Grayson Continues His Class Act

I know, I know, it is bad form to do back-to-back posts on the same topic, but this idiot Alan Grayson is on an all-out media blitz and is apparently turning into the mainstream media's latest darling. Here is a video of him appearing on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer in which he and James Carville engage in a little mutual admiration lovefest. What is most comical(?) is that when a conservative guest starts listing various proposals the Republicans have tried to put forth in the health care debate he immediately begins to talk over the top of him, all the while claiming the Republicans have no ideas and are just engaging in partisan politics and attempting to block the legislation. In doing so, he proves just what the Republicans on Capitol Hill have been saying all along--mainly that the Dems won't listen to them and won't entertain any of their suggestions or ideas.

During the Carville/Grayson lovefest, Grayson blames the Republicans for the $4 a gallon gas prices we experienced last year, while conveniently forgetting that the Dems controlled Congress at that time, and it was his leader Nancy Pelosi who turned out the lights and shut off the mics and went on a five-week book tour instead of staying in session to address the issue and leaving the Republicans literally in the dark. Grayson even invokes a phrase credited to conservative writer William Safire, "nattering nabobs of negativism," to describe Republicans.

He also calls all Republicans foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. Real class act. The double standard could not be more apparent, either. While he is not being held to account for his bomb-throwing rhetoric by his party, and in fact is being held up as some sort of liberal idol now, two words from Joe Wilson have been the most highly criticized and over-analyzed words spoken in the last decade.

This guy Grayson is a real piece of work, and I hope his first term in Congress is also his last. His appearance on the Situation Room is just about 10 1/2 minutes of him name calling and refusing to concede any points being made that are contrary to his view.



To recap, Republicans want you to die, Republicans are foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals, have no ideas on healthcare and are the embodiment of nattering nabobs of negativism. Got everything but the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy in there.

Oh yeah, he appeared on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC, and from what I hear, he repeated the Neanderthal remarks.

Almost forgot, make sure to stop by the Daily Kos site and read his little diary entry from today. He is on a real media blitz today.

Moronic Democrat Digs Deeper Hole, Invokes 9/11 and the Holocaust in Healthcare Debate

His bravura performance last night when he declared Republicans want people to die wasn't enough, apparently. Today idiot Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson returned to the House floor and leaped so far off the cliff it's a wonder whether he'll be able to recover from the damage.

So offensive is this clip I suggest you may not want to watch if you've just eaten. He manages to drag the dead from the Iraq war, 9/11 and the Holocaust all into a nice neat argument for socialized medicine.

Just when you think these Democrats can't sink any lower they manages to plumb new depths.

Erick Erickson notes the GOP has already found a nice fundraising target.

Remember we had two weeks of manufactured outrage of Joe Wilson correctly pointing out Obama was a liar. But a Democrat Congressman can flat out claim the GOP wants people to die, invoke war dead, 9/11 and the Holocaust and there's not a peep from the House leadership.

And they say conservatives are lowering the discourse. More here.

“Alan Grayson not only refuses to apologize, he is doubling down on his despicable remarks and he is dragging his party with him. This is an individual who has established a pathological pattern of unstable behavior. He is derailing the national debate on healthcare reform and embarrassing his constituents as a result. Now, more than ever, Speaker Pelosi should end her silence and demand an apology,” Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.

UN Fires Obama's Envoy To Afghanistan

This story is just full of irony and twists and turns that are only possible in the world of diplomats.

First the cast of characters.

Peter Galbraith, the UN's second in command in Afghanistan. He got the job at the insistence of the newly elected Barack Obama in light of strong opposition from the UN.

Ban Ki Moon, current head of the UN.

Kai Eide, a Norwegian who vehemently opposed the appointment of Mr Galbraith, and who was his boss in Afghanistan.

Throw in a dose of Richard Holbrooke and a controversial election and pure comedy ensues.

Mr. Galbraith just either quit or got fired from his posting in Afghanistan because he wanted the UN to put a more visible voice to the recent election and the irregularities that were reported. Mr. Moon and Mr. Eide told him to shut up. This has all the hallmarks of another UN scandal; not for the firing, but rather for what sort of backroom deals are going on at the UN that they would not more attention brought to the allegations of election fraud in Afghanistan.

Oh, don't think Galbraith is all that much of a knight in shining armor. In 2007, he authored a book entitled The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created A War Without End. Galbraith's solution? Partitioning the country into three parts, also known as the Biden Plan. Ironically, he was one of the very same people who led the charge to depose Saddam Hussein.

I supported President Bush's decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. At Wolfowitz's request, I helped advance the case for war, drawing on my work in previous years in documenting Saddam's atrocities, including the use of chemical weapons on the Kurds. In spite of the chaos that followed the war, I am sure that Iraq is better off without Saddam Hussein.

At the time of his appointment back in March the Times Online had this to say.

Peter Galbraith, son of the late economist J.K. Galbraith, became the UN's second-in-command in Afghanistan, despite the protests from the man who will now be his boss. The appointment strengthens US influence over the UN operation in Afghanistan as the Obama Administration is about to reveal its new strategy to win the war against the resurgent Taleban.

As far as the title of ambassador, that didn't go so well either.

He served as US Ambassador in Croatia from 1993 to 1998 while Mr Holbrooke was brokering the peace in the Balkan wars. He became embroiled in controversy over his role in alleged US complicity in Iranian arms shipments to Croatia and Bosnia, in violation of UN sanctions.

So back in March when Barry O was dedicated to winning in Afghanistan he appointed this guy at the same time he was removing Christopher Hill from Korea and reassigning him to Iraq, because after all he did such a wonderful job with North Korea; people who might have been asking questions were so deep into Obama worship that moves that would have struck many people as being designed to purposely lose the wars we were engaged in simply flew under the radar.

I feel Galbraith was standing up for the right thing in advocating for an investigation into the election process in Afghanistan, but I wonder what he thinks of ACORN and their role in electing our president?

Don't you just sleep better at night knowing the Barry O international team is on the job now?

'Blithering Idiot's' Book Already No. 1 at Barnes and Noble and No. 2 at Amazon (Update: Now No. 1 at Amazon)

The left may have a collective aneurysm by the time Going Rogue is released, and that's still not until November 17.

I figure by the end of the day it'll be No. 1 at Amazon.

Crazy Andy must be losing it.

The "reviewers" at Barnes and Noble are wigging out.

I am so amazed at the gullibility of her fans. She had a ghostwriter, a conservative writer, and they spent a month together. Palin also did not write her Hong Kong speech. Come on people, did you not listen when she was off script trying to answer (previously submitted) questions? She fumbled, she winked, she danced around the questions. I am waiting for this book's popularity to fall to nothing when it actually comes out and you realize you were duped. Plus, she will not dare to appear on the news shows other than Fox...they might ask her a question she didn't give them beforehand, or, she might be asked to read a portion of the book she never saw. Never in my life have I seen someone with so little to offer be embraced by so many people as a savior. Conservatives are scary.

Oooga booga!

An item using an anonymous source in the New York Post underscores just how much the left fears this woman.

SARAH Palin is said to have pocketed a $7 million advance for the 400-page memoir she turned in four months early, but she might not have such an easy time on the lecture circuit.

After quitting as governor of Alaska in July, Palin signed with the top-notch Washington Speakers Bureau, which also reps George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Condoleezza Rice, hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, LA Dodgers manager Joe Torre and magician David Blaine.

Palin's bookers are said to be asking for $100,000 per speech, but an industry expert tells Page Six: "The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot."

Of course this fails to explain how she's receiving hundreds of speaking offers. But hey, when you can call someone a blithering idiot, why bother with the facts?

Meanwhile, Barack Obama reportedly has called up his ghostwriter Bill Ayers and asked him to rush to print a new book of "his own" tentatively entitled Dreams of Myself.

OK, I made that last part up, but it isn't far-fetched.

Update: Well, it didn't take long. Palin is now No. 1 at Amazon and probably will be for some time.

Thanks to Ace, Sister Toldjah, Dan Riehl and C4P for the links. Thanks to C4P for also pointing out this.

Sure....Let's Talk To Hamas

Three years after being kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, numerous previous prisoner releases all meant to appease the bloodthirsty Hamas thugs and we have yet another display of their depravity.

Hamas says they will release a video tape of Gilad Shalit in exchange for 20 incubators of jihadism. What a deal!!! They get to continue to torment the Shalit family in yet another trade for nothing.

You want your brood mares, come get them. If I was Israel I would give nothing else up except for the return of Gilad, since you are saying he is alive. Hamas is playing the Israelis like a puppet, backed up by their enablers in the west.

After more than three years of waiting, the parents of the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have been told they will receive concrete proof that he is alive.
This Friday a videotape of Gilad Shalit will be released in exchange for 20 Palestinian women who are currently in Israeli jails, according to a deal announced by Israel and Hamas militants.

And after this gesture Hamas will simply make yet another demand, and another, until one day this young man no longer serves there purposes and then what?

Great News: ACORN Stooges Win NYC Races

Nothing like having a man beholden to ACORN and the hard-left Working Families Party in control of an $80 billion piggybank. Yet that's exactly who the people of New York City have as Comptroller. Also elected was Bill De Blasio as Public Advocate, who wen tout of his way to thank ACORN. Wonderful. The lone silver lining? De Blasio beat the loathsome Mark Green, the ubiquitous candidate for whatever office is open.

John Liu easily won last night's runoff election for city comptroller and Bill de Blasio routed rival Mark Green in the public advocate contest -- victories that handed a major boost to the Working Families Party in its first foray into citywide races.

Both races produced clear winners within 30 minutes of the polls closing at 9 p.m. A mere 228,000 ballots were cast, a record low.

Liu, who will oversee the city's $80 billion pension system, cruised into history as the first Asian-American to win a citywide election, beating Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky, by 56 percent to 44 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

De Blasio trounced perennial candidate Green, who was trying to reclaim his old job, 63 percent to 37 percent.

"I will be your voice, and whenever your government is not there for you, I will stand up for you," said de Blasio, who thanked members of the WFP and ACORN.

"Thank you so much for this incredible ride . . . We won this election in the streets," said Liu, who held his runoff party at teachers union headquarters and credited the WFP in his victory speech.

The victories give organized labor major toeholds in two of the three citywide offices.

And with both Liu and de Blasio now instant front-line City Hall hopefuls in 2013, Mayor Bloomberg will face two aggressive rivals taking swings at him through a likely third term.

Suitably Flip points out Liu was one of the many recipients of Norman Hsu money, much of which has not been returned.

Of the Hsu-tainted cash Liu got his hands on, he appeared to return just 22% (the contributions made explicitly by Hsu himself), which would suggest there's still cash stolen from Liu's fellow New Yorkers rolling around in his campaign coffers available for November's general election.

Among his prospective duties as comptroller, Liu would be responsible for the management of an $85 billion portfolio of public assets. Let's hope his apparent nonchalance about campaign finance law, investor swindling, and money laundering sheds no light on his fiduciary diligence.

'I Don't Believe Anything the City and the 2016 Committee Says'

Remember when dissent was the most patriotic form of protest? Well, those days are long over, my friends. When you're a Chicago resident and you don't want the 2016 O-lympics in your town then it's time for a beatdown.

Seems there are still a few locals not in the pocket of the corrupt machine, but let's face it, it's in the bag, so just pack up and go home. You really think The O would go to Denmark if this wasn't a done deal?

The mayor, the president and Oprah Winfrey may hope to return to Chicago from Copenhagen with the 2016 Olympic Games, but some around town hope the International Olympic Committee deems the Second City the second city.

As in second to Rio de Janeiro. Or Tokyo. Or Madrid.

The opposition is not as visible as the "We Back the Bid" signs plastered across town. But in a city all too familiar with stories of public corruption and problems with public services, there is serious concern the games can only mean more troubles — and bills — for residents.

"I know it's going to cost us money somehow," said Joseph Patrick, a 51-year-old stay-at-home dad. "The government doesn't have a job (so) the only place they can get money is from us."

A new Web site — Chicagoansforrio.com — is the talk of the town and features the game "Match the Olympic host with its estimated budget overrun." About 170 protesters marched outside City Hall on Tuesday night, many insisting that no matter what organizers say, the games will push people from their homes, lead to more corruption and raise taxes.

"I don't believe anything the city and the 2016 committee says," said Larry Rivkin, who grew up in Chicago.

At least one person was later arrested for trying to interfere with workers erecting Olympic symbols in a downtown plaza.

Head over to the Chicagoans for Rio Site. Rather amusing.

Here are some others protesting yesterday.

An Assessment On Afghanistan You Won't Hear Anywhere Else

Ed Morrissey from Hot Air has an interview with Michael Yon, a man whose opinion and assessment on all things related to our war on terror, I greatly respect. He speaks bluntly and honestly and from a perspective not equaled by any of the numerous armchair generals and pundits we have populating our news shows and media. Michael Yon has been reporting from or participating in this global war on terrorism from the beginning. He goes where angels fear to tread, and he does it mostly on his dime. You can help him to continue his reporting by hitting his tip jar.

This is painful to listen to, but listen to it we must. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it is the truth. Please take the time to listen to the whole interview.


If journalism was an honest enterprise this guy would have a wall decorated with not only his military honors but numerous journalism awards. He has been widely recognized for his iconic picture of an American soldier rescuing a young Iraqi who was the victim of a terrorist IED in Iraq, and when he speaks he is doing so from a perspective of having first hand knowledge. He isn't splashy. He doesn't try to get the exclusive and I would be very curious to see what kind of price the bad guys have put on his head. He presents an honest unvarnished look into our operations, something which has resulted in him having his embed status with US forces reviewed on numerous times and just recently resulted in his embed status with a British unit in Afghanistan revoked. He is not a propagandist; he is a reporter in the old school sense.

Kudos to Ed for getting the interview.

Art Exhibit to Feature Nude Photo of 10-Year-Old Brooke Shields, Roman Polanski Reportedly Very Excited

I guess the great unwashed masses out there, myself included, just don't grasp the concept that nude photos of little girls are considered art. We've got to get with the program, our cultural superiors warn us.

An exhibition at the Tate Modern will feature a photograph of a nude ten-year-old Brooke Shields alongside sexually explicit pop art - a decision akin to rolling out a welcome mat for perverts, outraged critics charge.

The inclusion of Richard Price's 1983 work 'Spiritual America' in the internationally-renowned London museum's exhibit "Pop Life, Art In A Material World," opening Thursday, has sparked the ire of both children's advocates and religious groups, London's Daily Mail reports.

"Putting a sign on the door like that means every pedophile in the land will head straight to that room," said Michele Elliott, founder of a children's charity called Kidscape, who has joined a chorus of voices calling for the exhibit's removal.

Price's 1983 image is actually a picture of an image taken in 1975 by artist Gary Cross. In it, a nude ten-year-old Brooke Shields, heavily made-up, stands in a bath staring at the camera.

Hollywood, meanwhile, rushes to defend a child rapist. And they like to lecture us about morality. Even HufPosters are finding this incredibly distasteful.

Dem Congressman Does Ed Schultz Impersonation on House Floor

Last week we noted the deranged MSNBC hack Ed Schultz declaring that Republicans want you to die, just because they oppose the government taking over the healthcare industry.

Who knew a Democrat Congressman would pick it up from there and do a Schultz impersonation on the House floor?

Well, sure enough, Florida's Alan Grayson, the man who was too afraid to even face his constituents in August, has sunk to an all-time low.

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., warned Americans that "Republicans want you to die quickly" during an after-hours House floor speech Tuesday night.

His remarks, which drew angry and immediate calls for an apology from Republicans, were highlighted by a sign reading "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly."

Veteran Tennessee Republican Jimmy Duncan abandoned customary reticence to chastise Grayson.

"That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Duncan said.

You can see a moron like Schultz pulling this kind of shtick. After all he has no ratings and will do anything for attention. But to see an actual Congressman sink to this level is beyond appalling. Instead of being chastised by House Democrats he'll probably be elevated to a leadership position.

"If you get sick, America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly," he said.

I suspect his political career will die quickly after this.

Some video, via Hot Air.

'I Love French Fries, I Like a Good Burger, and I Like Pie'

Yes, we can tell. But we're supposed to pretend this woman is some sort of fitness freak according to yet another pandering puffpiece from the NY Daily News, which has turned fawning over this woman into a cottage industry. She seems to like dessert so much she sometimes even dresses up like a cake.

With all the incredible chefs and bakers in the presidential kitchen, what's Michelle Obama's secret to not gaining the White House 15? Moderation.

"I try to have no absolute no's," admits the 45-year old First Lady in the November issue of Prevention Magazine. "I love French fries, I like a good burger, and I like pie. And that's okay. I would be depressed if I felt I could never eat the things that I love."

She adopts the same policy when it comes to her children, Sasha and Malia.

"I also don't want my girls to be obsessed about food," she says. "We don't have a 'no junk food' rule – I just want them to think about their choices. When my older daughter asks, 'Can I have pie?' I'll say, 'Did you have it yesterday? Well, what do you think?' And she'll come to the conclusion that, 'You know, you're right, I shouldn't eat pie every night.'"

It's a lesson Obama has learned well, saying that in recent years, she's actually in better shape than ever before.

Really? You couldn't tell that from any recent photos. This one from last week, for example.

But according to the NYDN, she's up at 4:30 in the morning going through "grueling" workouts.

Sure.

But now that she's settled into her new routine, Mrs. O is back on track with her exercise.

She commits to a no-nonsense workout plan that involves 4:30 am workout sessions, which range from Pilates to cardio to weight training.

The grueling workout is worth it, when the world is watching her every move and muscle. Especially her biceps.

"I enjoy arm exercises because you can see what it's hitting," she says.

Naturally to accompany this drivel they give us yet another airbrushed magazine cover. I was getting worried about her under-exposure since I hadn't seen her or her husband on a magazine cover for three minutes.

Pregnant At Twelve and Missing

"They're nice respectful children, and their parents seem good"

That is what a neighbor of a family, now gone missing in North Carolina, that includes a 12 year old pregnant girl, her 11 year old sister and their adoptive father says.

Just when I think I have seen or heard it all something like this comes along that leaves me sitting bewildered at the human condition. I guess what got me the most was how most people in this interview, including the reporter seemed to gloss over the pregnant 12 year old. Sure the reporter mentions that there might be some health issues. 'Ya think?


Maybe another reason Roman Polanski is fighting extradition.

More Astonishment From Palin's Uterine Stalker

When last heard from, Andrew Sullivan was trying to finagle out his marijuana bust on Cape Cod. That provided enough amusement. Now the deranged former "conservative" with the very unhealthy obsession over Sarah Palin is shocked -- shocked! -- Mrs. Palin managed to churn out a 400-page book in a scant four months. I think his problem is it will be a huge bestseller, far outpacing anything he could ever dream of.

Someone in her position with a decent sense of perspective and self-knowledge might have said no to John McCain in August of 2008. Or taken the pick as an opportunity to get boned up on policy.

Boned up? Seems a rather odd choice of words for Sullivan.

But why the rush? It couldn't be that she's trying to beat any other account of her bizarre career and surreal private life, could it?

Let me guess. Is Sullivan planning a book compilation chronicling the past year's bizarre, incoherent ramblings about Trig Palin? You know, the insane, pathological obsession that has reduced him to a punchline?

Who knows? Yet what seems to horrify Mr. Raw Muscle Glutes is Palin's ghostwriter is -- horror of horrors! -- a Christian! Imagine that, a Christian author. Rather nefarious, don't you think?.

Just as Palin was relatively unknown when McCain tapped her as his running mate, Vincent hardly is a household name.

For the past 10 years, she has been working for Christian-based World Magazine, from which she took leave to work full time with Palin.

Like so many before her, Vincent settled in San Diego after a Navy career brought her here. From 1986 to 1989, she was stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station as an air traffic controller and later at North Island Naval Air Station before retiring in 1991. Vincent's husband, Danny, who also was in the Navy, still works in air traffic control at North Island.

When Vincent, 47, was chosen as ghostwriter, the liberal online Huffington Post focused on an earlier book of hers that was critical of the Democratic Party. Vincent is clearly uncomfortable with political pigeonholing and points to her books involving Christian pop singer Michael English, former terrorist Kamal Saleem and Delta Force leader Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin.

The best-known of her collaborations, however, is about a millionaire art dealer whose life changed after he befriended a homeless drifter. “Same Kind of Different as Me” has sold more than 560,000 copies. It has spent 75 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list, raised millions of dollars for homeless shelters and grabbed Hollywood's attention.

Movie rights were picked up by Mark Clayman, executive producer of “The Pursuit of Happyness.” He is working with Ralph Winter (of “X-Men” fame).

Whatever the case, these upcoming 400 page probably give new meaning to Sullivan's pathetic existence. Look at all the fresh material there will be for him to obsess over.

Maybe when he's done with that he can check up on who the ghostwriter for Barack Obama's books were.

Law School Grad Turned Hooker Sentenced for Tax Evasion

Hookers and tax problems? Why do I keep thinking a visit to her local ACORN office could have helped this young lady out?

Law school comes in handy when trying to evade taxes as a call girl, or at least that’s what one Stanford graduate seemed to think.

Cristina Warthen - a 2001 Stanford Law School graduate - was sentenced Monday on a federal tax conviction related to her upscale call-girl business, according to a report from Mercury News.

Warthen pleaded guilty for failing to pay taxes on nearly $133,000 earned in '03 during her high-end prostitution days as a touring escort named Brazil. She serviced clients throughout the nation in various cities, including New York, Chicago and Washington.

The jet-setting Warthen, previously Christina Shultz, sold herself on a racy Web site called TouchofBrazil.net in hopes to pay for law school.

In a plea deal with the government, Warthen has been fitted with an electronic monitoring device while sentenced to one year of home detention, as well as three years' probation.

Warthen is also responsible for paying $243,000 to the government, a mercy offer by prosecutors after Warthen demonstrated she could not afford the original amount of $313,000. Her recent divorce from David Warthen – co-founder of online search engine Ask.com – has left her broke and unemployed.

The once-wealthy Web entrepreneur lost his fortune and his wife after the stock market collapsed. According to the report, he filed for divorce this year citing "irreconcilable differences."

Hillary Bagman Gets 24 Years

Mrs. Clinton was unavailable for comment. Off practicing smart diplomacy or something.

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu to more than 24 years in prison for illegally funneling tens of thousands of dollars to U.S. political candidates and for his role in a Ponzi scheme.

The sentence of 292 months in prison, handed down in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Judge Victor Marrero, was less than the 30 years that the prosecution had requested.

Before Judge Marrero announced the sentence, Mr. Hsu quietly told him: "I know apologizing will not make things better for anyone, but I would still like to apologize to your Honor, and to everyone else."

Federal prosecutors said the apology was meaningless, arguing that Mr. Hsu wasn't as cooperative as he could have been.

Mr. Hsu's attorney, Alan Seidler, said his client wasn't surprised by the sentence. Mr. Seidler says his client intends to appeal, as Mr. Hsu disputes the amount of money lost to investors on which the sentence was calculated. Prosecutors have said that investors, collectively, lost at least $20 million.

Mr. Hsu was convicted in May of illegally funneling tens of thousands of dollars to U.S. political candidates. Also in May, he pleaded guilty to charges related to a Ponzi scheme that prosecutors said raised at least $60 million and swindled investors out of at least $20 million.

Mr. Hsu rose from a relatively unknown businessman to a prominent fund-raiser who pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hillary Clinton and other politicians. However, that fund-raising proved to be his downfall after an August 2007 article in The Wall Street Journal raised questions about whether the contributions violated campaign-finance laws.

Prosecutors had alleged that Mr. Hsu pressured some investors in the Ponzi scheme between 2004 and 2007 to individually contribute thousands of dollars to candidates for president and Congress whom Mr. Hsu supported. Mr. Hsu illegally reimbursed some investors for making those contributions, skirting campaign-finance laws, prosecutors said.

In 2007, Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign agreed to return $850,000 in funds raised through Mr. Hsu. During the May trial, the government introduced a voice-mail message of support to Mr. Hsu left by Mrs. Clinton. "What am I going to do with you, Norman? You are working so hard for me," Mrs. Clinton said. "I just don't even know what to say anymore. I've never seen anybody who has been more loyal and more effective and really just having greater success supporting someone than you."

Most other politicians with so cozy a relationship to criminals such as Hsu would have been hounded from office and permanently disgraced.

She got rewarded by becoming Secretary of State. Can youimagine a Republican getting away with that?

Neither can I.

Appeals Court Tosses Rather's Suit Against CBS

The disgraced former CBS news anchor has finally been given the heave-ho by an appeals court today. Hopefully now he'll slither off into obscurity.

Bad news for Dan Rather: His $70 million lawsuit against CBS is no more.

In a 19-page decision made public Tuesday, a state appeals court dismissed the legendary newsman's suit against CBS.

Rather, 77, sued the Tiffany network in 2007 after his career at CBS collapsed in the wake of a "60 Minutes II" report about former President George W.Bush's Vietnam-era military service.

The folksy newsman accused CBS executives of caving to Republican interests, coercing him into a public apology after the controversial report aired in September 2004.

The report claimed "high-level political influence" kept Bush out of combat by securing him a cushy spot in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.

As recently as Sept. 21, lawyers for Rather said he would be vindicated and that Bush's military service would be proven to be a sham.

Rather is fortunate he and his odious producer, Mary Mapes, were never prosecuted for their perfidy.

Oddly enough, Rather still manages to draw a paycheck today from the obscure HDNet, owned by Mark Cuban.

Chia Obama Back on the Shelves

Obviously there's such a great demand for all things Obama.

Chia Obama is back.

CVS stores have started selling the controversial Barack Obama Chia pottery plant kits that Walgreens dropped last April amid protests.

Now, Joseph Enterprises Inc. is prepping to move the 500,000 kits that it had stored in four Chicago-area warehouses since Walgreens bailed and other retailers decided to stay away.

"Everybody was afraid that it might be considered racist," said Joseph Pedott, president of the San Francisco-based company.

I can understand that since, well, everything is raaaaacist. Although how a bust of Obama with green foliage on its head is racist is anyone's guess.

Pedott, a Chicago native, said he was inspired to create the Obama figure, which sprouts foliage in the space where an Afro would be, to honor the nation's 44th president.

Turns out, Obama's a fan.

"I presented it to him [at a reception after his commencement address at Notre Dame], and he said, 'Gee, I've got green hair,'" said Pedott, who also provided heads for first daughters Malia and Sasha Obama. "Everybody laughed. I was on Cloud Nine."

NSF: National Sex Foundation

Nice to see our tax money being put to such, uh, good use.

Employee misconduct investigations, often involving workers accessing pornography from their government computers, grew sixfold last year inside the taxpayer-funded foundation that doles out billions of dollars of scientific research grants, according to budget documents and other records obtained by The Washington Times.

The problems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) were so pervasive they swamped the agency's inspector general and forced the internal watchdog to cut back on its primary mission of investigating grant fraud and recovering misspent tax dollars.

"To manage this dramatic increase without an increase in staff required us to significantly reduce our efforts to investigate grant fraud," the inspector general recently told Congress in a budget request. "We anticipate a significant decline in investigative recoveries and prosecutions in coming years as a direct result."

The budget request doesn't state the nature or number of the misconduct cases, but records obtained by The Times through the Freedom of Information Act laid bare the extent of the well-publicized porn problem inside the government-backed foundation.

For instance, one senior executive spent at least 331 days looking at pornography on his government computer and chatting online with nude or partially clad women without being detected, the records show.

When finally caught, the NSF official retired. He even offered, among other explanations, a humanitarian defense, suggesting that he frequented the porn sites to provide a living to the poor overseas women. Investigators put the cost to taxpayers of the senior official's porn surfing at between $13,800 and about $58,000.

"He explained that these young women are from poor countries and need to make money to help their parents and this site helps them do that," investigators wrote in a memo.

The independent foundation, funded by taxpayers to the tune of $6 billion in 2008, is tasked with handing out scientific grants to colleges, universities and research institutions nationwide. The projects it funds ranges from mapping the genome of the potato to exploring outer space with powerful new telescopes. It has a total of 1,200 career employees.

This is all very important research, apparently.

Another employee in a different case was caught with hundreds of pictures, videos and even PowerPoint slide shows containing pornography. Asked by an investigator whether he had completed any government work on a day when a significant amount of pornography was downloaded, the employee responded, "Um, I can't remember," according to records.

The employee also said that friends sent him the pornographic files, that he never planned on viewing them and that he never got around to deleting the files, a claim one official later called "simply not believable."

Suspended for 10 days, the employee unsuccessfully appealed the decision after arguing that it was too harsh. Other employees were terminated.

Another employee who stored nude images of herself on her computer told investigators she mistakenly had downloaded the pictures. She received counseling and was told to adhere to the foundation's policies on computer use.

They were all later disciplined by voluntary spanking, I guess.

'I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman ... Because She Wouldn't Let Me'

You can already hear the excuses coming from Bill Clinton in reaction to this book.

Monica Lewinsky may not always have been the intern most likely to succeed when it came to catching Bubba's wandering eye in the White House.

So says former political staffer Stacy Parker Aab, who claims she had her own close call, sexually, with the President in the new HarperCollins book "Government Girl: Young and Female in the White House," slated for a January release.

During a trip to Okinawa, Japan, for the G8 Summit in 2000, Parker Aab, who was then 26, claims Bill Clinton summoned her to his hotel room, escorted her onto the balcony and gave her a hug that she says lingered just a little too long to be paternal. As the only girl in a boys’ club, the young aide writes that she was terrified of where the hug might lead, but managed to maintain her composure as Clinton said he’d always admired her.

Bubba wasn’t the only reportedly touchy-feely guy Parker Aab encountered in the White House. She insists that Clinton pal and adviser Vernon Jordan kissed her not once but twice while he was married.

The author saw Jordan — who famously and controversially helped the disgraced Lewinsky when she left the White House — as a mentor, and was only too happy to accept his offer of a dinner date.

They dined at an expensive restaurant in the Georgetown area, and when it was time to say goodnight, Parker Aab claims Jordan gave her a kiss on the lips. He repeated the move at a later date, while also inappropriately telling her she should always wear pantyhose, she says.

In the memoir, Parker Aab says she did nothing to garner such attention by her male superiors.

Other women, though, were not so demure when it came to crushing on the commander-in-chief. Parker Aab writes that Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg’s wife, was not immune to Clinton’s allure.

She recounts a visit to the Spielbergs’ Hamptons home on Georgica Pond, when Capshaw decided to greet the presidential motorcade in her bathing suit.

Shocked that no one seemed to mind the fashion faux pas but herself, Parker Aab writes: “To [Hillary] Clinton, Ms. Capshaw might have just been another woman showing off her best bits to the President. Mrs. Clinton had seen this scene before."

Aab was once an assistant to The Forehead, Paul Begala. It will be interesting to see the reaction from Begala and the rest of the Clinton apologists.

Unintended Consequences of Demonizing Banks

Looks like the efforts by Democrats to demonize the banks and limit executive pay is having unintended consequences.

Citigroup Inc.,Bank of America Corp. and smaller banks struggling to attract talent and regain ground on stronger peers may face a new obstacle resulting from the global push to rein in executive pay.

Group of 20 standards barring bonus guarantees for more than one year and requiring deferred pay for top executives would take recruitment tools away from banks already burdened by diminished share prices and damaged reputations, some recruiters said. The plan adopted at last week’s G-20 summit may benefit Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, which have been quicker to repay government aid.

“Limiting guarantees to one year could hurt banks like Citigroup and Bank of America by putting them at another disadvantage in hiring,” said Colleen Westbrook, a partner with Morrison Cohen LLP in New York and a former counsel at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The reality is that banking is a competitive business. Being able to attract, develop and retain talent is a key element to being successful. Talented employees are going to move to where their income is maximized. It just stands to reason that when there are pay caps put on some of those banks, the talent drain will be noticeable.

Of course, the left will see this as justification to cap all pay levels. All that will do is drive the top talent overseas to uncapped countries and damage the U.S. banking system even further.

This administration is slowly turning the U.S. banking industry into a government bureau office.

The Only Battles He Will Fight

"It's a battle — we're going to win — take no prisoners," Mrs. Obama said with a smile at a roundtable discussion with reporters in the White House State Dining Room.

She wasn't talking about Afghanistan, but rather her efforts to get Chicago named as the host city for the 2016 Olympics.

The slogans just write themselves.

"Come for the games, stay for the corruption"

I wonder if Al Capone will be the official mascot?

With Chicago being the union stronghold that it is, there is no way they can build the venues, support the events, and provide the massive infrastructure needed to support the worldwide media without driving the entire state of Illinois into a state of debt only witnessed in California.

The Obama's are traveling to Copenhagen, on your dime, to lobby the International Olympic Committee to name Chicago as the host city. They are in competition with several other cities including Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.

This of course means that Barack Obama will have the same number of meetings with the IOC as he has had with the general in charge of operations in Afghanistan, but priorities have to be set.

There is good news/bad news with the timing. At the rate Obama is going he will be a one term president, but that makes him eligible to be in charge of whole show in 2016.

In keeping with his usual modus operandi, he is also turning a deaf ear to the folks back home that aren't exactly clamoring for the Olympics.

'Obama is Following Marxist Theory'

Here's one celebrity who'll soon be finding himself disinvited to Hollywood soirees.

Williams, a lifelong Republican whose hits include Moon River and Music To Watch Girls By, told the Radio Times he thought Mr Obama wanted to turn the US into a "socialist country".

The 81-year-old was a friend of the Kennedy family during the 1960s and was present at the Los Angeles rally where Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.

"I was very close to Bobby and he asked me to be a delegate for him when he ran for president," he said.

"He knew about me being a Republican, but just laughed and said, 'Sign yourself in as a Democrat and then change back afterwards'. Sadly, I never got to do that.

"I was very close to Teddy Kennedy, too, and his death recently brought it all back. What a tragedy. Had he lived, I think Bobby would have been a great president."

But Williams had a less favourable opinion of the current president.

"Don't like him at all," he said, "I think he wants to create a socialist country. The people he associates with are very Left-wing. One is registered as a Communist.

"Obama is following Marxist theory. He's taken over the banks and the car industry. He wants the country to fail."

Obama Makes Appearance at Strip Club

Well, not Obama himself, but a certain famous image of him. Naturally, it's raaaaacist!

About three dozen people attended a lunchtime protest today outside a downtown Richmond strip club that has a new banner depicting President Barack Obama as the Joker of “Batman” movie fame.

Virginia NAACP Executive Director King Salim Khalfani told the protesters that his group arranged the protest because it took offense to “the abomination that’s on the wall behind us.“

The poster, unfurled over the weekend from the roof of Club Velvet at 15th and East Main streets, is about 8 feet wide by 10 feet tall. Looming over the busy intersection, the poster shows Obama’s face superimposed over that of Heath Ledger, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the Joker in the Batman sequel “The Dark Knight.“

Obama’s face on the poster has the same eye black and smeared red lipstick that Ledger made famous in the movie. Below Obama’s face is the word “socialism” in large, black, bold letters.

Club owner Samuel J.T. Moore III declined to be interviewed but released a statement saying he put up the poster as part of his constitutional right to free speech.

Moore, who identified himself as a Libertarian, said he was unhappy with the direction of Obama’s eight-month-old administration, particularly on financial issues.

“This country is going to hell in a handbag,“ Moore said, “and the current administration is making things irreversibly worse.“

Hell in a handbag?

Seems like Moore has more things to worry about that the NAACP and the country going to hell in a handbag.

Moore’s club is awaiting a state Alcoholic Beverage Control hearing on alleged violations. Earlier this year Moore was convicted of three misdemeanor charges related to having sex with a minor and another woman at his apartment in the club, and filming it illegally.

Another Case Of (Reverse) Discrimination In Dixie

In honor of William Safire let's call it what it is, discrimination. There is no such thing as reverse discrimination. What is surprising is that a jury found for the plaintiff in this case, and now the city of College Park, GA is on the hook for about $1 million dollars in legal fees.

Drink Up

Young women in dirndl dresses drink beer at the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich Germany. The world famous Oktoberfest takes place from September 19 to October 4, 2009 and is with over six million visitors the world's largest folk festival. Lang/Getty Images

I really need to get over to Germany one of these years. You did notice they were drinking beer, right?

'I Only Ate Some Weed, Officer'

Kids these days are really getting dumber. Don't they even realize you're supposed to smoke the weed?

An 18-year-old Sheboygan woman is facing charges after authorities say she tried to eat marijuana as an officer pulled over the car she was riding in.

Jamie L. Salonen, of 2210 N. 20th St., was charged Friday with misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony bail jumping, the latter charge because having the drug would violate her cash bond on a pending felony marijuana charge. She could face up to three years and six months behind bars, if convicted on both counts.

According to a criminal complaint:

Salonen was a passenger in a car that was pulled over Friday in Sheboygan by a Wisconsin state trooper. The trooper stopped the car after seeing the occupants were not wearing seatbelts, but grew more suspicious after seeing Salonen move around inside.

The trooper came to the door and saw her holding a small bag in her hand that is commonly used to store illegal drugs.

Noting the woman's responses were muffled and she had green material around her mouth and lips, the trooper had Salonen open her mouth, revealing apparent marijuana as well as unknown red and blue pieces inside. There was also marijuana strewn about the passenger side of the car.

Asked why she had marijuana in her mouth, Salonen said she saw it on the floor and then picked it up and ate it. She was described as very emotional and surprised that she was being arrested for the small amount of marijuana.

"I only ate some weed, officer," Salonen said, according to the complaint.

'This Cat Was Just Dazed'

What on earth is wrong with people? Stuffing a cat into a bong?

A man who tried to cool out his hyper cat by stuffing her into a boxlike homemade bong faces cruelty charges — and catcalls from animal lovers.

Lancaster County sheriff’s deputies responding to a domestic disturbance call Sunday alleged they saw 20-year-old Acea Schomaker smoking marijuana through a piece of garden hose attached to a duct-taped, plastic glass box in which the cat had been stuffed.

“This cat was just dazed,“ Sgt. Andy Stebbing said. “She was on the front seat of the cop car, wrapped in a blanket, and never moved all the way to the humane society.“

Schomaker told deputies 6-month-old Shadow was hyper and he was trying to calm her down. The contraption she had been stuffed inside was 12 inches by 6 inches. Shadow was timid but in good condition Monday at the Capital Humane Society, executive director Bob Downey said.

“What the human mind doesn’t invent, huh?“ Downey said.

Major Benefactor Dumps ACORN

Well, it's looking like the much despised banks have more morals than ACORN.

Bank of America has suspended its current commitments to ACORN Housing, an affiliate of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a scandal-hit U.S. liberal grassroots group, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.

The banking company "will not enter into any further agreements with ACORN or any of its affiliates," pending assessments of the organization's operations, the paper quoted a Bank of America spokesman as saying.

ACORN Housing has worked with Bank of America and other large banks on foreclosure-prevention efforts, the Journal said.

You know, this has a delicious irony to it. The banking industry has been demonized by the Democrats for quite a while now, based on some of the banks getting out of control with lending practices. Nowthe Democrats own thinly disguised front operation is getting hammered for what the Democrats claim are the misdeeds of a handful of employees.

So when the Democrats (and their PR arm--the mainstream media) are trying to ruin somebody, their position is that evidence of corruption by a subset is ample reason to hammer on the whole. But when it is their own front operation, they fall back on the "it's the misdeeds of a few" argument.

Which is it, Democrats? Remember, it was not all that long ago that they were trying to pass off the ACORN situation as a smear campaign by FOX news.

Maybe Soros can step in with his checkbook and fund this ACORN for the Democrats too.

Unions Bankrupt Another City

Atlanta is facing yet further financial woes due to the hefty pension plans they approved for it's employees including police and firefighters. You have to read way down in the story to discover that these are all union employees.

I knew it from living around here, but I was curious if the newspaper would disclose it. In a portion of the country that has very few unions, government workers are the one group that are. It is also another example of how governments exempt themselves from the laws they pass and impose on the rest of us.

Atlanta city workers do not pay into Social Security, since the law that created Social Security allowed local governments to opt out of the plan.

The part that really got my attention however was this nugget.

One sergeant, who recently retired at age 56 with 27.5 years on the force, is now getting $61,000 annually. When he dies, his spouse will get the checks — 75 percent of his pay — until she dies.

It is just another case of boy did I choose the wrong profession. For comparison I retired from the Army after 22 years. My retired pay is about 1/5 of his. My question is, how much money was he making when he was working?

There are a number reasons cited in the article as to why paying these pensions, which now amounts to about 17% of the city's operating budget, but the biggest one seems to be that the unions moved in election years to get their increases, and politicians being the spineless single cell organisms that they are approved them to ensure votes.

Rick Anderson, [Mayor]Franklin’s former CFO, now retired in Florida, said via e-mail that the City Council “caved in to pressure from employee unions in an election year [both 2001 and 2005 had city elections] ... In the final analysis, no one had the gumption to just say ‘No’ to what employees wanted.

”
You know you don't have to ask, but I figured Iw ould tell you anyway, yes like most major metropolitian cities Atlanta has been under Democratic rule for decades. Wake up and smell the coffee people.

'Dead Meat' Dave: 'I Think the Governor Will Decide That He's Not Going to Run'

The writing on the wall could not be any more obvious for the accidental governor.

ONE of the state's most prominent Democrats predicted yes terday that Gov. Paterson will resign before his term ends next year -- for a higher-paying job with a brighter future.

The Democrat, who has frequent contact with the governor, said he expected newly legitimized Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch to succeed the beleaguered Paterson, perhaps as soon as early spring.

"I think the governor will decide that he's not going to run," said the Democrat, citing the crushing impact of President Obama's action last week signaling that he wanted someone other than Paterson to campaign for governor next year.

"I think he's going to look around, find himself something he would like to do, and when he does, I think he'll leave," said the Democrat, who has ties to the White House.

Several Democrats said last week that Paterson, a Columbia University and Hofstra Law School graduate who flunked the bar exam, has spoken to friends about an academic "think tank" position or a high-level federal or private-sector job.

The prominent Democrat -- who is not close to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a likely gubernatorial contender -- dismissed any notion that Paterson could recover from Obama's snub.

Things look so grim for Paterson that high-level Democrats were using such words and expressions as "finished," "dead meat," and "not among the political living" to describe the governor by week's end.

Some close to Paterson insisted the governor was "in denial," to use the words of one, and his bizarre claim yesterday on "Meet the Press" that the president hadn't told him to get out appeared to bear that out.

"It was a pathetic performance; it's like he's not willing to face the fact that he's finished," said a longtime Paterson backer.

Seems to me a perfect spot for Paterson would be as point man to "investigate" ACORN. Only a blind man couldn't see what's obvious to the rest of us.

Unless, of course, you work for the New York Times.

Paterson, meanwhile, continues to live in denial.

A beleaguered Gov. Paterson defied President Obama on national TV yesterday, insisting that New Yorkers "are the ones who should choose their governor."

In a nine-minute interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," he said the White House never gave him an "explicit indication" that he should drop out of the 2010 race for governor, although he admitted the administration had relayed concerns about his prospects.

"I'm blind, but I'm not oblivious," said Paterson, who is legally blind. "I realize that there are people that don't want me to run, but I have never gotten an explicit indication authorized from the White House that I shouldn't run."

Really? Does he not feel any ill efefcts from that bus running over him last week?

Either way, New Yorkers, be prepared to soon utter these words: Governor Ravitch.

'In Politics, You Have to Stand Out'

What better way to stand out than raffling off an AK-47? You think Joe Wilson and Mark Sanford have brought enough attention to to South Carolina in recent months? Well, meet Dean Allen. I can imagine more than a few mushy anti-gun types will be getting all wee-wee'd up over this.

They crowded into a shooting range on Poinsett Highway on a day when heavy rains might have kept them home, itching for a shot at winning an AK-47 rifle - or at least shoot something that spit out a lot of lead.

Approximately 500 people showed up Saturday, some paying $25 for barbecue and ammo to take target practice with the weapon of their choice. The sweepstakes for the assault rifle, the type used against U.S. troops in Vietnam, was included at no charge.

The event marked the kickoff of Dean Allen's candidacy for state adjutant general. Allen, 58, of Greenville, said the "machine gun social" was his way of celebrating the second amendment and showing solidarity against gun-rights opponents.

And he's hoping it might win him a few votes.

"In politics, you have to stand out," he said. "If you stand out in something, you're going to get a little more attention."

Many came up to Allen to express their support. Allen, dressed in a blue blazer, gray slacks and a red, white and blue tie, said he is an Army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam.

Lisa Flaugher of Pickens said she came to the event at the Allen Arms Indoor Shooting Range to support Allen and try to win the AK-47.

"I want the gun for target practice," she said.

The shooting range is owned by Frank Allen, who is not related to the candidate.

South Carolina is the only state that elects its adjutant general, who administers the Army and Air National Guard, the State Guard and the Emergency Management Division. Incumbent Adjutant General Stan Spears, a Republican, hasn't said whether he will seek another term.

Allen said he served six years in the State Guard, but resigned in April in case Spears does run. Allen didn't like the idea of running against his top commander, he said.

If anything, Allen has a dry sense of humor.

"I like to tell people I'm not the country club conservative, Allen said. "I'm the machine gun one."

I like this guy.

RIP, William Safire

One of the few bright lights from the New York Times in recent years has died. William Safire was a fantastic wordsmith and former speechwriter during the Nixon administration famous for coining many lines, including the famed "nattering nabobs of negativism" used by the then embattled Vice President Spiro Agnew.

Report here.

William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. on Sunday. He was 79.

The cause was cancer, said his assistant, Rosemary Shields.

There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: there was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”

He was a college dropout and proud of it, a public relations go-getter who set up the famous Nixon-Khrushchev “kitchen debate” in Moscow, and a White House wordsmith in the tumultuous era of war in Vietnam, Nixon’s visit to China and the gathering storm of the Watergate scandal that drove the president from office.

Then, from 1973 to 2005, Mr. Safire wrote his twice weekly “Essay” for the Op-Ed Page of The Times, a forceful conservative voice in the liberal chorus. Unlike most Washington columnists who offer judgments with Olympian detachment, Mr. Safire was a pugnacious contrarian who did much of his own reporting, called people liars in print and laced his opinions with outrageous wordplay.

Critics initially dismissed him as an apologist for the disgraced Nixon coterie. But he won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and for 32 years tenaciously attacked and defended foreign and domestic policies, and the foibles, of seven administrations. Along the way, he incurred enmity and admiration, and made a lot of powerful people squirm.

A gem of a speech Safire authored is one I read at the Nixon Library and was never delivered.

As Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon on July 21, 1969, his immortal words "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" became synonymous with the scale of the achievement.

However, in the event that astronauts Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin been stranded on the Moon, Nixon would have delivered a far more chilling address to the nation.

After calling their widows, he would have told the watching millions: "Fate has ordained that the men who went to the Moon to explore in peace will stay on the Moon to rest in peace.

"These brave men know there is no hope for their recovery but they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

"These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

"They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

"In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man."

The words are contained in a typed document entitled "In the event of Moon disaster" which was consigned to an archive until now – almost 40 years since the historic mission.

It is dated July 18, 1969 – two days before the landing was due – and was prepared by Nixon's speech writer, Bill Safire, and sent to White House chief of staff Harry Haldeman.

However, following the success of the mission, it was laid aside in Nixon's private papers in America's national archives.

Journalism has lost a giant today.

Rest in peace, Mr. Safire.

'We Will Not be Hearing From Any Pimps or Prostitutes Today'

Well, maybe not the fake prostitute who've gotten them into their current mess, but the political prostitutes were out by the, um, dozens to support the criminal syndicate known as ACORN yesterday in Philadelphia. What an outpouring of support.

About 60 members and supporters of the community-action group ACORN gathered at a North Philadelphia church yesterday to sing the praises of the beleaguered organization.

"There are two ACORNs out there," said Ian Phillips, ACORN's Pennsylvania legislative director and one of the organizers of the event.

"We wanted to talk about the ACORN that people who live in the community know."

The 90-minute session, at the House of Prayer Episcopal Church on Limekiln Pike, was part pep rally, part revival meeting.

Speakers included State Rep. Mark Cohen, retired city labor leader Tom Cronin, city Consumer Affairs Director Lance Haver, and nearly a dozen organizers and city residents who work for or have benefited from ACORN's action.

In the midst of praising the organization, several speakers took aim at the "right-wing conservative" critics who they say have launched a campaign to smear ACORN.

"We will not be hearing from any pimps or prostitutes today," said ACORN's Junette Marcano, who served as moderator at the session.

Marcano was referring to the controversy around the organization after an independent filmmaker and a female companion posed as a pimp and a prostitute and visited several ACORN offices around the country seeking assistance to set up a brothel that they said would use underage girls smuggled from Central America.

Secretly recorded videos of several of the meetings were made public this month and have become fodder for what ACORN supporters say is an attack by conservative media.

Some cheese to go with that whine?

"The right wing in this country is going after the poor," said the former president of one of the city workers' unions.

Cohen (D., Phila.) called the smear campaign "outrageous" and said "wherever there are needs that ordinary people have, ACORN is there to help."

Keep deluding yourselves, folks.

Meanwhile, ACORN's head thug is still whining like a stuck pig.

"They [Congress] did it because Fox News and the right-wing smear machine told them to do it," she wrote.

In a statement to The Post Friday, Lewis defended her aggressive stance and said she remained fully committed to reforming the organization.

"But that doesn't mean we're prepared to stand by silently while the right wing exploits this situation to score political points," she added.

In a real howler today, the ombudsman for the antique media relic New York Times today points out the obvious: His paper wasn't just slow to cover this scandal, it was completely derelict in its duties because they were protecting one of the left's sacred cows.

But for days, as more videos were posted and government authorities rushed to distance themselves from Acorn, The Times stood still. Its slow reflexes — closely following its slow response to a controversy that forced the resignation of Van Jones, a White House adviser — suggested that it has trouble dealing with stories arising from the polemical world of talk radio, cable television and partisan blogs. Some stories, lacking facts, never catch fire. But others do, and a newspaper like The Times needs to be alert to them or wind up looking clueless or, worse, partisan itself.

Some editors told me they were not immediately aware of the Acorn videos on Fox, YouTube and a new conservative Web site called BigGovernment.com. When the Senate voted to cut off all federal funds to Acorn, there was not a word in the newspaper or on its Web site. When the New York City Council froze all its funding for Acorn and the Brooklyn district attorney opened a criminal investigation, there was still nothing.

Readers noticed. James Jeff Crocket of New Britain, Conn., spoke for many when he said he was sure he knew why the paper was silent: “protecting the progressive movement.”

Indeed they were. Which is why the NY Times has zero credibility.

Paranoia Runs Deep: Bill Clinton Whines About 'Vast Right-wing Conspiracy'

Waaaaah. They want him to fail!

Bill Clinton says a vast, right-wing conspiracy that once targeted him is now focusing on President Barack Obama.

The ex-president made the comment in a television interview when he was asked about one of the signature moments of the Monica Lewinsky affair over a decade ago. Back then, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton used the term "vast, right-wing conspiracy" to describe how her husband's political enemies were out to destroy his presidency.

Bill Clinton was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether the conspiracy is still there. He replied: "You bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically. But it's as virulent as it was."

Of course there wasn't any virelent hatred of George W. Bush for eight years, right?

Massive case of projection, Slick, and we're not buying it.

I'm shocked he didn't say it was raaaaacist.

More Time for Indoctrination: Obama Wants Schools Open Longer

I'm sure this will go over well with Obama's pals at the teacher's unions. On the upside for him, this will allow more time for kids to sing songs to their Dear Leader.

Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

"Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Fifth-grader Nakany Camara is of two minds. She likes the four-week summer program at her school, Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Nakany enjoys seeing her friends there and thinks summer school helped boost her grades from two Cs to the honor roll.

But she doesn't want a longer school day. "I would walk straight out the door," she said.

Domonique Toombs felt the same way when she learned she would stay for an extra three hours each day in sixth grade at Boston's Clarence R. Edwards Middle School.

"I was like, `Wow, are you serious?'" she said. "That's three more hours I won't be able to chill with my friends after school."

Her school is part of a 3-year-old state initiative to add 300 hours of school time in nearly two dozen schools. Early results are positive. Even reluctant Domonique, who just started ninth grade, feels differently now. "I've learned a lot," she said.

Does Obama want every kid to do these things? School until dinnertime? Summer school? And what about the idea that kids today are overscheduled and need more time to play?

Here's a radical suggestion. How about all those days during the school year when schools are closed soe the unions can have conferences while still getting paid? Maybe the teachers can do that during the summer.

It's Love for Hugo

Don't they make a happy-looking couple?

Courtney Love is still floating on the charm offensive that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched at Wednesday's screening of Oliver Stone's new documentary, "South of the Border." The singer, who came dressed to thrill in a short zipper-front skirt, says she noticed the twice-divorced Chavez checking her out during a Q&A afterward.

"It was the third wink that sold me," Mrs. Kurt Cobain told us. "He's a sexy dawg. He invited me to visit his country and I'd like to go. I'll rock Caracas!"

I know Love has ingested enough drugs to last ten lifetimes, but Chavez is sexy?

Ugh.

The ebullient, espresso-sipping Chavez also had smooches and smiles for Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan. But, when we asked him about his feelings for Barack Obama, he admitted to mixed emotions.

Maybe they can all relocate to Venezuela.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Elizabeth Edwards Targets Rielle Hunter in Blog Comments?

You really have to pity Elizabeth Edwards. Terminally ill and married to a two-timing bum, it seems she's been reduced to anonymously trashing Rielle Hunter in comments left under a pseudonym on blogs.

For months now, Elizabeth, who is said to be talking to a divorce lawyer, also has been sniping at Hunter - painting her as a blackmailing gold digger - in blog comments where she uses the pseudonym "Cherubim," according to a source who knows Elizabeth.

Though "Cherubim" has recently described herself as an African-American woman, the source insists, "It's Elizabeth. She's used 'cherubim' as a password. Look at the gravestone of their son Wade: It's an angel holding a boy."

"Cherubim" has also heaped scorn on estranged Edwards aide Andrew Young, who is working on a book in which he's due to reveal that Edwards and wealthy supporters paid him to claim that he fathered Quinn.

Sure enough, 'Cherubim' did seem to get around. Here she is at the Huffington Post in May 2009.

Cherubim I'm a Fan of Cherubim I'm a fan of this user 19 fans permalink

By definition: Gold digger:
a woman who associates with or marries a man chiefly for material or monetary gain.

A gold digger by any other name would be Lisa Druke the Rielle (Real) Hunter.

Has the miner struck Gold ?
Cherubim I'm a Fan of Cherubim I'm a fan of this user 19 fans permalink

But, for Bill Clinton everything is just find.
Eh, Right.

Cherubim I'm a Fan of Cherubim I'm a fan of this user 19 fans permalink
As you all continue to discuss Lisa Druke's lastest pay day story from
the National Enquirer. I think you all should remember these important
facts:
John and Elizabeth Edwardsa have been married for 31 years.
They had four children together, three are living, and one, recently, died.
Elizabeth Edwards has stage 4 cancer.
Any decent human being would not have inserted herself
into their lives, and then sold stories about them to the National Enquierer
for monetary gain.
Lisa Druke, a.k.a. the Rielle (Real) Hunter fills me with disgust.
I hope someday to never hear anything about her again.

Here's 'Cherubim' at the Hollywood Gossip.

Cherubim Says:

March 5th, 2009 1:22 AM

I think the National Enquirer is desperate, and is using John Edwards stories to make money. The National Enquirer is disgusting.
Read about the financial state of
the National Enquirer here:

In 2008 'Cherubim' paid a visit to Death by 1000 Papercuts.

Cherubim said:
If this story is true, then one can only conclude that Rielle Hunter knows for a fact that Senator John Edwards is not the father of her child. This makes me happy for John and Elizabeth Edwards, their children ,and the American people whom John Edwards has, and I hope will continue to serve.
President-Elect Barack Obama has chosen, mostly, Wall Street promoters and corporate lawyers to be in his cabinet. He hasn’t included anyone who knows how to interact and relate with everyday American citizens, and then report back to him concerning: (1) what the people need, and (2) whether his administration’s new initiatives are working. During the Great Depression, Eleanor Roosevelt fulfilled this role for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. I nominate Senator John Edwards for this role. John Edwards would be a refreshing change. Is not change what Obama s supposed to be about? As a rival of Barack Obama, for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination, John Edwards, consistently spoke up for average Americans, i.e. Main Street, not Wall Street. During his “Road to One America Poverty Tour” John Edwards demonstrated that he is uniquely qualified for this role.
The video evidence follows (put the address in your address bar and click to see the video):

He has walked with and comforted people whose homes were being foreclosed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i_GWrYkcCI

Defined the “Great Moral Test of Our Generation”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS1×88ZmohM

He has visited workers employed in the new renewal energy economy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50yOR5bvMV0

John Edwards is, also, the only candidate for President that actually went down to New Orleans on several occasions and worked along side those striving to try to bring back the areas that remain so devastated from the effects of Hurricane Katrina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAqktFnA4nk&feature=PlayList&p=EB1EC8919DC5DC52&index=0

Yes, it's a safe bet to say this probably is Mrs. Edwards.

Check this Google search and check out how many times 'Cherubim' surfaced the past year or so. Seems Mrs. Edwards has been in deep denial.

Update: Welcome Gawker, NY Mag Daily Intel, Politico and Political Wire readers. Please note someone claiming to be Cherubim showed up and left comments today. While we don't assert this person is Elizabeth Edwards, note these claims for the original story are coming from someone who says they know her. We're just passing this along. If you have a beef, take it up with the Daily News and Andrew Young. It's not as if Mrs. Edwards was unfamiliar with blogs. After all, she was a Daily Kos poster some time ago. As I noted earlier, just do a little research and Google Cherubim and you'll see how many places this person made comments at.