Two Issues That Will Help the GOP in 2010

The GOP has had a tin ear when it comes to sensing issues that will not rally the base but elicit a response from Democrats and Independents. The last week has given them two.

The first would be the Iranian situation. Obama's tepid response to those who seek only a small semblance of freedom should be point number 1A when it comes to ads during the next cycle. He essentially sold them out and that should be played out to the fullest. Here we saw--in real time--the quashing of the seeds of a revolution where people begged The One to respond in their favor and he punted.

Next we have the Cap and Trade fiasco. Americans are wavering on the entire global warming hysteria and the passage of that bill by the House with--what one can hope is a defeat in the Senate--should be point number one. Obama pushed for a bill that would or could raise the utility prices of the average American dramatically.

If the GOP had any coherence, they'd play it up as a tax during a major recession. Rasmussen has a huge gap between those who think it would help or hurt the economy:

Americans have mixed feelings about the historic climate change bill that passed the House on Friday, but 42% say it will hurt the U.S. economy.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 19% believe the climate change bill passed by the House on Friday will help the economy. Fifteen percent (15%) say it will have no impact, and 24% are not sure.

A majority of both Republicans (56%) and adults not affiliated with either major political party (52%) think the bill will hurt the economy. Among Democrats, however, 30% say it will help the economy, 23% that it will hurt and 21% say it will have no impact.

Hell, only 30% of Dems have any hope it will help and those are the green liberals and Kool-Aid drinkers who haunt the fringe. It's a loser and one that should embolden the GOP going into the health care fight and the next election cycle.

Here's to hoping the bastards don't blow it as they have so many times before.

Afghani Civilians Die, Media Silent

In our latest installment of "What Would the Media Be Writing If Bush Were Still President", we have this story:

Civilian deaths resulting from armed hostilities between insurgents, the US military, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and government forces have increased by 24 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2008, according to a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

In May alone, 261 non-combatants lost their lives in conflict in Afghanistan, John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told members of the Security Council at a meeting on 26 June.

One of the worst incidents was in May when dozens of civilians, among them at least 65 women and children, were killed when US forces bombed a village in the Bala Bulok district of Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 26 May.

The left criticized Bush and us conservatives for every single civilian death. Now that their guy is the one calling the shots, not a damn peep. It's not yet a "quagmire" or "lost" as the esteemed Senate Majority Leader once said of Iraq--a war in which Bush left Obama in a winning position and one he seems to be blowing.

You won't hear me blaming Obama or the military as we are at war and deaths are sad but in many cases unavoidable. The enemy hides among civilians and telling friend from foe is difficult on a good day. My point is that the media is not even reporting this info with Obama in the Oval Office when it would have been front page on the NY Times and WaPo for two days were it under Bush's watch.

Sotomayor, Racial Demagogues Take a Hit From SCOTUS

Merit-based promotions were proven to be the correct method of promoting people. You know, back in the day where hard work and education were actually rewarded by employers before the government stepped in and unconstitutionally instituted racial quotas.

In our brave, new post-partisan world where Obama was elected, race isn't supposed to matter anymore and 5 out of 9 justices said so today:

The Supreme Court's reversal Monday of a discrimination ruling involving a group of white Connecticut firefighters has provided critics of high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with some fresh ammunition.

Republican senators and conservative groups contend that the justices' 5-4 ruling on Ricci vs. DeStefano represents a rebuke of Sotomayor's handling of the case. She was a member of a three-judge panel on the federal appeals court in New York that heard the action and sided against the white firefighters.

"This case will only raise more questions in the minds of the American people concerning Judge Sotomayor's commitment to treat each individual fairly and not as a member of a group," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sotomayor is a fan of the justice is not blind camp and was rebuked by the right-thinking justices. Perhaps we'll finally put an end to the quotas debate once and for all.

Are the Lights Going Out on Global Warming?

Global warming hysteria has always been media-driven instead of science driven. The media was complicit in essentially writing talking points into their reporting that were spoon fed by the global warming lobby. It fit the meme well; reduced fuel usage, increased pressure on industry and a nice, handy club with which to beat the GOP with.

But as people started paying attention, the facts started to come out and they sure didn't jibe with what the media was saying. people sitting through a brutal winter and cooler summers started looking at the data and it didn't add up. Eventually they realized that Al Gore and his ilk were full of hot air, not the atmosphere.

We have further proof that the glory days of "climate change" are close to over:

As they claw and scratch to round up enough votes to pass a climate bill, House Democrats had a seeming ace in the hole: former Vice President Al Gore.

But a planned news conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mr. Gore, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, was quietly scrapped with just a few hours notice.

Mr. Gore, the Nobel laureate and star of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the Oscar-winning documentary on climate change, has long been a bit of a lightning rod when it comes to climate issues. And, with the speaker’s office growing more confident the climate bill will pass, a Democratic official said it was decided that, instead of a news conference, Mr. Gore should quietly contact lawmakers one-on-one from his home in Tennessee.

Mrs. Pelosi told reporters, somewhat cryptically, on Thursday that “it’s a question of what was energy efficient for the vice president.”

Even with the Democrats’ increased confidence, the vote on the climate bill, which could happen as early as Friday, is still expected to be close. Representative Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the House energy panel, already negotiated this week to make the bill more palatable to moderate and farm-state Democrats.

Blue Dog Dems and liberal Republicans are realizing just what "cap and trade" will mean and they don't want to have to explain an affirmative vote to their constituents who will see their monthly bills rocketing upwards in a recession.

Given my choice, I'd much rather see the health care bill go down but this bill will harm American business in ways we can't even fathom. The increased cost and onerous regulatory scheme will force what remaining industry we have offshore and cost us tens or hundreds of thousands of jobs.

RIP: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett Dead

Michael Jackson was an enigma and one who never looked comfortable in his own skin. So he tried to change it and his looks. He lived a tough life and today passed at 50 of a heart attack. There are implications it was drug-related like Elvis but I'll not link to them. My prayers go out to his kids.

Farrah Fawcett rocketed to fame, invented a hair style and was the "it" girl for awhile. Who would ever forget the iconic poster at right that inspired a zillion young boys to take five showers a day. She too passed today at 62 from cancer.

The Vindication of George Bush Continues

President George W. Bush was ridiculed for his idea that democracy in Iraq could take hold, flourish and spread. The liberal intelligentsia scoffed at the redneck cowboy from Texas and his un-nuanced line of thinking. In their minds, the only way to get any change was through negotiations (now it's unconditional negotiations). This in spite of the fact that Ronald Reagan proved the exact opposite 20-odd years ago.

Here's the proof that Bush was right:

Regardless of whether the current Iranian regime survives the uprising it provoked with its sham election, the events in Tehran are the latest affirmation of a pretty darn happy fact:

The first year of the post-Bush era is turning out to be a triumphant one for neoconservatism.

It is deliciously ironic that a doctrine America supposedly rejected, even though few really knew what it was, has emerged as a set of principles no one seriously questions as the world evolves to prove its wisdom. Indeed, in order to escape the political firestorm that nearly engulfed him this week, President Obama had to finally give in and talk like a neocon.

The liberal establishment and some conservatives laughed at Bush for his inane concepts, concepts that have borne fruit. Here's the gist:

...Now let’s deal with the one actually pursued by the administration of George W. Bush with the support of publications like The Weekly Standard and Commentary. The real neoconservatism simply held that the United States should support the advance of freedom and liberty throughout the world, wherever it can. It further posited that freedom and liberty are the God-given birthright of all people, and that – given the opportunity – people will always choose to be free. It further posited that when people become free, others see it, envy it and want it too.

The primary action for the United States in all this is to support democratic movements. Somewhere along the line, critics came to conflate this with the U.S. invading other countries and forcing them to accept our form of government. In fact, the two invasions that occurred during the Bush Administration were exceptions to the rule of how neoconservative goals are best achieved. We invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks because the people who ruled that nation were harboring our attackers. We invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein was in violation of the terms of the Gulf War cease fire agreement of 1991, and the United Nations sure as hell wasn’t going to do anything about it.

Please read the entire, excellent piece.

The overarching fact is that it worked in Iraq. How well? Well enough that Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Sistani slammed the mullahcracy in Iraq and may well pave the way for a successful overthrow of the oppressive junta in that nation.

Stay Classy John Kerry

The Boston Brahmin who looks like Lurch and sounds like an Ivy League lecturer from hell sinks to new depths:

The Bay State senator was telling a group of business and civic leaders in town at his invitation about the “bizarre’’ tale of how South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford had “disappeared for four days’’ and claimed to be hiking along the Appalachian Trail, but no one was really certain of his whereabouts.

“Too bad,’’ Kerry said, “if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin.’’

The Democratic-centric crowd laughed.

Ha ha...Of course they did.

Yeah, it's funny to goof on a Governor who has a son in Iraq and a child with Down Syndrome. What has Senator Kerry done for the world except support thugs like Daniel Ortega and ski in Aspen?

Meanwhile, Gov. Palin continues to support our military while Kerry continues to discredit them and belittle the education they have.

Update: Open season includes taking shots at Trig Palin. Real scumbags those inclusive liberals.

Showdown With North Korea

With Iran making noise in the Mideast, the other remaining charter member of the Axis of Evil is feeling a little left out in the far east. Kim Jung-Il will not be ignored evidently:

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.

Off China's coast, a U.S. destroyer was tailing a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar in what could be the first test of U.N. sanctions passed to punish the nation for an underground nuclear test last month.

The Kang Nam left the North Korean port of Nampo a week ago with the USS John S. McCain close behind. The ship, accused of transporting banned goods in the past, is believed bound for Myanmar, according to South Korean and U.S. officials.

..."If the U.S. imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will ... wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The warning came on the eve of the 59th anniversary of the start of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in state of war.

The NoKo's are threatening to launch a missile toward Hawaii and can send a million men south across the 38th parallel with little notice. Our 28,500 men and women can resist but for how long is any one's guess. We have been training with ROK troops for years and are most-likely stepping that up.

This is the clearest example yet of the lack of respect the world's leaders have for Obama. Sure, these despots and thugs would get froggy on occasion when Bush was in office but never so overtly and never so provocatively. Kim is risking all-out war and doesn't seem too concerned that we will respond with any type of force other then defensively. How about moving a carrier into the arena at least.

Thank heavens Bush pushed so hard for missile defense during his eight years; a program Obama is trying to kill.

Health Care Elitism From Obama

From the health care infomercial on ABC last night:

The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.

Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance.

Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.

The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if "it's my family member, if it's my wife, if it's my children, if it's my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.

Emphasis mine.

Of course he wouldn't make such a pledge because he knows what will happen to American health care should the government control it and he knows it will not be the best in the world anymore for him or his family. Instead he's willing to sentence the rest of us to a world where we have to beg and plead with bureaucrats for simple procedures we now receive upon request and would have to wait months for needed surgery that we could schedule next week under the current system.

We'll have a system whereby those with the means will get the best care from the best doctors while those without will be treated by third-world schooled doctors who will have guidelines and standards dictated to them by the government. In essence, we will have the same non-care they have in Britain. That will be the state of health care in Obamanation.

No thanks.

Iran's Tiananmen Square

From bad to horrible. Update: This is a must read on just how magnificently Obama has failed in what can only be seen as his first true test on foreign policy. A nation of oppressed people begged him for help and he turned his back on them and sentenced others who may try the same thing in North Korea, Burma and The Sudan (update: add Venezuela to the list) to more years of authoritative rule with the complete absence of freedom.


More Chip Bok cartoons here.

Wednesday Night News & Notes

A tumultuous day to say the least. Unfortunately, the tryst by Sanford will get all the ink while the crackdown in Iran will get inside the paper coverage.

Here's what else is going on:

-Shocka! The Saudi's have deep ties with terrorist's. And to think not only did Bush hold hands with their leader, Obama debased himself by bowing to him.

-House Democrats are looking to stick the next nail into the coffin of capitalism in the US by re-opening all trade pacts including NAFTA.

-The Aussies may help America again.

-Bawnie Fwank is trying to create a new housing bubble. The dude never learns.

-Predictable. Dem tax laws close plant in Tampa built a hundred years ago and force production out of the US. Another 500 jobs not saved and lost by the Obama administration.

Iranian Regime Settles the Score

It only took the silence of a US president to signal the regime that they could start handling the protests in their own, special, hyper-violent way and face no ramifications.

Today the mullahs unleashed hell upon those who dared to stand up for freedom in the theocratic nation and the result will be untold dead and wounded.

Gateway Pundit has all the news plus video and pictures from the crackdown including this:



But wait, their will be serious ramifications on a scale like those levied by the UN: Obama rescinded his invitation to Iranian diplomats who were previously invited to the White House barbecue. It would have been awkward eating hamburgers with the blood of innocents all over their hands I guess. I'm sure Obama would have covered for them by saying it was only ketchup.

Note to Pols: Keep It In Your Pants

What is it with politicians and infidelity? I get the fact that they are egotistical, narcissistic liars to begin with as those are the main job requirements but do they have any forethought as to consequences?

The latest is South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford who stoked a rabid press orgy by disappearing for four days. It turns out the guv was visiting his love interest in Argentina:

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford acknowledged Wednesday that he was carrying on an affair with a woman in Argentina when he disappeared from his office last week, only to resurface this morning.

Sanford said he would resign as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and asked for forgiveness from his wife and four sons.

He did not respond when asked if he would resign as governor.

He also did not identify the woman, but asked for privacy. He said that his wife had known about the affair for five months and that he had known the woman for eight years.

He described the affair has having begun innocently enough, via e-mail.

By the time the next presidential election occurs, the only one left will be Sarah Palin and there's no way she's cheating as the press are following her constantly.

One good thing about Sanford's weird presser is that he didn't make his wife stand next to him ala Spitzer and he came clean quickly unlike Clinton. Plus he had at least enough respect for his wife not to knock boots in his own house like Bubba did.

Nice career you had, idiot. You've let down the party, your state, your wife and most importantly your kids. You must be proud.

AFL-CIO hands out Hard Hats Made in China

In a move that sums up the idiocy of Big Labor, they handed out hard hats and pushed for passage of "Card Check"--the anti-American bill they are pushing whereby secret ballots are replaced by open ones. The hard hats were stamped with stickers that read "Made in China".



And these are the people that are now co-owners of GM. They were too friggin' stupid to buy hard hats made in America and we're supposed to trust them.

Thoughts on the Obama Press Conference

I didn't watch it live as I, unlike a great many in the brave, new Obamanation, still have to work. I did read the transcripts and have a few thoughts as to what was and wasn't said.

Iran:
Obama upped his concern level to "appalled and outraged" after being asked a question by the HuffPo that was clearly planted. "It was heartbreaking" he said that Neda Agha-Soltan was gunned down in the street.

This is clearly not enough and much too late. The protests have ebbed and any chance to oust the regime was lost because Obama refused to step up to the plate and paint the scenes on the streets of Tehran as what they really were; the seeds of democracy and freedom. His non-condemnation was mealy-mouthed and the world knows it. He had the opportunity to have a "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" moment and instead opted to let things play out.

Obama clearly does not believe in American exceptionalism and thus has sentenced the Iranian people to another decade of oppression. Add to that the fact that we were blamed for it anyway and we have an emboldened regime instead of a weakened one that will laugh at the amateur politician from Chicago when it comes time to negotiate the mullahs mad quest for nukes.

All in all a lost opportunity to make an historic statement at an historic time. But don't fret libs, the media will have his back.

Afghanistan and Iraq:
Obama continuously said on the stump that we dropped the ball by invading Iraq and turning our back on Afghanistan. It was wrong then but politically worked. But what about now where we have Iraq in check and a clear path in Afghanistan? He said nothing. This on a day where we took out 60 at a Taliban "wedding". (As an aside, it would have been question #1 as the media would have bought the wedding line and hammered Bush with it)

In fact, he did not mention Afghanistan, Iraq, any branch of the military or the War on Terror. All domestic policy, all the time with the exception of noting that he's essentially in "AA" for smoking. You either smoke or you don't dude. You can't be kind of pregnant or kind of a smoker.

North Korea:
The One didn't broach the subject of NoKo at a crucial time where a NoKo ship is being tailed by a US warship and believed to be carrying nuclear weapons hardware or materials. Add to that the fact that Kim Jung-Il has threatened to launch a missile towards Obama's former home Hawaii next week and one would consider it a topic of importance.

I guess he doesn't want to "meddle" in their affairs either.

All in all it was typical Obama trying to connect with the American people and using his alleged eloquence to make us all feel better while ramming through cap and trade and health care. The thing is, he's on the air somewhere every day so yesterday it was just another news day when it could have been a day where he instilled confidence and garnered some goodwill. people are tiring of his narcissistic act and he didn't help that in the least yesterday.

By the way, for a guy who is full of hope and change, he sure seems pissed off quite a bit, doesn't he? Video below:

90% Against Higher Spending, 10% Not Paying Attention

The luster is off and the honeymoon is over for Obama and it all comes down to his huge spending plans:

More broadly, worries about the deficit remain widespread, with almost nine in 10 Americans saying they are "very" or "somewhat" concerned about its size.

One factor that continues to work for Obama, however, is that most Americans still see him as a new type of Democrat, one "who will be careful with the public's money," rather than an old-style, "tax-and-spend Democrat." By this point in 1993, Clinton had lost the new-style label, which he had maintained over the first months of his presidency.

Obama has used the power and financial resources of the federal government repeatedly as he has dealt with the country's problems this year, to the consternation of his Republican critics. The poll found little change in underlying public attitudes toward government since the inauguration, with slightly more than half saying they prefer a smaller government with fewer services to a larger government with more services. Independents, however, now split 61 to 35 percent in favor of a smaller government; they were more narrowly divided on this question a year ago (52 to 44 percent), before the financial crisis hit.

Losing Independents is telling as they were the ones who put him over the top. If he loses them and loses any more Democrats he will have a hard slog come the 2010 midterms.

This is good news on another front as the administration will have a much more difficult time pushing through healthcare.

Obama overshot his perceived mandate by a good margin it appears.

The Stimulus Craters, But Hey, it's Politically Correct

In what will go down in history as an example of what not to do during a recession, the stimulus plan put together by the Obama team has had no impact and in fact may have driven us much deeper into the recession bordering on depression.

His tactic of using fear to further his agenda and his bold predictions are coming back to bite him and despite a compliant media apparattus, people are starting to see right through his bluster and platitudes.

Today we have a couple stories that the media tries to white-wash but can't quite seem to gloss over enough. First from the Weekly Standard:

A "man-cession." That's what some economists are starting to call it. Of the 5.7 million jobs Americans lost between December 2007 and May 2009, nearly 80 percent had been held by men. Mark Perry, an economist at the University of Michigan, characterizes the recession as a "downturn" for women but a "catastrophe" for men.

...The National Organization for Women (NOW), the Feminist Majority, the Institute for Women's Policy Research, and the National Women's Law Center soon joined the battle against the supposedly sexist bailout of men's jobs. At the suggestion of a staffer to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, NOW president Kim Gandy canvassed for a female equivalent of the "testosterone-laden 'shovel-ready' " terminology. ("Apron-ready" was broached but rejected.) Christina Romer, the highly regarded economist President Obama chose to chair his Council of Economic Advisers, would later say of her entrance on the political stage, "The very first email I got . . . was from a women's group saying 'We don't want this stimulus package to just create jobs for burly men.' "

The result as anyone can see is predictable. Construction jobs that would have had an enormous ripple effect were eschewed for more women friendly jobs and have had the effect of stifling job growth. But hey, it was politically expedient so who cares if it doesn't actually help get us out of the economic malaise?

Next we have the Inquirer publishing this piece on the non-effect of the stimulus. Christina Romer--a chief architect of this monstrosity--tries to defend it:

She said she could well imagine many people saying, "OK, we passed the stimulus act [four] months ago; the economy should be better."

Romer is chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers and coauthor of the stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In an interview from the White House, she said the stimulus had had major impact.

"We were an economy in free fall, and that's no longer the case," she said. "If you think where we were in January, that was really frightening."

Is Romer deluded? It's more frightening now then it was in January but the Obama administration is trying to paint a happy face on a pile of shit and Romer is sucking down the Kool-aid in ever larger amounts and will soon be mainlining it into her veins like Layne Staley did heroin.

But it gets better and sums up New Jersey in one statement:

He read that New Jersey would get $17.5 billion in tax relief and spending. Based on a formula, the White House said the stimulus would foster 100,000 jobs in the state.

He kept up with the news last month as ground was broken on the first part of $652 million in road work that New Jersey will get. That's what got him calling government offices.

He was led to the state's stimulus Web site, nj.gov/recovery. He saw no jobs there. But on a Transportation Department site he found names of firms that had won highway contracts.

When he got the owner of one company on the phone, the owner asked him, "Are you in the union?"

"No," he said.

Donahue figured he couldn't catch a break.

"They said they were only hiring union workers."

So we now see that if you are not union or a woman, you are screwed. The funny thing is that it's only non-union companies who are thriving led by the union-busting Wal-Mart. Payback is not so fast in coming for a trade union near you in spite of the sop paid to them by Obama.

I guess if you are a woman, union and a democrat, you're probably having a good recession. The rest of us are pretty much fucked.

I'm feeling so incredibly hopey and changey today, how about you?

Monday Iran Update

Things were somewhat calmer over the weekend but threaten to flair up again. Here's today's news:

-Obama says that those feel good invitations he extended to Iranian diplomats still stand and yes, he would be delighted to celebrate the birthday of the worlds greatest democracy with those who are actively oppressing the onset of one.

-26-year old Neda Agha-Soltan is remembered by her family in what has to be the most tragic event of the uprising. She was a bystander essentially and will now go down as the face of the revolution. Senator McCain eulogizes her in a way she greatly deserved. Her picture is at right.

-Christopher Hitchens puts the wood to Obama over his utter failure on Iran. Note to self; never piss off Hitch.

-Obama and Hugo Chavez are of one mind on Iran. Nice company he keeps.

-Rumors have been flying that the Republican Guard is disobeying orders and will not attack protesters, which means it will be hardline thugs doing the dirty work. People are fighting back. Note, all links are to Gateway Pundit who has done fantastic work on this issue.

Iran Update

Events in Iran took on a new meaning yesterday as the protesters passed the point of no return and openly went against the orders of the Ayatollah's. They've shown that we are in a new world, a new generation where new media, the Internet and technology can thwart even the most oppressive regimes.

Here's what's new in the revolution:

-Notice on the right that Regime Change Iran is back after three years of dormancy.

-Compare and contrast.

-There are several videos coming out showing shootings. Most are chaotic and unclear but you get the general feel of the events that are occurring. Gateway Pundit has them.

-Mark Steyn: "You always have a dog in the fight, whether you know it or not." The Guardian: Supporters of Iranian revolution "childish".

-Iranian state media says 10 dead. I'm guessing that number is off by a zero or more.

-Videos like the one below will galvanize the anti-government protesters rather than cow them:

Friday Iran Update

The events keep on unfolding in Persia while Obama continues to say nothing concrete about those risking their lives to expand freedom. Below are links to the latest news:

--According to several sources inside Iran, today may be the day the crackdowns begin. generally Friday prayers get the faithful pretty worked up and a large group of men believing they are doing God's work can be an effective force for the regime.

--An Iranian diplomat has a minor slip of the tongue concerning his nation and nukes.

--Who's who in Iran.

--Gateway Pundit also has an update. He's doing great work on this.

--Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor steps up and shows some political courage. I mean real political courage, not the manufactured BHO type.

Note: Pic at right is a real billboard in Iran.

Nation Tiring of Obama Policies

How could a man come into office with so much momentum and grind to a halt so fast his airbags deployed? Bad policies, a weak administration and insane spending practices will do it for sure.

While the American people still want Obama to succeed, his numbers on key issues are going down faster than the media when Obama steps in the room:

A distinct gulf exists between Mr. Obama’s overall standing and how some of his key initiatives are viewed, with fewer than half of Americans saying they approve of how he has handled health care and the effort to save General Motors and Chrysler. A majority of people said his policies have had either no effect yet on improving the economy or had made it worse, underscoring how his political strength still rests on faith in his leadership rather than concrete results.

Note this is the NY Times so they actually pump this up and make it appear better than it is. Read the poll data at the site.

Here's a snippet and you'll see his support on key issues plummeting:

(Click to enlarge)

Add to that the findings in a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll and you see more than an anomaly but a steady trend in the downward direction.

Of course, the lefties at FireDogLake stick their collective fingers in their ears and scream "I'm not listening..." over and over again. Ostriches to the last.

China Signals Concern Over Wreckless US Spending (Again)

The signs are appearing on a daily basis that our bankers around the world are seriously concerned with our spending habits.

First, a Chinese scholar scolds us as the ChiComs send a veiled message about their feelings on us accruing massive debt:

"China is implying to the US, more or less, that it should adopt a more pragmatic and responsible attitude to maintain the stability of the dollar," He Maochun, a political scientist at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.

Yes, we are being schooled on fiscal responsibility by a communist nation. Reagan is spinning like a top in his grave.

Next we have the story of Russia and China signing a pact to sell and buy in the Chinese yuan and the Russian ruble in a not so subtle smack at the US and the US dollar.

Speaking of the dollar, the world is responding to the Obama administrations actions and limitless spending by telling us in no uncertain terms that our currency is second-rate and may be replaced by another such as the Euro or a new world currency.

In five short months, we went from the economic powerhouse of the world to a nation on a par with Burma or Mali. And the second part of the double-dip; inflation is still to come.

Thanks Obama. It appears your world-wide groveling has gotten us no where fast and actually sent us backward.

Iran Update

Here's what's going on in the (hopefully soon to be dead) mullahracy:

-The J-Post reports that Hamas thugs are cracking skulls in support of the regime. Didn't Jimmy Carter say that Hamas should be removed from the list of terror groups just yesterday? Yes, yes he did. The irony meter is pegged at eleven:

On Monday, he said, "my brother had his ribs beaten in by those Palestinian animals. Taking our people's money is not enough, they are thirsty for our blood too."

It was ironic, this man said, that the victorious Ahmadinejad "tells us to pray for the young Palestinians, suffering at the hands of Israel." His hope, he added, was that Israel would "come to its senses" and ruthlessly deal with the Palestinians.

-Obama refused to vocalize support for those seeking freedom and justice because he didn't want to hurt the cause by allowing the Mullahs to blame the US. Surprise, they blame us anyway. You see, whenever anything bad happens in Iran, it's all the fault of the US. Kinda like when anything went bad in the US it was Bush's fault.

-New media has a coming out party. Michael Smerconish asked on his radio show this morning what would have been the outcome of other historic events had Twitter been around. It's an interesting question.

-Iranians in South Korea make their feelings known:

Iranian soccer players also wore a green armband to show support. I'd imagine their are going to be a good amount of requests for asylum in South Korea tonight.

-IAEA inspector Mohammed al-Baradei is now a firm believer that Iran wants nukes. The only one who doesn't see this with clarity is Barack Obama.

Finally, I just want to be clear that Mousavi is not a revolutionary but more of the same. This is not a support Mousavi action but it's a start at change. Mousavi knows that should he somehow come out the victor in this, he will have to live up to what the students expect and that's going to be a tough order to fill.

Wednesday Morning News & Notes

Off to work but here's some quick links to must-reads:

--Apparently not quite satisfied with screwing up our economy, Obama looks to destroy the rest of the worlds as well according to this blurb.

--Dumb ass GOP Senator gets in trouble for not keeping it in his pants. Fidelity is dead.

---Drip, drip, drip...Firing scandal gets legs. The BHO administration plays hard ball and looks bad in doing so.

--An inconvenient time for the White House. Why don't those freedom-craving kids just go away?

--The gay constituency isn't too happy with The One.

--The Imus Standard; should Letterman get canned?

--OK, I'll play along. Which countries does socialized medicine work well in?

Obama Increases Outrage Level Over Iran to "Deeply Troubling"

That must be quite comforting to the students who are being murdered by Ahmadinejad's Thugs supporters running around Tehran and other Iranian cities beating the hell out of dissenting citizens and murdering them in increasing numbers.

Allah has video of an alleged murder at Isfahan University while Salon has done great work with an anonymous reporter noting events from the scene. I hope we can one day learn just who the person doing the reporting is as they've done fantastic work.

Great American presidents step up to the plate at crucial moments such as this and some get overcome by them (or simply unprepared to deal with them). Obama falls into the latter. Just like Clinton a decade after the Tienanmen Square massacre, Obama doesn't want to hurt the feelings of a repressive regime and gives nothing but weak lip service to the cause of freedom and human rights.

Here is a moment for America to stand as a beacon of hope to these students and Obama has thrown them under the bus and sentenced them to more years of tyranny and theocracy.

In other news; the worst American president ever--and one with a bit of history with Iran himself--has asked for Hamas to be taken off the list of terror-supporting states. There's only one nation Carter actually thinks is terroristic and he used to be the leader of it.

7 Reasons Why Blogs are Important

here's a shout out to all those who I don't link to nearly enough but are very good at what they do:

Black and Right
Excellent commentary and thoughtful opinion all in one place

The 46
Daily opinions on world events

The Long War Journal
Roggio and staff fight the good fight every single day

I Think, Therefore I Err
Terri blogs what she feels and that is the essence of the new media

Jammie Wearing Fool
Pound for pound among the very best on the web.

Gateway Pundit
See previous. Dude finds stories no one else does.

Mudville Gazette
The grand daddy of the Mil-Bloggers and still the best.

Pictures of Iranian Freedom Revolution

I wrote earlier that President Obama has been tight-lipped about the events in Iran after Ahmadinejad stole the election. Perhaps pictures will wake him up. Nothing like a little dose of reality to smack oneself into action:



Anyone who can sit back and say nothing when they have the power to sway events is not worthy of the title "American" let alone President. These people are fighting for freedom. Unfortunately, The One is only about political expedience and human rights have no place in the mix.

Shameful but not entirely unexpected.

Update: Perhaps video will light a fire under his ass:

Monday Evening News & Notes

The Phillies avoided a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox while the Mets invent new and creative ways to lose then get whacked 15-0 yesterday by those Yankees. Overall a good weekend.

Here's what's happening:

-Here we are less than 200 days into The Greatest Administration evah and we hear Michelle Obama's name come up in discussion of a scandal. I'd say it was Hillaryesque but Hillary waited at least a few months. You can take the politician (or his wife) out of Chicago but you can't take the Chicago out of the politician (or his wife).

-Everything is bigger in Texas; including protests against Nacy Pelosi, evidently.

-Obama's destroyed the economy, set capitalism back decades, screwed up GM and Chrysler and for his latest trick wants to overhaul financial markets. What could go wrong?

-Hey, all it took was a president who turned hard to the left to make Americans remember that we are, essentially, a center-right country.

-Global cooling is making Gore look more like an idiot than ever before. A tough task, that.

Obama's Shameful Silence on Iran

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs are not pulling any punches in putting down the protests over the fraudulent "election" on Friday. Reports have surfaced that the regime is sanctioning--or supporting through proxies--shootings, maimings and beatings of those who are exercising their human right to freedom of speech.

As the Obama administration has so tactlessly made clear with their kid glove treatment of China's human rights policies, they seem to be taking the same approach to Iran. They've said nothing of consequence while muttering non sequiturs and the world is noticing:

Vice President Joe Biden, while expressing "some real doubt" about the election, summed up the administration's position on Sunday's Meet the Press - "we're going to withhold comment... I mean we're just waiting to see." Waiting to see what Mr. Biden? More savage beatings of opposition supporters including women? The further arrest of hundreds of opposition leaders? Even greater suppression of the press and free speech?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton basically said the same thing in a pathetic statement on Saturday, declaring "the United States has refrained from commenting on the election in Iran," while White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who thinks nothing of savaging domestic opponents, meekly noted the administration was "impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm this election generated."

As blood flows on the streets of Tehran, the United States government remains as silent as a Trappist Monk. It is highly embarrassing when even the German government is showing more backbone than the White House. In contrast, the Germans, who shamefully happen to be Europe's biggest exporters to Iran, strongly denounced the crackdown on protestors, as have a number of European governments. Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier condemned the "brutal actions" against demonstrators, and summoned the Iranian Ambassador to Berlin in protest.

Here we have a nation that has snubbed its nose at the US for three decades and has given the finger to Obama on numerous ocassions brutally repressing civilians who seek greater freedom. Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, FDR and yes, even George W. Bush would have been condemning the Iranian leadership at every opportunity. But they had what was once known as guts and an unwavering sense of American exceptionalism. Obama (and most liberals) on the other hand will find some way to blame this on the US while letting the Mullahs and Ahmadinejad off the hook with a few words akin to "we condemn..." or the more mealy-mouthed "we strongly condemn..."

Here we have people protesting and dying to gain some semblance of freedom, the very thing America stands as a beacon (and one the Iranians who are being oppresses are counting on) of and the President can't condemn a brutal theocracy who he had coddled since day one with overtures of talks with no conditions and expressions of peace through speeches.

Oh yeah, Obama did take some action; he removed a major State Dept player who knows Iran well to appease the mullahs. Kind of like voting "present".

As an aside: George W. Bush labeled Iran, North Korea and Iraq the Axis of Evil. Not surprisingly, the one who has been given a new nation with a functioning democracy has learned to live as a free nation while the others have stepped up their level of rhetoric to heretofore unforeseen heights.

Hope and change baby, hope and change.

Update: Obama spoke after three, count 'em, thre days and said, well...nothing of consequence. People are dying and wanted a concrete statement and got rhetoric from The One:

About Those 3.5-Million Jobs Obama Promised...Nevermind

Joe Biden's Emily Litella Moment:

Biden tells "Meet the Press" that "everyone guessed wrong" on the impact of the stimulus, economy was worse off than anyone thought.

Backs away from the estimate that the funds could create or save 3.5 million jobs, instead promises 600,000 by the end of the summer.

Here's Gilda:



I guess Bush was right; governing is hard work.

In Obamanation, Capitalist Lawyers are "Terrorist"

In Obamanation, the safest job in the world is a terrorist so it would seem the guy has nothing to be concerned with. But oh no, in the new domestic war on terror, these terrorists are standing in the way of "progress" and the creation of our new socialist utopia so they must be debased and punished.



Note the last part:

The important part comes at the end: an email exchange between Matthew Feldman, attorney on the President’s Auto Task Force, and Robert Manzo, Chrysler restructuring expert. Manzo is basically pleading to further negotiate to prevent bankruptcy, but Feldman is having none of it. Here is the exchange:

Robert Manzo, Chrysler restructuring expert: “I hope you think it’s worth giving this one more shot.”

Matthew Feldman, attorney on the President’s Auto Task Force: “I’m now not talking to you. You went where you shouldn’t.”

Manzo: “Sorry. I didnt’ mean to say the wrong thing and I obviously did. I was trying oto make sure that if we had to contribute to the solution you knew we had some room. Sorry I did not realize the mistake!!”

Feldman: “It’s over. The President doesn’t negotiate second rounds. We’ve given and lent billions of dollars so your team could manage this properly….And now you’re telling me to bend over to a terrorist like Lauria? That’s B.S.”

The fact that liberals have had no qualms in the past "bend(ing) over to terrorists" it seems as if they shouldn't this time as well. But when you have instituted policies in the auto-wrecking jihad like the Obama team has done--policies that would make Vito and Michael Corleone cringe--you don't bend over to capitalist "terrorists".

Welcome to Obamanation where hard-working men and women--people willing take risks and create wealth--are labeled "terrorists". Lord help us over the next 3 1/2 years.

Via Hot Air.

Friday Morning News & Notes

Momma I'm comin' home...

Here's what's new:

--Bully tactics: Fed threatened Bank of America.

--Smart Cars are not that smart of an investment.

--Hidden taxes will arise everywhere to pay for our expected socialist utopia.

--The future of prescription drugs and new cures looks bleak.

--Holocaust museum gunman was targeting the ultra-liberal Weekly Standard. He also hated Bush, Cheney and all neo-Cons.

Hell Freezes Over: NOW Defends Palin

Hope and change:

The sexualization of girls and women in the media is reaching new lows these days — it is exploitative and has a negative effect on how all women and girls are perceived and how they view themselves. Letterman also joked about what he called Palin’s “slutty flight attendant look” — yet another example of how the media love to focus on a woman politician’s appearance, especially as it relates to her sexual appeal to men. Someone of Letterman’s stature, who appears on what used to be known as “the Tiffany Network” (CBS), should be above wallowing in the juvenile, sexist mud that other comedians and broadcasters seem to prefer.

On that point, it’s important to note that when Chelsea Clinton was 13 years old she was the target of numerous insults based on her appearance. Rush Limbaugh even referred to her as the “White House dog.” NOW hopes that all the conservatives who are fired up about sexism in the media lately will join us in calling out sexism when it is directed at women who aren’t professed conservatives.

This is the first (and probably last time) NOW will stick up for a conservative woman. I guess when it came to joking about a young girl and sex with A-Rod it was finally too much.

Of course that last paragraph was expected because they do have to keep up their liberal street cred you know.

Via Hot Air.

American Medical Association Slams Obama Health Plan

So far we've had people who've been forced to live under socialized medicine come out against it, businesses come out against it and now the top doctor organization in America slams Obama's plan to nationalize our health care system:

WASHINGTON — As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.

The opposition, which comes as Mr. Obama prepares to address the powerful doctors’ group on Monday in Chicago, could be a major hurdle for advocates of a public insurance plan. The A.M.A., with about 250,000 members, is America’s largest physician organization.

The docs know full-well that under socialized medicine, their pay will decrease, the standards of care will diminish and the government will decide what's best for the patient and not them. A lose-lose-lose situation all around.

These men and women are the best and brightest in the world; people from nations with socialized medicine come here to get treated by them. I think we ought to trust someone with 12 years of schooling in medicine over a guy who got a law degree and served as a community organizer.

If this is what the government wants for us, they better get ready for a serious backlash that will put the democrats in a permanent minority.

Terrorists Read Miranda Rights Now

Al-Zawahiri must be chuckling from his safe house:

If Tenet is right, it’s a good thing KSM was captured before Barack Obama became president. For, the Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan, according a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. “The administration has decided to change the focus to law enforcement. Here’s the problem. You have foreign fighters who are targeting US troops today – foreign fighters who go to another country to kill Americans. We capture them…and they’re reading them their rights – Mirandizing these foreign fighters,” says Representative Mike Rogers, who recently met with military, intelligence and law enforcement officials on a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan.

Rogers, a former FBI special agent and U.S. Army officer, says the Obama administration has not briefed Congress on the new policy. “I was a little surprised to find it taking place when I showed up because we hadn’t been briefed on it, I didn’t know about it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of it, but it is clearly a part of this new global justice initiative.”

Caught in Afghanistan committing acts of war against us and they are afforded the same rights as criminals in the US. The only hope I'm feeling is that our military can liquidate enough of them on the field and the only change I see is the change in our vigilance against terrorism. Heaven help us.

Scumbag Neo-Nazi Kills Security Guard at holocaust Memorial

The struggle against terrorism continues:

At 12:40 p.m. yesterday a man stepped through the doors of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He took two paces, lowered his rifle at a security guard and, before anyone could react, opened fire in a popular national landmark.

The guard, who did not have time to draw his gun, fell bleeding and fatally wounded to the polished floor. Other guards fired back, cutting down the assailant. Terrified patrons, many of them children, dived for safety. And what moments before had been a bright weekday in June became a tableau of violence

...The suspect, identified by law enforcement sources as James W. von Brunn, 88, of Annapolis, was said to be a longtime, "hard-core" supremacist whose Internet writings contain extensive, poisonous ravings against Jews and African Americans.

Shameless liberals will hold this up as another example of how right-wingers are going crazy and attach this dirt bag to all conservatives but the simple fact is this guy was a terrorist who hated Jews. He was no different than Ramzi Yousef or Bill Ayers. He was a friggin' terrorist who was responsible for the death of a human.

Note that none of them have brought up the hate-crime murder of the Army recruiter. it doesn't fit the meme I guess.

New GM Head: "I Don't Know Anything About Cars"

Excellent news:

June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Edward E. Whitacre Jr. built AT&T Inc. into the biggest U.S. provider of telephone service over a 43-year-career. By his own admission, he becomes chairman of General Motors Corp. knowing nothing about the auto industry.

The 6-foot-4-inch Texan nicknamed “Big Ed” said steering the nation’s largest automaker after bankruptcy is “a public service.” People who know him say he can meet GM’s need for the type of transformation he orchestrated at Dallas-based AT&T.

“I don’t know anything about cars,” Whitacre, 67, said yesterday in an interview after his appointment. “A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old, and I think the business principles are the same.”

Nice.

Well, we now have a man who knows nothing about cars running "Government Motors" taking direction from a man who knows nothing about being president. What could go wrong?

Wednesday Evening News and Notes

Here's what's news:

-The feds crack down on internet poker players. Libs take the fun out of everything, don't they?

-Budget deficit hits $190-billion. Yes, with a B.

-Surprise. Hamas will listen to their biggest supporter, Jimmy Carter.

-45% say cancel the rest of the stimulus spending. In other news, 55% of Americans have no problem with their money being thrown into a black hole.

-Europe decides to follow us. Waterboarding goes international. Or did we learn it from them?

Noted Smoker Tells You To Live Healthy

The One tells us Americans to do as he says, not as he does:

President Barack Obama eats his vegetables and exercises every day — and he really wants you to do the same.

From the White House garden to his picks for top health jobs, Obama is telling America’s McDonald’s-loving, couch-dwelling, doctor-phobic populace that things are about to change.

Don’t be fooled by the presidential burger runs. Obama and Congress are moving across several fronts to give government a central role in making America healthier — raising expectations among public health experts of a new era of activism unlike any before.

OK, the president shoves burgers down his piehole on a regular basis, sucks down Marlboro's and has instituted fiscal policies that have left us with little to no money to buy the Wagyu steak and arugula that he so cherishes. Instead we have enough to buy a McDouble and a McChicken off the value menu.

The nanny state that exists in New York City is about to go national and the leader of the pack is a chain-smoking guy who induces ulcers.

Tuesday Night News and Notes

Here's the headlines and must reads:

-Actor Jon Voight lays it out against Obama in searing fashion. Nice career you had, Jon:



-Frank Gaffney on America's first Muslim president.

-Sens. Lieberman and Graham threaten to shut down the Senate over release of "torture" photos.

-Joe Sestak looks as though he's going to give the Dems the finger and challenge Arlen Specter in the Democrat primary next year.

-A bleak future: double-digit unemployment, inflation on the horizon and now surging oil prices. It's going to be a year before we see signs of a recovery.

-Iranians just not feeling the love for Obama in spite of his groveling and general lap dog approach to the Mullahs and Ahmadinejad and the medias deification. Who'd have seen that coming?

-Israeli's not feeling the love for The One either. He's alienating everyone. Is there anyone happy with him in the world save Kim Jung-il and Hugo Chavez?

-Biden the buffoon is at it again. imagine if Bush had made 1% of the gaffes this dude does.

Why Are Liberals So In Hate With Sarah Palin?

I guess with Bush gone, they needed a new channel for their utter hatred. we went swiftly from Bush Derangment Syndrome (BDS) to Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS). They are losing it over the good-looking Alaska governor in ways that if she were a liberal would have the NOW gang marching up their collective streets with pitchforks (and probably flying brooms).

Last night, the once-funny David Letterman went after Palin labeling her look "slutty flight attendant" and saying that it was "awkward" that Alex Rodriguez "knocked up her daughter". Again, nothing from the nags of NOW.

Here's the gist at Conservatives 4 Palin.

We also had "comedian" Chuck Nice calling Sarah Palin "very much like herpes" on the Today show, which elicited zero response from the female host. Video of that below:


The hatred of Palin is so vile that if it were aimed at Sotomayor or Pelosi, we'd see breathless front page stories and non-stop news coverage. With Sarah, not so much.

Midwest and Northeast Way Colder Than Normal...I Blame Global Warming (or George W. Bush)

As soon as Global Warming swindlers realized that they look awful silly making GW speeches in extremely cold temps, they changed it from GW to "climate change". They may have to change it again to global cooling:

One of the reasons for this could be colder-than-normal weather across the northern tier of the country that has suppressed the number of thunderstorms and has significantly reduced the number of tornadoes this year. The number of reported tornadoes so far this year is 685, just over half of the average annual amount, which is 1,297.

According to Long Range Expert Joe Bastardi, areas from the northern Plains into the Northeast will have a "year without a summer." The jet stream, which is suppressed abnormally south this spring, is also suppressing the number of thunderstorms that can form. The ones that do form in areas of the Ohio Valley and West are forming in places with very cold temperatures, which can lead to more electrified thunderstorms than normal this year.

Emphasis mine.

The year without a summer? That would mean temps well below normal and interestingly that corresponds with a dearth in sunspot activity indicating once and for all that there is a correlation. In other words, global temps have a lot are cyclical and are naturally occurring so no amount of money, legislative action or restrictions on carbon dioxide will make a damn bit of difference.

Don't tell that to this guy, though.

In other words, the Great Global Warming Swindle has been exactly that, swindlers using pretzel logic to keep the money flowing from governments and idiotic believers.

Now Obama Thinks He's Above Supreme Court

Chutzpah for sure from The One. He may well be smacked down by the high court, however:

The Obama Administration argued Monday that no court, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to hear a challenge by Indiana benefit plans to the role the U.S. Treasury played in the Chrysler rescue, including the use of “bailout” (TARP) funds. The Indiana debt holders, U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan wrote, simply have no right to raise that issue, thus putting it out of the reach of the courts.

...All of the legal filings expected in the Chrysler case are now before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as Circuit Justice, and thus she or the full Court could now act on the three applications to postpone the sale of most of the auto company’s assets to a new company representing a combination with Fiat, the Italian auto company.

Ginsburg or the full Court probably will act by mid-afternoon, since there is a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Second Circuit Court. After that, the plan can go forward, unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise. A federal bankruptcy judge and the Second Circuit have approved the deal. The Circuit Court is expected to issue one or more opinions Monday explaining its decision. The Supreme Court, however, does not have to wait for that in order to act.

I wish it was Alito instead of Ginsburg but she got the draw.

This is a power play of historical proportions and one that will test the checks and balances intended by the framers of the Constitution. A check on Obama here may well give investors some confidence that their investment will be somewhat protected but a decision to allow Obama to go forward would have the opposite effect.

The Supreme Court has the chance to put a stop on our march to socialism and Obama doesn't want anyone standing in his way, not even SCOTUS. Let's wait and see if Ginsburg has the guts to challenge him.

Tigerhawk has more.

Michelle Obama Doesn't Like to Be Upstaged

Apparently Michelle Obama is a bit put off by French First Lady Carla Bruni:

It seems as though Obama is intentionally slighting the French leader and his hot wife for some unknown reason. Perhaps it's because of Michelle. I guess Obama maybe thinks that Sarkozy's France isn't as historically "French" as Obama's America now is.

Ann Althouse is hosting a caption contest.

Public Won't Buy From Government Motors

A large majority of GM owners say that no, they would not be interested in buying a GM vehicle in the future:

Only 42% of those who currently own a General Motors car are even somewhat likely to buy a GM product for their next car. That figure includes just 30% who are Very Likely to do so.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% of current GM owners are not likely to buy another GM car, while 16% are not sure.

Democrats who own GM cars are somewhat more likely than others to buy their next car from GM.

i was discussing this with someone the other day and said the exact same. I would buy a Ford since they've not gone into bankruptcy but never a GM. I'm not sure if it's the fact that the union that sank them was handed a gift of ownership or the fact that those who invested were given the finger that bothers me so bad but both do.

No thanks, if the quality was suspect before, it's going to be atrocious now and the unions will get a good idea of just how bad things are for those of us who don't have the government to bail us out. They took our money and acted smug about it so now they'll understand that socialism is a cancer and they were the reason it was foisted on us.

I'm kind of mixed on this as GM is the test case for Obamanomics and he won't let it fail. He'll pour more money into the black hole and we'll be paying for it for decades. Even so, I'm not buying from Obama Motors.

Hat tip: Hot Air who also brings us the stunning news that more people trust the GOP with the economy than BHO.

Update: SCOTUS stays sale of Chrysler.

Kim Jung-il Sentences US reporters to 12-Years Hard Labor

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton said that Barack Obama has answered that 3:00 AM call and has been successful. Too bad that call was his wife phoning from Paris saying she'd remain in Europe for another day to shop. It looks like the real troubling call was made later and Obama is tanking on the response:

For two families praying for the release of U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the news that they were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp comes as a bombshell as the U.S. government works feverishly for their freedom.

The two women, who were arrested in March while reporting for Al Gore's Current TV along the Chinese-North Korean border, were found guilty today of "hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry."

"She's really scared," "Nightline" contributor Lisa Ling said of her sister in a recent ABC News interview. "I mean, she's terrified. My sister is a wife, with a medical condition. And Euna Lee is the mother of a 4-year-old girl, who has been without her mother for almost three months."

Perhaps if President Obama had had the guts to shoot down the first North Korean missile launched a few months ago or if he had come out more forcefully two weeks ago when Kim detonated a nuke then shot missiles off out of spite we'd be in a better bargaining position. Instead, he wrung his hands and effectively said nothing of consequence.

Instead, he has been traipsing around Europe seeking adulation while the thugs and bad guys of the world chuckle and continue on with their vile plans. We've no leg to stand on and no way to apply pressure short of parking the USS Reagan and USS Carl Vinson off the coast and readying of troops at the 38th parallel for battle.

Funny Kim never tried this while Bush was in office and waited for The One to show his disdain for America.

California Going Conservative?

Maybe the Governator is realizing that conservative ideas are the only ones that will save his state.

First he's contemplating doing away with a major welfare program:

Could California become the first state in the nation to do away with welfare?

That doomsday scenario is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with a staggering $24.3 billion budget deficit.

County welfare directors are "in shock" at the very idea of getting rid of CalWORKs, which has been widely viewed as one of the most successful social programs in the state's history, said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human Assistance in Sacramento.

If it's one of the "most sucessful social programs in history" why does it cost so much money? Successful generally means it pays for itself or is balanced and the program definitely is not.

He's also toying with the idea of a flat tax:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that he would like to see such “radical” proposals come out of a commission now studying an overhaul of the state’s tax system. The governor told the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee that he hoped the commission would not be afraid to propose something like “a 15% straight tax.”

“That’s the kind of radical, daring kind of a proposal that I want to see on the table so we can look at it and say, ‘Oh, let’s study this, maybe that is the way to go,’ ” Schwarzenegger said during the discussion, which was webcast.

The current system, based on highly unstable income tax revenue that fluctuates with the economy, “doesn’t work,” Schwarzenegger said.

Advocates of a flat tax, which applies a single tax rate to all income, say it increases compliance with the tax codes because it is so simple and easy to understand. But opponents dislike that it taxes the wealthy at the same rates as the poor.

Emphasis mine.

Of course they do. Can't have fairness in the plan, now can we? It would work pretty well though. And even though it would be 15% on everyone, it would still be carried by those who make the most. Say the "poor" make $30,000 per year, they would pay $4,500 in taxes while someone making $100,000 would pay $15,000. It would be equiatble and raise known known amounts of revenue and if they were to get rid of exemptions they would be able to budget accordingly.

Expect serious pushback from the tax industry and California tax collecting entities.

It's time for new ideas and bold initiatives because Lord knows that spending money we don't have has been a disaster. It would be nice to smack Obama upside the head with reality if this approach works even a little bit.