Deranged Obama Calls for More Tax Hikes

He just doesn't get it, does he? Do sane Democrats really want to follow this maniac over the cliff?

President Barack Obama is reiterating his call for a deficit-cutting plan that cuts spending and that also increases tax revenue by making the wealthy and corporations pay more to help stabilize the long-term debt.

The president made his comments to the National Council of La Raza on Monday as congressional leaders struggled against time to come up with a plan to meet an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

We have a pathological liar in the White House.

Funny, but Obama neglected to mention the gun violence at a La Raza event in Seattle the other day. How convenient.

Meanwhile, a former Obama supporter unloads.

There has been much said about who is allegedly the "adult in the room," but President Obama has yet to speak to Americans as adults, insisting instead on his preferred technique -- stirring up class warfare.

Scaring senior citizens about the possibility of not receiving their Social Security and Medicare checks, lambasting the corporate jet industry, and calling for higher taxes on managers of private partnerships is not a constructive approach to handling a multi-trillion dollar problem that will have a multi-generational impact.

It's increasingly difficult to avoid that conclusion that while Washington burns, President Obama is fiddling away by insisting that the only solution to the nation's problems -- whether unemployment, the debt ceiling or deficit reductions -- lies in redistribution of wealth.

Perhaps the difference between President Obama and many Americans is that the president sees prosperity as a sign of "unfairness" that needs to be corrected by government via higher taxes and increased regulation. Perhaps a plan that led the way forward by expanding oppportunities rather than redistrbuting incomes and emphasizing growth and prosperity for all would be met with less political resistance.

Crackpot Liberal Group With Obama Ties Calls for $382 Billion Stimulus

Are these people completely insane? Sure sounds like it.

A liberal think tank is calling on Congress to embrace a $382 billion stimulus plan to lower unemployment.

The call from the liberal Demos group comes as the White House and congressional Democrats and Republicans argue over how greatly to cut this year's spending. House Republicans have proposed a total of $61 billion in cuts this year, while the White House has agreed to a total of $10.5 billion in cuts.

Officials with Demos told reporters on a conference call that their new stimulus plan would create 8.2 million government jobs over two years while lowering unemployment from 8.9 percent to 4.5 percent.

They also said it would be politically popular.

“Poll after poll indicates the American people want job creation over other national goals, including deficit reduction,” Demos Vice President Tamara Draut told reporters.

In what should be a shock to nobody, Barack Obama used to be a board member of this group.

In the late 1990s, Demos was conceptualized by Charles Halpern, President of the Nathan Cummings Foundation (1989-2000). Halpern wanted to create a counter-argument to the growing influence of the many right-wing think tanks and establish a multi-issue organization that would focus on progressive policy development and advocacy. By 1999, Demos’ founding staff was assembled. This first group of Fellows and Board members included David Callahan, Fellow at the Century Foundation; Rob Fersh, policy advocate; Stephen Heintz, Vice-President of the EastWest Institute; Arnie Miller, of Isaccson Miller, an executive search firm; David Skaggs, a Colorado Congressman; and Barack Obama, an Illinois State Senator.

The board of trustees also included far left 9/11 Truther Van Jones.

This nuttiness comes as we posted out largest deficit ever in February which, astonishingly, is larger than our debt for all of 2007.

How's that change working out for you?

Insane Pelosi: We Lost the Congress Because of Bush

Seriously, this woman needs to be committed to the asylum. She's claiming that even though she and her wrecking crew passed legislation nobody wanted that had nothing to do with the GOP reclaiming the House. No, it was all Bush's fault or something.

Totally insane. I realize logic isn't her strong suit, but if Bush's policies were so bad, wouldn't more people have voted Democrat?

Via Pundit Press.

"We've Gotten a Lot of Responses From People...Who Don't Have 'Princess Boys'"

Yeah, I'll bet.

Call me an old-school parent, but in my book there are only three appropriate responses to seeing your 5-year-old boy prancing around in a pink tutu:

1. Horrified cringing.
2. Nervous laughter.
3. Corporal punishment.

I certainly wouldn't write a book about it and go on the Today Show.

Via Breitbart. Cross-posted.

Your Tax Dollars at Work: The Bus to Nowhere

Another case study in brilliant strategic thinking. All on your dime, of course.

A new shuttle bus service began last month that runs a 21-mile route from Vernon to Hardyston for Manhattan-bound commuters — and it only costs $1. Unfortunately, it hasn’t had any passengers yet.

The non-profit commuter group that arranged for the shuttles hasn’t given up hope yet, but soon, it may have to.

Good thing they're a non-profit group. At the current rate they may make a profit somewhere around 2165, if only they can find some riders.

"At some point we may have to consider" abandoning the idea, said Don Watt, vice president of TransOptions, a Cedar Knolls-based group whose mission is to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in northern New Jersey.

Don Watt's a quick learner, obviously. Even a man of his stature--hey, he's a vice president already--can actually realize a bus line with zero riders probably isn't worth the effort. But he means well.

Watt, who designed the Vernon Area Shuttle for TransOptions, also said the new bus service only started on Nov. 1 and people are sometimes slow to change their daily commuting habits.

"All bus services start virtually with no ridership," said Watt, who made a presentation Monday to the Vernon Township Council and has sent electronic notices to area employers in an effort to drum up ridership.

But Don, do any bus services survive with no ridership? Watt laments that lack of awareness. Well, they have some now.

Although the route wouldn’t work for Dan Kadish because he lives near the New York state border and takes an NJ Transit bus from Warwick, N.Y., to his job in Manhattan, Kadish said the new shuttle service may have not been sufficiently advertised before it was launched.

"I’m not really aware of it. The problem is in the advertising. I’ve seen it (the shuttle) around but didn’t know what it was about," said Kadish, who is a teacher at a technical school in Manhattan.

But Watt said the three-year, $371,000 federal grant that’s used to fund the Vernon Area Shuttle doesn’t permit extensive paid advertising. The current route with one bus will cost $80,000 annually with the remainder of the grant money set aside for future expansion.

So they're sinking $451,000 total into a bus route with zero riders and also planning for expansion? Huh? What would that be, one rider daily? But Watt's not discouraged.

"We don’t have a self-imposed deadline" to abandon the line, said Watt. "It’ll be several months at least. We’re hoping to see some momentum. Maybe one week we’ll get three riders and 10 the next week, and we can build on that."

Oh sure, we should all expect ridership to increase now with the treacherous winter driving months ahead.

The TSA Burlesque Show Continues Unabated: Cancer Survivor Ordered to Remove Prosthetic Breast During Pat-Down

Feeling safer yet?

A longtime Charlotte, N.C., flight attendant and cancer survivor told a local television station that she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down.

Cathy Bossi, who works for U.S. Airways, said she received the pat-down after declining to do the full-body scan because of radiation concerns.

The TSA screener "put her full hand on my breast and said, 'What is this?' " Bossi told the station. "And I said, 'It's my prosthesis because I've had breast cancer.' And she said, 'Well, you'll need to show me that.' "

Bossi said she removed the prosthetic from her bra. She did not take the name of the agent, she said, "because it was just so horrific of an experience, I couldn't believe someone had done that to me. I'm a flight attendant. I was just trying to get to work."

Unbelievable.

And here's a shocker: This wasn't a one-time occurrence.

Marlene McCarthy of Rhode Island said she went through the body scanner and was told by a TSA agent to step aside. In "full view of everyone," McCarthy said in an e-mail, the agent "immediately put the back of her hand on my right side chest and I explained I wore a prosthesis.

"Then, she put her full hands ... one on top and one on the bottom of my 'breast' and moved the prosthesis left, right, up, down and said 'OK.' I was so humiliated.

"I went to the desk area and complained," McCarthy wrote. "The woman there was very nice and I asked her if the training included an understanding of how prosthetics are captured on the scanner and told her the pat-down is embarrassing. She said, 'We have never even had that discussion and I do the training for the TSA employees here, following the standard manual provided.' She said she will bring it up at their next meeting."

If she has to go through the scanner again, McCarthy said, "I am determined to put the prosthesis in the gray bucket," provided to travelers at the security check-ins for items such as jewelry.

"Let the TSA scanners be embarrassed .... not me anymore!" she wrote.

Sharon Kiss, 66, has a pacemaker, but also has to fly often for her work.

"During a recent enhanced pat-down, a screener cupped my breasts and felt my genitals," she said in an e-mail to msnbc.com "To 'clear my waistband' she put her hands down my pants and groped for the waistband of my underwear.

"I expressed humiliation and was told 'You have the choice not to fly.' "

Those anal cavity searches Ann Coulter predicted can't be far off now.

Cross-posted here.

'I'm Looking at You and All I Can See is Two Eyes'

Carnita Matthews outside court with a friend

I can't wait until they start up their nonsense with the TSA pat-downs.

COVERED from head to toe in a burqa, with just a slit through which to see, a Muslim woman charged with making a false complaint to police now argues she has been a victim of mistaken identity.

Carnita Matthews was charged in June after allegedly falsely claiming that a highway patrol officer handled her in an attempt to see her burqa-hidden face during a random breath test.

She has pleaded not guilty.

After arriving at Campbelltown Local Court yesterday with an identically dressed friend, Matthews watched the in-car police video of her being pulled over and asked to lift the burqa so the officer could verify her licence photo.

The court was told that after being issued an infringement notice for not properly displaying her P-plates, the 46-year-old branded the officer "a racist" and claimed he only booked her because of what she was wearing.

"I've got my P-plates on my car ... there was nothing wrong with how they were displayed," Matthews said on the video.

"You look at me and see me wearing this and you couldn't handle it. All cops are racist."

The court heard that Matthews then drove to Campbelltown police station to complain that she was unfairly treated by the officer.

Giving evidence yesterday, the station officer who took the complaint said he had told Matthews the officer had been right to ask for identification.

In a statement read to the court, Sergeant Paul Kearney said he told her: "I'm looking at you and all I can see is two eyes."

Can transvestite cross-dressing terrorists soon be exempt from searches at airports?

H/T Tim Blair.

Leaning Forward ... To Insanity: Rachel Maddow Claims GOP Congressman Had Advance Notice of Oklahoma City Bombing

If MSNBC has the slightest bit of credibility this woman would be unemployed by this afternoon.

Yes, this has happened to a smaller degree before. In 1994, in the first mid-term election after the last Democratic president was elected, we got a slate of candidates that included Helen Chenoweth of Idaho and Steve Stockman of Texas. These two were so close to the militia movement in this country that Mr. Stockman actually received advance notice that the Oklahoma City bombing was going to happen

Of course nothing of the sort ever happened. But why let facts get in the way when your goal is to smear people?

Is this what Lean Forward means? Accusing Republicans of knowing about an upcoming mass murder yet doing nothing to prevent it? It's bad enough when you have simpletons like Rosie O'Donnell spew her idiocy about 9/11 on The View, but MSNBC is supposedly a news network. Are they going to let this nonsense stand?

Probably.

Update: Reader Sylvia points out this item from Power Line last February debunking the lunacy of New York Times propagandist Frank Rich.

Rich links to a rather funny and typically paranoid Times piece on Congresswoman Chenoweth of Idaho, who served three terms in Congress and then retired consistent with her term limits pledge. But the Times article to which he links, while lengthy, makes no mention of Chenowith supporting any violent acts or "endorsing groups preaching violent revolution," which was the standard that Rich applied to his own Democratic Party. Likewise, Rich's link to a Times article on Steve Stockman, of whom I have no recollection, does not in any way support his claim that Stockman somehow supported violent political action.

Now take a wild guess who's appeared on Maddow's show spewing lies? Why, none other than Frank Rich.

“I think we have a problem,” said Frank Rich to Rachel Maddow on her show Wednesday night. He was talking about people bringing guns to health care rallies. Yesterday’s distraction about whether or not MSNBC deliberately edited footage of a black man with a gun so they could then talk all about dangerous white anger was just that: a distraction.

So here we have a "news" network that deliberately edits footage, invites on a discredited New York Times hack to discuss said discredited footage, that same hack promotes an outright lie that a GOP Congressman had prior knowledge of the Oklahoma City attack, and the host of the same show then repeats the lie a year later.

Meanwhile, these two are guests of Obama's at the White House.

Obama held a meeting with several columnists and liberal commentators this morning, following up on last night's dinner with conservative writers, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.

The group included the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne and Eugene Robinson, the Wall Street Journal's Gerry Seib, National Journal's Ron Brownstein, the New York Times Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd, The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, among others.

Sick and Getting Sicker: Global Warmers Now 'Hanging' Children

These maniacs seemingly are trying to outdo the Islamists. So far we've seen them blowing children up, and now these global warming maniacs are depicting children being hanged? How sick is this?

Ironically enough it's from a leftist group called ACT Responsible. Sure. If they acted responsibly they'd get off their high horse, get real jobs and become useful members of society. Instead they get off on blowing up kids on film and putting nooses around their necks.

Just imagine if a leftist politician were portrayed the same way. There'd be worldwide condemnation and hand-wringing over civility. There would be calls for hate crimes prosecutions. Instead most media just ignore craziness like this and then tell us we don't get the "humor" of it all. Seriously, how can anyone look at this image and not be outraged?

Olmert Claims Bush Offered to Take 100,000 Palestinian Refugees

Well, nobody in the Arab world ever takes these people in, so why not us? No doubt this would have gone over well, if indeed there's any truth to it. Surely Obama would rather not take in 100,000. He'd probably prefer half a million.

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that the Bush administration had assured him that the United States would be willing to absorb some 100,000 Palestinian refugees immediately as American citizens, should Israel reach a permanent settlement with the Palestinian Authority.

The former premier told a Geneva Initiative conference in Tel Aviv that during negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008 he had offered a solution to the refugee problem that would have been in line with the Arab League peace plan and promised that any measures would be the result of a coordinated agreement.

The Bush administration had offered this American contribution to the refugee problem as part of what would be a framework of international compensation, he said.

"I think that if the refugees - many of whom are already second or third generation [Palestinians] living outside of the territories – were given a choice between returning to Israel or the United States, we could guess what they would choose," he said.

How about choosing to go to a country like Jordan or Syria?

Calypso Louie: Obama's a Victim or Something

This cat's as nutty as ever. Can anyone here translate jive?

Wonderful: Obama Plans to Limit Our National Defense Capability

It really seems as if this regime intends to leave America as weak and defenseless as possible. I've really got to question the motivation here.

President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self defense.

WE now have a president of the United States who would not use all out capabilities to defend the country he has sworn to defend.

But the president said in an interview that he was carving out an exception for “outliers like Iran and North Korea” that have violated or renounced the main treaty to halt nuclear proliferation.

Discussing his approach to nuclear security the day before formally releasing his new strategy, Mr. Obama described his policy as part of a broader effort to edge the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete, and to create incentives for countries to give up any nuclear ambitions. To set an example, the new strategy renounces the development of any new nuclear weapons, overruling the initial position of his own defense secretary.

Mr. Obama’s strategy is a sharp shift from those adopted by his predecessors and seeks to revamp the nation’s nuclear posture for a new age in which rogue states and terrorist organizations are greater threats than traditional powers like Russia and China.

So it seems he plans to disarm us while charming rogue states into giving up their nuclear ambitions. Sounds like a nifty plan.

Obama's War on Fishing

Is there anything this guy doesn't want to destroy?

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is "fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That's a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.

"When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.

"Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored.

"In spite of what we hear daily in the press about the President's concern for jobs and the economy and contrary to what he stated in the June order creating this process, we have seen no evidence from NOAA or the task force that recreational fishing and related jobs are receiving any priority."

Consequently, unless anglers speak up and convince their Congressional representatives to stop this bureaucratic freight train, it appears that the task force will issue a final report for "marine spatial planning" by late March, with President Barack Obama then issuing an Executive Order to implement its recommendations — whatever they may be.

So as Obama's disastrous economic policies have resulted in millions of Americans losing their jobs, the unemployed won't even be able to fish to feed their families.

Change!

"Every angler needs to be aware because if it's not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

"We have one of the largest voting blocks in the country and we need to use it. We must not sit idly by."

This ought to go over well in commercial fishing communities.

Michelle Malkin links. Thanks!

Statement from Austin Suicide Pilot

The suicide pilot in Austin has been identified as Joseph Stack.

Authorities said they have identified the pilot as Joseph Andrew Stack.

Here is what one Joe Stack had to say. Consider this his suicide note. read the whole thing. Here's an excerpt.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

Via Twitter.

So he considered Bush a puppet. Let's see the crazies twist this one. Funny, but he doesn't mention tea parties or Obama.

Update: The DUmmies are on to Stack's motivation already.

I find it strange that he keeps referring to the government but never says obama but went out of his way to say bush, would not be surprised if hes deliberately trying to not get labeled a teabagger.

I'm betting 20 bucks hes a teabagger.

Over at Daily Kos we have this gem.

Teabagger terrorist attack on IRS building

After months of threats on the United States government, and government institutions, the Anti-Government forces known as the teabaggers have struck with their first 911 inspired terrorist attack.

AUSTIN, Texas - A low-flying small plane crashed into an office building that houses the Internal Revenue Service in Texas on Thursday, and officials said they were investigating whether it was an intentional act by the pilot.

rogue robot's diary :: :: I don't believe that I am alone in demanding the President use all means necessary to stop these radical terrorists.

Drew at AoSHQ predicts the fallout:

I still think the media is going to try to portray him as a right-wing nut, and specifically a Tea Partier -- since the Tea Party is formally nonpartisan, they can more easily tag him as being a "Teabagger type" and not sweat the actual politics, which seem LaRouchian and/or Paulian.

We're about to see the media double-standard in starkest terms. They would not discuss Amy Bishop's politics -- which were inarguably left-wing and goofy -- but we're going to hear endlessly about this lunatic crank's politics. Which aren't even right-wing -- he's ripping politicians for not doing anything about health care, for example.

It's rare that we have two analogous, directly-comparable cases occur so soon upon the heels of each other. So this will be a remarkably enlightening case study.

BTW, the Kos Kid redacted the headline above before I could get a screengrab. The loony text stands.

Thanks to Drew, Allahpundit and Instapundit for the links.

The FBI has taken down Stack's manifesto but TSG has screenshots of it.

Update: Allahpundit notes a breathtakingly dishonest dispatch from the Washington Post, where the "writer" in question is getting shredded in the comments. Says AP:

Follow the link and note the parts of the manifesto quoted by Capehart. Yes, of course the anti-Bush rhetoric and screeching about health care is omitted, but something even more revealing is omitted too. Here’s how Stack’s manifesto actually ended:

Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

And here’s how Capehart quotes the ending:

Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010
What’s missing?

Capehart will probably be spreading his nonsense on MSNBC tonight.

Further reaction here.

It's safe to say we can officially coin the phrase Tea Party Derangement Syndrome.

Also, via Andy Levy, Stack apparently left a bomb in a vehicle at the airport where he departed (H/T Ace).

Great Timing: AG Holder to Speak to Radical Muslim Group

Well, in ObamaWorld we know who the radical extremists are, and it sure isn't those charming terror co-conspirators from CAIR. One can only imagine how subservient Eric Holder will be toward them.

Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to give a keynote speech later this month to a Michigan group which includes the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations even though the FBI has formally severed contacts with the controversial Muslim civil rights organization.

On Nov. 19, Holder is scheduled to speak in Detroit to the first annual awards banquet of Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust, a coalition of several dozen law enforcement and community groups. An online registration form for the event includes the Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan on a list of “official & participating organizations.”

A spokeswoman for ALPACT confirmed that CAIR is a member of the coalition.

“CAIR has been involved for a while,” said Chandra McMillion, community development facilitator for ALPACT. “CAIR is listed as an official member.”

The executive director of CAIR’s Michigan chapter, Dawud Walid, confirmed its involvement with ALPACT. “It’s really nothing controversial. We’ve been part of this organization for years,” he said. “We meet every month and included with us is the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI.”

Walid said he is a regular at ALPACT meetings—including one held Friday at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit. “A lot of people are there: the NAACP, the ACLU, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee…the National Lawyers’ Guild,” he said.

The FBI claims it cut “formal contacts” with CAIR after federal prosecutors in the 2007 criminal trial of officers of a Texas-based Islamic charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, introduced documents the government said showed links between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, which gave rise to Hamas.

“Until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner,” FBI Congressional liaison Richard Powers wrote in an April letter to Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).

The Justice Department referred questions about Holder’s speech and CAIR’s involvement to the FBI’s field office in Detroit which, in turn, referred the questions to FBI headquarters in Washington.

It's worth noting may politicans have pandered to CAIR over the years, and the groveling is often bipartisan.

Lois Capps (D-CA): “extend greetings to everyone gathered for CAIR’s 14th annual banquet…I look forward to working together in the future.”
Tom Davis (R-VA) (now retired): “As you gather to share ideas, create alliance and network with one another, may you continue to foster the principles of brotherhood, equality, mutual assistance, religious tolerance, peace and justice…”
Keith Ellison (D-MN) (Ellison is the first Muslim member of Congress): “I would like to salute the work you have done over the last fourteen years defending civil rights, empowering American Muslims and enlightening Americans to a more accurate portrayal of Islam.”
Michael M. Honda (D-CA): “It is a great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all who are gathered for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) 14th annual banquet….CAIR has worked diligently with Members of Congress to educate and advocate…”
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX): “The Council’s mission is vital…an essential organization…I am grateful that I have such friends…the achievements and goals of CAIR are commendable and I thank you for the contributions made to the great state of Texas and the nation...I look forward to the continued success of your efforts.”
Betty McCollum (D-MN): “Thank you for your work!”
James P. Moran (D-VA): “I wish CAIR success in the coming year in its efforts…”
Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ): “Since 2003, the Council on American Islamic Relations’ New Jersey Chapter has encouraged progressive dialogue throughout my district and throughout many New Jersey communities. The New Jersey Chapter’s hard work does not go unrecognized by this office. Once again, I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations…to wish you the same success in your future you have had in your past.”
Loretta Sanchez (D-CA): “I would like to thank CAIR for its exemplary
achievements…”

Sheila Jackson Lee is grateful to have such friends. Too bad she has no time for her constituents.

Confirmed: 12% of Americans are Certifiably Insane

What else can you conclude from this? The poll shows 12% of the public is so pathetically obsessed with race one can only figure they're the left, the hard left, the leftover left and the media. Surprisingly, however, a small sampling of supposed Republicans believe this nonsense. Must be those mushy-headed types like Kathleen Parker, David Frum and washed-up bloggers who are hearing voices in their heads.

Twelve percent (12%) of voters nationwide believe that most opponents of President Obama’s health care reform plan are racist. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% of voters disagree, and 21% are not sure.

In recent days, several Democrats have suggested that racism is a factor. The most prominent to make that accusation is former President Jimmy Carter.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Republicans reject the notion that most of the opponents are racist. So do 78% of voters not affiliated with either major party. However, just 39% of Democrats share that view. Twenty-two percent (22%) of those in the president’s party say that most of the opposition to his plan comes from racists, and another 39% are not sure.

As detestable as this latest meme from the left is I say keep it up. It will only help bury these morons and further send the antique media into the dustbin of history.

The great uniting racial healer in the White House could put an end to this today, but he clearly doesn't want to.

I wonder why?

Props to a liberal with sanity for telling it like it is.

As a liberal, I must ask: Why can't liberals who support Obama make an intelligent argument without accusing those who disagree with us of racism, and sideswiping other liberals who, like me, when I heard Obama's speech, reflexively agreed with Wilson's sentiment - to wit, "Mr. President, you lie!"

Michael Steele, meanwhile, smacks Jimmy Carter.

This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run health care plan that the American people simply oppose. Injecting race into the debate over critical issues facing American families doesn’t create jobs, reform our health care system or reduce the growing deficit. It only divides Americans rather than uniting us to find solutions to challenges facing our nation.

Characterizing Americans’ disapproval of President Obama’s policies as being based on race is an outrage and a troubling sign about the lengths Democrats will go to disparage all who disagree with them. Playing the race card shows that Democrats are willing to deal from the bottom of the deck. Our political system has no place for this type of rhetoric.

By the way, 55% now oppose ObamaCare. No wonder the left wants to distract by playing the race card.

That Time of Year: National Geographic to Air 9/11 Conspiracy Show

Nothing like giving airtime to a bunch of pathetic lunatics who provided inspiration for the famed comment from a fatuous fathead that fire couldn't melt steel.

These cretins have been so thoroughly debunked the past couple of years it's a wonder why the National Geographic Channel would even bother airing this rubbish. On the upside, however, it's helping provide a little comic fodder as we approach the eighth anniversary of 9/11.

EIGHT years after Sept. 11, the debate over what exactly happened that tragic day -- and who is to blame -- rages on.

Several of the most widely known tenets dear to the hearts of those who don't believe the official explanation for what brought down the Twin Towers are put to the test Monday night in an unusual National Geographic Channel special, "9/11: Science and Conspiracy."

* Was the Pentagon hit by an airplane or a missile?

* Did the Twin Towers really collapse from fires caused by burning jet fuel?

* Or were carefully placed explosives inside the buildings the real cause of its collapse?

The special is built around a series of scientific experiments that were conducted under the watchful eyes of a group of Truthers -- the name the conspiracy movement has given itself.

But at least one local Truther -- Sander Hicks, producer of WeDemandTransparency.com and author of the controversial conspiracy book, "The Big Wedding" -- has seen a critic's DVD of the special and has his own reaction:

"This documentary is clearly part of the cover-up," he says.

The men in white coats are here to see you now, Mr. Hicks.

Losing the Language: Phrase 'Right-hand man' Now Deemed Racist

Not just that phrase but a whole host of other innocuous phrases. This is complete insanity. Wait, can I still call something insane?

It could be construed as a black day for the English language — but not if you work in the public sector.

Dozens of quangos and taxpayer-funded organisations have ordered a purge of common words and phrases so as not to cause offence.

Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp out racism and sexism are “whiter than white”, “gentleman’s agreement”, “black mark” and “right-hand man”.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has advised staff to replace the phrase “black day” with “miserable day”, according to documents released under freedom of information rules.

It points out that certain words carry with them a “hierarchical valuation of skin colour”. The commission even urges employees to be mindful of the term “ethnic minority” because it can imply “something smaller and less important”.

The National Gallery in London believes that the phrase “gentleman’s agreement” is potentially offensive to women and suggests that staff should replace it with “unwritten agreement” or “an agreement based on trust” instead. The term “right-hand man” is also considered taboo by the gallery, with “second in command” being deemed more suitable.

Many institutions have urged their workforce to be mindful of “gender bias” in language. The Learning and Skills Council wants staff to “perfect” their brief rather than “master” it, while the Newcastle University has singled out the phrase “master bedroom” as being problematic.

Advice issued by the South West Regional Development Agency states: “Terms such as ‘black sheep of the family’, ‘black looks’ and ‘black mark’ have no direct link to skin colour but potentially serve to reinforce a negative view of all things black. Equally, certain terms imply a negative image of ‘black’ by reinforcing the positive aspects of white.

Of course this politically correct nonsense is being met with some resistance, at least until the re-education camps open up.

Marie Clair, spokeswoman for the Plain English Campaign, said: “Political correctness has good intentions but things can be taken to an extreme. What is really needed is a bit of common sense.”

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Off His Meds: Ted Rall Calls for Obama's Resignation

We haven't mentioned this crank for over a year, ever since the time he called for the death penalty for George W. Bush. Showing that his looniness crosses party lines, crackpot Ted Rall opines in a column that Barack Obama should resign from the presidency.

We expected broken promises. But the gap between the soaring expectations that accompanied Barack Obama’s inauguration and his wretched performance is the broadest such chasm in recent historical memory. This guy makes Bill Clinton look like a paragon of integrity and follow-through.

From health care to torture to the economy to war, Obama has reneged on pledges real and implied. So timid and so owned is he that he trembles in fear of offending, of all things, the government of Turkey. Obama has officially reneged on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. When a president doesn’t have the nerve to annoy the Turks, why does he bother to show up for work in the morning?

Obama is useless. Worse than that, he’s dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now — before he drags us further into the abyss.

I refer here to Obama’s plan for “preventive detentions.” If a cop or other government official thinks you might want to commit a crime someday, you could be held in “prolonged detention.” Reports in U.S. state-controlled media imply that Obama’s shocking new policy would only apply to Islamic terrorists (or, in this case, wannabe Islamic terrorists, and also kinda-sorta-maybe-thinking-about-terrorism dudes). As if that made it OK.

In practice, Obama wants to let government goons snatch you, me and anyone else they deem annoying off the street.

Preventive detention is the classic defining characteristic of a military dictatorship. Because dictatorial regimes rely on fear rather than consensus, their priority is self-preservation rather than improving their people’s lives. They worry obsessively over the one thing they can’t control, what George Orwell called “thoughtcrime” — contempt for rulers that might someday translate to direct action.

Can you imagine the derision and howls of outrage that would ensue if, say, a Rush Limbaugh uttered these comments? OK, Rall is a virtual nonentity and nobody will probably notice this outside some blogs, but is he so nuts to think people are just going to be randomly snatched off the street? This is beyond fever-swamp nonsense. It's lunacy.

What Rall and the infantile left never seem to grasp is politicians make lofty promises to lure voters during campaigns and routinely renege on them once in office. It's called politics.

Any casual observer of this site knows we have little use for Obama or his policies, but let's get serious. He's been in office for four months and I don't recall seeing any serious commentator suggesting, let alone calling for him to resign. What, is Rall a closet Joe Biden fan?

If the people are disenchanted with Obama, they can send a message in the 2010 midterms and in the 2012 presidential election. Until then, Rall and any other crackpots, be they on the left or right, need to be more rational in their thoughts and not lose their minds in public.

H/T: OTB.

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Fabulous! NJ Judge Makes Up Gay Divorce Law

I guess we should just overlook the fact New Jersey doesn't even recognize gay marriage, or the fact this "marriage" wasn't even performed in this country. Why, these are judges! They're accountable to nobody and can just make it up as they go along. Heck, they imposed gay marriage on Massachusetts, so why not be allowed to create new law from the bench and allow a gay divorce?

Seems to logical to me that without valid gay marriage in the state there should not be any gay divorce.

Gay marriages performed outside New Jersey are recognized in the state for the purpose of divorce, according to a ruling Friday by a judge deciding whether a lesbian couple married in Canada can split.

The wider implications weren't immediately clear, but Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said New Jersey has a long history of recognizing marriages that are valid where they were performed.

I'm sure it was just coincidence Jacobson heard this case.

The state doesn't let gays marry but does allow civil unions. The state Supreme Court has ruled that gay couples have the rights to the same legal standing as married heterosexual couples.

The women — La Kia Hammond of Trenton and Kinyati Hammond of New Castle, Del. — were married in Victoria, British Columbia, in March 2004 and lived together in North East, Md. In 2005, La Kia, then 29, was found to have a terminal form of muscular dystrophy. She said doctors gave her two years to live.

About three years ago, she left Kinyati and moved with her daughter from a previous relationship to Trenton.

Now, she says, she is in love again and wants to marry before she dies. But without a divorce that's recognized in Canada, her lawyer says, she cannot wed again there.

The lawyer, Stephen Hyland, who is working on the case along with lawyers hired by the American Civil Liberties Union, said his client couldn't simply file for divorce in Canada because only residents can be granted divorces there.

Well isn't that just too damn bad. Maybe they should have thought about that before they got "married" in the first place.