Weasel Weiner Wimps Out of Wisconsin Event

It's almost as if he's afraid to show his face. What happened, tough guy?

New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who found himself at the center of a media firestorm this week after a lewd photo appeared on his Twitter stream, has canceled a Friday evening appearance in Wisconsin in order to spend time with his wife.

Weiner had been slated to speak at the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s annual convention Friday at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee. But he told state party officials that he would not attend the convention and would instead spend the weekend in New York with his wife, Huma Abedin, Wisconsin Democratic Party Communications Director Graeme Zielinski confirmed Friday afternoon.

Maybe if he spent more time with his wife he wouldn't have been so busy sending photos of his junk around to Twitter admirers.

Meanwhile, the Republican who ran against him last year is mulling another challenge in 2012. He's letting Weiner stew in his own mess for now.

Turner said he was scratching his head over how Weiner has handled the incident. Not only has Weiner declined to refer the case to federal authorities to find the hacker, but he's hinted that the kinky photo might be of him.

"Hacking into a congressional account is serious business. There's probably a reason he won't let authorities investigate. We can only speculate," Turner said.

"The whole thing is kind of unseemly. The best thing the opposition can do is find a good seat, get some popcorn and enjoy the show. There is no need to pile on here. He's doing a wonderful job himself."

On the upside, a Friday night passed without Weiner exposing himself for anyone.

Three days and no tweets now, Tony? What's the matter, Huma got your Blackberry or something?

Emmy Award Winning Editor Lies, Journalistic Integrity Dies

He has won eight Emmy's, is the editor-in-chief of a weekly publication geared towards the African-American community, a staunch Democrat supporter and master of playing 5 card Hold 'Em race poker.

Oh yeah, and he lies about being assaulted at a metro Atlanta commuter station in an attempt to ratchet up pressure against the so-called rapid transit system.

Longtime Atlanta broadcaster Maynard Eaton has retracted comments made last Friday about an alleged attempted robbery at the Peachtree Center MARTA station.

Eaton had told the AJC he tumbled down an escalator after a group of young men tried to steal his laptop. The AJC used Eaton's account as part of a story on MARTA safety. On Tuesday Eaton left a voicemail with the newspaper saying, "I made some comments about MARTA ... that I’d like to retract. I simply fell and hurt my own self."

According to an incident report provided by MARTA, Eaton told the officer he "missed a step" on the escalator, causing him to fall. The officer wrote that Eaton was intoxicated.

All the news that's fit fabricated to be news.

Jeez, isn't it nice that bloggers don't have to live up to that whole journalistic integrity thing?

Cut and Run Dems Now Cutting and Running in Indiana

Cut and run should be an expression best left for sports, but for the Democrats it seems to be the only play left in their playbook.

Everybody is well aware that for years that was the Democrat strategy in regards to our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as how to handle the prisoners at Club Gitmo. They then repeated the play shortly after Nancy Pelosi and the Dems took control of Congress by leaving Washington, turning out the lights, turning off the mics and placing guards at the doors of the congressional chambers while the Republicans were trying to bring forth an energy bill. They have continued this now with the tantrum in Wisconsin, fleeing the state in defiance of the voters of their state and now it is Indiana's turn.

House Democratic lawmakers in Indiana have begun a de facto walkout in an effort to block a Republican-backed bill that would restrict private-sector union rights.

Republicans arrived at the statehouse Tuesday morning to find no Democrats present, as protesters applauding the walkout could be heard inside the chamber.

The strategy is possible because Republicans make up 60 of 100 House seats. Without any Democrats present, Republicans lack a two-thirds majority needed for a quorum to act on the bill.

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Waterloo: Top Democrat Obey Cuts and Runs

Maybe Jim Geraghty can round it up to 100 vulnerable seats now. Some devastating news for the Democrats.

A Democratic source says House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey will not seek re-election.

The Wisconsin Democrat was first elected to his Wisconsin seat in 1969 and easily won his 20th full term in 2008 with 61 percent of the vote.

Obey's decision came as a surprise. He faced a potentially difficult re-election bid this fall. He scheduled an official announcement for Wednesday afternoon.

C'mon Dave, man up. Don't you have the guts to face a tough battle?

Democrats Failure To Read The Bill Is The Republicans Fault

Is there nothing the Democrats won't try to blame on the Republicans? They have campaigned for what seems now like forever blaming Bush, and now in this interview on the Neal Cavuto show Democrat congressman Xavier, the X is pronounced like an H, Beccera of California wants to blame Rep Tom Coburn for the congress losing their healthcare coverage under the bill they passed.

Look Nancy told you, you would have to wait until it was passed to find out what was in it so quit your bellyaching.

The bigger point is that is congressman Becerra trying to tell me that there were 435 members of the house and 100 members of the Senate, all with their highly vaunted, overpaid staffers who didn't find this in the bill prior to voting?

Almost daily there are stories about what kind of little tax bombs or other goodies are in this 2700 page government takeover of healthcare and the best the Democrats can do is try and blame the Republicans?

As for Mr Becerra's assertion that if you like your insurance you can keep it, we all know that is about as believable as Obama's claim that he won't raise taxes on anybody who makes less then [Fill in The Blank]. You can keep your current insurance as long as the insurance company doesn't raise their rates or change their coverage. If they do, then the Imperial Federal Government has the power to deny such changes and force you into their exchanges.

Well unless you are a congressional staffer, which it appears were better at getting themselves a sweetheart deal then the congress critter they work for. Sort of makes you wonder just who it was that really wrote the bill.

LIAR!

Senate Republicans, he said, have employed the filibuster more over the past year than in all of the 1950s and 1960s combined. The GOP's strategy has been "twenty years of obstruction packed into one," he said.

The fact is there has not been one single filibuster in 2009 by the Republicans or anybody else for that matter, rather there has been the threat of a filibuster.

Big difference. In reality what the Democrats are whining about is a Senate rule imposed in 1975 which stated that to cut off debate on an issue you needed 60 votes for what is called cloture.

The history here is well known to everyone interested in politics but worth summarizing. For most of the first 190 years of the country's operation, U.S. Senators would, in unusual circumstances, try to delay a vote on measures they opposed by "filibustering" -- talking without limit or using other stalling techniques. For most of those years, the Senate could cut off the filibuster and force a vote by imposing "cloture," which took a two-thirds majority of those voting (at most 67 of 100 Senators). In 1975, the Senate adopted a rules change to allow cloture with 60 votes, and those are the rules that still prevail.

The Republicans have made the Dems invoke the cloture clause numerous times, but that is far different then a filibuster, and I would think the former City of Chicago Constitutional Law Professor would know that.

For somebody who wants to work with the Republicans he really has gone on a scorched earth strategy this week. What remains to be seen is how much of his attacking the Republicans sticks with the average American, and how much of it winds up being anger at the guy who won the game and still wants to whine about how the other team played. Americans used to hate whiners and we would shun them. Maybe in our kinder and gentler 21st century world citizens will feel the need to give him some sort cosmic group hug to make the boo-boo go away like his mommy used to do.

The cloture rules now used were introduced and pushed by Sen Robert Byrd. In 2003 then Sen. Frist proposed amending the rule so that a measure could continue to be reintroduced and each subsequent vote the number votes needed to invoke cloture would be reduced, never to fall below the 51 vote threshold however. Of course the Dems proving once again that they were smarter then everybody else, just like they did in Massachusetts in regards to electing senators in special elections, and being the party of no at the time defeated the measure.

Under the procedure proposed by Senator Frist, as with current practice, the first cloture petition filed on a nomination would need the votes of 60 Senators for cloture to be invoked. If 60 Senators did not vote for cloture, a second petition could then be submitted. When the Senate voted on that petition, just 57 Senators would be required to invoke cloture. On the third petition, the required vote would fall to 54 Senators, and on a fourth petition the votes of 51 Senators would invoke cloture. The cloture threshold would never drop below a majority vote of the full Senate.

Leading the charge against the Frist amendment were Sen. Chris Dodd and the late Ted Kennedy.

In 1975, when Robert Byrd got the current rule adopted, Gerald Ford was president, the Democrats controlled both houses of congress, (291 seats in the House and 61 seats in the Senate) just like today, and just like today many of those same people are still in congress.

So Barry, there is your history lesson for today, and for the rest of the news folks, how about a little research before you just willy nilly regurgitate the White House talking points.

BTW, there is a reason he didn't compare it to the 70's and 80's.

The Real Reason Corzine Lost

Maybe the Dems want to rethink that whole avoid Fox News strategy.

And the ratings are in from last nights coverage, proving once again that the judgment exhibited by this administration is highly suspect.

FNC: 4,043,000 in total viewers (1,130,000 in A25-54)

MSNBC: 974,000 in total viewers (308,000 in A25-54)

HLN: 842,000 in total viewers (341,000 in A25-54)

CNN: 826,000 in total viewers (227,000 in A25-54)

The other three cable news channels are dangerously close to having what used to be called a cult following. You know, like those who never missed an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 or The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Today's Profile in Cowardice

Seems we may have stumbled upon a daily theme. Cowardly Democrat Congressthings so afraid to face their constituents they're lamely reduced to holding town halls over the phone.

In today's installment, we have Democrat John Tierney of Massachusetts, who's apparently so deathly afraid of the folks in his overwhelmingly Democrat district he'll be hiding behind Ma Bell on August 31.

Congressman John Tierney has set the dates for his two "telephone town hall" meetings on health care.

Earlier this month, Tierney announced he would discuss health care reform over the phone instead of at a town hall meeting, a forum that has drawn rowdy and disruptive crowds elsewhere in the country.

Tierney is opting for a "telephone" meeting to reach as large an audience as possible, not to avoid vocal opponents of proposed changes to the nation's health care system, he has said. While a "town meeting" reaches 50 to 200 attendees, a conference call set up so people can ask questions and hear responses over the phone can involve upward of 30,000 constituents, according to Tierney.

The first town meeting conference call will take place on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and is open to residents of 16 communities, including Rockport. Registration closes for the first meeting on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

A second conference call is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 31, at 6 p.m. The second call is open to residents of 20 communities including Gloucester, Manchester and Essex. Registration to participate in that call closes at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 28.

Participation in the call is free. All registered participants should receive a call inviting them to participate, according to a release sent by Tierney to a North Shore Democrats' group.

"I welcome the opportunity to use this innovative technology to facilitate a broader dialogue regarding the health insurance reform legislation currently debated by Congress," Tierney said.

A telephone is innovative technology? Wow, I never realized how out of touch these Congress critters were.

Well, this cowardice certainly serves as fodder for the GOP.

The Salem Democrat's choice has created an early line of attack for his Republican challenger in 2010.

"(Tierney) is a representative of the people in this district," lawyer Bill Hudak of Boxford said earlier this month. "Why he is choosing not to speak with his constituents directly is a mystery to me."

To his credit, Hudak has called his own town hall and is actually man enough to face the people.

Elsewhere, Minnesota's Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar also took the easy way out this weekend.

Klobuchar's goal was to hear from "all areas of the state and all viewpoints," Zakula said. Her staff was told not to screen callers to prevent critics from expressing their views, he said. They were to ask callers their names, where they were calling from and what subject they wanted to address so the same questions wouldn't be repeated.

But he turned down a request from the Pioneer Press to observe how the senator's staffers selected callers who got through to Klobuchar.

Transparency!

Another Profile in Cowardice: Connecticut Dem to Hold Townhall ... Over the Phone

Coward

I'm detecting a trend here. First we noted New York's Jerrold Nadler phoning it in when he was too afraid to face the angry mob from the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Now the cowardice viruse has spread north to Connecticut, where the timid Joseph Courtney has decided he's not man enough to face his constituents.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney is planning to talk to constituents about the red-hot topic of health care next week, but his decision to do it by telephone instead of in person is drawing criticism.

The Vernon Democrat's teleconference Monday evening comes as Congressional Democrats face increasingly angry crowds at town hall meetings to discuss proposed health care changes. Some Democrats have stepped up security or turned to teleconferences, which can reach more constituents than town halls, and be more easily controlled.

Chris Healy, Connecticut Republican chairman, calls it "a classic you-can-run-but-you-can't-hide" meeting.

Courtney's another one who may want to plan an alternate career after November 2010.

Seems phoning it in is becoming quite popular among certain Democrats.

Tensions Flare at 'Union Town Hall'

We noted Monday that Florida Democrat Alan Grayson was holding his town hall meeting inside a local union headquarters with the union laughably claiming they weren't involved.

Well, apparently things got pretty testy last night.

Some people waited for hours and never got inside a town hall meeting for health care reform, held in downtown Orlando and hosted by Congressman Alan Grayson.

Before the public meeting began at 7:45 p.m., the Democratic Executive Committee gathered for a special question and answer session with the congressman. While they were asked to give up their seats at the conclusion of the session, not all of them left.

Outside were dozens of angry people who thought they would have a chance to be heard.

So we start out with an audience stacked with union and Democrat Executive Committee members and the local peons wait hours on line and aren't let in.

While people quietly listened to Congressman Grayson inside, outside was a totally different scene. “Read the bill! Read the bill!” the crowd chanted, repeatedly. “Facts, not fear!” responded others.

Since the Democratic Executive Committee got first choice inside the room, people who waited outside were outraged and some were even arrested.

“He is my congressman!” shouted one man who was escorted away. “I'm not afraid of Alan Grayson! I didn't contribute to his campaign!”

So familiar outbursts seen around the country over this hot-button issue are now part of Central Florida political landscape.

Congressman Grayson said he didn't realize he needed a bigger room, because when he had a meeting on the same subject just three weeks ago, he said no one from the public attended.

Three weeks ago Congress was still in session. Once the public realized they were going to have socialist health care shoved down their throats without debate, then people started showing up. But for Grayson to lamely claim he didn't realize he needed a bigger room strains all credulity. Is he really that out of touch or is he just being disingenuous?

Compounding the problem was the union hall holds 125 people, which obviously leaves many in the public unable to get in.

Hundreds of people showed up for a town hall meeting in Orlando to have their voices heard in the healthcare debate, but most of them never made it in the door.

The meeting hosted by Congressman Alan Grayson was held in a union hall that had a capacity of 125 people. Inside the hall the crowd was passionate, but under control. Outside, however, it was nearly a mob scene.

Before the meeting even started, hundreds of people were lined up outside but only 125 could get in. People lined up outside the meeting venue were fired up and chanting.

"He picks hall with 128-seats, fills half of them before we get here," said Mike Dwyer, concerned citizen.

Let's see if Grayson follows through on his commitment to hold more meetings. If he's got any guts he'd find a non-union location for these meetings and allow the public full access.

But the Democrats don't want that. They prefer their audiences stacked while leaving the regular schlubs upset outside so it can be portrayed as a mob, when in reality it's just a bunch of pissed-off citizens angry with the fact they're being ignored and disrespected.

That doesn't seem to be registering with the Democrats, although it will resonate loudly next November.

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Profile in Cowardice: Florida Dem to Hold 'Town Hall' at Union HQ

Hiding behind union goons

You thought NYC Democrat Jerrold Nadler phoning it in was bad?

Check out the stunt Florida Democrat Alan Grayson is pulling.

Congressman Alan Grayson will hold a town hall meeting on health care in Orlando Monday night.

In a release sent exactly 24 hours before the town hall meeting, the freshman Democrat's office says Grayson "intends for and expects this event to be a respectful and productive session."

Grayson says he wants to "discuss the need for health care reform, listen to concerns or answer questions from the constituents he serves, and debunk many myths being circulated."

The meeting will be at 7:45 p.m. Monday at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 606 Union Hall at 820 Virginia Drive.

A union member tells WDBO it is not involved in the town hall meeting, but will have 4 members manning the microphones. The member says Grayson contacted them about reserving the facility. The hall has a capacity of 125 people.

So the meeting is at a union hall, union goons will man the microphones, but they're not involved in the town hall meeting.

Good grief, can it get any more lame than this?

H/T Darwin Akbar.

After he's finished hiding from his constituents, Grayson is welcoming Crazy Joe down for a $1000 a plate fundraiser.

Vice President Joe Biden will be in Orlando Wednesday to help Congressman Alan Grayson raise cash.

Biden is also attending a fundraiser for Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, at the same hotel on the same day. But it seems a stealth mission compared with Grayson's exuberant promotion on his Web site. "Don't miss the event of the year!" reads a headline.

Grayson's event, however, has turned into a bit of a PR disaster because one of the hosts is a federal lobbyist. Florida Hospital Lobbyist Dick Batchelor stepped down after questions were raised but first engaged in e-mail war with Andy Sere, regional press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

I hope Grayson enjoys his one term in Congress.

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Horror in Connecticut: Congressman Accosted by Angry Reese Witherspoon Lookalike

Lincoln Griffiths of Windsor Locks, bottom center, points his finger while talking to Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, far right, during one of Murphy's "Congress on Your Corner" sessions outside the Super Stop and Shop on Bushy Hill Road in Simsbury on Wednesday. Griffiths said he thinks Murphy is "totally out of touch with the public," and that Murphy takes all his cues from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on health care and other political issues. (BETTINA HANSEN HARTFORD COURANT / August 5, 2009)

This is officially out of control. Angry mobs assemble outside a Super Stop & Shop in blueblood Brooks Brothers-clad Connecticut and now they're being infiltrated by Hollywood lookalikes. Check out the woman in the middle with the Jackie O shades. OK, she may be a bit older, but she could be a passable Reese Witherspoon impersonator. Oh, and can someone please report the obviously out-of-control finger-pointer Lincoln Griffiths to the White House Snitch Line? That man looks very angry.

How low can these mobs sink?

Chanting "Dump Chris Dodd" and "No national health care," scores of angry constituents confronted U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy at a meet-and-greet outside the Super Stop & Shop Wednesday afternoon.

Murphy, a Democrat who represents the 5th District, routinely holds informal office hours at supermarkets and strip malls, but such gatherings are generally uneventful. This time, many of the 150 or so attendees were so boisterous that Stop & Shop management called the police to ask that the crowd be moved from the store's entrance.

The scene in Simsbury is being replayed throughout the nation this week as congressional Democrats convene town hall forums and other public get-togethers to win support for the Obama administration's plan to overhaul the health care system.

One conservative group critical of the plan has put out a call to members, encouraging them to attend these gatherings and voice their opposition to the member of Congress hosting the event. U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Democrat and a leading architect of the health care overhaul, has become a chief target.

Democrats pointed to the rowdy, sometimes vicious tone of some of the comments and said that the protests were part of a well-funded and organized effort to derail the health care plan. Wednesday's protest drew activists from the Tea Party movement and the so-called Dump Dodd campaign.

A well-funded and organized effort? Perish the thought. Of course, that's total nonsense, though it's nice of the reporter to regurgitate Think Progress talking points.

When the "manufactured" outrage the Left is trying to demonize lines up so inconveniently with public polling, it's sometimes necessary to create evidence for the "manufactured" storyline.

Enter Think Progress, which unearthed this shocking, secret memo from the leader of a small grassroots conservative organization in Connecticut, which allegedly instructs members on "infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress."

Right Principles PAC was formed by Bob MacGuffie and four friends in 2008, and has taken in a whopping $5,017 and disbursed $1,777, according to its FEC filing.

Doesn't seem quite as well-funded and organized as, say, Think Progress, ACORN or any number of the myriad leftwing groups well-funded and organized by George Soros and assorted other Democrat frontgroups. But a group with 23 members is now some threat to democracy.

Meanwhile, despite the efforts of desperate Democrats to portray legitimate protests as some out-of-control mobs, they're anything but.

But many who attended were not affiliated with an established group. Maryann Culkin, a stay-at-home mother from Avon, said she represents no one but herself. She went to Stop & Shop simply because she wanted to have a word or two with her congressman.

"For the first time in my life, I'm embarrassed and scared of where my country is going," Culkin told Murphy. She is worried about how the government will pay for Obama's health care policies.

Look out, Mrs. Culkin, someone may be adding you to the new White House enemies list.