Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Michelle Obama: It's a 'Sacrifice' to Travel to Europe to Pitch Chicago for the Olympics

And the award for Chutzpah of the Year goes to...Michelle Obama!


In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the president to come for these few days," the first lady told a crowd of people involved in the Chicago project, "so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home."
-Bryon York

Is there anyone left, left of center, who knows what words mean any more? A "sacrifice" to travel to Copenhagen, flying first class, staying in a five star hotel...
...yeah, that's sacrifice! Probably left her personal chef, trainer and masseur at home and had to rough it with hired talent!

I looked up "sacrifice" (Michelle might want to when she gets a chance)
the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.


Hmm. Wonder exactly what Michelle gave up for this trip? Poor baby!



Hat tip Hot Air
Cross posted at Say Anything

The Medal of Honor




Captain James P. Fleming


Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Fleming (then 1st Lt.) distinguished himself as the Aircraft Commander of a UH-1F transport Helicopter. Capt. Fleming went to the aid of a 6-man special forces long range reconnaissance patrol that was in danger of being overrun by a large, heavily armed hostile force. Despite the knowledge that 1 helicopter had been downed by intense hostile fire, Capt. Fleming descended, and balanced his helicopter on a river bank with the tail boom hanging over open water. The patrol could not penetrate to the landing site and he was forced to withdraw. Dangerously low on fuel, Capt. Fleming repeated his original landing maneuver. Disregarding his own safety, he remained in this exposed position. Hostile fire crashed through his windscreen as the patrol boarded his helicopter. Capt. Fleming made a successful takeoff through a barrage of hostile fire and recovered safely at a forward base. Capt. Fleming's profound concern for his fellowmen, and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.


Captain Fleming: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.




Hat tip Home of Heroes





There are over a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice.

"Incredibly Naive, Grossly Egotistical"- Sarkozy on Obama



Gateway Pundit says "There's a bit of Sarkozy in all of us."

He just might be right!

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

Obama will buck public opinion if it is for a liberal-base issue, such as health care and cap-and-trade. But his problem on Afghanistan is that it is both unpopular with the public and an anathema to his base. Moderates and conservatives will support him on Afghanistan, since they think stabilizing the country is necessary, humane, and doable, but they are those whom he has so far ostracized and caricatured on other issues, and may not wish to reach out to. So his options and time are limited. For all the acrimony and hysteria, the truth is that Afghanistan has endured for eight years, American casualties have been by historical standards kept to a minimum, and we have attrited al-Qaeda to a great degree. We are in a lot better shape than we were during December 1950 or right before the surge in Iraq, crises when most wanted out, but persistence saved the theater.
-Victor Davis Hanson

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Stand Proud For your Race on the Census!


Inspired by the best readers on the planet, when your census form asks you for your "race", write in:
NASCAR


Heh.

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

"For those who question the character and cause of my nation," the president pronounced Wednesday, "I ask you to look at the concrete actions we have taken in just nine months." (-B. Obama)

America is 233 years old. Some think that there are ample accomplishments speaking to our character and cause that predate Obama's ascension to the presidency.

-Jonah Goldberg

Monday, September 28, 2009

Quote du jour

Brainwashing - Like waterboarding without the mess!

-Proof, on the "School children praise Obama video"

Sunday, September 27, 2009

A New Reason to Vote "Present" on the Census


A few months back, I suggested that we all should follow Barack Obama's lead:

We should all emulate the great Senator from Illinois, Barack H. Obama, who bravely and repeatedly voted "Present" on legislation he did not want to be held accountable for his vote, or was too busy running for office to read, or didn't have the cojones to take a stand on!

We, however, should do so on principle and boldly write "Present" on any question the Census Bureau asks, that we believe to be too intrusive into our personal lives, or unnecessary on the part of the government. (Besides, it's shorter than "None of your business"!)


Now, Legal Insurrection has this on one of the questions to be asked on the census:

The Census document listing the questions which will be asked reflects a new multi-part question (beginning at page 68), which collects information regarding health care insurance coverage. Question 15 on the new Census asks whether each of the following forms of insurance apply to each person in the household:

a. Insurance through a current or former employer or union (of this person or another family member)
b. Insurance purchased directly from an insurance company (by this person or another family member)
c. Medicare, for people 65 and older, or people with certain disabilities
d. Medicaid, Medical Assistance, or any kind of government-assistance
plan for those with low incomes or a disability
f. VA (including those who have ever used or enrolled for VA health care)
e. TRICARE or other military health care
g. Indian Health Service
h. Any other type of health insurance or health coverage plan – Specify


Why is the question asked?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as other federal agencies, use the data from this question to more accurately distribute resources and better understand state and local health insurance needs.


Or gather ammunition to ram through a government controlled health plan? My plan to vote "Present" on all the questions (other than how many live here) still stands.

Cross posted at Say Anything

Update: Here’s what the Constitution says about the census:

”[An] Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.


Definition of enumeration:
1577, from L. enumeratus, pp. of enumerare “to reckon up, count over, enumerate,” from ex- “from” + numerare “to count, number,” from numerus “number.”
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper


The Constitution says count you, not quiz you.

Will Obama Cut and Run in Afghanistan? Candidate Obama Didn't Think So!



Sounds like Obama wants to "turn the page" on Afghanistan, before he finishes the fight, like he promised.

Hat tip Weasel Zippers

ACORN Menace in New England

Hard shelled and unyielding...No, not them! The other acorns!
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From the Boston Globe:

Given this year’s bountiful rains and the mysterious cycles of nature, oak trees are producing one of the region’s largest crops of acorns in memory, forcing people to run for cover or gingerly avoid what can feel like a carpet of marbles on sidewalks and backyards.

On a recent afternoon along the Muddy River, the spike-tipped, leathery shells plunged like cluster bombs with every gust of wind from the surrounding oaks, leaving thousands of them littering the paved paths that connect Boston and Brookline.

“I’ve nearly broken my neck several times,’’ said Neil McIsaac, a Brookline contractor who was installing a fence along the river. “There are tons of them.’’


Broken necks, eh? Reminds me of the fellow out at the dude ranch who fell off a cliff when he saw a snake. When told the snake wasn't dangerous, the guy said, If he can make you jump off a cliff, he's dangerous!

When acorns are outlawed, only outlaws will have acorns!

USA Today Poll: "Does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?"

Vote here.

Quote du jour

Mr. Obama used his global forum this week not to rally the world to stop today's nuclear rogues but to offer lovely visions of disarmament in some distant future. In the bitter decades of the Cold War, we learned the hard way that the only countries that abide by disarmament treaties are those that want to be disarmed. It's becoming increasingly, and dangerously, obvious that Mr. Obama wasn't paying attention.

-WSJ, Review and Outlook

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Obama Fiddles While the West Burns


Not like he's playing politics or anything, but almost $3 million in "stimulus" money that was supposed to be for fighting wildfires is being spent restoring public parks and watersheds in Washington D.C., which, last time we looked, had no national forests.

Our U.S. Forest Service has directed that $2.8 million in "Wildland Fire Management" monies, approved under the Porkulus law, go to folks that will create "green jobs" in the nation's capitol.

The spending caught the attention of a group of Western legislators, who noted that D.C. had no national forests, while forests throughout the West continue to burn. A wildfire in California destroyed some 250 square miles of the Angeles National Forest, resulting in the deaths of two firefighters.

Hat tip The PiratesCove
Cross posted at Say Anything

VFW Duct Tapes Flag Burner to Flag Pole



Not sure if this was just desserts, but let us just say that some alcohol was involved!

Hat tip The Blog Prof

Obama's Arse Print For Sale


Obama's Broadway seats to be auctioned

The seats Barack and Michelle Obama sat in while watching a Broadway play during a "date" in New York City are now on the auction block for charity.

The money will go to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. According to their Web site, Broadway Cares is "the nation's leading industry-based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization."

The seats – K101 and K102 – belonged to the Belasco Theater, the second oldest house on Broadway that is currently being renovated. The Obamas saw the show "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" in late May as part of a "date" the president took the first lady to in New York City.

The opening bid is $500.


A real steal at $125/cheek! Heh.

Update: Take two ass prints and call me in the morning!
(Heh.)

Hat tip Randy-G

A Little Saturday Night Music

Dave Loggins- Please Come to Boston

Obama's Creepy Consistant Smile

From Flopping Aces:

Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

A Little Saturday Culture

The musical genre of the "novelty" recording has been overtaken by You Tube and radio talk show host's satires. Once, it was a stand alone industry. For your amusement and enlightenment:
Spike Jones and his City Slickers



Note: Celebrity voice impersonated was that of Peter Lorre

Cross Posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

According to a (NYT) news story by Jackie Calmes: "In 1994, Democrats' dysfunction over fulfilling a new president's campaign promise contributed to the party's loss of its 40-year dominance of Congress."
That's not the way I remember it. The way I remember it, Republicans swept Congress in 1994 not because Clinton failed to nationalize health care, but because he tried to nationalize health care. HillaryCare failed because most Americans didn't want it.

-Ann Coulter

Friday, September 25, 2009

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB is Christina Hendricks

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Quote du jour

What actually seems to happen in these "affordable housing" scams is that some nuisance group like ACORN joins forces with some scheming developer to shake down banks and local pols. ACORN gets its grant, the developer gets his profit, the pols get their votes, and the ACORN people move their brothers, cousins, and friends into the "affordable housing." The unconnected poor — people who didn't join the all-day sit-in at the bank lobby because they were too busy working for a living, or just because they thought it was rude — are left where they were before. A little worse off, perhaps, as that much less housing is on the actual housing market.

-John Derbyshire

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Quote du jour

"This is Incompetent Boobism on Parade."

-Rush Limbaugh, on Obama's Afghanistan policy (or lack thereof)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Troop Support, Obama Style

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Lisa Benson

Behold the Egotist-in-Chief!

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Fifty times during his UN speech, Obama used the pronouns "I", "me" and "my". What's worse, is he thinks he not only represents America, but is synonymous with it! He tells the gathered world community:

So for those who question the character and cause of my nation, I ask you to look at the concrete actions that we have taken in just nine months.

On my first day in office, I prohibited - without exception or equivocation - the use of torture by the United States of America. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law.


Get that? You want to see the character of my nation? Just look at what I did!

It's bad enough that you have to shoehorn his swollen head into small places (like the Grand Canyon), but did he have to slander his country at the same time?

This nation did not stop torture nine months ago when the southbound end of a northbound horse rode into Washington D.C., because it was not torturing before.
Why must "The One™" reinforce the mistaken notions of America as torturer, just to receive the adulation of a room full of crackpot, tinhorn dictators?

It's one thing to exaggerate the faults of your opponents in a domestic, political race, but Barack Obama's "Mea Culpa" tour has gone too far. I fear that we will hear the words of "The One™" used against us, from the lips of despots and dictators who oppose the cause of freedom and democracy in the world.

Nice going, Barack!

Cross posted at Say Anything

Update: And here I thought it was only me!

Obama's Speeches-- Obama Mentions Self Nearly 1,200 Times!

Obama loves to hear himself talk – about himself. In just 41 speeches so this year, not including this week's big speech at the United Nations, Obama has talked about himself nearly 1,200 times – 1,198 to be exact. (That breaks down to 1,121 “I”s and just 77 "me"s.)
Nar-cis-sism – noun
1. inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity
--Dictionary.com


In mythology, Narcissus was the guy who fell in love with his own reflection.

In 2009, he’s the president of the United States.

Instead of adoring his own image, Obama loves to hear himself talk – about himself. In just 41 speeches so far this year, not including this week's big speech at the United Nations, Obama has talked about himself nearly 1,200 times – 1,198 to be exact.

Queen Gimme Allyadollahs

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Now that there's funny, I don't care who you are!

Hat tip Doug Ross

Memo to the RNC: Here's a Quote for 2012

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Whoever runs against Obama in 2012 should have at least one commercial with this quote:

"We would be happy if Obama would stay forever as president."

-Moammar Khadafy at the U.N.

Cross posted at Say Anything

The Medal of Honor

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Specialist Fourth Class Michael John Fitzmaurice


Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice, 3d Platoon, Troop D, distinguished himself at Khesanh. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice and 3 fellow soldiers were occupying a bunker when a company of North Vietnamese sappers infiltrated the area. At the onset of the attack Sp4c. Fitzmaurice observed 3 explosive charges which had been thrown into the bunker by the enemy. Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades, and with complete disregard for his personal safety, he hurled 2 of the charges out of the bunker. He then threw his flak vest and himself over the remaining charge. By this courageous act he absorbed the blast and shielded his fellow-soldiers. Although suffering from serious multiple wounds and partial loss of sight, he charged out of the bunker, and engaged the enemy until his rifle was damaged by the blast of an enemy hand grenade. While in search of another weapon, Sp4c. Fitzmaurice encountered and overcame an enemy sapper in hand-to-hand combat. Having obtained another weapon, he returned to his original fighting position and inflicted additional casualties on the attacking enemy. Although seriously wounded, Sp4c. Fitzmaurice refused to be medically evacuated, preferring to remain at his post. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice's extraordinary heroism in action at the risk of his life contributed significantly to the successful defense of the position and resulted in saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers. These acts of heroism go above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect great credit on Sp4c. Fitzmaurice and the U.S. Army.


Sp4c. Fitzmaurice: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.

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Hat tip Home of Heroes





There are over a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice.

Quote du jour

"You cannot be objective about an aerial torpedo. And the horror we feel of these things has led to this conclusion: if someone drops a bomb on your mother, go and drop two bombs on his mother. The only apparent alternatives are to smash dwelling houses to powder, blow out human entrails and burn holes in children with thermite, or to be enslaved by people who are more ready to do these things than you are yourself; as yet no one has suggested a practicable way out."


—George Orwell, reviewing Arthur Koestler's Spanish Testament for Time and Tide, Feb. 5, 1938.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

C-in-C AWOL on Aghanistan?

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I picked out today's "quote du jour" by Obama a day or so before I heard about the situation with General McChrystal. Quite frankly, it just didn't sound believable coming from the lips of our current Commander-in-Chief. Tales of US combat troops being killed because of changed Rules of Engagement or lack of support (or both) seemed to belie the forceful rhetoric of our President. It seemed to be simply more empty rhetoric.
When Obama was running for President, one of his talking points was that the real war on terror was in Afghanistan, and Bush was misguided with his focus on Iraq, and that once he was President, Barack would see that the war against terror in Afghanistan would be conducted successfully.
As late as last month, in his address to Veterans, Obama said Afghanistan was “a war of necessity” and “fundamental to the defense of our people”.

Krauthammer on Obama and Afghanistan:
Well, I think what's really important here are two dates. The first is August 30. That's when the McChrystal report was sent to Washington. That is three weeks ago. Obama has had a single meeting [on that report] since then.

He says he hasn't reached a conclusion — I suppose because he is spending all his time preparing for Letterman and speeches to schoolchildren — to focus on a war in which our soldiers are in the field getting shot at and, as the president himself is saying, without a strategy.

Now, the other date is the 27th of March, when Obama gave a speech in the White House flanked by his Secretaries of Defense and State, in which he said, and I will read you this, because it is as if it never happened, "Today I'm announcing a comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan."

So we for six months have been living under the new Obama strategy, of which he says today we have none. And his next sentence is, again in March, "This marks the conclusion of a careful policy review" — not the beginning, the end of the policy review.

So it has been his policy, and now he tells us we don't have a cart and we don't have a horse.

What's happening here is he announced the strategy of counterinsurgency in March. He said at the time that we “cannot afford” an “Afghanistan that slides [back] into chaos.”

He said "My message to the terrorists who oppose us — We will defeat you," And now he's not sure he wants to defeat them.


Five appearances on five Sunday shows plus trading lame jokes with Letterman seem to be higher up the priority ladder with Obama than conducting the "real" war on terror, the "war of necessity fundamental to the defense of our people". In the meantime, Americans are dying on foreign soil, and America's enemies are looking to see if the President of the United States is going to do anything about it.

Obama keeps making speeches as if he were still campaigning for the job. Is it really too much to ask if now that he has the job, he would actually take responsibility for doing it? He's been AWOL on his Afghan policy for way too long!

McChrystal to Resign In Afghanistan Over Lack of Troops?

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WASHINGTON — Six months after it announced its strategy for Afghanistan, the Obama administration is sending mixed signals about its objectives there and how many troops are needed to achieve them.

The conflicting messages are drawing increasing ire from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan and frustrating military leaders, who're trying to figure out how to demonstrate that they're making progress in the 12-18 months that the administration has given them.

Adding to the frustration, according to officials in Kabul and Washington, are White House and Pentagon directives made over the last six weeks that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, not submit his request for as many as 45,000 additional troops because the administration isn't ready for it.

In the last two weeks, top administration leaders have suggested that more American troops will be sent to Afghanistan, and then called that suggestion "premature." Earlier this month, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that "time is not on our side"; on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urged the public "to take a deep breath."

The White House didn't respond to requests for comment. Officials willing to speak did so only on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

In Kabul, some members of McChrystal's staff said they don't understand why Obama called Afghanistan a "war of necessity" but still hasn't given them the resources they need to turn things around quickly.


Some are reading this as an indication that General McChrystal is set to resign if not given the level of support needed to get the job done. Certainly in light of the Commander-in-Chief's glowing rhetoric, you'd think that wouldn't be a problem:

This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is a — this is fundamental to the defense of our people.


Fundamental to the defense of our people? But maybe not as important as the government take over of health care?


The White House still hasn't decided how much political capital it wants to invest in Afghanistan, and it considers a health care overhaul, financial regulatory revisions and energy policy its priorities, the senior defense official said.

In Kabul, however, U.S. commanders said they thought that Obama's strategy was based on McChrystal's assessment of what he needs. "We thought that bringing McChrystal here was their strategy," one said.

Those officials said that taking time could be costly because the U.S. risked losing the Afghans' support. "Dithering is just as destructive as 10 car bombs," the senior official in Kabul said. "They have seen us leave before. They are really good at picking the right side to ally with."


Maybe they should ask the Ditherer-in-Chief?

Hat tip Wizbang
Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is a — this is fundamental to the defense of our people.

-Barack Hussein Obama, August 17, 2009

Monday, September 21, 2009

Quote du jour

"...dialogue so wooden it was an insult to furniture."

-Alexander Rose

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Quote du jour

In a sense, the health-care debate and the foreign-policy debacle are two sides of the same coin: For Britain and other great powers, the decision to build a hugely expensive welfare state at home entailed inevitably a long retreat from responsibilities abroad, with a thousand small betrayals of peripheral allies along the way. A few years ago, the great scholar Bernard Lewis warned, during the debate on withdrawal from Iraq, that America risked being seen as “harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend.” In Moscow and Tehran, on one hand, and Warsaw and Prague, on the other, they’re drawing their own conclusions.

-Mark Steyn

Saturday, September 19, 2009

A Little Saturday Night Music

Kenny Chesney, Mac McAnally - Down the Road

Quote du jour

So why can’t the silver-tongued post-partisan healer seal the deal on this health-care business? Surely it should be the work of moments for the greatest orator in American history to whip up a little medicinal Gettysburg, a touch of Henry V-in-the-Agincourt-casualty-tent, and put this thing away. Yet there he was the other night with the usual leaden medley of tinny grandiosity (all the this-is-the-moment, now-is-the-hour stuff), slippery reassurances (don’t worry, you won’t be “required” to change your present health arrangements), imputations of bad faith to anyone who takes a different view (they’re playing “games”), and the copper-bottomed guarantee that you can have it all for no money down, no interest, no monthly payments, no nuthin’ (“I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit”).

-Mark Steyn

Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB is Kristin Cavallari!


Obama Celebrates 70th Anniversary of Soviet Invasion of Poland...


...by announcing the decision not to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Poland. This, of course, coincides with news that Iran now has what it takes to make The Bomb.

Obama: Clueless? or calculated?

"Dos vedanya Tovarisch!"



Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du Jour

Americans were assured that with the ascendance of Barack Obama we would evolve beyond race. Yet in the last ninth months it is almost as if precisely the opposite has occurred — but with a strange twist. The country has been serially lectured about race from some of the most privileged Americans in the country. Columbia law grad elite Eric Holder accused the country of cowardice for its reluctance to speak about race. Harvard-law alum Barack Obama accused the Cambridge police of profiling and acting stupidly in taking elite Harvard professor Skip Gates down to the station after his screaming invective episode. Harvard-law educated Michelle Obama explained Justice Sotomayor’s unease at Princeton by comparing her own ordeal there. Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Charles Rangel who had serially dodged his tax obligations claims that white angst explains his IRS problems. New York governor David Paterson blames his sinking polls on white racism, more prominent than ever in the age of Obama. Now Yale law graduate Van Jones claims smears did him in. The list could be easily expanded.

-Victor Davis Hanson

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Quote du jour

Liberal columnists have been attacking Republicans because some of their voters are "birthers," believers in the absurd charge that President Obama was not born in Hawaii and thus is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. But they have failed to identify any "birther" who occupied a position in the Republican firmament comparable to that of "truther" Van Jones in the Obama administration.

-Michael Barone

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Medal of Honor




Major Bernard Francis Fisher


Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On that date, the special forces camp at A Shau was under attack by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army regulars. Hostile troops had positioned themselves between the airstrip and the camp. Other hostile troops had surrounded the camp and were continuously raking it with automatic weapons fire from the surrounding hills. The tops of the 1,500-foot hills were obscured by an 800 foot ceiling, limiting aircraft maneuverability and forcing pilots to operate within range of hostile gun positions, which often were able to fire down on the attacking aircraft. During the battle, Maj. Fisher observed a fellow airman crash land on the battle-torn airstrip. In the belief that the downed pilot was seriously injured and in imminent danger of capture, Maj. Fisher announced his intention to land on the airstrip to effect a rescue. Although aware of the extreme danger and likely failure of such an attempt, he elected to continue. Directing his own air cover, he landed his aircraft and taxied almost the full length of the runway, which was littered with battle debris and parts of an exploded aircraft. While effecting a successful rescue of the downed pilot, heavy ground fire was observed, with 19 bullets striking his aircraft. In the face of the withering ground fire, he applied power and gained enough speed to lift-off at the overrun of the airstrip. Maj. Fisher's profound concern for his fellow airman, and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.


Major Fisher: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.




Hat tip Home of Heroes





There are over a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice.

Quote du Jour

Van Jones’ issues would probably have been flagged if he had simply been looking for a date on E-Harmony or Match.Com. Here, there was most likely a major gap in the vetting operation, a deliberate deception by Jones, or a conscious decision by someone senior to short circuit the more rigorous vetting process. The smart money would be on the latter two possibilities.

-Bush Administration White House lawyer

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

ACORN and the Democrats: Friends of the "Working Girl"



Unbelievable!

Hat tip Jammie Wearing Fool

No Flyover For You, God and Country Rally!


Like the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld, the Obama administration is denying a flyover to a patriotic rally. For the first time in the 42 year history of the event there won't be a military flyover at the God & Country rally. Funny! It didn't bother Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton or LBJ!
And the liberals wonder sometimes why anyone would question their patriotism?

Hat tip John Lott
Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

To tell us, with a straight face, that he (Obama) can insure millions more people without adding to the already skyrocketing deficit is world-class chutzpah and an insult to anyone’s intelligence. To do so after an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office has already showed this to be impossible reveals the depths of moral bankruptcy behind the glittering words.

-Thomas Sowell

Monday, September 14, 2009

Quote du Jour

The Kennedy fortune, aided by the top-shelf medical plan that members of Congress bestow upon themselves, ensured that Kennedy received the best treatment possible for his brain cancer. As even he wrote in a Newsweek essay, "I have enjoyed the best medical care money (and a good insurance policy) can buy."

It is worth noting that Senator Kennedy remained in the country for that treatment, despite the invective that supporters of health care reform like to hurl at the U.S. medical system. Instead of some foreign land with supposedly superior health care, Kennedy traveled for his treatment all the way to ... North Carolina.

-William Tate

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Will the Real "Green" Party Please Stand Up?

Rob Port over at Say Anything posted these (shamelessly stolen) pictures of the National Mall after the Obama Inauguration and the same area after a Conservative crowd of similar size held their 9/12 rally.

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Which group do you think looks like they are "Friends of the Earth"?
Yeah. Me, too!

Jay Nordlinger Predicts:


They say that “hate” is rearing its head, and that President Obama and the Democrats are the victims of it. Let me make a couple of predictions: I predict that the chairman of the Republican National Committee will never say, “I hate the Democrats and everything they stand for. This [politics, basically] is a struggle of good and evil. And we’re the good.”

Howard Dean said that about the GOP: “I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for. . . .”

I predict that an editor of a conservative magazine will never write a piece called “The Case for Obama Hatred,” beginning, “I hate President Barack Obama.”

A New Republic editor did this, about Bush.

And there is increasing worry about assassination: that someone will take a shot, not just at the president, but at the first black president, which would be extra-catastrophic for the country. A few protesters have carried signs urging violence against Obama, or smacking of violence. Let me make some more predictions:

I predict that a network talk-show host will not show a video of President Obama giving a speech and put the following words on the screen: “SNIPERS WANTED.”

Craig Kilborn of CBS did that to George W. Bush.

I predict that U.S. senators will not joke about killing Obama.

In 2006, Bill Maher had a conversation with John Kerry. He asked Kerry what he’d gotten his wife for her birthday. Kerry said he had treated her to a vacation in Vermont. Maher said, “You could have went to New Hampshire and killed two birds with one stone.” Kerry replied, “Or I could have gone to 1600 Pennsylvania and killed the real bird with one stone.”

This is the same Kerry who, in 1988, said, “Somebody told me the other day that the Secret Service has orders that if George Bush is shot, they’re to shoot Quayle.” Then he said, “There isn’t any press here, is there?”

I predict that a New York official will not tell a graduating class about assassinating President Obama.

Also in 2006, comptroller Alan Hevesi said to students at Queens College that Sen. Charles Schumer, his fellow Democrat, would “put a bullet between the president’s eyes if he could get away with it.”

I predict that no columnist for a leading European newspaper, and leading world newspaper, will write, “John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr. — where are you now that we need you?”

Charlie Brooker of the Guardian did that to George W. Bush.

I predict that no major writer will write a novel debating the morality of killing President Obama.

Nicholson Baker did that to Bush, with Checkpoint.

I predict that no filmmaker will make a “fictional documentary” that fantasizes — and I’m afraid that is the word — about murdering President Obama.

Some Brits did that to President Bush with Death of a President.

-Impromptus

Jay Nordlinger is a Senior Editor of National Review. He is also a reporter, essayist, and critic. He is music critic for The New Criterion and the New York Sun, as well as for National Review. Before joining NR, he was an editor and writer at The Weekly Standard. In the last month and a half of the 2000 election, Nordlinger took a leave of absence from NR to work as a speechwriter for Candidate George W. Bush.

Gulag Archipelago Now Required Reading in Russia


Things that make you go...hmmm! Who would have thought or even imagined in one's wildest dreams, that a book banned by the Soviets in the '70s would become required reading for that nation's high school kids?

If I may channel Yakov Smirnoff for a moment:
What a country!


Hat tip Jay Nordlinger

Mo Dowd: Race Baiter on Parade


Maureen Dowd (some of you can stop reading now) is in full race bait mode today.

The normally nonchalant Barack Obama looked nonplussed, as Nancy Pelosi glowered behind.

Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t.

But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!

Here Mo Dowd puts on her Carnac turban ( a little too tightly if you ask me) and attempts to read Joe Wilson's mind, without the benefit of having one of her own!

Now he’s at the center of a period of racial turbulence sparked by his ascension. Even if he and the coterie of white male advisers around him don’t choose to openly acknowledge it, this president is the ultimate civil rights figure — a black man whose legitimacy is constantly challenged by a loco fringe.

Sez you, Mo! Obama, who is as much white as he is black, is 100% far left wing. The "turbulence" stirred up around this president is caused by his attempt to steer the country hard left and leave us with a crippling debt. Race has nothing to do with it!

Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.

Again, Mo Nonsense has no actual evidence of any racial animus here, merely the projection of the darkness of her own soul.

And let's examine the word "rebuke" she uses. Obama had been in full, figurative finger wagging: "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinski" mode, when he accused his opponents of lying about his health "reform" measures, when it has been proven, apart from a few "meaning of the word 'is' is" moments, that Obama was lying, or at least misrepresenting his position and his opponents were telling the truth.

The remarks directly preceding the outburst:
Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but by prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Now, such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple.

There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms -- the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.


He accused others, even "prominent politicians" of "bogus claims" and lying. Then, he told one himself. Perhaps Joe Wilson thought that Obama may have been talking about him personally with the "prominent politicians" crack. I don't know. Unlike Mo Dowd, I do not let my speculations run away with me in absence of facts. If Wilson had taken it as a personal affront or insult, one could understand where passions might grow hot.

The decorum of the moment aside, I do not believe this was premeditated on Wilson's part. The lies or misrepresentations were premeditated on Obama's part. But, the passions revolve around the government's take over of the finest health care delivery system on the planet, not the race of the individuals involved.

Some people, Maureen Dowd included, will go out of their way to smear their opponents with the race card. It's a sure sign that they are losing all of the other arguments.

Cross posted at Say Anything

Update: Not even the White House will drink Mo Dowd’s Kool Aid®!

H/T LBH

Quote du jour

“Having government manage your health care is like having Michael Vick watch your dog.”

-sign at the 9/12 March on Washington

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Yet Another Apt, Yet Telling Comparison on Obama's Public Option

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Remember when Obama compared his public option to the success of the post office?
“UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” — Barack Obama, Aug. 11, 2009

In Obama's "Platitudes-R-Us" Health Speech the other night, he made the following statement, comparing his health care proposals to the current relationship between public and private colleges.

They argue that these private companies can't fairly compete with the government. And they'd be right if taxpayers were subsidizing this public insurance option. But they won't be. I've insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits and excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers, and would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.



Consider the California State University system:

SAN FRANCISCO-One day after the CSU system announced an enrollment cut of 10,000 students next fall, the UC Board of Regents said it would be forced to limit UC undergraduate enrollment as well if they did not receive needed state funding.
-Nov 20, 2008

Saying they could not avoid a painful decision, University of California regents voted Wednesday to trim freshman enrollment for next fall by 2,300 students, or about 6%, as a response to reduced state funding during the worsening budget crisis.
-January 15, 2009

Under the CSU plan, no additional students will be accepted this winter and spring and the hope is to cut fall 2010 enrollment by 40,000, Cal State Chancellor Charles Reed said Thursday. Also, employees would be furloughed two days per month and student fees would be increased 20 percent this fall.
-July 16, 2009

UC President Mark Yudof is recommending a 15 percent increase in in-state undergraduate fees that would take effect next spring, and another 15 percent increase on top of that beginning in fall 2010.

The governing Board of Regents will hear details of the proposal - which also includes graduate-level fee increases of 15 percent - at its meeting Wednesday, but won't vote until November.

If approved, the undergraduate fee increases would be the eighth and ninth in seven years, and would send the price of a year at UC above the $10,000 mark for the first time next fall.
-Sept. 11, 2009

Sounds like UC is rationing education at ever increasing costs. But that could never happen with health care, could it? Commander Foot in Mouth strikes again!

Cross posted at Say Anything

The False "Birther"/ "Truther" Equivalence


I have long advocated maintaining a precision in the English language, because sloppiness in language inevitably leads to a sloppiness of thinking. With all of the issues great and small that face the American public, we simply cannot afford sloppy thinking.

Enter two newly coined words: "birther" and "truther". "Truther" was out there first. (Sometimes "troofer") It described a conspiracy kook that believed that the Bush administration was somehow involved or directed ordered the death of nearly three thousand people on 9/11. Charles Krauthammer on "trutherism":

...this is no trivial matter. It’s beyond radicalism, beyond partisanship. It takes us into the realm of political psychosis, a malignant paranoia that, unlike the Marxist posturing, is not amusing. It’s dangerous. In America, movements and parties are required to police their extremes. Bill Buckley did that with Birchers. Liberals need to do that with “truthers.”

You can no more have a truther in the White House than you can have a Holocaust denier — a person who creates a hallucinatory alternative reality in the service of a fathomless malice.


Unfortunately for liberals and Democrats, most "truthers" reside in their party.
So, what's a good liberal to do? How do you somehow deflect attention away from the whackadoodle conspiracy wing of the Democratic party? Find some equivalence.

Enter the "birthers". I'm sure that "birther" was coined precisely to grant a false equivalence to the two groups. I mean, both words end in "ther", they must be the same right? And granted, there are some birthers who are ardent conspiracy theorists, but are the two groups equivalent? Not at all. One group believes, rightly or wrongly that a single politician, who may have something to hide that would adversely affect his own political career, has been less than forthcoming with his own personal credentials.

The other group, believes, without a whit of credible evidence, that a politician murdered three thousand people through some convoluted and sinister shadow government so that he could wage war on yet more people around the world. And though the logistics to carry out such a murder on a grand scale would require hundreds of people to be complicit and soulless enough to maintain their silence, not one person has come forth with a guilty conscience, a damning document or a smoking gun.

As much as the liberals would love for you to make the false "Birther"/ "Truther" Equivalence, it is a linguistic sleight of hand. The most rabid "birther" cannot hold a candle to the utter derangement it takes to be a "Truther". The Left would just as soon that you not notice that.

Cross posted at Say Anything

A Little Saturday Night Music

Andy McKee: Tight Trite Night.

Recalling the words of Churchill...

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...Ward Churchill

Remember poseur, plagiarist, Native American wannabee Ward Churchill? He once infamously referred to those who died in the Twin Towers as "little Eichmanns". Little war criminals. Little Nazis.

Note the lady on the right: Lucille Francis, a 62 year old cleaning lady at the WTC.
Whenever I hear anything about the actual people who perished in that cowardly terrorist attack, I think of the dishonest bile spewed by the equally craven Ward Churchill. My contempt for him knows no bounds.


Hat tip Looking at the Left

Quote du jour

Freedom lies in being bold.

-Robert Frost

Friday, September 11, 2009

Friday Night Babe

Even on a day of remembrance, we will not forget that which is worth fighting for!
Tonight's FNB is Yvonne Strahovski, best known as Agent Sarah Walker on "Chuck".

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Where Were You?

In Memoriam: Dwight David Darcy, Killed Sept. 11, 2001

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As a part of Project 2996, I'm going to write to you about an individual I never met. I've never even heard his name. I only knew him as a part of a group: The people who perished on 9/11.

He was not a very imposing man, from his picture. I imagine you could pass him on the street and not think twice about it. Just like many of us. But, Dwight, if I may be so bold, had already lived through one World Trade Center attack before that fateful day.
He was there in 1993 when the WTC was bombed the first time. It made him a little jumpy. Sudden loud noises would startle him. For years, his wife, Veronica said, "Every time there was a bang, he would jump." But that did not deter him from returning to work.

Dwight was raising two sons, Kieran and Ryan, with his wife, living in Bronxville, N.Y., a little village about fifteen miles north of midtown Manhattan, home to about 6,500 people.

He was a Senior Attorney at the Port Authority of NY and NJ. He'd been with the Port Authority for 25 years. He was 55 at the time of the attack. A few years older than I was then. I few years younger than I am now.

He served on the parish board of the St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Bronxville. He loved opera. He and his wife were frequent attendees at performances at the Met and the City Opera. He was a member of the New York Athletic Club.

He had a brother, Keith T. Darcy of Pound Ridge, NY, and a sister, Joan D. Sorgi of Darien, CT. who survived him, as well as an aunt, Claire Menagh of Manhattan, an uncle, George Kindermann of New London, NH, and several nieces and nephews.

A family man, with familial ties to other families. Much like you and I.

Here's what another 2,996 blogger said about Dwight three years ago:

Dwight was a Bronx native, graduated from Fordham Prep, Fordham University, and the Fordham University School of Law. He began his legal career as an Assistant D.A. in the Bronx in 1971, and joined the Port Authority in 1977. While at the Port Authority, Dwight specialized in labor relations, serving for many years as the Head of the Labor Relations Division.

Dwight was very active in charitable works in New York City. He served as president of the Catholic Big Brothers of NY, as well as, the president of the Parish Council of St. Joseph's Church in Bronxville. Dwight was also voted a life member of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of NY, and made an affiliate member of the Marist Brothers for his many years of service on the board of Mt. St. Michael Academy in the Bronx.

WHAT WAS DWIGHT LIKE?

"We kind of grew up together at the authority," said his friend and colleague Jeffery Green, the general counsel for the authority's legal team, made of up 75 lawyers. "He was very calm and logical and had a good sense of humor," Green said.

Outside of work, Darcy followed his favorite sports teams: The New York Yankees, the New York Giants and college basketball teams, Green said. "He was a devoted father and sports fan. He was a very big Yankee and Giants football fan. I would see him at the games."

Darcy had a way of winning people over. "Everyone who met him liked him. He took pride in his work and his family. He was a really good individual," Green said.

I received an email from someone who knew Dwight. They had this to say:

I first met Mr. Darcy in 1968. I was a Freshman at Mt. St. Michael Academy, a private Marist (Catholic) High School in the Bronx, NY. Although he had a Law degree, Dwight Darcy started his working life as an English teacher at the “Mount”. I had him for English 1 that year. I was very interested in history, and Mr. Darcy made it a point, during his lectures, to not only teach the fine points of English Grammar and Composition, but also expounded on American and World History, to which he added a large dose of Morals and Ethics. I was always fascinated by the breadth and depth of his knowledge, and made it a point to have discussions with him on these topics, even outside of class hours. He was an excellent role model, and I considered him an inspiration and mentor. He was a dynamic and dedicated teacher, and he had a profound effect on me. He is one of the few teachers I ever had, that I truly remember with fondness.

When I heard that he left teaching to practice law for the Port Authority, I knew that he was really following his true love, which he considered the true arena of human interaction. But I knew that future students would lose the opportunity to meet a truly remarkable person.

On 9-11, I was overwhelmingly heartbroken to learn that he did not survive the attack. It seemed like a horribly cruel injustice. Here was a man who was so kind, so dynamic, so profound, and so cognizant of the needs of others, who was caught up, with so many unfortunate others, in the effects of incredible madness and evil, and the result an overwhelming hatred of all mankind. I really could not believe it had actually happened. But I remember him with honor and respect, and with a deep sense of loss.

I hope this helps in illustrating the truly excellent person that he was.

Michael Cutrera


Dwight went to work September 11th, 2001, like he had on many other mornings, I would imagine, not dreaming of the horror and chaos that would await him. He worked on the 66th floor of the North tower. According to a co-worker, he'd had surgery on his foot several weeks before and was still in a cast. It would have made it difficult for him to take the stairs to flee the building.

He died at the hands of terrorists who did not care that Dwight was president of the Catholic Big Brothers of NY, where he helped disadvantaged youths. They did not care about the grieving widow and sons he would leave behind. The brother and sister, aunt and uncle left with a sense of terrible loss. The friends and acquaintances who would miss his kind words and encouragement. His death was not meaningless, because there is still meaning even when evil men commit evil deeds. His death was tragic in that it cut him off from whatever productive years he had left , the communion he spent with family and friends and the good deeds he would have done had he lived.

And though I never met Mr. Darcy, I mourn for him and grieve with his family. The craven cowardice of those who would commit war by attacking defenseless civilians has not gone unavenged. Many of those who sowed the wind on 9/11 have reaped the whirlwind.

But, vengeance can never restore loss. What was taken from Dwight Darcy's family can never be replaced. Nor that of the 2,995 other families who lost loved ones on that day.

But, we can remember them. We can hold them in our hearts. And we can vow that so much as is in our power, it will never happen again.

My heart goes out to the family of Dwight Darcy today. I hope that in some small way I have captured a bit of his essence to share with others. Our hearts are with you this day.
Rest in peace, Mr. Darcy.


"Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times
Paid notice NYT
A Step in the Right Direction
Cross posted at Say Anything

Passing the Colors

Passing_The_Colors


I remember that morning, sitting in my study, on the computer when I saw the story "Plane hits World Trade Center". And I thought to myself, "Some old guy in a Cessna must have had a heart attack."
Then the second plane hit.

Driving into San Francisco for work that day, I thought to myself, "Was this how my father's generation felt after Pearl Harbor? Are we once again at war? What does the future hold?"

If you have a few minutes today, click over to America Attacked. You won't regret it.

Quote du Jour

9/11 should be a day of remembrance, not politics. There should be tributes to heroes and the fallen. Any attempt to hijack this day for crass political ends should be viewed as a desecration of the memories of those who died, this day in 2001.

-Proof

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Poetry Corner

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"Ozymandias"


I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."


-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Verbal Shoe Tossed at Obama

Joe Wilson threw a verbal shoe at Obama. Where are all those who celebrated this hero in Iraq to come to the aid of Rep. Wilson?



Note that after Obama says, "It is a lie, plain and simple", that John "magic hat" "Christmas in Cambodia seared in my memory" Kerry stood up to applaud.

This Last Week's Poll

This Last Week's Poll: Barack Obama wants to address every school child in America. Is this:

The President's prerogative 9%

Over reaching 36%

A little scary 45%

Propagandistic 45%

Should be balanced by equal time for Republicans 18%


Multiple choices and Obama's crack budget office accountants may account for totals greater than 100%

Thank you for your participation!
Not a scientific poll. Respondents are self selecting. Questions are drawn from fortune cookies, hieroglyphics and tomorrow’s New York Times.

Please make your opinion known in this week's poll.

Great Republican Senatorial Ad

Gina Cobb had this on Democrats speaking out of both sides of their mouths...often at the same time!


And since, as Thomas Sowell has pointed out, this debacle isn't scheduled to take place until 2013, why not take the time to let all these turkeys get their act together before we take it on the road?

Quote du Jour

Some apologists for Van Jones are trying to make his signature on the 9/11 Truther letter sound like it was on some clipboard shoved at him as he exited the local Piggly Wiggly.

Other apologists portray him as a highly educated individual...who should know better than to sign anything shoved at him in front of the Piggly Wiggly without reading it first!

-Proof

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Miller Time

Dennis Miller on Obama and Van Jones:



"Nancy Pelosi blinks like Yul Brynner in Westworld"

Hat tip News Busters

The Republican Response

Do you hear what the heart surgeon said about the rookie President's health care plan?



Hat tip Flopping Aces

Quote du Jour

Ralph Peters, a military analyst for FOX News, called (Van) Jones a “screaming nut case” who should have never gotten his administration job.

“He needs to give Van Jones an ambassadorship to a remote Pacific island and just get him out of there,” Peters said.

“But it’s symptomatic of the extreme leftward lurch of this administration,” he added. “It’s this farthest left administration we’ve ever had in American history. Obama makes FDR look like Barry Goldwater.”

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Sowell on Obama Care

(Obama) tried to rush Congress into passing a massive government takeover of the nation's medical care before the August recess-- for a program that would not take effect until 2013!

Whatever President Obama is, he is not stupid. If the urgency to pass the medical care legislation was to deal with a problem immediately, then why postpone the date when the legislation goes into effect for years-- more specifically, until the year after the next Presidential election?

If this is such an urgently needed program, why wait for years to put it into effect? And if the public is going to benefit from this, why not let them experience those benefits before the next Presidential election?

If it is not urgent that the legislation goes into effect immediately, then why don't we have time to go through the normal process of holding Congressional hearings on the pros and cons, accompanied by public discussions of its innumerable provisions? What sense does it make to "hurry up and wait" on something that is literally a matter of life and death?

If we do not believe that the President is stupid, then what do we believe? The only reasonable alternative seems to be that he wanted to get this massive government takeover of medical care passed into law before the public understood what was in it.

Moreover, he wanted to get re-elected in 2012 before the public experienced what its actual consequences would be.

-Thomas Sowell

Contract With America II, Redux

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August 16th, I stated that we needed a new Contract With America to nationalize the 2010 elections. We need to have a set of unifying principles that we can get our candidates to adhere to to and rally around in 2010. My first two contributions were:

First: It should be the law of the land that no congressman should be allowed to vote on any legislation they have not personally read and understood. Getting rid of 1000+ page monstrosities might be one means of attaining that. If it slows down the process, or if they have to "hire an attorney" to accomplish it, as some have claimed, then so be it! Although, personally, I am at a loss to comprehend how many staffers are available to Congress, most Senators and Congressmen are lawyers, and yet they claim to be in need of legal counsel!

Second: Resurrect one of the original reforms from the Contract With America: Require that all laws that apply to the rest of the country apply to Congress as well. (Health care comes to mind!)


I've given it a little more thought since then, particularly in light of some of the current news about the plethora of "czars" populating the Obama Administration, here are a few more:

Three: Pledge to eliminate most, if not all the "czars" that are not subject to Congressional oversight or the will of the people.

Four: A rededication to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.


Five: A pledge to reduce Congressional spending on staff, junkets and travel.

And a selection from reader's comments on other possibilities. I don't endorse them all, but most have potential:

* Establish an independent ethics committee
* Initiate term AND age limits for ALL Congress
* Eliminate automatic pay raises for Congress
* All bills shall be less than 100 pages or at least limited in length
* All bills shall be written in plain English
* Eliminate Earmarks.
* Any Congressperson wishing to run for another office shall resign his/her seat and pay for the travel out of their own pockets.
* Any Congressperson wishing to change parties shall resign his/her seat and run for office in the following election.
* The Constitution and Declaration of Independence shall be required reading and whoever wishes to hold office should be tested on both.
* Cut corporate taxes
* Freeze all govt spending, not index it to inflation, until the deficit is under control or gone.
* Cut the capital gains tax to 10% (Or a moratorium on capital gains to jump start the economy)
* Cut the number of federal statutes by 20%, getting rid of hundreds, or thousands of unnecessary laws, or laws that should be left up to the state. (Tenth Amendment)
* Sunset ALL federal bureaucracies and force 1/3 of them to defend their existence every 6 years, alternating them as we do Senators.
* Cut the top tax rate to 25%, drop the other brackets to 20, 15, 10, and 5% respectively.
* Slash the tax code by at least 1/3rd.
* Eliminate omnibus spending bills and mandate that each area of spending be its own bill to be debated and voted up or down by the full Congress.


2010 is just around the corner. We need to focus and refine the message of exactly what we expect from our elected representatives. Conservatives can then run on a platform of genuine reform rather than the phony, pious platitudes of the current administration and their party.

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du Jour

I just watched David Axelrod, the top ranking political advisor in the White House, and Robert Gibbs, the President's spokesman on "Meet the Press" and "This Week" respectively. Neither of them was willing, even after repeated questioning, to offer a single negative word about Van Jones. Not one word. A 9/11 Truther and defender of Mumia-Abu Jamal is not radical enough for this White House to distance itself from the man in any way. Again and again, this White House has been offered chances to condemn the man's views and they have willfully and quite deliberately refused.

-Jonah Goldberg

Monday, September 7, 2009

Obama's 9/11 Chutzpah

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Are you aware of Obama's 9/11 Chutzpah? Instead of commemorating 9/11 on say...9/11, the White House has proclaimed Friday, September 4, through Sunday, September 6, as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance. Did you get that? Have you even heard of it before now? The last three days are when you are supposed to remember 9/11.
Missed it? Too bad! Obama's got other things planned for the real 9/11!

Don't believe me? Go to the White House website and see what the Poseur-in-Chief is trying to pull: NATIONAL DAYS OF PRAYER AND REMEMBRANCE, 2009

I personally have not dedicated the last three days for a 9/11 remembrance, nor would I, simply because Obama wants to subvert the actual day for his own purposes.

Why on God's green earth would anyone designate the Friday before the anniversary to commemorate the anniversary?

Barack Obama is either the most incompetent President in history or he has other things for the American public to do than to commemorate the loss of nearly three thousand US citizens to a terrorist attack.

Hat tip C.O.P.S. = Conservative Oversight of Progressive Stupidity
Cross posted at Say Anything

I also find it hard to believe that the MediaWhore-in-Chief, who has called countless press conferences and made endless speeches at the drop of a hat, couldn't find his way in front of camera to announce this before his proposed change of dates?

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of September

So, September third Barack Conman Obama decides to change the date of the September 11th memorial the day before the Labor Day weekend? And this was supposed to seep into the public consciousness by osmosis?

Quote du Jour

Van Jones Trutherism, like Van Jones Communism and Van Jones Eco-Racism Theory, is a kind of decadence: If you really believed 9/11 was an inside job, you'd be in fear of your life. Instead, for a cutting-edge poseur like Jones, it's a marketing niche, one that gives you a certain cachet with the right kind of people - like, apparently, Barack Obama.

-Mark Steyn

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Pelosi and Governor Wannabee Newsom on Van Jones



A "flashback", courtesy of Pat Dollard. Take note, Californians, that Gavin Newsom who wants to be your governor soon, is a fellow traveler of Mr. Jones.

The "green wave that's rising" just may be your gorge after hearing this guy's support for a cop killer and his 9/11 Trutherism!

"Just the Facts, Ma'am"



H/T Rodney Graves

Breaking News: Truther Van Resigns

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Like 9/11, he suspects an inside job...

Update:
Interesting time to be turning in one’s resignation - midnight Saturday night, on a holiday weekend. -Redstate


WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.

Van Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.

Quote du Jour

So, Desmond Tutu has been in the Middle East, and what does he say? He says that Palestinians are “paying penance” for the Holocaust — and it’s not right, of course, that they should pay penance: as the Holocaust was a European crime. Funny, that’s just what Arab radicals say! Thanks a lot, bishop, or archbishop, or whatever you are now. What a wonderful service to historical truth and prospective peace.

Tutu also said, “The lesson that Israel must learn from the Holocaust is that it can never get security through fences, walls, and guns.”

Hear him: That is the lesson Jews must learn from the Holocaust. Did you know that was the lesson? Well, you haven’t been listening to his Ever-Wise Eminence. He won the Nobel Peace Prize, you know.

-Jay Nordlinger

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Czargate Obama

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In the old Sci-fi movie (and series) Stargate, devices of ancient power were able to create “wormholes” through space, that allowed folks nearly instantaneous travel between planets and other galaxies to meet extraterrestrials.
Today, we use devices of newly acquired power to burrow wormholes through the Constitution via a means of extra-Constitutional offices known as “czars”. Apart from the anti-democratic connotations of the term, consider that the office of the “czars” as they are presently known, are de facto cabinet level positions which do not need so much as a simple approval of a majority vote of the Senate.

The President’s cabinet currently consists of:

Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans' Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security

This does not include other offices considered cabinet level, such as the

White House Chief of Staff
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
United States Trade Representative
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Ambassador to the United Nations
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors



So, with all these advisors on all things foreign and domestic, why would the president need these:

Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke
Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried
Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter
WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore
Don’t we already have a Secretary of Defense?

AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley
Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle
Don’t we already have a Secretary of Health and Human Services AND a Surgeon General?

Auto Recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery
Car Czar: Ron Bloom (Ron carries Ed’s briefcase for him?)
Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney
Don’t we have a Secretary of Transportation? A Secretary of Commerce?

Economic Czar: Paul Volcker
TARP Czar: Herb Allison
Secretary of the Treasury? Director OMB?

Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske
Terrorism Czar: John Brennan
Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair
Law enforcement issues: FBI- Treasury

Border Czar: Alan Bersin
Secretary of Homeland Security?

California Water Czar: David J. Hayes (He’s doing a bang up job! /sarcasm)
Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross
Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis
Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr.
Secretary of the Interior?

Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Browner
Secretary of Energy? Administrator EPA?

Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell
Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration
Secretary of State?

Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones
Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg
Secretary of Labor?

And some of these last ones should probably be eliminated by a judicious use of the Tenth Amendment”

Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal
Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois
Are domestic violence and faith based organizations really Federal issues?

International Climate Czar: Todd Stern
Information Czar: Vivek Kundra
Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein
Science Czar: John Holdren
Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra

The “information Czar” better get to work, because I don’t know what in the hell most of these guys do!

The appointment of a multitude of “czars” seems to be an attempt by the executive branch to assert greater power to itself without a commensurate amount of responsibility or the balance of powers favored by the Founding Fathers.

Even if it were not for their extra-Constitutional nature, in hard economic times like these, the redundancy of all these highly paid, highly unaccountable offices should be considered wasteful. They should be closed and their current occupants should be encouraged to find real jobs. We do not need more and more bloated government soaking up resources and making ever more burdensome regulations to further hamstring our economy. Enough is more than enough!

Cross posted at Say Anything