What makes America Great

What’s new Today

Story #1 tells us that Mr. Obama credits the greatness of America to government spending.  #2 tells of how Joe Biden is out making claims that simply aren’t true.  #3 shows that our latest Justice to the Supreme Court doesn’t seem to know the law that has been in effect for close to 30 years.  #4 tells us the travails of Keith Olbermann, a true man of the people. 

1.  Obama:  Government spending made this country great

President Obama attacked Republicans for their desire to cut the government spending that "made this country great," while also faulting them for failing to "balance the budget." Obama said that Republicans have "one message and that is, we're going to make sure that we cut people's taxes even more -- so that by every objective measure our deficit is worse and we will slash government investments that have made this country great," he argued, "not because it's going to balance the budget, but because it's driven by our ideological vision about how government should be. That's their agenda, pure and simple."

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/obama-government-made-country-great/457046

If he is correct, then the USA must have gotten MUCH greater over these past three years.  As for his charge the Republicans have failed to balance the budget, they have passed their budget in the House, while Harry Reid is going for the world’s record of passing no budget at all.  And how has Mr. Obama’s budget done?  It was defeated 414-0 in the House.

2.  Biden misses again

Declaring "manufacturing is back," Vice President Biden gave a rosy — but not entirely accurate or complete — picture of U.S. manufacturing at a March 28 campaign stop in Iowa.

Biden overstated — by 1.1 million — the number of manufacturing jobs lost before President Obama took office. He said the U.S. lost 5.8 million manufacturing jobs "during the 2000s, before we came in." But that figure includes 2009 — Obama's first year in office. The U.S. lost 4.7 million such jobs "before we came in."

Biden also cherry-picked his job figures when he declared the U.S. has added "430,000 new manufacturing jobs just since 2010." That's true. But since the start of the Obama administration in January 2009, the U.S. has 661,000 fewer manufacturing jobs — despite the recent job gains.

In fact, manufacturing jobs represent a disproportionate share of job losses since Obama took office. In all, the U.S. has lost a net 864,000 non-farm jobs since January 2009 — a decline of one half of 1%. But manufacturing jobs are down 5% since then. One recent study found that at the current pace, it will take until 2020 for the U.S. to recover the manufacturing jobs lost since 2007.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-03-29/fact-check-biden-jobs-manufacturing/53872768/1

When you hear claims from the Democrats it is best to discount 50% and ignore the other 50% is just plain not true. 

3.  Justice Sotomayor:  Ignorant or just liberal?

The liberal Supreme Court justices have demonstrated profound and shocking ignorance of the American health care system. Here's one of the most jarring examples:

"What percentage of the American people who took their son or daughter to an emergency room and that child was turned away because the parent didn't have insurance," asked Sotomayor, "... do you think there's a large percentage of the American population that would stand for the death of that child -- (who) had an allergic reaction and a simple shot would have saved the child?"

I have a precise answer for Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The percentage of American people who took their son or daughter to an emergency room and were turned away because the parent didn't have insurance is exactly zero

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/03/justice_sonia_sotomayors_shocking_ignorance.html#ixzz1qmoRs62g

Perhaps Justice Sotomayor should ask her brother what would happen since he is a medical doctor. 

4.  Keith Olbermann:  Man of the People?

On the heels of Countdown host Keith Olbermann ‘s firing from Current TV,  the network and sources close to it have been quick to buttress their case for the dismissal with details of the temperamental star’s antics. One such source tells Mediaite, among other things, that Olbermann went through 8 different car services (he doesn’t drive), and complained to the network that some of the drivers “smelled,” and “talked to him,” the latter detail echoing a leak that once dogged then-Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Earlier, Howard Kurtz tweeted that he was “Hearing allegation that Olbermann switched car co’s and vendors because Current didn’t pay the bills,” which Olbermann retweeted, but our source says that is not true, that Kurtz has been contacted about the item, and that no one else at Current has had this issue.

The network fired Olbermann for what it says is breach of contract, citing unauthorized absences from work, failure to promote the network, and disparagement of the company and its executives…

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/keith-olbermann-complained-to-current-that-car-service-drivers-smelled-talked-to-him/

Wow, they actually had the temerity to talk to him?   Who could blame him for being upset!!  So this guy being a jerk isn’t just a TV persona.  He really is a jerk.

DLC, Foreign intelligence and other things of the past

The Demise of the Democratic Leadership Council and the Future of Liberaltarianism

A recent Politico article reports that the DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COUNCIL IS ABOUT TO “SUSPEND OPERATIONS” FOR LACK OF FUNDS. The DLC was a group founded in 1985 to try TO MOVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO THE CENTER. Among its founders was then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, who became the most successful of the DLC-affiliated New Democrats. DLC-supported ideas were one of the sources of the Clinton Administration’s relatively pro-market policies on various issues, including welfare reform, free trade, and spending restraint.

TODAY, THE DLC AND ITS IDEAS ARE OUT OF FAVOR IN LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC CIRCLES. It is telling that the organization is failing for lack of funds at a time when most of the issues it used to emphasize are as important as ever. Certainly, we have a much more serious spending problem today than in the 1980s and 90s. THE POLITICO ARTICLE INDICATES THAT THE DLC’S ROLE WILL NOW BE FILLED BY THE PROGRESSIVE POLICY INSTITUTE, THE THINK THANK WHICH WAS AFFILIATED WITH THE DLC UNTIL A RECENT SPLIT. But the article also notes that PPI has only two fellows and eleven paid staff — a very small size for a major DC think tank. Evidently, there is very little donor support available for centrist Democratic organizations…..

http://volokh.com/2011/02/10/the-demise-of-the-democratic-leadership-council-and-the-future-of-liberaltarianism/


It’s no wonder the Democrats keep saying that the Republicans, the TEA Party, etc. are out of the mainstream. The Democrat Party has swayed so far left, that the center looks absolutely reactionary to them.



Why have spies when you have CNN?

…..Mr. Obama watched Mr. Mubarak’s speech on board Air Force One, returning from a trip to Michigan, the press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said. As soon as he arrived at the White House, Mr. Obama huddled with his national security aides. THE ADMINISTRATION APPEARED AS TAKEN ABACK BY MR. MUBARAK’S SPEECH AS THE CROWDS IN TAHRIR SQUARE. The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, testified before the House of Representatives on Thursday morning that there was a “strong likelihood” that Mr. Mubarak would step down by the end of the day.

AMERICAN OFFICIALS SAID MR. PANETTA WAS BASING HIS STATEMENT NOT ON SECRET INTELLIGENCE BUT ON MEDIA BROADCASTS, which began circulating before he sat down before the House Intelligence Committee….

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/world/middleeast/11diplomacy.html?_r=1


Now is this a case of Obama lied and democracy died?

Duffy: Use Unspent Stimulus to Reduce Deficit

Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wisc.) introduced a bill today that would require unspent and unobligated stimulus funds to be used to reduce the deficit.

“I simply disagree with the governing philosophy that the stimulus represents: that we can grow our economy by growing the size of government,” said Duffy in a statement.

THE WHITE HOUSE ESTIMATES THAT $7 BILLION IN STIMULUS FUNDS HAS NOT ALREADY BEEN SPENT OR BUDGETED. THERE IS ALSO $161 BILLION THAT HAS BEEN MARKED FOR OTHER PROJECTS BUT HAS NOT YET BEEN SPENT.

“Rescinding the remaining stimulus funds and sending it back to the Treasury for deficit reduction would send an important message to the private sector that there has been a fundamental shift in the People’s House from pushing big government policies to pro-growth policies that will empower the private sector to innovate and invest,” Duffy added…..

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259524/duffy-use-unspent-stimulus-reduce-deficit-katrina-trinko


Well not spending the remaining $168 billion would dwarf the $775 million the administration made hard choices about to cut by a factor of 216 times. This is a no brainer and should be immediately passed by congress.



The former vice president reached out to Olbermann

LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER KEITH OLBERMANN ANCHORED HIS LAST EDITION OF COUNTDOWN ON JAN. 21, AL GORE PLACED A CALL TO HIS FRIEND INVITING HIM TO JOIN CURRENT TV….

….A contract was quickly hammered out. But IT WAS GORE WHO CONVINCED OLBERMANN TO JOIN THE NETWORK, SAY SOURCES. The former vice president and co-founder of Current was a fan of Countdown where he had also been a guest in the past. RELATED: Tim Goodman's analysis of the move.

OLBERMANN'S CURRENT SHOW WILL LIKELY PREMIERE IN LATE MAY, WHEN THE NON-COMPETE CLAUSE IN HIS EXIT AGREEMENT WITH NBC UNIVERSAL WILL HAVE REACHED ITS CONCLUSION.

Sources tell THR that that agreement also stipulates THAT OLBERMANN CANNOT WORK FOR ANY NETWORK CONSIDERED A COMPETITOR.

"He had no choice but to go to a place like Current because his non-compete excluded just about every other place," said an MSNBC insider.

CURRENT AVERAGED 18,000 HOMES IN PRIMETIME FOR FOURTH QUARTER 2010, lower than any other network measured by Nielsen.

"Contract terms never stipulated Current TV as one of the targeted outlets," the source added.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/al-gore-offered-keith-olbermann-97680


As I said when Olbermann’s move to Current TV was announced, this is a good move by Gore and a bad move by Olbermann.



The ‘Judicial Activism’ Ploy

Now that two different federal courts have declared Obamacare unconstitutional, THE ADMINISTRATION’S ANSWER IS TO CALL THE COURTS GUILTY OF “JUDICIAL ACTIVISM.”

Barack Obama has a rhetorical solution for every problem. Remember the repeated claims of “shovel-ready” projects that needed only federal stimulus money to get started? Last year, the president quietly admitted that there were not many “shovel-ready” projects, after all…..

…. THE NEW DEFINITION OF “JUDICIAL ACTIVISM” DEFINES IT AS DECLARING LAWS UNCONSTITUTIONAL….

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/259209/judicial-activism-ploy-thomas-sowell


This does seem to be the left’s definition of judicial activism and it is a win-win for them. They believe in a living Constitution where judges can change it based upon their opinion. Judicial activism to the left is something to be admired. But the right abhors it. A living Constitution is NO Constitution. So by redefining the word, the left hopes to burn the right with their own words. After all, “everyone is doing it.”



High-speed rail: Obama's gift that nobody wants

President Obama sent his vice president, "Amtrak Joe" Biden, to Philadelphia's 30th Street rail station earlier this week to announce the administration's latest gift to the American people: A six-year, $53 billion government subsidy for the mass transit industry in order to give "80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years." And therein lies the fundamental problem - OBAMA, BIDEN AND LIBERAL DEMOCRATS IN GENERAL CAN'T RESIST GIVING THE REST OF US THINGS WE DON'T WANT. And they almost always use our money to pay for them, whether we like it or not.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/02/high-speed-rail-obamas-gift-nobody-wants


I have an idea that the Obama Administration might want to buy into. It would create jobs while providing progress for the country. We would set up a mail system where we have horseback riders stationed every twenty miles. They would take the mail and as fast as they could move it across the country. We would call it the Democratic Pony Express.


Right wing hatred and incivility

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TJ7OGl4CGw


Shocker: Gallup shows worries over unemployment highest since …

AND IN OTHER NEWS, WATER IS WET — but there actually is some news to this latest Gallup poll. Public concern over unemployment has peaked at the highest level since we last had a jobless rate over 9%, which should surprise no one. WHAT MAY SURPRISE SOME IS THAT THE CONCERN IS INCREASING, DESPITE ARGUMENTS FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION THAT THE ECONOMY HAS BEEN CREATING JOBS FOR THE LAST YEAR:

Thirty-five percent of Americans name unemployment as the most important problem facing the U.S., the highest percentage since the economic slowdown began and higher than at any point since October 1983 (41%). Unemployment is the most important problem for the second month in a row, with the economy ranking second and healthcare third.

From the beginning of the economic slowdown through 2009, mentions of “the economy” in general were consistently the top issue. In the past year, as the government’s unemployment rate has stayed in the 9% range, the economy and specific mentions of unemployment have traded the top spot several times. This month, mentions of unemployment increased to 35%, and it now leads mentions of the economy by a significant margin.

The partisan breakdowns will surprise a bit, too. The reassuring talk from the White House has failed to assuage the concerns of their own party most of all. Forty-one percent of Democrats call unemployment the most important problem with the general economic environment second at 29%. Independents split 32/27, while Republicans break 31/32, putting the general economy slightly ahead of joblessness.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/11/shocker-gallup-shows-worries-over-unemployment-highest-since/


It appears Democrats are more concerned about the economy than are Republicans or Independents.

Spending cuts, Florida spending cuts, and more

The House: Leadership Agrees to $100 Billion Cuts Now.

In other House Republican news, a leadership aide associates himself with the accuracy of this Roll Call story:

House Conservatives Persuade Leaders to Slash Spending Further

House Republican leaders have agreed to a key conservative demand that they make good on their campaign pledge to reduce fiscal 2011 spending to $100 billion less than President Barack Obama’s budget request, GOP aides said Wednesday.

According to a GOP leadership aide, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and other leaders are working with Republican appropriators, the Republican Study Committee and other conservatives on a “unified” strategy to reduce spending beyond the $74 billion in cuts they had already planned. The cuts, which would only apply to non-defense discretionary spending, would come as part of a continuing resolution to fund the government between March and the end of the fiscal year.

“From the start, our focus has been to cut spending so that we can grow the economy, and right now there are a lot of moving parts and we’re actively working to bring the Conference together with a unified strategy,” the aide said.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259426/peace-comes-house-gop-leadership-agrees-100-billion-cuts-now-kathryn-jean-lopez


This is the first step. The Republicans will have an even bigger task when they look at the 2012 budget. Stand by for some interesting times ahead.



Florida's Scott Sends Shockwaves With $5B in Budget Cuts

FLORIDA'S TEA PARTY-BACKED GOV. RICK SCOTT PROPOSED CUTTING MORE THAN $5 BILLION FROM STATE SPENDING MONDAY while also slashing taxes as he laid out his first budget proposal aimed at closing a deficit of nearly $4 billion.

The Republican, a former healthcare executive, proposed saving nearly $4 BILLION OVER TWO YEARS BY REFORMING MEDICAID, the health insurance program for poor people.

HE ALSO SAW SAVINGS OF $2.8 BILLION OVER TWO YEARS THROUGH AN OVERHAUL OF FLORIDA'S RELATIVELY HEALTHY STATE PENSION SYSTEM. Scott also proposed cutting taxes by more than $4 billion over two years. This would include a roll-back of corporate income taxes from 5 percent to 3.5 percent and reductions in property taxes….

…."THIS BUDGET FROM THE GOVERNOR IS A FRONTAL ASSAULT ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF EVERY FLORIDIAN AND WILL NOT CREATE A SINGLE JOB NOR SPUR OUR ECONOMY FORWARD," Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith said. "Instead, it takes us further into the economic ditch."

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/florida-rick-scott-budget/2011/02/08/id/385368?utm_source=twitter


I find it hard to believe the Democrat Party Chairman would be so ignorant of basic economics (not create a single job nor spur our economy forward) as to make the statement he did. Perhaps he should read the next story on Texas.



State of the state: Texas Governor takes on ObamaCare

In his state of the state address, Gov. Rick Perry is DISCUSSING HOW TEXAS HAS BUILT ITS ECONOMIC EDGE, and how it will deal with its budget issues.

Our economic strength is no accident. It’s a testimony to our people, our entrepreneurs and, yes, to the decisions made in this building. Employers from across the country and around the world understand that the opportunity they crave can be found in Texas, and they’re headed our way, with jobs in tow.

People are seeking opportunity as well, and newcomers arrive every day, ready to pursue their dreams. FOR THE SIXTH YEAR RUNNING, RESEARCH FROM ALLIED VAN LINES SHOWED THAT TEXAS WAS THE TOP DESTINATION FOR RELOCATIONS.


Need I go on? Well, don’t mind if I do.

NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE HAD FOUR TEXAS CITIES ON THEIR LIST OF “TOP 10 AMERICAN CITIES BEST SITUATED FOR RECOVERY”, and Forbes considers our growth prospects best in the nation, based on projected increases in jobs, income, and gross state product.

In a category that really affects the bottom line for Texas families, our STATE LEADS THE NATION IN STRONG HOME VALUES. According to one industry analyst, the strongest appreciation in home values over the next seven months, will take place in the Houston area, the Metroplex and Amarillo.

Gov. Perry listed three reasons Texas is fairing comparatively well: THE STATE HAS A LOW TAX BURDEN, A FAIR AND PREDICTABLE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT, AND STRONG TORT REFORM TO MINIMIZE FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS. Along with a detailed discussion of border security and the Lone Star State’s battle against the EPA, Perry is also taking a strong shot at ObamaCare…..

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/02/08/state-of-the-state-texas-governor-takes-on-obamacare/


Perhaps we should contrast this with California, New York, Illinois, or some other Democrat controlled state.


Meanwhile the Feds are trying to mess with Texas

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ONCE AGAIN OVERSTEPPING ITS AUTHORITY BY MESSING WITH TEXAS. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leadership continued their game of hardball by STRIPPING TEXAS OF ITS AUTHORITY TO ISSUE GREENHOUSE GAS PERMITS. It is painfully obvious that the EPA is making an example out of Texas. OUT OF THE 13 STATES THAT INITIALLY OBJECTED TO THE EPA’S EFFORTS TO REGULATE, TEXAS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS NOT SURRENDERED to the intrusion of the federal government. As a result, the EPA is punishing Texas for not giving in to their demands……

…. Instead of making an example out of Texas, perhaps the EPA should use Texas as an example. TEXAS HAS SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPROVED ITS ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY. The Texas Flexible Permitting Program has been successful in reducing emissions and allowing industries in Texas to thrive. According to a report from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the ozone levels in Texas decreased by 27 percent between 2000 and 2009. The national average decrease in ozone levels over this same time period was 12 percent. Our state is dedicated to finding cleaner energy alternatives, but we also know that we need to utilize our known sources of energy effectively and safely…..

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41684


A Republican House in the meantime will be talking with the EPA about what they are doing per the following story.

Global warming fix heats up hearing with EPA chief

THE HEAD OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY IS IN FOR SOME GRILLING BY CONGRESS THIS YEAR, so much so that a top House Republican joked that she should line up a permanent parking spot at the Capitol.

Topic A is the agency's attempt to curb the release of gases blamed for global warming. HAVING FAILED LAST YEAR TO ENACT NEW LEGISLATION TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASES, THE ADMINISTRATION IS LEFT TO USE EXISTING LAW TO ACHIEVE ITS GOALS.

That, Republicans contend, WILL PENALIZE INDUSTRIES THAT OTHERWISE COULD BE CREATING NEW JOBS, and they've made the agency a central target of their anti-regulatory agenda.

On Wednesday, EPA CHIEF LISA JACKSON GOES BEFORE A HOUSE COMMITTEE determined to block her agency's steps to address climate change. Jackson contends the law and compelling scientific evidence on global warming give her no choice but to act.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_re_us/us_epa_under_fire;_ylt=ApW24CA6nE5sd9fMKMlDp_is0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNsazBtY3A5BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMjA5L3VzX2VwYV91bmRlcl9maXJlBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDOARwb3MDNQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA2dsb2JhbHdhcm1pbg

Global Warming does not have “compelling scientific evidence” on its side.


Tribe’s OpEd: Misusing the word “Choice”

Tribe's op-ed, as I wrote in the first post, RESTS VERY HEAVILY ON MISREPRESENTING THE SUPREME COURT'S COMMERCE POWER DOCTRINE AS REFERRING TO "COMMERCIAL CHOICES." In fact, the cases REFER TO "COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES," and A SWITCH FROM "ACTIVITY" TO "CHOICE" IS IMMENSELY IMPORTANT in the health care litigation, in which opponents stress that THE FAILURE TO BUY INSURANCE IS INACTIVITY, NOT ACTIVITY, and therefore beyond even the broadest interpretations the Supreme Court has ever given to the Commerce Clause.


Tribe attempted to skew opinion by substituting "choice" for "activity," and I have called him on that. But I need to go further, because someone who uses words to get things done needs to be kept honest not only about shifting from one word to another, but ALSO ABOUT CHANGING THE MEANING OF THE SAME FROM CASE TO CASE. Let's look at how Tribe talked about "choice" and health insurance and then see how that squares with what "choice" is supposed to mean in the abortion context….

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-have-to-take-3rd-shot-at-larry-tribes.html


I’ve made this a must read for a reason. This has an interesting look at how Tribe’s use of the word choice and his definition of it would make that word totally unacceptable to those who favor abortion rights.



Democrat retreat: A posh affair

Anyone expecting the Senate to get any work done over the next few days is going to be disappointed – DEMOCRATS HAVE SKIPPED TOWN FOR A THREE-DAY RETREAT.

But what’s causing a stir isn’t the fact that Democrats are leaving – IT’S WHERE THEY’RE GOING: A SWANKY 573-ACRE RESORT OUTSIDE OF CHARLOTTESVILLE CALLED THE BOAR’S HEAD INN…..

….It’s quite a departure from the Republicans’ retreat last month. THE GOP LAWMAKERS TRAVELED ALL OF A BLOCK FROM THE US CAPITOL, HEADING TO THE NEARBY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

Asked about the Democrats’ getaway plans, the Senate’s top Republican Mitch McConnell today took the diplomatic high road. “I THINK WHERE THEY CHOOSE TO HOLD THEIR RETREAT IS UP TO THEM,” he said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/02/a-tale-of-two-retreats.html


After all the Democrats are “the party of the people”, or is that “the people who are partying?”



Passenger Trains: Clearly the Change We've Been Waiting For

You are our Ruler. An entrepreneur tells you he wants to create something he calls a "skating rink." Young and old will strap blades to their feet and speed through an oval arena, weaving patterns as moods strike them.

You'd probably say, "WE NEED REGULATION -- SKATING STOPLIGHTS, SPEED LIMITS, TURN SIGNALS -- AND A RINK DIRECTOR TO POLICE THE SKATERS. YOU CAN'T EXPECT SKATERS TO NAVIGATE THE RINK ON THEIR OWN."

And yet they do. They spontaneously create their own order.

At last month's State of the Union, PRESIDENT OBAMA SAID AMERICA NEEDS MORE PASSENGER TRAINS. How does he know? For years, politicians promised that more of us will want to commute by train, but it doesn't happen. People like their cars. SOME SUBSIDIZED TRAINS COST SO MUCH PER COMMUTER THAT IT WOULD BE CHEAPER TO BUY THEM TAXI RIDES.

THE GRAND SCHEMES OF THE POLITICIANS FAIL AND FAIL AGAIN.

By contrast, the private sector, despite harassment from government, gives us better stuff for less money -- without central planning. It's called a spontaneous order.

Lawrence Reed, of the Foundation for Economic Education, explains it this way:

"SPONTANEOUS ORDER IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE -- WHEN ENTREPRENEURS ... SEE THE DESIRES OF PEOPLE ... AND THEN PROVIDE FOR THEM…..

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2011/02/09/passenger_trains__clearly_the_change__weve_been_waiting_for/page/full/


This is a huge difference between liberals and conservatives. Liberals see the profit motive as something that cheats consumers, cause inferior products and threatens safety. Conservatives see successful organizations as those that provide value, gives people what they want and do it more efficiently, more effectively, and more profitably than government can.



Obama's Approval Rating on Deficit Sinks to New Low

NEARLY SEVEN OUT OF TEN AMERICANS DISAPPROVE OF HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA IS HANDLING THE BUDGET DEFICIT, ACCORDING TO A GALLUP POLL RELEASED TODAY.

Although Obama called for a freeze on non-defense discretionary spending in his State of the Union speech, most Americans aren’t impressed. HE ALSO HAS HIGH DISAPPROVAL RATINGS FOR HIS POLICIES ON THE ECONOMY (60 PERCENT), HEALTHCARE (56 PERCENT), AND TAXES (54 PERCENT).

Obama’s also losing independents on key issues. Independents are leaning Republican on healthcare, the economy, taxes, and the budget deficit. And while Independents remain fairly evenly split between the parties on certain issues – including foreign affairs and energy policy — GALLUP FOUND NO POLICY THAT INDEPENDENTS ARE LEANING DEMOCRAT ON.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146021/Obama-Approval-Rating-Deficit-Sinks-New-Low.aspx


In the USA, with Democrats and Republicans pretty evenly split, it is the independents that determine elections. In 2006 and 2008, they acted like Democrats. In 2010 their views mirrored Republicans. It appears at this stage, they are still acting like Republicans.



Webb bows out in 2012: Others at risk

With Wednesday's announcement that SEN. JIM WEBB, D-VA., WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2012, the number of pro-ObamaCare senators facing re-election in 2012 falls to 10. But the original post is worth revisiting.

NOT A SINGLE SENATE DEMOCRAT ON FEB. 2 VOTED TO REPEAL OBAMACARE. That was expected. But with the health law as unpopular as ever, the vote could come back to haunt vulnerable Democrats in 2012.

Eleven Democrats up for re-election next year represent states in which Republicans won a majority of the 2010 popular vote for House seats: Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin…..

http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politicsinvesting/2397-11-pro-obamacare-senators-face-red-state-voters-in-2012


Webb a Republican turned Democrat may have wished he stayed a Republican.



More about Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood

As the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood emerges as THE STRONGEST OPPOSITION MOVEMENT IN THE CENTER OF THE ARAB WORLD AND, AT THIS POINT IN TIME, THE LIKELY WINNER IN FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS, particularly in parliament, it is incumbent that we learn more about it.

While campaigning for parliamentary seats in recent years, the shadowy group does not usually go beyond sloganizing “Islam is the Solution.” In a timely release, PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH HAS TODAY POSTED ITS TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK JIHAD IS THE WAY, BY THE EGYPTIAN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD’S FORMER DIRECTOR MUSTAFA MASHHUR (1996–2002). The book explains the fundamental concepts of the Muslim Brotherhood ideology, which is typically kept hidden from world view. As PMW describes, it “encompass subjects such as the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD’S GOAL OF ESTABLISHING AN ISLAMIC STATE, WORLD DOMINATION UNDER ISLAM, THE PUBLIC AND PERSONAL RELIGIOUS DUTY OF MILITARY JIHAD, and the warning not to rush to Jihad until it is prepared and timed for maximum benefit.”

Below are some sample quotes from the translation:

● “. . . the Islamic Ummah [nation] . . . can regain its power and be liberated and assume its RIGHTFUL POSITION WHICH WAS INTENDED BY ALLAH, AS THE MOST EXALTED NATION AMONG MEN, as the leaders of humanity . . .”

● “. . . KNOW YOUR STATUS, AND BELIEVE FIRMLY THAT YOU ARE THE MASTERS OF THE WORLD, even if your enemies desire your degradation . . .”

● “It should be known that Jihad and preparation towards JIHAD ARE NOT ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF FENDING-OFF ASSAULTS AND ATTACKS OF ALLAH’S ENEMIES from Muslims, but are also FOR THE PURPOSE OF REALIZING THE GREAT TASK OF ESTABLISHING AN ISLAMIC STATE and strengthening the religion and spreading it around the world . . .”

● “. . . Jihad for Allah is not limited to the specific region of the Islamic countries, since the Muslim homeland is one and is not divided, and the banner of Jihad has already been raised in some of its parts, and it shall continue to be raised, with the help of Allah, until every inch of the land of Islam will be liberated, the State of Islam will be established . . .”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259348/more-about-egypts-muslim-brotherhood-nina-shea

For those who think we should cheer lead the turmoil in Egypt, this is something to think about. The Muslim Brotherhood is an extremist group bent on establishing an Islamic world order.


If you want to read more of the translation you can find it here.


http://palwatch.org/STORAGE/special%20reports/Jihad_is_the_way_by_Mustafa_Mashhur.pdf



A Blowhard Bromance?

On Fox News’ late-night Red Eye, Greg Gutfeld asked his panel about the move by ex-MSNBC host Keith Olbermann to Al Gore’s Current TV. “IS THIS A BLOWHARD BROMANCE?”


In a discussion that described Olbermann’s move to the poorly-rated Current (described by Gutfeld as a network devoted to “knitting and all things yarn”) as “deserved oblivion,” CURRENT WAS DESCRIBED AS SUCH A NONFACTOR IN THE CABLE TELEVISION WORLD THAT IT DIDN’T EVEN WARRANT A MENTION IN OLBERMANN’S PRESUMED NONCOMPETE AGREEMENT WITH NBC. “They had ‘don’t work at Subway,’ but not that,” said Gutfeld.

Watch it here: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/red-eye-panel-declares-gore-and-olbermann-pairing-a-blowhard-bromance/


Actually this makes a lot of sense for Gore, but I’m not sure it does for Olbermann. Current TV should pick up so viewers, but they are so low in ratings, it is looking like it may be the Air America of cable. Olbermann right now is worth a lot to someone. Going to Current TV and not pulling off a miracle diminishes his value.

Arianna Huffington's ideological transformation

….That version of Huffington CALLED FOR STRICT IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS. She FAVORED BILL CLINTON'S RESIGNATION and floated the rumor that a former ambassador had been buried in Arlington because Clinton had slept with his wife.

By that time, she had already had many ideological meanderings, beginning with a book called "The Female Woman" (seen as anti-feminist) and continuing to a biography portraying Picasso as a misogynist (seen as a feminist tract). SHE HAD ALSO BEEN HEAVILY INVOLVED IN CAMPAIGNS BY HER THEN-HUSBAND, A REPUBLICAN, FOR THE HOUSE AND SENATE.

But IN THE LATE 1990S, HUFFINGTON BEGAN TO REINVENT HERSELF. She covered the '96 political conventions for Comedy Central with Al Franken. She broke with Gingrich. She disparaged Bob Dole. She promoted Warren Beatty for president. She published a book favoring campaign finance reform. In 2000, she hosted a "shadow convention" protesting both parties.

SHE LATER EXPLAINED THE "TRANSFORMATION" OF HER POLITICAL VIEWS BY SAYING THE RIGHT HAD "SEDUCED, FOOLED, BLINDED, BAMBOOZLED" HER.

That's crazy talk. NOBODY BAMBOOZLES ARIANNA STASSINOPOULOS HUFFINGTON. If anybody was fooled, it was those who believed she would be a more enduring progressive than she was a conservative.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020805179.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns


The paragraphs I have reproduced are from the end of the article. It’s an interesting read to see the transformations of Arianna over the years. I’m of the belief she is neither a progressive nor conservative, but is a dedicated opportunist.

Obamacare and Death Panels

About Those Death Panels . . .

The very real threat of government health care rationing.

When Sarah Palin warned that Obamacare could lead to medical rationing and “death panels,” supporters were outraged. ALARMISM! THEY ROARED. A LIE! RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA! Alas for supporters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PALIN’S PROVOCATIVE SOUND BITE WAS AT LEAST PARTLY GROUNDED IN REALITY—WHICH IS WHY THE TERM ENTERED THE POLITICAL LEXICON….

…..Oregon, a decidedly liberal state, provides an unequivocal example. IN 1993, THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION GAVE PERMISSION TO THE OREGON HEALTH PLAN, THE STATE’S MEDICAID PROGRAM, TO INTRODUCE RATIONING. The system involves a treatment schedule that lists 649 potentially covered procedures. THE STATE PEGS THE NUMBER OF PROCEDURES THE STATE WILL COVER TO THE AVAILABLE FUNDS. PATIENTS REQUIRING PROCEDURES ABOVE THE CUTOFF LINE ARE OUT OF LUCK.

As of October 2010, only the first 502 treatments were covered. But even that low number doesn’t tell the full story of rationing in Oregon. The Oregon Health Plan also rations covered procedures under certain circumstances. CHEMOTHERAPY, FOR INSTANCE, IS NOT PROVIDED IF IT IS DEEMED TO HAVE A 5 PERCENT OR LESS CHANCE OF EXTENDING THE PATIENT’S LIFE FOR FIVE YEARS, MEANING THAT A PATIENT WHOSE LIFE MIGHT BE EXTENDED A YEAR OR TWO WITH CHEMO MAY NOT RECEIVE IT.

Worse, even though it is not a formally ranked procedure, ASSISTED SUICIDE IS COVERED UNDER STATE LAW. Thus, when two RECURRENT CANCER PATIENTS WERE RATIONED OUT OF RECEIVING POTENTIALLY LIFE-EXTENDING CHEMOTHERAPY IN 2008, AN ADMINISTRATOR WROTE A LETTER ASSURING THEM THAT THE STATE WOULD PAY FOR THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR ASSISTED SUICIDES. TALK ABOUT A DEATH PANEL!

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/about-those-death-panels_536874.html?page=1


Given a red headline, because this is certainly something you want to read. Much more information that will demonstrate where we are going with Obamacare. Mean while overseas where they do have single payer healthcare….

I’d sooner let a Tesco butcher fix my toe than ask the NHS

For three weeks I’ve been limping around on a broken toe. The horse stamped on it and I’m in agony, but I’M NOT GOING TO GET IT SEEN TO BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO GO ANYWHERE NEAR MY LOCAL HOSPITAL. I’m sorry, I know I will get complaints from doctors and nurses about how hard they work. I know the NHS is a sacred institution that must not be criticised. But I have been to St George’s Hospital in Tooting in London, and my nearest alternative, King’s College in Denmark Hill, and HELL AND HIGH WATER WOULDN’T DRAG ME BACK TO EITHER.

I consider a little toe the size of a big toe far preferable to the horrors that might await me at either of those emporiums of state-sponsored, one-size-fits-all, “SIT DOWN AND DO AS YOU’RE TOLD” TOTALITARIANISM.

The last time I went to St George’s, THEY MADE ME FILL IN A QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT MY DRINKING HABITS BEFORE THEY WOULD EVEN LOOK AT MY INJURY, which was a hole through the middle of my hand where I had got it stuck in my horse’s mouth. I told them I had been teetotal for most of my adult life, but that didn’t put them off. THEY MERCILESSLY INSISTED I TICK ABOUT 30 BOXES WITH A “NO” OR “NEVER”, WHILE GRIPPING AND WRITING WITH ONE HAND, BEFORE I QUALIFIED FOR ANYTHING APPROACHING CARE.

And all the while, I could see people being admitted for emergency dental work. This is not my NHS, I thought. It’s someone else’s. I just pay for it. It quite likes my tax money but is not the least bit concerned about me. If it does care, it cares only in so much as I am fodder for its next risk assessment......

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8277821/Id-sooner-let-a-Tesco-butcher-fix-my-toe-than-ask-the-NHS.html


Death panels, poor service, intrusive questioning are all hallmarks of government run healthcare.

The Obama Code

“INVESTMENT,” SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL NOTED, IS A CODE WORD when uttered by President Obama and Democrats. It means, he said on Fox News Sunday, “WE WANT TO SPEND.” Indeed, that’s what Obama and Democrats most want to do.


But “investment” isn’t the only code word you’re likely to hear from Obama in his State of the Union address tonight on Capitol Hill. He’s sure to use other words designed to mask what he and Democrats are up to. More often than not, THE CODE WORDS ARE INVOKED TO HIDE ONE THING: MORE AND MORE GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE ECONOMY.


OBAMA’S FAVORITE NEW WORD IS “COMPETITIVENESS.” This doesn’t mean he wants to enact free market reforms to increase competition in the private sector. Perish the thought. HE WANTS TO FUND PROGRAMS THAT AID OR SUBSIDIZE INDUSTRIES INVOLVED INTO GLOBAL MARKETS. Once again, it points to more spending, more intervention.


The president ALSO WANTS TO “WIN THE FUTURE,” as he put it in a 4-minute video he sent last week to followers from his 2008 campaign. Who takes the lead in achieving this? Not the private economy unleashed by tax cuts and deregulation. FREE MARKETS AND FREE INDIVIDUALS CAN’T BE TRUSTED WITH THIS TASK. THE GOVERNMENT MUST BE IN CHARGE.


Both winning the future and competitiveness have another role. Properly understood, they’re a diversion from the present, with its weak economy and high unemployment. You’re supposed to ignore what’s happening today and look to the future, when competitiveness has kicked in a few years down the road and the American economy is victorious.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ryan-v-obama-round-4_537206.html



Here are some code words from the Republicans: Responsibility, Fiscal Sanity, Unsustainability and unleashing the free market. All these mean less spending, investments, government sponsored competitiveness and government directed “wins in the future.”


Mortgage Giants Leave Legal Bills to the Taxpayers

SINCE THE GOVERNMENT TOOK OVER FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC, TAXPAYERS HAVE SPENT MORE THAN $160 MILLION DEFENDING THE MORTGAGE FINANCE COMPANIES AND THEIR FORMER TOP EXECUTIVES IN CIVIL LAWSUITS ACCUSING THEM OF FRAUD. The cost was a closely guarded secret until last week, when the companies and their regulator produced an accounting at the request of Congress.

The bulk of those expenditures — $132 million — went to defend Fannie Mae and its officials in various securities suits and government investigations into accounting irregularities that occurred years before the subprime lending crisis erupted. THE LEGAL PAYMENTS SHOW NO SIGN OF ABATING.

Documents reviewed by The New York Times indicate that taxpayers have paid $24.2 million to law firms defending three of Fannie’s former top executives: Franklin D. Raines, its former chief executive; Timothy Howard, its former chief financial officer; and Leanne Spencer, the former controller.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/business/24fees.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2


The left continues to ignore the role of Fannie and Freddie in the economic crisis we had. Barney Frank was reelected and whenever F&F or the CRA are mentioned as drivers of the global crisis, the left pretends that they’ve never heard anything so foolish.

Why a Liberal is glad to say goodbye to Keith Olbermann

.....The show began in 2003, when large swathes of the journalistic profession appeared to have been cowed -- not just by the Bush administration per se but by a jingoistic atmosphere that lingered too long after 9/11 and took many unwise forms.

IN THAT ENVIRONMENT, OLBERMANN WAS FRESH, EVEN DARING. The show’s increasingly forceful liberalism through its early years made for some riveting TV moments, the best-known perhaps his 2006 takedown of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

THE FRESHNESS CURDLED SOON ENOUGH.

In his farewell remarks on Friday, OLBERMANN PROUDLY PROCLAIMED THAT HIS SHOW WAS "ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT." IN RECENT YEARS, THAT DESCRIPTION WAS A STRETCH, AT BEST.

Everything from the increasingly contrived "Worst Person in the World" segments to the host’s persona -- a kind of an ersatz version of Walter Cronkite, with infinitely more "attitude" but infinitely less real authority -- had settled into a rut. PREDICTABILITY AND SELF-IMPORTANCE WERE THE MAIN FEATURES.

"Countdown" had a niche -- a profitable one for both the network and its host, who was rumored to have negotiated a $30 million four-year contract in 2008 -- and Olbermann apparently saw little need for change......

But, more importantly, THERE WAS A YEARS-LONG PROCESSION OF PUNDITS WHOSE ONLY APPARENT PURPOSE WAS TO CONFIRM THE CORRECTNESS AND BRILLIANCE OF THE HOST’S EVERY UTTERANCE. The spectacle was one in which purportedly respectable journalists seemed to fall over themselves to play courtier to King Smug.....

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/22/stanage_olbermann/index.html


Olbermann’s departure is causing the gnashing of teeth over at the Huffington Post, but I think this liberal has it correct.


Here’s another look at the Olbermann’s departure.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-23/keith-olbermann-how-anger-fueled-his-rise-and-fall-at-msnbc/?cid=hp:mainpromo2



Tucson, Piven, and the Left

DREIER’S DEFENSE OF PIVEN IS COMPLETELY AT ODDS WITH THE UPSHOT OF HER WRITINGS, WHICH LOVINGLY CHRONICLE EFFORTS BY COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS TO INTENSIFY RIOTS AND VIOLENT PROTESTS. I explain Piven’s strategy on NRO’s homepage today in “Frances Fox Piven’s Violent Agenda.” DREIER’S EFFORTS TO TURN PIVEN INTO A LATTER-DAY INCARNATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING ARE ABSURD. Piven looks forward to rioting and urges community organizers not to waste time channeling violent protests into conventional politics but to escalate disruptions for maximum leverage. Dreier’s defense of Piven’s latest controversial editorial in the Nation leaves out the crucial passage where she calls for Euro-style protest riots in the United States.

THE HOPE OF SILENCING BECK IN THE WAKE OF TUCSON HAS LURED THE LEFT INTO A STRATEGIC BLUNDER. They’ve decided to turn Piven into a martyr. Yet in doing so THE LEFT HAS TIED ITSELF TO PIVEN’S WILD WRITINGS AND OVER-THE-TOP RADICALISM. Dreier acts as though Piven’s scholarly work is somehow different from the calls for rioting, crisis, and polarization in her two notorious Nation articles. Actually, Piven’s scholarly writings are worse. READ POOR PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS AND YOU’LL SEE WHAT I MEAN. The left could and should have disowned Piven’s extremism long ago. Jack Beatty’s 1977 review of Poor People’s Movements in the Nation was actually negative, calling Piven to account for her counterproductive and intentionally polarizing tactics. A QUARTER CENTURY LATER THE NATION HAS EMBRACED PIVEN’S CALL FOR EURO-STYLE RIOTING IN AMERICA, allowing her to speak with the magazine’s editorial voice. It’s not Beck who’s tarring the left with the Brush of Piven’s radicalism. They’re doing it to themselves.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/257747/tucson-piven-and-lefts-strategic-blunder-stanley-kurtz


This is worth reading. The left’s radical agenda as exemplified by Frances Fox Piven is a violent one. Calling for civility in speech even while their members call for violence in the streets is simply disingenuous. Dreier defends her and attacks the right. Here’s a link to Kurtz’s article Frances Fox Piven’s Violent Agenda.


http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/257733/frances-fox-piven-s-violent-agenda-stanley-kurtz


And here’s another one giving you more information of Piven and how the MSM is playing the story

http://bigjournalism.com/dloesch/2011/01/24/suddenly-radical-frances-fox-piven-is-old-widowed-college-professor/


Bury Lenin: Majority of Russians say

TWO-THIRDS OF RUSSIANS WANT VLADIMIR LENIN TO BE REMOVED FROM HIS RED SQUARE MAUSOLEUM IN CENTRAL MOSCOW, A NEW POLL HAS SHOWN. The poll, organised by Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party, comes after a senior figure in the party sparked a lively debate on the issue, saying THE TIME HAD COME TO RESPECT LENIN’S LAST WISHES AND BURY HIM IN ST PETERSBURG ALONGSIDE HIS MOTHER.

“Lenin was an extremely controversial political figure and his presence as the main figure in a necropolis in the heart of our country is absurd,” Anatoly Medinsky, an MP and member of the party’s governing committee, said.

Only 10 per cent of Lenin’s corpse remained, he said, alleging that the rest had been “ripped out and replaced a long time ago”. The body’s presence in a purpose-built mausoleum on Red Square had turned the country’s central square into a cemetery and was “blasphemous”, Mr Medinsky added. Lenin’s waxy corpse remains a popular tourist attraction and is regularly treated with a special cocktail of chemicals to stop it from degrading. But with a parliamentary election looming later this year and a presidential poll next year, analysts believe that the ruling United Russia party may be considering closing the Red Square mausoleum in order to show the world it is serious about modernising the country

.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8276991/Russians-want-Lenin-removed-from-Red-Square.html


This is better than what they did to unpopular rulers in ancient Rome. They would throw their bodies in the Tiber River like a common criminal. The horror Lenin brought to Russia might make people consider a similar fate.


Waiting For Betelgeuse To Explode: 2012? Second Sun?

Either we won't live to see it or Betelgeuse could do a supernova explosion at any time and for a couple of weeks it'll be much brighter out.

THE SECOND BIGGEST STAR IN THE UNIVERSE IS LOSING MASS, A TYPICAL INDICATION THAT A GRAVITATION COLLAPSE IS OCCURRING.

When that happens, WE'LL GET OUR SECOND SUN, ACCORDING TO DR BRAD CARTER, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland.

I think this means it will be bright at night if Earth is at the right point in its orbit. Anyone know the direction of Betelgeuse as compared the plain of our solar system? Do we have the Sun between us and Betelgeuse during some part of the year?

If it is bright enough to appear as a second sun then won't it heat up the atmosphere? What fraction of the Sun's radiation would that supernova provide?

BUT SINCE BETELGEUSE MIGHT NOT EXPLODE FOR A MILLION YEARS SOME ASTRONOMERS THINK THE ARTICLE ABOVE MAKES TOO MUCH OF THE POSSIBILITY. One astronomer says it will only get as bright as the moon. I guess I'll go back to worrying about VEI 7 (volcanic explosivity index 7) and VEI 8 eruptions. A VEI 7 would repeat the 1816 Year Without Summer. A VEI 8 would probably cause an ice age. Billions would die.

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/007846.html


So it might be as bright as our sun, or perhaps the moon. It might fry us or not and we might plunge us into an ice age. It might happen in a few months or it might be a million years from now. Sometime science is not only not precise, but it's unknown.

Politics, Palin, and Disharmony

Allegory of the Cave of the Mama Grizzly

I'm sure you all studied at one time in your lives Plato's Allegory of the Cave, but to refresh your memory: PRISONERS IN A DARK CAVE ARE FORCED BY THEIR BINDINGS TO LOOK ONLY STRAIGHT AHEAD TO THE WALL IN FRONT OF THEM, ON WHICH PUPPETEERS PROJECT IMAGES OF THINGS AND PEOPLE. THESE PROJECTIONS FORM THE ONLY REALITY THE PRISONERS KNOW. Only when a prisoner is released from his bonds does he see the sleight of hand -- the puppeteers and all their paraphernalia. As he climbs out of the cave into the bright sunlight he is temporarily blinded, his eyes having for so long been accustomed to the dark. The ex-prisoner is understandably frightened and bewildered by this new world. And he must learn to see what is around him without the puppeteers' filtering. But it is only then, after this uncomfortable journey into the bright and unfamiliar world around him, that the prisoner finally can think and understand, that he can appreciate what is real and true from that which is artificial and contrived.



In my view, THE MEDIA TARRING OF SARAH PALIN RESPECTING THE TUCSON TRAGEDY is an event which -- perhaps not this week, but soon enough -- WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HAVING EXPOSED THE POLITICAL CLASS AND CULTURAL ELITES AS THE PUPPETEERS PROJECTING THEIR OWN IGNORANCE AND VIOLENT HATRED OF SARAH ONTO HER. Those who uncritically followed the media will come to see that they have spent too much time in the cave and need to get out into the sunshine and face some realities.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/01/allegory_of_the_cave_of_the_ma_1.html


This is a good article with a good allegory of the viciousness of the left wing media. Highly recommend you read this.

An anti-authority creed

America is a creedal nation and the creed is, as Robert Penn Warren wrote, the "burr under the metaphysical saddle of America." IT IS A RECURRING SOURCE OF NATIONAL INTROSPECTION, DISCONTENT, SELF-INDICTMENT AND PASSIONATE POLITICS. We are in the midst of a recurrence. …

…By the time Huntington's book appeared, AMERICAN HAD HAD FOUR OF WHAT HE CALLED "PERIODS OF CREEDAL PASSION" - the Revolutionary era (1770s), the Jacksonian era (the 1830s), the Progressive era (1900-20) and the 1960s. We are now in the fifth.

THE AMERICAN CREED'S VALUES ARE LIBERAL, as that term was understood until LIBERALISM SUCCUMBED TO 20TH-CENTURY STATISM. The values, expressing the 18th century's preoccupation with defending liberty against government, are, Huntington said, "INDIVIDUALISTIC, DEMOCRATIC, EGALITARIAN, AND HENCE BASICALLY ANTI-GOVERNMENT AND ANTI-AUTHORITY." The various values "unite in imposing limits on power and on the institutions of government. The essence of constitutionalism is the restraint of governmental power through fundamental law."….

….AMERICA IS AN INHERENTLY "DISHARMONIC SOCIETY" because the ideals of its creed are always imperfectly realized and always endangered. Government is necessary but, Huntington says, "the distinctive aspect of the American Creed is its anti-government character. Opposition to power and suspicion of government as the most dangerous embodiment of power are the central themes of American political thought."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012106907.html


This is a very interesting piece about what the American’s experiment is all about.

Who’s advocating violence?

Glenn Beck has pulled back the curtain on this disgraceful specimen BY QUOTING HER ACCURATELY. No one has identified any statements he has made about Piven that are incorrect, or claims that he has in any way threatened her. Unlike Piven, Beck is a staunch opponent of political violence. But the mis-named Center for Constitutional Rights–another Orwellian touch–thinks there is such a thing as too much free speech. THEY WANT FOX NEWS TO SHUT BECK UP BECAUSE OF THE “SHEER QUANTITY” OF BECK’S REFERENCES TO PIVEN.

PIVEN WAS HEARTENED BY THE RECENT RIOTS IN GREECE AND ENGLAND and urged that radicals in America adopt them as a model:

[B]efore people can mobilize for collective action, they have to develop a proud and angry identity and a set of claims that go with that identity. THEY HAVE TO GO FROM BEING HURT AND ASHAMED TO BEING ANGRY AND INDIGNANT. [T]he out-of-work have to stop blaming themselves for their hard times and turn their anger on the bosses, the bureaucrats or the politicians who are in fact responsible.

An effective movement of the unemployed will have to look something like the strikes and riots that have spread across Greece in response to the austerity measures forced on the Greek government by the European Union, or like the student protests that recently spread with lightning speed across England in response to the prospect of greatly increased school fees.

AS MS. PIVEN UNDOUBTEDLY KNOWS, THE GREEK RIOTS HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY VIOLENT, AND SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MURDERED. That is the violence that she wants to see here in the United States.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/01/028190.php


So here we have a leftist advocating violence and the left wants to silence the person who is pointing out what they are saying. The left is a threat to freedom of speech and with their violence freedom of everything else as well.



Why we will miss Keith Olbermann

As John Tabin reports, KEITH OLBERMANN HAS BEEN CANNED. This after being temporarily suspended in November for making political campaign contributions to Democratic congressional candidates.

Olbermann's suspension in November was bogus. Say what you will about the man, HE NEVER HID HIS POLITICS. HE NEVER FEIGNED FAIRNESS OR BALANCE LIKE SO MANY OTHER BIG MEDIA BLOWHARDS DO.

To the contrary: Olbermann wore his rabid left-wing views on his sleeve. That, after all, is why MSNBC hired him.

It's not clear what now has precipitated Olbermann's sudden and surprise resignation. The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz notes that Olbermann's "combative style put him increasingly at odds with his network bosses."

CONSERVATIVES ARE BOUND TO HAVE MIXED FEELINGS about Olbermann's departure.

On the one hand, many will be glad to see this pompous, angry windbag leave the airwaves. As National Review's Rich Lowry tweeted this evening: "WHO NOW WILL BE THERE TO LECTURE US ANGRILY AND HATEFULLY ABOUT THE NEED FOR CIVILITY?"

In fact, Olbermann was a left-wing hypocrite. He angrily denounced conservatives for their alleged sins while he himself committed flagrant crimes against fairness and the truth.

But that is precisely why conservatives are going to miss him: OLBERMANN WAS A USEFUL AND EFFECTIVE FOIL.

http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/22/msnbc-shuffles-deck-chairs-as


Olbermann was a walking contradiction. The left’s hatred for Fox News, Shaun Hannity, Glen Beck, etc. was expressed consistently by Olbermann. And even while he spewed hatred, he called for others to do like him and leave the hatred behind.

George Allen to announce Senate bid Monday

Former Sen. George Allen will end weeks of speculation and formally declare his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Virginia on Monday, two Republican advisers tell POLITICO.

Allen, who has been making all the moves of a candidate in recent weeks, is expected to blast an e-mail to supporters with a video message before alerting the media.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48027.html#ixzz1BxNmair6

And so it begins.

This cynical five-a-day myth: Nutrition expert claims we've all been duped

For a long time, I too was a believer. I was a vegetarian for 20 years. It is only after nearly two decades of my own research — I am a Cambridge graduate and currently studying for a PhD in nutrition —that I have changed my views.

THE MESSAGE THAT FRUIT AND VEG ARE PRETTY USELESS, NUTRITIONALLY, GRADUALLY DAWNED ON ME.

The facts are these. THERE ARE 13 VITAMINS AND FRUIT IS GOOD FOR ONE OF THEM, VITAMIN C.

Vegetables offer some vitamins — vitamin C and the vegetable form of the fat-soluble vitamins A and vitamin K1 — but YOUR BODY WILL BE ABLE TO ABSORB THESE ONLY IF YOU ADD SOME FAT, SUCH AS BUTTER OR OLIVE OIL.

The useful forms of A and K — ¬retinol and K2 respectively — are found only in animal foods. As FOR MINERALS, THERE ARE 16 AND FRUIT IS GOOD FOR ONE OF THEM, POTASSIUM, WHICH IS NOT A SUBSTANCE WE ARE OFTEN SHORT OF, AS IT IS FOUND IN WATER.

Vegetables can be OK for iron and calcium but the vitamins and minerals in animal foods (meat, fish, eggs and dairy products) beat those in fruit and vegetables hands down. There is far more vitamin A in liver than in an apple, for instance.

Among dieticians, FRUCTOSE IS KNOWN AS ‘THE FATTENING CARBOHYDRATE’. It is not metabolised by the body in the same way as glucose, which enters the bloodstream and has a chance to be used for energy before it heads to the liver.

FRUCTOSE GOES STRAIGHT TO THE LIVER AND IS STORED AS FAT. Very few -people understand or want to believe this biochemical fact.

Another argument that is often put forward by dieticians on behalf of fruit and vegetables is that they are ‘a source of antioxidants’.

They believe we need to have more ¬antioxidants in our diet to counteract the oxidants that damage the body’s cells, either as a result of normal metabolic processes or as a reaction to environmental chemicals and pollutants.

But I WOULD RATHER CONCENTRATE ON NOT PUTTING OXIDANTS SUCH AS SUGAR, PROCESSED FOOD, CIGARETTE SMOKE OR CHEMICALS INTO MY BODY.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1349960/5-day-fruit-vegetables-myth-claims-nutrition-expert.html#ixzz1BxRO9Y9r


This will come as a shock for vegans.

What's really going on now

What Obama has learned from W

President Obama has “learned from experience” that some of the Bush administration’s decisions on terrorism issues were necessary, according to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

In his first interview since undergoing major heart surgery last July, Cheney said he thinks OBAMA HAS BEEN FORCED TO RETHINK SOME OF HIS NATIONAL SECURITY POSITIONS now that he sits in the Oval Office.

“I THINK HE’S LEARNED THAT WHAT WE DID WAS FAR MORE APPROPRIATE THAN HE EVER GAVE US CREDIT FOR WHILE HE WAS A CANDIDATE. So I think he’s learned from experience. And part of that experience was the Democrats having a terrible showing last election.”

Cheney also asserted that Obama has learned that the prison at Guantanamo Bay simply cannot be closed, despite the promises he made while campaigning for the White House.

“I THINK HE’S LEARNED THAT HE’S NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO,” Cheney said. “That it’s — if you didn’t have it, you’d have to create one like that. You’ve got to have some place to put terrorists who are combatants who are bound and determined to try to kill Americans

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/138341-cheney-obama-has-learned-from-experience-that-bush-moves-were-necessary


With all the talk about civility, this is one area where there is a lot of civility between Obama and the right. The left isn’t complaining too loudly, but the right actually supports the policies that Obama has kept.

House Dem calls for 'beefed up' security, special treatment for members by TSA

A top House Democrat said the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) should change how members of Congress are screened at airports.


“I really believe that that is the place where we feel the most ill at ease, is going through airports,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who serves as assistant minority leader in the House, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Clyburn called for the Transportation Security Administration, which administers airport security checkpoints, to interact “a little better” with the Capitol Hill Police.


“WE’VE HAD SOME INCIDENTS WHERE TSA AUTHORITIES THINK THAT CONGRESSPEOPLE SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we are held to a higher standard in so many other areas, and I think we need to take a hard look at exactly how the TSA interact with members of Congress.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/136849-house-dem-calls-for-beefed-up-security-special-treatment-by-tsa


I can’t believe he actually said that. In fact, congressmen and women should be treated like everyone else because they need to experience what all of us experience. After all, they have the power to change the way we are treated.



Endangered Dems sound alarms about redistricting

While most Democratic lawmakers are staying quiet about the looming threat that congressional redistricting poses to their seats, a FEW ARE SOUNDING ALARM BELLS AND ASKING VOTERS FOR HELP KEEPING THEIR JOBS.

One Massachusetts lawmaker has already announced his intention to run again, and at least one New York representative is signaling a readiness to fight. But Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich is making the most noise as he enters his eighth term by actively shopping around for a new district.

"I will not wait until a new Ohio map is produced to begin this crucial discussion of the consequences of congressional redistricting," Kucinich, who was first elected in 1996, wrote in an e-mail to his constituents last month, exhorting them to weigh in with suggestions and advice. "THE QUESTION WILL NOT BE: WHO IS MY OPPONENT? THE QUESTION WILL BE: WHERE IS MY DISTRICT? SERIOUSLY."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2011/01/endangered-dems-sound-alarms-about-redistricting#ixzz1BTnePatr


Kucinich is worried since Ohio will lose two congressional seats. Speculation is that three democrat districts including Kucinich's will become two and Kucinich will have to run against another Democrat.

Keith Olbermann: The most dense left wing pundit on the planet

Olbermann at the beginning of his show on January 17th.

Finally tonight as promised a special comment on the nine days since Tucson. That awful night I said this: “We need to put the guns down. JUST AS IMPORTANTLY WE NEED TO PUT THE GUN METAPHORS AWAY AND PERMANENTLY - left, right, middle, politicians, and citizens, sane and insane....

Olbermann at the end of his show on January 17th.

Nine days have passed and the willful blindness hasn't slowed down yet. BESIDES THE TOTAL ABSENCE OF EVEN THE GLIMMER OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY THAT SENATOR MCCAIN AND I HAVE EVINCED, we learned from all this that the RIGHT LIVES IN A PERPETUAL STATE OF VICTIMHOOD. We learned that the RIGHT DOES NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE THE IRONY OF ITS CLAIM of being unfairly blamed for the violence of others WHEN IT HAS SPENT THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS DOING EXACTLY THAT TO MUSLIMS, PARTICULARLY AMERICAN MUSLIMS. ....

AND ULTIMATELY WE LEARNED, ESPECIALLY FROM MRS. PALIN’S FOOLISHNESS, THIS TEMPLATE OF WHAT THE RIGHT WOULD DO IN AN ACTUAL OPEN AND SHUT SLAM DUNK CASE IN WHICH A PARTISAN OF THE RIGHT ATTEMPTED TO KILL ONE OF THE LEFT, THE RIGHT WOULD BLAME THE VICTIM, BLAME HIM OR HER FOR NOT HAVING BROUGHT ENOUGH SECURITY OR FOR NOT HAVING BROUGHT A GUN

.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/01/18/olbermann-if-conservative-tried-kill-liberal-right-would-blame-victim


The man is a walking contradiction. He seems to have a bigger ego than Bill O’Reilly and an intellect that is small enough to believe Nancy Pelosi when she said that "DEFICIT REDUCTION HAS BEEN A HIGH PRIORITY FOR US"

Ranking of US Presidents

Further evidence of the unwisdom of experts. A major survey of British academics has come up with a ranking of US presidents. In top place, predictably, is that old despot Franklin D Roosevelt.

What a perfect illustration of how received opinion tends to be wrong. Roosevelt is praised for having rescued the US from recession through the New Deal. IN FACT, THE NEW DEAL ALMOST CERTAINLY PROLONGED THE SLUMP. Its mass of regulations ENCOURAGED CARTELS AND CRONY CAPITALISM, BURDENED BUSINESSES AND DETERRED EMPLOYERS FROM TAKING ON WORKERS. In 2004, two economists at the UCLA, Harold L Cole and Lee A Ohanian, conducted a major study which concluded that the New Deal had in fact LENGTHENED THE RECESSION BY SEVEN YEARS…..


Anyway, here’s my list.

1. Ronald Reagan (here’s why)

2. Abraham Lincoln (here’s why)

3. Thomas Jefferson (here’s why)

4. Grover Cleveland

5. Calvin Coolidge

6. George Washington

7. John Adams

8. James Polk

9. James Madison

10. John Quincy Adams

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100072306/frankin-roosevelt-pah-here-are-ten-far-greater-us-presidents/


An interesting look at the US Presidents and in particular the fascist nature of Progressive politics in the first half of the 20th Century.



We’ve been lied to

By all accounts, an Internet documentary named "Zeitgeist" was the favorite movie of accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner. Created in 2007 by New York-based conspiracy merchant Peter Joseph, "Zeitgeist" is a two-hour mash-up of old and new conspiracy theories involving religion, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the Federal Reserve system. Its message is simple: "We've been lied to. We've been lied to by every institution."

"He wanted to watch it all the time," a teenage friend of Loughner's told the Arizona Republic. "It was cool at first. But then it got weird. It was all he wanted to do."

"Zeitgeist" has three parts. The first tells us that Christianity is a myth, and that religion in general conditions us to believe other myths. The second tells us that the most powerful of those other myths is 9/11 -- we call it an act of terrorism when it fact it was an inside job perpetrated by the U.S. government. And the third part tells us the real powers behind 9/11 and the other myths are central bankers. They're making the myths for money, while we're just being duped.

"Christianity, along with all other related theologies, is an historical fraud," the narration begins. "Zeitgeist" posits a sort of Zodiac-based foundation for all faiths and gives us insights like, "Jesus' solar Piscean personification will end when the sun enters the Age of Aquarius."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/01/tucson-shooter-obsessed-bizarre-internet-movie#ixzz1BOULze5j

What I find ironic is that Loughner was influenced by an internet video that has as its basic premise is that we’ve been lied to. The left interpretation of what happened in Tucson was due to right wing hate radio lying to the people and influencing crazy people to kill.



Palin derangement syndrome

….Today THE CONVERSATION TURNED TO SARAH PALIN AND MY NEW ACQUAINTANCE BLURTED OUT: “OH I HATE HER.” Since she did not yet know my politics, and since we were in Los Angeles, it is clear that she expected to hear back what you usually hear back in this city: “Yeah, I hate her, too.” Instead, I ASKED HER WHY.

At this point I could have predicted her response because it’s the same response you get from Liberals no matter who on the Right you’re talking about, “BECAUSE SHE’S STUPID.” I replied: “BEING STUPID IS NO REASON TO HATE SOMEONE, BUT TELL ME, WHICH ONE OF HER POLICIES DO YOU DISAGREE WITH?” IT WASN’T HARD TO PREDICT HER RESPONSE: “ALL OF THEM!”

I continued to push. “Well, then, if it’s all of them, it should be easy for you to name one.” Her reply? “They’re too many to list.”

“So don’t list them, just give me one,” I said.

This went on for awhile until my new acquaintance FINALLY ADMITTED THAT SHE DIDN’T KNOW ANY OF MS. PALIN’S POLICIES. Before she ran off – Democrats always run off when asked to provide facts behind their hatred for Republicans – I looked her in the eye and said, “If you don’t know any of her policies perhaps you should look into them.” She promised she would. She won’t. IF THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN COUNT ON WITH DEMOCRATS, THEY ARE FILLED WITH HATE AND EMPTY OF FACTS…..

….This is the genesis of the notion that Palin is “stupid.” LIBERALS ARE CONVINCED THAT THERE’S SOMETHING “THE MATTER” WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE JOBS. This is what they mean by “What’s The Matter with Kansas,” Kansas being a place where people work – Hollywood, Cambridge Massachusetts, the TV studios in Manhattan are places were people talk. To the Liberal, anyone who has a job must be stupid, after all, not everyone is as good a talker as they are, but surely everyone can find one excuse or another to sit at home and collect welfare….

…If Democrats disagreed with Ms. Palin on the issues that would be one thing. BUT THEY DON’T MERELY “DISAGREE” WITH HER, THE HATE HER AND THEY HATE HER WITHOUT CARING ONE WHIT ABOUT WHERE SHE STANDS ON THE ISSUES. They hate her BECAUSE SHE IS LIVING PROOF THAT EVERYTHING ABOUT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY NARRATIVE IS A LIE and for this reason she cannot be allowed to be liked because if Democrats liked her, they might actually listen to her policies.

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/01/18/why-the-left-hates-sarah-palin/

A well thought out article. Liberals would learn a lot by reading this, but actually having an open mind and reading something like this is not in the character of most liberals.

One liberal stands up for Sarah Palin: Ed Koch

Why do I defend Palin in this case? I DON'T AGREE WITH HER POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: She is an arch conservative. I AM A LIBERAL WITH SANITY. I know that I am setting myself up for attack when I ask, why did Emile Zola defend Dreyfus? Palin is no Dreyfus and I am certainly no Zola. BUT ALL OF US HAVE AN OBLIGATION, PARTICULARLY THOSE IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC OFFICE, TO DENOUNCE, WHEN WE CAN, THE PERPETRATORS OF HORRENDOUS LIBELS and stand up for those falsely charged. We should denounce unfair, false and wicked charges not only when they are made against ourselves, our friends or our political party but against those with whom we disagree. If we are to truly change the poisonous political atmosphere that we all complain of, including those who create it, we should speak up for fairness when we can….

….I repeat my earlier comment that she "scares the hell out of me." Nevertheless, she is entitled to fair and respectful treatment. THE FOOLS IN POLITICS TODAY IN BOTH PARTIES ARE THOSE WHO THINK SHE IS DUMB. I've never met her, but I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT SHE IS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT but not knowledgeable in many areas and politically uninformed….

…. Many women understand what she has done for their cause. She will not be silenced nor will she leave the heavy lifts to the men in her Party. She will not be falsely charged, remain silent, and look for others - men - to defend her. SHE IS PLUCKY AND UNAFRAID.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/01/18/palin_defeated_unfair_critics_at_nyt__msnbc_108561.html

Well said. I do believe that Koch is A LIBERAL WITH SANITY, and there are so few of them left.



The Liberal Agenda Backfires

America’s debate about government’s proper size and purposes has proceeded against the backdrop of European disorders, such as rioting by French young people. Some of them, although they have not yet entered the labor market (unemployment is 25 percent among those under 25), are indignant that when they do, they will have to remain in it for two extra years because the retirement age has been raised to 62.

Such demonstrations of government-induced decadence—a.k.a. THE ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY—have provided counterpoints to the Great Unraveling. THAT HAS BEEN THE FATE OF AMERICAN LIBERALS’ AGENDA IN THE 24 MONTHS SINCE BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURATION. That event was supposed to launch a long liberal epoch, something unknown since the one that ended in 1938, when the nation recoiled against Franklin Roosevelt’s overreaching, which included his attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court by enlarging it. Because the episode that ended in 1938 had lasted only six years, counting it as an “epoch” amounts to defining “epoch” down. Today, the long list of liberal disappointments is still growing:

ORGANIZED LABOR’S TOP PRIORITY—“CARD CHECK” legislation to make unionization of workplaces easier by abolishing workers’ rights to secret ballots—is dead….

The near invisibility and complete futility of last month’s Cancún conference ON CLIMATE CHANGE marked the exhaustion of a U.N. delusion…


Things that liberals thought would be gone by now include: GUANTÁNAMO, THE PATRIOT ACT, AND THE BUSH TAX RATES…

 

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/15/defining-epoch-down.html



26 States Join Suit Against Obama Health Law

SIX MORE STATES JOINED A LAWSUIT IN FLORIDA AGAINST PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL on Tuesday, meaning more than half of the country is challenging the law

The announcement was made as House members in Washington, led by Republicans, debated whether to repeal the law.

The six additional states, all with Republican attorneys general, joined Florida and 19 others in the legal action, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

"IT SENDS A STRONG MESSAGE THAT MORE THAN HALF OF THE STATES CONSIDER THE HEALTH CARE LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND ARE WILLING TO FIGHT IT IN COURT," she said in a statement.

The states claim the health care law is unconstitutional and violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties.

Joining the coalition in the Florida case were: IOWA, KANSAS, MAINE, OHIO, WISCONSIN AND WYOMING.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/18/states-join-obama-health-care-lawsuit-fla/


Elections do have consequences.