flipping break! Worse, worst, that claim was made by a woman. From The Daley Gator:

A female appointee with Obama’s ear on matters of faith and society thinks
Sharia is just swell in terms of “gender justice.” All that awkward stuff about
a woman’s testimony not equaling a man’s is apparently a misunderstanding. On a
British TV show, Dalia Mogahed, an appointee to the President’s Council on
Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships made some remarkable statements:

“I think the reason so many women support Sharia is because they have a
very different understanding of sharia than the common perception in Western
media.
“The majority of women around the world associate gender justice, or
justice for women, with sharia compliance. “The portrayal of Sharia has been
oversimplified in many cases.”

Where does Obama find these people and why is Michelle, as an accomplished woman who has benefited greatly from living in a society where a woman can be accomplished, not telling her husband that this crazy Mogahed broad has got to go. To be fair, maybe she is but I be willing to bet otherwise.

One of the things that drives me crazy about groups like Code Pink, Boobs not Bombs, and so on, is that they don't seem to give a rat's ass about the plight of women in the Middle East and refuse to recognize that American soldiers give their lives for the the possibility that women under Islam might someday live under the freedom that women in American take for granted.

There are women in this word who suffer greatly and die because of Sharia law. To have a woman dismiss this suffering and the facts that define the evilness of Sharia is beyond the pale. Obama, has the father of two daughters, should fire her immediately.

The Nobel's Affirmative Action Committee Updated

Via Memeorandum:

Once upon a time, winning a Nobel Prize meant that the recipient had ACCOMPLISHED something. In a gross insult to Pres. Obama, the Nobel Committee apparently doubted Obama's ability to successfully do anything, so they dumbed down the requirements to merely "making an effort." For better or worse, none of us knows what Obama's term will bring but the Nobel committee doesn't appear inclined to give him the benefit the doubt.

It seems clear that he has been awarded this prize solely based on his race. It is an insult to the President and to everyone who believes in being recognized for their accomplishments rather than arbitrary attributes. President Obama should tell the Nobel committee to take their racist award and attitude and put them both where the sun don't shine.

UPDATE:

The nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize closed on February 11th, three weeks in to the Obama presidency. This really is sounding more and more like a spoof. I am no fan of the President or his policies but he deserves better. Worse, among the 205 nominees for the award there are undoubtedly people who deserved and earned the honor but did not receive it because the committee wanted to make some kind of lame statement. This is an embarrassment for everyone concerned.

UPDATE II:

Donald Douglas has a great roundup of the reaction to Obama's dubious "award" at American Power. I said in the comments at American Power that I believe that this is an example of the "soft bigotry of low expectations" and an insault. Unfortunately, after watching the President's reaction on the news, I retract my statement that the President "deserves better." He apparently has no problem excepting award based on the 'bar being lowered.' Too bad. I would have expected him to set a better example.

In addition to the links listed at American Power, check out:

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize… Plus Congressional Medal Of Honor, Heisman Trophy And Miss Universe Pageant! The Daley Gator

Memo to Oslo The Other McCain

It’s Not Funny Any More Track-A-'Crat

It's Yewnanimous Paco

Obama Wins Masters, Too Doug Ross

Nobel Committee feeds Obama ego with Peace Prize Pundit and Pundette

And Now We've Entered an Alternate Universe And So it Goes in Shreveport

Too bad the Norwegian Nobel Committee wasn’t in charge of handing out the Olympics Troglopundit

Fidel Castro BURNING with Envy!!! Babalu

'Insha'Allah': Obama Nobel Emboldens Islamist/Socialist Enemy Alliance! American Power (different post from the link above and an excellent read)

I pray that in light of this Obama does not decide against giving our troops the backing that they deserve. I can't think of anything more devastating than our brave troops dying because their Commander and Chief fails to act on their behalf because of a trumped up award.

RINO Alert: Here's an Alert for RINOs! Updated

The Daley Gator:

The RINO’s lack of balls, yes, I said BALLS, is starting to show in the
health care battles. So, says Erik at Red State:

I am told quite reliably that in a meeting today on Capitol Hill,
Republican Senators began to rapidly move toward concessions on health care
because they are afraid they cannot hold their members. Some Republicans are now thinking of supporting a government program.
Go to the action center and start calling.

So called "Republicans" have screwed us over for too long now. No more. If our reps go puppy dog on ObamaCare, we will send their wussie asses home. Got it? Back a Marxist/Socialist plan that will take your constituent bosses down the path to Hell and we are done.

Take Doug's, and my advice, and light up that switchboard. We owe it to our children, grandchildren and country to draw the line here.

Update:

Per Memeorandum, Bob Dole has joined the Socialist League and is encouraging his fellow former Republicans in Practice to become Republicans in Name Only. They say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Bullshit. This country, thanks to Dole, McConnell, Snowe, blah, blah, blah who will sell out our principals for what, eight pieces of silver(?) will suffer long after these bastards have collected their lobbyist $s and built their namesake libraries. There are no good intentions here.

Code Pink: When it Comes to Their Position on Afghanistan There is No "Redo"

Donald Douglas, writing at American Power:

It's stupidly transparent, but leftist media outlets have launched a
campaign to rehabilitate Code Pink, the hardline neo-communist protest group.
The Christian Science Monitor quotes group co-founder Medea
Benjamin as saying:

We would leave with the same parameters of an exit strategy but we
might perhaps be more flexible about a timeline ... That's where we have opened
ourselves, being here, to some other possibilities. We have been feeling a sense
of fear of the people of the return of the Taliban. So many people are saying
that, 'If the US troops left the country, would collapse. We'd go into civil
war.' A palpable sense of fear that is making us start to reconsider that.

Douglas, as always, is spot on. His post was written before Code Pink's Medea Benjamin's appearance on the Bill O'Reilly tonight. I watched and as expected, Benjamin called for our immediate withdrawal from, well, everywhere. In fact, I got the impression that Code Pink would like to see the United States military expelled from the United States.

Was I surprised at Benjamin's attitude? Pulease! But when O'Reilly asked her if Afghan women are safer due to the American presence she tried to side-step the question and when she couldn't, answered in the negative. Does Benjamin understand that prior to our soldiers entering Afghanistan that it was punishable by death to teach a female to read? Is Benjamin and Code Pink aware of genital mutilation, honor killings, forced marriage, and the rapes and beatings that our soldiers try, and sometimes succeed, to protect the Afghan women from?

No one has ever "won" in Afghanistan and a alot have tried. If the United States turns out to be the exception to the rule, women will be the biggest winners. I don't think that Code Pink is ignorant of that fact. I think they don't care.

Code Pink does nothing for women in the world. They get nothing from me.

I've Been Challenged

The other day I reprinted a post from Bookwormroom.Com titled The difference between conservatives and liberals. As a result, I received the following comment:

Hi Carol, I really like your blog even though I disagree with almost
everything you write!

That's right. I'm a liberal.

Similarly, if you don't want a gay marriage, don't have one. If you
don't want an abortion, don't have one.

Liberals have committed themselves to equal employment opportunity, to
making sure everyone can have access to an education, and are now fighting to
make sure everyone can have access to health care. All of these things (and
more!) are about giving individuals the opportunity to lift themselves up.

Anyway, I was wondering if you might want to choose a topic we can debate on our
blogs. Any subject you choose. I'll write the liberal argument, and you write
the conservative. Perhaps we can learn something from each other.

The comment was written by Dave, who blogs at Re/Creating Tampa. I checked out the blog and found that my feelings towards Dave's blog mirrored his toward mine. I enjoyed the blog, found it well written and I disagree with most of what Dave has written. (See his post claiming that there was an "illegal coup in Honduras." Hmm.)

Long story short, (too late?) I accepted Dave's challenge, pointed out that a liberal's idea of giving everyone access to education means that liberals will fight for everyone to receive a crappy education and fight any meaningful measure (vouchers) to improve opportunities for children in failing schools and referring back to his "Similarly, if you don't want a gay marriage, don't have one. If you don't want an abortion, don't have one.", I wrote something along the lines of "if you don't believe in clubbing baby seals to death, don't club one." Yeah, it was childish on my part, but in my defense, at fifty-one years old I am much closer to my second childhood than I am to my first.

Dave is a graduate assistant at USF in the USF School of Library and Information Science, which some would say gives him an advantage in the researching positions department but we know better because I have the finest conservative minds going to tap into.

Dave will be emailing me his position as a liberal on some aspect of education this weekend. In return, I will email him my 'conservative' response and we will both post the back and forth on our blogs.

If anyone has any suggestions for me, please let me know. I will do my utmost best to represent conservative principals well.

More Liberal Trivialization

I came across Matt Taibbi's post Michael Moore's Problems Our Fault at Memeorandum. I have never read Taibbi before so I'm not quite sure what to make of this:

But we’re living in a time of extreme crisis almost nothing on TV or in the
movies is designed to get us thinking about how to fix our problems. If
anything, most of the stuff on TV is designed to jack up our anxiety level
without offering any solutions except the short-term fixes of buying and eating
— witness the endless reality shows in which ordinary people slave away and
scheme against each other for weeks on end for a 1 in 12 shot at a (pick one)
modeling job/date with a non-deformed, non serial-killing person/chance to be
shouted at by Donald Trump.

Now that stuff is cynical and monstrous. It is my sincere hope that the people who are producing these programs will someday be tried and
executed by war crimes tribunals at the Hague.

The italics are mine. Is he serious? I've read the entire post, twice, thought about it, and then read it again. Honestly, Taibbi seems sincere. So, when he wrote that people who produce realty shows should be tried and executed he was just being dramatic, right? It is one of those Nazi comparasons that Libs like to drag though the Nazi's bear no relationship to the actual situation. Otherwise, Matt is one sick bastard.

I going to assume the producers of America's Got Talent won't be finding themselves in front of a tribunal anytime soon and I doubt Matt means for them to. I don't watch reality TV so I am in no position to judge but I am guessing that bad TV, even really bad TV, doesn't rise to the level of war crime. Not even in jest. Not to make a point.

If Taibbi had a point he blew it with one line. Shame, because even though I disagree with him, prior to that line I took him serious.

I Have More Military Experience Than Obama and Biden

It's true. No, I've never served in the military but I was an Air Force dependent and as such, I did spend fifteen months in Turkey. So what? Being a former dependent certainly doesn't make me an expert on military operations but apparently, unlike the President and Vice President, I know that I don't know better than a General.

Being a leader means making difficult decisions. While no one can be an expert at all things, a good leader surrounds himself with experts and then makes decisions based on the expert's advice. Gen. McChrystal is the President's expert in Afghanistan. Obama put him in that position. Yet, when Gen. McChrystal tells the President that we need more troops on the ground, does Obama take his advice? Who knows? The only thing we know is that while Obama is dragging his feet, our men our being killed.

Another Black Conservative quotes Sarah Palin:

For two years as a candidate, Senator Obama called for more resources for
the war in Afghanistan and warned about the consequences of failure. As
President, he announced a comprehensive new counterinsurgency strategy and
handpicked the right general to execute it. Now General McChrystal is asking for
additional troops to implement the strategy announced by President Obama in
March. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sons, daughters, fathers,
mothers, sisters and brothers in harm's way in Afghanistan right now. We owe it
to all those brave Americans serving in uniform to give them the tools they need
to complete their mission.

Now that candidate Obama is President Obama he seems to be walking back his commitment to Afghanistan. He serves the far Left, not the country as a whole, and the Left want us out of Afghanistan. Obama, who believes that he can solve all ills by scraping and bowing, wants us out of Afghanistan. If Obama isn't going to fight this war to win and he isn't going to give our soldiers the support they need to stay alive, I want us out of Afghanistan.

Gen. McChrystal isn't saying that all is lost. He is saying that this war is winnable but there are steps that must be taken if we are to win. But he cannot do one thing until the President gets off the pot and makes a decision. No matter what he decides not everyone will agree. Every day that he stalls while Vice Pres. "Grima" Biden whispers bad advice in his ear brings us a day closer to defeat. This country needs a leader and sooner rather than later.

I Heard a Rumor...

that a certain white supremacist is having a birthday today. He's claiming that he's only fifty, but I heard from a usually reliable source that he may be shaving a couple years off the real total but I don't believe it.

ACORN Embezzlement Bigger Than Originally Reported

Via Memeorandum:

Big Government is reporting that the ACORN embezzlement is a wee bigger than ACORN had originally reported. According to the Louisiana Attorney General, Ratke actually embezzled five million dollars, not the nearly 1 million we were led to believe:


An internal review by the board of directors of the community organization ACORN determined that the amount allegedly embezzled from the community organization was $5 million, well more than the previously reported amount of nearly $1 million, according to a new subpoena in an investigation by Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.

The subpoena, released this afternoon, says, “It is still unclear if some of the monies embezzled are from state, federal or private funds.”

Caldwell issued subpoenas in August seeking documents related to Acorn International then-President Wade Rathke and his brother Dale Rathke, who kept the group’s books. Those subpoenas were focused on possible Acorn violations of state employee tax law, obstructing justice and violating the Employee Retirement Security Act.

Whole blockbuster story here.

Update: According to the new subpoena issued by the Louisiana Attorney
General, it seems ACORN leadership was aware of the full extent of
the embezzlement. That they have covered up the true figure cast doubt on
their ability to truely reform the organization. In other words, they will
only admit to what they get caught at.

So, shouldn't both the Rathke brothers be sitting in jail? And if Bertha Lewis covered up a crime that doesn't leave her sitting to pretty either. ACORN has gotten away with far too much for far too long because they bought the goodwill and blind eye of politicians. The American people deserve to know who those politicians are.

Now They Want My Meat?

From The Daley Gator:

For years I have been saying that one day, the Nanny Statists would try to
control meat. It is simply their nature to control people and everything people
do. Well, I DO, a least in this case, hate saying I told you so, BUT……….

Let me make a couple of things real clear-first, I haven't had a smoke in eleven days and second, I haven't had my beloved beer in the same amount of time out of the fear that enjoying the latter might interfere with my giving up the former. I am cranky, nay, bitchy! So if Little Miss EPA has designs on my prime rib I strongly urge her to think twice. Further, did I hear her say, "addicted to their cars" and "addicted to their power"? How does she get to work, broomstick? Is her home lit by candles, cooled by big blocks of ice and warmed by...? What is an eco-friendly means of warming one's home? Can't be burning trees. Solar panels would work here in Florida but I guess in less sunny states families would have to huddle close together while wearing lots of sweaters made of hemp. Thing is, were liberals born with some kind of 'busy body' gene?



Great, now I'm bitchy and all worked up. I think I'll take my mind off it by swinging by Ozzie's and check out the ribs.

More on the Difference Between Conservatives and Liberals

Here's a handy little guide:

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn`t buy one.
If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn`t eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy.
A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

So remind me, why are liberals considered "open-minded"?

h/t Cold Fury

If the President Lies, but the Lie is 'Blacked Out', Does it Stop Being a Lie?

I don't think so but you be the judge.



From Doug Ross:

What did the Treasury Department black out?

Americans for Tax Reform reports upon one of the most egregious of
President Obama's campaign lies: transparency.

ATR obtained internal documents that show President Obama knows that the tax
hikes will hit all American households, breaking his oft-repeated campaign
promise to hold the line on taxes. On a September 12, 2008 campaign stop in
Dover, New Hampshire, then-candidate Obama stated unequivocally, "I can make a
firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see
any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your
capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

The Treasury Department states that the total amount of new taxes will range
from $100 billion to $200 billion, or approximately $1,800 a year.

Of course if the Treasury Department says $1,800 a year it is a pretty sure bet that it will be at least double that. But for the sake of argument let's go with their current figure. With the economy in the tank, how many families have an extra $150 laying around to cover the increased energy costs. And remember, we're only taking about direct costs. In a previous post I wrote:

Of course, everyone who pays taxes will also see increases due to indirect energy costs. After all, who pays the electric bill at the school down the road? The taxpayer. The same applies to every public and municipal building. What other indirect energy costs are there? Who pays the electric bill at the grocery store? Is it paid out of the store’s profits or are operational costs built into the price of goods that consumer’s purchase? The Treasury’s estimate is beginning to sound a little low isn’t it?

If the President believes that his agenda is best for America, let him argue it honestly, including what the agenda will cost American families. So far he hasn't seemed inclined toward honesty.

So Rachel Maddow is a LGF Fan-UPDATED

Go figure.

Pat, at And so it goes in Shreveport:

Rachel Maddow on Meet the Press this morning, called Robert Stacy McCain a white supremacist. I'm thinking she's been listening to Charles Johnson a little too much.

The panel was discussing the Sarah Palin book, Going
Rogue, when Maddow offers her criticism of Lynn Vincent, Palin's
ghostwriter. Maddow explains that Lynn Vincent "co-authored a book with a guy
who is widely believed to be , and I believe him to be, a white supremacist. So
she's [Palin] chosen Lynn Vincent who has written a book with a white
supremacist to write her book." Robert Stacy McCain and Lynn Vincent co-authored Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party in 2006.

So, is Maddow implying that Sarah Palin is guilty by association by associating with someone who associated with someone who is guilty by association? Maddow is free to "believe" whatever she likes but you would think that prior to smearing someone on national television she would make sure that she is standing on firm ground.

Cheap shots are easy. As Maddow has shown, anyone with only half a brain cell can throw an "I believe..." out there. I believe that Maddow is a small minded, whiny hack. I could be wrong, but prove it.

Pat has the video.

Remember what Stacy says, "Being Notorious Is Not the Same as Being Famous, But It's Better Than Being Anonymous."

Update:

American Power:

I've already testified with all my strength to Robert Stacy McCain's
goodness, fairness, and racial evenhandedness. I know this is not a racist man.
But for whatever statements he's made, or that have falsely been attributed to
him, the radical left is using Robert Stacy McCain to score libelously cheap
political points.

I've noted as well that Charles Johnson's turned his entire blogging
platform into destroying the reputations of others. You can check his page right
now on a cached Google copy. I don't see the Maddow video up yet, but
he's got running headlines including fabulist tales such as "Sarah Palin's Book
Ghostwritten by Associate of White Supremacist McCain."

If Johnson has any friends left one of them should take him aside and explain that he's making himself look very small right now. On the other hand, Maddow, as a journalist of sorts, really should consider her sources.

Update II:

Stacy:

How many times have I said that it's a long story, and that I'm not going
to tell the whole thing until somebody pays me for the story? There are very
good reasons I've kept calm, and resisted the temptation to confirm or deny
this, that or the other specific point in their "Ransom Note Method" indictment. In such a situation, it's important to keep in mind your rights under Miranda
v. Arizona. I don't have to explain myself or prove a negative.

That deserves an Amen. It takes a lot of self confidence to hold one's tongue when being wrongly attacked. It also takes a lot of class. Stacy is showing that he has both qualities. Neither will be found in people who take part in drive-bys.

I Would Stay on Her Good Side

Troglopundit has a bevvie of Sarahmotivators so I've decided to throw in my two cents. Kinda hard to imagine Sarah going on some wussie World Apology Tour, isn't it?

Is The Left Trying To Incite Voilence?

I had hit enter on my previous post in which I wrote, "They are nuts and maybe, if we ignore them they will just go away.", and went back to tripping around the Net when I came across WHY JANEANE GAROFALO’S COMMENTS ARE DANGEROUS. at Instapundit. Reading JammieWearingFool's post, I've rethought my "ignore them" position:

Garofalo may be trying to shut up the people opposed to the massive
government takeover that is being attempted in this country by shaming the
people speaking out, but playing the race card has all but lost any sort of
power it may have had from being overused. Instead, her comments will be used by
those on the other side to justify any actions they take against the racists
they see in their midst, and then will Garofalo step up and accept
responsibility for stoking the flames? The left is very quick to blame every
unsolved homicide in this country on right wing radio or Fox News, but what will
happen if the actions start happening to the very people she is working so hard
to demonize? She is after all giving them an excuse to attack citizens who
attend a tea party, but I am not so sure the Garofalo defense will go too
far in a court of law.

The emphasis in the above paragraph is mine and I couldn't agree with the post more. By labeling people who disagree with the President's agenda as "racists" Garofalo and others are saying that they are legitimate targets. Essentially, Garofolo is saying, look these are the people who have kept you down and now that you have a chance, they are still trying to keep you down. What are you going to do about it?

Is she stoking hate on purpose or is she just another thoughtless celebrity who is in love with the sound of her own voice? Does it matter? The danger doesn't lie in her intent but in the result of her words. Garofalo, and those like her, are too dangerous to ignore.

They're Just Not Like Us

Via Memeorandum:

John Nolte, writing at Big Hollywood makes the point that it has been a rough week for our friends in Hollywood:

Tough times for leftie Hollywood. Nothing’s gone right this week. None of
this is their fault, of course. In order to understand that it might not be
a good idea to rally around a child rapist, bash religion in a religious country or
trash capitalism in a capitalist country you have to live in the real
world.

What is the thing with people in Hollywood that they are so removed from reality? Is it the result of huge sums of money being 'handled' by uneducated and undereducated people? Is there something that leads one to be 'artistic' that also leads one to be easily led? So often, people in Hollywood take positions that not only defy common sense (and common decency) but also seem unhinged. Take Janeane Garofalo's latest rant:

"...It's obvious to anybody who has eyes in this country that tea-baggers,
the 9-12ers, these separatist groups that pretend that it's about policy – they
are clearly white-identity movements. They're clearly white power movements.
What they don't like about the President is that he's black – or half black
(applause) – and they, what also is shocking is that people keep pretending that
that's not really the case with these people.I'm not talking about people that
do have problems with his policies, that's fine. ..."

Tell me that rambling isn't a prime example of NUTS. I cut the blather off at that last sentence because I found that sentence interesting. Ms. Garofalo would have us believe that she is fine with people who disagree with President. So, if ten people are gathered at random in a room who all disagree with the President, how would Janeane determine which are racist and which are not? Answer: If you disagree because you believe that the government has no business being involved in your health care, you are a racist; if you disagree with the President because he isn't pushing hard enough for a single payer system, you are a patriot.

Nolte is writing about a different nut, Michael Moore. Capitalism has been very, very good to Mr. Moore despite the multi-millionaire's claims to the contrary. But, in his defense, he's surrounded by multi-millionaires who hate the very system that brought them their wealth. Ungrateful? Sure, but the inability to be grateful and recognize the blessings in life is, for want of a better word, NUTS. Now that Moore's film, Capitalism: A Love Story has officially bombed, will Moore rethink his position? Fat chance.

The people in Hollywood aren't "just like us." We don't share the same views on politics, religion, morals. They represent a tiny fraction of our population yet they believe we are on the fringe. They are nuts and maybe, if we ignore them they will just go away.

Why Chicago Lost the Olympics

From Doug Ross:



Top 10 Reasons Chicago Didn't Get the Olympics [Rich Lowry]


10. Dead people can't vote at IOC meetings


9. Obama distracted by 25 min meeting with Gen. McChrystal


8. Who cares if Obama couldn't talk the IOC into Chicago? He'll be able to talk Iran out of nukes.


7. The impediment is Israel still building settlements.


6. Obviously no president would have been able to acomplish it.


5. We've been quite clear and said all along that we didn't want the Olympics.


4. This isn't about the number of Olympics "lost", it's about the number of Olympics "saved" or "created".


3. Clearly not enough wise Latina judges on the committee


2. Because the IOC is racist.


1. It's George Bush's fault.





My theory on what cost Chicago the Olympics:

Michelle, if Oprah didn't tell you she should have-that dress is just butt ugly. You're the First Lady. You aren't going to make a good impression by looking like the girl at the junior high prom who showed up with her cousin.

Newsweek Jumps on the Census Worker Killed by Right Wing Crazies Bandwagon

Via Memeorandum:

Newsweek starts out well enough:

A 1955 cartoon depicts bare-chested, bearded country boys, wearing overalls and pointing their guns at a diminutive, bespectacled census taker. "It's OK Boys. You can tell him everything … He's the Census Man!" one of them tells the others, in what is part of a decennial phenomenon that is beginning again—the massive advertising and manpower effort to persuade Americans to take part in the U.S. Census. The old ad assures readers that census takers have no connections to the "revenooers," a reference to the Prohibition-era feds who cracked down on illegal production of alcohol. Back then, as now, there is hesitation and distrust of the census among the public.

Back then, as now, there is hesitation and distrust of the census among the public. True enough. There is a decades long sentiment that the government uses the census to stick its nose in where it doesn't belong. It is nothing new and it is neither "right" or "left" wing. Our Constitution requires that our population be counted at a regular interval for apportioning purposes. Politicians being busybodies at heart expanded the census beyond its constitutional mandate and thus we have the "long form."

Sample questions from the 2000 census long form:

What are the annual costs of utilities and fuels for
this house, apartment, or mobile home? If you have
lived here less than 1 year, estimate
the annual cost.
a. Electricity
Annual cost — Dollars
$ , .00


What were the real estate taxes on THIS property
last
year?

Yearly amount — Dollars
$ .00


Answer ONLY if this is a MOBILE HOME —
a. Do you have an installment
loan or contract
on THIS mobile home?

Reading the questions, one can't help but wonder if the census is being conducted by the IRS. In other words, much of it is simply none of the government's damn business. Combine this with the fact that up until recent events ACORN was involved. Let's face it, most people don't want someone from a criminal enterprise knocking on their door.

So a man who happens to be a census worker is killed and the Left and their puppet scribes start screaming "Right wingers!" Newsweek is smart enough to use qualifying words like "may" and "might" but their message is obvious.

I think Stacy McCain, who took the time to go to Kentucky, sums it up best in quoting a journalist he met on his road trip, "We don't know anything. Hell, we don't even know what we don't know." Neither does Newsweek but they know what they hope turns out to be true.

Newsweek is on the bandwagon and like everyone else on the Left, they are in such a rush to get their point across their reporting is at best, sloppy. Jimmie Bise at The Sundries Shack:

Well, here’s something I didn’t notice until I was reviewing my post just
now. Conant writes that the conservative blogosphere has been questioning the
census, but she doesn’t bother to cite any conservative bloggers. Surely, a
crack reporter (that is to say, a good one, not one whose writing makes it seem
like she’s on crack) could Google up a few wild blogger quotes. It’s not like
notable violent maniac Michelle Malkin hasn’t written a column about the census. And here’s a *gasp* black conservative with reservations, too! And even the Simian-American population was ready to grab their…whatever
monkeys grab…to combat the monstrous census threat! Heck, we all know those Newsbusters bloggers are all about the head-cracking. Why
the word “bust” is built right into the site’s name!

I would suggest that Conant go to Kentucky to investigate but I guess that isn't necessary if you've already made up your mind.

So Much For Not Increasing Taxes On The Middle Class

From Bloomberg:

John Podesta compared the nation’s current budget crisis to the situation former
President Bill Clinton faced in 1993 and said some form of a value-added tax is “more plausible today than it ever has been.”

“There’s going to have to be revenue in this budget,” said Podesta,
Clinton’s former chief of staff and co-chairman of President Barack
Obama’s transition team, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s
“Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today.

A so-called consumption tax would “create a balance” with European and
Japanese economies and “could potentially have a substantial effect on
competitiveness,” said Podesta. Value- added taxes in Europe and Japan encourage
savings by taxing consumption.

So the VAT (value added tax) is coming and it is being championed by John Podesta. Value added taxes, or consumption taxes are regressive. A little over four years ago Podesta said this on taxes:

The theoretical possibility that higher and progressive tax rates can impede
human capital formation has been used to justify a switch away from a
progressive tax regime to some form of a flat tax. However, we believe that a fair tax code ought to be progressive, and therefore the goal ought to
be to keep labor tax rates low (while raising sufficient revenue) within a
progressive regime. By providing capital income with a tax preference, we are
necessarily shifting the tax burden onto income from work and hence the return
to skill accumulation.

Only a liberal could believe that what a faltering economy needs is a progressive income tax coupled with a regressive consumption tax. Taxing wealth, Podesta believes that capital gains should be taxed at the same rate as income, discourages investment. Taxing goods makes lower and middle class families to poor to save. It is a lose/lose proposition.

Podesta talks about "fairness" but while a value added tax may be fair, everyone gets screwed, bringing it in now is economic suicide. Employment is at 9.8%, American families are struggling, and this administration thinks that this is time to add 15% to the cost of groceries? Or a gallon of gas? Don't forget, this is even before Cap & Trade kicks in and prices skyrocket thanks to that government debacle.

What happened to Obama's pledge that he wouldn't raise taxes on 95% percent of Americans and why aren't the idiots who believed him speaking out? In the real world, families are cutting back and doing without. The administration needs to exist by the same rules as the rest of us. If it doesn't have the money to implement a pet project than the project doesn't get implemented.

It is time that the administration figure out that the American taxpayer is not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We are tapped out.

The Dumbest "Gotcha" Ever!

Via Memeorandum:

Are there editors at Media Matters who read the posts before they're put out there for the world to see? Exhibit A: EXCLUSIVE: Media Matters confirms student at center of Fox fueled Jennings controversy was of legal age

Right-wing media have claimed that 21 years ago, when Jennings was a 24-year-old
teacher at ConFor several days now conservatives in the media have been on a witch-hunt for Kevin Jennings, the U.S. Department of Education's director of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Led by Fox News, the cord Academy in Massachusetts, he "cover[ed] up statutory rape" by not reporting to authorities a conversation he had with a student who told him about being involved with an "older man."

They have attacked Jennings with homophobic, anti-gay rhetoric,
falsely accused him of covering up or encouraging "statutory rape" and asked for his
resignation or firing.

Media Matters for America has exclusively obtained the Massachusetts drivers' license of the student confirming that at the time of the incident, he was at least
sixteen years of age -- the legal age of consent in Massachusetts.

Gotcha! He was sixteen! Ha! Except..

Wasn't it Jennings himself who said that the boy was fifteen? Sooooo? Let's take the boy's age out of it and look at the review of Jennings from Nice Deb:

•Jennings failed to report a case of statutory rape of a *15 year old who confided in him that he had had sex with a much older man at a train station. Jennings’ did express concern that the boy use a condom.
•Jennings wrote the forward to a book called “Queering Elementary Education”. Bonus: Another familiar face wrote one of the endorsements on the book jacket—Bill Ayers. Ayers, of course, is the former Weather Underground bomber, an Obama pal, and ghostwriter, who worked with him on school related boards in Chicago during the nineties.
•Jennings and his organization, GLSEN sponsored conferences where homosexual activists instructed children age 14 and up on how to perform homosexual acts. How bad was it? When a recording from one of these conferences became public, the firestorm that ensued became known as “fistgate”.
•Jennings in 1997 reportedly praised Harry Hay of the North American Association for Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), which promotes the legalization of sexual abuse of young boys by older men. You can read the transcript of Jennings asserting that “one of the people that’s always inspired me is Harry Hay”, here.
•Jennings has a history of ridiculing and demeaning Christians: Reportedly said of Christians—“ F___ ‘em” while speaking at Marble Collegiate Church in March of 2000.

So, when Media Matters can debunk the above I'll give Jennings another look. For now, he doesn't belong anywhere near schoolchildren.

Letterman is a Schmuck. Who Knew?

Via Doug Ross:

It turns out that Letterman is just as big a jerk in private as he is on the air. Yawn. I'm not excusing Letterman's behavior or making light of it. I simply am not surprised that a creepy person would engage in creepy behavior. So color me in the Ace camp:

Eh. Blackmailers suck.

On the other hand, so does Letterman.

Best Letterman post? Jim Treacher's Top Ten Reasons to Accept That Job Offer from David Letterman. No. 1 is funny.

My vote for No. 1 is shared by William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection:

How about a top ten list of reasons why David Letterman is a sanctimonious
phony?

UPDATE: Turns out the person extorting Letterman was the show's producer.
Also turns out that Letterman was sleeping with "several"
staffers. Why is Letterman different than, say, the usual run of Republican and
Democratic politicians who have had affairs? Because Letterman built his career
and keeps his name in the news by mocking people, mostly people who do not agree
with his liberal politics, such as Sarah Palin. In his monologue last night (one
of the few times I have watched him in the past decade), he again devoted
substantial time to going after Palin. While I have no sympathy for an
extortionist, and the person should be prosecuted, I have just as little
sympathy for Letterman.

Added: A top ten list, from Jim Treacher: Top Ten Reasons to Accept
That Job Offer from David Letterman. My favorite: "After the sex, he lets
you keep the Palin wig."

Is Anyone Really Surprised That Chicago Didn't Get The Olympics?

Via Memeorandum:

Well, I guess some people are, chiefly the Os, but I can't imagine why. Despite our leader's belief in his own power of persuasion, you just can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

When speaking of Chicago the first thing that comes to mind is corruption. The second is, ala Valerie Jarrett, slums. Not exactly selling points. But, just as Obama erroneously thought that he could sell ObamaCare by yucking it up on Letterman, he also believed that his presence in Copenhagen would guarantee a win. I'm told the Drudge headline was, The Ego has Landed.

The London Times writes:

There has been a growing narrative taking hold about Barack Obama’s
presidency in recent weeks: that he is loved by many, but feared by none; that
he is full of lofty vision, but is actually achieving nothing with his
grandiloquence.

Chicago’s dismal showing today, after Mr Obama’s personal,
impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President. It
cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world
stage he looks good — but carries no heft.

They are being kind. But despite the Os' bruised ego, the loss of the Olympic bid is a good thing. The Olympics are an expensive undertaking that the country can't afford right now. Nobody outside of Obama crony circle would stand to make any money off the deal. Like the bailout og GM, the bid was an attempt by this administration to reward its cronies on the taxpayer dime.

Another Black Conservative puts it this way:

US taxpayers can breathe a sigh of relief. The Obamas, Winfrey, Daley,
Jarrett “Dream Team” has suffered an Epic Fail. Chicago was
knocked out in the first round of voting. Perhaps now Obama will understand
that on the world stage he has far less star power than previously
thought.

This was truly a fool’s errand. Chicago is broke like church mice and
had little business trying to compete for such an expensive prize. Obama has far
more serious matters on his plate and it was irresponsible to take time for what
has been traditionally a local issue. Furthermore the cost of flying both
Obama’s to Copenhagen is as highly irresponsible, given the tremendous financial
strain our nation is under.

It was a fool's errand, which is why Obama went.

Other's writing on the Obama's bomb in Denmark:

The Other McCain

American Power

JammieWearingFool

Troglopundit

The Daley Gator

"I'm Gonna Count To Three" Diplomacy

VodkaPundit knows the definition of insanity:

Here’s the take away from President Obama’s press statement on the Iranian
talks, “[Iran] must grant unfettered access to IAEA inspectors within two weeks,” he said.

So. Inspections, deadlines and the promise of more talks. We tried this
exact same strategy with North Korea, starting way back in 1994. Result? North
Korea has some primitive nukes — but they’re working on improving them.

What do you want to bet that Michelle handles the discipline in the family?

What we have here is a case of 'I'm going to count to three' diplomacy. "Two. Two and an eighth. I mean it." No wonder Ahmadinejad always has that impish grin on his face. History has taught him that he will never hear "three."

We're All Racists Now!

I always loved that Big Yellow Bird!

Thanks, Gator.

Crist Provides Balance? What, Between the Left and the Far Left?

Pat reports the lamest quote of the day:

Lamest quote of the day? That would be from Brian Walsh, NRSC
communications director. When asked about the Jeb Bush endorsement of Marco
Rubio in the Florida Senate race and Jeb's criticism of the early NRSC coming
out for Crist, Walsh said, "the NRSC believes Governor Crist is the best
candidate to maintain the checks and balances needed in the Senate."

As a certain someone would say, "Snort worthy." But, back to Pat:

Larry Thornberry at American Spectator responds this way:

It's truly hard to see how a politician like Crist, who has supported
Obama's stimulus package, who's enthusiastic about cap and trade and other
costly enviro-disasters, and who's as silent as the tomb about conservative
social issues, could in any way be a check on the Obama socialist agenda. He's
more of an enabler. This is probably why a friend of Rubio's told me he had come
up with a great slogan for Crist's campaign: "Send Charlie to Washington --
he'll fit right in."

Apparently the NRSC believes that if Crist wins the primary, he won't, they can roll him out in the general election under the banner:

"At least he's not as far Left as Kendrick Meek"

Actually, once upon a time that would have worked. We might have grumbled and we might have held our nose but we voted for the guy with the (R) even if he wasn't 'our guy.' And when we finally had the presidency and both chambers what did our fealty earn us? Scorn. Our party used the opportunity to self deal and self promote. Does the NRSC think we forgot? If anyone did, the NRSC endorsement of Crist reminded them.

Little something the NRSC can take to he bank-we won't be fooled again.