Whining Nanny-Stater Mayor of NYC Now Running Gun Stings in Arizona

Seriously, who put this guy in charge of Arizona laws? In case he hasn't noticed, New York City is buried under mountains of snow and garbage. And he's got the resources to pull stings at Arizona gun shows?

The operation was conducted as part of the Bloomberg administration’s effort to crack down on illegal gun sales nationwide.

Bloomberg said the operation cost $100,000 and came out of the NYPD's budget.

Maybe Sheriff Joe Arpaio or Governor Jan Brewer can send some undercover police in to New York City and investigate why it took a week to dig out the outer boroughs after the December 26 blizzard. Or maybe infiltrate restaurants and find out some folks are sneaking too much salt with their lunch.

The governor defends the laws in her state.

"We believe our laws are fair and just in the state of Arizona,'' the governor said Monday.

Her comments come on the heels of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg releasing videos Monday taken by undercover agents at a Phoenix gun show just 15 days after the Tucson shootings. There, Arizona private investigators hired by New York City were able to purchase weapons not only without a background check but, at least twice, after admitting to sellers they probably would not pass.

Brewer said she had not seen the videos. Nor had she seen Bloomberg's comments.

But the governor said the laws are "something that the Legislature and I decide.''

Imagine that. You mean she doesn't report to King Bloomberg?

UK Immigration Officer Puts Wife on Terror Watch List So She Can't Fly Home

Some men will do anything to keep the wife away. For three years. Well, now this oddly unnamed for immigration officer is out of a job and a wife, one would assume. Until she returns to haunt him.

An immigration officer tried to rid himself of his wife by adding her name to a list of terrorist suspects.

He used his access to security databases to include his wife on a watch list of people banned from boarding flights into Britain because their presence in the country is 'not conducive to the public good'.

As a result the woman was unable for three years to return from Pakistan after travelling to the county to visit family.

The tampering went undetected until the immigration officer was selected for promotion and his wife name was found on the suspects' list during a vetting inquiry.

The Home Office confirmed today that the officer has been sacked for gross misconduct.

I can't be the only one thinking this guy has more than one wife. There could be some good sitcom material here.

Heh: Chinese 'Live Fire Exercise' Contains Scenes From 'Top Gun'

We shouldn't laugh too much at the Chinese for this. We might offend someone.

Via Pundit Press.

Man Arrested Outside Dearborn Mosque a Convert to Islam, Also Threatened to Kill George W. Bush

This story just keeps getting stranger. As we began unearthing details about Roger Stockham Sunday, it was clear the guy had a few screws loose. In the last update we had there were links to numerous news accounts from Stockham's past, including one reporting he was a convert to Islam. That's worth noting since some reaction was already becoming hysterical and he left was already making references to Glenn Beck and (for them) the usual suspects.

Now things become even murkier.

A decorated Army veteran accused of plotting to blow up a Metro Detroit mosque served time in federal prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush and bomb a Vermont veterans' clinic in 2002.

Roger Stockham, 63, who flew 600 combat helicopter missions in Vietnam, is behind bars in Michigan after he drove from his home in California last week and parked a car with a trunk full of explosives outside the Islamic Center of America, authorities said.

Acting on a tip, Dearborn police thwarted the alleged plot by arresting Stockham outside the sprawling religious center, one of the largest mosques in North America. At the time, 500 members were attending a funeral at the mosque.

Stockham had high-end fireworks outside the 70,000-square-foot mosque, which has a 150-foot dome height and 10-story-tall minarets, said Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly Jr.

"The kind that are illegal here and if used in a building would cause tremendous harm," O'Reilly said Sunday.

Stockham, who lives in Imperial Beach, Calif., is charged with one count of a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of explosives/possession of bombs with unlawful intent.

He is being held on a $500,000 cash bond. He will be in court Friday for a hearing on the charges before 19th District Judge Mark Somers.

Police said Stockham was in possession of class C fireworks, a 15-year felony. The terrorism charge carries a 20-year felony.

FBI special agent Sandra Berchtold confirmed Sunday the FBI is investigating the incident, which was referred to the federal agency by Dearborn police.

According to federal records, Stockham pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to federal charges stemming from the case in Vermont in 2004. That included threatening the president, mailing threatening communications, threatening by use of the telephone to use explosives, and threatening witnesses.

Curiously, Stockham used a Muslim name during some communications.

Before the arrest, Stockham called a local paper twice to say he was going to explode bombs in the neighborhood. In one call, he identified himself as "Hem Ahadin," saying he was "a local Muslim terrorist on a roll."

He ranted against the VA, the FBI and Bush, largely because of the things the president had said about Iraq in a speech earlier in the week.

According to affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Stockham threatened to carry out "jihad," or holy war, against the VA office in White River, Vt.

Ranting about Bush and the FBI? Heck, that makes him part of the mainstream left back in 2004, so obviously the incendiary rhetoric directed toward Bush by the Democrats caused him to make these threats? Right? Isn't that more evidence than anything linking the right to Jared Loughner?

It sure doesn't appear Stockham has renounced Islam.

Just two weeks ago, Stockham was on Facebook, posting a rambling statement in which he again refers to himself as "Hem Ahadin," calling it his Muslim name.

The leftist blogosphere has their talking points, however, and are sticking to them.

"We always hear about Muslims being terrorists, we always hear about Muslims attacking innocent person," Al-Qazwini said. "When America only talks about Muslims being terrorists, they will turn a blind eye on their own terrorists."

Uhh, but isn't "Hem Ahadin", the man who threatened George W. Bush, calling himself a Muslim?

Walid said that he thinks that anti-Muslim rhetoric played a role in the incident.

"I believe it is a mixture of the two, between a person being mentally unstable within a society context of a lot of anti-Muslim rhetoric floating around. People can be on the edge and when they're exposed to enough negative information about a group of people... it may be enough to push them over the edge," Walid said.

"We can't look into the mind of Jared Loughner, he obviously had some mental problems, but there's a particular type of rhetoric that was existing that may have contributed to what he did in Tucson," Walid said.

At Think Progress they make casual mention of the threat against Bush, but still revert to the typical blather about Islamophobia. Even when clear evidence shows them we have an isolated incident by a lone wacko who can clearly be linked to causes promoted by the left they still have to point fingers elsewhere.

Second Worst President Evah Weighs In On Egypt Mess

I know this will make all of us breathe a little easier. Former president Jimmy Carter is noted saying to his Sunday school class that the events in Egypt right now are the most troubling since he left office in 1981.

Former President Jimmy Carter says the political unrest and rioting in Egypt is an earth-shaking event and that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak probably will have to leave office.

Carter's remarks were made to the Sunday school class he teaches at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.

The former president, who brokered a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1978, called the unrest the most profound situation in the Middle East since he left office in 1981.

Hmmm, yeah I guess if you don't count the assassination of then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, which occurred after Carter left office. Mr Carter of course has been granted unofficial immunity from members of the press for many of the idiotic statements he makes. Carter did broker the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1978, which led to the assassination of Sadat and the elevation of Mubarak to president.

Billy's brother also is noted as saying that Mubarak had become too politically corrupt over his time in office. Yeah that is really going to help calm things down if it is picked up by the less savory characters participating in the protests in Egypt.

Psst, how many of ya'll knew that Ayam al-Zawahiri, Al Queda's second in command and the Blind Sheik Omar Rahman, who is currently in prison for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center were arrested, interrogated and subsequently released in connection with the assassination of Sadat.

Seems we keep coming back to the same cast of characters.

As far as being the most profound event in the Middle East since he left office, I guess so if you don't exclude Desert Storm, Hezbollah's growing influence in the region, and that nasty bit of business with the Iranian hostages who languished under your leadership but when that cowboy Reagan took office magically were released.

I guess in Jimmy's senile mind nothing has happened in the 30 something years since he held the reins of power on the other hand in a sense he is right since the Iranian Revolution, which did occur under his time in power is probably the worst thing to happen and has been the genesis for much of the trouble we are experiencing today.

Democrats 'Target' 19 GOP House Seats

Have the media learned nothing from the climate of hate, vitriol and incendiary rhetoric? I though the word "target" was supposedly forbidden of political dialogue in the wake of the Tucson shooting?

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pegged its first GOP targets of the 2012 cycle, launching radio and web ads in the districts of 19 House Republicans this week.

Democrats need to pick up 25 House seats to win back the majority in 2012.

It's the first media salvo of the cycle for the DCCC, predominantly targeting GOP freshmen in Democratic-leaning districts.

The ads hit the new Republican majority in the House for tunnel vision on spending cuts and backing "a partisan plan that costs jobs." Among the targets is Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.), who hails from a district that voted for President Obama in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.

I'm also concerned with the reckless use of the word salvo.

a. A simultaneous discharge of firearms.
b. The simultaneous release of a rack of bombs from an aircraft.
c. The projectiles or bombs thus released.

The harsh, war-like rhetoric continues.

Along with web and radio ads, which will start running during drive time Monday in the selected districts, the early media blitz will include robocalls and emails.

A blitz?

An overwhelming all-out attack, esp. a swift ground attack using armored units and air support.
b. an intensive aerial bombing.
2. any swift, vigorous attack, barrage, or defeat: a blitz of commercials every few minutes.

Can we get back to the new tone yet?

'ElBaradei Won't Do. He Doesn't Have the Experience Here and He's a Little Weak'

A little weak, indeed. Not to mention a craven opportunist and a stooge for the Iranians. Yet for some reason this tool is being foisted upon the world as possibly the next leader of Egypt, or at least a transitional figure. Be very leery.

Egyptians on the streets of Cairo said on Monday they had reservations about opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, who has offered to act as transitional leader to prepare Egypt for democratic elections.

ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), returned to Egypt on the eve of the protests which swept the country on Friday, when tens of thousands of people called for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the IAEA, ElBaradei and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday he had a mandate from opposition groups to make contact with the army and negotiate a government of national unity.

At least one opposition party, the Arab nationalist Karama Party of Hamdin Sabahi, has rejected ElBaradei outright as a transitional figure, saying he was trying to jump on the bandwagon of the popular uprising.

ElBaradei joined protesters at the hub of anti-Mubarak protests in central Cairo on Sunday.

ElBaradei, 68, began overt opposition to Mubarak on his return to Egypt in February 2010 and won a widespread following among the young and the middle classes.

But the Egyptian authorities harassed his supporters and ElBaradei lost much credibility through his long absences abroad. The official media tried to ridicule him, saying he knew nothing about Egypt and had no political experience.

Some elements of the government's campaign appear to have stuck. "ElBaradei won't do. He doesn't have the experience here and he's a little weak," said Khaled Ezzat, 34, an information technology engineer who had joined the evening vigil in Tahrir Square.

Omar Mahdi, a sales manager, said: "I'm not convinced by ElBaradei, even as a transitional figure, he hasn't really been present in the country."

Some of the protesters objected to ElBaradei on the grounds that he was too close to the United States, despite the frictions between him and the U.S. administration over the Iranian and Israeli nuclear programs when he was head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog body.

"ElBaradei's positions toward other Arab countries, and toward Iran and North Korea, were not neutral... So I don't find him very acceptable," said Walid Abdel-Mit'aal, 36, who works for a public sector company.

"He would follow Mubarak in the same policies and would take U.S. aid," he added, reflecting an anti-American strand which was largely absent in the first four days of protests.

ElBaradei's cosmopolitanism -- he lived abroad for years and speaks fluent English -- may be an advantage among some Egyptians but it is also a source of suspicion among others.

Hard to believe people are suspicious, huh?

Update: Need another reason to be leery of ElBaradei? He's gets a tongue-bath from Mike Lupica today. That should really worry anyone with a clue.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

'You Have Me Confused with John Boehner'

Nice to see the new tone firmly taking root on the left. In one corner you have a low-rated, unhinged MSNBC babblehead. In the other, the Speaker of the House. Not too hard to separate the two.

When Keith "Uberdork" Olbermann signed off at MSNBC last week, one of his colleagues burst into tears -- of joy. A network spy said Ed Schultz welled up with happy tears when he learned Olbermann was booted and that he'd be moved to the better 10 p.m. time slot as part of a resulting program shuffle. Schultz, who's known for random outbursts, such as when he yelled at staff, "I'm going to torch this [bleeping] place!" was told to ditch his "psycho-talk" segment in his new time. He said through an MSNBC rep, "You have me confused with John Boehner."

Speaking of Olberdork, we may finally have the reason for his precipitous slide into looneyland.

In the end, it wasn't Keith Olbermann's wacko politics, bipolar tantrums, or the Comcast takeover that set his MSNBC career on a collision course with an iceberg.

It was Ben Affleck.

A source formerly with the cable network said the end began in April 2009, when Rachel Maddow booked Hollywood's darling to appear on her show. Olbermann wanted the star for himself on "Countdown."

It was the first battle Keith didn't win.

"In protest, he refused to go on the air," said the ex-colleague.

It wasn't his first meltdown. A year and a half earlier, MSNBC had moved studios from the Jersey boonies to Rockefeller Center. When Olbermann discovered that his new office door had a built-in window, he went ballistic, phoning network President Phil Griffin and threatening to walk.

"I mean literally, Andrea. Over the door!" said the source. "Keith made such a fit about it. He was ugly and mean. But no one came to his defense.

"Part of me feels sorry for him. He can't blame alcoholism. That was just a normal thing for him to throw tantrums." The door was replaced.

But it begs the question: Can Keith Olbermann be saved? Or, like Norma Desmond, will he fade, screaming, into the sunset?

After he lost Affleck, Olbermann staged a three-day sickout. He later claimed that he vanished from the air to mourn his mother (and attend baseball games). But Olbermann's mom died nearly two weeks earlier, CityFile reported, and he didn't miss a day of work. Until Ben.

Last April, Olbermann went nuts when Donny Deutsch was hired as a guest host on MSNBC. He got Deutsch bumped.

"Donny was p- - -ed," said a source.

Shortly after that, Olbermann first proposed walking away from more than two years on his $7 million-a-year contract, as The Post reported. Then, just as suddenly, he stayed put. In November, he was suspended two days for making political contributions. But he never apologized. He truly believed he was being persecuted.

So earlier this month, when Olbermann again whined that he wasn't happy, MSNBC brass couldn't wait to be rid of him.

"He has no friends, nobody to go to," said one former pal. "He said, 'I can't take this! This is too much for me!' Well, guess what. Nobody cared."

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Great News: Tracy Morgan Escalates His Creepy Obsession With Palin

I'm sure the pinheads at the FAG SAG Awards roared hysterically as the obviously infatuated Tracy Morgan gets his jollies again. The suits at NBC must be so proud.

Tracy Morgan has gone rogue.

The comedian gave his second racy shout-out to Sarah Palin this week on Sunday night, when he stopped on the red carpet at the SAG Awards to chat with E! host Giuliana Rancic.

"Sarah Palin, you're the hottest MILF in the world!" Morgan shouted, referencing the raunchy acronym coined in the 1999 teen comedy "American Pie."

Morgan was winking at his own controversial comment on Thursday night, when he called the "Going Rogue" author and onetime Vice Presidential candidate "good masturbation material" in an on-air segment during an NBA broadcast for TNT.

He must be aching for a Facebook shoutout from Palin. I doubt he'll be getting one.

This is likely a career move for Morgan. The next job he loses he can just blame it on Palin.

Update: It's hard to believe that the use of "FAG" has to be explained, but for the clueless out there, here you go.



Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Four-Point Shot, the Hard Way: Kid Dunks Ball...and Self

Via the entire Internet by now, judging from the number of YouTube hits - but also Ace of Spades.

Cross-posted.

"If You're Eating Chick-fil-A, You're Eating Anti-Gay"

Bet you didn't even know that was possible.

ATLANTA — The Chick-fil-A sandwich — a hand-breaded chicken breast and a couple of pickles squished into a steamy, white buttered bun — is a staple of some Southern diets and a must-have for people who collect regional food experiences the way some people collect baseball cards.

New Yorkers have sprinted through the airport here to grab one between flights. College students returning home stop for one even before they say hello to their parents.

But never on Sunday, when the chain is closed.

Nicknamed “Jesus chicken” by jaded secular fans and embraced by Evangelical Christians, Chick-fil-A is among only a handful of large American companies with conservative religion built into its corporate ethos. But recently its ethos has run smack into the gay rights movement. A Pennsylvania outlet’s sponsorship of a February marriage seminar by one of that state’s most outspoken groups against homosexuality lit up gay blogs around the country. Students at some universities have also begun trying to get the chain removed from campuses.

“If you’re eating Chick-fil-A, you’re eating anti-gay,” one headline read. The issue spread into Christian media circles, too.

The outcry moved the company’s president, Dan T. Cathy, to post a video on the company’s Facebook fan page to “communicate from the heart that we serve and value all people and treat everyone with honor, dignity and respect,” said a company spokesman, Don Perry.

*****

Among some customers who are not religious, the outcry seems like overkill.

“I’m not a fan of Jesus at all, but I still go to Chick-fil-A maybe once a week,” said Tony Parker, 25, of San Antonio. “Your reason for not going to a fast-food place is bad customer service and poor food quality, not religion.”

But Douglas Quint, a concert bassoonist who operates The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck in New York during the summer, said he believed that people should make informed decisions about their food.

“It literally leaves a bad taste because I know the people who are putting this food in my mouth actively loathe me,” he said. “I’m all for freedom of religion, it’s just that I know where I want my money to go and I don’t want my money to go.”

Of course, there is no evidence that Chick-fil-A "actively loathes" gay people, and last time I checked its employees don't go around force-feeding Chick-n-Strips to homosexuals.

What's the problem here, again?

h/t: Mitrebox. Cross-posted.

Man Found With Fireworks Outside Dearborn Mosque, Charged With Terrorism Threat

The left will be connecting him to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin in 5 ... 4 ... 3...

A California man, accused of being in possession of explosive materials outside the Islamic Center of America on Ford Road, has been charged with making a terrorist threat.

Roger Stockham, 63, is charged with one count of a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of possession of bombs with unlawful intent. He is being held on a $500,000 cash bond.

Stockham, of California, will be in court on Friday Feb. 4 for a preliminary examination.

Police said Stockham was in possession of class C fireworks, a 15-year felony, when he was arrested Monday outside the center.

The terrorism charge is a 20-year felony.

The case is an ongoing investigation and police would not comment further.

Naturally, the unindicted terror co-conspirators from CAIR are already milking this. Brace for yet another wave of "Islamophobia" stories.

Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR's Michigan chapter, said he learned from police that the suspect had been drinking in a Detroit bar on Monday when he threatened to do harm to a mosque in Dearborn. A bar employee followed the man outside and wrote down his license plate and called Detroit police who in turned contacted authorities in Dearborn, Walid said.

Dearborn police began searching areas around mosques in the city and allegedly found Stockham inside his vehicle outside the Islamic Center of America, Walid said, with a load of M-80s in his trunk and other explosives.

Members of the Islamic Center of America were alerted to the threat during Friday's prayer service, Walid said.

"We thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident," Walid said. "The increased number of bias incidents targeting American Muslim institutions must be addressed by local, state and national officials and law enforcement authorities."

Of course, there are ten times more incidents perpetrated against Jews, but hey, why quibble with the facts?

For the record, class C are considered consumer fireworks. Can't say how much physical damage they would have caused or how much he had in his possession, but it sure as hell would have been noisy.



Update: Indeed, HuffPost commenters are already blaming Beck and tea partiers.

Probably another 'Bagger expressing his "freedoms" against supposed freedom haters.

Cute. Here's another.

Another Beck disciple likely.

These folks never learn, do they?

Update: This appears to be the man possessing fireworks of mass destruction. The VFW post is in Imperial Beach, CA.

Update: It's "ignorance" and "hate" that caused this, apparently.

Terrorist Threat At Local Mosque: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Update: This story has more.

"He's very dangerous," Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad told the Free Press. "We took his threat to be very serious."

Haddad said the man was previously known to law enforcement officials in other parts of the country.

"He's had a long history of being angry with the United States government," Haddad said.

Ironically, the Free Press has a column today urging that fireworks be made legal.

Very curious to see his name listed here. And here, from the wayback machine. A commenter at TPM cuts right to the chase.

Put Beck in prison

Shut down Fox News

Run Rupert Murdoch out of the country

Take away any license Roger Ailes may have that allows him in the business of using the airwaves for profit.

Update: Worth noting some of Stockham's criminal history. Check out the stories linked here. One says he converted to Islam decades ago.

Obama Appoints Aide to Reorganize Deck Chairs on Titanic

There will soon be high-speed rail and solar panels in every pot! Where would we be without such out-of-the-box thinking?

President Obama tapped an aide to lead a "reorganization" of the federal government, communications director Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday.

Obama named Jeffrey Zients, a former CEO of the Advisory Board Company who serves as the president's Chief Performance Office (CPO), to lead an effort to find efficiencies and decrease overlap.

"The fact is that we live and do business in the information age, but the last major reorganization of the government happened in the middle of the last century," Pfeiffer wrote on the White House blog. "Over the past few decades, there has not been a business or large organization that has not rethought, retooled, and revamped how they did their job to respond to a growing, more competitive global economy and an ever-changing technology landscape."

Pfieffer framed the new initiative as keeping with the president's State of the Union address, in which Obama emphasized the need to modernize the government through increased investments in education, technology and infrastructure.

It's funny, but nobody in Obama's back-pocket media seem to ask where all that stimulus spending on infrastructure went.

This guy will come back with a report recommending cutting ten bucks out of some government program and Obama will campaign in 2012 as running a lean, cost-cutting government. And the media dolts will parrot it.

VIDEO: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) Reports From Afghanistan

This has been out for a few days now but shouldn't be missed.

Obligatory snark: Let's hope a certain someone is taking notes.



h/t: Amanda Carpenter. Cross-posted.

Charles Schumer Continues Tackling the Important Issues

In his never-ending quest for Sunday television facetime, the unctuous Democrat keeps scraping the bottom of the barrel for ways to get himself some attention. This week's pressing issue? Why, bath salts, of course. This should go over well with his unwashed supporters.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York says he wants the federal government to ban new designer drugs known as bath salts that pack as much punch as cocaine or methamphetamines.

The small, inexpensive packets of powder are meant to be snorted for a hallucination-inducing high, but they are often marketed with a wink on the Internet or in convenience stores as bathing salts.

The Democratic senator is announcing a bill Sunday that would add those chemicals to the list of federally controlled substances. He is also pushing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ban the substance in the state.

New York Times: 'It is Our Aim to be Impartial in our Presentation of the News'

They must really believe this. I guess if you lie to yourself enough eventually you believe it.

The New York Times today offers what it calls the backstory on its publication of the stolen WikiLeaks documents. It includes the intriguing fact that the White House didn't try very hard to deter publication, but the report by executive editor Bill Keller mostly reads like house propaganda and a Pulitzer application.

There is a laugh-out-loud moment. It comes when Keller writes that "it is our aim to be impartial in our presentation of the news."

It's hard to imagine he believes that. Certainly nobody else does.

The upshot of Keller's piece, which appears in the magazine section and an e-book, is that you'll have to look elsewhere if you want truth or honest introspection. For that, I recommend "Gray Lady Down," a book that gives the backstory of what has gone wrong at the Times itself.

Author William McGowan has compiled a timely indictment of how the paper lost its way. He catalogs well-known mistakes and the cheerleading and other none-too-subtle ways it puts its thumb on the scales of key stories.

He shows how its news coverage of President Obama, gay marriage, immigration, the military, the Duke "rape" case, radicalized Muslims, the Ground Zero mosque, and the war on terror are riddled with omissions, distortions and biases.

McGowan blames "an insular group-think" for turning the paper "into a tattered symbol of liberal orthodoxy," adding, "How deeply compromised its principles have become are questions inextricably entwined with the Times' ideological commitments."

As someone forever grateful that the Times gave me my start, I read "Gray Lady Down" with anger and sadness. Great Times editors, led by the legendary Abe Rosenthal and Arthur Gelb, created a model of integrity and fairness for American newspapers.

But the golden age of standards is but a memory in today's Times. As a friend says, the paper is like a rebel from the 1960s that refuses to grow up.

Witness Keller's attempt to justify his ties to Julian Assange, the anti-American anarchist behind WikiLeaks. To convince readers he treated Assange like any other source, Keller repeats a reporter's churlish description of the cyber-outlaw: "He was alert but disheveled, like a bag lady walking in off the street, wearing a dingy, light-colored sport coat and cargo pants, dirty white shirt, beat-up sneakers and filthy white socks that collapsed around his ankles. He smelled as if he hadn't bathed in days."

But Keller is stuck with the fact that the Times was a partner with Assange and foreign newspapers in recklessly revealing American secrets about Iraq, Afghanistan and our diplomats around the globe. It negotiated both with the Obama administration and Assange. When the White House flagged materials it thought too dangerous to publish, the Times gave that information to WikiLeaks -- in effect, flagging it for someone eager to damage America.

Read the rest. Don't forget their endless series of leaks during the Bush 43 administration either. They're bend over to accommodate Obama but basically gave the finger to Bush every time they could.

New Ground Zero Mosque Imam: Gays are Like Animals or Something

I can't wait to see the Ground Zero Mosque's number one supporter, Mikey Bloomberg, come out and explain this one away. Ought to be quite amusing.

The new imam at the Ground Zero mosque and cultural center believes people who are gay were probably abused as children and that people who leave Islam and preach a new religion should be jailed.

Abdallah Adhami's remarks on homosexuals, religious freedom and other topics have brought renewed criticism of the proposed community center and mosque near the World Trade Center site, which purports to be an inclusive organization.

Adhami, in a lecture on the Web site of his nonprofit, Sakeenah, says being gay is a "painful trial" caused by past trauma.

"An enormously overwhelming percentage of people struggle with homosexual feeling because of some form of violent emotional or sexual abuse at some point in their life," he says. "A small, tiny percentage of people are born with a natural inclination that they cannot explain. You find this in the animal kingdom at some level as well."

He says gays must fight this "propensity."

Remember now, even the slightest bit of intolerance toward the gay community, real or perceived, gets anyone on the right branded as homophobic. Imagine the uproar if someone on the right spoke of gays and the "animal kingdom" in the same breath. They're be a pariah. This guy, however, will probably get a free pass from Bloomnberg and company.

"When a religious leader of his standing opens up his mouth and spews this kind of ignorance and hateful statements, it does put his greater judgment into question," said Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay-rights group.

Adhami also notes that if a Muslim leaves the faith and "preaches their views, they're jailed."

"The only thing you do not have the right to do is spread this conviction, lest you, quote unquote, 'pollute' others," he said when asked to give his personal opinion about apostates.

Jordan Sekulow, a lawyer at the Pat Robertson-founded American Center for Law and Justice in Washington, questioned why the mosque project, called Park51, would choose a leader who advocates retribution for those who leave the faith.

"To be in the United States of America and to tell former Muslims to 'keep your mouth shut' is against the Constitution," said Sekulow, whose organization is suing to stop Park51 from being built.

Krugman Confesses: "I Don't Know Anything"

Three weeks ago, you may recall that Paul Krugman did a spectacular belly-flop into an empty swimming pool when he linked the shooting in Tucson to Sarah Palin's whackadoodle - nay, dangerous! - right-wing rhetoric, without a shred of evidence.

Today, he is uncharacteristically reluctant to even dip his toes in the water by commenting on a situation he says he knows nothing about: Egypt.

Translation: He's still trying to figure out how to implicate Palin in all this.

I don’t know anything, have no expertise, haven’t even ever looked at the economic situation. Hence, no posting. If there comes a point when I have something to say, I will.

Via Mediaite. Cross-posted.

Richard Dreyfuss: Ed Schultz Wishing Dick Cheney Dead is a Beautiful Thing or Something

Douchebag, douche thyself. Nice to know this twit is touring the country lecturing on -- wait for it -- civility!

'What is the Internet, Anyway?'

Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel on the cutting edge of technological evolution. This is from 1994. A lot of people were already using email and were online by then. Apparently not them.

Via Daily Mail.

'Iran Expects Egyptian Officials to Listen to the Voice of Their Muslim People'

Neda Agha-Soltan was unavailable for comment.

In Iran, meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Egyptian authorities should respect the demonstrators.

"Iran expects Egyptian officials to listen to the voice of their Muslim people, respond to their rightful demands and refrain from exerting violence by security forces and police against an Islamic wave of awareness that has spread through the country in form of a popular movement,"the state-run Press TV quoted Mehmanparast as saying.

These guys really do have a huge set of balls, don't they?

Obama: We Need to Cut Wasteful Spending or Something

Great idea, champ. Now wonder they're calling you the second incarnation of Ronald Reagan.

"We have to reform our government and cut wasteful spending, so that we eliminate what we don't need to pay for the investments we need to grow, like education and medical research," the president pointed out.

Obama also outlined the need to promote innovation, especially clean energy, saying that by 2035, 80 percent of electricity produced in the United States should come from it.

"This is going to help spark innovation at businesses across America," he said. "This is going to spur new products and technologies. This is going to lead to good, new jobs. And that's how we win the future -- by unleashing the talent and ingenuity of American businesses and American workers in every corner of this country."

He's still babbling about winning the future? WTF?

Meanwhile, the AFP is stuck in a timewarp.

Forty years after President John F. Kennedy used the presidential pulpit to rally Americans around the goal of beating the Soviets to the moon, Obama called for an Apollo-like effort to rejuvenate US economic preeminence.

I had no idea John Kennedy was president in 1971.

Olive Pit - 1, Dennis Kucinich - Nice Try

Well, it certainly didn't take long for Dennis Kucinich to fold like a cheap suit.

The saga of the dangerous olive pit-filled sandwich seems to be winding down. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has a long track record of getting what he wants in life -- be it a hot young vegetarian wife or money for a treacherous meal -- has settled his case against the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria, which served him a sandwich that split his tooth in half.

He announced the development in a statement detailing his dental heroism.

"Although the pain was excruciating, I shook it off and I went right back to work," he writes in the press release. He also clarifies that "this was not about aesthetics" and shares lots of cringe-inducing tidbits about the resulting infection, which went all the way to the bone, ultimately requiring the replacement of six teeth (not covered by health insurance).

Unfortunately for Kucinich, C-SPAN now maintains an extensive, searchable on-line video archive. And lo and behold, here we have footage of the shameless demagogue on April 22, 2008 - just five days after the incident. You won't see much pain, suffering, or "loss of enjoyment" here - just 90 seconds of buffoonish Big Oil-bashing.

No wonder he settled.



Cross-posted.

Breaking News on Breaking Wind: Malawi to Outlaw Farting

Note to self: Never have any burritos while in Malawi.

Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country.

The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders 'who foul the air' in a bid to 'mould responsible and disciplined citizens.'

But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be difficult - and may lead to miscarriages of justice as 'criminals' attempt to blame others for their offence.

One Malawian told the website Africanews.com: 'My goodness. What happens in a public place where a group is gathered. Do they lock up half a minibus?

'And how about at meetings where it is difficult to pinpoint 'culprits'?

'Children will openly deny having passed bad air and point at an elder. Culturally, this is very embarrassing,' she said.

Another said: 'We have serious issues affecting Malawians today. I do not know how fouling the air should take priority over regulating Chinese investments which do not employ locals, serious graft amongst legislators, especially those in the ruling party, and many more.'

The crime will be enforceable in a new 'Local Court' system which will also have powers to punish a range of other crimes in the bill set to be debated in the country's parliament.

The judicial system will no doubt be thrown into chaos by the dreaded SBD's.

The New Civility: Radio Host Mocks Republican's Colon Cancer, Makes Oral Sex Jokes

Can someone let me know when the new civility actually starts on the left? Seems a lot of them haven't gotten the memo.

In response to the Monday comments, a representative of the Republican Party of Wisconsin called them "offensive" and demanded an apology.

A representative of the American Cancer Society also criticized Sylvester's Monday radio segment. A podcast previously posted on the radio station web site included Sylvester's referencing Kleefisch's colon cancer, and discussing with McKenzie whether Kleefisch wore a wig or just had a poor hairstyle.

"I'm not mocking her cancer," Sylvester said on-air Wednesday.

In Milwaukee Wednesday, Kleefisch responded to Sylvester's remarks tersely.

"It's unfortunate."

These liberals sure seem to hate strong, powerful women. Why are they so afraid of them?

'In America, the Ultimate Capitalist System, Government is Getting in the Way of Everything'

Gee, you'll never guess who's another big fan of the ChiComs. He's also got an obsession with high-speed trains, suddenly the new rage among our ruling class.

After preaching for years how the United States was losing the race to build high-speed rail, Mayor Bloomberg's frustration spilled over last year when he toured a high-tech train station in China and criticized the US system of government for "getting in the way of everything."

Bloomberg made the remark to Esquire magazine reporter John Richardson, who tailed the mayor to a climate summit in China last year and wrote a lengthy profile of Bloomberg appearing in this month's issue.

"[Bloomberg] arrives at a platform with the feel of an interstellar docking station and returns to the sour preoccupation the Chinese trains have aroused in him," Richardson wrote.

The author then quoted the mayor as saying: "In America, the ultimate capitalist system, government is getting in the way of everything."

I'll agree our government seems to get in the way of things, but he can blame his pal Obama and the regulation-obsessed Democrats for that. It's funny that he makes no mention of the billions we've poured into our rail systems over the years that results in more and more people driving on their own. Who's the blame for that?

Seems the tiny tyrant, who's so fond of our system of government that he rewrote the rules to suit himself when it came to running for Mayor of New York City a third time, isn't too keen on our representatives and much prefers the Chinese.

"If you look at the U.S., you look at who we are electing to Congress, to the Senate, they can't read," Bloomberg told The Wall Street Journal while in Hong Kong for the C40 summit.

"I'll bet you a bunch of these people don't have passports. We're about to start a trade war with China if we're not careful here - only because nobody knows where China is. Nobody knows what China is."

Bloomberg, who went to Johns Hopkins and Harvard and has three private planes at his disposal, fancies himself an independent with business smarts.

But his blunt remarks - seemingly aimed at Republicans who picked up 61 House seats and six Senate spots in the midterm elections - had conservatives calling him an arrogant elitist.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Discusses Balanced Budget Amendment with Mark Levin

Unlike that perennial Democrat favorite 'PAYGO' - a budget "constraint" that basically just means we pay as politicians go on bacchanalian spending binges - the balanced budget amendment that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are proposing actually has teeth.

Of course, even a balanced budget amendment won't prevent every halfwit who manages to win a seat in Congress from trying to spend money that hasn't even been minted yet - but it should stop enough of them to put America back on a path to fiscal solvency.



Cross-posted.

'It's Unfortunate Mr. Morgan Showed a Lack of Judgment On Our Air With His Inappropriate Comments'

So TNT puts a marginally talented comedian on the air during a live television segment and it's unfortunate that comedian showed poor judgment? Uh, what about the folks who allowed him to go on the air?

TNT wasted no time apologizing for Tracy Morgan's suggestive comments about Sarah Palin Thursday night. Morgan, star of NBC's 30 Rock sitcom, said during an appearance on TNT's Inside the NBA Thursday that he fantasized about the former U.S. vice presidential candidate and Governor of Alaska. TNT's pregame crew of Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson laughed nervously.

"It's unfortunate Mr. Morgan showed a lack of judgment on our air with his inappropriate comments," said Turner spokesman Jeff Pomeroy in a statement.

Here's the video (via Allahpundit).

What a laugh riot!



There was a time when such lewd behavior would result in people being fired and shunned by polite society. Now that were live in the Era of Civility, it'll probably get Morgan rewarded and celebrated by the Palin haters.

'This is a Serious Movement to Undo the Most Successful Government Program of the 20th Century'

These Democrats sure have a curious way to defining success. Here we have the odious Chuckie Schumer telegraphing the fact he plans to demagogue Social Security reform despite the fact the GOP is already pretty much retreating from the issue and even the president has acknowledged there is a need for reform. Of course, that's lip service, but we'll take him at his word for whatever that's worth.

Senate Democrats led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are gearing up for a battle with House Republicans over Medicare and Social Security benefits.

Schumer and other Democratic strategists see Medicare and Social Security as winning political issues that can help them regain the momentum they lost over the last two years.

Schumer, who has taken over the Senate Democrats' communications operation, delivered some of his most direct shots at House GOP leaders.

“They want to privatize Social Security,” Schumer said of Republicans. “Privatize equals end, no more.”

Well, nobody has actually introduced legislation proposing that, but hey, why quibble with facts? That's never stopped this pinhead before.

Senate Democrats have unified over the issue after President Obama stayed away from proposing a cut in Social Security benefits at Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Democratic pollsters warned that if Obama called for raising the retirement age, it would create a schism in the party.

House Republicans have discussed advancing a proposal to privatize Medicare in the budget plan they expect to unveil in the next few weeks.

God forbid the GOP act responsibly to save programs through cost-cutting measures. Has it occurred to Schumer and Sanders that there won't be any money left in the Social Security Ponzi scheme a few decades down the road once the retired baby boomers have chewed through it? Apparently not. Because to them government dependency on a broken program equates success.

Democrats say the growing influence of the Tea Party in Congress poses a threat to entitlement programs.

“The fact that five senators are for privatizing Social Security shows we’re not crying wolf here,” Schumer said. “This is a serious movement to undo the most successful government program of the 20th century.”

I shudder to think what he would consider a failed government program.

Latest Bumbling Biden Appearance: Two Gaffes for the Price of One!

Cameras capture Joe Biden's gaffes: wishtv.com

Let's look at the bright side. At least he didn't implore a wheelchair-bound man to stand up. All he did here was confuse a woman for a man and called his hosts Enron. Pretty standard fare for Gaffemaster Joe.

Vice President Joe Biden made a couple of mistakes at the microphone when he appeared at the Ener1 plant in Hancock County, Ind. on Wednesday.

The first came when he mentioned a state Senator. "Senator Gard is here, wanna recognize him, I was told he was here," said Biden.

Senator Beverly Gard, in fact, was in the audience. She met with Biden after the speech.

The Vice President didn't always get the name of the company right, either. At one point he referred "Enron one leading the way."

Maybe he should learn to use the TelePrompter as a crutch, like his boss does.

Michelle Obama Vows to Make Military Families Newest Members of the Victim Class

I treat all efforts by liberals to assist the military through very jaundiced eyes. They only seem to want to help those whom they first have made out to be victims, quite often victims created by their very actions. A good example of this is the Vietnam veteran. They spent the better part of a decade demonizing them and protesting against them, they then portrayed them in movies as disconnected psychopaths who only had a life of drug or alcohol abuse interspersed with fits of rage to look forward to for the rest of their lives and at the same time promoted this myth into reality in the minds of the average person.

Today Michelle Obama was on a morning show vowing to work to help military families, but she is doing it through the prism that has been adopted by those who don't know any better. Her intentions, no matter how well meaning, start from a basic premise that military families are victims and this comment in particular showed me that disconnect.

“I suck it up because of these families,” the First Lady said, “Part of the challenge of getting the message out about military families is they never ask for help. They never ask for help because you don't do that when you're in the military. You get it done. That's how you're trained. That's what you're taught.”

What may escape the attention of most is the part that's how you're trained. Nobody trains military families. They don't attend some sort of spouse boot camp. No, instead military spouses are made of a little sterner stuff then most people. Instead of running from challenges they meet them head on. While they avail themselves of services, when there is no such program they figure it out on their own.

I speak from first hand knowledge. My wife adapted to life in the military after she married me. Granted, she had somewhat of an idea since her father was a former Marine, but he got out when she was very young. She quickly found out that Army life was a whole different animal then Marine life. She stepped into the role of being head of the household when I was gone. She handled everything from automobile repairs, often doing them herself, to accountant, doctor and event planner. She would grudgingly turn some of the duties over to me once I was back in town. It was five years after we were married before I was even in the same state as her on our anniversary; often I wasn't even in the same country. We just celebrated anniversary number 25.

No, military spouses are not victims to be exploited, instead they are the hidden heroes who need to be spotlighted and held up as examples to the rest of the poor wretched masses who crumble without having some sort of government bailout or answer to their every little problem, want or need. They don't stand around with their hands out and instead go about getting things done on their own. It is this concept that is as foreign to liberals as breathing oxygen is to fish. No, Ms. First Lady, the military families don't need any programs. They appreciate the attention you are bringing to their unique role in our society, I am sure, but if you want to help them, honor them and don't try to make them victims because even by your own admission they act as a source of inspiration for you when times get tough.

BTW, Ms. Obama, how many military families did you know before your husband stepped onto the national political stage?

'There Has Been an Explosion of Regulation and Regulations Issued in the First Years of the Obama Administration'

Don't worry, folks, it's all about the future and job creation now or something, despite the punitive actions by the Obama administration against business the past two years. One man the media should focus on but refuses to is Cass Sunstein. I doubt more than 2% of the public even knows who he is. If they did there'd probably be an insurrection.

U.S. House Republicans prodded President Barack Obama’s top regulatory official on proposed environmental rules and whether they are in conflict with the administration’s pledge to scrap unnecessary regulations.

Lawmakers told Cass Sunstein, head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, that the Environmental Protection Agency plans to limit carbon emissions, crack down on polluting boilers and set automobile emission standards may stunt economic growth and force companies out of business.

“There has been an explosion of regulation and regulations issued in the first years of the Obama administration,” Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, said today at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. “I don’t see that you have done anything to slow that down.”

Sunstein, 56, testified before Republicans who are questioning the administration’s regulatory overreach as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce complains of a “tsunami” of regulations they say hinder growth and discourage companies from new investments.

“Any rule that imposes significant costs, we have significant concerns about,” Sunstein told the panel. “We will be focusing very closely on the job impacts of new regulations.”

Oh, great. Now they'll focus on the job impacts. Maybe they should've considered it before onerous regulation was forced on businesses. Sadly, I suspect they'll realize they haven't destroyed enough jobs and will further tighten regulations.

Obama on Jan. 18 ordered a review of U.S. regulations to remove or overhaul those that stifle economic expansion without helping consumers. The initiative is part of an executive order that he said would codify a balanced approach to regulation.

Don't buy a word of it.

At the hearing, Republicans said two administration proposals have caused concern for business and may hurt the environment.

The EPA’s first phase of greenhouse-gas regulations took effect this year, applying mainly to power plants and oil refineries. The agency has said it will propose a second wave of standards later this year.

The EPA faces a court-ordered mid-February deadline to issue emission standards for boilers and incinerators.

Don't sweat it. They can just blame job losses on the weather.

Naturally, any questioning of Obama's minions is seen as a display of ugly partisanship.

She Wears It Well

You've got to be pretty daring and have the right, um, assets to wear an outfit like this. But Irina Shayk pulls it off. With flying colors.

Oh, you need a shot from the other side? No problem.

You're welcome.

Blame the Weather: Unemployment Claims 'Unexpectedly' Surge

Yeah, it's the weather or something.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by an unexpected 51,000 to 454,000 in the January 22 week, a level not seen since the October 30 week of last year when claims came in at 459,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

A Labor Department analyst said the large increase in seasonally adjusted claims was due to two reasons. The first is the "normal" seasonal factor volatility, the second is that four states reported an increase in claims "that was due to snow effects."

Much easier to blame the weather rather than Obama's failed economic policies. But the state of the union is strong or something. It'll be curious what kind of snow job the media will come up with when the weather improves and job numbers do not.

Curious how this was the same excuse used last February.

Heh: Even Spitzer Questions CNN's Dubious SOTU Poll

The biggest joke the other night was some lame CBS poll that "reported" 92% gave Obama's plagiarized speech high marks. Meanwhile, over at CNN, the low-rated former john Eliot Spitzer questioned their dubious numbers.

Eliot Spitzer's CNN colleagues say he's trying to steamroll management. The "Parker Spitzer" co-host responded nastily to a mass e-mail from CNN's News Standards and Practices chief Rick Davis that offered guidance on how to report a poll on reaction to the State of the Union address. Shortly before the poll results aired Tuesday night, Davis advised CNN personnel to preface them with the expectation that there would be a positive reaction because more Democrats tend to watch a speech by a Democratic president than Republicans. But after the poll aired, Spitzer shot back in his own mass e-mail, "This poll is totally misleading and should not be aired as one who has studied these polls I woukd [sic] be embarassed to put these numbers on the air."

The poll released Tuesday night was given a misleading headline that 84% approved of the speech, but that combined 52% who were positive and 32% who were somewhat positive. That makes sense if you consider the sample.

The sample of speech-watchers in the poll were 39 percent Democratic and 19 percent Republican. Those numbers indicate that the sample is about nine to ten points more Democratic than the population as a whole. The audience for Obama's State of the Union address last year was 38 percent Democratic and 25 percent Republican.

So in CNN's universe, Democrats now outnumber Republicans by an even greater margin even though the country has gone in the opposite direction. You have to give Spitzer credit for seeing through the nonsense.

Yet this is a great example how the media just manufactures and makes up the news. Before anyone could digest the speech headlines blared around the world how either 92% or 84% of the public liked the speech.

Oh, About That Latest Palin Smear: 'It Was Just Guilt by Innuendo, Nothing Else'

Of course, these days all you need is innuendo and poof, you're guilty. Especially if your name is Palin. So last week the National Enquirer ran with a "story" they received via an anonymous e-mailer.

SARAH PALIN's husband TODD is caught up in a sleazy sex scandal, The ENQUIRER has learned!

Political bloggers are digging into incredible claims that the "First Dude" - father of the couple's five children - cheated on his wife with a female massage therapist who was busted for prostitution!

The scandal not only has the potential to sabotage Palin's possible 2012 White House bid, but also threatens to destroy her marriage, sources say.

While the story heats up on the internet, The ENQUIRER has uncovered official documents confirming the woman's arrest.

We have also uncovered documents that show the woman - identified by bloggers as Shailey Tripp - contributed free massages to an anonymous person working for Sarah's campaign for governor of Alaska.

While representatives for Todd Palin vehemently deny he cheated on his wife, allegations of his extramarital affair surfaced on Jan. 4 when an anonymous tipster sent out messages to news outlets making the allegation using the e-mail address thepalinmorals@hotmail.com.

So someone with a hotmail account is now all the evidence they need to run with it. And naturally, the leftist media was off to the races.

Since the first hours of this breaking story ignited a firestorm of controversy key mainstream media The New York Daily News, Vanity Fair magazine, Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine, among others, have cited The ENQUIRER's bombshell investigation into the Palin cheating scandal.

In fact, Forbes suggested that "in the Palin-built political arena of 2011, Todd Palin’s affair might be just the ticket Sarah needs to be the first single mother in the Oval Office."

Oopsy.

Looks like the First Dude is off the hook.

The Anchorage Police Department blasted the National Enquirer’s recent report that Todd Palin is embroiled in a sex scandal involving an extramarital affair with a massage therapist who belonged to a prostitution ring.

"It was just guilt by innuendo, nothing else," Lt. Dave Parker told the Daily News on Wednesday. "There’s not one scintilla of evidence that Todd Palin had anything to do with this."

At least the NYDN has followed up on this and reported the truth. That doesn't get them off the hook for running with it in the first place, but they specialize in daily Palin trashing, so it was just too much to resist.

Curious how the NYDN and most other media avoided the Enquirer story about John Edwards and his love child for at least a year, and that at least had some evidence to back it up. Like photos of Edwards with his child.

It's worth noting I can't locate any retractions or apologies from Vanity Fair magazine, Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine. What a surprise. Their work is done, I guess. Now their wild-eyed readers can just regurgitate the original story without knowing the truth.

This, ladies and gentleman, is your mainstream media.

From the original Forbes link:

Without the physical evidence, these allegations are nothing more than rumors–and a serious annoyance for Sarah Palin and her family–until they turn out to be true. Sexual scandals are never positive press for candidates and politicians. If this is true, will Palin crawl back to Alaska with her tail between her legs? Will we have seen the last of the clan in Washington?

One can hope.

But I’d venture a guess that the opposite would happen. While I promise to follow the unfolding drama of Todd Palin’s extra-marital affairs and report back, I’ll also make this prediction: should the rumors prove true, and Todd’s affair with Shailey Tripp become public, rather than lose political ground, I’d say Sarah will gain it. Her Grizzly supporters have stood behind her through much worse offenses than marrying a local yokel.

Oddly enough, Casserly has yet to "report" back.

Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) Already Forgets His Republican 'State of the Union' Seatmate

Sounds like some real bipartisan bonding took place last night at Obama's "Date of the Union" address.



Via Breitbart. Cross-posted.

Jim Moran (Moron-VA) Chalks Up November's Republican Landslide to Knuckle-Dragging Southern Racists

Never mind the Gene Simmons Factor, which clearly played a role in delivering Obama the White House in 2008.

Americans are back to being racist jerks again, according to the miserable curmudgeon from Virginia, Jim Moran.

“It [the Republican successes in the 2010 elections] happened for the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States. It happened because the Southern states, the slaveholding states, didn’t want to see a president who was opposed to slavery.

“In this case, I believe, a lot of people in the United States don’t want to be governed by an African-Amerian, particularly one who is liberal, who wants to spend money and who wants to reach out to include everyone in our society….”

Actually, Moran is unwittingly half right. A lot of people do oppose Obama because he's a liberal spendthrift of historic proportions. However, they don't hold his skin color against him - in fact, the self-described mutt's enigmatic hue is one of his precious few political assets.

The others, of course, being his perfectly creased pants and chiseled pectorals!

Indeed, Americans apparently don't mind at all being governed by an African-American President - even when his actual policies consistently poll lower than root canals and that "nails-on-a-chalkboard" sound. If someone could please explain that one to me, I'm all ears.

The Right Scoop has the video.

Cross-posted.

Going to the Pits: Dennis Kucinich Sues Over Bad Sandwich Wrap Experience

Strange man chews on a pit in sandwich wrap, suffers "loss of enjoyment" in his life, seeks $150,000 payday. Normally, he'd probably be laughed out of court. But in this case it's gadfly Democrat Dennis Kucinich, so why am I not surprised?

It's the pits to break a tooth while eating. Just ask Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

The Ohio Democratic representative is suing House cafeteria service providers for $150,000 for allegedly selling him a sandwich wrap with a stray olive pit in it.

Kucinich, who ran for president in 2008, said in a Jan. 3 lawsuit filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia that the pit caused "serious and permanent" damage to his mouth and wellbeing.

He said he is entitled to recover damages, "including but not limited to past and future dental and medical expenses, compensation for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment and other damage."

Considering he gets what's probably one of those "Cadillac" dental and health plans since he lives on the public dole, wouldn't his expenses have already been paid? Probably, but it's the humiliation and pain he's suffered, so someone's got to pay.

The suit claims the sandwich wrap in question was purchased "on or about April 17, 2008."

"Said sandwich wrap was unwholesome and unfit for human consumption in that it was represented to contain pitted olives, yet unknown to plaintiff contained an unpitted olive or olives which plaintiff did not reasonably expect to be in the food prepared for him, and could not visually detect prior to consumption," the lawsuit reads.

Kucinich, who as a member of Congress receives dental coverage among the health care insurance he is entitled to receive, alleged in the suit that as a result of his consumption of the unwholesome and unfit food, the plaintiff "sustained serious and permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures, and has sustained other damages as well, including significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment."

Man Seeks Police Protection Because His Wife Demands Too Much Sex

It would be helpful if there were photos with the story so we could help judge the situation. Still, this is the first time we've ever heard of a man going to police looking for protection from a sex-crazed wife.

A Turkish man living in Germany with his wife of 18 years went to police for protection from her insatiable appetite for sex, Bild newspaper reported Wednesday.

The man went to police in the southwestern German city of Waiblingen on Tuesday.

He told police he slept on a sofa for the past four years in a futile attempt to escape the voracious embraces of his wife.

German police said the exhausted man -- who fathered two children with his wife -- decided to get a divorce and move out of the home.

A lot of men would surely trade places with him. Maybe he ought to just comply and be done with it.

"He has decided to get a divorce and to move out ... in the hope of finally getting some rest, particularly as he is anxious to arrive at work well rested," police said.

Short of his wife being some hideous-looking beast, he may have to turn in his man card.

92% of the 44% of Dems Who Heard the SOTU Liked It

CBS, which is apparently using the same polling company that counts the votes in Iran and Venezuela, leads with the incredible headline that 92% of Americans who heard the State of the Union speech liked the proposals in it. My first thought was WTF!?

Hey folks, I heard that speech, well, halfway anyway. It was no different from most of the ones I have heard in the past. The usual boilerplate remarks about listening to the American people, working together, moving the economy and praise for the military. Where I started to tune out was when he went on and on about teachers as if they were gods descended from Olympus to deliver us all. Hey listen, pandering to the teacher's unions works very well on the local level; not so sure it carries as much weight on the national level and besides, c'mon Barry, you already have the unions in your back pocket, so why so much effusive praise on teachers?

The education system in the country is broken, but a lot of that blame doesn't lie with the teachers but rather with the administrators of both the unions and the schools themselves.

He then went on to promise everybody a Prius in every garage, high-speed rail just outside your window, and unicorns in the front lawn while at the same time he was going to cut spending.

As far as his promise about vetoing any bill on his desk which contains earmarks, that was snort worthy. He has said that before too, and for the record the next bill he vetoes for earmarks will also be the first one.

I found the poll on CBS' website so it came as no suppose to the polling data with the breakdown of their random Americans.
Democrat - 44%
Republicans - 25%
Independent - 31%

So who knew that the Republicans were now a third party in America. Where do I sign up for this new Independent Party?

How soon before the phrase "he gives good speech" comes to mean something totally different then a compliment on someone's oratory skills?

The bad news is that with the sorry state of our journalism in this country today all you are going to see is that headline that 92% approve the speech.

Tony Blair's Muslim Convert Sister-in-Law Says He Should Be Tried for War Crimes

I would suggest this crackpot has been brainwashed, but that would assume she had a brain to begin with. Converting to Islam and running around with the cretinous George Galloway leads one to believe she's lost all control of her faculties. Now she's also calling for her brother-in-law to be tried for war crimes. Sure, that'll be happening.

Former prime minister Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth, a rights campaigner and Muslim convert, said on Wednesday that he should be tried for war crimes over the invasion of Iraq.

Booth, the half-sister of Blair's barrister wife Cherie, is in Malaysia for lectures organised by Viva Palestina, a British-based organisation associated with controversial politician George Galloway.

Asked whether Blair should be arrested and sent to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for war crimes, Booth replied: "Absolutely. He misled the British people and took Britain to war on a lie."

The conflict in Iraq was "an offence", she told reporters after a speech at a Malaysian university, saying it was organised well in advance between Blair and the United States leadership.

Booth has been a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, and a supporter of the Palestinian cause, and in 2008 travelled with other activists to Gaza by ship to protest against Israel's blockade of the territory.

The 43-year-old, who wore a black headscarf that tightly framed her face as she gave an address on "Islam from the perspective of Western women", discussed her own conversion which took place 15 weeks ago.

"My friends think I was naive and stupid, they have rubbished me so much," she said. "Really, joining Islam is not a trendy thing to do.

"Friends ask me, don't you miss going to the pub?"

But she defended her decision, which came after a trip to Iran in September 2010, and said that perceptions about Muslim women were incorrect.

"I sat down in the mosque in Iran, there was such tranquility. I had the compulsion to pray and from then on I knew I was a Muslim," she said.

"Muslim women are not oppressed, it is Western women who are oppressed... Western women are bored, lonely and oppressed."

She appears to be the ultimate useful idiot.

Recalling her memories while working in Gaza in 2005, she said Muslims were the most positive people she ever met despite very negative reviews given to them such as terrorism by the Muslims.

"Before going there, I was terrified of going into a place which had been labelled violent with people blowing themselves up, holding guns while shouting "Allahuakbar".

"But my first impression of Muslims at that time was very positive when they welcomed me with very friendly words accepting me like a family even though I am a Western," he said.

Booth is also an activist who works closely with Palestinians and was once held up inside Gaza when the Israeli regime did not want to let her go back to the UK in 2005.