Communications Director Lacks Communication Skills

I refused to post this on Christmas Day, because dammit, this administration has already ruined too many good days and other days that are meant to be joyous occasions.

On Christmas Eve, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, took the opportunity to post a message on the official White House web site, decrying the lack of Republican support for the massive healthcare bill making the rounds of Congress.

Real class act that Mr. Pfeiffer is! Not content with merely taking their liberal victory and showing some class, he decided it would be best to criticize. Instead of extolling all of the great and wonderful things contained in their Utopian vision of what what this legislation, conceived in the fevered minds of the most far-left denizens of the political spectrum and midwived in backrooms filled with smoke and drunken officials, he felt that the only defense of this bill was an attack on its critics.

In the process, they lost sight of the fact that this was never about President Obama – it was about the families struggling to keep up with skyrocketing premiums; the small businesses forced to choose covering employees and staying afloat; the 15,000 Americans who lost insurance every day this year. Today’s vote was a victory for them.

Nothing in this bill will offer any sort of significant help addressing the issues he just outlined. The Democrats in this process, however, did discover just how much they could raise the bidding on their vote. In the past, when folks like Jack Murtha were content were a couple of earmarks for a couple million, the bar has now been raised to getting a lifetime of exemption along with hundreds of millions in kickbacks and bribes.

Hey Dan, having Olympia Snowe over for tea is not a bi-partisan effort. I would equate it more to a bunch of frat boys gang-banging a stripper.

Mr. Pfeiffer states that there were 150 Republican amendments in the bill, but can't seem to name one or two of them.

Contrary to what one Republican Senator said today, Democrats did not “do the HELP Committee bill completely Democrat” without “even ask[ing] one Republican opinion.” In fact, they accepted more than 150 Republican amendments.

No, I refuse to ruin anybody's Christmas, so that is why I delayed posting this.

If the White House can't get past the white hot rage they feel towards everybody and everything who doesn't agree with them, it will consume them. A star burns brightest just before it burns out and dies.

And Mr. Pfeiffer, you might want to work on your communication skills. The way to influence friends and win over enemies isn't always by attacking them, no matter what Saul Alinsky may say. Take a hint from our troops who discovered that often the gift of a teddy bear could get far more traction then a armored vehicle bristling with armament could.

One More Bowl Game To Add To Your Schedule

There is one more bowl game to add to your schedule this year. On January 9 it is the All-American Bowl sponsored by the US Army. If you want a chance to see the faces of some of the heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan this is a must see event. This game is different because instead of involving two separate colleges, this is a game showcasing those high school football players voted to the All-American team.

I came across this because of the involvement of a local man in the ceremonies involved with this bowl game. There is an entire week of activities leading up to the game itself and at one of the events several members of the military who have received either a Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and/or Silver Star will be honored.

Given the option of returning home to recover from his injuries, Graham chose to remain in Iraq.

“As a leader of soldiers, sometimes it’s not just about you,” he said. “I have soldiers that depend on me. I felt like I needed to stay and I did heal up. Military doctors and the plastic surgeons we have are the best in the world. You can hardly tell now (that I was injured).”

SGT Ben Graham's injuries included a bullet that deflected off his weapon penetrated his face at the corner of his nose where it meets his cheek, entered his nasal cavity and lodged in the roof of his mouth.

Another round went into his ribcage.

SGT Graham's acts of heroism are not merely limited to being the unlucky recipient of ricochet to the face. The sergeant was also awarded a Bronze Star with Valor following his second deployment to Iraq. Graham, who is EMT certified, received the medal for his decision to assist a unit whose tank had been blown up by a road bomb during an ambush in June 2007.

In total he has two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.

Season's Beatings From Hollywood!

While the rest of us were busy with family and friends this Christmas, Hollywood moron and 9/11 Truther clown Charlie Sheen decided it would be a good idea to assault his wife.

Stay classy, Chuckles.

Bad boy Charlie Sheen spent his Christmas in an Aspen, Co., pokey.

Cops arrested the "Two and a Half Men" actor on domestic violence charges at about 8:30 a.m., Aspen Police Department officials said.

He was charged with second-degree assault, menacing and criminal mischief and housed in Pitkin County jail, cops said.

RadarOnline.com reported that Sheen had a scuffle with his wife, Brooke Mueller, who was renting an Aspen home for about three months while Sheen remained in Los Angeles.

Sheen flew to be with his wife on Christmas despite their differences, and they began arguing right away, the site reported. A source told the site that Mueller called police after Sheen pushed her.

'This Is a Frightening New Side of Barack Obama'

No offense intended to New York Post reporter Charles Hurt, but the behavior of Barack Obama is not showing us a "new side" of him. This is who he's always been. You don't sit in the "church" of Jeremiah Wright for two decades and not be angry and resentful toward America. You do not write books with Bill Ayers and learn how to love America. Trashing America in nearly every speech isn't anything new for Obama.

This is who he is and who he's always been. Bitter, angry and resentful.

Nothing new about this at all. We were never dazzled by his "soaring oratory" or seduced by Hopenchange. Now, it seems, we're in the majority.

- Increasingly unloved and ridiculed from both sides, a new and embittered President Obama is emerging this Christmas season as he begins a badly needed vacation in Hawaii.

In an interview on the eve of yesterday's health-care ram-through, Obama expressed his deep frustration over the legislative process.

The president accused Republicans of abuse for employing the very rules that make the Senate the "world's greatest deliberative body."

"If this pattern continues, you're going to see an inability on the part of America to deal with big problems in a very competitive world, and other countries are going to start running circles around us," Obama warned.

What he is saying is that other governments around the world -- those tyrannical states that do not share our respect for the minority -- are better forms of government, better equipped to compete in this modern world.

This is a frightening new side of Barack Obama.

The humiliating causes of his frustration are obvious: the farce in Copenhagen and the difficult birth of health-care legislation in Congress.

Since his arrival on the national stage, Obama has been blessed with adversaries who overplay their hand claiming he is a "Manchurian candidate" out to destroy America from inside.

Yes, and while some of that rhetoric is over the top, more and more people realize Obama is not what they voted for. Yet thanks to a slobbering media we're stuck with him, for better or worse. And I fear it will mostly be the latter.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Merry Christmas

This is Charlotte Church with her rendition of "What Child Is This?", which was my mothers favorite song. My mother passed away a couple of years ago, but not even Ms Church can give me the goosebumps that I would get listening to my mother sing this song.



Merry Christmas!

Husband Won't Eat Dinner, Wife Calls 911

Ought to be a fun Christmas in this household. Maybe the hubby can get her some cooking lessons as a present. Or better yet, some psychiatric evaluation.

A Kerrville woman has been arrested after calling 911 when her husband wouldn't eat his dinner.

53-year-old Elsa Benson was charged with 911 abuse.

Kerrville Police say she has called 911 for non-emergency reasons 30 times in the past six months.

"The majority of our officers, if not all our officers, know this particular resident very well," Kerrville Police Department spokesman Paul Gonzales said.

Last Friday, Benson called 911 twice. Unable to determine what she was saying over the phone, officers responded to her home, where the Kerrville resident told officers her reason for calling

"She had called because her husband did not want to eat his supper," Gonzales said.

In recent months, police say Benson has called 911 because she couldn't find her clothes and because her dogs had gotten loose, among other non-emergency reasons.

Merry Christmas, Paki Style

When Mr. Wonderful gets back from Hawaii, maybe his Teleprompter can deliver another speech to the "Muslim world" and remind them that "tolerance" goes both ways. Maybe send a special shout-out to his peeps in Pakistan.

No Christmas decorations brighten the tent camp sheltering Christians left homeless by the worst violence against minorities in Pakistan this year. Instead, there is a pervasive sense of fear.

The Christians have received cell phone text messages warning them to expect a “special Christmas present,” they say, and are terrified of their tents being torched or their church services being bombed.

“Last year, I celebrated Christmas full of joy,” said Irfan Masih, cradling his young son among the canvas shelters and open ditches of the camp. But now, he said, “The fear that we may again be attacked is in our hearts.

“They are threatening us, [saying], 'We will again attack you and will not let you out of homes. We will burn you inside this time,' ” Masih said.

It was the fires that most traumatized Gojra’s Christian Colony, a neighborhood in the heart of this Punjabi city about 220 miles southwest of Islamabad. In early August, hundreds of Muslims rampaged through the dirt streets, looting and torching homes as panicked residents tried to flee and thick, black smoke rose into the air.

Eight Christians died — seven of them from one family trapped in a burning home.

“We are going to celebrate Christmas in sorrow because the whole family is hurt by this,” said Almas Hameed, whose father was shot dead during the riots. His wife, two of his children and members of his brother’s family all burned to death.

The attack, which officials said was incited by a banned radical Islamist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, followed rumors that Christians had torn pages of a Koran, an act considered sacrilegious by Muslims. The ensuing carnage drew condemnation from the Pope and Pakistan’s prime minister and highlighted how religious extremism has left the country’s minority groups increasingly vulnerable.

When Muslims perpetrate mass murder in this country we're always tut-tutted by the media about a pending "backlash" that nevers occurs. Funny how the media isn't concerned about the "image" of people who are rampaging and causing carnage against innocent Christians.

Ft. Hood Jihadist Has One Less Phone Call To Make

Word is coming out today that an imam the Ft. Hood jihadist had ties to received an early Christmas present courtesy of a Predator drone.

The radical Muslim imam linked to the rampage at Fort Hood reportedly is believed to have been killed in a Yemen airstrike that may have also taken out the region's top Al Qaeda leader and 30 other militants.

The raid in Yemen's east targeted an Al Qaeda leadership meeting held to organize terror attacks. U.S. officials believe radical cleric Anwar Awlaki was "probably" killed in the strike, a source confirmed to FOX News.

While so many in our media and indeed inside our own Defense Department and Department of Justice continue to twist themselves into pretzels trying to find some social ill to explain away Nidal Hassan's mass murder, they apparently continue to execute missions which strike at the root of the problem, and it ain't getting PTSD by osmosis like so many of Hassan's defenders would have you believe.

Al-Awlaki said he lauded the Fort Hood attack because it was aimed at troops, whom he accused of fighting an unjust war against Islam.

"It is a military target inside America and there is no dispute over that," he said. "Also, these military personnel are not ordinary; they were trained and ready to fight and kill oppressed Muslims and commit crimes in Afghanistan."

Despite his approval, Al-Awlaki said his role was only limited to Hasan's thought process, adding that he'd "be honored if I had a bigger role."

On the other hand, if you are a friend of Hassan's you might want to make sure that caller ID feature is working on your phone. I'm not sure I would answer a call from this guy since it just might be a possibility that the GPS coordinates are then uploaded to a circling UAV.

Early this week Hassan's lawyer was whining about the fact that his client wasn't being allowed to pray over the phone in Arabic if there was no translator in the room. I guess that problem is solved now, huh?

CNN Figures Out New Way To Skew a Poll

CNN has come up with an ingenious way of skewing a poll in favor of the Democrats without having to state that they oversampled Democrats. Of course I am racist for pointing this out.
Interviews with 1,160 adult Americans, including an oversample of African-Americans, conducted by telephone by Opinion Research Corporation on December 16-20, 2009.

They trumpet their results with this headline:

CNN Poll: More Americans think Democratic policies better than Republican

This is what is referred to as a double fail safe method. They don't have to state they oversampled Democrats, but who in their right mind doesn't know who the majority of blacks owe their allegiance to? Couple that with the loyalty to what is considered as the first African-American president and how do they think the damn poll would come out?

This question and the results should dispel all doubts.

10. Do you think the policies being proposed by the Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate would move the country in the right direction or the wrong direction? December 16-20, 2009
Right Direction Wrong Direction No Opinion
Total 51% 46% 3%
Blacks 82% 16% 3%
Whites 42% 53% 4%

CNN has become a parody of themselves and a disgrace to the journalism profession. What a joke our media has become.

Of course with liberals it is all about race though.

Heartbreak: Splitsville for Grating Hollywood Pinheads

Sorry to burden you this festive season with the sad news.

It was the love story that defied most of Hollywood's short-lived relationships– until now.

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins have split up after more than two decades together, People.com reports.

"Actress Susan Sarandon and her partner of 23 years, actor Tim Robbins have announced that they separated over the summer," the actress' rep Teal Cannaday said in a statement. "No further comments will be made."

Sarandon, 63, and Robbins, 51, who first met while filming the 1988 romantic comedy "Bull Durham," has never married.

Knowing these two the breakup was probably a result of a dispute over the public option.

'People are Outraged, and They Have Every Right To Be'

Seems to me if a Republican bill that would swallow an entire sector of the U.S. economy was deemed unconstitutional by the attorney generals of seven states it would merit more notice that a few paragraphs of wire copy. But hey, we're dealing with Democrats likely violating the Constitution, and that's merely some outdated piece of paper to be interpreted as they please.

The top prosecutors in seven states, including Michigan, are probing the constitutionality of a political deal that cut a funding break for Nebraska in order to pass a federal health care reform bill, South Carolina's attorney general said Tuesday.

Henry McMaster said he and his counterparts -- all Republicans -- in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas and Washington state -- are jointly taking a look at the deal they've dubbed the "Nebraska compromise."

"The Nebraska compromise, which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Texas and all other 49 states must pay, may violate the United States Constitution -- as well as other provisions of federal law," said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

"I am astounded by the sweetheart deal handed to Nebraska, which will be paid for with money taken directly from the pockets of Michigan taxpayers," Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said in a statement Tuesday night. "People are outraged, and they have every right to be."

Rather than acknowledge their lawbreaking, Democrats are "jubilant" they're about to shove a multitrillion-dollar boondoggle down our throats on Christmas Eve.

Home Sales Plunge 'Unexpectedly'

It was "unexpected" since by now all Americans were supposed to be safely ensconced in the home of their dreams with Barack Obama paying their mortgages and utility bills, health care was going to be "free" for all, the world was going to love us again, Club Gitmo was to be shuttered, thereby improving our "image" around the world, Obama would have reduced the sea levels while eliminating mythical global warming and shiny magic unicorns would be delivering toys for all the kids. Or was that Santa Obama?

Whatever, you have to laugh at these clowns from AP. Whenever it's depressing economic news somehow it's unexpected. Seriously, what alternate reality are they living in?

Sales of new homes plunged unexpectedly last month to the lowest level since April, a sign the housing market recovery will be rocky.

The 11 percent slump from October's pace shows that consumers are taking their time following an extension of a deadline for first-time buyers to qualify for a tax credit. The incentive was set to expire at the end of November, but Congress pushed back the date to April 30 and expanded the program to include current homeowners who relocate.

"They don't have to act today," said David Crowe, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, who called the results "pretty awful."

Of course for those living here on Planet Earth, none of this was unexpected.

Builders clearly saw the drop coming: the National Association of Home Builders said last week its index of industry confidence fell to the lowest level since June. The trade group blamed high unemployment and a slow economic recovery that are stifling demand.

Those who produce know the reality. Those who take, take, take and produce nothing (read: Washington and the media), for them reality is what they want to believe on any given day.

H/T Jed.

Assurance is Not Insurance

The Wall St. Journal finally points out something those who work in the health insurance industry have known for quite awhile. Under the proposed Reid Bribery Act of 2009, private insurance companies will essentially be driven out of business.

This is of course the long range goal of the Democrats. They are willing to drop the public option language for now, and instead have substituted regulations and requirements on private insurance companies which will cause them to raise rates. They really can't pick and choose who they will cover under this legislation. By taking on all customers, coupled with all of the minimum coverage provisions contained in the bill the insurance companies have only one option. That is to raise rates.

Wait a minute. There is language in the bill which punishes insurance companies who raise rates.

Initially, all insurers have to take all comers and to renew all policies except for nonpayment of premiums. Insurers are not allowed to take into account differential risks based on pre-existing conditions. And the premium differentials based on such matters as age and tobacco use are smaller than the market spreads. If too many customers demand coverage from a given insurer to insure efficiently, it's the government that will decide how many they have to keep and who they are.

Next, it's the government that requires extensive coverage including "ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse disorder services, prescription drugs, rehabilitative and habilitative [sic!] services and devices, laboratory services, preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, pediatric services, including oral and vision care." The price squeeze gets even tighter because in every required area of care a collection of government standards will help set the minimum level of required services.

Ostensibly, the Reid bill does not impose any direct price controls on what health insurers can charge for this veritable cornucopia of services. But the bill's complex, cooperative federalism scheme authorizes state regulators, after recommendations from the federal government, to exclude insurers from the exchanges if their prices are too high, which would again be a competitive death knell. Exile from the exchange does not, however, restore traditional underwriting controls, as the Reid bill and other federal and state regulation continue to apply to these firms.

There is also language which punishes the companies if their administrative costs exceed 10%.

The perils of the Reid bill are made evident in a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that focused on the bill's rebate program, which holds that once an insurance company spends more than 10% of its revenues on administrative expenses, its customers are entitled to an indefinite statutory rebate determined by state regulatory authorities subject to oversight by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Defining these administrative costs is a royal headache, but everyone agrees that they are heaviest in the small group and individual markets, where they typically range between 25% and 30%, without the new regulatory hassles.

The CBO concluded that this one restriction turned the Reid bill into "an essentially governmental program." In other words, the targeted health insurers would become de facto public utilities whose profits are gutted when the huge compliance costs under the Reid bill are piled on top of the hefty costs inherent in running a labor intensive health-care insurance business.

I don't know how many people out there who read this blog run a business or handle the books for a business, but I am willing to bet that administrative costs account for more then 10% of your expenses.

This bill is not about helping the American people get health insurance or improved health care. It is about setting into motion the mechanism by which the federal government can assume total control of your healthcare.

Their hope is that within a few short years, as insurance costs rise in response to keeping up with what no doubt will be growing list of government mandates the public will cry out for government intervention.

And then with a big smile on their face and a pat on the head to suffering masses they will unload their government option to appease the angry crowds and at the same time no doubt remove so many of the mandates that they required the private insurance companies to meet.

Somehow. Someway. This bill must be killed.

UK Police Searching for Butt Sniffer

I'm wondering how on earth the "victim" here is so clueless he doesn't realize some weirdo has constantly got his face two inches from his ass.

COPS are hunting a pervert who smelt a supermarket worker's BUM at least 20 times.

The bespectacled man, who is around 40, repeatedly sneaked up behind a 20-year-old employee on consecutive weekends.

CCTV footage shows the 5ft 9in balding ginger weirdo pretending to pick items off shelves before crouching behind the shelf stacker.

With his face near his victim's bum, he seemed to be taking a sniff - and once got so close his nose touched the man.

The unnamed Co-op worker, of Plymouth, Devon, said: "I thought it was all a bit strange. I was shocked and couldn't believe he was in the aisle for that long."

Cops are asking for witnesses to the October 31 and November 7 attacks.

Can Andrew Sullivan account for his whereabouts during that time?

Hot Air links. Thanks!

'Insurance is Not Assurance'

Yesterday the AMA stood shoulder to shoulder with the Democrats and announced their support of the Senate healthcare bill. The Dems are taking that endorsement along with that of AARP to bolster their arguments, which is falling on the deaf ears of the increasing number of Americans who are not buying into the shuck and jive tactics for taking over the healthcare in this country.

"Americans are about to be in for a massive, massive shock," said Dr. Michael Stechison.

Stechison is a neurosurgeon at Gwinnett Medical Center. He's also a Canadian. In 1989, he moved his practice to the United States to get away from nationalized health care. "I'm here to tell you, as a refugee from a socialized system in Canada, that it is just not a system that people are happy with or serves the people well," Stechison said Tuesday.

Where will the doctors go after our federal ruling elite pass this legislation?

The passage of this 2000+ page Frankenstein package of bribes and payoffs will require an increase of doctors, not a decrease. Would you spend all of the money it requires to attend medical school or go so far in debt that you may never be able to pay it off, just to enter a profession where the government is going to dictate how much you can charge for your services or tell you which tests you can pursue to best serve your patient?

It seems the Democrats have fallen in love with limiting the income of the citizens, and taking government bailout money is not a prerequisite to having your salary capped. Sure, they did it to the financial institutions, only to make exceptions apparently for those who were members in good standing with the Socialist, er sorry Democrat party. It soon extended to health insurance execs, who haven't taken a dime of federal money and now by sleight of hand they will do the same thing to doctors.

It seems the only folks who don't have to worry about pay caps are union workers, lawyers, and ACORN employees.

Doctors in opposition to the currently proposed reforms claim the ironic result of those reforms would likely be less access to health care. They point to Medicare and Medicaid as prime examples of the shortcomings of health care funded by the government. "Those poor older patients can't get in to see the doctor because the doctors can't afford to see them because they're operating at a loss to take care of them. So, that is not a solution," Stechison said.

"Insurance is not assurance. Just because you have a card that says 'Medicaid' on it, doesn't mean you're going to be able to get in and see a doctor," Williamson said.

Obama's New BFF Seeking Bailout for California

Is it any wonder this stooge gave Obama an 'A' grade the other day? Talk about the punchy telegraphing their punches.

Facing a budget deficit of more than $20 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to call for deep reductions in already suffering local mass transit programs, renew his push to expand oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast and appeal to Washington for billions of dollars in federal help, according to state officials and lobbyists familiar with the plan.

If Washington does not provide roughly $8 billion in new aid for the state, the governor threatens to severely cut back -- if not eliminate -- CalWORKS, the state's main welfare program; the In-Home Health Care Services program for the disabled and elderly poor, and two tax breaks for large corporations recently approved by the Legislature, the officials said.

Schwarzenegger also will propose extending a cut in the state payroll that is scheduled to expire this summer. That cut has translated into 200,000 state workers being furloughed three days a month, the equivalent of a 14% pay cut. Lawmakers would have the option of extending the furloughs, imposing layoffs or some combination of the two.

I'm all for drilling off the coast, but that'll never happen, especially if his boss Obama bails them out. In fact it'll never happen so long as the obstructionist Democrats are running California (into the ground) and Washington. Why have energy independence while we can be submissive to the eco-nuts from the EPA? Eliminating CalWORKS is also a fantastic idea, but that's also a total fantasy.

California's problem is onerous taxation and overzealous regulation have driven many of the producers out of the state leaving everyone else footing the tab. When you have a massive welfare state it eventually collapses. They have no choice but to beg Washington for a bailout but with the current public mood and backlash to Washington growing by the day, can the Democrats afford that? No, they can't afford anything they're doing but since they're spending us into oblivion, bailing out California is chump change compared to where we're heading.

'Forgotten Victims of 9/11'

And just who are these forgotten victims of 9/11? Families of those murdered? Those killed but never identified?

Why, no. It's the poor bin Laden family members who've been holed up in Iran.

Eight years of uncertainty over the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden's closest family members has been blown open by a relative's admission that they are living in a secret compound in Iran.

One of the terror mastermind's wives, six of his children and 11 of his grandchildren are living in a high-security compound outside Tehran.

It exposes as false the repeated denials by the country's government that members of the family were living in Iran.

Omar Ossama bin Laden, the fourth-eldest of Osama's sons, claims he was unaware of his brothers and sisters' location, or even whether they were still alive, until they phoned him in November.

He told the Times that he wants the group to be allowed to leave Iran, claiming they are the 'forgotten victims of 9/11'.

The 29-year-old said they told him they fled Afghanistan just before the September 11attacks, walking to the Iran border. They were then taken to the compound, where guards told them they could not leave 'for their own safety'.

Omar's siblings Saad, Ossman, Muhammad, Fatma, Hamza, Iman and Bakr - aged between 20 and seven at the time - were among the group.

There had been reports that Saad and Muhammad had engaged in terrorism before being killed, but relatives say Muhammad remains safe in the compound and Saad lived there until a year ago, when he ran away to try to find his mother.

A week after contacting Omar, Iman escaped during a rare outing and sought asylum in the Saudi Arabian embassy while she seeks permission to leave Iran.

Mr bin Laden said the group, who were joined by other Afghan families in the compound, lived as normal a life as possible, and some had married other residents of the makeshift community and had babies.

He said: 'The Iranian Government did not know what to do with this large group of people that nobody else wanted, so they just kept them safe.

'For that we owe them much gratitude and thank them from the depth of our heart.' Mr bin Laden wants his family to be given permission to join his mother and other siblings in Syria or he and his wife in Qatar.

'They are all innocent victims, just the same as anyone else hurt by the dreadful events of 9/11 and 7/7,' he said.

Heartbreaking, isn't it?

Spit.

Meanwhile, a story here claims Bill Clinton narrowly missed being assassinated by Al Qaeda in 1996. Hmmm. They hated us before Bush was president? Conspiracy kooks hardest hit.

Bin Laden Was Funny Before He Wasn't

Mike Luckovich is a syndicated political cartoonist who works for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. This year he decided to post a collection of cartoons he has drawn over the years at Christmas time. I have no idea why he included this one from 1999, 2 years before the horrific attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Maybe he was just trying to prove he has some sort of latent Nostradamus talent.


Not much sense getting all worked up into a lather over this particular cartoon, since one, it was drawn before the tragic events occurred and it is now 10 years old. I just found it eerie that he would include it in a collection of his cartoons.

'He's Being Uncharacteristically Quiet in Part Because the Numbers Don't Look That Good'

As Christmas approaches and we brace for the trillion-dollar lump of coal Santa Obama and his evil elves are about to drop down our chimneys, there is one small tiding we should be thankful for. Granted, knowing this loudmouth, it's likely temporary, althoug any occasion when he's not flapping his gums 24/7 should be cherished.

When the feds whack New York, you usually hear Chuck Schumer lead the outrage. But on health care, he's been practically mute about some mighty hits headed our way.

Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Paterson both slammed the Senate bill Monday, charging it would cost the city more than $500 million and rip a $1 billion-a-year hole in the state budget.

Schumer, a veteran streetfighter for federal cash, has been suddenly recast as a defender of Washington - and a deal he helped cut that shafts New York.

"He's being uncharacteristically quiet in part because the numbers don't look that good," said Baruch College political scientist Doug Muzzio.

Of course him going completely mute just isn't possible.

Schumer's top bragging point was a special provision to stop cuts in Medicare Advantage to 800,000 New Yorkers.

"I stopped it all," he said, a save worth "multibillions of dollars" to the seniors who use the alternative to traditional Medicare.

On jobs, "I used the influence I had" to beat back a "$30 billion assault" by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on funds for tens of thousands of employees at New York teaching hospitals.

Oh, where would we be without Chucky?

Memo to the New York GOP: Please please please recruit someone to run against this buffoon. If you don't realize the outrage people have then you're totally clueless. He's vulnerable, like most every Democrat out there.

Meanwhile, Chucky's puppet also was running scared.

Responding to searing criticism from Gov. Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg that the Senate's version of health-care reform would devastate New York's medical services, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand insisted yesterday the legislation was good medicine.

"The Senate health-care bill is good for New York," the Democratic senator's spokesman said in a written statement after she dodged an interview with The Post.

Questioned as she was leaving a lunch with other senators in the Capitol, Gillibrand refused to answer questions about her support for the bill or what she was doing to make it better for New York in the wake of attacks from Paterson and Bloomberg.

Paterson fumed that, among other problems, the bill would cost New York over $1 billion a year in Medicaid funds. Bloomberg warned it could force "hundreds" of health facilities in the city to close.

Gillibrand's only response to their complaints: "It's something I've been lobbying on from the beginning."

Asked to elaborate, she said: "We should set up an interview because it's actually a much longer issue than I'd like to discuss in a one-minute walk."

Gillibrand repeatedly promised to sit down for an interview yesterday.

But the senator's office later said that would not be possible.

Previously.

Progressives Immolate One Of Their Own

The touchy feely Progressives who are all about caring for the least among us and constantly extolling the virtues of being a big tent group and welcoming of all views have once again decided to crucify one of their own.

The unpardonable sin this time?

Appearing on a Fox News show.

Jane Hamsher, who is no saint, appeared on the Fox program Fox and Friends this morning, and while I saw her I had the television muted because quite frankly I could care less what this hate-filled human being had to say, but I was still surprised to see her on the show.

To me it only made sense, since if she wanted to get whatever message she was promoting out and reach the most people, Fox News is where you go. Why bother with one of the liberal leaning networks where at best you have an audience of half a dozen, and half of them landed on the channel by accident.

Ms. Hamsher runs a web site called Firedoglake; look it up yourself, I won't link to it since quite a bit of the content is not safe for work or small children. She was one of the driving forces a couple of years ago to get Ned Lamont elected to the Senate to replace Joe Lieberman. You may remember this picture she Photoshopped putting Lieberman in blackface.

Well, since she has appeared on the program the lefty blogosphere has been ripping her apart. Such a loving group of people.

She belongs to the same collective which last week was blasting Lieberman for his statements that he might not vote for the Senate healthcare bill and demanding an investigation into the business and social activities of his wife.

What a difference a few days make. Now she is the one advocating the signing of a petition to send to Congress to kill the bill, while conveniently forgetting that just a few days ago they wanted to slow roast Sen Lieberman over a fire.

It hasn't been a good day for the Democrats. It started by having one of their champions going right into the heart of the enemy camp and ended with the announcement of a Democratic house member from Alabama announcing he was switching parties.

It seems like just yesterday we were being told that the Republican Party was in total disarray and on the verge of collapse.