The End of Hopenchange: 'We All Fell in Love With Him During the Campaign. He's Not the Same Man Today'

I guess by "we" he means everyone but Obama's most ardent disciples. But let's face it, the media's a lost cause. As to the rest of the planet, the fact he's a miserable failure is a given. Heck, he's even lost Calypso Louie now. Of course it's obvious why the sinister minister is bashing Obama now. Moammar Khadafy has been his chief benefactor all these years and he sees the money pipeline drying up.

Yet it's all too amusing.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan continued Thursday in his role as Moammar Gadhafi's only outspoken friend in the United States.

Even Gadhafi's own ambassador to the United Nations has denounced him, comparing the Libyan leader to former Cambodian strongman Pol Pot. But Farrakhan told a packed house at his Chicago headquarters that he considered Gadhafi a brother, and that if there was any "gangster" on the world stage, it was the United States.

"I don’t care what Gadhafi has done wrong. He's not the mad dog of the Middle East," Farrakhan thundered. "The mad dogs are growling and biting in Washington, D.C."

These mad dogs, we presume, include Obama. But you never know. Before long it could all be John Boehner's fault or something.

Indeed, the very building in which Farrakhan spoke, the gold encrusted "Mosque Maryam" on south Stony Island, was acquired with Gadhafi's help. He provided the Nation of Islam with a $3 million loan, which they used to acquire the facility, a former Greek Orthodox Church.

Later, Gadhafi provided Farrakhan with another $5 million loan, which Farrakhan has previously said was forgiven in full.

"It’s a terrible thing for me to hear my brother called all of these ugly and filthy names," said Farrakhan. And he warned the United States that their continued adventures in Africa were about to bring on the violent wrath of an angry God.

"Death and destruction is on the way to all of us, and we are worse prepared than the Japanese," he said.

The Nation of Islam leader bashed President Barack Obama, who he suggested was being duped by white advisors.

"We all fell in love with him during the campaign. He's not the same man today," said Farrakhan.

Guest Blogging at Human Events

The great folks at Human Events have invited me to guest blog at the site that's home to some of the finest conservative writers on the scene. I hope you pay a visit there and check out some of my items, in particular a couple of posts today here and here.

Of course be sure to visit the main site for a wide array of articles and columns. A big thanks to everyone over there for the opportunity and a welcome to any new readers who may find their way here from there.

Sullivan Prepared for Impeachment of Dictatorial Obama

We've already had a little fun this morning with the crestfallen Andrew Sullivan, and it's appearing he may need some super-strength medical marijuana to get himself through the day. Coming on the heels of the news that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says her boss would ignore any Congressional resolutions regarding Libya, Sullivan is apoplectic with rage. Seriously, has Sullivan been paying the slightest attention to this administration? Heck, the guy who comically accepted an award for transparency behind closed doors has never met an FOIA request he won't ignore. Heck, he's even more secretive than the evil Bush regime that preceded him. So how is it such a keen observer of the political scene is aghast that Obama would ignore Congress?

That's a gauntlet for anyone left in the Congress not in thrall to the emperor's growing power-grab. I fear, as Yglesias notes, that the Congress doesn't even want to exercize [sic] its powers or even go on the record ... because they're a bunch of pansy-ass losers. But I hope that some of them actually care about the Constitution (hello, Tea Party!) and fight back. If the Obama administration is refusing even to abide by the War Powers Act, then the Congress really needs to vote to defund their adventurism at least or impeach them if it comes to that. Going to war outside even the War Powers Act qualifies as an impeachable offense, it seems to me.

So we've come to this point. Andrew Sullivan is asking for support from the Tea Party to help launch an impeachment movement of this imperial president. Not just imperial, he's even dictatorial!

We are governed by an executive that goes to war in secret and at will, openly contemptuous of the democratic process and even minimal transparency. and when you realize that that executive actually campaigned against this kind of secretive, dictatorial presidency, you realize how this has become systemic, and the anti-democratic rot is deep.

Considering Sullivan has spent the better part of the past three years obsessing on Sarah Palin's uterus and who Trig Palin's real mother is, can it be long before he joins Donald Trump in the birther movement?

Revenge of the Referee

Well, this isn't something you see everyday. A former NBA referee seems to have a little problem with the former Atlanta Hawk and so called Human Highlight Reel, Dominique Wilkins, over a bill for some suits.

Michel, who told police he was owed money for suits purchased several years ago, hit Wilkins in the chest and also hit a security guard, Jones said. Michel, of Atlanta, has worked as an NBA and college basketball referee and previously owned his own clothing store.

Judging by the booking picture, the ref got the worst end of this deal.

Useful Idiot Shocked Over Obama's Covert Actions in Libya

They're usually the last ones to figure out they've been duped.

How sad.

I'm still absorbing this news and don't want to vent immediately, because there is still part of me that simply cannot believe that president Obama has already ordered covert action in Libya on one side in a civil war, and is now actively discussing whether to arm that side in another chaotic Muslim country, committing the United States to yet another war against yet another tyranny simply because we can.

It's so surreal, so discordant with what the president has told the American people, so fantastically contrary to everything he campaigned on, that I will simply wait for more confirmation than this before commenting further. I simply cannot believe it.

Has this guy been paying attention or has he just been in a marijuana-induced haze the past 27 months?

Thanks to Instapundit for the link.

Extremist Senate Democrats Plan to Propose Tax Hikes

Sounds like a winning strategy with an economy possibly headed toward a double-dip recession.

Senate Democrats are discussing plans to introduce tax policy changes that they say would raise federal revenues and broaden the budget debate beyond discretionary spending cuts.

Democrats feel they have been boxed by Republicans into a debate over cutting discretionary spending, which accounts for a mere 12 percent of the federal budget.

Democratic senators say they have been fighting on the defensive, scrambling to protect social spending — such as that for the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, Planned Parenthood and NPR — from GOP-proposed cuts.

Democrats want to take the offensive and propose higher tax rates for millionaires, companies that move factories overseas and wealthy people who make charitable contributions.

Keeping the taxpayer pipeline flowing to NPR is a priority for these people? Do they actually plan on running on this year year? Do they really believe "the wealthy" will continue charitable contributions if they're being taxed on them? Seriosuly, these people are mentally ill.

Change: Gas Prices Double Under Obama

Is this the hope or the change?

Feeling pain at the pump? Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took office. According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has arrived on average throughout California, and a number of other states are headed in that direction.

But don't worry, he's got a plan. That plan is for $8 a gallon gas, but don't tell anyone until he's re-elected.

Related: Michael Graham has some thoughts on Obama's absurd speech from Wednesday.

Obama: Using Force to Topple a Dictator is a 'Dumb War'

Well, that was then, this is now. Let me be clear, the guy is a two-face hypocrite.

President Barack Obama, as an Illinois state senator in 2002, said that using military force to topple a murderous dictator amounted to a “dumb war” and should be opposed.

The “dumb war” Obama was criticizing was the planned invasion of Iraq and the murderous dictator was its leader, Saddam Hussein. Obama, speaking at an anti-war rally in Chicago on Oct. 2, 2002 said that while Saddam was a brutal tyrant, that was not enough to justify using military force to remove him from power.

“Now, let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein,” said Obama in his speech. “He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied U.N. resolutions, thwarted U.N. inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He's a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.”

"... After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again," said Obama. "I don't oppose all wars. ... What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne."

Obama argued that deposing Saddam militarily was not necessary, because Iraq posed no “direct threat” to the United States.

Yeah, well, neither is Moammar Khadafy. thanks to George W. Bush and his dumb war in Iraq, which caused Khadafy to terminate his nuclear program.

Michelle Obama's Home District Least Healthy in the Nation

Maybe when she and her husband leave the White House in January 2013 she can go back home and tell all the lardasses in Chicago to start moving. May she lead by example.

When it comes to residents with healthy behaviors, one Illinois district ranks last in the country, according to a recent well-being index.

And not just any district. First Lady Michelle Obama's former home.

A recent Gallup-Healthways survey assessing U.S. residents' health and well-being during 2010 ranked Illinois' 1st Congressional District No. 430 of 436 overall and last for "healthy behavior."

Illinois ranked 25, and Obama's former district ranked much higher in "emotional health" and "physical health" categories.

I hear cheeseburgers and short ribs are very popular in that neighborhood.

Dingy Harry: America Doesn't Care About Tea Party

Harry Reid has been obsessing over the Tea Party of late and his new mantra is America doesn't care about them.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) encouraged Republicans to stop listening to the Tea Party, saying the country doesn't care about the grassroots conservative movement.

"The country doesn't care much about the Tea Party,” Reid said Wednesday. “There is a new CNN poll out today that says this very directly.”

Reid was referring to a CNN poll released on Wednesday that said only 47 percent view the Tea Party in a favorable light.

So only 47% care about the Tea Party? So what does this say about his president?

Half of Americans don't believe President Obama deserves a second term, a new Quinnipiac poll found - while showing his lowest approval ratings ever.

The survey, released Wednesday, reveals that just 41% of voters think the President deserves to be reelected in 2012.

Meanwhile, his overall approval rating has dropped four percentage points since early March to 42%.

It's safe to say both of these polls oversampled Democrats, so we're thinking the Tea Party is likely more popular while Obama is even less popular.

But keep it up, Dingy. The more you talk, the more Democrats and your leader Obama sink.

It's quite obvious Reid's only hope to cling to power as Majority Leader is to create a divide between Tea Partiers and elected Republicans, hoping to split votes in some states. I just don't think people are dumb enough to fall for such transparent nonsense. While it may have worked to help get him re-elected, he greatly underestimates the fact Tea Partiers for the most part already were voting Republicans and grew in popularity as a conservative movement.

Clearly Reid has his marching orders. He brings up Tea Partiers at every opportunity while Chuckie Schumer calls everyone an extremist. It isn't working.

Obama's Approval Rating Plumbs New Depths

I think the reason for Obama's latest dive in the polls is pretty obvious: He's ducking Bill O'Reilly!

Well, that or maybe the fact that his policies are incoherent disasters.

After a brief resurgence earlier this year, President Obama's poll numbers are back in the dumps. A new Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday finds Obama's approval rating at the lowest point in his presidency, thanks in part to voter angst over the economy and his handling of the situation in Libya.

Just 42 percent of those polled approve of the job Obama is doing, compared to 48 percent who disapprove, according to Quinnipiac. And in a bad sign for his upcoming 2012 re-election campaign, 50 percent of those polled say he doesn't deserve another term in the White House.

Considering that 45.7% of Americans never thought Obama deserved a first term, one has to wonder how Obama gets reelected amidst $3-$5 gas, high unemployment, a crumbling housing market, and a disintegrating Middle East.

Wild guess: The path to reelection involves the MSM exploring exactly none of the above issues in much substantive detail, while fixating on any two-bit Birther story that comes down the pike.

Cross-posted.

Diane Sawyer Launches Softballs at 'Beleaguered' Obama

It's just too much to take any more from these people. It's funny, but I don't recall any TV news babbleheads fretting with consternation over George W. Bush being "beleaguered" and wringing their hands in sympathy. But for sheer over-the-top drivel, can you top this one?

What about the famous quote from another beleaguered President, Abraham Lincoln, who said he had been driven many times to his knees because his own wisdom and that around him “was insufficient for the day”?

Why of course, the first thing we think of when looking at the poor, beleaguered Obama is Abraham Lincoln, one of the towering figures of American history. Do you suppose during the Civil War Lincoln would have found time to go on ESPN to fill out brackets and then traipse around New York for fundraisers while sending troops into harm's way?

Naturally, Sawyer manages to work in some basketball, just to take off the edge from this beleaguered president.

DIANE SAWYER: Just a final question. How much do you think Kentucky will win by?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: (LAUGHS) Diane, I --

DIANE SAWYER: I mean, at this point, we're really just looking at --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I mean I will make this point. You know, a lot of folks focused on the fact that I filled out my bracket. Obviously, I hadn't been spending that much time studying it since I don't have anybody in the Final Four. (LAUGHS) Congratulations to Kentucky.

Nauseating. Oh, so he didn't spend much time on his picks, huh? I recall reading how he "agonized" over them, and in fact a spokesman last year was quoted thusly:

Obama coolly made his picks on ESPN as if he might have just thought them up--as if college basketball really is second nature to him--but don't be fooled: the president agonized over his bracket beforehand, according to White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

So now that he gets blown out of his bracket, he's claiming he didn't spend any time on them.

Sure.

Full transcript of this sickening twinkie-munch session here.

The Noose Tightens as Libyan Rebels Flee

Our fearless wartime Commander-in-Chief might want to update his talking points. Here he is Tuesday interrupting his New York fundraising blitz to again repeat his stale line about the noose tightening on Moammar Khadafy.

With the end game in Libya still unclear, President Obama said Tuesday that Col. Moammar Khadafy's grip on power cannot last much longer.

"The noose has tightened around him," Obama told CBS News.

"Khadafy's camp, people around him, are starting to recognize that their options are limited and their days are numbered," he said.

"But that information may not have filtered to Khadafy yet."

Obviously it hasn't "filtered" to him yet since his forces are beating the snot out of the rebels according to the latest reports.

Libyan rebels have withdrawn from the oil town of Ras Lanuf under bombardment from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces, exposing their weakness without Western support.

The rapid reverse comes just two days after the rebels raced westwards along the coastal road in pursuit of the Libyan dictator's forces.

The government army had seen its tanks and artillery demolished in five days of coalition aerial assault in the town of Ajdabiyah, but now appears to have regrouped.

Col Gaddafi's troops first ambushed the insurgent convoy outside the leader's hometown of Sirte, then outflanked them through the desert, a manoeuvre requiring the sort of discipline entirely lacking in ragtag rebel force.

On the offensive, government tanks and artillery have unleashed a fierce bombardment on towns and cities, forcing the rebels to flee.

The tactic appears to have worked once again in Ras Lanuf, an oil terminal town 230 miles east of the capital Tripoli.

"Gaddafi hit us with huge rockets. He has entered Ras Lanuf," rebel fighter Faraj Muftah told Reuters after pulling out of Ras Lanuf.

Now if you're this rag-tag rebel bunch of guys who we can't even identify, do Obama's empty words provide any comfort for you? Especially with such clear, decisive statements such as this?

The United States and France have raised the possibility of arming the rebels, though both stressed no decision had yet been taken.

"I'm not ruling it in, I'm not ruling it out," US President Barack Obama told NBC overnight.

Well, gee, thanks for clearing that up, Colonel Obama. If I were a rebel on the run, hearing that you're neither ruling it in or out really provides a clear picture on what my options are. Let's see, should I stay where I am and have huge rockets rain down on me or should I wait around for a guy more interested in watching basketball before I clear the hell out if I want to live.

This is what it's come to. I firmly believe Obama has spent more time working on his NCAA picks and watching games that he has being briefed on developments in Libya. What other explanation is there? We have an obvious vacuum of leadership and the world sees this.

Putting aside Libya for a minute, what do you suppose the folks in Syria and elsewhere are thinking when they see this vacillating jellyfish offering up this nonsense?

Obama appears to be hesitating about which side to take, with signs that he might give the tyrant the benefit of a doubt. That would be a mistake.

Obama adopted such a position during the pro-democracy uprising in Iran in 2009. That made it easier for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to consolidate its coup and impose Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president for a second term.

Obama at first tried the same approach in Tunisia and Egypt, by supporting the despots -- but finally wound up siding with the people. As a result, America lost on both scores. By abandoning well-established allies, it was accused of being a fickle friend. But the switch to the people's side came too late to enable the United States to claim a share in ending the dictatorial regimes.

Of course such obvious humiliation and fecklessness didn't prevent Obama's pom-pom media for celebrating his masterful foreign policy, but they can't sustain much longer pretending one thing is happening while our eyes tell us a completely different story.

Confirmed: Anthony Weiner's Parking Antics Reflect His Obnoxious Persona

When we first noted the story Tuesday that Democrat windbag Anthony Weiner had amassed a couple thousand dollars in unpaid parking fines we had no idea just how bad it was. We should have known better. Considering what a complete tool the guy is, it stands to reason his antics on the DC streets were as belligerent as he is.

Sure enough.

It takes one to know one -- even when it comes to breaking another city's parking laws.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, who's made himself a top New York parking scold by loudly complaining about UN diplomats who fail to pay parking tickets, racked up a whopping $2,180 in violations himself in Washington, according to a bombshell report.

The shameful tally took place from March 2006 to March 2010.

And he didn't pay up until a few days ago, when Capitol Hill paper Roll Call shamed him into finally writing a personal check.

Weiner was by far the biggest congressional scofflaw cited in the report, which was based on an exhaustive canvass of assigned congressional parking spots around Washington that came up with the license plates of cars belonging to 300 members of Congress.

These aren't run-of-the-mill offenses such as having a meter expire. No, despite having virtually unlimited parking privileges, including an assigned Congressional space, that's just not good enough.

Weiner racked up his spectacular stack for a variety of violations on a dozen occasions -- even though members of Congress are afforded assigned parking spaces around Washington, and cannot be ticketed when they're on official business.

Sometimes Weiner's parked Nissan SUV was cited for multiple violations -- such as on March 3, 2010, when he was fined $400 for blocking rush-hour traffic and for failing to display current license plates when he parked on Maryland Avenue NE, several blocks east of the Capitol.

Blocking rush-hour traffic? What was he doing, stopping in the middle of traffic to scream at someone? What is his problem? He obviously thinks he's above the law, but what kind of asshole blocks traffic?

And Weiner managed to total three violations one day in June 2007 when he got $340 in tickets for failing to display current license plates, failing to display an inspection sticker, and parking at a taxi stand near the FDR Memorial.

Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn) didn't pay up until Roll Call asked about the tickets, the paper said.

So basically he'd have simply ignored the fines.

He's a model Democrat, that's for sure. The GOP should start doing what Weiner's mentor does, and coordinate talking points so that every time Weiner appears opposite a Republican or is mentioned by them it's continually hammered home how he's an elitist scofflaw who risks the safety of the driving public. Just keep repeating it until his head explodes. Based on his obvious anger management issues, he'll have a meltdown before long.

Shocker: DOJ Whitewashes New Black Panther Case

What, you expected anything less from racial coward Eric Holder?

The Justice Department’s internal ethics watchdog on Tuesday told Congress that it had cleared all department lawyers of wrongdoing in relation to a much-disputed voter-intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party, a black-nationalist fringe group.

In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility said it had found no evidence that officials involved in decisions about the case acted inappropriately out of political or racial motivations.

The office said its conclusion applied both to officials who brought a sweeping civil lawsuit against the party in the closing days of the Bush administration, and those who decided to reduce the scope of the case early in the Obama administration.

“We determined that the attorneys involved in the NBPP case made good faith, reasonable assessments of the facts and the law,” wrote Robin Ashton, a counsel in the office.

Neither the chairman nor the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee — Representatives Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, and John Conyers, Democrat of Michigan – had any immediate comment on the letter.

The New Black Panther case stemmed from an incident when two party members, dressed in black clothing, were filmed standing outside a polling station in a majority-black precinct in Philadelphia on Election Day in November 2008. One was holding a night stick, and was eventually directed to leave by the police.

This videotaped case of obvious intimidation was labeled a made-up controversy by Holder. If you are a white American, you don't have the same rights as the New Black Panthers, according to Eric Holder. If you're a Republican, you have even fewer rights.

Thanks to Instapundit for the link. More on the fix here. Upside: The media finally noticed the case!

Ground Zero Mosque Backers Suddenly Have a New Vision, Hint at Moving Project

I guess spending a year calling people bigots and Islamophobes for having a legitimate grievance hasn't quite worked out.

A Muslim couple who had a role in founding a controversial Islamic community center and mosque near the World Trade Center before being booted from the organization in January say they are pursuing a new vision for the project.

Activist Daisy Khan said Tuesday that she and her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, have spent months talking with relatives of 9/11 victims, first responders and others about alternative concepts for the center. Those concepts include the possibility that it could become a multi-faith center focusing on religious conflict.

Khan also says the center might no longer be suited to the current planned location.

Gee, you think?

Frankly, I don't believe for a minute they've spoken to relative and first responders, let alone "others" about alternative concepts. These two have been unceasingly belligerent and hostile ever since this abomination first came to light. In fact, it was last summer when she threw down the gauntlet and declared they'd never move, weakly blaming Republicans while and overwhelming majority of very Democratic New York vehemently opposed the project.

The defiant wife of the cleric behind the planned mosque near Ground Zero vowed yesterday to go ahead with the project -- calling it a "history-making moment" in the fight against "Islamophobia."

Daisy Khan, who founded the project along with her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said the increasing opposition -- which she blamed on Republicans -- has only caused organizers to become more committed.

"There is too much at stake, constitutional rights, the development of the Muslims here, how the world is watching the United States. We tell people America upholds religious freedom. We should not compromise those values," she said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Since that time they haven't raised any money we're aware of and have been reduced to pathetically filing a sham lawsuit in an effort to milk some money out of this.

It's a shame craven panderers such as Michael Bloomberg misguidedly threw support behind this travesty. Otherwise this duplicitous couple may have long ago gotten the message.

By the way, have these two slumlords Khan and Rauf made their building repairs yet?

Scofflaw Anthony Weiner Wins Chutzpah Award

How amusing is this? While Democrat blabbermouth rails against UN dignitaries racking up massive amounts of parking tickets (and he does have a point there), it turns out Weiner himself has piled up over $2000 in parking tickets himself over the past four years before coughing up the dough this month.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, the self-appointed scourge of diplomatic scofflaws in Manhattan, has racked up more than $2,000 in unpaid parking tickets around Capitol Hill.

From 2007 to March of this year, Weiner's ticket total was 2,180 for violations near the Capitol and at Reagan Washington National Airport, Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, reported Tuesday.

A Weiner spokesman said all of the fees have since been paid. Aides to the Queens Democrat claim that part of the problem may have that D.C. sent notices to a bad address.

But Weiner "is pleased to have helped decrease the D.C. budget deficit," the spokesman told Roll Call.

What a dick. Caught redhanded and he tries to make cutesy jokes.

Weiner has raged against foreign dignitaries who ignore New York City's traffic rules, and last year introduced a bill seeking to get $18 million in unpaid parking tickets from 180 nations for the city.

"It's insulting to all New Yorkers that countries like Yemen, Zimbabwe and Iran owe the city millions in unpaid parking tickets," Weiner said.

It's even more insulting for blowhard douchebags like Weiner to ignore the laws while having the power to write them.

Black Legislatures File Lawsuit To Disband Majority White Cities

No, that headline is not wrong. Now I don't want you folks in New England or the Midwest getting too excited just yet. This sort of thing can only happen in the south because of the most onerous piece of legislation ever passed, which is used until this day to keep whitey in his place, called the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus filed a lawsuit Monday against the state of Georgia seeking to dissolve the city charters of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills. Further, the lawmakers, joined by civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery, aim to dash any hopes of a Milton County.

That particular piece of legislation has been used to stymie southern state governments from doing things like requiring ID to vote to putting mandates on how redistricting is done. The laws only apply to southern states, which to me should make it subject to some sort of constitutional challenge.

You see these cities' crimes are that they are predominately white, and that is not allowed. It doesn't matter that we have several congressional districts carved out specifically to ensure that there will always be black representatives in Congress; that is alright and, in fact, required by that same Voting Rights act. It is for that reason that people like Cynthia "The Cutest Little Communist in Congress" McKinney and her successor, Hank "Guam is Sinking" Johnson, have been sucking up taxpayer dollars for decades. John Lewis, whose sole entry on his resume is he walked across a bridge with Martin Luther King Jr.; for that feat, he has managed to parlay it into a lifetime of congressional service.

Yes, folks, according to the black legislatures in Georgia, living in a majority white town is soon to be forbidden when they get their way.

What is really at the heart of this matter, though, is like so many other things, and that is money. You see, those towns have money, and since they have been allowed to create their own cities, the county, which is home to Atlanta, is hurting since tax dollars are staying in the city and not coming into the county coffers. In the past, the residents of the south side of Fulton County sucked up most of these funds. With that money now gone the county is having to make cuts, and of course the moochers on the south side are none too happy.

These legislatures also have their eye on the redistricting battle, which will be taking place soon, especially since Georgia gained a seat. They fear that these affluent white folks might be put into a new congressional district, and of course we know all rich white people are Republicans. Well, except for those in California, which for some reason nobody seems to notice.

Folks, I don't care how you choose to carve up this state, you are never going to get more then three districts that are Democrat, even if the current crop of Dem reps come from some really gerrymandered districts. You could take a grid, place it over the map of the state and make 14 districts and it probably wouldn't change a thing.

No, you want to repeal something, repeal that Voting Rights Act.

UPDATE: Because you asked. No that is not an Onion parody story. It is an honest to goodness effort being undertaken in Georgia.

How to Ruin Your Reputation in One Blog Post

Blogger reviews a book. Author doesn't like the review. Mayhem ensues.

The blogger notes in his review that the book he read is filled with typos. The author gets hysterical in the comments, which are filled with typos. But she can't quite figure that out so she winds up completely melting down.

Not coincidentally her profile page here is pretty much incoherent.

Author, poet and artist. Just something I have been doing my whole life. I'm happy to have finally The Greek Seaman novel published on KIndle and the Nook, sony ereader or PC with the free Apps, along with my poems and short stories and more of my wares will be published soon. My second novel Cass, I hope to publish by the winter, or early 2012. And there is a third novel nearing its first draft. Born in London, England and now living in the USA. I was a big traveler in my time before settling in the USA. I have seen quite a lot of the world since a child, mostly just around Europe and to Greece, Cyprus and then later Africa, Turkey, Libya, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Mexico and Canada. In 2001 my English father, an artist visited me in the USA. Prior to that I hadn’t seen him for twenty years. My parents divorced when I was twelve. My Greek Mother was still traveling to Greece for short visits and visiting me here in America before she passed. It was in 1988/9, I came to live in America. Maine is where I first landed to live. I've also lived in California, and since 2002, I have been living back in Florida.

She should seriously consider another profession. Or at the very least, using a copy editor for these future book projects.

Her writing here is also incoherent. It's quite obvious her writing is at about a sixth-grade level.

H/T Jack, via email.

Carville: Hey, Help Us Fight Those Crazy, Paranoid, Extreme, Wingnut, Fear-Mongering, Job-Destroying, Union-Busting Lunatics

I'm starting this think this whole New Age of Civility is over. We've been getting emails from the Democrat heavy hitters recently as they're trying to raise money off just about any cause under the sun. Of course instead of offering any meaningful platform of their own, it's the typical shrieking about how evil the Republicans are and how they're going to take away grandma's Social Security. But for sheer amusement, today they break out James Carville with this gem, which must set some sort of record for juvenile name-calling.

Jammie --

Back home, folks always say “the proof is in the pudding.”

And if you ever needed proof of just how crazy, paranoid and extreme the Republican Party has become, all you need to do is look at this past month.

Speaker Boehner says “so be it” to devastating job losses and Sarah Palin is on her Facebook hollering about school teachers in Wisconsin being “thugs.” But there’s one way we can stop their right-wing hollering in its tracks.

We’re just 2 days out from the first FEC quarterly deadline of the year, and you know the world will be watching to see which side is stronger and more united. We have got to show these Republican wingnuts that we won’t be bullied and won’t go down without a fight.

Jammie, help show our Democratic grassroots strength by chipping in before the critical FEC deadline. Give $3 or more today and your gift will be matched 2-to-1 by a group of generous Democrats.

The right-wing mob hopes to sneak through an extremist agenda to cut 700,000 American jobs, destroy unions, dismantle environmental protections, privatize Social Security and dismantle Medicare before voters even realize what’s happened. They’re so shameless that they’ve even proposed cutting assistance for homeless veterans.

If grassroots Democrats like you stay on the sidelines, they’re gonna say the fear-mongering, job-destroying, union-busting Republicans are winning this fight.

Help show our Democratic grassroots strength by chipping in before the critical FEC deadline. Give $3 or more today and your gift will be matched 2-to-1 by a group of House Democrats.

If we meet our goal, the nation will know we stand behind Democrats. If we fail to meet our goal, we will be accused of abandoning Democrats when they need us most. Time’s running out: Contribute right now >>

Many thanks,

James Carville

P.S. We must keep Speaker Boehner, Sarah Palin, Governor Walker and their lunatic followers from out-hustling us, but time is running out. Contribute Now.

They must not be receiving much since I've been getting emails like this almost daily. They really need to update their playbook. Carville's been babbling this same nonsense for 20 years now.

I Hate Those NASCAR Watching, Faux 'Rasslin People

We're told the M.A.W. (Make A Wish) Foundation also plans to honor John (Cena) at the party for passing a huge milestone -- 200 wishes granted -- an honor shared by only three other celebs ... Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Hulk Hogan.

There are diva chefs who can't find the time to grant a wish to a terminally ill child. There are tons of liberals in the entertainment arena who rush out to remind us it is all about the kids. There is no shortage of folks who wish to demonize those bible thumping, gun toting, NASCAR fans and yet it looks like when the rubber meets the road those are the very people who let their actions speak louder then their words.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the names above Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr, are NASCAR drivers, Hulk Hogan and John Cena are wrestlers. I am surprised there are not more NASCAR drivers on that elite list as several of them have their own endeavors such as Kyle Petty with his Victory Junction camps and Tony Stewart who absolutely goes nowhere that he doesn't do something for the kids in the local area.

Don't bother looking for any Democrat lawmakers who whine incessantly about how everything a conservative wants to do is bad for the children to be on any of these lists. They first look at their list of campaign contributors and if you ain't at the top of the list, well it sucks to be you.

Obama Featured on Pro-Life Billboard in Chicago

When this actually does appear it won't be long before it comes down, especially once Obama's buddy Al Sharpton gets involved, just as in New York City.

'When I See This, I Wonder Whether Bin Laden Had a Point'

Looks like folks in Italy are none too impressed with the exploits of the Jersey Shore crew. Trust me, we in New Jersey aren't exactly thrilled with them either, although I wouldn't go so far as to invoke the name of bin Laden.

In a country where scantily-clad hostesses star on television and the Prime Minister enjoys notorious 'bunga bunga' sex parties, you would think a mere reality show would be greeted with nonchalance.

But despite the exploits of Silvio Berlusconi and the downmarket nature of some of the broadcasting output, it seems Italians can still be shocked.

The advent of U.S. reality show Jersey Shore has been greeted with dismay and even outrage, with one MTV Italia website viewer commenting: 'When I see this, I wonder whether Bin Laden had a point.'

The antics of Snooki, The Situation, JWoww and the rest of the cast of - in some cases - dubious Italian heritage have attracted a growing fanbase in the U.S., and are now set to film the fourth season in Italy.

But far from giving a Latin shrug of the shoulders at the escapades of the tanned and toned stars, commentators have lambasted it as 'noisy and superficial', 'blundering and frivolous' and - possibly most hurtful for the cast who seem inordinately proud of their Latin background - the 'worst stereotypes of Italians'.

A columnist in Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's biggest newspapers, sneeringly described the cast as having 'slicked hair, exaggerated narcissism, boundless love for the family and outlandish eccentricity'.

Columnist Roberto Del Bove wrote in Rome newspaper New Notzie that the show's stars 'embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanised'.

Return of the Obama Halo

It appears Barack Obama got what he wanted from Monday night's speech on Libya. He got just the right camera angle so the media could portray him with the trusty halo made so popular during the 2008 election cycle. If I were the suspicious type I'd suggest he rehearses these shots.

The above image accompanies a muddled opinion piece in the NY Daily News that claims Obama made a clear, principled case for our military action in Libya.

But now, in the first major test of a crisis rearing its head on his watch, many have derided Obama's approach as the professor's way of war. So the pundits were craving clarity Monday night when he took the stage at the National Defense University in Washington, clamoring for something like an Obama Doctrine, a few snappy sentences that encapsulate his foreign policy, a formula where you plug in the variables and get your answer each and every time.

It didn't happen. It was never going to happen. Nor should it have happened.

In typically Obamastic fashion, he rejected the arguments of those who suggested we should have allowed a humanitarian disaster to unfold while the world watched (that would have "been a betrayal of who we are"), and similarly dismantled the arguments of those who want a more aggressive, expansive, expensive campaign.

Obamastic fashion? Say what? And who out there suggested we allow a humanitarian disaster to unfold? If anything most critics suggested we act long before we did. Besides, if anyone wants humanitarian disasters, there are plenty of places in Africa that fits the bill.

So while this columnist extols the Obamastic professorial virtues of our fearless leader, he then contradicts himself.

Disagree with the military action in Libya, by all means. I'm not sold. Our military is already overextended, and protesters are being suppressed from Yemen to Bahrain to Syria, which are all more critical to our national security. Congress wasn't sufficiently consulted. We don't know whether or how we'll bring Moammar Khadafy down, and it's possible we only postponed, rather than prevented, a slaughter. We know very little about the rebels, and apart from broadly lionizing the Libyan people, Obama shed no light Monday night on why they're bound to be better than the devil we know.

We have no clue what's to happen down the road, but at least Obama explained it all in professorial Obamastic fashion. Thanks for clearing that up.

Tale of Two Governors

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is being lauded for announcing a $132.5 billion spending plan that closes a $10 billion state budget gap. Yet it's casually noted that to get there he has chopped $1.2 billion in school aid while not raising taxes.

"It's a new day in New York," Cuomo said at a news conference. "We set out to build a new New York. It's the first step down that road."

The final budget is largely what Cuomo had proposed on Feb. 1 and doesn't include any new broad-based taxes.

The budget would reduce state spending by more than 2 percent from the current year, establish regional economic development councils and cut school aid by $1.2 billion.

Cuomo originally proposed a cut on $1.5 billion in school aid but Sunday's agreement restores $272 million.

Now contrast these numbers with those offered by Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin and the hysterical reaction from teachers.

Walker's budget cuts state school aid by $834 million over the next biennium, a 7.9 percent decrease. That accounts for about one fifth of proposed cuts in the budget.

But the bigger impact on local school budgets is Walker's proposal to reduce by 5.5 percent next year the amount that districts can increase revenues, which combines state aid and property taxes. It would be the first time that revenue limits would decrease since they were imposed nearly 20 years ago.

"It's the largest cut to education in modern state history," said Dan Rossmiller, government affairs director for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. "I can't imagine that anybody is looking forward to having to cope with this."

Both of these governors quite clearly understand that spending must be cut in order to avoid bankrupting their states, but we wonder why the reaction to both budgets are so different? In Wisconsin we recently witnessed a three-week temper tantrum by unions, yet in New York the reaction is mostly muted. Let's pretend roles were reversed and a Democrat proposed cuts to education in Wisconsin. Well, actually it happened just two years ago. In Wisconsin.

Last week, Doyle had warned of potential 5% cuts in aid to public schools and local governments. State aid to public schools is $5.1 billion a year; aid to local governments, $974 million.

Doyle said he reluctantly agreed to the first cut in state aid to public schools in his seven years in office.

"We don't have any acceptable options," he said.

Yet when his successor looks to control spending, all hell breaks loose.

Now suppose a Republican governor chopped $1.2 billion from education in New York. The UFT and NEA would already be marching on Albany warning of impending doom and telling us how much Republicans hate children. The ubiquitous Hitler signs would be everywhere, the capitol would be under siege, the president would tell us the governor is attacking teachers and national media would descend like locusts to show solidarity.

Instead, there's relative silence coming out of New York. Why the double standard?

Horrifying: Woman 'Crucified' in Utah

If you've eaten recently you may want to skip some of the more gruesome details here. Absolutely horrifying.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of homicide and abuse of a vulnerable adult, Unified Police Department said Monday.

On March 25 at 3:11 p.m. police responded to a possible overdose at a Kearns home in the 4900 South block of 5415 West, said Justin Hoyal with UPD. They found 22-year-old Christina Harms and pronounced her dead at the scene.

Investigators said Harms had marks on her ankles that were consistent with plastic zip ties. She had bruising on her thigh and head, and police found a pepper seed in her lower eye lid. Harms’ arms and hands were completely covered with bandaging material that would have prohibited her from putting the pepper seed in her eye, police said.

Harms was unable to care for herself, Hoyal said. Her body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.

While executing a search warrant at the home, police found a small closet in the living room that had an alarm on the doorway. Inside the closet investigators found a metal bar used for binding the victim in a crucifixion style, Hoyal said. Several binding materials also were found buried under trash in a waste basket.

Photos of the three arrested are at the link. About what you'd expect them to look like.

Fat Slob Chavez Tells Venezuelans to Cut Calories

Lead by example, tubby.

President Hugo Chavez urged Venezuelans on Sunday to cut their calories to avoid obesity - the latest lifestyle recommendation by the self-proclaimed socialist crusader.

Chavez has lobbied in recent weeks against what he calls the evils of capitalism, including alcoholism, breast implants and violent television programs.

"Be careful with weight gain!" warned Chavez on Sunday, speaking during his weekly television and radio program. "We are eating better, that's been proven. We're leaving malnutrition behind. It no longer exists in the country, but be careful with obesity."

Chavez - who often dispenses advice to supporters during his marathon speeches - said he'd start a campaign to urge Venezuelans to consume less fatty foods and eat in a healthier fashion.

Good thing we don't have nattering nanny-staters here in this countyr.

Oh, wait...

If I'm going to be lectured on what I eat, it should probably come from people who don't have obvious weight issues themselves.

Transparency in the Age of Obama: 'They Don't Like to Abide by the Law or be Reminded That They are Breaking It'

Back on January 20, 2009, the day this abominable administration hit us like a plague, this was published on the White House website.

Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government.

Of course that was just one of many empty promises. Fast forward two years and they're treating Freedom of Information Act requests like they're radioactive.

Insiders at the Homeland Security Department warned for months that senior Obama administration appointees were improperly delaying the releases of government files on politically sensitive topics as sought by citizens, journalists and watchdog groups under the Freedom of Information Act, according to uncensored emails newly obtained by The Associated Press.

The highly unusual political vetting was described as "meddling," "crazy" and "bananas!" It is the subject of a congressional hearing later this week and an ongoing inquiry by the department's inspector general.

So on day one of this administration they began telling lies. What's amazing is how much the lapdog media keeps taking kicks to the teeth yet still bend over to accommodate the man.

More recently, immigration rights advocates asked the Homeland Security Department for emails that political advisers exchanged with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement about a controversial enforcement program. Inside the government, the search turned up emails described as "embarrassing, crude exchanges." But the political advisers never turned over their own embarrassing emails; these were revealed only when the recipients elsewhere in the department provided them.

"Apparently these embarrassing exchanges didn't get turned over when the (political) front office conducted its search but they did when the ICE employees copied on these exchanges coughed up the responsive records," the FOIA unit's associate director, William Holzerland, wrote in January to Papoi.

Papoi responded, "They don't like to abide by the law or be reminded that they are breaking it."

Issues like this get very little attention from the media because it makes Obama look bad and since they're the ones who foisted this charlatan upon us they too are embarrassed their guy hasn't lived up to his billing. of course if the Bush administration stonewalled on FOIA requests they'd be dogged about being secretive and criminal.

Pays to have that "D" after your name.

'Radioactive Rain' Unleashed on Massachusetts

There's no threat to anyone, of course, but hey, why not put a little scare into the folks?

State health officials said the fallout from crippled Japanese nuclear reactors has unleashed a radioactive rain over the Bay State, but they insisted levels are too low to pose a threat to health.

“The drinking water supply in Massachusetts is unaffected by this short-term, slight elevation in radiation,” said Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach. “However, we will carefully monitor the drinking water as we exercise an abundance of caution.”

Auerbach said routine sampling of rainwater last week in Massachusetts as well as California, Pennsylvania and Washington all showed similar elevated levels of radioiodine-131. Air samples in the same Massachusetts location showed no elevated levels. Health officials declined to reveal the town where the sample was taken.

Ronald Ballinger, a professor of nuclear science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, agreed that fallout from the crippled Japanese reactors is not dangerous to the continental United States. He said even if the plant were to melt down, the radiation making its way to the Bay State would be unlikely to reach a level dangerous to humans. These levels, he said, are nothing to worry about.

“The concentrations are so low as to be absurd,” Ballinger said, when contacted by the Herald. “The event is pretty much contained, right now. They have power back to the site.”

So concentrations are so low as to be absurd, there's no threat to anyone and there's nothing to worry about.

So why is this guy even holding a press conference?

Obama Jinx Continues: His Bracket is Busted

I guess we no longer have to suffer him on ESPN any longer. Well, at least for this year. Having gone out on a limb and lamely picked all No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four, he's crashed and burned as Kansas was defeated decisively by Virginia Commonwealth this afternoon.

Bye bye, Barry.

There was some pre-emptive lamenting over at The Hill today.

Despite his bracket's recent downturn Obama remains in the 97th percentile of all brackets submitted on NYTimes.com, though that figure may drop should the Jayhawks fail to win the national title as he has predicted.

Mike Bloomberg Looking Even More Ridiculous Than Usual

If your kids are into Spiderman, whatever you do, don't show them this.

If you think he looks absurd here, scroll down at the link for another laugh.

Finally: Eco-Friendly Toys for Earth Day

Want to get a head start on indoctrinating your little skull full of mush? What better way than by having Junior learn to recreate the water cycle?

Part of The Young Scientists Club Magic School Bus Series, Going Green is an award-winning kit including components, plus exciting experiments and activities designed to teach kids about living green. Accompanied by the famous Ms. Frizzle, early learners discover how to recreate the water cycle, build a compost tube, shrink plastic, magically make packing peanuts disappear, decompose food with fungus, form pulp to create new paper, design recycled paper shapes, learn about the 3 R’s and more.

Ah, what fond memories I have of decomposing food with fungus back when I was a wee lad.

Tim Blair snarks:

One of those “3 R’s” ends in “etarded”. It’s a word you’ll learn when you take your handmade compost tube to school.

Schumer Baffled By NYC Census Count

Let's see: We had a $340 million campaign in an effort to get people to respond to the 2010 Census. We've got a Democrat administration in Washington running the show during that time, along with a Democrat Senate and Congress. Obviously some chicanery must be afoot, right? Of course there was! Now we must investigate!

Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the federal government Saturday to probe the 2010 U.S. Census' finding that New York City had grown by a mere trickle.

"These numbers cry out for investigation," Schumer said, adding his voice to a chorus of critics, including Mayor Bloomberg, who have railed against the decennial count.

"I'm going to put a lot of pressure on them to do it," he said. "For the census director to just shrug his shoulders ... isn't good enough."

The U.S. Census reported that the city grew by 166,855 over a decade to 8.175 million despite a Census estimate last year that reported the city was home to 8.3million people.

Schumer called for the investigation in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves.

I guess not enough illegals filled out their forms.

I suppose it would never occur to this idiot that people are fleeing New York.

There's a logical answer, of course, but don't anyone tell Chucky. He needs some attention.

"We reported today early quality indicators that show a stronger Census than in 2000 thanks in part to higher levels of participation by the public than many projected," said Steve Jost, Associate Director for Communications for the Census Bureau "Nationally the growth rate from 2000 was one of the lowest measured in the last century. The pattern in New York City as like that seen in many other large cities — higher rates of growth in suburbs than in urban cores."

Great News for Seniors: Don't Expect a Social Security COLA Any Time Soon

I doubt this will be a problem for Obama and the Democrats. They'll just run on the platform of the evil Republicans want to take away your Social Security, so be thankful you still have it.

Millions of retired and disabled people in the United States had better brace for another year with no increase in Social Security payments.

The government is projecting a slight cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits next year, the first increase since 2009. But for most beneficiaries, rising Medicare premiums threaten to wipe out any increase in payments, leaving them without a raise for a third straight year.

About 45 million people - one in seven in the country - receive both Medicare and Social Security. By law, beneficiaries have their Medicare Part B premiums, which cover doctor visits, deducted from their Social Security payments each month.

At some point the country needs to address entitlements. And the sense of entitlement. Good luck with that.

According to a Greenville News account posted on his website, Gowdy "described a recent school classroom where most children indicated they think it's the government's job to provide health care, Social Security and education. 'We've got to do something about the sense of entitlement,' Gowdy said."

FLASHBACK, 2007: Fringe Anti-War POTUS Candidate Upbraids His Future Self

Remember how George W. Bush kept us all in the dark about his intentions in Iraq?

Me neither.

Of course, Bush could have allowed C-SPAN into the Situation Room and Obama still would have gotten his panties in a bunch about transparency. Oh well. Now keep in mind this is the same guy who one week ago launched a war kinetic military action against Libya and didn't bother giving Congress a clue until three days later.

The American people? We're penciled in for a debriefing this coming Monday.



Via Breitbart.

Cross-posted.

Farrakhan: Obama 'the First Jewish President'

Well, I guess this means Bill Clinton remains the one and only black President.

Farrakhan criticized President Barack Obama for joining up with the “old colonial masters” of the Western-led forces and expressed skepticism about European countries espousing humanitarian concerns, saying they “give noble motives to their wickedness.”

“Do you think they had humanitarian concerns when the British mowed down the Indians in India who were peacefully protesting?” he said. “Where in the hell is humanitarian values in America when you’ve got over 50 million Americans living in poverty, sick and diseased, with no healthcare?”

He also alleged that Obama had backed down from pushing a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord and banning settlement-building in the West Bank, calling him “the first Jewish president.” Obama is a Christian.

“He was selected before he was elected,” Farrakhan said. “And the people that selected him were rich, powerful members of the Jewish community.”

Funny, but I had no idea 52% of the public were rich, powerful Jews.

This isn't the first time someone uttered such silliness.

Progressive Goon Squad Displaying New Civility

Ben Smith over at Politico must think this is some sort of revelation, the fact that Media Matters is targeting Fox News but really it is just an affirmation of what we already knew. I guess if there is some new news in the article it is the level of venom and hatred that resides in the hearts and minds of the Media Matters myrmidons. Really this level of obsession is unhealthy and borders on the Andrew Sullivan's degree of craziness associated with all things related to the reproduction abilities of the Palin's.

The liberal group Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” aimed at the Fox News Channel.

I guess that civility memo just flew right across their desk and into file 13 faster then their writers could generate it.

Media Matters are acting like some sort of Borg collective, running around demanding that everyone assimilate, but in that regard they act no different then any liberal who when confronted with a conservative African American don't immediately start hurling the Uncle Tom references at them. Progressives and liberals despise anybody or anything that will not reside in the designated group that they have assigned them to. Their interpretation of free speech means you are free to have free speech as long as you use our talking points.

There is a reason Fox News is #1 but as an employee of Fox News, regardless of capacity from the secretaries to Rupert Murdoch, knowing that you have a group of unhinged people monitoring your every move and poring over your personal information has got to be a little unnerving and knowing that for this group nothing is beneath them I would be looking to take measures to protect myself.

Don't ever think Media Matters is just an innocent bunch of obsessed bloggers. If they put you in their crosshairs they will stop at nothing to destroy you. They will make the stuff up knowing full well that many traditional media outlets not only have their back but will work with them to promote the storyline regardless of if there is one bit of factual information in it or not.

The on air Fox personalities are one thing, but Media Matters is making it clear they don't care if you are janitor or the night watchman, if you work for Fox News they are coming after you.

“We made a list of every single person who works for Fox and tried to figure out who might be disgruntled and why, and we went out to try to meet them,” he said. “Clearly, somebody in that organization is giving us primary source documents.”

Media Matters, he said, is also conducting “opposition research” on a dozen or so “mid- and senior-level execs and producers,” a campaign style move that he and Brock said would simply involve recording their public appearances and digging into public records associated with them.

My sympathies are with the Fox News employees who are going to have to endure this self declared war and I would think somewhere out there are some lawyers who would be willing to help these folks with the invasion of their privacy and with what will no doubt manifest itself in some physical confrontations with the minions of this progressive organization because that is exactly how they operate. Intimidation, fear, and threats.

Being a big dog lover I might also suggest that Fox employees look into some sort of canine companionship so that when the Media Matters employee who forgets to take his meds that day and shows up on your front lawn can also be given a chance to evaluate their cardio vascular conditioning level.

Obama: We're Succeeding in Libya, But As for My NCAA Picks, Not So Much

Our fearless wartime president has declared his Libya mission a success after one week.

President Obama will tell the nation today that his Libya strategy is working.

"We are succeeding in our mission," he will say in his weekly video address this morning. "We've taken out Libya's air defenses. [Moammar] Khadafy's forces are no longer advancing across Libya."

The president, under increasing fire for failing to clearly explain his Libyan goals, was also set to say he was fulfilling his promise that the US role would be limited.

"We are not putting any ground forces into Libya," he says.

But Obama won't say when the US-led campaign will end.

"The military effort is part of our larger strategy to support the Libyan people and hold the Khadafy regime accountable," he says -- but didn't specifically call for Khadafy's removal from power.

A couple of weeks ago he said Khadafy had to go. Now it doesn't matter, I guess.

Last week after he managed to pick 29 of 32 teams in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament he was the toast of the sports world. Yet now that three of his Final Four selections are toast, it's not even being reported.

If I were the Kansas Jayhawks, I'd be very nervous.

Dumb: Poll Concludes That Church-Goers More Likely to Be Obese

Good grief.

I have a hypothesis: Democrat politicians are more likely to be tax cheats than the general population. Seems plausible enough on its face. One would think some enterprising research group out there might want to connect the dots on that one. I mean, scientifically.

But no. Instead, we get a steady stream of inane studies like this.

No doubt, you know who is taking copious notes.

The more you go to church, the more likely you are to be fat.

That’s the conclusion from a new study from Northwestern University, which found that young churchgoers who go to services weekly, or more, were much more likely to become obese in their middle-age years than those who rarely, or never, attend.

What’s to blame? One of the authors said a culture of eating, as well as a focus on more obvious vices, could be the culprit.

“Churches pay more attention to obvious vices like smoking or drinking,” Matthew Feinstein, lead author of the research and fourth-year medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, explained to CNN. “Our best guess about why is that…more frequent participation in church is associated with good works and people may be rewarding themselves with large meals that are more caloric in nature than we would like.”

Sounds like Mr. Diligent University Research Student pulled that wild guess out of thin air.

Hey, maybe church-goers like to sneak extra wafers during communion. Who knows? It could be anything! I'm just brainstorming!

“There’s certainly a church culture around eating,” Erik Christensen, a pastor at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square in Chicago, told CNN.” What I see among congregants in their 20s and 30s is they are very fit and what I see among congregants in their 50s and 60s is disproportionate obesity.”

Of course, the pastor could just as easily be talking about a random sample of humanity there.

And what are we to make of this this beastly heathen? I guess he's just an outlier.



Via The Blaze.

Cross-posted.

Great News: Al Qaeda Helping Themselves To Missiles in Libya

Surely President Eisenhower Obama will be addressing this disturbing development during his long-awaited, little-anticipated speech to the nation Monday night. If he evens knows about it by then.

AL-QAEDA'S offshoot in North Africa has snatched surface-to-air missiles from an arsenal in Libya during the civil strife there, Chad's President says.

Idriss Deby Itno did not say how many surface-to-air missiles were stolen, but told the African weekly Jeune Afrique that he was "100 per cent sure" of his assertion.

"The Islamists of al-Qaeda took advantage of the pillaging of arsenals in the rebel zone to acquire arms, including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries in Tenere," a desert region of the Sahara that stretches from northeast Niger to western Chad, Deby said in the interview.

"This is very serious. AQIM is becoming a genuine army, the best equipped in the region," he said.

His claim was echoed by officials in other countries in the region who said that they were worried that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) might have acquired "heavy weapons", thanks to the insurrection.

"We have sure information. We are very worried for the sub-region," a Malian security source who did not want to be named said.

AQIM originated as an armed Islamist resistance movement to the secular Algerian government.

It now operates mainly in Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, where it has attacked military targets and taken civilian hostages, particularly Europeans, some of whom it has killed.

"We have the same information," about heavy weapons, including SAM 7 missiles, a military source from Niger said.

"It is very worrying. This overarming is a real danger for the whole zone," he added

Khadafy Son Enjoyed Recent Tour of U.S. Military Facilities

Guess he's got good connections over here.

A son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi toured U.S. ports and military facilities just weeks before he helped lead deadly attacks on rebels protesting his father's authoritarian regime.

Khamis Gadhafi, 27, spent four weeks in the U.S. as part of an internship with AECOM, a global infrastructure company with deep business interests in Libya, according to Paul Gennaro, AECOM's Senior Vice President for Global Communications. The trip was to include visits to the Port of Houston, Air Force Academy, National War College and West Point, Gennaro said.

The West Point visit was canceled on Feb. 17, when the trip was cut short and Gadhafi returned to Libya, Gennaro said. The uprising there began with a series of protests on Feb. 15.

Gennaro said the State Department approved the trip.

State department officials denied any role in planning, advising or paying for the trip.

"We did greet him at the airport. That is standard courtesy for the son of the leader of a country," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. Toner said the government was aware of Gadhafi's itinerary, but "did not sign off on it."

AECOM was not paid to arrange the trip, and did not pay for related expenses, Gennaro said. He said the trip was arranged at the request of a Libyan, whom he declined to name.

Once Basketball is Done This Weekend, Obama Will Get Around to Mentioning Libya to the Public

I guess TOTUS doesn't work weekends. He could have done this, oh, maybe when the whole thing started last week, but he was busy traipsing around South America with the extended family. Obviously tonight, Saturday and Sunday are a no go. Basketball clearly takes precedence over the American people.

So he'll figure out something to say by Monday. But who knows, that could be subject to change.

President Obama will address the nation Monday night on the crisis in Libya, the White House said Friday.

Obama will speak at 7:30 p.m. ET at the National Defense University in Washington.

While the U.S. is eager to take a backseat role in the international military campaign in Libya, it is considering stepping up its assistance to rebel forces through humanitarian, political, economic and even military aid, a U.S. official said Friday.

So we'll be taking a backseat role by stepping up our assistance. Good thing this has all be thought out clearly before we acted.

Today Obama managed to find time to hold a conference call with some Washington lawmakers to to to pretend he was keeping them in the loop. How gracious of him.

Looks like a high of only 46 in DC tomorrow, but that still might make the golf cutoff point. Lord knows the guy could use some downtime.

Sen. Frank Lout-enberg (D-Natch): Planned Parenthood Opponents "Don't Deserve the Freedoms That Are in the Constitution"

"...but we'll give it to them anyway."

Well, isn't that nice of the Senator?

Say, I thought this bum retired over a decade ago. What happened?



Via RealClearPolitics.

Cross-posted.

'If We Cut Emissions Today, Global Temperatures Are Not Likely to Drop for About a Thousand Years'

A very inconvenient truth, some might say.

Bolt: Everyone understands that that is the argument But we’re just trying to get basic facts, without worrying about the consequences - about what those facts may lead people to think. On our own, by cutting our emissions, because it’s a heavy price to pay, by 5 per cent by 2020, what will the world’s temperatures fall by as a consequence?

Flannery: Look, it will be a very, very small increment.

Bolt: Have you got a number? I mean, there must be some numbers.

Flannery: I just need to clarfy in terms of the climate context for you. If we cut emissions today, global temperatures are not likely to drop for about a thousand years.

Oopsy.

In case someone's thinking this Australina "Climate Commissioner" misspoke, consider:

Bolt: …I’m just trying to get the facts in front of the public so we know what we’re doing. Just unbiased. Is it about, I don’t know, are you talking about a thousandth of a degree? A hundredth of a degree? What sort of rough figure?

Flannery: Just let me finish and say this. If the world as a whole cut all emissions tomorrow the average temperature of the planet is not going to drop in several hundred years, perhaps as much as a thousand years because the system is overburdened with CO2 that has to be absorbed and that only happens slowly.

Bolt: That doesn’t seem a good deal…

Flannery: What’s that sorry?

Bolt: That doesn’t seem a good deal. If we spend trillions of dollars to cut world’s emissions that we won’t notice the difference, well our great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren won’t even notice the difference.

Flannery: It will just keep getting worse if we don’t. That’s the problem.

The junk science is settled!

You can listed to the audio here.

Obama's America: Jobs Fair Canceled Due to Lack of Jobs

Mission accomplished!

A Massachusetts employment organization has canceled its annual job fair because not enough companies have come forward to offer jobs.

Richard Shafer, chairman of the Taunton Employment Task Force, says 20 to 25 employers are needed for the fair scheduled for April 6, but just 10 tables had been reserved. One table was reserved by a nonprofit that offers human services to job seekers, and three by temporary employment agencies.

Shafer tells the Taunton Daily Gazette the lack of employers means the task force won't have enough money to properly advertise the fair.

The task force has been organizing the job fair nearly every year since 1984.

Would this be an inappropriate time to point out that 98.7% of the elected officials in Massachusetts are Democrats?

Taliban Impressed By Kids Acting Like Them

When it comes to issuing denials nobody is better at it then the Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban denied making the video, saying it was Western propaganda aimed at defaming their image in the eyes of their countrymen.

“This video has nothing to do with us,” said Ihsanullah Ihsan, one of the group’s spokesmen. “We did not ask these children to copy us in their games but it is clear that they are impressed with our cause and now want to imitate our brave fighters.”

Here is a terrorist group with a long and provable record of not only using children but also exploiting mentally handicapped people to carry out their deadly attacks but also in turn killing those who don't or forcing them to by threatening their families.

That denial doesn't sound like much of a denial and as far as defaming their image, guys you don't need any help with that. You are doing quite nicely on your own.

Now I wonder where those kids learned how to create this little skit? Could it be because they have seen this played out in real life or is there just a lot of television shows in Pakistan which depict this sort of thing and glorify it so much. There is over 5,000 years of recorded history and I don't seem to recall a lot of documentaries showing how in other cultures, you can't really call Islam a civilization, they lauded the taking of life by children.

The music in the background is a Taliban jihadi song. The lyrics are in Pashto. “Throats are cut, bombs go off and then you can go to a nice place," meaning heaven, although the word is not use.

Ahh, the wonderful Religion of Peace®