Morgan Freeman Knows how to End Racism

I came across this at Don Surber's and at first Morgan's solution sounded a bit simplistic to me.  The more I thought about his words the more sense they made.  We seem to have had a re-emergence of the "other".  Everything, every event, every decision made since January 2008 has been framed by race.  Are we better off for it?

Morgan was speaking to something bigger than Black History month but that is good place to start.  Did the whole of the black man's contribution to American history occur in a single month or is it interwoven with our nation's story as a whole?  Why do we separate out the black man's contribution from the "big picture" and relegate it to a single month?

As a country we have arrived where we are together.  Our history should be told as a whole, without segregation, as it occurred.  If we teach our children about the growth of our country from infancy to today with attention to fact, the story of all of our citizens will be told.  Yes, some of our history is shameful.  We do no one any good by playing those periods down or by playing them up.  Instead, just tell it and allow all to be proud of our accomplishments and how far we have come. 

I read a comment the other day that said that because of Barack Obama it will be a hundred years before this country will elect another black man as president.  Really?  I think that Obama has set our race relations way, way back because of the way he couches everything in race in opposition to reality or even common sense but his policy failures have nothing to do with the color of his skin.  He embraces a failed ideology that is also embarrassed by Axlerod, Emanuel, Pelosi, Reid, etc.  His ideology doesn't have a color.  If Americans blame Obama's lack of leadership on the color of his skin and use that broken logic to prevent others whose only connection to Obama is the color of their skin from fully contributing to our society, we will be much the worse for it.

The Poodle Pontificates

The Sex Crazed Poodle formerly known as Al Gore sees the scam work of a life time slipping away and he’s not going down without a fight (no pun intended):

The need to solve the climate crisis and transition to clean energy has never been more clear. The oil is still washing up on the shores of the Gulf Coast and we've just experienced the hottest six months on record. Our troops are fighting and dying in the Middle East and our economy is still struggling to produce jobs. I continue to urge the president to provide leadership on this issue and urge the Senate to make this issue a priority for the remainder of this Congress. Ultimately — and sooner rather than later — these issues simply must be dealt with. Our national security, our economic recovery and the future of the United States of America — and indeed the future of human civilization on this Earth — depends on our country taking leadership. And that, in turn, depends on the United States Senate acting. The truth about the climate crisis — inconvenient as ever — must be faced.

Seems poor Al is just predestined to come up short. Al’s fellow travelers are in deep trouble and they are well aware that even the slightest breeze blowing from the wrong direction is all that is necessary to send them tumbling off a very steep cliff. They are not interested in risking their already tenuous careers to line Al’s pockets:

Supposedly it’s merely a scheduling move, aimed at pushing the C&T debate into the fall when the Senate calendar is less crowded.

Really, though? Democrats, who are already terrified of losing Congress, are going to surf into the midterms with an eleventh-hour push for a hugely expensive new bill related to … global warming? With the GOP already armed with ad-ready video of Obama talking about how it’ll make energy prices “skyrocket”? Radical prediction: Reid’s going to end up deciding in September that the schedule’s still a little too “crowded” to take this up.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will bring a limited package of oil spill response and energy measures to the floor next week, delaying action until at least this fall on a broader proposal that would impose greenhouse gas limits on power plants, senior Senate Democratic aides said.

Aides insisted Reid’s decision is a nod to the packed floor schedule the Senate faces before it leaves in two weeks for the August recess, and that he has not abandoned plans to try and bring up a broader climate and energy plan later in the year…

For now, the limited package expected on the floor this month will likely allow Democrats to push through a response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill — such as tougher rig safety requirements — and perhaps some energy provisions that members of both parties could support.

The old “scheduling move” ploy, eh? More likely, Reid & Co. have finally figured out that the American public is not having one more bite of the Democratic crap sandwich. In any case, Al’s personal inconvenient truth is that his Global Warming shtick has played itself out. Time to move on.

Anti-climatic

Honestly, is anyone actually surprised by anything they've read in The Daily Caller's posts on JournoList?  It isn't exactly shocking to find out that left wing "journalists" have worked in concert to promote left wing candidates and positions.  If anything, my long held suspicions about the MSM have simply been confirmed.  Tucker Carlson has decided to address some of the blow back from the left:

...To be clear: We’re not contesting the right of anyone, journalist or not, to have political opinions. (I, for one, have made a pretty good living expressing mine.) What we object to is partisanship, which is by its nature dishonest, a species of intellectual corruption. Again and again, we discovered members of Journolist working to coordinate talking points on behalf of Democratic politicians, principally Barack Obama. That is not journalism, and those who engage in it are not journalists. They should stop pretending to be. The news organizations they work for should stop pretending, too....

...That assurance won’t stop the attacks, of course. So why don’t we publish whatever portions of the Journolist archive we have and end the debate? Because a lot of them have no obvious news value, for one thing. Gather 400 lefty reporters and academics on one listserv and it turns out you wind up with a strikingly high concentration of bitchiness. Shocking amounts, actually. So while it might be amusing to air threads theorizing about the personal and sexual shortcomings of various New Republic staffers, we’ve decided to pull back....

Well, the JournoListers certainly have the bitchiness down pat.  Fantasizing about having a hearty laugh while watching someone die a painful death or fixating on slamming people into plate glass qualifies as an unhealthy merging of bitchiness and mental illness, but where's the cleverness?  I thought these were supposed to be the smart kids.  Its not only disappointing but anti-climatic. 

I guess I gave the kids too much credit.  In any case, I'm more sure than ever that I am on the right team.

Has Kendrick Meek Been Thrown Under the Obama Bus?

David Axelrod won't commit Obama to Meek campaign

President Barack Obama's top political adviser declined to say Tuesday whether the commander in chief would campaign for Florida Senate candidate Kendrick Meek — even amid reports that Vice President Joe Biden may hit the trail to assist the fourth-term Democratic House member.

"We're going to campaign for Democrats all over the country," White House senior adviser David Axelrod said when asked whether Obama will show up in Florida for Meek.

Pressed a second time on Meek's race, specifically, Axelrod replied "We haven't worked out the whole schedule."

Aw, sounds like somebody needs a man hug.  Unfortunately for Meek, it looks like Obama has already partnered up.

P.S., Your Unicorn is Dead

Quinnipiac:

A year after President Barack Obama's political honeymoon ended, his job approval rating has dropped to a negative 44 - 48 percent, his worst net score ever, and American voters say by a narrow 39 - 36 percent margin that they would vote for an unnamed Republican rather than President Obama in 2012, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 48 - 43 percent approval for Obama in a May 26 national poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University and a 57 - 33 percent approval last July, just before the political firestorm created by opposition to his health care plan galvanized political opponents and turned independent voters against him.

In this latest survey of more than 2,000 voters, independent voters disapprove of Obama 52 - 38 percent and say 37 - 27 percent they would vote for a Republican contender in 2012.

American voters also say 48 - 40 percent Obama does not deserve reelection in 2012.

Let’s review:

· The Stimulus was supposed to hold unemployment at 8 percent. It didn’t.

· ObamaCare was sold as a money saver. It isn’t.

· Obama was supposed to be a “post-racial” president. He isn’t.

The Obama administration has mishandled everything it has touched. Obama wanted everything on a grand scale. Voters wanted competence. In the end, the only thing done on a grand scale was incompetence.

Weasel Zippers sums up the Obama presidency:

Putting the Capital "O" in Opportunist

Q: What trait does Jonathan Chait find appealing in a candidate?

A: Being an opportunist.

When it comes to back stabbing crapweasels we all know Charlie Crist is the man.

…Charlie Crist, who's veering sharply leftward in an attempt to win a Senate election, is becoming another favorite:

Mr. Crist has made other policy shifts. Despite pledging as a Republican to help repeal President Obama's health-care overhaul, Mr. Crist now says he does not support such a move. He has long called himself "pro-life," doing so even in the interview last week. He is now quick to add that while he personally opposes abortion, he would not seek to overturn Roe v. Wade and supports abortion rights.

He came out last year in opposition to the Supreme Court nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, but now says that he "probably" took that position because he felt pressure from the GOP primary. Asked if he felt differently now, he said: "Perhaps."

"I want to do what is in my heart," Mr. Crist said last week. "But other influences have some effect, to a degree."

I think it actually takes real guts to admit something like this…

I suspect that what Crist really wants to do in his heart is play Eliza Doolittle on Broadway but since the gig is not currently up for grabs he seems content to take his one man show “Screw Florida” on the road to DC.

Ezra Klein also seems to support Charlie “Chameleon” Crist:

American voters (and pundits, and activists) seem a bit confused on this point: It's not clear whether they want politicians to lead or to follow. But it would probably be useful for politicians if we were clearer on this point. As it is, we actually do enable a lot of opportunism as politicians who hold unpopular views nobly remind us that leadership isn't about polls while the same politicians, when they have popular positions, tell us about how unpopular their opponent's stance on the issue is.

Klein’s thought is a little hard to follow but I think he is saying that it is okay to flip flop on every single issue so long as when the candidate lands they are firmly on the left side of the issue. Again, Crist qualifies with spades.

In any case, birds of a feather. Chait and Klein are Charlie’s new best friends. That tells me everything I need to know.

Mamas, Don't Let Your Daughters Grow Up to Use Botox

What is this poor child thinking?

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Filipino teenage singer Charice Pempengco says she prepared for her debut on the hit TV show "Glee" by getting Botox and an anti-aging procedure "to look fresh on camera."

The 18-year-old Charice, whose singing career rocketed after appearing on Ellen DeGeneres' and Oprah Winfrey's talk shows, underwent a 30-minute Thermage skin-tightening procedure and Botox to make her "naturally round face" more narrow, celebrity cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo told ABS-CBN television.

Charice, in the same interview, said last week's face makeover was part of her big preparations for her appearance on the hit show's second season. She starts filming at the end of this month.

"All people will be anticipating how will Charice look? Is she good enough to pit against Rachel Berry? So of course there is tremendous pressure," Charice said.

Does she not know that by starting with the botox at this age that in a few years she is going to look like this:

This is What Happens When Children Play Without Proper Supervision

So, Spencer Ackerman really is a nasty SOB. Who knew?

Most of us on the Right spent the run-up to the 2008 election wondering where the hell the main stream media was. It seemed that when they weren’t fawning over the Mighty O they were ignoring, and covering up, every Obama flaw. It seemed that way because they were:

Others went further. According to records obtained by The Daily Caller, at several points during the 2008 presidential campaign a group of liberal journalists took radical steps to protect their favored candidate. Employees of news organizations including Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic participated in outpourings of anger over how Obama had been treated in the media, and in some cases plotted to fix the damage.

In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”

Nice. Well at least now we know where the idea to accuse everybody who doesn’t bow at the Obama altar of racism started.

Reading the various exchanges outlined in The Daily Caller conjures up visions of seventh grade study hall. Ackerman, Michael Tomasky, and others come off as peevish little dweebs twittering away at the clever (so they thought) quips written in the latest “slam” book being passed about. Meanness of the worst sort-self righteous and small.

Ackerman:

I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.

Obviously.

Ackerman strikes me as the kind of person who shouldn’t be left unsupervised with animals or young children.

The Moderate Voice Might Want to Rethink the Analogy

Jerry K. Remmers, writing in The Moderate Voice, sounded anything but when he came up with this nonsense:

CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer, in the fertile mind of Fox’s Megyn Kelly, destroyed journalism as we know it for not asking Atty. Gen. Eric Holder about the New Black Panther scandal intimidating voters at a Philadelphia precinct in November 2008.

Schieffer said he was on vacation the week Kelly and Fox unloaded on the Panthers as viciously as police turned fire hoses on civil rights demonstrators during the 1960s.

Judging from Remmers picture he is certainly old enough, though obviously not bright enough, to know what a dumb ass analogy that is. There is a fine line between cleaver and hack and comparing the telling of new story to a negative historical event crosses that line.

I can’t tell if Remmers believes that reporters shouldn’t report or if he would simply prefer that all news stories get prior approval from a central source located in, oh, I don’t know-the Obama Administration. The left wing media has been playing the Black Panther story off like it is some silly distraction concocted by the Right and that voter intimidation is really just no big deal. Funny, I seem to remember a few years ago that perceived voter “disenfranchisement” in Florida during a different Presidential election was a real big deal. What has changed?

What has changed is that people like Remmers don’t believe in equal rights or equal protection on the law unless it suits them. It is safe to assume that it will suit them once again as soon as the Republicans take back the reins.

Taxing Pot

One thing that is absolutely consistent with our government, regardless of the level, is that if they legalize it, they will regulate it. And if they regulate it, they will tax it. I am guessing that all those people who have been advocating for the legalization of pot didn’t think about what would happen once government got into the game. Let’s face it, anyone who thought that their dealer was ripping them off isn’t going to be one iota happier when the bureaucrats start slicing the pie:

(AP) After weathering the fear of federal prosecution and competition from drug cartels, California's medical marijuana growers see a new threat to their tenuous existence: the "Wal-Marting" of weed.

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will look at licensing four production plants where pot would be grown, packaged and processed into items ranging from baked goods to body oil. Winning applicants would have to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million worth of liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes.

The move, and fledgling efforts in other California cities to sanction cannabis cultivation for the first time, has some marijuana advocates worried that regulations intended to bring order to the outlaw industry and new revenues to cash-strapped local governments could drive small "mom and pop" growers out of business. They complain that industrial-scale gardens would harm the environment, reduce quality and leave consumers with fewer strains from which to choose.

Never had much use for the stuff myself but I’ve never been opposed to legalization either. I’ve always reasoned that enforcement of marijuana laws cost more than they are worth. On the other hand, the short sightedness of marijuana proponents amuses me. Pot has always been big business. Anyone who thought government would pass on the chance to milk that cash cow is either stupid or stoned. Let the “Wal-Marting” begin, and remember, careful what you wish for.

Coming to an Operating Room Near You

A cash crisis in the NHS has left patients lying on the operating table before doctors realized vital equipment had not been ordered, according to a leaked report.

Women in labour have been forced to wait while epidural equipment was borrowed from other hospitals, while other patients have been denied chest drains and radiology supplies, according to doctors at South London Healthcare Trust.

Minutes of a meeting between medical staff and the trust’s chief executive say “cash flow” problems at the trust which has a £50 million deficit, mean vital equipment is regularly not ordered.

A separate letter sent to managers of the trust, one of the largest in the country, says consultants have been misled into carrying out operations when it was not safe to go ahead because of bed shortages.

NHS watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been asked to investigate the concerns, after eight doctors contacted their local MP.

How many years will it be before our doctors go begging for the equipment they need to take care of their patients in this country? You simply cannot cover an entire population unless you a) have an unlimited supply of money, which no country does or b) you cut corners-the kind of corners that cost people their lives.

Yet this is the system that Ronald Berwick, the new head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is “romantic” for. Berwick has been called a one man death panel. With the system that awaits us we won’t need a death panel, the lack of adequate care will make one unnecessary.

Racism as a Tool

In the Washington Examiner David Limbaugh lists a litany of events since the 2008 Presidential election that shows that Barack Obama is not out post racial but most racial president by far. Limbaugh concludes with a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll that shows that the public’s belief that Obama has advanced racial relations as fallen from 6 in 10 who believe that relations have improved to 4 in 10. Nice job, Barry.

Referring to the DOJ’s mishandling of the Black Panther case John McWhorter, whose excellent PJTV interview with Joe Hicks can be seen here, said:

"The Obama folks should realize that they are enabling [the idea] that rules of civility are different for black people. It's a tired idea, and America is less tolerant of it by the year," said the Manhattan Institute's John McWhorter, who simultaneously dismissed the Panthers as "a bunch of grown men medicated on photos of Huey Newton playing cops and robbers."

Well that is the rub, isn’t it? There no longer appears to be equal justice under the law. Progressives view this as a “comeuppance” for a history of unequal treatment suffered by blacks. It is a backwards looking view. We can move backwards but why would anyone want to?

There are absolutely pockets of racism in this country but overall, the thought that this country is engrossed in institutional racism is, as McWhorter says in the PJTV interview, antiquated. By trying to revive the racism boogeyman Obama appears to be giving mouth to mouth to a long dead dog. Don't let appearances fool you, "racism" is one of the most powerful tools Obama has.

Racism is being used by this administration to distract the public from noticing that Obama has been a gawd awful failure. If you point out that the Stimulus didn’t stimulate, you are a racist. If you say that ObamaCare is a government infringement of individual rights, you are a racist. The same is true for the administration’s totally inept handling of the Gulf spill crisis and the Arizona immigration law debacle. The minute you point out any flaw in this administration, you are a racist.

Of course the only answer is to swear absolute fealty to Lord Obama. Anything less is, well, you know…

Fun and Games at The Daily Caller

Adding to the list of things that Tucker Carlson has (good looks, intelligence, a sense of humor, sanity) that Keith Olbermann has not, The Daily Caller has purchased KeithOlbermann.com:

The Daily Caller, one of the fastest-growing online media properties, announced today its acquisition of KeithOlbermann.com, expanding the company’s global reach into a new segment of the online political market. For more than six months The Daily Caller has been a recognized market leader in commentary about Keith Olbermann. Ruth Graham’s weekly Olbermann wrap-up, “We watch, because we’re paid to,” appears on The Daily Caller’s website each Friday.

“We plan to make The Daily Caller the one-stop online shop for Keith Olbermann commentary,” said Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson. “We will be THE Keith Olbermann superstore.”

“This is part of our long-term growth strategy,” added Publisher and CEO Neil Patel. “Our future acquisition targets include several other annoying cable news commentators.”

Olbermann, acting in his typical slow-witted manner took the bait and reacted in several low rent tweets.  I am told that Olbermann was at one time quite clever.  However, the passage of time combined with Mommy issues has not been kind.  He has been reduced to a mean-spirited, shallow bloviator who confuses bellowing with serious discussion.  Sad really.

The surprise came from Salon.  They have purchased TuckerCarlson.net.  Copycatting?  I would not have taken Salon for the "I know you are but what am I" type.  In the end it is Carlson 1, Salon and Olbermann 0. 

The Flummoxing of Matthews

I am sitting here trying to figure out what to make of this from Chris Matthews’ interview of Representative Bob Inglis :

MATTHEWS: How do you figure your state out? It's pretty conservative obviously. It's Strom Thurmond country in many ways and, and it has people like DeMint pretty far over and then people like Lindsey Graham who are sort of regular conservatives.(Note: by “regular conservatives” I believe that Matthews is referring to those who campaign as Republicans and legislate as Democrats) But then you nominated, your party has nominated an Indian-American woman, Nikki Haley. Obviously an attractive candidate, she knows how to present herself obviously, but what's that about? Is that just an interesting little aspect? "It's okay to be Indian-American but we got a problem with this black president?" What's that about?

Matthews is confused because Conservatives are not being consistent in their racism. Matthews would do well to avoid our Florida elections lest his head explode. Down here we are pro-Rubio (Hispanic), pro-Adams (Black), pro-West (Black) and anti Obama all at the same time. Someone not of Matthews’ impressive intellectual heft might conclude that the objection to Obama lies in something other than race.  Matthews isn't falling for that trap.  No, Matthews would say without a hint of irony that by virtue of their conservatism Rubio, Adams, West, etc., aren't "real" minorities.  When the facts don't fit the narrative, facts be damned!
 
The problem with hiding behind the race card is that reality can't be checked.  Matthews and his followers haven't figured that out yet.  But if Matthews is confused now, I am betting that he will be downright flummoxed come November. 

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

I'm only two beers in so I can't be drunk.  I don't do drugs so I can't be hallucinating.  What possible explanation can there be for this:

A clear pattern of behavior has emerged over the last 16 months. According to liberals, if you disagree with their thinking, and if you disagree with the Obama administration, you are not only wrong, you are a “racist.”

That is from Politico, I kid you not. 

The Politico post, written by Jenny Beth Martin and Mark Meckler, calls a spade a spade-something you don't often find outside of Conservative websites.  I strongly doubt that either Martin or Meckler will be rewarded for their insight or honesty.  They have spoken out against the narrative. 

The latest strike by the left comes from the NAACP, which has resolved that the tea party movement is inherently “racist.” At its most simple, this is a direct attack on the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.

The NAACP has long history of liberalism and racism.

If you are a conservative — including a conservative African-American — there is no room for you at the NAACP. If you have opinions that differ from the NAACP and the liberal establishment, and if you are African-American, you are an “Uncle Tom,” a “negro,” “not black enough” and “against our people.”

In other words, the NAACP fancies itself the thought police for millions of black Americans. Disagree with them and you will be ostracized and attacked. You will be subjected to public humiliation and racist commentary from NAACP leadership. The message is clear: Tow the line or pay the price.

But the NAACP does not stand alone in this regard. The left has a long history of using the race card. It has been pulled on people across the political spectrum.

Amen.

The Palin/Johnston Engagement

There is nothing I could possibly write about the Bristol Palin/Levi Johnston engagement that would top Stacy McCain's absolutely must read parable but I do have two thoughts.  First, when we avoid telling our parents of important decisions that we have made it is usually because:  a) we suspect what they will say and b) we suspect that they are right.  Second,  I know a very young couple who broke up immediately after the birth of their daughter.  It was ugly, really ugly.  They ran into each other four years later, put the ugliness behind them, and have now been happily married for over twenty years and have two more wonderful children.  It happens, albeit rarely, and I hope it happens for Bristol, Levi and Tripp.

I'm in the Market for a New Bumper Sticker

The sticker would read, "When Obama Lied Millions of Babies Died!" 

Washington, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, released the following statement today in response to the Obama Administration spending $160 million on a “high risk” insurance program that will pay for abortions:

“It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion. It is also reprehensible to take taxpayer dollars from millions of pro-life Americans and use them to pay for abortions.

“President Obama promised the American people that his health care law would not allow federal funding of abortion. But according to an investigation by the National Right to Life Committee, this allocation for Pennsylvania’s high risk pool will break the president’s promise by using taxpayer dollars to subsidize coverage of nearly any kind of abortion.

“We must stop this immoral offense against human life and against American taxpayers. Congress should act quickly on critical legislation by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) to stop the administration from using ObamaCare to fund abortions. The best long-term solution, and the one that I remain committed to, is the total repeal of ObamaCare.”

In Pennsylvania taxpayer funds will be used to pay for all but "sex selection" abortions.  New Mexico has also received taxpayer funds for abortion with absolutely no restriction on the abortions performed.  Boiled down to its essence, Obama lied.  The executive order banning taxpayer funding of abortion is, as many of us said at the time, useless.  Bart Stupak could not be reached for comment.

The blogprof reminds us:



Obama's legacy will be that of a dishonorable man whose lies led to the deaths of an untold number of innocent unborn children.  The irony-abortion disportionally affects the African American community, therefore, Obama is killing his own constituents.

They are Racists, Not Terrorists

So it took the Uganda World Cup bombings for Obama to realize that Tea Party members aren't the only bad guys in town:

President Obama disparaged al Qaeda and affiliated groups’ willingness to kill Africans in a manner that White House aides say was an argument that the terrorist groups are racist.

Speaking about the Uganda bombings, the president said, “What you’ve seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself. They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains.”

Explaining the president’s comment, an administration official said Mr. Obama “references the fact that both U.S. intelligence and past al Qaeda actions make clear that al Qaeda — and the groups like al Shabaab that they inspire — do not value African life.

Granted the president has proven to be more than a bit dense but this is just mind boggling.  Al Qaeda doesn't value any life, not even their own.  They are trully equal opportunity killers.  By adding the racist label to the long list of available al Qaeda descriptors Obama implies that the brutal taking of black lives is somehow worse than flying airplanes into buildings or blowing up Jewish schoolchildren.  How so, Mr. Preisdent?  Does the president value some lives more than others based solely on race?  Further, we've been told that it is wrong to link al Qaeda's actions to their choice of religion even though al Qaeda and the like regularly describe themselves as "soldiers of Allah" yet the president throws around the racist label when clearly al Qaeda et al kill purely for the sake of killing.  The occassional use of logic, not to mention honesty, would benefit the president greatly.

Meanwhile, I await the NAACP's resolution on al Qaeda.

Political Hanky Panky in FL-25

Babalu is reporting political hanky panky of the non-John Edwards variety in So. Florida:

At the GOP Executive Meeting last month, each candidate was given two minutes to speak. Paul Crespo went slightly over his two-minute time, spending the extra time "respectfully" asking for David Rivera's resignation from his Miami-Dade GOP leadership position. Shortly after Crespo stepped off the podium, he was confronted by at least two local police officers for what in all indications was merely for speaking over his time limit.

The Shark Tank is all over this story and has a video released by Crespo which shows that Miami-Dade GOP leadership may have played a direct role in asking police officers to approach Crespo after his speech.

If the video even remotely captures the true events which unfolded that evening, it's a huge shame to the GOP leadership in Miami-Dade County and a prime reflection of the spreading of the political-establishment-cancer from Washington to other precincts. This incident needs to get out beyond South Florida because it illustrates the corruption in our political establishment, regardless of party, and why we need to get behind candidates who aren't beholden to their political parties.

Here's the link once again to the video released by Crespo's camp. Take a close look at it and decide for yourself.

Corruption is corruption whether it comes from the Left or the Right.  The majority of problems we are experiencing in this country stem from politicians who have come to believe that they are entitled to their office and an electorate that has given them a pass.  The day of the party machine have passed.  These are the days of We the People.

The Tea Party Joins the Notoriously Racist Hallmark Greeting Cars on the NAACP's Hit List UPDATED

When last we saw the NAACP they were calling out Hallmark Greeting Cards for for using the term "black hole" in a graduation card.  Now being a Star Trek fan (Next Generation and Deep Space Nine-Enterprise totally sucked) I know that a black hole is a region of space from which nothing, including light, can escape.  The NAACP on the the other hand doesn't know the difference between a black hole and a "black ho", a derogatory term for a black woman popularized, if I'm not mistaken, by black hip hop artists.  Hallmark, faced with a baseless accusation, acted in typical corporate chickensh*t fashion and caved:



Fresh off the Hallmark victory, the NAACP has gone after the Tea Party.  Gateway Pundit:

In January they rammed through their nationalized health care plan. They lied to us. They said it would save us money. It won’t. They said it would not cover abortion. It did. They said your insurance plan won’t change. It will. We met them in Washington. And their state-run media lied about us and made up stories that we were racists. Despite proof they continue this lie today. But…

We will not be silenced.

Today they reach a new low. The far left NAACP will pass a resolution calling us racists. We are hurt. We are angry. We are upset with this horrible lie.

We will not be silenced.

Not now. Not ever.

No, we won't be silenced by the utterly corrupt main stream media and their stoolie "journalists" and certainly not by a self-dealing NAACP that stopped caring about the advancement of colored people years ago.  We are not like the cowardly Hallmark that  bows down in the face of extortion.  We will stand up for ourselves and for our country.  The NAACP would do well to stick to what they do best-shaking down spineless corporations based on made up allegations.

Read the post at Gateway which includes the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition Resolution.

UPDATE:

Sheesh, what is it with totally useless organizations and shakedown attempts?  There is definitely something extra in the kool-aid.

Do not miss The Camp of the Saints Spot-On Quote Of The Day.  Scathing.

I Believe the Correct Term is "Eviscerated"

Nice Deb has posted a video of Megyn Kelly, putting it nicely, tearing Kirsten Powers a new one over Power's dismissive attitude towards the DOJ's disgraceful conduct in the The New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case. 
Powers showed up ill equipped to discuss, let alone debate, the formidable Kelly.  Uninformed at best, or at worst, unwilling to admit the seriousness of the case, Powers fell back on the tired "what about Bush" argument, apparently unaware that the Bush mantra is well beyond its expiration date. 

Powers dove head first into dumb blond territory by first admitting that she hadn't read the case testimony and then repeatedly screeching, "I'm informed.  I'm informed!"  Kelly on the other hand was factual, direct and downright masterful:

Rubio Back on Top

Marco Rubio is back on top in the polls (YAHOO!) and he raised $4.5 million in the second quarter.  I've never doubted that Rubio has the right stuff but it sure feels good to see that Charlie "you can fool some of the people some of the time" Crist isn't able to fool all of the people all of the time.

Ed Morrissey:

Earlier this afternoon, I participated in a conference call with Marco Rubio, who has focused more of late on networking and fundraising than high-profile campaigning. Even so, the last Rasmussen poll shows Rubio retaking a narrow lead among likely voters, and Charlie Crist’s latest grandstanding stunt could be backfiring. It certainly has with Crist appointee Senator George LeMieux, who today endorsed Marco Rubio. The strategy has also been effective, as Rubio’s campaign raised $4.5 million in the second quarter, blowing away Kendrick Meek’s $1 million.

Rubio started with a brief introduction, saying that “we’re very happy with the direction of my campaign.” He expressed the need for a strong check on the Obama administration. Rubio hit at the uncertainties created by the White House and Congress in the economy, and said they had made it “difficult to invest” in American industry. Rubio said an announcement would come tomorrow on a proposal to create a Gulf enterprise zone to restore economic health to the region, and blasted politicians taking “photo op opportunities” rather than work for real improvement.

Morrissey goes on to give a sample of the questions asked today and Rubio's answers.  Having listened to Rubio speak on several occasions I can attest that Rubio knows the issues and more importantly, he knows where he stands.  A refreshing change from Charlie Crist, whose "stands" vary depending on whomever he is sucking up to at any given moment.  I thought Rubio's answer to one question in particular spoke very highly of his character and integrity:
 

Prefer Meek or Greene in the race? – Doesn’t matter, Rubio says. “Meek is principled,” Rubio says, “his principles are different than mine, is all.” Of all the other candidates, Rubio’s the only one that won’t carry Barack Obama’s, Harry Reid’s, Nancy Pelosi’s water on Capitol Hill.

Rubio credited Meek with having deeply held beliefs.  He doesn't ridicule Kendrick Meek the man, but focuses on their differences on policies.  It is a pity that more politicians don't follow that tact rather than the constant sniping and character assassinations that we are subjected to almost daily.

Having Rubio in the Senate will go a long way towards bringing some much needed balance back to Washington.  I've said it before and I'll say it again-November can't get here soon enough.

Read the rest of Morrissey's post.

When Votes Don't Count

Yesterday it was fraud in the 2008 Democratic primaries, today it is Felons for Franken.  Atty. General Eric Holder dumps the New Black Panther voter intimidation case and then we learn that Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes announced that she would not support any enforcement of a key section of the federal "Motor Voter" law -- Section 8, which requires states to periodically purge their voter rolls of dead people, felons, illegal voters and those who have moved out of state.

When the hell did this country become a banana republic?  What use is a Voting Rights Act if the it is selectively enforced and our elections are rigged?  All indications are that the Democratic party is headed for a mighty fall in November.  I have absolutely no confidence that the Democrats will allow a fair mid-term election.

Barack Obama stole the 2008 Presidential nomination from Hillary Clinton.  Al Franken stole the 2008 Minnesota Senate election from Norm Coleman.  If Franken had an ounce of honor, he doesn't, he would step down. 

Complicate in all this is our national media.  The MSM knew about about the Obama fraud when it occurred and refused to air the story.  In today's Memeorandum thread on the story by Directorblue, the related posts were from Michelle Malkin, DaTechguy's Blog, Newsalert, Gateway Pundit, Cold Fury and Pajamas Media.  MSM nada.  "Progressive" sites, nothing.  The Fox News report on the Franken fraud fared no better. It wasn't that long ago that voter "disenfranchisement" was THE STORY.   That was then.

Are You Ready to Chose Sides?

They say that the pendulum swings in both directions.  Once it swings so far it undergoes a natural correction and changes directions.  So it has always been in our political lives-wild swings met by swift corrections.  No more.  Our country has swung too far and rather than a natural correction, a return to equilibrium will only be achieved by a determined electorate.  Prof. Jacobson correctly states that this is A Time To Choose Sides:

Not to belabor the point made here hundreds of times, but over two thousand pages of Obamacare legislation will result in several thousand pages of regulations which will control the most intimate and important aspects of our lives; cap-and-trade legislation and regulations will control the means of production; financial regulation has devolved into social planning; and it goes on and on.

We did not need to reach this point.

What should have been a passing financial crisis has been used by the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress to achieve what -- in the famous words of Rahm Emanuel -- could not otherwise be achieved.

Democrats took advantage of a crisis, and then doubled-down by massively increasing our national debt to advantage preferred political constituencies.

The answer should have been to grow the pie, not to redistribute the slices, but that alternative is off the table with Democrats in control.

"Free the economy" should be the chant.

We are coming to the point at which Americans will have to choose sides. Will it be the bottom-up free enterprise model upon which this country was built, or the top-down command economy in which Washington, D.C. politicians and government employees centrally plan the economy and our lives?

 Prof. Jacobson goes on to say that we still have a choice.  This is true enough but that choice has an expiration date.  If we do not turn things around in November our way of life won't just be gone for a generation or a few generations, it will be gone.  That is the choice and responsibility that faces us all. 
 
Are you ready to chose?

Was Barack Obama "Selected" Rather Than Elected?

Fox & Friends had an explosive interview with Gigi Gaston, a writer/director who has made a documentary outlining the rampant voter fraud perpetrated by the Obama campaign during the 2008 primaries against Hillary Clinton.  Gaston is a lifelong Democrat whose grandfather was a Democratic governor of Massachusetts.  Gaston is not some partisan hack but someone who cares deeply about the election process and democracy.  Gaston presents compelling evidence in We Will Not Be Silenced that Barack Obama was selected by the DNC, not elected by the people (emphasis added):

As Americans, we expect certain liberties and rights that were granted us by our forefathers, who wrote documents like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. "We the people" expect that these fundamental rights will always be protected. However, in the current Democratic Presidential Primary, this has not been the case. We believe The Democratic National Committee (DNC) made a grave error by depriving American voters of their choice of Hillary Clinton as Democratic nominee. Senator Clinton, by all accounts, except caucuses, won the Primary Election and, therefore, should be the 2008 Democratic Nominee. That didn't happen, due largely to illegitimate and illegal acts. We have interviews of many accounts from caucus states recounting threats, intimidation, lies, stolen documents, falsified documents, busing in voters in exchange for paying for "dinners," etc. There are at least 2000 complaints, in Texas alone, of irregularities directed towards the Obama Campaign, that have lead to a very fractured and broken Democratic Party.

This documentary is about the disenfranchising of American citizens by the Democratic Party and the Obama Campaign. We the People have made this film. Democrats have sent in their stories from all parts of America. We want to be heard and let the country know how our party has sanctioned the actions of what we feel are Obama Campaign "Chicago Machine" dirty politics. We believe this infamous campaign of "change" from Chicago encouraged and created an army to steal caucus packets, falsify documents, change results, allow unregistered people to vote, scare and intimidate Hillary supporters, stalk them, threaten them, lock them out of their polling places, silence their voices and stop their right to vote, which is, of course, all documented in "We Will Not Be Silenced."

Based on Gaston's evidence, the intimidation at the Philadelphia polling place was only the tip of the iceberg.  Given the tactics outlined in this documentary, do you feel safe that your vote will count in 2010 or 2012?

Deathbed Converts

Ace and Bill Sher face off in The Hill's pundits blog to debate whether the Tea Party is a flash in the pan or a long term movement.  Sher's position boils down to SOS-the Tea Party consists of a bunch of racists fueled by hatred of black president.  The position is more wishful thinking (how sad is that?) than reality and not worth much consideration.  On the other hand, Ace spoke directly to why I became involved in the Tea Party movement.  Ace:

For the Tea Party, spending discipline is not merely an economic issue but a moral one, inasmuch as we leave our children a legacy not of hard-earned bounty but rather of irresponsible debt. And, too, it is a moral idea much similar to cleanliness is next to Godliness -- our inability to propose a plausible budget and live within our actual means is an indulgence demonstrating a fundamental unseriousness about our civic duties as Americans. Year after year our Congress leaves its budgetary business half-completed at best with a note to future generations: "You figure the rest of this out, and you pay the price of our inability to do our jobs.”

It’s that moral dimension that gives the Tea Party passion. This isn’t just numbers. It’s not about money. (Although, as is always the case, anytime something is said to be not about money, of course, it’s largely about money.) But it’s about our duty as Americans to do as each generation of Americans has done before us – to do our duty, well and without complaint, and leave the country more prosperous than we found it.

My own conversion from a "card carrying Republican" to a Conservative and Tea Party activist could be likened to a deathbed conversion.  I consistently voted for the Republican candidates because the Republican Party was the party of life and national defense.  I may have grumbled, privately, when my party backed policies that were fiscally irresponsible but I sucked up any misgivings because I believed that even the worst Republican was better than any Democrat.  Then, at lightning speed, while I meandered through my comfortable little life, my country plunged deep in to debt and as a matter of policy just kept spending.  Hallelujah, I saw the light!
 
This country can not continue on its current spending spree and I suddenly realized that if I continued to vote for every (R) on the ballot without holding them accountable for the decisions that they make on my behalf then the moral is failing is mine.  It is my grandchildren who will live in a diminished society if I am too lazy to stand up.  
 
I am now taking responsibility for my citizenship and the Tea Party is my mentor.  It is the Tea Party that I look to for support.  Because of the Tea Party I am not alone and I have a voice.  
 
Sen. Lindsey Graham believes that we will die out.  No, he hopes against hope that we will die out.  He is one of those (R)'s that took our vote for granted but he can't do that anymore and he is fighting back.  He is fighting for the status quo.  He can be dismissive all day long but would he have pulled out of Cap & Trade were it not for the Tea Party?  Graham has a long history of supporting amnesty, but he is pretty darn quiet about it now.  Sen. Graham wants the Tea Party to go away and let him get back to business as usual. 
 
We are not going anywhere.  We have seen what happens when the political class is allowed to function unchecked. 
 

A Little National Arab Suck-up Association Humor

First, from The Other McCain:

And from Don Surber:

When Last We Left the Incredibly Charming King Samir Shabazz

Nice Deb has some incredible posts on the New Black Panther Party including video of Megyn Kelly's interview with Malik Zulu Shabazz.  I swear that if you close your eyes while Shabazz is talking he sounds exactly like Bertha Lewis.  Watch Bill O'Reilly's interview of Berta Lewis and tell me I'm not right.  (Shabazz's and Lewis's voices remind me of the adults in the Charlie Brown cartoons-"Wah, wah, wah, waaaaaaaaaaaah, Cracker!)

But it was Nice Deb's post The New Black Panthers’ King of Comedy that caught my eye.  Did you know that King Samir Shabazz has a website and that it is every bit as charming as he is.  The King has some obvious problems with capitalization, basic grammar and punctuation but his "artwork" speaks a thousand words.  For example:

Looks like Shabazz is all about the children and teaching them to hate as young as possible.  Why encourage a child to grow up to become a lawyer or scientist or doctor when you can indoctrinate teach him to be a racist militant instead?

Ass Backwards

Ed Schultz took off on an illogical rant about our need as a country to take care of the poor.  His solution:  more.  And if we don't do more, we are at risk of becoming a third world country.  As usual, Ed has it ass backwards.  The way to conquer poverty is not by giving people a home, or food stamps, or any other form of subsistence.  The way to "cure" poverty is to give people an opportunity. 

Opportunity begins with education.  Whether it is college or a training program, graduation affords people the opportunity to become self-sufficient.  In order for the opportunity to become reality, there must be jobs.  Right now, employers are afraid to employ anyone due to uncertainty over taxes and the cost associated with ObamaCare. 

Schultz is correct that we are in danger of becoming a third world country but it is because we are spending, taxing and regulating our way in to poverty.  Schultz should be calling for government to get off business's back but he would rather throw money at the problem.  Preferably, yours and mine.



h/t Breitbart TV

For Your Summer Viewing Pleasure

Too hot to be outside and bored with reruns on TV?  No problem!  Pop so popcorn, crack open a cold one and kick back and watch ObamaTv:



Video courtesy of Don Surber.

Here Illegally? Get Out Jail Free!

Alternate title:  Law Abiding, Tax Paying Citizen?  Sucks for You!

Beyond belief:

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. - Admitted thieves are going free, while an elderly Wheat Ridge man is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars, all, he says, for trying to defend his property and his life.

82-year-old Robert Wallace said in February that he looked out his window and saw two men hooking his flatbed trailer up to their pickup. He yelled at them to stop, but they sped away, stealing his trailer. He told police he fired two shots at the pickup.

Minutes later, police say 32-year-old Damacio Torres dropped 28-year-old Alvaro Cardona off at a hospital emergency room with a gunshot wound to the face.

Torres did not stay to talk with police, but they caught up with him later. According to court documents, he admitted he and Cardona stole the trailer.

Wallace did not want to talk on camera, but when we asked him if the two men threatened him he said, "They almost ran me over."

The Jefferson County DA's office said that neither Torres nor Cardona have been charged with anything at this point, even though Torres confessed to the crime. However, the homeowner, Wallace is facing twelve felony counts, including four counts of attempted first degree murder. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Sources say Torres and Cardona are believed to be in the country illegally and both have an arrest record. Cardona's record includes public fighting and numerous traffic offenses like driving without a license or insurance. Torres's record includes agricultural trespassing as well as a 2005 arrest for aggravated motor vehicle theft for which he was given a plea bargain to a lesser crime. Sources say Torres is also under investigation for being part of a major auto theft ring.

So much for justice.  So much for self-reliance.  How can people be expected to respect the law when the end result of being a law abiding citizen is being spat upon by the legal system?  \

The Daley Gator has video.

Million$ of Reason$ Why $igning With Miami I$ $mart

I'm a huge basketball fan, in March, and only if my University of Kentucky Wildcats are Sweet Sixteen bound.  In other words, I have no skin in the whole LeBron James hoopla.  That said, James made one very smart move. 

James hasn't signed a contract yet but I've heard he is looking at one hundred million dollars boosted to upwards of one billion dollars when endorsements are factored in.  Based on the billion dollar figure, what would it cost James to play in the other cities that were wooing him?

Cleveland would cost him $62,400,000; Chicago, $30,000,000; New Jersy, $107,500,000; New York, $89,700,000.  That as they say, is a whole lot of scratch.  Unlike the other venues vying for James, Florida has no state income taxes.  Whatever James ultimately earns, he will keep more of the money he earns in his pocket to use however he sees fit. 

I have no idea what James will spend all that money on but if he chooses, he will have $62,400,000 more to give to the Boys and Girls Club that he supports by moving to Miami versus staying in Cleveland.  Instead of being mad at James for leaving, Cleveland fans should be mad at a state government that thinks the state should decide how the citizens of Ohio spend 6.24 percent of the income that the citizens earn. 

Left Coast Rebel has related thoughts as does Memeorandum.

The New McCarthyism

McCarthyism is the term used to describe demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.  During the McCarthy period "blacklists" ruled the day and careers were ruined.  It's back.  Frank J. Tipler:

The National Academy of Sciences, in its official journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has just published a list of scientists whom it claims should not be believed on the subject of global warming. I am number 38 on the list. The list of 496 is in descending order of scientific credentials.

Professor Freeman Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Royal Society, is number 3 on the list. Dyson is a friend of mine and is one of the creators of relativistic quantum field theory; most physicists think he should have shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman. MIT professor Richard Lindzen, a meteorologist who is also a member of the National Academy, is number 4. Princeton physics professor William Happer, once again a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is number 6.

I’m in good company.

The proponents of Global Warming are running scared.  Honest debate on the merits of global warming have failed so now they are shooting and smearing the messenger.  This list was not created for you or I.  The list is for scientists.  Now forgive my lack of knowledge of the scientific process but I've always assumed that science was based on data.  The more, the better.  I assumed that scientists looked at everything.  And then they draw conclusions based on information gleaned from all the evidence.  Naive, I'm sure.

Global warming proponents have turned the process on its head.  First they come to a conclusion and then they cherry pick and manipulate the data to suit their conclusion.  Finally, they blacklist any scientist who dares to question their methodology or results. 

Tipler:

Notice that I am not saying that there has been no warming, just that the available raw data that I’ve personally been able to check do not show it. Until all the raw temperature data are placed online, so the data can be checked by anybody, a rational person has to suspend belief in global warming, to say nothing of AGW.

The official government adjusted data for these sites do show a warming trend. All the warming is in the “corrections.” Sorry, I don’t buy it. Especially from “scientists” who are known to “correct’ their raw data to “hide the decline.”

There have been calls to silence the 496 scientists on the list. Besides “climate deniers,’ we have been called “traitors.” We all know the penalty for treason.

Silence scientists?  Sounds like an admission that their global warming theory won't stand up to a closer look.

The Incredibly Charming King Samir Shabazz

Via Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, a video of the incredibly charming King Samir Shabazz, a man with a strong aversion to "crackers":



Young Mr. Shabazz comes by his bile honestly:

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a NBPP critic, has pointed to NBPP members stating sympathy or understanding of Kamau Kambon's advocacy of the genocide of whites, and Khalid Abdul Muhammad in his statement that "there are no good crackers, and if you find one, kill him before he changes."

Khalid Abdul Muhammad served as the National Chairman of the New Black Panther Party from 1993 until his death in 2001, having cut his teeth as the National Assistant to Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam prior to becoming the "father" of the New Black Panther Party.

Kamau Kambon is quite clear on his solution to race problems:

A Raleigh activist and bookstore owner told a panel at Howard University Law School on Oct. 14 that the solution to many of the problems faced by black people is the extermination of “white people off the face of the planet.” Dr. Kamau Kambon, who taught Africana Studies 241 in the Spring 2005 semester at North Carolina State University, also said this needs to be done “because white people want to kill us.”

Addressing a panel on “Hurricane Katrina Media Coverage,” broadcast in its entirety on C-SPAN, Kambon told the audience that white people “have retina scans, they have what they call racial profiling, DNA banks, and they’re monitoring our people to try to prevent the one person from coming up with the one idea. And the one idea is, how we are going to exterminate white people because that in my estimation is the only conclusion I have come to. We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem.”

Attorney General Eric Holder famously said, "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,"  This from the man who dropped the voter intimidation case against King Samir Shabazz.  Mr. Holder apparently believes that racism is a one way street and that it is okay as long as it is aimed at white people.  If we are ever to become a "post racial" country the attitude needs to be top down and the Department of Justice needs to do their job and ensure that there is justice for all.

Deep Drawn Out Sigh

Why is it that every time the Obama administration announces another "feel good" program I get the cramps?   The latest lunacy from the mighty O?  NASA is now charged with improving Muslim self esteem.  Seriously.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden:

"When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things," NASA head Charles Bolden said in a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera. "One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

So is this what Skippy the Amazing Technicolor Teleprompter told Obama would fly as policy?  If so, O might want to have someone check and see if maybe Russian President Dmitry Medvedev fiddled with Skippy's motherboard while he was in town.  We all know what a wacky sense of humor those Russians have.

Now it is life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and high esteem?  Geez, could they put Muslim self esteem on the back burner until after, I don't know, say the Consumer Confidence Index rises a bit?  Maybe some people get back work?  I've heard that gainful employment does wonders for self esteem.  With all the problems we have right now why is the administration concerned with Muslim self esteem?

Jules Crittenden:

Some people might see it as a little patronizing, patting the Muslim world on the head and telling it what a good mathematician it used to be 800 years ago. But I dunno, I’m wondering how the Muslim world is going to feel about being treated like an alien planet that we need NASA to get in touch with. Seeing how the Islamic world glommed onto that Avatar thing, I’m not sure encouraging them to view the United States as a visiting space power is such a great idea.

It seems like there are no lengths that the Obama administration won't go to when it comes to sucking up to the Muslim world.  Any day now I expect to see First Lady Wookie Obama dressed in a burka.  On the other hand...

Cross posted at Potluck

Quote of the Day

Don Surber on the percentage of people who want to see ObamaCare overturned:

That’s up 5 points since the legislation passed. New Coke’s launch was more successful.

As the Great Blog Father would say, "Heh."

Um, Isn't That Illegal?

Why, yes it is:

...phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

So why is Harry Reid involved in illegal activity?  Prof. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection:

A few days ago, Sharron Angle launched a new format to her website, giving the campaign a more professional looking web portal.

Harry Reid's campaign, however, took the code from the prior Angle website and launched a website called "TheRealSharronAngle.com." The fake website was what, in internet terminology, is called spoofing, where a seemingly real website is created, usually to obtain information under false pretenses (frequently referred to as "phishing").

The purported purpose of the spoofed website -- according to a press release by the Reid campaign -- was to preserve Angle's position statements on various issues -- but that purpose surely was contrived, since Angle's prior website was cited and quoted extensively. All of Angle's positions, as reflected on the original website, were fully preserved.

There even was a controversy back in June when the "issues" section of Angle's original website momentarily disappeared as the website was being revamped, and there were plenty of screen shots and other information preserved from the original website. For example, in early June a reporter easily recovered old Angle web pages from Google Cache.

There simply would be no legitimate reason for the Reid campaign to create a spoofed Angle website if what it merely wanted to do was preserve Angle's policy positions.

While creating a spoofed website may have reflected the childish ways of the Reid campaign, the way the Reid campaign set up the spoofed website was more nefarious.

While the Reid campaign did not go so far as to illegally solicit contributions or gather financial information from Angle supporters, they did gather contact information.  Jacobson says, "Regardless of whether the Reid campaign's spoofing and phishing attempt was criminal, it was sleazy."  To say the least.
 
Seems that Reid is taking a page from the Alan Grayson campaign.  Smells like desperation.  Come on, November!

Save the Planet, Move into a Cave

The invention of air conditioning was all part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.  No, really:

. . .as science writer Stan Cox argues in his new book, “Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer),” the dizzying rise of air conditioning comes at a steep personal and societal price.

We stay inside longer,
exercise less, and
get sick more often — and
the electricity used to power all that A.C. is helping push the fast-forward button on global warming.

The invention has also changed American politics: Love it or hate it, refrigerated cooling has been a major boon to the Republican Party. The advent of A.C. helped launch the massive Southern and Western population growth that’s transformed our electoral map in the last half century. Cox navigates all of these scientific and social angles with relative ease, providing a clear explanation of how A.C. made the leap from luxury to necessity in the United States and examining how we can learn to manage the addiction before we refrigerate ourselves into the apocalypse.

Thankfully Smitty at The Other McCain tackled this idiocy so I don't have to but I do have some thoughts.

As I have mentioned before, my house was built in 1923 and has neither heat nor air conditioning.  In the winter I sleep under an electric blanket and in the summer I sleep with a floor fan blowing on me.  I hate air conditioning and am absolutely miserable at work or any place else that is air conditioned.  Believe it or not, air conditioning is not a necessity.  Neither are cell phones, microwave ovens, television, WiFi, XBox, or indoor plumbing.  We could do without.  But why should we?  Innovation has improved all of our lives.  Good old American ingenuity and exceptionalism should be a source of pride for all of us.

I am always amused at how progressives pick and chose which aspect of modern life to disparage.  Bottom line-progressives are busybodies.  They always want to tell the other guy how to live.  So Stan Cox writes a book, and in doing so kills a bunch of trees, to tell the rest of us that we are killing the planet.  No doubt he will further increase his "carbon footprint" during his book tour, while telling us to turn off our air, bicycle to work and use recycled hemp bags to tote our organically grown groceries. 

Unfortunately there is no end to the silliness that progressives are willing to engage in ostensibly to "save the planet".  Newsflash:  the planet is just fine, butt out.

Read Smitty's take.

Freedom Ain't Free

We have become so damned politically correct in this country that we sit on our thumbs until something horrific happens.  On Tuesday two Tampa police officers were killed by a twenty-four year old who had been arrested 18 times.  Once for attempted murder.  At the age of twenty-four he had been in prison-twice.  He was released in April and when arrested late Thursday evening he was charged with THREE deaths.  In addition to the deaths of the two police officers he was charged with shooting another man in the back as the victim walked back to his apartment with his laundry.  The killer is also suspected in two other murders-that is five murders since his release in April. 

The following video, via Don Surber, has nothing to do with the murder of the two officers in Tampa.  I simply ask you,  don't we owe our officers more?  Don't we owe the men and women who put their lives on the line for us something besides lip service?  If you don't like the laws then change them.  But in the mean time, support the law as written and those charged with enforcing them.  Do not disparage the men and women who face death to keep us safe.

What Schools Should Teach Our Children About Sex

On several fronts schools seem to be more about indoctrination than teaching these days.  No where is this more true than in "sex education" classes.  For some reason that I am unable to fathom, schools feel the need to teach middle school students sexual positions and techniques, when in reality what our children need to know are facts.  Here's a good place to start:

Children from single parent families are less likely to graduate from high school.

Children from single parent families are more likely to become pregnant during their teen years.

Children from a single-parent household account for 72% of teenage murderers, 60% percent of people who commit rape crimes and are eleven times more likely to exhibit violent behavior.

Approximately seventy percent of single-parent mothers live in poverty, earning less than $13,000 annually.

I'm fifty-two years old.  Back in my day we didn't talk alot about sex, at least not with adults.  But my Mom told me the most important things I needed to know.  Mom told me that there was a direct correlation between having sex and having babies.  That particular lesson was reinforced when three girls in my class indeed had babies and another had an abortion.  My Mom told me that she and my father worked hard to ensure that I would have a good life and that I owed it to my future children to be prepared before I became pregnant to be able to give them a good life.  My Mom didn't discuss technique, she talked consequences.
 
These days sexual activity between teens is simultaneously glamorized and trivialized.  Our children need to know the facts about teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and the negative consequences of engaging in sex prior to emotional maturity.

Broke and Broken

Yet another blue state is broke.  Seems that the state of Illinois can't pay its bills.  Its pension fund is the most underfunded in the country and the state is bleeding red ink while its public employee unions are channeling Billy Idol-they want "more, more, more".  How bad is it?  Illinois is being compared negatively to California:
...“We are a fiscal poster child for what not to do,” said Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a liberal-leaning policy group in Illinois. “We make California look as if it’s run by penurious accountants who sit in rooms trying to put together an honest budget all day.”

Part of the problem is the state's long standing culture of corruption.  As we are learning from the Blago case, government in Illinois isn't about the will of the people-it is a system of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" and the more scratch the better. 

I doubt there is anyone with the political will to fix Illinois problems but if there is they would do well to listen to Gov. Chris Christie.  New Jersey was a tax and spend state prior to Christie.  Christie has come in to office and union push back be damned, he is turning things around.  Here is with Hannity:



If Christie succeeds, businesses will return to New Jersey and the state's employment will go down.  New Jersey's revenues will increase while taxes go down.  Just as a state can spiral out of control, with strong leadership and the right plan a state can recover and prosper.  Unfortunately, Illinois has neither.