They passed McCain/Fiengold, and the will do whatever it takes to silence our voices.

Soon I fear they will leave us only one way to restore our liberty.

Click on the picture to see a thread devoted to laughing at the Teleprompter King:

salute2

Obama: Economic crisis not as dire as it seems (Obama thinks 9% unemployment is better than 5%)

A change for worse

Video: Jon Stewart Interviews Jim Cramer

Who Pays for Cap and Trade? -- II err, you do, fool...

"Alternatively, they can reduce their emissions by investing in more efficient technologies" or by going out of business.

Shunning free market, Obama’s economic vision ultimately means tepid growth, higher prices

Massacres restart debate on gun control

The Efficiency of German Gun Control-Can Brady get It Here?

The Obama Deception Full Length Film - Video

It’s no secret any longer. The news media is full of stories about various world leaders’ calls for a one-world currency, a “new world order,” a world bank, an international judiciary. The answer to 1984 is 1776.

President Barack Obama uses the Delphi Technique for consensus at every juncture of his presidency

Chaos, Confusion, and Civil War

The Schmoo is Alive and Well and Living in the White House

There is No Such Thing as Nuclear Waste

Plan to introduce Biometric IDs stirs privacy debate...

something to listen to...

Radio program by Jan Markell, where she interviews different people on different issues. It’s a Christian radio ministry program and covers contemporary subjects.

A related show, to this subject...

http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/

March 7, 2009 - Hour 2

Katherine Albrecht is a noted authority on the push for the RFID chips. The privacy violations of the chipping industry are overwhelming as Albrecht explains. Google is in on the effort to monitor everything we do. Technology today is also set to go and to become “mark of the beast” technology. http://www.antichips.com — http://www.katherinealbrecht.com

Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth

The Obama Rosetta Stone

Secret elections are just the first choice to go

John Bolton Says--> Team Obama Has Turned Anti-Israel

===============================================

Stop right there: No red light cameras (NH)

Coating makes scratches on cars disappear

Gun Rights on The Line

With the recent mass-shootings, the Left will want more gun control. Know your GUN FACTS.

GunFacts.info ^

Posted on 03/13/2009 10:44:20 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

This is a great resource full of DOCUMENTED, PEER-REVIEWED data, some of straight from the US Department of Justice, with an annotated bibliography.

Be prepared to shove facts down their throats, when they only have "feelings."

Here are few excerpts:

Myth: Private ownership of guns is not effective in preventing crime

Fact: Every year, people in the United States use a gun to defend themselves against criminals an estimated 2,500,000 times – more than 6,500 people a day, or once every 13 seconds.112 Of these instances, 15.6% of the people using a firearm defensively stated that they "almost certainly" saved their lives by doing so.

Fact: Firearms are used 60 times more often to protect lives than to take lives.

Fact: In 83.5% (2,087,500) of these successful gun defenses, the attacker either threatened or used force first, proving that guns are very well suited for self-defense.

Fact: Of the 2,500,000 times citizens use guns to defend themselves, 92% merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers.

Fact: Less than 8% of the time does a citizen wound his or her attacker, and in less than one in a thousand instances is the attacker killed.

Fact: For every accidental death, suicide, or homicide with a firearm, 10 lives are saved through defensive use. 114Fact: When using guns in self-defense:

• 83% of robbery victims were not injured.
• 88% of assault victims were not hurt.
• 76% of all self-defense use of guns never involve firing a single shot.

Fact: After the implementation of Canada's 1977 gun controls prohibiting handgun possession for protection, the “breaking and entering” crime rate rose 25%, surpassing the American rate.

Myth: Only police should have guns

Fact: “...most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.

Fact: 11% of police shootingskill an innocent person - about 2% of shootings by citizens kill an innocent person.

Fact: Police have trouble keeping their own guns. Hundreds of firearms are missing from the FBI and 449 of them have been involved in crimes.118

Fact: People who saw the helplessness of the L.A. Police Department during the 1992 King Riots or the looting and violence in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina know that citizens need guns to defend themselves.

Myth: You are more likely to be injured or killed using a gun for self-defense

Fact: You are far more likely to survive a violent assault if you defend yourself with a gun. In episodes where a robbery victim was injured, the injury/defense rates were:119
• Resisting with a gun 6%
• Did nothing at all 25%
• Resisted with a knife 40%
• Non-violent resistance 45%

Click the pic to go to the Gun Facts v5.0 download page!

Overeducated Fools Alert:

Obama Administration Abandons Term 'Enemy Combatant'

Polls Say Democrats Are Gambling By Taking on Limbaugh

Smoke ‘em if you can afford ‘em ($10 per carton tax increase)

I want to see flag of Allah flying over Downing St (all women in burkas, drunks caned)

When I think of England, such stirring battles their valiant predecessors fought come to mind,such as Hastings, Bosworth Field, Trafalgar, Rorke’s Drift and the Battle of Britain come to mind. Now England is dying with a whimper. Even worse, America is dying with a whimper. Dying in a manner unworthy...

The Final Exit Network's Shadowy World of Assisted Suicide and Death

Saving America-Only ONE Peaceful Solution Remains

Mainstream press can't get the economy story right

Osama bin Elvis

Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights

NEW LAW WOULD AUTHORIZE GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF 4 MILLION SMALL BUSINESSES

Obama's Messiah Complex

Democrats' Poll Numbers Cratering

Reading Between The Lines: Obama's Blood Is Starting To Hit The Water

Obama: Actually, the economy’s not as bad as you think

What is Communism? (Must see prophetic video)

Raises Hand... teacher? Teacher?

Obamunism

Democrat Energy tax will slam the poor like an A-bomb

Drug cartels' new weaponry means war

Most of these weapons are being smuggled from Central American countries or by sea, eluding U.S. and Mexican monitors who are focused on the smuggling of semiauto- matic and conventional weapons purchased from dealers in the U.S. border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

wut? LAT/AP says Narcos are getting military hardware smuggled in from Central America "Grenades and RPGs are mentioned well over a dozen times in that article. Including plenty of statements that the problem is systemic / endemic and been going for a few years. And certainly predating the rash of bullshit press releases and socialist political hacks of the last couple weeks. The entire rash of ‘US Guns feeding Mexican terror’ drumbeats is a demonstrable fraud. And anyone caught pushing that garbage ought to be denounced on the spot and thrashed for their lies. "

TYPICAL: “A New York Times editorial blames America’s gun lobby for 11 deaths in Alabama — but ignores 16 deaths in ‘gun free’ Germany on the same day.” The honesty we’ve come to expect on these issues.

AN ECONOMIC BRIGHT SPOT: Sales of guns, ammo still high.

Why Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio must go - and soon (illegal alien lover BARF-fest)

A Sellout of Our Unemployed

HERE’S A LIST OF “TEA PARTY” PROTESTS THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

DOUGLAS SCHOEN AND SCOTT RASMUSSEN: Obama’s Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth. “Polling data show that Mr. Obama’s approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001.”

DON SURBER: 52 days, 52 mistakes.

Obama's Approval Rating Starting to Slide Down to His Market Rating

** The Obama stock market had its worst January in 113 years.
** The stock market had its worst February since 1933.
** The Dow has dropped faster under Obama than any other new president in 90 years.
** Actually, the stock market has turned in its worst performance ever for a new president under Barack Obama.

And, now Obama's approval rating is starting to follow.
Just like with Jimmy Carter, Obama's approval rating is starting to slide down to his market rating.
Public opinion is starting to catch up to the Obama market numbers.

Rasmussen continues to show the Obama decline.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Barack Obama's approval rating is dropping below where President Bush was at this time in 2001.

It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true. The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.

Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date.

Via Instapundit.

"he'll say and do anything ... even if it makes him look like a fool.
darwin | 03.13.09 - 2:12 pm | #

Even? EVEN!? When has that little assclown *not* said anything that shows a normal, thinking individual that he's not a fool?

Funny thing, though. If you tell any of the obots that what their obamassiah[nmp] said yesterday contradicts what he said a couple of weeks ago, they scream that you're lying and/or don't understand. If you post a video showing what he said -- they scream "Photoshop!" and accuse you of "trying to destroy our one hope"(if only we could).

Obots are not well-grounded in the real world."

Obama Economic Advisor Says "Excess of Fear" Must Be Broken

Gee. Now why would Americans be fearful?
Could the crisis have anything to do with the current Administration?

Maybe if they kept Mr. Hope and Change away from his TelePrompter for a few days things might turn around.
The AP reported:

President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said Friday the nation's economic crisis has led to an "excess of fear" among Americans that must be broken to reverse the downturn.

"Fear begets fear," Lawrence Summers, the president's director of the National Economic Council, told a forum.

"It is this transition from an excess of greed to an excess of fear that President Roosevelt had in mind when he famously observed that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself," Summers said. "It is this transition that has happened in the United States today."

More change... The economy could use some greed about now.

See the future of Mo'Merica here:

Nothing Better To Do

"Last night I tried to post an image of Detroit, but it didn't work too well, and I deleted it. But, go to Google earth or one of those satellite dealos, and put in Detroit. And then scan in close. Those blocks and blocks of empty space used to be neighborhoods filled with houses. A city that used to have over two million citizens now has eight-hundred thousand and change. The city is broke, and mired in scandals. Yet, the city council feels the need to address Jay Leno's charitable gesture. "

More - Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline, a Time photo series.

Posted by Kate at 9:03 PM| Comments (41)

"I've done the Google satellite view of Detroit before. It's is very disturbing to see entire city blocks with only a couple houses on them. I used to walk around these areas a few years back and it's an eye opener believe me to see weeds coming out of cracks the sidewalk that are 3 feet tall. Houses just falling down. You feel the presence of what used to be a busy city. It's like a ghost town feeling. If you ever get to see an interview that makes its rounds on PBS about Lilly Tomlin growing up in Detroit you should watch it. Lots of "then and now" stuff.

Here's a link to some photos of the beauty of the fall of Detroit. It's worth the look.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.html "

Culture of corruption: Banking hypocrite Maxine Waters

By Michelle Malkin • March 13, 2009 11:50 AM

My syndicated column today takes on racial demagogue and crony of color Maxine Waters, whose crooked ways I’ve covered since my first days at the L.A. Daily News. It’s about time the rest of the media put her under the microscope. Wait ’til she starts beating them over the head with the race card. It’s worked for decades. Now, she’ll just have to scream louder. I am looking forward to watching the Democrats try to ignore this most beastly example of the culture of corruption in their fold.

(Reminder: Go back and look at my liveblogging of the TARP debate. Note how aggressive Waters was in taking a lead role pushing congressional black caucus members to swallow the crap sandwich. No disclosure of her own self interest in the matter. She’s just a Champion of The People, speaking Truth to Power. And here’s another reminder of minority racketeers pushing for their bailout cut with Waters’ assistance. Business as usual, rainbow coalition shakedown-style.)

I think we should start referring to Waters as “Bank of OneUnited,” the same way she referred to bank execs by their company name.

***
Maxine Waters: Banking on hypocrisy
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

At a flail-and-wail House hearing last month, California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters melted down in front of big banking CEOs. “Raise your hand! Raise your hand!” she shrieked as she harangued the executives on their business practices and management of federal bailout money. Sneering at the “captains of the universe” whom she refused to address by name (”You, Bank of America!”), Rep. Waters excoriated the corporate heads for their greed. ” All of my political life,” Waters bragged, “I have been in disagreement with the banking and mostly financial services community because of practices that I have believed to be not in the best interest always of the very people that they claim to serve.”

As you’ll soon see, however, the ethically conflicted Rep. Waters has her own special definition of what’s in “the best interest” of the people she claims to serve. While she crusades against crony pseudo-capitalism, she is one of its most hypocritical beneficiaries and advocates. Cronyism comes in all colors. Waters has once again earned her title as one of the “Most Corrupt” members of Congress from the left-leaning (yes, left-leaning) Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

The bank CEOs sat meekly during Waters’ verbal flogging. But as she frothed at the mouth, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Franks covered up the microphone and chastised her briefly. To no avail. Waters’ motor mouth kept on running. Did the banks raise interest rates on credit card customers after they took Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money, she thundered? Thumping her fists on the table, she then railed about their loan modification policies (”How many require that you have to be behind by two months!?”). Blustering about underwriting fees they paid themselves on government-backed bond sales, she yelled: “You made money off the TARP money!” One of her fellow Democrats finally ended the diatribe: “I’m going to have to calm you down because when the Chairman gets back he’s going to have to penalize me.”

Fast-forward a month later. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the high-and-mighty Waters had a personal and financial stake in Boston-based OneUnited, a minority bank that received $12 million in TARP money under smelly circumstances. The banks’ executives donated $12,500 to her congressional campaigns. Her husband, Sidney Williams, was an investor in one of the banks that merged into One United. They’ve profited handsomely from their relationship with the bank:

“Congressional financial-disclosure forms show Ms. Waters acquired OneUnited stock worth between $250,000 and $500,000 in March 2004, as did Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams joined the board of OneUnited that year. Each sold shares in September 2004 — including Ms. Waters’s entire stake — but Mr. Williams continued to hold varying amount of the company’s stock. In the lawmaker’s most recent financial-disclosure form, dated May 2008 and covering the prior year, Ms. Waters reported that her husband held between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of the bank’s stock. Mr. Williams also received interest payments from a separate holding at the bank, also worth between $250,000 and $500,000. The 2008 form doesn’t specify what that is. Mr. Williams stepped down from the bank’s board last spring. It couldn’t be learned whether he still owns stock in the bank. Mr. Williams didn’t return calls seeking comment.”

Waters (along with Rep. Frank) participated directly in pressuring the feds for OneUnited’s piece of the bailout pie. She personally contacted the Treasury Department last December requesting $50 million for the company– and failed to disclose her ties to the bank to them. The government ended up coughing up $12 million in TARP funding for OneUnited — despite another government agency rapping the bank in October 2008 for “operating without effective underwriting standards and practices,” “operating without an effective loan documentation program” and “engaging in speculative investment practices.”

Oh, and get this: The favored bank of Maxine Waters was also penalized for alleged excessive executive compensation. The FDIC ordered the bank to “sell all bank-owned automobiles,” require reimbursement for executives’ car purchases (according to the Boston Business Journal, OneUnited CEO Kevin Cohee was cruising around in a 2008 Porsche SUV), and cease payments on a $6 million Santa Monica beachfront home purchased by Cohee, his wife who served as bank president, and others.

Responding to scrutiny of the bank’s special treatment, Cohee is now accusing critics of — yep, you guessed it — racism.

Now, who is sick of Democrat shakedown artists sanctimoniously lecturing others about the culture of corruption? Raise your hand! Raise your hand!

Posted in: Cronyism, Race Hustlers, Subprime crisis

comments (86)

"Everyone in that district loves her for being in people’s faces demanding an agenda based on racial preferences. They want something for free. They don’t ever read anything informative about her, good or bad. They can, however, catch her stunts on TV screaming at millionaires, and they love it. Like a majority of people out there in America, they are horribly uninformed and are 100% committed to staying that way.
There are parts of America that are indistinguishable from the worst parts of Tiajuana, except there’s more violence (in LA!). I do not believe our borders can remain unchanged in the future. If you lived there for two weeks, you would weep for America."

Obama Claims Days of Maxing Out Credit Cards Are Over

Hooray! Those days of maxing out your credit cards are over!

Obama says that your days of maxing out your credit cards are over(?)
The AP reported:

Turning more upbeat, President Barack Obama said Friday his administration is working to create a "post-bubble" model for solid economic growth once the recession ends. He said that means the days of overheated housing markets and "people maxing out on their credit cards" are over. But first, Obama said, "We've got to get through this difficult period."

There are "modestly encouraging signs" on that score, said Lawrence Summers, Obama's top economic adviser, citing indications that consumer spending had stabilized after taking a dive over the holiday season...

Administration officials were criticized earlier this year for painting too dark a picture of the economy in an effort to win congressional passage of the president's $787 billion stimulus package. But more recently, the president and others on his team have tempered their comments in hopes of building confidence, including the president's suggestion last week that it was a good time for those with a long-term perspective to buy stocks.

This is a trainwreck.
What's going to be the gimmick next week?
No one knows.

Joe Biden Drops F-Bomb at Public Event

In case you forgot. Joe Biden has an enormous IQ:
Maybe the plugs did something to his brain?
Biden drops f-bomb.
Jake Tapper reported:

At an event at Union Station today where Vice President Joe Biden was heralding the $1.3 billion in investments in rebuilding train stations and passenger rails, a microphone picked up one of the former senator's myriad Senate colleagues addressing him, formally, as "Mr. Vice President."

That met with Vice President Biden's standard reply.

"Gimme a f*&$#ing break," he said, (audio here)apparently unaware that the microphone was on.

Attack citizens who criticize them, turn the White House into a disco, give DVD's to world leaders, snub allies, drop the f-bomb.
Way to put away childish things.

Hat Tip Chisum

================================================

"I do not see any acceptable reason for Mr. Warman to have participated on the Stormfront or Vanguard sites"

No $7,500 for you...

[58] In regard to the other remedies sought by Mr. Warman, I have decided not to grant any relief under these provisions for the following reasons.
[59] During his cross-examination, Mr. Warman admitted (after initially denying) that he had participated in communicating messages on Internet Websites similar to the Northern Alliance Website utilizing pseudonyms such as "Pogue Mahone" and "Axetogrind".

So.. has anyone got Randy Richmond's phone number?

More: Richard Warman's arse

Intrigue! - a now you see it, now you don't Richard Warman "rebuked" story at the Ottawa Citizen.

Posted by Kate at 2:29 PM| Comments (46)

"I see.

When Warman posts racist filth, it's an accidental slip-up that has no toxic effect.

When someone else does it, it's chi-ching!

BTW, I love the way the Roos try to make themselves all lawyer-like with the legal-ese."

War of the words - Richard Warman vs Doug Christie

Why did the Citizen pull their Warman article?

Richard Warman SLAMMED by the CHRT!! - Ouwendyk Ruling [ 1, 2 ]

A BUNCH OF LINKS TO resources for self-education.

BOGUS RED-LIGHT CAMERA PICS in Maryland. “Fox 5 photographers stood at one intersection near 85th Avenue and caught the camera popping off like popcorn. Each ticket is a 75 dollar citation. One motorist shared his ticket. He got cited in his white van, but a closer look at the ticket shows the vehicle is at a complete stop. Complaints are pouring in.” Seems like this should be subject to RICO.

The Sound Of Settled Science

Katrina, we hardly knew ye.

Posted by Kate at 12:04 PM| Comments (20)

Criticism Shows Obama Is Losing (Withdrawal symptoms)

Lawmakers trash the Constitution

Does Obama Know What He Is Doing?

Err, No... but we are the ones who are going to be paying the bills he is racking up.

Forever...

Obama's New Tack: Blaming Bush

This guy is a broken record.

"By any measure," he said during a March 4 event calling for government-contracting reform, "my administration has inherited a fiscal disaster."

It's inherited from a DEMOCRAT CONGRESS and a homosexual brothel owner Barney Frank who refused to stop the loans that make his buddies billions and him millions in his back pocket and the congress that legislated us into this problem

The truth is that 98 percent of his speeches are about the future, and 2 percent are about inheritance

Good article, shows how Emmanuel tries to Rahm his lie of "inheritance" into the brains of followers of The One when they inherited from themselves.

Kinda like "I am the one we have been waiting for"

18 posted on 03/14/2009 1:20:20 AM PDT by Syncro

Welcome to M0'Merica, Land of the Sorta Free:

AUDIO: Great American Tea Party! Man Threatened With Police Action For Sending Tea Bag To His Rep!

Switchie Changie Obozo’s minions are at it again.

The Audio is GONE.

Just magicked away. Like the other stuff on the web that they have vanished.

Obama Signs Law Banning Federal Embryo Research Two Days After Signing Executive Order to OK It

Upbeat Obama touts new economic model for recovery

CAIR's War on Truth

bama: I'll forge new ties with Muslims

Low solar activity continues

The Price Of Pivoting To A Nanny State

Congress should do what the rest of us have to do in this recession

Rush's Ratings Double Thanks To 0bama Team's Attacks

Chaos, Confusion, and Civil War

Friendly Fire Shows Obama Losing Focus

Meet Elaine Barnett, Tea Party organizer in West Virginia

Stem-Cell Strangeness

ON Monday, when President Obama announced the re versal on embryonic-stem- cell research, there was a small parade of celebrities with diseases and families with sick kids on TV rejoicing in the president's move.

At least one CNN stem-cell report, however, featured not a human but a a rat with a bum leg hobbling around his cage like - well, like Ratso Rizzo from Midnight Cowboy.

The CNN newsgal explained helpfully, "Look at this poor little rat, there's clearly something wrong with his legs." Then, to the reporter's "Now, look!" delight, the rat - treated with stem cells derived from human embryos - was running all over the place on strong, healthy rat legs.

So, we were watching a rat whose life had been dramatically improved, thanks to the sacrifice of . . . potential human babies. Wasn't this a Far Side cartoon?

Stem Cells and the Truth About Medical Innovation

Bill Maher: 'The Racism is Coming from Rush Limbaugh'
"Who started this “magic Negro” stuff?"

A black columnist at the LA Times.

President didn't like earmarks, until he did (because he's a lying idiot)

OBAMA - TRUTH & TRANSPARENCY FOR EVERYONE BUT HIMSELF

Here's What's Happening to the Economy

What’s Really Going On

CRONYISM COMES IN ALL COLORS

Why the D.C. Voting Rights Act Is Wrong

President Obama's Toxic Brew

Channeling the Young Patrick Henry

If this be treason, make the most of it.

No, not treason against this wonderful nation. But this column may sound suspiciously like treason against the cult of Obama, and against his hagiographers in the establishment media, and against the very idea that this president actually loves this nation's liberal, republican, constitutional order. Consider this also to be treason against the myth that our president is a man of deep, or even average, integrity.

Barack Obama is a radical's radical and a man whose ego vastly outstrips his prior accomplishments. He is dangerous, and after just seven weeks he already is leading this country into disaster.

Let's start with his integrity, or lack thereof. It's not just conservatives who are starting to complain about Obama's dishonesty. Already the decidedly centrist Robert Samuelson has called Obama "a great pretender. He repeatedly says he is doing things that he isn't, trusting in his powerful rhetoric to obscure the difference." Or, as National Review's Jim Geraghty has turned into a repeated and accurate refrain, "All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiration date. All of them."

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org

THE ZIMBABWE DEBACLE

Who Is Sarah Palin? (Long but worthwile read)

Obama is not stupid, and he is not bungling. He is going about doing exactly what he intended, and what he promised with "fundamental change".

He does not intend to re-invigorate the free market. He is a marxist ideolog who intends to fundamentally change the free market to a command economy much more in line with the ideas of his marxist mentors.

When you understand this...all that he is doing makes perfect sense...and is also obviously geared towards the undoing of this Republic as we have traditionally known it.

That's why I pray we can limit his negative impact starting in 2010, and then turn it around with SARAH PALIN in 2012.

WHAT THE HOUSING BUBBLE COLLAPSE has done to Baby Boomer wealth. And boomers will probably vote for a big intergenerational wealth transfer to make up the difference . . . . (Via TigerHawk, where one commenter observes: “Interesting how taxes go up when the Boomers needed them…as they went down when the Boomers were in prime earning years…”).

In the "Well, duh! The enemy is already inside the gates" dept:

TELEGRAPH: Britain is Fighting a War — And We Are Too Soft On Our Enemies.

UH OH: Obama: Have ‘Absolute Confidence’ in T-Bills. Did previous administrations find it necessary to issue such attention-getting assurances?

UPDATE: Reader Bill Keane writes:

It is unsettlingly reminiscent of the comment made by Secretary of Treasury John Carlisle during Grover Cleveland’s second term. Attempting to reassure the public about the federal financial stability, Carlisle said “Treasury would meet demands for payment in gold so long as it has gold lawfully available for that purpose.” That reassurance (as you may well guess) did nothing to calm the public or the markets.

Oh, goody.

Obama’s New Tack: Blaming Bush.

Hope and Change and it’s not my fault! But Bush didn’t make him spend a trillion dollars on partisan pork, or spook the markets with destructive talk and policies.

TODAY KANSAS CITY SAW ITS fourth weekly “tea party” protest. Pictures and video at the link.

And here’s some excellent video from last week. Note that they marched on Claire McCaskill’s office and she wound up voting against the Omnibus bill. As the photo below demonstrates, while these things aren’t getting a lot of national coverage so far, they’re getting plenty of local media, and that’s something that Congressional offices notice. Scroll down or click here for pics and a report from Columbus, Ohio.

UPDATE: More on the Columbus Tea Party here. And I love this picture.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Columbus Tea Party video.

CELLPHONE PICS ARE COMING IN from the Columbus, Ohio Tea Party protest, currently underway. I’ll just note that these don’t look like the “spoiled yuppies” that lefty critics are denouncing. And is that a picture of the Debt Star in the background?

UPDATE: Like I said:

Lots more pics here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Chris Vassaux emails: “Hi Glenn! Yes, the Debt Star (first seen here by me) was on the back of my sign. I guessed at about 200 people in attendance, I didn’t think that was too bad for a cold Saturday morning, and I do feel that the event was not well publicized. We did have a little fun, (my son and I), but it didn’t feel like an angry leftist protest of any kind. I guess conservatives don’t do it that well. Maybe with a little practice, we’ll get better.” I don’t think you need to get better at being angry. But, hey, it’s worked for the Left. . . .

MORE: Much more here, from Justin Higgins. Plus, video.

CAPITALISM MAGAZINE: On The Left-Wing Reaction to John Galt, Ayn Rand, and Tea Parties. “That they protest too much is an indication that they do understand.”

ADVICE TO THE PRESS: Give Us The News, or Go Away.“Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism.” Related thoughts from Ed Driscoll.

ASKING QUESTIONS: “The S.C. Republican should ask why Clyburn, a member of the ‘post-racial’ party of Hope and Change out to end ‘cynicism,’ is so invested in finding racism in every debate on policy — and then he should follow up by asking just who conservatives need go to for permission to reference countries populated by blacks, or activities engaged in by blacks, given that clearly Democrats believe they own them.”

"I don’t want anyone to pick fights with the left but when they lie or couch their questions in the “when did you stop beating your wife” manner they should be called on it. Where are the media savvy republicans? Is everyone with an R after their name so emotionally defective and needy that they can’t argue the facts when someone blatantly makes false statements or draws ridiculous conclusions or comparisons?"

Culture of corruption: Banking hypocrite Maxine Waters

By Michelle Malkin • March 13, 2009 11:50 AM

My syndicated column today takes on racial demagogue and crony of color Maxine Waters, whose crooked ways I’ve covered since my first days at the L.A. Daily News. It’s about time the rest of the media put her under the microscope. Wait ’til she starts beating them over the head with the race card. It’s worked for decades. Now, she’ll just have to scream louder. I am looking forward to watching the Democrats try to ignore this most beastly example of the culture of corruption in their fold.

(Reminder: Go back and look at my liveblogging of the TARP debate. Note how aggressive Waters was in taking a lead role pushing congressional black caucus members to swallow the crap sandwich. No disclosure of her own self interest in the matter. She’s just a Champion of The People, speaking Truth to Power. And here’s another reminder of minority racketeers pushing for their bailout cut with Waters’ assistance. Business as usual, rainbow coalition shakedown-style.)

I think we should start referring to Waters as “Bank of OneUnited,” the same way she referred to bank execs by their company name.

***
Maxine Waters: Banking on hypocrisy
by Michelle Malkin

...the ethically conflicted Rep. Waters has her own special definition of what’s in “the best interest” of the people she claims to serve. While she crusades against crony pseudo-capitalism, she is one of its most hypocritical beneficiaries and advocates. Cronyism comes in all colors. Waters has once again earned her title as one of the “Most Corrupt” members of Congress from the left-leaning (yes, left-leaning) Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)...The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the high-and-mighty Waters had a personal and financial stake in Boston-based OneUnited, a minority bank that received $12 million in TARP money under smelly circumstances. The banks’ executives donated $12,500 to her congressional campaigns. Her husband, Sidney Williams, was an investor in one of the banks that merged into One United. They’ve profited handsomely from their relationship with the bank:

Posted in: Cronyism, Race Hustlers, Subprime crisis

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comments (109)

"This woman is alternately a joke, then a disgrace, then a joke again."

"Don’t you just love it. While this pig and her husband are gorging themselves at the hog trough, she is shrieking like a harpy at the evil bank execs. This act will certainly be well-received back home by her constituents who see her getting in the face of “the man”. What a sad, sad state of affairs when people are so blind that they elect greedy, corrupt, egomanics like this to represent them in our government."

"As a former teacher working in her district, I can tell you that most people there pride themselves on ignorance. You can’t act silly enough to be ridiculed. ANY attention is good, since they almost all want to be famous. I used to ask my classes of about 40 kids who thought they would be in the NBA. Almost every male hand raised. The dropout rate was at 80-90%, depending on how you counted it (they have tricks). And, of those graduating, only 5% or so qualified for a four year institution. Kids would ask me to fail them so they wouldn’t be embarrassed by having an “A” on their report card. Imagine.
The things you (most likely) value they find ‘whack’ and ‘acting white’. Imagine a value system where minor disputes over disrespect, maybe stepping on someone’s shoe, can be handled with a dance-off or a gun, and you will start to understand the level of idiocy in our inner cities."

“52 days, 52 mistakes”

March 13, 2009 01:59 PM by Michelle Malkin

Don Surber has started a D’Ohbama Tally.

69 Comments

"It won’t be long before the list of mistakes will have more pages in it than the stimulus bill."

So I ask, is President Obama the New Coke?
The electorate seemed to want change in 2008 and Obama seemed to represent the change they wanted. This change was about politicians moving beyond partisanship to get things moving again in Washington –it was not about big government solving everyone’s problems.

"Is Obama the New Coke? NO
Obama is the new JOKE and a bad one at that…"

"The big Zero is living up to every expectation I had. He’s even dumber than I expected."

"...your sainted leader is a wagyu-eating, thermostat-raising, teleprompter-reading, dvd-giving, non-stop-campaigning, terrorist-befriending, dictator-kissing, stuttering, leadership-impaired, history illiterate president on training wheels. I’d buy you a clue, but Obama already has all my money."

In the "Oh, for God's Sake!" Dept:

Michelle Obama Comic Books Coming Soon

Who knows... Maybe this will make her proud of her country?

Comic book publisher Bluewater Productions hope to sell Michelle Obama comic books to "downright mean" Americans.
The Chicago Tribune reported:

She's not faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Hardly.

But First Lady Michelle Obama is poised to become a superhero next month when a biographical comic book hits the stands.

Chronicling Obama's path from South Side schoolgirl to White House occupant, the comic is part of the "Female Force" series showcasing powerful female leaders. Issues featuring Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sold out immediately upon their release this week.

While the Clinton and Palin comics are already on their second printings, their publisher believes Obama will be an even bigger seller. Distributors have stopped taking orders temporarily while Washington-based Bluewater Productions catches up with the demand.

"I feel like the guy who invented the Furby," Bluewater President Darren Davis said. "The reaction has been insane."

Previously on Gloomy Michelle Obama:
** Michelle Obama Decides After 44 Years She Finally Can Stomach the US
** Michelle Obama's "Proud of My Country" Twofer (Video)
** Michelle Obama: "We're a Country That's Downright Mean"
** Oops!... She Did It Again- Michelle Obama Bashes Ignorant America! (Video)
** "You're alone in your failure." (Get me more white people!)
** "We're Guided By Fear... We're a Nation of Cynics, Sloths and Complacents"
** " We're Taught to Keep It All In, Suffer, Just Hold It Down"
** Surprise!... Michelle Obama's Old Boss Says She Was Non-Stop Complainer

20 Comments »

"What’s black and white and red all over?
Barry Obama and his socialist dream!!
Mitchele Obama is a joke as a human and doesn’t deserve to be printed on toilet paper. She came here to Ft. Bragg last week under the pretense of caring for the soldiers. She was suppose to meet up with soldiers wifes and listen to some of their problems they deal with everyday while their husbands are off doing what they (Obamas) shudder to do. All she did was mug for the cameras kissed and hugged a few higher ups and read a book...

...But she is a super-hero to black racists and everybody with a grudge against America….which is pretty much the liberal base.

Her logo should be a scowl and an accusatory finger jab with a city going up in flames behind her."

The Obama Memorial

[ObaMarx.jpg]

...where is the contempt, the disdain? Needs more Mussolini...

Obama Requires YOU to SERVE, H.R.1388, "The Give Act" to reform the National Service Laws

Corporation for National and Community Service

budget

Their goal is to recruit 250,000.

So it looks like they want to create ACORN on steroids with billions of our tax dollars...

================================================

A CANADIAN KANGAROO COURT UPDATE, from Mark Steyn. “Canada’s biggest disseminator of Internet hate is the Government of Canada.”

YEAH, THAT’LL WORK: South African men are ‘raping women to cure them of being lesbians’.

CLAY SHIRKY ON newspapers and thinking the unthinkable: “That is what real revolutions are like. The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place. The importance of any given experiment isn’t apparent at the moment it appears; big changes stall, small changes spread. Even the revolutionaries can’t predict what will happen.”

Not Waiting For The Asteroid

The problem with newspapers...

...(and I'm a former newspaper editor and publisher) is that you folks think we can't detect when your news columns are being used to foist your agenda on us.
We're much smarter than you think we are, and that you think we're dumb merely reveals your arrogance. So, while we are not necessarily cheering your demise, we're snickering because you're getting what's coming to you.
We see you bashing conservatives, while liberals committing similar sins go un-commented upon. We're not stupid. We know that you are the "deciders" about what's news and what's swept under the rug. You tell us often enough.
So, we've moved on. Opinions are a dime a dozen. I can find myriad voices online to feed me my opinion back to me. If you think I'm going to pay money for yours, you're sadly mistaken. Your just one voice amongst thousands of them out there. Why should I pay good money for your opinion?
You also forgot that half your advertisers are conservatives who have decided maybe they don't want to fund your little Democrat Party Propoganda sheet any longer, and so they've found other more creative ways to spend their ad budgets.
If you tell people to f*ck off enough times, they eventually will, taking their ad revenue with them.
Good luck in your retirement. I suspect that if it took you this long to finally detect the desire amongst your few remaining subscribers for "just the facts" that it's far too late to save you.

Posted by Kate at 6:56 PM| Comments (16)

THE AMAZING ORIGIN OF PLAY-DOH.

Million Middle-Aged Men and Women March.

Here's a March on Washington They Wouldn't Expect

For a number of reasons that we've gone over and over, we don't talk about politics at The Speculist. But no politics and no religion is Rule 2. Rule 1 is that we can talk about whatever we want.

So with that in mid, let me make the odd foray into politics and suggest that its time for a march on Washington. We'll call it the MMAMWM: the Million Middle-Aged Men and Women March. Inspired by Glenn Reynolds' recent Forbes essay on longevity, we'll assemble the aforementioned million-or-so 40-and-uppers* to march on Washington and demand that the retirement age be raised.

I'm 46 -- I'd like to see them raise the retirement age to 80 or higher. All things being equal, having people stay in the work force those additional 15-20 years would be a tremendous boon to productivity and would significantly ease the strain (or delay the meltdown, depending on whose rosy scenario you want to follow) of Social Security and Medicaid.

But there's a catch. The plan to delay retirement has to come with a commitment to fund longevity research. Funding would be distributed through a series of push prizes aimed at achieving very aggressive goals related to extending healthy, viable lifespan. As Glenn points out, you can't just have people living longer. For this delayed retirement scheme to work, we need to remain vital and healthy. In fact, each incremental addition to the retirement age would be tied to a specific aging breakthrough. Possible examples

Develop reliable preventative treatments for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, retirement age goes up to 67.
Breakthroughs in preventing heart disease and diabetes**, retirement age goes up to 70.
Breakthroughs in preventing and treating cancer**, retirement age goes up to 72.
Breakthroughs in extending and enhancing cognitive ability, retirement age goes up to 75.
Breakthroughs in restoring and maintaining muscle and bone tissue, retirement age goes up to 80.

Heck, if we did all that we could probably raise the retirement age to 100. But let's not get carried away. With the initial march, we'll only insist that it be raised to 80.

* Is that a valid definition of middle-aged? The term seems so arbitrary.

** We would have to be very specific, as these are occurring all the time anyhow.

Most of Madoff's victims were also his accomplices

My Socialist Past
Gradually I saw that within the communist state everyone-everyone except the leadership of course-subsists in a cage of gnawing bitterness and permanent defeatism.

This is exactly the mentality Obama is trying to instill here.

The Clear and Cohesive Message of the International Conference on Climate Change

It is damn well past time scientiist are starting to speak out agains the massive amount of propaganda that so-called scientists have been spewing out for decades. I just pray it is not too late, but i think it is. With Democrats firmly in power, we are destined to have some kind of international treaty and ridiculous cap and trade (massive energy tax) imposed on America.

Cap-and-trade: Obama's 'economic dagger'

Comin' to Mo's Merica soon:

GIVING 'TIL IT HURTS

In the past 60 years, more than $1 trillion dollars in aid has been funneled to Africa, and the continent has only grown poorer and more corrupt.

Team Obama Attacking Palin Again (TV ad)

Actually the response should be, "Governor Palin is running one of the few solvent states in the US today. She is running it with capitalistic methods and they are working. Maybe Bozo and the demwit congress could try those methods for a while!".

G20's real agenda should be saving Europe from itself

I am anticipating the announcement of a global currency. I am not sure how they will twist this economic mess around to fabricate that we ‘need’ it, but I think it is coming.

The inescapable apocalypse has been seriously underestimated
Even in the face of incontrovertible evidence, the libs simply cannot admit the fallacy of "global warming."

This is a very scary trend among not just liberals today.

There are no "facts" anymore.

As a race, we are ripe for tyranny.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

If the US is bad, its rivals are worse
Socialists bemoan the capitalist emphasis on profit and growth, and focus on distributing wealth instead. This would be fine if money dropped from heaven, and the only task of governments was to distribute it. But if you have to produce the wealth in the first place, markets do it much better.

This is the lesson that EVERY country needs to learn. Those that learn it best will succeed and those (like the US) heading in the opposite direction will see their standard of living drop relative the others.

If there isn't a ballot box revolution here in 2010, and the rest of the world starts to wake up to the fact that we actually ARE heading in the wrong direction, that might be when they start to turn away from the dollar. When/if that happens things are gonna get really ugly for the US.

Sure do miss him.[Reagan Quotes]

Stem Cell Sham - The president as sophist.

FDR's Policies Actually Prolonged Depression

The First President To Fail Within 100 Days

Don’t worry, only 3 years, 10 months to go....

he can’t possibly do any more damage (/sarc)

‘Spare the criminal, punish the gun’

Homeland Security plans for violence on U.S. border

Shoulda built that fence, folks...

Thoughts on Urban Survival (Argentinian's first hand experience-When the SHTF)

There is only one thing in the entire piece with which I disagree, and it is this characterization of part of the US population:

“believing that the government will ‘take care of them because they pay their taxes’”

Nope, these aren’t the real problem. It’s the people who believe the government will take care of them because OTHER people pay their taxes. In other words, the typical urban donk voters who elected zero...

Lead Ammo Ban by National Park Service an Anti-Hunting Move

Thailand: The Jihad you’ve never heard of

Unity '09: Dem groups quietly align

Obama is taking 2nd look at tax on benefits (To Pay for Socialized Medicine)

Government 101: Republic vs. Democracy (The American Form of Government)

Only about 10 minutes or so...

This video explains:

Why what most of us are taught about right and leftist
governments is wrong

Why libs honestly think that to be too conservative is to be leaning towards Nazism and why this is not correct

Why most long lasting government s were Republics

What the Founding Fathers said about Democracies vs. Republics

Why 0Bama is trying to get us in an Oligarchy

===============================================

Slowdown signs - Global ship orders in 2008 dip by 98% YoY [Shipping]

Children Are Now Sexually Abusing Children

"from pornography to "sexting"--sending lewd images on cell phones."

And so the geniuses, in order to protect the children from themselves, are prosecuting them for felonies and giving them lifetime sex offender labels, you know, for their own protection.

More than a bad day: Worries grow that Barack Obama & Co. have a competence problem

Showing a monkey picture next to an Obama picture is a hate crime

Surprise checks mooted (Germany) for gun owners (Count your Second Amendment blessings, America!)

Tax Me If You Can

Hillary Clinton's list: 205,000 Donors Released

Now that Bill20Clinton has released the list of his 205,000 donors who have given close to $500 million to his library and foundation, it's clear why he resisted releasing the list while his wife was running for president. Compelled to make it public as a condition of his wife's appointment as Secretary of State, it becomes clear that the list is a virtual encyclopedia of conflicts of interest for the husband of a senator, to say nothing of the husband of an incoming Secretary of State.

Particularly troubling are the massive donations from Arab governments in the Middle East. How can a Secretary of State possibly be impartial in conflicts involving Israel when her husband has gotten tens of millions of dollars from Arabian governments and high-ranking people?

Specifically, Clinton got:

Between $10 million and $25 million from: —The government of Saudi Arabia

Between $1 million and $5 million from: —Friends of Saudi Arabia
—The Dubai Foundation
—Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid
—Saudi tycoon Sheikh Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi
—Former Lebanon Dep. Prime Minister Issam Fares
—The government of Kuwait
—The government of Qatar
—The government of Oman
—The government of Brunei
—The Zayed Family, rulers of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates

He also received between $500,000 and $1 million from: —Saudi businessman Walid Juffali.

Pardon us for looking such generous gift horses in the mouth, but it is hard to imagine so ma ny governments, monarchs and businessmen in the Middle East giving money unless it was with some hope of a political return on their investment. Will that return now come with the appointment of Mrs. Clinton as Secretary of State? After all, the next Secretary of State will be called upon to mediate and negotiate conflicts in the Middle East as her first assignment.

How can Hillary Clinton undertake to do so impartially when her husband's library and foundation—over which he has total control—have been bankrolled by the very nations with whom she must negotiate? The list reveals another key center of conflicts of interest in Kazakhstan, the former Soviet Republic, now home to some of the world's greatest mineral deposits and ruled by a corrupt dictator, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, who, according to The New York Times, has all but quashed political dissent."

Clinton visited Kazakhstan and met with its president on Sept. 6, 2005, accompanied by Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra. Soon after, Giustra was awarded a highly lucrative contract to mine uranium there.

Now, lo and behold, Giustra turns up having given the library and foundation $10 million to $25 million and the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative—Canada gave $1 million to $5 million more. And Clinton got $1 million to $5 million from Laksmi Mittal, the fourth wealthiest person on the Forbes billionaire list and a member of the Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan.

In addition, Clinton further fished in troubled waters by taking $1 million to $5 million from Victor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of the controversial former president of Ukraine.

Given the complexities of U.S. policy toward the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, it is hard to see how this massive and incestuous relationship cannot but complicate Hillary's independence. One of the largest donors to the library and foundation was UNITAID, an international organization largely controlled by France, which donated more than $25 million. And the conflicts of interest are not all just foreign.

Corporate bailout recipients and wanna-be recipients donated to the Clinton fund. —They include: AIG, Lehman, Merrill, the Citi Foundation and General Motors. And, almost as an afterthought, the list reveals a donation of at least $450,000 from Denise Rich, presumably in return for her ex-husband's presidential pardon.

How could a United States Senator possibly serve dispassionately while her husband was collecting money from these donors on this scale? And how could we have elected a president without realizing these conflicts existed? And how can a Secretary of State function with these conflicts hanging over her head? Looks like another sell-out!

P.S. from an old cynic:

It could have only been worse if Hillary had made it to the presidency!!
*Also note that on her first trip as Secretary of State, she stayed an extra day in China .. Was that to sack up her 'kick backs' CASH from her Wal-Mart days in Little Rock?

http://docstalk.blogspot.com/2009/03/hillary-clintons-list-of-205000-donors.html

Burning Down Detroit (Why razing much of Motor City might help Michigan's economic woes)

The housing is worth so little because human animals have trashed them and, even if the housing were brand new, nobody wants to live among animals. .

Voter fraud is out there (Letter to the Editor)

Hilarious Video: Obama's Econ Chief Stammers Her Way Through His Flip-Flop On The Economy!

Kids say the darnedest things.

A Weak President Fails to Respond to National Threats

A Russian air force chief said Saturday that the country could base some strategic bombers in Cuba or on an island offered by Venezuela...

=================================================================

Old age begins at 27: Scientists reveal new research into ageing

We're ALL Gonna Die!!!!

The Cincinnati Tea Party is underway (large turnout)

On The Left-Wing Reaction to John Galt, Ayn Rand, and Tea Parties

Limbaugh gets big time support from Dick Cheney

Kauai County Council considers backing Hawaii secession

DOD Ends Sale of Expended Military Brass to Remanufacturers

We all wondered when it was going to start. When the new administration would make their move against us as gun owners. Oh, everyone got upset about HR45--I'll bet I got over 100 e-mails warning me about this draconian gun registration bill that had been introduced in Congress.

I was really glad to see Tom Gresham, host of "Gun Talk Radio," an editor, writer, television host on "Self-Defense TV," and one of the foremost gun spokespersons, come out and tell everyone to stop worrying about legislation so absolutely over-the-top--it would never get out of committee.

Tom said save your energy for when we really need it--don't expend it trying to warn everyone in your e-mail list about legislation that would go nowhere.

Now, Tom just interviewed me, and Larry Haynie, owner of Georgia Arms, on Gun Talk--and Tom agrees, now is the time to "...unleash the hounds..." by which he means start e-mailing and writing your senators and congressmen.

Now it has come clear...now we know what they intend to do.

It is an end-run around Congress. They don't need to try to ban guns--they don't need to fight a massive battle to attempt gun registration, or limit "assault" weapon sales.

Nope. All they have to do is limit the amount of ammunition available to the civilian market, and when bullets dry up, guns will be useless.

Think we jest?

Here is a copy of the letter sent to Georgia Arms just Thursday evening--effectively cancelling a contract he had to purchase 30,000 pounds of expended military brass in .223, 7.62mm, and .50 caliber:

(Excerpt) Read more at theshootist.net

Wait for Bambi to declare primers as explosive devices.

They are damn hard to get NOW

DC City Council afflicted with pistolgriphobia, err, gun bigotry

Video: Liberals Finally Found A Tax Hike They Don't Like

Cruelty, Thy Name is Obama

“But you don’t have to dig very far below the surface to see that liberals, for all of their claims to be the sole arbiters on all matters of compassion in the world are, in fact, extraordinarily cruel. Nary a day goes by when we don’t hear some celebutard like Sean Penn waxing downright lyrical over some murderous thug of a dictator, be it Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. Our current president staked out the ever popular pro infanticide position, startling even to Barbara Boxer. And in the left’s most recent display of endless love and compassion for the downtrodden, they choked the life out of a creative, effective and uplifting school choice program thus, dooming innocent children to sadder, if not shorter, lives in gang infested hell holes."

Inside the enemy's mind

The Natural Born Citizen Blog Is Now Restricted (District of Columbia Code Section 16-3501)

(VIDEO) Senate Dems: Don’t You Dare Take Away Our Auto Pay Raise!!!!

Obama administration missteps indicate a disturbing and dangerous trend

Obama budget: restoring income equality in the US?

Obama Honeymoon Ending as Former Backers and Media Realize WHO He Really Is

Dollars from dirt: Economy spurs home garden boom (It's official: We're now peasants!!)

Red Alert: Obama's "Civilian National Security Force" resurfaces

Hussein knows full well that he can’t depend upon the kids in todays army—many of them patriots and republican voters—to follow orders putting American citizens at risk. He needs his own brownshirt force. There was a news release a few weeks ago indicating illegal aliens could apply for military service. They would be granted US citizenship. Here is a group which would have no problem carrying out the orders of der Fuhrer and firing on Americans.

================================================

Anti-hate campaigner’s tactics could have opposite effect

Red-light cameras raise some red flags

As Tiller Jury Selection Begins, New Video Documenting Botched Abortion Shows Need For Justice

Alarm and Muster

Click the links below to read past Alarm & Muster Weekly Emails & More

AlarmAndMuster.com coming soon | It Is Our Duty to Practice Restraint

YOU’VE BEEN PUNKED.Change is in the air. Not just that the inside the Beltway pundits are noticing that He is not all that He is cracked up to be. Not just that people are taking to the streets in protest. Not just that our European allies no longer are amused. Not just that the Chinese and Russians are worried that His economic policies may be too socialist.
No, you know that things are changing when the normally compliant cheerleaders at AP take to mocking Him:

The economy is fundamentally sound despite the temporary "mess" it's in, the White House said Sunday in the kind of upbeat assessment that Barack Obama had mocked as a presidential candidate.
Obama's Democratic allies pleaded for patience with an administration hitting the two-month mark this week, while Republicans said the White House's plans ignore small business and the immediate need to fix what ails the economy. After weeks projecting a dismal outlook on the economy, administration officials — led by the president himself in recent days — swung their rhetoric toward optimism in what became Wall Street's best stretch since November.
During the fall campaign, Obama relentlessly criticized his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, for declaring, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." Obama's team painted the veteran senator as out of touch and failing to grasp the challenges facing the country.
But on Sunday, that optimistic message came from economic adviser Christina Romer. When asked during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" if the fundamentals of the economy were sound, she replied: "Of course they are sound."

Hey America. Remember that election? You've been punked. Remember all the "sky is falling" rhetoric to get the stimulus package passed? You've been punked. Remember "imagine hope"? You've been punked.

Pretty funny. The One who shows the fierce urgency to mock others is being mocked.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of being mocked take a look at Obama Channels Seinfeld and Next Time Call The Blogospheric Neologian, Not Wikipedia.

And check out some of my other posts on where we are heading: A Cure For Social Security, The Revolt of the Kulaks Has Begun, The Last Bull Capitulates and Not Too Early For "I Told You So". And if you have the time, tell me Has My Blog Strategy Failed?

-----------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: Hat tip to Texas Eagle at Free Republic for these two video links to McCain's and Obama's comments that the economy is sound.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: More than a bad day: Worries grow that Barack Obama & Co. have a competence problem.

GUN PROPAGANDA INTERFERING WITH SAVING MEXICO? Well, note this:

Traffickers have escalated their arms race, acquiring military-grade weapons, including hand grenades, grenade launchers, armor-piercing munitions and antitank rockets with firepower far beyond the assault rifles and pistols that have dominated their arsenals. Most of these weapons are being smuggled from Central American countries or by sea, eluding U.S. and Mexican monitors who are focused on the smuggling of semiauto- matic and conventional weapons purchased from dealers in the U.S. border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

So all this talk about U.S. gun shops arming Mexican gangs with bazookas was just gun-control propaganda, then?

CININNATI ENQUIRER: Thousands Gather for ‘Tea Party.’

UPDATE: Cincinnati Tea Party Demonstrates Downtown.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Cincinnati Tea Party organizers email:

We can confirm
> 5000 attendees to the event, “a city on the square”
> 1674 people signed a petition to ask local governments to reject stimulus funds

Pretty impressive.

MICHAEL SILENCE NOTES A MEDIA REFERENCE TO A “HANDFUL” OF TEA PARTY PROTESTS AND SAYS “LET’S COUNT ‘EM:”

Cincinnati, Nebraska, Tampa, Lexington, Ridgefield, Conn., Raleigh, Orlando, D.C., Staten Island, Pasadena, Boston, Rochester, N.Y., Jacksonville, Minnesota, Cleveland, Columbus, Mo., Little Rock, Ark., Philadelphia, Kansas City, Harrisburg, Green Bay, Salt Lake City, Fullertown, Lafayette, Boise, Monterey, Maui, Yonkers, Utah, Tucson, Phoenix, Hoboken and Chicago, to name a few.
Also, I guess it’s just been a handful of blogs writing about it.
Maybe the writer meant this handful of coverage.
By the way. If you want to follow extensive coverage of the party, one guy sitting in Knoxville, probably from his couch, is doing just that.
Memo to MSM: Google.

Heh. Indeed.

UPDATE: And Denver — don’t forget Denver! And St. Louis! And New York!

Related thoughts from Ed Driscoll.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Cincinnati reader Jeff Riley was at the protest and emails: “I was thrilled at the turnout here in Cincy, however I wasn’t thrilled with the lack of coverage by the local media. Trust me on this, during the Bush Adminstration when they had 4 people show up at the local Federal Building and protest against the war they were all over it. When 3500 (estimated) people show up to protest the bailout they just shrugged. People were pissed and are realizing that the media is doing much more that shilling for Obama, that they are willing participants in the propaganda effort. Every time they do so they lose a bit more credibility and people are turning them out and getting there news elsewhere.”

MORE: Frank Wilson has further thoughts on what we’re not being told.

STILL MORE: More than 150 tea parties scheduled.

Plus, another appearance by the Debt Star. It’s everywhere!

And Secretaries of State Are From Venus, I Guess

More Bad Paintings of Barack Obama

Posted by Kate at 5:55 PM| Comments (27)

The Great Energy Company Migration

Is there nothing that Obama can't do?

Over the past six months companies including offshore drilling contractors Noble Corp and Transocean, energy-focused engineering group Foster Wheeler and oilfield services company Weatherfield International have all announced plans to shift domicile to Switzerland.
[...]
'One trend that we see is that particularly Bermuda-based companies are now moving to Switzerland,' said Martin Frey, a partner at law company Baker & McKenzie. 'That may only partly be obviously for tax reasons, but also for security reasons and the fact that the Obama administration may go after them.'

Eh, who needs 'em? He has Washington vibrancy will keep him warm!

Posted by Kate at 4:29 PM| Comments (18)

Four Bad Bears

Via Calculated Risk

Posted by Kate at 12:42 PM| Comments (25)

Huge: Thousands converge for Cincinnati Tea Party; Update: 5k strong

By Michelle Malkin • March 15, 2009 06:14 PM

Scroll for updates…

(Photo credit: reader Melissa)

(Photo credit: Troglobyte)

(Photo credit: J. Binik-Thomas)

The Cincinnati Tea Party organizers told us it was going to be big. And it was. Organizer J. Binik-Thomas e-mails this evening that 5,000 folks turned out for the protest and more than 1,600 people signed a petition to ask local governments to reject porkulus funding.

Check out photos at Instapundit, including this aerial:

What are you doing? Go to Tax Day Tea Party and get moving!

Eric Cranley live-tweeted. A sample:

A friend of mine brought his 5 year old son, holding a sign saying, “Even a 5 year old knows socialism is stealing” #teaparty
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Good sign: “Tar. Feathers. Washington. Now.” #teaparty
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry

“My recommendation is that people look no further than the halls of Congress to find the stench of pork” #teaparty

Unlike the Los Angeles Times, the Cincinnati Enquirer actually covered the tax revolters without trashing them:

Thousands of people filled Fountain Square this afternoon for the Cincinnati Tea Party, a grassroots-effort designed to show their disapproval for bailouts and the massive federal stimulus plan.
People wore Revolution-era costumes and raised anti-bailout signs with messages like “Give us Liberty, not debt” and “No more bailouts.”
Sean Lynch was one of thousands who navigated the crowd.
“I’m frustrated with the way things are going in Congress. They need to remember that they work for us, and right now, we don’t approve,” said Lynch, of Colerain. “This is not a Democrat thing or a Republican thing. It’s a government thing.”
Lynch brought his children to the demonstration and hoped that one day, when they’re older, they’ll understand the importance of taking a stand. His 8-year-old, Isabel, held a “Stop spending my allowance” sign and 5-year-old Kate raised a “Stay out of my piggy bank” one.
“I don’t think anything is going to change overnight,” Lynch said. “But this is a start.”

***

From reader Shannon:

Hello, Michelle!

Huge fan, and really appreciate the coverage you have given to the Cincinnati Tea Party. My family attended today — me, my husband, and my three children (10 year old boy, 7 year old girl, and 5 year old boy). Thousands were on Fountain Square today — lots of energy, lots of passion…. it was evident that everyone — my husband and I included — are not your “usual suspects” in demonstrations. We are all usually too busy earning our livings…. but we have been angered well beyond words.

Very disappointed that only one of our main news channels is covering the rally…. disappointed, but not surprised! Thank goodness for you, Glenn Beck and Fox News!!!

Just wanted you to hear from another attendee!

From blogger Machiavellian at The Virtuous Republic:

***

More: You gotta check these out from DADvocate.

Posted in: Tea Party

comments (54)

"Had an interesting conversation with my accountant last week. He said he’s getting vibs that people are just waiting for something to happen. There is no confidence. It’s not tied to the economy, because there is nothing they can do about that on an individual basis. And, he thinks we’re only half way to the bottom of this pit we’ve dug outselves. Hmmm, interesting..."

Obama’s (Highly Creepy) ‘Pledge Project’

March 15th, 2009

From ‘Obama Over For America,’ which is yet another one of the administration’s endless campaign websites:

Update from David Plouffe

By Christopher Hass - Mar 13th, 2009
Davd Plouffe sent out an update today, reminding supporters to take a moment to sign their pledge of support for the three broad goals outlined in President Obama’s budget: health care reform, education reform, and investing in renewable energy. Meanwhile, grassroots activists across the country are already gearing up for the first Pledge Project Canvass.
[Here is the email:]
The next few weeks will be some of the most important our movement for change has encountered yet.
Mitch wrote to you earlier this week about Organizing for America’s Pledge Project — an effort to identify and mobilize support across the country for the economic vision President Obama has outlined in his budget.
If you haven’t yet done so, pledge your support now and ask your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
The budget that passes Congress has the potential to take our country in a truly new direction — the kind of change we all worked so hard for. We didn’t fight to shy away from the tough long-term decisions Washington has ducked for far too long.
President Obama knows, as you do, that our future strength and prosperity depends on Washington finally taking the hard and smart steps in energy, health care, and education that will make sure America and its families are strong for decades to come.
And while his budget reflects those important values and priorities, the President also understands the government has to cut spending like so many families and businesses are being forced to do now. He invests where we need to and cuts where we must.
In the next few weeks we’ll be asking you to do some of the same things we asked of you during the campaign — talking directly to people in your communities about the President’s ideas for long-term prosperity. But first, start with your own pledge of support, and the support of your friends, family, and neighbors: Pledge your support now.
We know this fight won’t be easy. But important battles never are. Together, we have the opportunity to shape our country’s future. We believed in the power of people to win an improbable election victory. And we believe in the power of people to drown out the cynics and entrenched interests in Washington to bring lasting, meaningful change we can all be proud we played a role in.
Thanks,
David Plouffe

Anyone who is a student of totalitarian regimes, especially Nazi Germany, should recognize this tactic. Mr. Obama has organized his own cadre of Brown Shirts (or, if you prefer, Red Shirts) to agitate for his agenda.

Mr. Alinsky would be proud. And rightly so. For this is simply the continuation of Mr. Obama’s perpetual campaign. A campaign, as we noted at the time, that was modeled on Saul Alinsky’s organizing principles.

Of course, Alinsky, had modeled his methods on the great communist and/or fascist agitators of the past. Hence, the unsettling resemblance to Soviet-style and Nazi Germany agit-prop.

What a brave new world Mr. Obama is bringing us.

And we thought it couldn’t happen here.

23 Comments »

Your readers should go to thomas.loc.gov and research H.R. 1388. Basically, it requires schools to force children in secondary and elementary schools to “volunteer” and be taught how to “volunteer” It also, in D.C. legal jargon, ties school funding to schools conforming to the mandatory requirements of this “service-learning” program.

We posted about it here:

Dems To Boost Americorp ‘Volunteers’ | Sweetness & Light
http://sweetness-light.com/arc.....volunteers

And before that, when it was still an Obama agenda item:

President Obama To Bring Back Slavery | Sweetness & Light
http://sweetness-light.com/arc.....ck-slavery

“Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits”

March 15, 2009 11:50 AM by Michelle Malkin59 Comments

===============================================================

RON SILVER has died.

UPDATE: A remembrance from his friend Roger Simon.

When will Atlas shrug?

EDITORIAL: Obamanomics

STEYN: Sticking it to the young

Formerly Useful Idiots

Tip of the iceberg warning:

Texas teacher pension shortfall is billions worse than expected

BOGGLED BAM

Chief Justice Roberts accepts Obama 'eligibility' petition

Does anyone here really have any confidence in this supreme court, the U.S. Senate or the U.S. Congress much less the magic negro?

Video of (Weasley)Clark (on Geraldo) Calls for "New" US Assault Weapons Ban to Stop Mexican Violence

Meet the compulsive service Orwellian "Give Act" - H.R.1388 to be voted on this week

Chaos, Confusion and Civil War

The people of America will turn against one another.
________________
Will? They already have.

Parks to ban lead bullets, tackle

Another draconian regulation based on "suspected" and "could".

“Lead-Free” applies to all components. Without lead styphenate to stabilize your primers, ammo will have a limited shelf life, and its substitute will cost more as well.

Court Upholds EPA Crackdown on Agriculture

The Precedent is Stalin’s Ukraine Genocide by Starvation-

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/ukra.html

Obama Administration Stabs Gun Owners in the Back (DoD Surplus Brass No Longer Sold for Reloading)

AMMUNITION SHORTAGE HITS SONOMA COUNTY

Trouble in Mexico? Anti-Gunners Say, "Blame America."

Easy fix, very easy. Secure the damn border. There, drugs and gun problem fixed.

The Miracle of Mo'Bama-nomics continues:

CA: Property taxes to increase despite falling home values

As stated, the words “Cut Spending” are not in their vocabulary.

Fed-up Americans mobilize: More than 150 tea parties

Taxes have Georgians looking for action (Tea Party/Tax Revolt)

Credit Default Swaps – Exercises in Surrealism

That '70s Horror Show

Frightening: New website exposes where Prop. 8 donors live!

Obama administration’s proposal to shortchange our nation’s veterans!

Obama’s Fearmongering Has Damaged The Economy (FoxNews.com)

The Death Cult rides again:

The Fetus As Organ Factor--The Next Moral Frontier?

And, again:

Obama’s (and Apparently Newsweek’s) War on Seniors is in Full Swing

Your Body, Your Life, NOT Your Choice

Why the GOP Can't Win With Minorities (Excellent Column)

Stores That Are No More

The Danger of President Obama's Insurance for Children (SCHIP)

Shredding the Constitution Under the Guise of Economic Stimulus

The GOP candidates, far too many of them, abandonded their principles and their base and got caught up in the guise of so-called "compassionate conservatism" which was used as an avenue to the same old spend, spend, spend tactics fo the leftists. Different programs perhaps, with what they hoped would be different results.

The Greens Hate Energy, America, and You

EDITORIAL: Global gun control

Bury a Gun and Ammo For 15 Years

No Longer Just Paranoia ( Gun Grabbers )

27 Visualizations and Infographics to Understand the Financial Crisis

Like what you see? Subscribe to the FlowingData feed to stay updated on what's new in data visualization, infographics, and other tasty visuals.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If there's anything good that has come out of the financial crisis it's the slew of high-quality graphics to help us understand what's going on.

Senate moves forward on wilderness bill

your government now own 70% of the land now

apology to woody guthrie

This land ain’t yur land

This land ain’t my land

This land belongs to the feds

It don’t belong to you or me

Sheriff Arpaio Has ‘No Intention’ of Testifying Before Conyers Committee on Alleged Immigration...

Thousands of girls mutilated in Britain

BLUEPRINT FOR US SURRENDER TO ISLAM: THE US MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT

ABC's Tapper Makes White House Look Stupid Again

First North Korean pizzeria opens

Wonder what they are going to do for power?

Communism vs. Capitalism:

America, 2 years in to cap and trade?

More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims (UPDATE)

"The Missiles of October" Redux? It seems to me we've been here before...

Economist Arthur Laffer Tells Cavuto Dems are "Like Kids with Their Hands in the Candy Jar" - Video

Americans have had enough! ('progressive' tea parties)

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND if you were out, you know, having a life:

A massive Cincinnati “tea party” protest. (Check out the aerial view of the crowd, below.)

More protests in Columbus, Ohio, Little Rock (more here), Kansas City, and Boise.

Still more on Chris Dodd’s Irish “cottage.” (More here, from the Hartford Courant, and from WTNH.).

The continuing relevance of Ayn Rand.

David Broder on growing Obama criticism. Plus, among Democrats, Worries grow that Barack Obama & Co. have a competence problem.

A REPORT FROM A Tampa Tea Party get-together. 200 showed, which promises success in the future.

CRITICISM OF BIG MEDIA for paying so little attention to the “tea party” protests.

As I’ve said before, local media are doing a better job, and that’s probably more important right now anyway. But they’ll be noticed soon enough, as they keep spreading and growing.

Besides, when you’ve got Power Line, what more do you need?

UPDATE: But it’s certainly fair to bust the L.A. Times for hypocrisy here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More thoughts here.

Lead Story

No duh! White House “worried about bailout backlash”

By Michelle Malkin • March 16, 2009 10:05 AM

With a few notable exceptions, the national media has ignored the tax revolt movement against the porkulus package, omni-pork spending bill, and bottomless bailouts that began in Seattle on President’s Day; continued in Denver on the day of the Generational Theft Act signing; spread to Mesa AZ during President Obama’s massive mortgage entitlement push; spurred protest in Overland Park KS; and evolved into the Tea Party movement across the country.

But local politicians and local newspapers/TV are definitely on notice. Thousands of folks converging in places like St. Louis (1,500), Greenville (2,000), Fullerton (est. 15,000), and Cincinnati (5,000) are getting harder to ignore.

And now, it seems, word is getting around in Washington. The White House, the NYTimes (which has mocked the tax revolters) tells us, is worried about a populist backlash against bailout-mania. Naw. Really? You don’t say:

“Bracing for a Bailout Backlash”
The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama’s agenda.
The administration’s sharp rebuke of the American International Group on Sunday for handing out $165 million in executive bonuses — Lawrence H. Summers, director of the president’s National Economic Council, described it as “outrageous” on “This Week” on ABC — marks the latest effort by the White House to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger.
“We’ve got enormous problems that need to be addressed,” David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, said in an interview. “And it’s hard to address because there’s a lot of anger about the irresponsibility that led us to this point.”
“This has been welling up for a long time,” he said.

Starting to get a clue:

For all his political skills and his capturing of the nation’s desire for change in the 2008 election, Mr. Obama, a product of Harvard Law School who calls upscale Hyde Park in Chicago home, has shown little inclination to strike a more populist tone. The danger, aides said, is that if he were to become identified as an advocate for the banks and Wall Street, people could take out their anger on him.
“The change now is you have a free-floating economic anxiety that has expressed itself in a kind of lashing out at those being bailed out and people who are bailing out,” Michael Kazin, a professor at Georgetown University who has written extensively on populism. “There’s not really a sense of what the solution is.”
“I do think there’s a potential for a ‘damn everybody in power’ kind of sentiment,” Mr. Kazin said.

“Potential?”

It’s here, baby. Open your eyes. More Cincy Tea Party photos via RWNJ:

Via WCPO, making the message crystal-clear:

Tea party supporters say their reasons for demonstrating on Fountain Square are simple.
“To actually show the state and federal government that we’re displeased with the way that they’re handling our money. That’s our money,” said George Piper.

And: “This is not a Democrat thing. Or a Republican thing. It’s a government thing.”

Wait until April 15…

Posted in: Tea Party, fiscal stimulus

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Diagnosis: Advanced stage of BDS

March 16, 2009 10:50 PM by Michelle Malkin22 Comments | 3 Trackbacks

“Patriot or crackpot?”

Photoshop contest: Obama Fingers; Updated with new entries

March 16, 2009 05:07 PM by Michelle Malkin42 Comments | 6 Trackbacks

Shake and bake.

Obama-bots…activate! Form of…a “Pledge Project Canvass!”

March 16, 2009 04:10 PM by Michelle Malkin

Too funny. The Obama Message Machine doesn’t want the Tea Party movement showing them up. So, they’ve sent out a mass e-mail and YouTube video link urging their cultists to go out and gather pledge signatures to support the president’s economic plan. Yep, a top-down, “grass-roots movement” directed by the DNC/Team Obama “because we can’t leave this important debate up to a Washington establishment that doesn’t welcome change.”85 Comments | 5 Trackbacks

"I am beginning to think that Der Fuhrer will have no trouble at all when the recruitment goes out for his New American Gestapo…"

"BHO makes Jimmy Carter look like a Swiss watch."

"They over-react to EVERYTHING, the surest sign of immaturity."

Click this link and look at the composed picture, made of pictures

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/program/we-the-people

GERARD VAN DER LEUN won’t miss the Post-Intelligencer.

"On one hand I hate to see a 146 year old Seattle institution die. I've lived my entire life in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, and the Seattle P.I. was always there as the record keeper. Then again, I do take some grim pleasure in watching them reap the bitter harvest that they have so diligently sowed. I guess the P.I. that I remember actually died a long time ago. In fact, the Seattle itself that I remember has also died."

TWO MORE STATES MOVE to limit red-light cameras. "They just want you to shut up and pay up." 'This was a good idea that was destroyed by the greed of cities. '

Comin' soon, to all the rest of Mo'Merica:

PHOTOS: Detroit’s Beautiful, Horrible, Decline.

No duh! White House “worried about bailout backlash”

By Michelle Malkin • March 16, 2009 10:05 AM

With a few notable exceptions, the national media has ignored the tax revolt movement against the porkulus package, omni-pork spending bill, and bottomless bailouts that began in Seattle on President’s Day; continued in Denver on the day of the Generational Theft Act signing; spread to Mesa AZ during President Obama’s massive mortgage entitlement push; spurred protest in Overland Park KS; and evolved into the Tea Party movement across the country.

But local politicians and local newspapers/TV are definitely on notice. Thousands of folks converging in places like St. Louis (1,500), Greenville (2,000), Fullerton (est. 15,000), and Cincinnati (5,000) are getting harder to ignore.

And now, it seems, word is getting around in Washington. The White House, the NYTimes (which has mocked the tax revolters) tells us, is worried about a populist backlash against bailout-mania. Naw. Really? You don’t say:

“Bracing for a Bailout Backlash”
The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama’s agenda.
The administration’s sharp rebuke of the American International Group on Sunday for handing out $165 million in executive bonuses — Lawrence H. Summers, director of the president’s National Economic Council, described it as “outrageous” on “This Week” on ABC — marks the latest effort by the White House to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger.
“We’ve got enormous problems that need to be addressed,” David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, said in an interview. “And it’s hard to address because there’s a lot of anger about the irresponsibility that led us to this point.”
“This has been welling up for a long time,” he said.

Starting to get a clue:

For all his political skills and his capturing of the nation’s desire for change in the 2008 election, Mr. Obama, a product of Harvard Law School who calls upscale Hyde Park in Chicago home, has shown little inclination to strike a more populist tone. The danger, aides said, is that if he were to become identified as an advocate for the banks and Wall Street, people could take out their anger on him.
“The change now is you have a free-floating economic anxiety that has expressed itself in a kind of lashing out at those being bailed out and people who are bailing out,” Michael Kazin, a professor at Georgetown University who has written extensively on populism. “There’s not really a sense of what the solution is.”
“I do think there’s a potential for a ‘damn everybody in power’ kind of sentiment,” Mr. Kazin said.

“Potential?”

It’s here, baby. Open your eyes. More Cincy Tea Party photos via RWNJ:

Via WCPO, making the message crystal-clear:

Tea party supporters say their reasons for demonstrating on Fountain Square are simple.
“To actually show the state and federal government that we’re displeased with the way that they’re handling our money. That’s our money,” said George Piper.

And: “This is not a Democrat thing. Or a Republican thing. It’s a government thing.”

Wait until April 15…

Posted in: Tea Party, fiscal stimulus

comments (185)

"For all those who were duped into thinking they were voting for “change” and elected a vacuous teleprompter reader but who are now waking up to the reality, we can only say - welcome back to sanity."

"This is why the DOD is refusing to sell reloadable brass now. they are afraid we just might get angry enough to act."

'Impeach the bums now!!! Throw all of them out who have/are supporting the Socialist and his agenda.'

"Shhhhhhhhh! not so loud, they’re trying to party at the White House."

HR1388, The Give Act, Obama’s Brownshirts

"What gives the Government the right to require individuals to give 3 years service under the guise of “volunteer” service? "

"I guess this is their idea of ‘bringing back the draft’ for everyone. Strings attached. "

"The sponsor is that anti-gun bitch McCarthy (D)umbass Long Island. 25 cosponsers. successful vote in committee, if I understand the process correctly it’s now Pelosi’s to move forward with."

Change... Team Obama Says "Fundamentals of Our Economy Are Strong"

During the election Barack Obama ridiculed John McCain for claiming that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."
They thought it was so funny, they even mocked him in an ad:

But, just like we've seen several times already...
That was just typical Obama campaign rhetoric.

This week Obama's economic chairwoman Dr. Christia Romer told David Gregory on Meet the Press that, "Of course the fundamentals of the economy are strong":
Via TownHall

Figures.
It's just more of the change you've been looking for.

UPDATE: WHite House Spokesperson Robert Gibbs was also caught stumbling over the difference between the economy being "sound" and the economy being "strong."

Obama Continues Slide... Americans Continue to Prefer Free Markets Over Socialism

O-Bummer. The One's approval rating continues to drop like a rock.
It's at its lowest point since inauguration.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 36% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-two percent (32%) now Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +4, his lowest rating to date.

In related news- O-wonder of wonders...
Americans continue to prefer free markets over the Obama-Pelosi-Reid dream of socialism.
The LA Times Blog reported:

In the poll a minority (48%) approved of Obama's $700-billion financial institution bailout with disapproval now at 40%. And that was before the current kerfuffle over bonuses to AIG employees with federal bailout money. Mark Silva has some more numbers here in the Swamp.

Despite the economic turmoil of recent months, fully 70% still say they're better off in a free market economy even with its severe ups and downs, while 54% are willing to accept more temporary government involvement at this time.

Flashback 2004: Obama Condemns ‘Rush’ of ‘Foot High’ Budget Bills (video)

Obama To Make History As 1st President on Leno's Couch

EDITORIAL: Destroying housing market More taxes, fewer deductions are twin killers

Hamptons hit by recession (many repossessions)

...many are predicting that these areas are still going to correct downward 25% or more and these homes look like longterm debt traps that aren't worth the invested capital. Property taxes on Hamptons land is also some of the highest in the country.

Gates readies big cuts in weapons (Thanks to Obama gutting our military)

This is our Commander in Chief (Article from his college days)

Obama Not Making Any Friends With Veterans (The blowback will bring Zero down)

Highways to Nowhere: The 7 Most Ridiculous New Roads Being Built With Stimulus Money

School's Out Forever (Part I)

***Obama Wants YOU to Serve, HR 1388 The Give Act reform National Service Laws-VOTE on

The Volokh Conspiracy’s Jim Lindgren: “it would be the public schools that would impose federal standards of coerced service on each child as part of their requirements for graduation. For students, service would be involuntary. Even for the public schools, their participation would be only nominally voluntary – for how many public schools can survive without federal assistance?”
http://mattjohnston.blogspot.com/2008/08/jim-lindgren-on-obamas-community.html

I feel like I am living in 1933.

H.R. 1388

Blame sunspots for cool winter, spring weather

Bin Laden in New Audio Message

Youth Corps to help keep California green

How Congress Deprives Us Of Prosperity

Senate Vote on Budget and $1.6 TRILLION CARBON TAX next week (Please attempt to STOP it)

You Wanted 'Change'...?

The Left Pushes Secular Religions: Global Warming, Embryonic Stem Cell Research

It seems to me that many on the cultural left are, while secular when it comes to conventional religion, very much believers in something that might be called secular religions—the religion of global warming, the religion of embryonic stem-cell research.

My Creators Syndicate column discusses the Obama budget and how it caters to the religion of global warming by imposing huge costs on what now is an ailing economy in order to fight disasters which we are told will strike us—we area told that there can be no argument—you must have faith!—40 or 50 years from now.

As for embryonic stem-cell research, Charles Krauthammer with the deftness of one who originally aspired to be a surgeon eviscerates Barack Obama's statement on the topic. Krauthammer notes that George W. Bush sensitively treated, while Obama entirely ignored, the issue of ethical limits on this kind of medical research. The editors of the Washington Post make the same point. There are some things we don't permit researchers to do—Dr. Mengele's experiments, the Tuskegee program—even though they might produce useful knowledge.

Pew poll: Obama's public support is eroding

Between you and your doctor

A Tale of Two Conferences on Global Climate Change

Gun sellers can't keep up with demand for ammo

Gee, I wonder why?

Electing a Child to be President

The Teleprompter President ...... (who is behind the curtain ?)

Barack Obama’s Newest Spiritual Advisor-Marxist preacher latest mentor on matters of faith

Are you a terrorist suspect?--Did you support Ron Paul ?

Did you support Ron Paul for president last year?

Do you believe there are people actively working to merge the U.S. with Mexico and Canada?

Do you display an American flag?

Did you ever display a Libertarian Party bumper sticker on your car?

Do you buy gold?

Any of these characteristics might lead law enforcement authorities to conclude you represent a danger to the republic. You are more likely to be a militia member or a domestic terrorist, according to a document distributed to Missouri police and, potentially, law enforcement authorities nationwide.

Area’s U.S. legislators talk bailout (BOHICA)

We told you it was facism, didn't we, folks?

Step1—Regulate crop production thereby causing prices to rise considerably.

Step 2—When prices soar put price controls on them.

Step 3—When farmers refuse to grow crops at a loss, confiscate their property.

Step 4—State farms now produce all and everyone lives happily ever after.

Right out of Hugo’s playbook.

Lose your property for growing food?

Some small farms and organic food growers could be placed under direct supervision of the federal government under new legislation making its way through Congress.

Food Safety Modernization Act

House Resolution 875, or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., in February. DeLauro's husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for Monsanto – the world's leading producer of herbicides and genetically engineered seed.

DeLauro's act has 39 co-sponsors

The bill’s author gets large amounts of PAC money from agribusiness $2k from Cargill, $4k General Mills $4.5k Kraft Foods $5k Land O’Lakes, but most from various sugar producers -$28K
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00000615
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00000615&sector=A&seclong=Agribusiness&newMem=N

Also from AgriMark $11k but I don’t know what that really is.
http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_give/H0CT

You’ll probably read that her husband works for Monsanto - not really - but he has them for a client. Greenberg is a political scientist/pollster. He is in business with James Carville, among others.
http://www.greenbergresearch.com/index.php?ID=109

Monsanto gives primarily to Republicans.
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/qind/

All 39 co-sponsors are Democrats

Obama’s Gun Ban List Is Out

Here it is, folks, and it is bad news. The framework for legislation is always laid, and the Democrats have the votes to pass anything they want to impose upon us. They really do not believe you need anything more than a brick to defend your home and family. Look at the list and see how many you own. Remember, it is registration, then confiscation. It has happened in the UK, in Australia, in Europe, in China, and what they have found is that for some reason the criminals do not turn in their weapons, but will know that you did.

Remember, the first step in establishing a dictatorship is to disarm the citizens.

Gun-ban list proposed. Slipping below the radar (or under the short-term memory cap), the Democrats have already leaked a gun-ban list, even under the Bush administration when they knew full well it had no chance of passage (HR 1022, 110th Congress). It serves as a framework for the new list the Brady’s plan to introduce shortly. I have an outline of the Brady’s current plans and targets of opportunity. It’s horrific. They’re going after the courts, regulatory agencies, firearms dealers and statutes in an all out effort to restrict we the people. They’ve made little mention of criminals. Now more than ever, attention to the entire Bill of Rights is critical. Gun bans will impact our freedoms under search and seizure, due process, confiscated property, states’ rights, free speech, right to assemble and more, in addition to the Second Amendment. The Democrats current gun-ban-list proposal (final list will be worse):

Rifles (or copies or duplicates):

M1 Carbine,

Sturm Ruger Mini-14,

AR-15,

Bushmaster XM15,

Armalite M15,

AR-10,

Thompson 1927,

Thompson M1;

AK,

AKM,

AKS,

AK-47,

AK-74,

ARM,

MAK90,

NHM 90,

NHM 91,

SA 85,

SA 93,

VEPR;

Olympic Arms PCR;

AR70,

Calico Liberty ,

Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle or Dragunov SVU,

Fabrique National FN/FAL,

FN/LAR, or FNC,

Hi-Point20Carbine,

HK-91,

HK-93,

HK-94,

HK-PSG-1,

Thompson 1927 Commando,

Kel-Tec Sub Rifle;

Saiga,

SAR-8,

SAR-4800,

SKS with detachable magazine,

SLG 95,

SLR 95 or 96,

Steyr AU,

Tavor,

Uzi,

Galil and Uzi Sporter,

Galil Sporter, or Galil Sniper Rifle ( Galatz ).

Pistols (or copies or duplicates):

Calico M-110,

MAC-10,

MAC-11, or MPA3,

Olympic Arms OA,

TEC-9,

TEC-DC9,

TEC-22 Scorpion,

or AB-10,

Uzi.

Shotguns (or copies or duplicates):

Armscor 30 BG,

SPAS 12 or LAW 12,

Striker 12,

Streetsweeper.

Catch-all category (for anything missed or new designs):

A semiautomatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and has:

(i) a folding or telescoping stock,

(ii) a threaded barrel,

(iii) a pistol grip (which includes ANYTHING that can serve as a grip, see below),

(iv) a forward grip; or a barrel shroud.

Any semiautomatic rifle with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds (except tubular magazine .22 rim fire rifles). A semiautomatic pistol that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine, and has:

(i) a second pistol grip,

(ii) a threaded barrel,

(iii) a barrel shroud or

(iv) can accept a detachable magazine outside of the pistol grip, and

(v) a semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.

A semiautomatic shotgun with:

(i) a folding or telescoping stock,

(ii) a pistol grip (see definition below),

(iii) the ability to accept a detachable magazine or a fixed magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds, and

(iv) a shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

Frames or receivers for the above are included, along with conversion kits.

Attorney General gets carte blanche to ban guns at will...

Obama will seek these 4 elements in a gun bill

1. An expanded HR 45, gun owner licensing. All gun owners will have to have these licenses, even owners of facilimie weapons (AKA Airsoft and BB). Licenses will only be granted if the records of the applicant are clean (This includes misdemeanors from decades ago). Licensees will be required to hold $1 million in liability insurance. Possession of otherwise permitted weapons (See #3) without license is a felony.

2. Ammunition accountability... All ammo will be required to be microstamped and will be taxed $1/round. All non stamped ammo will be required to be turned in or thrown away. Possession of non-marked ammo is a felony. This part of the act also bans “Cop Killer” bullets.

3. Expanded “Assault Weapons” ban— This includes most all semiauto rifles, anything that can be “Bump Fired”, Semiauto handguns, and Semi-auto shotguns. It also includes pump-action shotguns and “Sniper Rifles” AKA your deer rifle. The AWB will also require people with “Prebans” to register their guns as Machine Guns, and that the tax stamp will go up to $10,000 per weapon, or turn it in without compensation...

4. Expansion of the Lautenbach amendment: Removes “Domestic Violence” as disqualifier to gun ownership, inserts any misdemeanor as disqualifer... Anyone with a misdemeanor on their record will be prohibited from owning a firearm. This includes DUI and traffic offenses, and offenses decades ago.

Finally, this bill would rescind all valid CCW permits nationwide.

"And Republicans are the undisputed masters of being suckers."

EDITORIAL: Guns on a plane (Obama secretly ends program....)

The Durbin Doctrine's Assault on Free Speech

Something of Historic Proportion is Happening

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why? I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

AN OBAMA SING-ALONG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp7lGqWRnls

WHY DO THEY WANT OUR GUNS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73SsNFgBO4

DISARMED GERMAN JEWS AND THE HOLOCAUST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg9q9sxJFnA

THE MOST DANGEROUS WORDS IN ANY LANGUAGE ARE "WHY THAT COULD NEVER HAPPEN HERE!"

Folks, looks like it probably will!

FRENCH TOAST: NIDRA POLLER ON CARS BURNING IN THE MARAIS SATURDAY NIGHT (Paris is Burning, Again)

Obama Received a $101,332 Bonus from AIG (Not looking good for Obama)

-more--

http://tinyurl.com/d3wmr9

And so it begins

Hamilton reportedly was once a former fund-raiser for the radical activist outfit ACORN, a key Obama ally. He is also a former leader of the Indiana chapter of the ACLU.

Flashback video: Obama on “sacred trust” (video)

Our friend Jim Geraghty reminds us that all of Barack Obama’s pledges come with expiration dates — all of them. Wounded veterans have now discovered this...

We can track your cell phone. We just can’t talk about it.

The $1.4 Trillion Obama Tax Increase

WND: Lose your property for growing food?

Meanwhile...

Israel Could Use Ballistic Missiles Against Iran - Report

Iran’s Push Into Nicaragua: Why Is No One Concerned?

H.R.1388- Mandatory Youth Service Bill (Daily Congressional)

Where's The Bailout For The Rest Of Us?

'If he's not a natural born citizen, he's not qualified' ( Interview: Judge Roy Moore )

Why the media blackout on Obama's citizenship?

Five Ways that Insanity Has Become the New Normal in America

When sheer insanity becomes the new normal, people who can admit that the emperor has no clothes are left to point out:

The Global Warming Fraud: ...
The Lawsuit Lottery:
Demonizing Success and Rewarding Failure: ...
Spending Money Like We're Never Going To Have To Pay It Back: ...
Our Topsy-Turvy Approach To Illegal Immigration: ...

What you subsidize, you get more of and what you penalize, you decrease. That's one of the oldest and simplest lessons in the book; yet it's one we never seem to learn.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com

The First 100 Days…of parties

They're acting like they got a misprinted welfare check.

In a sense, they did.

Obama’s Latest Costly Blunder. “Obama and his team knew about the AIG bonus issue for quite some time. They had already concluded there was nothing to be done without causing greater risk. Now the very people AIG claims it needs to sort out the mess and prevent further economic damage are resigning, or just not showing up due to death threats and whatever else. Two months in and Obama has helped tank the stock market with pessimism only to help him pass a political agenda in the form of a stimulus package. His latest blurt seems to have been counter-productive to his stated economic goals. But hopefully Obama feels better for having gotten his rage on.”

This is the gang that can’t shoot straight. (Bumped).

I CAN’T KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE POLICY SCREWUPS, BUT LUCKILY THE HUFFINGTON POST IS HELPING: Dems Fuming Over White House Plan to Make Vets Pay For Service Injuries. “Democrats in Congress are organizing to squash a White House proposal that would require veterans to use private insurance to pay for treatment of their combat and service-related injuries.” Can anybody play this game?

Planting the seeds of the next shamnesty

March 17, 2009 04:40 PM by Michelle Malkin

The Hill reports that President Obama will “huddle” with Hispanic Democrats tomorrow to talk “immigration reform.”77 Comments | 1 Trackback

Yes, they are.

"Viva La Raza!! better learn spanish..cause the drug war you see in mexico is coming to a town near you…"

"Since he’s done this much damage in the first two months, we’re never going to last until Nov 2010."

As if this isn’t enough, check this out:

Gun Advocates Ready for Battle on Federal Assault Weapons Ban
Attorney General Eric Holder is using the drug violence in Mexico to “confuse and mislead” Americans in an attempt to reinstate the expired federal assault weapons ban, gun advocates say.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/17/gun-advocates-ready-battle-federal-assault-ban/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/17/lawmakers-concerned-role-acorn-census/

Acorn will be helping run the census.

ACORN.

We gave up the Rule Of Law some time ago. We now have the Rule Of Men, or, in other words, mob rule.

Hybrid car sales go from 60 to 0 at breakneck speed

http://tinyurl.com/c9d86q

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM: Contributions To Obama Campaign Track Bailout Money. “In receiving $43.5 billion for their investment of just over $3.3 million, it looks like the banks that gambled on Wall Street certainly got their money’s worth out of their investment in Barack Obama.” Read the whole thing.

Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute says don’t go John Galt — it’s “time to fight.” Plus, the Internet as a virtual Galt’s Gulch, and the continuing relevance of Atlas Shrugged.

IRAN’S PUSH INTO NICARAGUA: Why is no one concerned?

HMM: Anti-Spending Tide Grows In New Hampshire:

Big Brother - coming soon to a network near you

Posted by Michael Laprarie
Published: March 17, 2009 - 11:25 AM

I've often heard liberals say that when tyranny comes to America, it will come in the disguise of religion. They are wrong of course; when tyranny comes to America, it will be sold to us as fairness and equality. Case in point:

Some critics are seizing on comedian Jon Stewart's attacks of CNBC to launch an online petition drive urging the network to be tougher on Wall Street leaders.
The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America and some economists are behind the effort, launched Monday. They're asking CNBC to hire economic voices with a track record of being right about the current crisis and do more to hold business leaders accountable.

Mmmmkay ... Media Matters wants CNBC to dismiss anyone who has not been "right about the current crisis." Really? As if CNBC doesn't care whether or not its own analysts are dependable? As if CNBC's viewers don't already keep an eye on the accuracy of its content? As if any analyst, financial or otherwise, is always right about everything, all of the time?

This is so simple -- which may be why the propagandists at Media Matters don't understand it. CNBC is the best-known cable TV network whose programming is exclusively dedicated to financial news and analysis. Their main competitor is Bloomberg News, which is widely regarded as the most comprehensive financial news and analysis service in the industry. CNBC knows their competition. Since they are a cable TV network, they are of course somewhat personality driven. But if their information was worthless, they would not be able to compete with Bloomberg. Yet when you walk into the offices of any financial firm, you are always greeted by a sea of small television screens -- even in the elevators -- displaying CNBC.

If Media Matters, which is funded by billionaire George Soros, doesn't like the job CNBC is doing, then no one is stopping them from starting their own financial news network. They could call it Finance Matters. If Media Matters and its founder, David Brock, thinks that they are saving average Americans from corporate greed, then let them put their own neck out on the line. Heck, let them hire Oliver Willis as their chief financial analyst. After all, he's made a career (perhaps the most inexplicable in the entire blogosphere) by continually asserting that all conservatives are stupid. Now that would be entertaining.

And as for accuracy and accountability, why not start with our own government? I'd put Jim Cramer's out-of-context "BUY BEAR STEARNS!!!" remarks up against "We do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac and particularly Fannie Mae under the outstanding leadership of Frank Raines" or "I don't think we face a crisis; I don't think that we have an impending disaster" any day. What say you, Mr. Brock?

The Obama White House propaganda machine is in the midst of an unprecedented assault on free speech. They seem to be attempting a piecemeal take-over of broadcast media by creating phony "outrage" aimed at specific broadcasters, and then demanding, in the name of "fairness," that those broadcasters be taken off the air. Funny, I thought that dissent was the highest form of patriotism. Whatever happened to the maverick spirit of Hillary Clinton?

I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say, we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.

During the Bush years, conservatives rightly criticized partisan liberals masquerading as "objective" journalists. And we criticized entertainers and others who lashed out at President Bush in some of the most vulgar, hate-filled, unhinged rants ever directed at a President. But despite the hysterical claims of liberals, the Bush White House never attempted to launch coordinated efforts to censor its critics or take broadcasters off the air.

Vulgarity and unhinged hatred aside, dissenting voices are essential to democracy. Unless we stand firm against these blatant attempts at censorship, we are going to end up with a heck of a lot more disturbing "change" in this country than most people ever bargained for.

Permalink | Comments (20)

Congress Alert - VA

You might find yourself in some serious hot water (hellfire!) if you don't bother to contact your Congressional representatives and senators over this proposal to yank VA benefits for service-related injuries. The proposal is to make any private insurance first payer for such medical care. The vet would still receive care at the VA, but the VA would bill the vet's private insurance company (if any).

The result:

Some veterans will be priced out of medical insurance,
Some veterans won't get jobs (small businesses can't afford high health premiums, so they won't hire vets),
Some small group and perhaps family policies may reach caps over the veteran's treatment costs and then the rest of the group won't have coverage.

There is no justification for this at all. Once we send them to be shot at, we have the moral obligation to bury their dead bodies decently or treat the living at least for injuries received in the line of service.

We just extended SCHIP coverage to families with median incomes, and in many cases, adults who were covered under SCHIP as children will be able to continue to get subsidized health care as adults. If it comes down to budget, the veteran gets first claim.

It looks like Congress was not too receptive to the idea, but there is a lot of activity at the moment, and this issue should be kept extremely visible to senators and representatives. If costs must be cut, the Priority B group can be cut down. The one thing we must not do is toss injured vets to the vagaries of the private health insurance system. The proposal is odd - on the one hand, they want to grant more benefits to more vets. On the other hand, they expect private insurance companies to cover a significant chunk of the cost.

This link will allow to find and contact your representatives and senators. It's not a partisan issue - it's one of basic fairness. Any person with a significant medical problem who has ever tried to get individual or small group insurance coverage will realize what a nightmare this could be.

|

// posted by MaxedOutMama @ 3/16/2009 06:07:00 PM

"If you look at this in conjunction with the trial balloon of making employer provided health care taxable, the scheme seems to be to make private plans too expensive for the plebes so that they are forced to go on ObamaCare, whatever that turns out to be."

From A Slightly Different Angle

Amongst the weirdest of weird things in this post-election cycle are the odd positionings of Obama supporters who are unhappy with current events. Many of them share a lot with Camille Paglia's criticism of Obama's STAFF:

Yes, free the president from his flacks, fixers and goons -- his posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship.

Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama's first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. (Michelle, please use those fabulous toned arms to butt some heads!)

She still supports Obama:

President Obama -- in whom I still have great hope and confidence -- has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency.

This is a remarkably odd take.

How does Camille think the president got his staff? Didn't he pick these smirky smart alecks?
Is Michelle, the person whose only substantive experience was the $300,000 hospital job that was so important it isn't being filled, really the person who would know how to pick the right advisors?
Can any president-elect truly be "blindsided" by "the crushing demands of the presidency?" If his advisors are, doesn't that indicate that he picked a slate of advisors who exemplify the Dunning effect?
Isn't Camille calling Hillary a provincial rube as well as a slow, pompous Clinton? We know that Hillary's Russian-language skills aren't that hot, but isn't this a low blow?

As for why Camille's complaining, IMAO presents a brief, amusing and largely accurate summary of the doings of the Kool Kidz. Yes, this looks foolish and embarrassing unless you are a Kool Kid. But for myself, I would have thought the intellectual branch of Obama supporters would have begun slinking away into their shame-filled shadows when Obama was quoted as complaining that "Everyone's an economist" right after the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis determining that the stimulus bill would reduce GDP within ten years. They are indisputably economists.

There is no more appropriate metaphor for the way the Obama administration has mishandled affairs than the fact that our Secretary of State went over to Russia, a state in crisis, with a cute little gesture like a reset button that said "Overcharge". Not only is this kid stuff, it's just plain wrong.

For something that is emphatically not kid stuff, see James Galbraith's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on February 26, 2009. I heartily agree with many of the points he makes here.

I have cited and discussed economic analysis from the Levy Institute before, and Galbraith also did so in his testimony. The bottom line is that the US economic difficulties are rooted in fundamentals rather than ephemerals, as explained in the Levy Institute's December 08 Strategic Analysis:

As early as 2004, in a Strategic Analysis subtitled Why Net Exports Must Now Be the Motor for U.S. Growth,2 we argued that continued growth in net lending to the private sector was an impossibility, and that at some stage there would have to be a collapse both in lending and in private expenditure relative to income. We also argued that it would not be possible to save the situation by applying another fiscal stimulus (as in 2001) because that would increase the budget deficit to about 8 percent of GDP, implying that the public debt would then be hurtling toward 100 percent of GDP, with more to come. These processes were allowed to continue nonetheless, and we perforce had to bring the short-term prospect into sharper focus. As the turnaround in net lending eventually became manifest, we predicted in our November 2007 analysis3—without being too precise about the timing— that there would be a recession in 2008.
...
As illustrated in the extreme right-hand section of Figure 1, the implication of these assumptions, taken together, is that GDP will fall about 12 percent below trend between now and 2010, while unemployment will rise to about 10 percent.

That is the depression-like event I have been writing about. For what it's worth, I use a drastically different methodology than these economists, yet I come up with very similar results.

The only ways out are dollar devaluation (which will happen automatically soon enough), a sharp rise in domestic output for baseline consumption (food, energy), destruction of the private debt overload, and recovery of domestic incomes, because what has changed in the international economic outlook is the ability of the world to hike consumption of US-produced goods. Thus, we cannot hope to adjust our output gap as elucidated by LI through significant growth in US exports. We can only adjust that gap through enhanced production for our own consumption.

The problem with the Obama administration's plans as they now stand is that the energy tax will not reduce petroleum imports significantly. Instead, it will continue to move production offshore, thus making the output gap worse. This in turn will lower US incomes and raise baseline inflation, which will also lower US incomes. That will give unemployment another kick up.

The only way out is to open up domestic and near offshore drilling, build nuclear power plants, and develop the shale oils, which are economically competitive at current price levels with some very small guarantees.

Next up, insurance, which will bring me back to address Carl's arguments about the need for Glass-Steagall.

|

// posted by MaxedOutMama @ 3/11/2009 12:12:00 PM

Rush In A Hurry -- You're Being Played for Fools

ANOTHER QUESTIONABLE POLICY MOVE: Involving ACORN in the Census. What could go wrong?

Census + left-wing partners = More OBAMACORN!

March 17, 2009 07:07 PM by Michelle Malkin

Fox News reports that ACORN will be one of a plethora of left-wing groups “helping out” with the Census.

But of course.45 Comments | 5 Trackbacks

"I am sure they will fill out census forms like they fill out voter applications."

"Either tear up your census or double/triple the number of people in your household. They’re going to statistically modify the results anyway so what does it matter if its an actual count."

"Maybe the answer to this expected fraud is for the rest of us to inflate the number of people in our homes. Tell the census you have 9 kids. Tell them your grandparents live with you. Just massively inflate the number of people that so the REST of us are overcounted. It might at least counter the fraud the ACORN will attempt."

"I’m betting that La Raza will be involved too. No word yet whether Aryan Nation will be involved. They wouldn’t want to go overboard with these racist groups."

ACORN Fraud, Cover Up, and Obama Connection

ACORN and the Communist Party USA

MORE ON THE VETERANS’-INSURANCE SCREWUP from The Mudville Gazette.

I GUESS IT’S TOO BAD NOBODY READ IT BEFORE IT PASSED, THEN: The Stimulus Bill Explicitly Guarantees Contractual Bonuses Executed Before February 11. Yeah, I know, I already mentioned this. But it’s a point worth making again — they rushed this stinker through, and now it’s biting them on the ass. Good.

NATIONAL DEBT HITS RECORD $11 TRILLION. The upside — that won’t seem like a lot in a couple of years, when it’ll take one of these to buy a gallon of gas!

MO'bama to appear on Leno - will he bring a teleprompter? Is it just me, or are the MSM headlines getting a bit less respectful?

UPDATE: “The President’s watching. Let’s make him cringe and squirm.”

Y2Kyoto: Reality Is Stubborn

"We don't need no stinkin' giant fans..."

Royal Dutch Shell provoked a furious backlash from campaigners yesterday when it announced plans to scale back its renewable energy business and focus purely on oil, gas and biofuels.
Jeroen van der Veer, the chief executive, said that Shell, the world's second-largest non-state-controlled oil company, was planning to drop all new investment in wind, solar and hydrogen energy.
“I don't expect them to grow much at Shell from here, due to portfolio fit and the returns outlook compared to other opportunities,” he said, speaking at the Anglo-Dutch group's annual strategy briefing.
He said that instead Shell would focus its remaining renewable energy investments on biofuels, where it is conducting research into “second generation” fuels, so far with little commercial success.
Linda Cook, who heads Shell's gas and power business, said that wind and solar power “struggle to compete with the other investment opportunities we have in our portfolio”.

Green groups are furious! Furious! How dare Shell place economic viability ahead of the future promise of complete and utter pointlessness? Related - Sales slump for gas-electric hybrids and other unicorns.

More at Legal Insurrection.

Posted by Kate at 1:25 AM| Comments (1)

From the Pub: “Congresscritters and AIG” [UPDATED]

It would seem that in addition to now railing against outrageous bonuses guaranteed in a package he supposedly put together (or at least reviewed), our esteemed President was the past recipient of a rather tidy sum from AIG.

But no worries. He’s on the case now, Obama is, having recovered his mojo. Or at least, that’s what the JournoList wants us to think.

Just as Barney Frank is going to fix Fannie and Freddy — even though this is the same guy who assured us it wasn’t broken, and was among those insisting that it’s critics were really just secret racists out to keep a brother down.

Evidently, the irony hasn’t yet gotten thick enough yet to choke the air out of these lying pricks. But there’ always tomorrow, yes?

OUTLAW!

****
update: Maybe Leno can work in a few questions about this, y’think?

Posted by Jeff G. @ 8:38 pm
Comments (37)

Former head of CBO (and current Obama budget director) Orzag member of JournoList

But, so what? No conflict of interest there. Right Ezra?:

Journolist is meant to serve a very specific purpose that’s actually related to my experience building this blog. The work of this site has always been to illuminate standard political reporting with expert policy commentary. In that, I’ve been helped by the many experts who have adopted the medium as their own: Mark Thoma, Brad DeLong, Paul Krugman, Matthew Holt, Peter Orszag, Andrew Gelman, Larry Bartels, Dani Rodrik, John Sides, among others. As a journalist, it’s hard to always know who to call or which questions to ask. The joy of those blogs is that I don’t have to guess what experts think is important: They simply explain what they think is important and I can use, or follow-up on, the information.

But as NRO’s Mark Hemingway notes:

And therein lies the problem. Ezra’s trying to say, “What’s the big deal? Lots of people discuss stuff over email, message boards etc.” If explicitly liberal bloggers, activists and policy wonks want to want to get together several times a week and burn black candles and perform obscure magick rituals to converse with FDR from beyond the grave, that’s fine with me. But when supposedly objective journalists or, worse yet, people such as Peter Orzag who until recently was the head of the Congressional Budget Office, participate in their shennanigans and at the very least fail to disclose it, then I have a problem.
I would like to think that journalists whose credibility rests on working for publications that represent themselves as objective news outlets as well as very influential civil-service employees would see the problem in granting exclusive access to people with a specific political agenda. Even the appearance that the news, let alone actual policies that affect all Americans, are being shaped disproportionately by reporters and unelected civil servants in the thrall of ideological crusaders is a problem. To some extent I can’t fault the list’s overtly liberal members for trying to get in even better with the press and policymakers than they already are, but if Klein and others on the list want to sluff off the questions here by saying “what’s the big deal?” — well, that’s a problem too.

Well, you’d think so.

But let’s face it: the mainstream press has, in many cases, given up even the appearance of objectivity and have become instead “advocacy” journalists. That their “advocacy” is almost entirely in support of the progressive agenda is just, like, a coincidence.

So what should be a big deal really isn’t all that much of a big deal, at least not to the ideologues involved.

Oh. And also, HOW DARE YOU QUESTION OUR PATRIOTISM!

Luckily, there seems to be a market remedy…

(h/t cj burch)

Posted by Jeff G. @ 5:15 pm
Comments (85)

SHOCKA!

Leftwing journalist cabal confirmed. From Politico:

For the past two years, several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics have talked stories and compared notes in an off-the-record online meeting space called JournoList.
Proof of a vast liberal media conspiracy?
Not at all, says Ezra Klein, the 24-year-old American Prospect blogging wunderkind who formed JournoList in February 2007. “Basically,” he says, “it’s just a list where journalists and policy wonks can discuss issues freely.”
But some of the journalists who participate in the online discussion say — off the record, of course — that it has been a great help in their work. On the record, The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin acknowledged that a Talk of the Town piece — he won’t say which one — got its start in part via a conversation on JournoList. And JLister Eric Alterman, The Nation writer and CUNY professor, said he’s seen discussions that start on the list seep into the world beyond.
“I’m very lazy about writing when I’m not getting paid,” Alterman said. “So if I take the trouble to write something in any detail on the list, I tend to cannibalize it. It doesn’t surprise me when I see things on the list on people’s blogs.”
Last April, criticism of ABC’s handling of a Democratic presidential debate took shape on JList before morphing into an open letter to the network, signed by more than 40 journalists and academics — many of whom are JList members.
See also
But beyond these specific examples, it’s hard to trace JList’s influence in the media, because so few JListers are willing to talk on the record about it.
POLITICO contacted nearly three dozen current JList members for this story. The majority either declined to comment or didn’t respond to interview requests — and then returned to JList to post items on why they wouldn’t be talking to POLITICO about what goes on there.
In an e-mail, Klein said he understands that the JList’s off-the-record rule “makes it seems secretive.” But he insisted that JList discussions have to be off the record in order to “ensure that folks feel safe giving off-the-cuff analysis and instant reactions.”
One byproduct of that secrecy: For all its high-profile membership — which includes Nobel Prize-winning columnist Paul Krugman; staffers from Newsweek, POLITICO, Huffington Post, The New Republic, The Nation and The New Yorker; policy wonks, academics and bloggers such as Klein and Matthew Yglesias — JList itself has received almost no attention from the media.

The first rule of JournoList Club is that you don’t talk about JournoList Club…

Honestly, I think someone somewhere must be able to leak the names on this list. Maybe we should put up a reward. It sure would be interesting to see how the strings are being pulled.

And yeah, it matters, because these are the very folks who helped sell the country of a slick talking, teleprompter-fed charismat who, now that he’s found his way to White House, has set to work paying back his ideological backers by trying to quickly and fundamentally transform the very spirit of this country.

After the Townhouse debacle blew up in their faces, you’d think these wannabe architects of our society — smirking brats, the lot of them, whose care for the “little guy” never much gets beyond the theoretical (else, why cordon yourself off into a secret enclave of opinion deciders?) — would have learned a lesson.

Unfortunately, that lesson seems to have been that there’s a desire, on the part of the rank and file of the leftwing blogosphere, to be “directed” by their big name betters — told what to think, what talk about, and how to argue positions — and hey, nature abhors a vacuum, right…?

(h/t cj burch)

Posted by Jeff G. @ 12:01 pm
Comments (54)

Democrats Threaten AIG Bill Of Attainder

March 17th, 2009

From an elated Associated Press:

Edward Liddy, chief executive officer of American International Insurance group (AIG), seen here on December 11, 2008.

Congress threatens to tax AIG executives’ bonuses

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats vowed Tuesday to all but strip AIG executives of their $165 million in bonuses as expressions of outrage swelled in Congress over eye-catching extra income for employees of a firm that has received billions in taxpayer bailout funds.
"Recipients of these bonuses will not be able to keep all of their money," declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in an unusually strong threat delivered on the Senate floor.
"If you don’t return it on your own we will do it for you," said Chuck Schumer of New York.
The bonuses were paid legally, part of a program that had been disclosed in advance in filings that American International Group Inc. made with the government.
House and Senate Democrats were crafting separate bills to tax up to 100 percent of generous bonuses awarded by companies rescued by taxpayer money. Republicans said President Barack Obama’s administration should have done more to stop the bonuses.
AIG would not be the only firm named by either Democratic bill, but there was no question whose executives inspired the legislation.
"They’re not going to get the financial benefit of those bonuses," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
In the House, Reps. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, introduced a bill that would that would tax at 100 percent bonuses above $100,000 paid by companies that have received federal bailout money.
"We will use any means necessary," said Ryan. "It boggles my mind how these executives can be so unaware of what the American people are going through." …
"One way or another, we’re going to try to figure out how to get these resources back," said Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the panel’s chairman…
On Monday, Obama lambasted the insurance giant for "recklessness and greed" and pledged to try to block payment of the bonuses. Obama said he had directed Geithner to determine whether there was any way to retrieve or stop the bonus money…
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he has issued subpoenas for the names of AIG employees given bonuses despite their possible roles in its near-collapse. Cuomo said his office will investigate whether the bonus payments are fraudulent under state law because they were promised when the company knew it wouldn’t have the money to cover them. AIG reported this month that it lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history, and it has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue.

Do any of our Solons in Congress ever read the Constitution or understand its limits?

U.S. Constitution

Article 1 Section 9
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
Article 1 Section 10
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

In case you don’t happen to know what a Bill of Attainder is, here is a handy definition from the Tech Law Journal:

Bill of Attainder

Definition: A legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.
"The Bill of Attainder Clause was intended not as a narrow, technical (and therefore soon to be outmoded) prohibition, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function or more simply - trial by legislature." U.S. v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 440 (1965).
"These clauses of the Constitution are not of the broad, general nature of the Due Process Clause, but refer to rather precise legal terms which had a meaning under English law at the time the Constitution was adopted. A bill of attainder was a legislative act that singled out one or more persons and imposed punishment on them, without benefit of trial. Such actions were regarded as odious by the framers of the Constitution because it was the traditional role of a court, judging an individual case, to impose punishment." William H. Rehnquist, The Supreme Court, page 166.
"Bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, and laws impairing the obligations of contracts, are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation. … The sober people of America are weary of the fluctuating policy which has directed the public councils. They have seen with regret and indignation that sudden changes and legislative interferences, in cases affecting personal rights, become jobs in the hands of enterprising and influential speculators, and snares to the more-industrious and less-informed part of the community." James Madison, Federalist Number 44, 1788.

But never mind any of that.

Messrs Reid and Schumer are not about to let their (feigned) self righteous wrath be limited by such niceties as the Constitution.

By the way, according to Open Secrets:

Look who were the biggest recipients of AIG’s largess in 2008.

(Thanks to BillK for the heads up.)

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Iran In Nicaragua

9 more dead bodies outside Juarez

Gallup: Americans Think the United Nations is a Big Fat Fail

by Dymphna

This annual poll is surprising in one respect: approximately a fourth of Americans persist in the belief that the United Nations is doing a “good job”. Maybe they tiptoed by and shielded their eyes to avoid seeing the vast corruption, the Israel-bashing, the sexual abuse by “peacekeepers”, or the habit of putting tyrants in charge of Human Rights?

Here are the numbers:

For the seventh straight year, about 6 in 10 Americans -- now 65% -- say the United Nations is doing a poor job of solving the problems under its care. Only 26% believe it is doing a good job.

I didn’t think we had that many ignorant people left. I’ll bet they mostly live in Berkeley. Or maybe in academia’s ivory towers, where you need a strong telescope to see what’s going on at ground level?

Whatever. We now have it officially: a quarter of the American people (at a minimum) are thumpingly stupid.

Gallup’s statistics continue:
- - - - - - - - -

Republicans are more critical of the United Nations than are Democrats; older Americans are more critical than younger adults; and college graduates more so than those with no college education. However, the majority of [all] these groups say the organization is doing a poor job.

Well. Let’s take that apart -

Republicans are more critical of the United Nations than are Democrats… Now we know by at least one particular which is the stupid party.
Older Americans are more critical than younger adults... Nothing beats Experience as a teacher. All that younger Americans know is what they read in their history books. That twenty six percent of Americans who like the UN also wrote the history books that youngsters read. Once young adults get out in the real world and watch the UN’s shenanigans, they move over to the negative column.
College graduates more [critical] than those with no college education... Take heart you parents out there who spent your hard-earned money on your child’s four inebriated years between high school and work; obviously they picked up some good information in those midnight college bull sessions.

Gallup says this annual survey regarding Americans’ attitude toward the UN is always done in February. This year, it was February 9th through the 12th. I sure wish they’d called me; we’d still be chatting.

Here is their analysis of the statistics gathered:

Though this year’s 26% positive score is just one percentage point lower than last year’s 27%, it is technically the worst job rating for the United Nations since Gallup began polling on the subject in 1953. It is also well below the U.N.’s peak ratings of 50% or more, obtained at various points over the years, including a 58% rating in 2002.

Hmmm….if they re-took that survey now, after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called our country a “deadbeat”, the negatives would loom even larger than the current twenty-six percent.

The United States gives more financial support to the United Nations than any other country, but on Wednesday, in a closed-door meeting with the House Foreign Relations Committee, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the U.S. “the biggest deadbeat” donor.

The U.S. still owes around $1 billion to the world body, Ban told lawmakers. “We cannot do the work you ask us to do without the resources to get the job done,” the U.N. quoted him as telling the House committee.

You’ll notice that Ban didn’t give any comparisons or open the account books to show us exactly which countries are up-to-date in their “obligations”. We’re just supposed to take his word for our sinful state? Let's call in the auditors for a more objective look at the financial state of affairs at Turtle Bay.

Gallup says that the years of “bad publicity” for the UN due to its mismanagement of the Iraqi Oil for Food program, the sexual abuse charges against UN peacekeepers, and “various corruption scandals” have caused problems for the UN’s “image”. Image??? To blazes with their image!

How about the UN’s putrefying reality: when this fraudulent motley crew of scumbags, dictators, and tyrants gathers in one building, it’s a miracle the place doesn’t vaporize.

Gallup offered its respondents three options regarding the function the UN might serve, but they lumped and split the results in confusing ways:

…nearly two-thirds of Americans either say the United Nations should have a leading role in world affairs, in which all countries are required to follow its policies (26%), or say it should have a major role whereby it establishes policies but nations can still act separately when they disagree with it (38%).

So 64% of Americans think the UN should have a “leading role in world affairs”. That’s the lump.

However, here’s the split: 26% believes UN policies should be mandatory for all, while 38% thinks that UN policies can be chosen cafeteria style. In other words, some twenty-six percent of Americans think UN policies should trump national sovereignty. Maybe it's the same 26% we encountered in the beginning of this post, the tooth-fairy believers who actually think the UN is doing a good job.

A final grouping of respondents is here:

Only 31% would narrow the U.N.’s role to nothing more than a forum for communication among countries. This includes 30% saying the United Nations should have a minor role of this kind.

That’s thirty percent proposing a “forum for communication”. What about the other one percent? Why, those wise heads know the UN shouldn’t exist at all.

I’m with that one percent. As time goes on, watch our numbers grow.

Or maybe not. Thomas Lifson says:

An organization spouting idealistic rhetoric, but systemically corrupt, will probably gain stature and power during Obama’s tenure. He seems to prefer outsourcing tasks, as opposed to bothering with them as an actual executive, and it strikes me as likely he will find the UN a useful body. And of course, he is in sympathy (if not more) with the leftist/third world gang that runs the place.

Mais oui! Lifson has just described a global version of Cook County politics. How could our President resist? You always go with what you understand, right?

Well, let’s see what next February’s Gallup poll brings. What with our trillions of dollars dedicated to thousands of pages of pork-lust, the cookie jar may be empty when the UN comes calling.

See? Even under all that manure, I knew I’d find a clean spot.

Read further...

Dymphna | 3/15/2009 06:52:00 PM | 9 comments

Unreal. ACORN Will Participate in Obama Census

ACORN, the scandal-plagued organization with close ties to Barack Obama, will be assisting Obama and Democrats with the US census.

Well, Obama did promise this corrupt bunch that they would help shape his administration:
He wasn't kidding.
Hat Tip Squeaky

This radical group worked closely with the Obama campaign during the election although the community organizing group was not open about this. The photo below was scrubbed from the ACORN website before the election:

One of Barack Obama's first big "community organizer" jobs involved ACORN in 1992. Obama also trained ACORN employees. He represented ACORN in court. Obama worked with and protested with ACORN. His campaign donated $800,000 to ACORN this year for voter registration efforts.
And, ACORN even canvassed for Obama this year.

ACORN is the largest radical Leftist group in America today.

FOX News reported:

The U.S. Census is supposed to be free of politics, but one group with a history of voter fraud, ACORN, is participating in next year's count, raising concerns about the politicization of the decennial survey.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now signed on as a national partner with the U.S. Census Bureau in February 2009 to assist with the recruitment of the 1.4 million temporary workers needed to go door-to-door to count every person in the United States -- currently believed to be more than 306 million people.

A U.S. Census "sell sheet," an advertisement used to recruit national partners, says partnerships with groups like ACORN "play an important role in making the 2010 Census successful," including by "help[ing] recruit census workers."

The bureau is currently employing help from more than 250 national partners, including TARGET and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to assist in the hiring effort.

But ACORN's partnership with the 2010 Census is worrisome to lawmakers who say past allegations of fraud should raise concerns about the organization.

"It's a concern, especially when you look at all the different charges of voter fraud. And it's not just the lawmakers' concern. It should be the concern of every citizen in the country," Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland, R-Ga., vice ranking member of the subcommittee for the U.S. Census, told FOXNews.com. "We want an enumeration. We don't want to have any false numbers."

The Liberal Sycophants will join the Ignorant Masses and the Drive Bye Media in hours of adulation and joy because their Messiah has decided to reward them with his presence.