Obama: Bulk of Iraq Troops Out of Iraq by 8/10/2010

Well, we've already celebrated Victory in Iraq Day so it will be a bit anti-climactic. Obama pledged to withdrawal and he's doing so but the political realities are greatly improved thanks to President Bush giving the green light to the surge and allowing Gen. Petraeus and his men the free hand to quell the violence, reach out to the communities and take the battle directly to al-Qaeda in Iraq with extreme prejudice.

I'm reading several accounts of the speech The One made yesterday and it's interesting how the media is portraying this as a complete withdrawal in the headlines, effectively giving Obama cover. We are leaving 30-50,000 troops there for the foreseeable future and if history is a guide, our presence will be fixed for decades. This is not what Obama called for back before the surge was announced and it appeared we were losing; back then, he was calling for a full withdrawal--no troops left or as Rep. John Murtha so idiotically recommended, a withdrawal to Okinawa.

Of course, the neo-liberal establishment isn't happy as they want everyone home regardless of the effect it would have on the Iraqi people and regional politics but then, they've always been morons when it comes to anything military, plus, they want the money we are spending in Iraq to go to more important things like punishing doctors who refuse to perform abortions or destroying the economy more.

So, to sum up, BHO came out and said we won in Iraq yesterday without actually saying it. He gave credit to the military men and women who pulled this off through effective strategies and diplomatic measures while utilizing the weaponry available. It would have been a class move to give President Bush the credit he deserved but at least we now have an official acknowledgement of our success. this is but one vistory in the greater War on Terror and it was an effective one.

Friday Night Music--Pink Floyd Edition

There's not been many bands who have reached both the lyrical and musical genius of Pink Floyd. perhaps one can put Rush in that category but very few others.

First we have the tribute to original band mate, the late Syd Barrett. You can read the side notes by double-clicking the video. Shine on You Crazy Diamond is absolute genius and gave an inkling as to what the future would hold for the band. Gilmour's guitar compliments Water's lyrics with keyboards and percussion utilized in stunning fashion. This is Parts 1-4 off of the brilliant Wish You Were Here album recorded in 1975:



Here's Parts 6-9:



Next we have the epic Dogs in which Roger shows his true anti-Capitalist side (but I don't recall him ever turning down a check for royalties).

Part 1



Part 2



See also Les Claypool covering it in parts 1 & 2.

Finally, we have what has always been one of my favorites and was a standout on the classic Wall LP. This is when Pink flips and inserts that final brick. This was Roger Waters at his absolute peak.

PS: Don't forget In The Flesh from The Wall movie re-mastered with Bob Geldof as Pink turned tyrannical despot. Zealous infatuation with our leaders never ends well. I hope we haven't lost that lesson:

Obama Inciting Class Warfare

Our new president was never hesitant to pull the race card to give him an advantage on the campaign trail. I guess we shouldn't be too surprised he's stoking the fires of class warfare:

But there is another, less generous way to describe them: class warfare. Under the administration’s scheme, two percent of income earners will be forced to subsidize what the budget calls “95 percent of working families,” including the 40 percent of Americans who pay no income taxes whatsoever – a redistributionist power grab in all but name. As it applies to politics, one definition of fairness holds that the government should be neutral between its citizens, regardless of the size of their paycheck. Plainly, that is not the definition favored by the Obama administration. And that’s just of one the flaws of the administration’s two-percent solution.

Supposing this soak-the-rich policy was justified, would it be sufficient to cover the costs of the administration’s budget? The answer, it seems, is “No.” After crunching the numbers, the Wall Street Journal concluded that even after increasing taxes on the top two percent of Americans, the administration would still fall far short of its funding ambitions. Indeed, using statistics from 2006, the latest year from which tax figures are available and one that preceded the economic downturn, the Journal concluded that even a “tax policy that confiscated 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America earning over $500,000 in 2006 would only have given Congress an extra $1.3 trillion in revenue. That’s less than half the 2006 federal budget of $2.7 trillion and looks tiny compared to the more than $4 trillion Congress will spend in fiscal 2010.”

In other words, raising taxes on the highest earners won’t pay for the Obama budget. Either the administration will have to scale back its spending proposals or it will have to seek money from taxpayers making less than $250,000. In all the thoroughness of its hundred-plus pages, the budget released yesterday somehow neglected to mention that little detail.

We're starting to see a disturbing trend here; Obama will use fear as a tool to pass his agenda as was painfully evident during the stimulus debate. Now he's playing on the basest of human emotions: envy. In a time when many are hurting financially--a new paradigm for many--Obama and his allies are verbally crucifying those who worked hard to establish themselves, got themselves educated and used their wits to become successful. Many people have a loathing of anyone who makes more than them or is in a higher position in life and Obama is shamefully playing on that.

The Inquirer even made this a front page story but ran a story that is soft on criticism.

As stated above, it will never be enough to soak those who the Dems consider "rich" because those people are incredibly overtaxed as it is and shoulder the largest tax onus. Even if the were to pay 100% of their pay into the treasury (a liberals wet dream to say the least), we'd still never pay the huge bills amassed in a little over a month by this administration.

By marginalizing those who make $250,000, Obama and the Dems are making them the targets of scorn from those who are suffering the worst--a truly dangerous game to play. If you think I'm joking, why not ask the Germans.

Pelosi, Schumer and Reid Pissy About Iraq Plan

The Democrat braintrust is not feeling all tingly after learning of Obama's Iraq plans:

"I have long been for a significant drawback of troops in Iraq," Reid, the Senate majority leader, told reporters in a news conference. "Fifty-thousand is a higher number than I anticipated."

Added Schumer: "Fifty-thousand is more than I would have thought."

Reid said he was going to the White House Thursday afternoon for a briefing on Iraq.

On Wednesday, Pelosi criticized the 50,000-troop figure, telling MSNBC: "I don't know what the justification is for 50,000, at the present, the 50,000 troops in Iraq. I do think that there's a need for some. I don't know that all of them have to be in country."

Of course none of them have the guts to say that the reason we can withdrawal troops is because George W. Bush had the balls to order the surge and our troops won the un-winnable war.

Just curious Speaker Pelosi, where exactly would you deploy them if not "in country"? Perhaps we can follow the Murtha plan and redeploy them to Okinawa.

Obama Admin Say No To Huge Oil & Jobs Source

Not surprising yet disappointing just the same:

Institute for Energy Research (IER) president Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement today after the Interior Department announced its plans to withdraw from consideration acreage in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where research and development of a small portion of our nation’s homegrown oil shale reserves had previously been scheduled to take place:

“Earlier this week, Secretary Salazar suggested America’s massive and homegrown reserves of oil shale held ‘great potential.’ Unfortunately, the Interior Department’s decision today may help ensure that potential never becomes reality – in the process, locking-away an American energy resource larger than the total reserves of the entire Middle East.

“At a time of great economic uncertainty, with millions of Americans out of work and state budgets stretched beyond their breaking point, responsible development of America’s abundant shale resources could be a way out of our current condition, and a way back to a better one. The Interior Department’s announcement today effectively forecloses that opportunity.”

I see why Salazar would do this; I mean the potential for thousands of jobs, massive amounts of equipment that will need to be procured helping manufacturing, energy independence and low fuel prices must always be trumped by environmental concerns, right?

Here we are in what Obama claims is the worst economy since the Great Depression and his administration is intentional stopping industry from creating a viable and lucrative new energy sector.

I'm felling all hopey and changey, y'all.

Via: Instapundit.

Thursday Morning News and Notes

Top o' the mornin' to ya. Great view of the Hudson up here in the Valley. Pic at right from roughly where I'm staying.

Here's what's new today:

Black Caucus to Obama: "You're not being black enough".

Don't mess with the two-ply, quilted toilet paper!

Uber hypocrite Bill Moyers won't admit any wrong-doing. Typical and expected.

The market was up for a bit yesterday...until Obama opened his mouth.

A battle Obama doesn't want: Taking on Big Agriculture.

Is Rupert Murdoch Making a Move on NY Times?

He had a down year overall but Rupert Murdoch is flush with money from other sources and may be ogling the NY Times again:

NEW YORK -- Rupert Murdoch's counterintuitive quest to invest in print media helped drive away longtime lieutenant Peter Chernin.

And now that Chernin can't intercede, does Murdoch want to follow News Corp.'s $5 billion buyout of Dow Jones by gobbling up the struggling New York Times Co.?

The answer appears to be yes, as impossible as present economic conditions make it for most deals of any kind to get done.

What's more, incredulous News Corp. insiders say Murdoch's love of print media is so fervent that he's also been talking about a play for the Los Angeles Times, which could make easier prey for several reasons.

The NY Times and LA Times? Sweet. Perhaps each of them will once again be the papers they were--excellent examples of what a daily can be.

Chances are slim as outlined in the story as the Sulzberger's have ultimate control but the times has been bleeding money over the last several years and it doesn't appear as though they can stop it save applying a tourniquet and allowing other portions of the corporation to develop gangrene and die.

Murdoch's acquisition of the Wall Street Journal has made that paper better and he could do wonders with the Times resources. He could assign an editor who would bring some balance to the opinion pages and remake the International Herald Tribune into the leading paper of the world.

It may be a dream but it sure would be nice to see Murdoch make a move after sorting through the legal hurdles--hurdles that will be utilized by Democrats at every turn.

Do Liberals Have Any Sense of Humor?

Short answer: no, unless it's when something bad happens to conservatives.

We see this again today with Rush Limbaugh of all people. Rush read that his rating are lower with women and decided to have a "summit" featuring only woman callers. He was clearly mocking the farce that Obama called a summit on Monday.

Rush was doing the entire thing tongue-in-cheek but inane libs took him seriously once again.

These people who don't ever listen to Limbaugh have no idea that he's always light and humorous and expects his audiencew to be intelligent enough to get it. Most do.

TP had issue with this particular utterance from yesterday:

One thing about the Female Summit: sorry, no transsexuals. We’re not going to have anybody who’s had an addadictomy, and we’re not going to have anybody who’s had a chopadickoffamy. We’re going to have women from birth.

Random South Park Episode--Plug These Leaks

Busting on 9/11 Truthers, the Hardy Boys and a deposit in the urinal. I blame Bush!:



See also this nice bust on Al Gore.

Good Lord: Obama Proposes $634 Billion Health-Care Fund

Now that Obama has effectively neutered our banking system and our automotive industry why not go after the health care industry and make it a clean sweep:

President Obama intends to release a budget tomorrow that creates a 10-year, $634 billion "reserve fund" to partially pay for a vast expansion of the U.S. health care system, an overhaul that many experts project will cost as much as $1 trillion over the next decade.

Obama would pay for the expansion by trimming tax breaks for the wealthy and tightening payments to insurers, hospitals and physicians, according to a senior administration official.

By first identifying a large pot of money to underwrite health care reform -- before laying out a proposal on who would be covered or how -- Obama hopes to signal his willingness to negotiate with Congress over the details of an eventual plan.

Now I would have thought that after spending a few trillion The One would take a step back and take a broad view of just how incredible the amounts we are spending are creeping up. I concede that I am 100% wrong and will continue to be proven so repeatedly.

A few questions I have with regard to the money proposed for health care: How is to be spent? How are doctors going to continue provided the best care in the world if you plan on "tightening" payments to them and, finally, how are health care companies going to reduce or even keep rates steady when Obama's squeezing them?

Now I knew that Obama was a neo-lib who will make George McGovern look like a Republican but where does this stop? $3-trillion? 10-trillion?

We're stuck, ya'll and it doesn't seem as though we have a single check or balance anywhere in sight. We could have made a stand if Specter, Snowe and Collins had any guts and voted against the stimulus but instead they enabled the administration and now, like a crack head, the Dems are feeling it and spending insane amounts of money we'll never pay back. Our money.

And please don't kid yourself, taxes on "the rich" will not pay for anything close to what we've spent. The "rich" are a figment of Obama's imagination and become less wealthy everyday.

Hope and change baby, hope and change.

A Short Synopsis of Obama's Speech

"We're fucked (but not as much as we were a week ago when I needed to pass the stimulus bill and suck the life out of American business because I needed fear to make it pass)"..."It's Bush's fault (as will every single issue we face for the next two years)"..."I'll make it better"(Even with the idiotic band of misfits and tax cheats I've assembled)...Thank you Madame Speaker (applause).

Update: Class warfare on a grand scale. Those damn bankers are to blame.

Wall Street is going to tank tomorrow.

Update: The lovely and smart Ann Althouse is liveblogging.

This is a friggin' stump speech.

Fox News is a Behemoth

Rupert Murdoch has had a tough year as have all media companies but this ought to give him a reason to smile. Plus he can really give the finger in Olbermann's general direction:

Fox News was the ratings leader during prime time and total day during February 2009 — its 86th month on top. FNC averaged more Total Viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined in prime time and total day.

FNC had nine out of the top 10 programs in cable news last month in Total Viewers. The O'Reilly Factor was #1 for the 99th consecutive month, and was up 33% in Total Viewers compared to February 2008. The other top programs included Hannity (up 38%), Glenn Beck (the 5pmET hour was up 100%), The FOX Report with Shepard Smith (up 30%) and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren (up 24%).

On the Record also reclaimed the lead in the 25-54 demographic, up 4% year to year. At 7pmET, FOX Report was up 28% in the demo, The O'Reilly Factor was up 44% and "Hannity" up 34%.

There's no way else to spin in but to say that Fox is dominating. we hear that Rachel Maddow is making a move or the Olberwoman is rampaging but these numbers are so overwhelmingly in favor of Fox News that anything they say will sound ridiculous.

They beat CNN and MSNBC even when you combine their viewers.

Hey, maybe using the Nutroots sites for storylines will help them out.

This will only encourage the Unfairness Doctrine supporters to push for it to include cable news as well.

Tuesday Night News and Notes

Here's what's new in the world while we await word from on high from The One who's due to speak to a joint session of Congress in a little under 2 1/2 hours.

-"it appears that Islamic theocracy promotes rather than represses social decay."

-New head of Homeland Security ignores the 600-pound gorilla in the room.

-World Affairs and Strategic Interest. Terri hits one out of the park.

-Treacher knows exactly what Obama will say this evening.

-Irony of ironies; a NASA satellite launched to study "climate change" failed to make orbit and crashed into the water near Antarctica and it probably melted some ice while doing so. Millions of our tax dollars are now a stage for the latest penguin production of Happy Feet.

-DICK Durbin tells Roland Burris it's time to go and don't let the door hit you in the ass. Can DICK go with him, please.

Laughably Hypocritical Quote of the Day

From that old, senile, Lurch look alike, Boston Brahmin (who, by the way, served in Vietnam) John (I don't fall down) Kerry:

"I'm sick and tired of picking up the newspaper and reading about another idiotic abuse of taxpayer money, while our country is on the brink," Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement released to Reuters.

Hey John, maybe you didn't realize why you were away acting as useful idiot to Hamas, your party passed a bill that will go down (hopefully they don't propose another bigger one) as the biggest waste of taxpayer money we'll ever see.

The Simmering Battle Over the 10th Amendment

It's on.

This morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to President Obama's Director of OMB asking him to make it illegal for states to pick and choose what stimulus money they want to accept. This was a direct attack on Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and other leaders of the new conservative movement and Schumer knew it would illicit a response--especially since Jindal is giving the rebuttal to Obama's speech tonight ( a speech I'm hoping is being edited to include a response to Schumer).

Today, we have the California State Assembly pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana throughout the state to, at least on the surface, reduce the burden on police and to free them up for other crime fighting duties. Of course it's all about the money as California would make a killing on legally sold weed that could be taxed at decent rates and would help them escape the tsunami of debt currently flooding over them.

So the question arises once again; who has more say in what is and is not legal, the states themselves, which are much closer (and intrusive) to the individual citizen or the federal government?

A.W.R Hawkins looks at this issue today:

State governors -- looking down the gun barrel of long-term spending forced on them by the Obama “stimulus” plan -- are saying they will refuse to take the money. This is a Constitutional confrontation between the federal government and the states unlike any in our time.

In the first five weeks of his presidency, Barack Obama has acted so rashly that at least 11 states have decided that his brand of “hope” equates to an intolerable expansion of the federal government’s authority over the states. These states -- "Washington, New Hampshire, Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, California...Georgia," South Carolina, and Texas -- "have all introduced bills and resolutions" reminding Obama that the 10th Amendment protects the rights of the states, which are the rights of the people, by limting the power of the federal government. These resolutions call on Obama to “cease and desist” from his reckless government expansion and also indicate that federal laws and regulations implemented in violation of the 10th Amendment can be nullified by the states.

This is a great battle and one that will not be fought diplomatically. The 10th Amendment was written to ensure that states retain their rights and to preclude the federal government from getting too strong and centralized. Previous skirmishes over this issue occurred during the days of the civil rights struggles and Bull Connor as well as other times throughout our nations history.

But this is something different; this is not a clear cut issue of racism or gay marriage. No, this is about the right of state executives to do what's best for their constituents even if the federal government usurps as much authority as possible. Governors Jindal, Palin and Sanford see that in the long run, parts of the stimulus will cost them enormous sums of money while parts of the bill will actually, you know, stimulate the economy. These new conservative leaders are ideologically opposed to the package thrown together by Speaker Pelosi, Harry Reid and Obama and want nothing to do with it. Of course, there may be political reasons but everything Schumer does is political so why is he so ticked?

As Hawkins notes, the framers of the Constitution expressly gave the states rights that often times superecede the rights of the Republic when not expressly granted to the federal establishment.

11 states are signalling to President Obama that they take the 10th Amendment quite seriously. Will the Democrats in the Senate and Obama take up the battle or punt?

Inquirer Files Bankruptcy: Owner Took Substantial Raise

The Philly Inquirer is among the most liberal papers in America--they ran a 21-day endorsement of John Kerry in 2004.

Today, they filed for bankruptcy protection and Forbes brings to light this little trick by the controlling owner:

As the parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News slid toward the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing it made over the weekend, one employee did well on the pay front: CEO Brian P. Tierney.

Documents filed Sunday by Philadelphia Newspapers LLC and seven affiliates said that the pay of Tierney, a public relations executive who put together the investment group that bought the paper from McClatchy (nyse: MNI - news - people ) in June 2006 for $562 million, was boosted just two months ago by 38% to $850,000.

That sounds like another story I heard recently but can't seem to recall...er, maybe it was this one.

Now I have no problem with the owner of any corporation taking a raise; he gambled the money and he deserved to be rewarded for his risk but when he runs a biased paper that slammed other execs, well, I have to take a bit of umbrage with his hypocrisy.

For the record, I subscribe to the Inquirer and don't want to see them fail but for crying out loud, he would have been better served flying on a private jet to the bankruptcy anouncement.

Is Jindal the New Gipper?

Note how the Louisiana governor picks apart the porkulus bill piece by piece while simultaneously sounding like what the conservative movement has been hoping for since about 2004. He is reasoned and articulate while sounding highly informed and calm.

This dude will be a force come 2012:



Palin, Pawlenty, Sanford and Jindal; a nice start to ousting Obama.

Via Allah.

Update: Ah, the short memory of The One:

What I don’t want us to do, though, is to just get caught up in the same old stuff that inhibits us from acting effectively and in concert. There’s going to be ample time for campaigns down the road.

This from a man who started campaigning for the 2008 race when he spoke for Kerry in 2004.

Harry Reid Wins Talk Up the Economy Award

I was wondering who would be the first to come out and say the economy was improving less than two weeks after we were told of dire consequences and less than one week after the stimulus debacle was passed. We have our answer and I should have called my shot:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Monday that the banking industry is “very close” to being stabilized and the nation's economy is starting to rebound.

“We tend to talk about the negative. ... Things are beginning to turn and I think the American people are going to feel that very soon,” Reid said during an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” show.

Now, I didn't expect Reid to harp about the stimulus saving everything right away--since the scare tactics were working and he could have proposed another trillion in a month or so to fund a complete makeover of the Las Vegas airport or a monorail running between Vegas and Reno. But this is absolute chutzpah for the Senate Majority Leader. We are in a new paradigm since The One won so maybe we can see instant results when he blesses a bill...or not.

There's nothing but dismal news concerning the economy and Reid knows it but he also senses that if this fails, so do the Dems since every Republican save the three traitor RINO's voted against. It's in his best interest that he talk it up and we do need some positive talk but do we really need it from the man who said at the start of the surge that we had already lost?

His track record on predictions is horrifically bad and I have actually lost confidence now that he is talking improvement. Look for the markets to retreat to 1979 by this time tomorrow.

The Week That Was

I'm finishing up a whirlwind tour of California, Orient point, NY, Newburgh, NY and North Jersey that began two weeks ago today. That would be why postng has been spotty but once things settle down, regular posting will resume.

In light of that, let's review some of the things I've missed this week.

-Sen. Roland Burris is not long for the Capitol as even the new Governor of his home state has called for him to step down. America has gotten a good viwe of just how insider and sleazy Chicago politics are and is probably a tad uncomfortable we elected someone who came up through that sewer as president. It doesn't look to end anytime soon.

-Wall Street hates the Obama stimulus plans and has dropped to a level that one couldn't imagine in their worst nightmares. A pundit on CNBC had enough and now faces the wrath of the Obama administration.

-Bibi Netanyahu will take over at a critical time in Israel's history. With Iran on the brink of nuclear viability and the feckless UN sitting on the side doing nothing more than wringing their collective hands, it will be up to the IDF/IAF and the US in a covert role to stop the madness. The Lebanese aren't too happy about the re-emergence of Netanyahu if this is anything to go by:

It's official: Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has been formally chosen to cobble together a right-wing cabinet of settlers, ultra-Zionists, racists and warmongers. Devoid of the fig leaf that Kadima's participation might have lent such a dysfunctional government, Netanyahu and his new partners will face no internal obstacles in trying to implement their wildest plans. As they get on with unchecked settlement expansion, murder, collective punishment and other various crimes, only one thing will stand in their way: reality.

Don't hold back, say what you really mean, Daily Star.

-Uber liberal Bill Moyers has seen his well-cultivated progressive credibility destroyed in less than a week. It couldn't have happened to a more hypocritical guy.

-Obama has managed to create the worst deficits in sixty-plus years and has only been in office for a month. The stimulus plan gives the finger to those who voted for The One based on his plan including infrastructure and other job-creating opportunities. It'll be a long four years.

-Taxpayers are pissed and making noise. Could this grow into a nationwide movement? Perhaps.

NYU Students Take Over, Demand Action on Palestine

Great, we've revisited the worst of the sixties. Students have taken over the cafeteria at NYU to demand, among other things, scholoarships for Palestinians, action on Palestine and a tuition freeze plus union rights.

Here's pics from the Village Voice.

I heard about the demands for Palestinians on the local NY news but the stories online gloss it over. The NY Times touches on it most.

Elect a radical and here's what we get. All the students are doing is organizing their community, right?

Thursday Night News and Notes

It's been a long week, y'all. Tomorrow's Friday so all is well with the world for the most part.

Here's what's shaking across the nation:

The big story this week has been that damn monkey nearly killing that lady (and based on what I've heard of her condition, I'm not sure she has much of a life ahead of her). Simply, monkeys belong in the trees of jungles, not in some demented chick's home in Connecticut. Second, the NY Post cartoon was just a damn cartoon, get over it, Sharpton and assorted lefty losers. I don't recall any outrage when this truly racist cartoon was printed. Treacher has some fun with it.

The specific projects; state-by-state, that are to be undertaken with the stimulus money are released. For my state of New Jersey, the southern part of the state gets absolutely shafted with not a single project due to receive money. And no, North Jersey, Giant lovin', loser, scrubs, Hamilton and Trenton are in Central Jersey, not South Jersey.

Sports is not about winning or losing but life lessons. Go read this please.

Tiger Woods to return at the Accenture Match Play Championship. The PGA just let out a sigh of relief.

Notes the lovely Terri:

That’s right. This Carbon Dioxide is bad, bad, bad, unless we decide to exempt it because the folks creating it are good.

Still waiting for more of those beach shots, Terri.

Global Warming "Facts" Melting, Ice is Not

Supporters of the Great Global Warming Swindle are always quick to point out any little detail that buttresses their claims in spite of the fact that most people can see the data is greatly flawed. Today, via Instapundit, we have this huge mistake admitted by one of the foremost cited agencies by Global Warmenist's:

"The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has been at the forefront of predicting doom in the arctic as ice melts due to global warming. In May, 2008 they went so far as to predict that the North Pole would be ice-free during the 2008 'melt season,' leading to a lively Slashdot discussion. Today, however, they say that they have been the victims of 'sensor drift' that led to an underestimation of Arctic ice extent by as much as 500,000 square kilometers. The problem was discovered after they received emails from puzzled readers, asking why obviously sea-ice-covered regions were showing up as ice-free, open ocean. It turns out that the NSIDC relies on an older, less-reliable method of tracking sea ice extent called SSM/I that does not agree with a newer method called AMSR-E. So why doesn't NSIDC use the newer AMSR-E data? 'We do not use AMSR-E data in our analysis because it is not consistent with our historical data.' Turns out that the AMSR-E data only goes back to 2002, which is probably not long enough for the NSIDC to make sweeping conclusions about melting. The AMSR-E data is updated daily and is available to the public. Thus far, sea ice extent in 2009 is tracking ahead of 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, so the predictions of an ice-free north pole might be premature."

Emphasis mine.

So who used their data?

How about head GW Swindlest Al Gore who received a "private briefing" in 2007. NSIDC actually raved about Gore's sham of a documentary An Inconvenient Truth and gushed:

Arctic sea ice is something NSIDC watches carefully, especially because of its effect on global climate.

Evidently not as careful as they would lead us to believe as that statement is from 2006, one of the years that they have had to now back away from because of this embarrassing discovery showing their absolute ineptness and lazy attention to detail. As of this moment, all of their data must be called into question.

Others have been paying closer attention that I and have noted some mysterious goings on that have now been explained.

Amusingly Biased Headline of the Day

Todays award goes to CNN for this gem of a headline and a sub-headline:

Stocks fall despite rescue

Dow ends at 3-month lows, with Wall Street sliding even as President Obama signed into law the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

Based on what I read today and heard from about five Wall Street brokers, the headline should read "Stocks fall because of 'rescue".

The only good thing that can come from this mess is that the media will start propping up the economy and the constant drumbeat of continuous bad news is probably about half of the problem right about now.

Random South Park Episode--The China Problem

Cartman takes on the Chinese.

Update: Note this is the episode that gained Matt and Trey the most heat with the Indiana Jones scene. NSFW.

NOW Actually Notes "Honor Killing"

Generally when the left-wing National Organization for Women (NOW) speaks out on an issue, it's one that will cast Conservatives and/or Republicans in a bad light. Whenever it's a democrat such as Bill Clinton, the myriad media hacks who smeared and degraded Sarah Palin or the various stonings, rapes and hangings of women in Muslim nations, they suddenly clam up.

Not today as I guess the beheading of a woman by her well-known Muslim husband was just too horrifying and close to home. But of course, she tempers it:

The gruesome death of Orchard Park resident Aasiya Zubair Hassan — who was found decapitated — and the arrest of her estranged husband are drawing widespread attention, as speculation roils about the role that the couple’s religion may have played.

...“This was apparently a terroristic version of honor killing, a murder rooted in cultural notions about women’s subordination to men,” said Marcia Pappas, New York State president of the National Organization for Women.

She decried the scant national media attention paid to the story, which broke the same day as the commuter plane crash that killed 50 people in Clarence.

While domestic violence affects all cultures, Muslim women find it harder to break the silence about it because of a stigma, she said.

While many cultures suffer domestic violence and it's generally against women, no other culture I've read about uses ritual beheading as often as the Religion of Peace (TM). I can't think of another culture where a woman was decapitated by her husband because she asked for a divorce but then i could have missed it.

Via LGF.

Support Our Troops By Supporting the Yellow Ribbon Club

A really good couple in South Jersey have been helping our troops for years and I've written about them numerous times. Their son was stationed in Iraq a few years ago.

They could always use donations but they will soon need more as the 17,000 more troops in Afghanistan will need to be supported by the YRC as well.

Go to their website here. If you're in the area you can see a list of needed supplies here. If you wish, you can donate via Paypal at the homepage.

They almost never miss a homecoming for a local soldier, sailor or Marine but when they do, they make up for it.

Pic at right is of YRC founder Leslie Drummond welcoming home 1st LT. Mark Berman last month.

Tuesday Night News and Notes

What's up? Here's what's a happenin'

Rick Moran asks "Wasn't Bush belittled for taking time off during the war?". Yes, I believe he was but he's not, you know, The One.

Yeah, the real money experts seem to be overcome with excitement about the porkulus bill. The market tanked again and is at 7552.60 as we speak.

Woman uses wedgie to subdue car thief. Is there anything a wedgie can't do?

The evils of Islamic political ideology.

The longest ear hair in the world. Yeah, ear hair.

Working at the place depicted in the pic at right tomorrow.

Signing An Entire Generation Away

Barack Obama today signed the single largest bill ever and one that by many accounts will accomplish very little. Claudia Rosett notes that he has broken yet another of his campaign promises:

Today, Obama returned to Denver, and with elaborate ceremony signed the $787 billion “stimulus” bill passed last Friday by Congress, which runs to more than 1,070 pages. That left fewer than 96 hours between passage and signing (thus also violating his promise about posting legislation for five days on the internet before signing, to allow for transparency and comment).

When did Obama even find time to skim this monster bill? Let alone go through it “line by line?”

Obama enjoyed an intervening weekend heavy on R&R. Carbon-emissions-notwithstanding (personally I don’t care how much carbon he emits, but Obama wants all the rest of us to sacrifice on this front), on Friday Obama flew with his family and entourage to Chicago, where he helicoptered in from the airport, to spend time at his Chicago mansion and — as The New York Times put it — see a few friends and “reconnect to the rest of the country.”

Today marks the day that we as a country sentenced our grandchildren to a life of paying for our collective sins. we spent when we didn't have it and allowed a government to pass legislation that allowed encouraged business to run roughshod over the populace. But we citizens didn't exactly curb ourselves and we now face the result.

The problem I have is that we suffer no consequences; Barney Frank and Chris Dodd colluded with Fannie Mae and Countrywide respectfully allowing them to grant loans that should have been denied. Business doesn't suffer because they've gotten a bailout but we the people get essentially nothing from this bill unless you are a lobbyist or a union member.

The correct action should have been to do nothing or at the very most a stimulus package based on tax cuts and basic spending. Call it our penitence for irresponsible behavior. Anyone with kids knows that they learn a hell of alot more responsibility when they have to suffer then when they get exactly what they wanted when they performed the bad behavior in the first place.

American government and it's citizens needed to be grounded or at the very least been issued a timeout; instead we were rewarded for our bad behavior big time.

I Guess 17,000 Troops Isn't a "Surge"

When George W. Bush went against everyone--including many in his own party--and ordered an increase in troops to quell Iraqi violence, the media went nuts and dubbed it "The Surge". Democrats seized on it and made "surge" a bad word.

Now the tables have turned and Obama has ordered a large contingent of new troops into Afghanistan and it's not labeled a surge anymore:

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed off on an increase in U.S. forces for the flagging war in Afghanistan.

"To meet urgent security needs, I approved a request from (Defense) Secretary Gates to deploy a Marine Expeditionary Brigade later this spring and an Army Stryker Brigade and the enabling forces necessary to support them later this summer," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

About 8,000 Marines are expected to go in first, followed by about 9,000 Army troops. Some 34,000 U.S. troops are already in Afghanistan.

Granted, Obama has essentially said throughout his campaign that diverting troops from Afghanistan into Iraq was a bad strategy and has rightly decided to upgrade but where are the anti-warriors who screamed about both wars? You know that some case of wayward soldiers acting badly will occur. It happens in every war. Will that case become what defines Obama as Abu Ghraib did Bush?

Mark my words, we will now hear about huge gains in Afghanistan now that it's Obama who is the CinC. The dirty little secret is that we've been winning huge battles up to this point if anyone took the time to actually report it.

Make no mistake, this is now Obama's war. Bush ensured we won the one he was called responsible for. By taking the tack that we should not have diverted our strength from the mountains of Afghanistan for use in Iraq, Obama made this a just war and a war he supported.

We won in Iraq, can we win in Afghanistan with an increase in troop strength? Here's hoping we can.

Liberals Hate the Military Until They Need or Meet Them

Libs amuse me when it comes to all things military. They are completely clueless and enjoy being that way whenever it comes to writing about or referring to the military.

By their reckoning, the only reason someone would join the military is because they are either too stupid to go to college, are trying to avoid jail or are jingoistic homophobes who have some stunted view of patriotism. In other words, they have the elitist view.

I know for a fact that liberals look at the officer corps in the military in a respect that is so distorted as to be laughable. People become officers because they weren't bright enough to get high SAT scores and get into Harvard or Yale according to their line of thinking. The fact that the majority of Ivy Leaguers would beg for mama after about a week at the Naval Academy or West Point due to the stress of grades, structure and expectations is thoroughly beside the point. The fact that these men and women attend the toughest schools in the nation is beyond them as well. Here's a slice of the degrees these men and women have in the Air Force:

-- 51.89 percent of the officers have advanced or professional degrees
-- 41.23 percent have master's degrees, 9.25 percent have professional degrees and 1.4 percent have doctorate degrees
-- 26.14 percent of company grade officers have advanced degrees, 19.33 percent have master's degrees, 6.53 percent have professional degrees and 0.28 percent have doctorate degrees
-- 85.56 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees, 69.81 percent have master's degrees, 12.88 percent have professional degrees and 2.87 percent have doctorate degrees

Compare that to 9.4% of the US population with masters degrees.

Add to that the fact that these men and women are getting more educated in their not-so-spare time; you know, the time between standing watch, running a patrol and getting shot at. In fact, I took numerous courses while on the USS Schenectady (LST-1185) deployed to the Persian Gulf, Somalia and other noted shit holes around the globe.

Getting back to my original point; liberals hate the military. They think of those serving as redneck, gun loving, racist, homophobic robots who hate Muslims and kill for fun. That is, until they actually meet them. This from a self-described "Marxist" who is in Iraq and seeing just how bright these men and women are. He writes this in response to yet another reporter discussing how awful these military folks are without actually having met them:

The military has been surprisingly forthcoming with me and all I had to do was ask. Marine Corps Colonel Patrick Malay sat with me on three different occasions, for long discussions about security in his area of operation in Anbar. One thing I learned quickly is that the military's officer corps is filled with the best of America's minds--kids that aced their college entrance exams, were the captains of their ball teams, and had to be nominated by senators to go to the schools they did. These are the guys (along with their much more experienced superiors) that are deciding strategy--and they're fucking smart. I was allowed to sit in on a couple of their high level briefings--again, all I had to do was show some kind of aptitude for objectivity--and I can tell you their comprehension of the situation on the ground is apt, their thinking clever, and their intentions centrally wrapped up with the Iraqi people.

At the heart of it all, they're smart enough to be pragmatic. The first thing Malay told me is that we need to drop bullshit Eurocentric pretenses. Iraq is not America, nor even Europe, and it never will be. It will have a democracy, he said, but it will be an Arab one, likely Muslim, and the tribe will be a central component. Realpolitik is at the crux of the Marines' policy. The Corps knows that to win a modern guerrilla conflict, it has to win the hearts and minds of the people. To do that, it needs to clear an area of combatants, hold it (keeping the area clean) and build (i.e. give the people viable options for work and self support).

I'm phobically allergic to the conservative Republican types the military is rife with, but I've only been in country four months and already I hate liberals. There's plenty of ugliness to report in Iraq (as there are thousands of stories of hope and headway)--and the U.S. military certainly isn't beyond reproach. Nobody's telling you to report on one side or the other. But manipulating the truth because of your own personal biases is wretched and works in the face of progress. The other end of the political spectrum disregards you, Dahr, and now I know why. I thought it was because you're a liar--but you aren't. You don't have enough backbone to be a liar. You're a craven obfuscationist, intent on promoting your agenda at the cost of a menagerie of much braver men and women.

"Fairness" Doctrine Update

I've been getting back to normal after a week on the left coast and that would explain the light posting.

That said, I'm ready to go at it again after digesting the events of last week where we saw a bill passed that will put us on the glorious par of Iceland, France and Great Britain. One thing about Obama, he reaches for the stars, doesn't he?

On to today's first topic. You know that the return of the "Fairness Doctrine" has been a liberal wish since Reagan rightly bounced it over twenty years. It's represents everything that America doesn't and that would explain why libs love it so much.

Well, now the libs have their man in place and they don't even need the three traitors--Specter, Snowe and Collins-- to jump ship to get it back in all it's infamy. Once Obama establishes Julius Genachowski--his nominee--we'll see it come fast and furious and the GOP will be helpless (second item) to do anything but watch and whimper.

This time however, it's not just TV they want, they want to go after talk radio and will bring the best Stalinist policies to do so. They will go to for profit companies and tell them what they must put on the air. Don't like what Rush Limbaugh or Mark Levin say? Put on six hours of mindless liberal droning by the likes of Ed Schultz to counter them. No one will listen but it will be "fair". It really doesn't matter what the ownership of the networks say because the government wants this and they dole out the licenses. Last I heard, Premiere Radio and other entities didn't ask for or receive any bailout money, because, of course, they're making money...at least until this new Orwellian measure is implemented.

But wait, they won't stop at talk radio; no they'll soon go after the Internet and blogs will be a nice easy target. Don't like what I write? Just complain and they'll force me to allow posting one of these scrubs to counter it.

I find it amusing that liberals screamed that George W. Bush was going to do the following things:

*Bush would cancel the election in 2008; and
*Our rights would be severely curtailed.

Interesting that it's a liberal president that has diminished our rights more in the first month than eight years of "W".

With all that in mind; note how Megyn Kelly goes all pitbull on the most irritating liberal of all:

Flying Pig Moment: John Stewart Busts on Obama

Have my eyes deceived me?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=218356&title=clusterf#@k-to-the-poor-house

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Shocka! Stewart actually busted on Obama's poor speaking style, the reporter who asked the inane A-Rod question, the Huffington Post and just about every other brutal aspect of that press conference.

It's a start I guess and one doubts it will spread to the volume we saw with Bush but late night talkers would be wrong to miss this gold mine of comedy. So far, in less than a month, Obama has broken every campaign promise, hired tax cheats, irritated our allies, ridiculed his VP and essentially made a mess of his first task--ramming through the porkulus package.

Interestingly, we see a GOP that was in the gutter a month ago resurgent and ready to fight because of Obama's lack of leadership and downright incompetence thus far.

His press conference the other night was a moment to shine and give Americans confidence ala FDR, JFK and Reagan. Instead he came off as a poor copy of Jimmy Carter delivering his "Malaise" speech.

Stewart now should turn his attention to Robert Gibbs, that dudes daily press briefing would give him material for the foreseeable future.

Two Amusing Takes on The Porkulus Bill

First, the always humorous Iowahawk:

"The number itself is incomprehensible by human minds, and can only be theoretically understood in a fractional parallel universe which we refer to as the DC dimension," said Brossard. "The best way to understand a stimulus is to imagine a dollar sign followed by a packed string of hexidecimal nanodigits, wound into a triple helix, woven into a dodecahedron, and stacked on top of one another. Now imagine you were a black hole on the far edge of the universe, trying to escape the stimulus at 30 times the speed of light. The stimulus would still catch up to you and ram your black hole with such furious, repeated force that it would cause your entire reality itself to collapse."

And don't forget Ann Coulter:

Judging by the care that the State Department took with private visa records last year, that the Ohio government took with Joe the Plumber's government records, that the Pentagon took with Linda Tripp's employment records in 1998, and that the FBI took with thousands of top secret "raw" background files in President Clinton's first term, the bright side is: We'll finally be able to find out if Bill Clinton has syphilis -- all thanks to the stimulus bill!

HHS bureaucrats will soon be empowered to overrule your doctor. Doctors who don't comply with the government's treatment protocols will be fined. That's right: Instead of your treatment being determined by your doctor, it will be settled on by some narcoleptic half-wit in Washington who couldn't get a job in the private sector.

Read both of them.

Wednesday Evening News and Notes

Another beautiful day in San Diego.

Here's what's happening in all corners of the globe:

The hopelessly anti-Israeli BBC fights to keep a report showing they are anti-Israel secret. They've spent a good deal of forcefully-paid taxes to fight it too.

Oil tumbles to under $36 per barrel. That's $0.86 per gallon. How's that taste, Hugo? Chavez just may be Ceaucescued in a short time.

Reid and Pelosi are in a cat fight. Watching these two "leaders" argue should make for entertaining theater. Grab me the popcorn. The pic at right is the room where the Dems will sentence the US economy to death. Might as well save it for posterity purposes.

Voters believe they have a better idea what to do with their money than Congress. That's the classic definition of Conservatism by the way.

Idiot finds an intellectual and ideological soul mate in Keith Olbermann.

I Think I'm Going to Like Rep. Cantor

This is pretty funny. The union AFSCME is hitting the GOP hard on trying to stop the porkulus bill. Minority Leader Cantor struck back with this video (NSFW and content warning for language):



Hilarious, especially for a guy like me who deals with the strongest labor unions still left in America on a daily basis.

It's about time we had some Republicans with balls to take it to the Dem groups like Big Labor who can't wait to get their grubby fingers all over my stimulus money.

Wednesday Morning News and Notes

Off to work but here's what's happening:

Pat Toomey goes on the offensive against Areln Specter.

People in California are as nervous as anyone and the Governator isn't calming any of them.

What is going on in baseball? Leave it to New York players to ruin a great game.

A true American legend passes.

A new day in Zimbabwe?

It's Good To Be Charlie Rangel

Or to be any Democrat for that matter in the new, open and ethical Obama administration:

The House voted on Tuesday to let Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) keep his gavel while a special investigative panel resumes an inquiry into the Ways and Means chairman's tax practices among other possible ethical violations.

By a vote of 242-157, the chamber tabled a motion to remove Rangel from his chairmanship of the tax-writing panel until an ethics investigation into the congressman has been resolved; 16 members voted present.

The GOP contingent caved and the members who would be investigated pulled an Obama and voted "present".

Amazingly, the smartest and most ethical man in history--Ron Paul--seems to keep siding with the shady representative from Harlem evey time a chance arises.

This garbage explains why we are in the minority and are now forced to watch as Nancy Pelosi decides our economic future.

Michael Yon: How Much is Afghanistan Really Worth to Us?

Great question and one I need to take a bit to consider.

Go read Yon's excellent essay and tell me what you think.

Michael Yon is a true media pioneer and does all his work on donations. Please support him if you can so he can continue with his adventure that truly enlightens all of us.

Paleo-Libs Can Sure Make a point

I make it a daily part of my regimen to slam "liberals" because they make it easy. They are knee-jerk anti-American, have an elitism about them that I find grating and look at the military and Israel with contempt. They deserve my daily ridicule.

But those liberals are neo-liberals not the true liberals who are thinkers and never worry that what they write will be scorned. They are fearless and thoughtful and I have to say; I enjoy reading them.

I would put Christopher Hitchens in that groups as well as the excellent Camille Paglia.

Ms. Paglia has a must-read that makes some salient points:

Money by the barrelful, by the truckload. Mountains of money, heaped like gassy pyramids in the national dump. Scrounging packs of politicos, snapping, snarling and sending green bills flying sky-high as they root through the tangled mass with ragged claws. The stale hot air filled with cries of rage, the gnashing of teeth and dark prophecies of doom.

Yes, this grotesque scene, like a claustrophobic circle in Dante's "Inferno," was what the U.S. government has looked like for the past two weeks as it fights on over Barack Obama's stimulus package -- a mammoth, chaotic grab bag of treasures, toys and gimcracks. Could popular opinion of our feckless Congress sink any lower? You betcha!

Anyone who can use "gimcracks" is alright by me, but I digress.

Ms. Paglia is one who can see things for what they truly are. She knows that the stimulus plan is a farce and says so. Juxtapose that with the neo-libs who are in for whatever Obama wants. $1-trillion, $2-trillion, whatever, dude. It's all good.

But this is what I find ingratiating about Ms. Paglia:

Speaking of talk radio (which I listen to constantly), I remain incredulous that any Democrat who professes liberal values would give a moment's thought to supporting a return of the Fairness Doctrine to muzzle conservative shows. (My latest manifesto on this subject appeared in my last column.) The failure of liberals to master the vibrant medium of talk radio remains puzzling. To reach the radio audience (whether the topic is sports, politics or car repair), a host must have populist instincts and use the robust common voice. Too many Democrats have become arrogant elitists, speaking down in snide, condescending tones toward tradition-minded middle Americans whom they stereotype as rubes and buffoons. But the bottom line is that government surveillance of the ideological content of talk radio is a shocking first step toward totalitarianism.

One of the nuggets I've gleaned from several radio sources is that Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who has been in the aggressive forefront of the campaign to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, is married to Tom Athans, who works extensively with left-wing radio organizations and was once the executive vice-president of Air America, the liberal radio syndicate that, despite massive publicity from major media, has failed miserably to win a national audience. Stabenow's outrageous conflict of interest has of course been largely ignored by the prestige press, which should have been demanding that she recuse herself from all political involvement with this issue.

Google "Stabenow" and "Fairness Doctrine" and then click on the links that lead to liberal sites. See how many mention anything about Stabenow's conflict of interest. Short answer: none.

Ms. Paglia came out and said she liked Sarah Palin and was appalled by her treatment. A ballsy call to say the least when neo-libs have a hatred that reaches deep against the homespun governor of our northern most state.

Ms. Paglia calls a spade a spade and has no recriminations or gives a damn what neo-libs or, for that matter, I think. That's what makes her so entertaining and actually makes me pine for the good battle against paleo-libs. They tended to be much more informed and respectful adversaries.

Yes, I'll disagree with Ms. Paglia on a great many issues but always enjoy her intelligent take on the issues of the day and you all should too.

Tuesday Night News and Notes

A beautiful day in America's Finest City.

Here's what's new:

The 2nd Amendment is under siege again.

In the unfathomable world of Israeli politics, Netanyahu won by losing I think.

The bailout plan is officially a joke when it draws bipartisan laughter from Congress.

America hates the Obama plan for getting us out of recession. Let's make it bigger.

Bird Dog juxtaposes two views on ice melt. I'm still confused.

Pic at right is of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. It's one of my beautiful wife's favorite spots.

Porkulus Passes, Lord help Us

It's done:

The Senate approved an $838 billion economic recovery package bill Tuesday, as Democrats held on to the few Republican supporters who helped hammer out a compromise measure last week.

The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote of 61-37. Sixty votes were needed. Three Republicans joined Democrats in passage.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed to send a finished bill to Obama's desk "as soon as possible."

Obama, who was in Fort Myers, Fla., promoting his economic rescue efforts, welcomed the vote as "good news. ... It's a good start."

But the work has only just begun for congressional leaders in the House and Senate, who now must reconcile the differences between their two versions of the bill during what's known as a conference committee.

I downed about three Guinness drafts when I heard the news--it was either that or puke. Maybe I;ll drink about eight more and puke anyway.

The unholy alliance of Specter, Collins and Snowe crossed and voted for this abortion of a bill even though it appears Specter had not a clue what was in it.

I love Obama's line "it's a start". I guess he's not just happy destroying America, he wants to salt the land so all hope is gone.

This is liberal nirvana, we have a tax cheat setting policy that no one has any confidence in and appears as if will send us the rest of the way into oblivion and three RINO's sealed the deal. Great day for America, eh?

Change we can believe in indeed.

Israeli Election Day

Polls say Netanyahu but it's close and things change once people enter the voting booth.

Aussie Dave is live blogging at Israelly Cool.

In absolutely a non-surprising fashion, the LA Times seems upset that Israel would favor security of her citizens over negotiating with terrorists.

Reaction To The Obama Press Conference

If Obama's intent was to rally the nation, he failed miserably. He looked unsure and stammered through most answers in a way some candidates do when trying to extend their time to the full two minutes in a debate or like a kid trying to make the full five minutes required for an oral book report. He looked, in a word: uncomfortable.

Walter Shapiro--no conservative, he--noticed as well:

Through most of his inaugural primetime press conference, Barack Obama seemed like he was channeling a particularly loquacious combination of Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and the ghost of Hubert Humphrey. The president's response to the first question from the Associated Press about the risks of sounding too apocalyptic about the economy ran (or, to be more accurate, crawled) for nearly 1,200 words--and ended with Obama saying "Okay" with an implicit question mark as if he were requesting permission to keep on talking. A national poll from the Pew Research Center released Monday afternoon found that 92 percent of Americans described Obama as a "good communicator." There is a suspicion that those astronomic numbers had dipped by the time that Obama exited from the East Room of the White House at 9 p.m. on the dot.

Mr. Shapiro, I suggest you seek cover and duck for you have broken the liberal law of saying that Obama just isn't that great of a communicator. Libs think of him as their Reagan while the rest of us chuckle every time we hear that.

Obama didn't get his point across--or if he did, it was mixed in with so much mumbo-jumbo as to be indistinguishable to the average viewer. What was needed was brevity and what was delivered was decidedly long-winded, non-committal and flat.

If anything good comes out of this stimulus nonsense, it's the fact that America has seen the Barack Obama that we on the right saw a year ago--a man who was short on executive experience and was not close to what was needed in crucial times.

Tough times call for great men and women, people who can rally an entire nation to the cause through words and ideas instead we got a one-hour campaign press conference and a litany of regurgitated, Rahm Emanuel talking points and some throw-away lines on the A-Rod scandal thanks to a question that was embarrassing in the format.

Random South Park Episode--Die Hippy, Die

It's wrong on so many levels. Hope y'all enjoy it. BTW, love the Che shirt, Stan.

In honor of the episode I give you the Dead and Slayer. Watch the SP video for context:

The Obama Presser

He's nervous and is stammering. He's no Reagan but who is?

Obama blamed the crisis on banks when it was surely governmental policy.

Plus, he's not asking anyone who will ask a tough question and honestly, it seems as though he knows of every question beforehand, hence, he's only asking those he knows will go soft. Even so, he's not exactly instilling much confidence in anyone.

Jake Tapper asked a good one: "what is your metric for gauging success?". The One is stumbling on it. He said it's jobs and is now on record. Freeing up credit was two and the housing market was three.

The CNN guy wants Obama to start showing flag-draped coffins. Fucking ghoul.

WTF? The WaPo dude asked about A-Roid? An absolute softball but that's to be expected. We're facing a crippling bill and the dude asked about A-Roid. You've gotta be kiddin' me.

Helen Thomas: "so-called terrorists". She's angling to get Obama to dime out Israel as well. Always the anti-Semite, old Helen. Update: Here's the vid from the national embarrassment, Ms. Thomas:

Link:

Now he's taking questions from the HuffPo? Putting Bush on trial is the quest of Arianna.

Obama essentially called Bush a torturer. Nice. His answer was, in a nutshell, "yeah, I'll consider putting Bush on trial but it'll come back an bite me big time".

Monday Night News and Notes

I'm still on the East Coast clock so I'm all fubar here. I expect 24 to start in an hour and a half not 4 1/2 hours.

Anyway, here's what's happening around the Internet:

Treacher brings us The One pulling a Gerald Ford boarding Marine One complete with appropriate music. Awesome:



That video above is pure gold. Obama has been shown to be less than the Smartest Guy on the Planet over his first month, huh?

Laura Rosen Cohen ponders The Silence of the Leftists.

It seems that the Melbourne fires are Kevin Rudd's Katrina.

Nice, an attorney takes an unorthodox approach in battling the ACLU.

What was old is new again. Obama goes back to the Clinton years in more ways than hiring retreads.

A must read by Michael Totten who helps lead the world of citizen journalism. Please give him a donation if you can to keep reports like these going. I'd love to have a beer with Totten and Michael Yon one day.

Rancher Sued By Illegals On Civil Rights Grounds

The GOP just had another winning issue drop right into their laps:

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

Oh baby, this is an issue I'd push incredibly hard and make it the next stimulus bill-type battle. We've managed to regain our footing in the House and almost in the Senate (thank you Senator Specter).

This guy was protecting his property, stopped those who entered it at gunpoint, turned in criminals and is now being sued because of it. There's no one in America outside San Francisco or New York City who couldn't understand that this guy was protecting his property.

If I were Rep. Cantor I'd highlight this issue and make it stay in the news for weeks. Make Obama comment on it and then hammer him if he took the side of illegals. It's golden.

Quoth Allah:

If only the stimulus bill wasn’t so well thought out and efficient, we could have directed a billion or two of that trillion to beefing up security and hiring new BP agents. I guess that’s the price we pay for perfection.

No word on Sen. McCain's stance on this issue.

Global Warming Believers Pick and Choose

Global warming swindlist's have no shame as made abundantly clear by Tim Blair:

I’m an American climate activist. My heart goes out to all suffering this devastation. I also appeal to you to tell your stories, in blogs or wherever you can; we need your voices to help get climate change laws and treaties passed. Americans don’t understand the harsh reality of GW coming to us all.

Karen, San Francisco, USA

Note that Karen and her vile ilk have said nothing about those in Kentucky who have been suffering without electricity or heat for weeks thanks to a nice storm that dumped icy global warming all over them. I guess that doesn't fit in to the global warming schtick, eh Karen? Plus they're Southerners in a red state so fuck 'em, right? 30 rednecks don't mean anything to the enlightened Friscans I guess. Perhaps if the power was shut off to an abortion mill they'd be worked up. A real shocker she's from Nancy Pelosi's district in San Fran.

If this had been Bush, we'd never hear the end of it but with Obama in power...not so much.

Update: How much does anyone want to bet that Karen is too stupid to realize that it's summer in Australia?

Specter, Snowe and Collins Whore Themselves Out

They plied the oldest profession by voting for this atrocious bill that will have dire consequences.

And it now goes to a vote tomorrow and eventual restructuring (read: adding back that which was removed) in committee:

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Monday advanced the $838 billion economic stimulus bill, clearing a major procedural hurdle by a razor thin margin with the help of just three Republicans. A vote on final passage of the bill is expected on Tuesday.

The Senate vote, by 61 to 36, to close debate on the stimulus, symbolized the partisanship that still grips Congress despite President Obama’s call for new cooperation. It also highlighted the rising power of the centrist Republicans who cast the critical votes. Under Senate rules, it takes 60 votes to invoke cloture and usher a bill to a vote.

Those votes, by Senators Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, along with the 56 Democrats and two Independents who regularly vote with them, followed a succession of floor speeches by Republicans criticizing the stimulus as a bloated, wasteful spending bill.

Sens. Specter, Collins and Snowe should be so proud for their "bi-partisan" vote. It doesn't matter if it's the shittiest bill ever passed and one in which we will lay our future at the hands of China and the emirates, as long as you showed a spirit of cooperation that is so important to Democrats now that they are in power.

You all just were taken in by a dude who promised at the party that if you just fooled around with him, he wouldn't tell anyone and would still respect you in the morning. Guess what? He just posted every lurid detail on his Facebook page and everyone knows how you all whored yourselves out against the warnings of those who knew how it would end. You should feel cheap and used but of course, you won't.

I am on a personal mission to sink Specter at every opportunity. I live over the bridge from PA and will make it my sole goal to see him ousted from the Senate.

It's funny how a North Carolina Democrat has more intestinal fortitude and conservative leanings than these three (hopefully soon to be former) GOP Senators.

Monday Morning News and Notes

It's early here on the left coast but I'm in an right coast mindframe.

Here's what's new in the world:

Global warming is being questioned just about every day now.

Ah, the stimulus is turning out just great, isn't it?

Business is bad all over, people are losing their jobs so let's ban selling smokes at drug stores.

Because all economies have "performance issues".

The recssion and one party rule in Philly.

Sens. Specter, Collins and Snowe Will Sentence Us to $9.7-Trillion Hell

Thanks Senator's:

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation’s home mortgages.

The Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have lent or spent almost $3 trillion over the past two years and pledged to provide up to $5.7 trillion more if needed. The total already tapped has decreased about 1 percent since November, mostly because foreign central banks are using fewer dollars in currency-exchange agreements called swaps. The Senate is to vote early this week on a stimulus package totaling at least $780 billion that President Barack Obama says is needed to avert a deeper recession. That measure would need to be reconciled with an $819 billion plan the House approved last month.

Only the stimulus package to be approved this week, the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program passed four months ago and $168 billion in tax cuts and rebates approved in 2008 have been voted on by lawmakers. The remaining $8 trillion in commitments are lending programs and guarantees, almost all under the authority of the Fed and the FDIC. The recipients’ names have not been disclosed.

“We’ve seen money go out the back door of this government unlike any time in the history of our country,” Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said on the Senate floor Feb. 3. “Nobody knows what went out of the Federal Reserve Board, to whom and for what purpose. How much from the FDIC? How much from TARP? When? Why?”

When Byron Dorgan is asking questions, you know it's not good for anyone.

Read that again, 90% of mortgages could be paid off using the money these elected officials have blown but then they couldn't grease palms for the next election now could they?

Talk about a stimulus; give people actual money with the intent on paying down their mortgages--the largest debt anyone has and the largest chunk of money paid out monthly. If the American public could cut their debt in half, the banks would start lending again, money would flow from more free spending and tax coffers would grow in no time. But that would require fiscal sanity and we are well past that point.

Go ahead senators, vote for this and enjoy the fleeting huzzahs from the Democrats. Just know you've sentenced the rest of the nation and our children's children to a life of paying for it all. Maybe Obama will invite you to the White House and pat you behind the ears.