Schadenfraude post of the day -- Dan Rather edition

As expected, an appellate court has tossed Gunga Dan's lawsuit against CBS.

A New York state appeals court on Tuesday dismissed former TV newsman Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS Corp in which Rather claimed he was made a scapegoat in a scandal over a 2004 report on then-President George W. Bush's military record.

The ruling on Tuesday by a panel of judges of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division said Rather's $70 million complaint should be dismissed in its entirety and that a lower court erred in denying CBS's motion to throw out the lawsuit.

And the cherry on top:

It looks like Captain Ahab Rather threw about $5 million down the rat hole (per Drudge) trying to vindicate his "fake but accurate" reporting.

Now that Rather is free from CBS maybe he can become a PR rep for ACORN.

You know it's bad when you are mocked by ... the French !!!!!

Sarkozy seems to be less then awed by The One.




Take away line: "And they both say that [France's President Nicolas] Sarkozy thinks that President Obama is incredibly naive and grossly egotistical - so egotistical that no one can dent his naïveté."

Media loses interest in returning war dead

Another dog bites man story here.

Remember back in the days before Tele-prompter Jesus when the media screamed that the Bush administration was trying to cover up the true costs of war by by banning media coverage and "sneaking" fallen heroes into Dover AFB. We were told that it was vital that there be coverage of flag-draped coffins.

Well the Obamessiah repealed that media ban. So how's that coverage been?

In April of this year, the Obama administration lifted the press ban, which had been in place since the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Media outlets rushed to cover the first arrival of a fallen U.S. serviceman, and many photographers came back for the second arrival, and then the third.

But after that, the impassioned advocates of showing the true human cost of war grew tired of the story. Fewer and fewer photographers showed up. "It's really fallen off," says Lt. Joe Winter, spokesman for the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where all war dead are received. "The flurry of interest has subsided."
......
When the casket bearing Air Force Tech. Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va., arrived at Dover the night of April 5 -- the first arrival in which press coverage was allowed -- there were representatives of 35 media outlets on hand to cover the story. Two days later, when the body of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, arrived, 17 media outlets were there. (All the figures here were provided by the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.) On subsequent days in April, there were nearly a dozen press organizations on hand to cover arrivals.

Fast forward to today. On Sept. 2, when the casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. David Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, arrived at Dover, there was just one news outlet -- the Associated Press -- there to record it. The situation was pretty much the same when caskets arrived on Sept. 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 26. There has been no television coverage at all in September.

And much as it pains me, praise should be given to AP for covering every arrival in which the families consent to coverage.

But these days, the press hordes that once descended on Dover are gone, and there's usually just one organization on hand. The Associated Press, which supplies photos to 1,500 U.S. newspapers and 4,000 Web sites, has had a photographer at every arrival for which permission was granted. "It's our belief that this is important, that surely somewhere there is a paper, an audience, a readership, a family and a community for whom this homecoming is indeed news," says Paul Colford, director of media relations for AP. "It's been agreed internally that this is a responsibility for the AP to be there each and every time it is welcome."

Just add this to the list of things to remember when the Dems say we shouldn't play politics with the war.

Obama got played

Obama has bent over backward to obtain "engagement" with Iran. He limited opposition to the regime's brutal crackdown to the threat that the US would "bear witness" to the regime's actions. He has continued the world apology tour for appeasement and continuously pokes a stick in the eye of one of our staunchest allies, Israel.

And for what ?? To be bitch-slapped.

President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain blasted Iran's construction of a previously unacknowledged uranium enrichment facility and demanded Friday that Tehran immediately fulfill its obligations under international law or risk the imposition of harsh new sanctions.

"Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow," Obama said, detailing how the facility near Qom had been under construction for years without being disclosed, as required, to the International Atomic Energy Agency. "International law is not an empty promise."

The new Iranian plant, the country's second uranium enrichment facility, is believed by U.S. officials to be part of a broad effort by Iran's leadership to pursue the ability to build nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied having any such goal, insisting that its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. U.S. officials said they believe the Qom plant is not yet operational but is intended to produce highly enriched uranium -- suitable for nuclear weapons -- and will be capable within months of producing enough material for at least one bomb per year.

In an early indication of Iran's reaction, President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad warned Western officials against pressing their case about the new enrichment plan during the upcoming talks.

"If I were [President] Obama's adviser, I would definitely advise him to refrain making this statement because it is definitely a mistake," Ahmedinejad told Time magazine Friday in an interview in New York that took place even as Obama was publicly revealing the plant's existence. "It would definitively be a mistake."

Ahmadinejad dismissed the accusations from Obama and the other leaders.

Of course he did. Does anyone seriously think that this will suddenly make a difference in policy.

Jim Geraghty eloquently explains what Obama fails refuses to comprehend.

The Iranians are a brutal and cruel regime, willing to murder their own daughters in the streets to keep power, who think nothing of lying to the world. You cannot will them into being a better regime made up of better people. You cannot talk them out of their natures, you cannot negotiate them out of their ambitions, you cannot haggle them into better characters.

UPDATED: The worst part is that Obama has apparently known about this since January and has continued to play the appeasement/engagement game.

But White House officials said Western intelligence agencies have known about the facility for several years and believe that Iran acknowledged its existence Monday in an attempt to head off intense criticism that they knew was coming.

"We believe that the Iranians learned that the secrecy of the facility had been compromised," a senior White House official said Friday morning. "We've been aware of this facility for several years, building up a case so that we had very strong evidence."

Officials from the United States, France and Britain rushed to brief the IAEA in Vienna on Thursday on what they knew about the facility. U.S. officials said that detailed briefing was provided in an attempt to spark an immediate investigation by the international organization.

U.S. intelligence officials said that while they have known for several years about underground construction on the site about 20 miles north of Qom, their confidence about its purpose increased measurably this year. They described the plant as located in series of tunnels deep within a mountain on a base belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. Qom, a Shiite Muslim holy city about 100 miles southwest of Tehran, is considered the birthplace of the religious movement that led to Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

So Obama knew that they were blatantly lying to him and still continued this course of diplomacy. Why, a cynic would think that Obama valued his legacy (i.e. Nobel peace prize) over U.S. national security.

What does "smart" diplomacy look like ??

Certainly not like this.

The juxtaposition on our front page this morning is striking. We carry a photograph of Acting Sgt Michael Lockett - who was killed in Helmand on Monday - receiving the Military Cross from the Queen in June, 2008. He was the 217th British soldier to die in the Afghan conflict. Alongside the picture, we read that the Prime Minister was forced to dash through the kitchens of the UN in New York to secure a few minutes “face time” with President Obama after five requests for a sit-down meeting were rejected by the White House.

Sorry Gordon -- Barry O. was busy telling the world how America has been the source of everything that sucked for the last two centuries and how we turned the corner in January 2010.

Is Obama a racist ??

And I don't mean does his 20 years with Rev. Wright suggests that he hates whitey. I am talking about the only racism recognized by the MSM -- anti-black bigotry. Does Obama's push to get NY guv, David Paterson, to drop out of the race for re-election suggest he is troubled by a black governor ??

I don't tend to think so -- Paterson is a disaster that the dems can't put behind them fast enough. But if all opposition to Obama is racist, I guess it's a fair question. Again, I don't know the answer (maybe Maureen Dowd does) but Mrs. Paterson seems to think so.

And is Paterson a racist for resisting Obama's calls to step aside ??

Maybe, Obama is just prejudiced against people with disabilities. He did make a joke about the Special Olympics.

It is all so very confusing.

It's paranoid to think schools would try to politically indoctrinate young children

At least that's what we were told regarding Obama's back-to-school address. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. Check out this sickening display posted on Drudge:



Question: Since Obama has become the "god" of the secular left -- does this constitute prayer in school ??

Now toll lanes are racist

This is not a joke even if it is something you would expect to see in The Onion:

There's a new turn in the debate over high occupancy toll lanes or HOT lanes.

A lawsuit filed by Arlington County last month claims the lanes benefit wealthy white people and discriminates against minorities. While the only rule to get in the HOV lanes on Interstate 395 is you must have three people in the car, Arlington claims adding HOT lanes would cut out poor and minorities by defacto.

That claim doesn't sit well with Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield).

"I don't think race or class warfare has any standing in this argument," Herrity said.

Buried in the lawsuit filed last month, county attorneys argued the HOT lanes, "encourage and enable a financially-able, privileged class of suburban and rural, primarily Caucasian residents from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties operating single occupancy vehicles ("SOV") unimpeded access on toll lanes."

In other words, it benefits wealthy white people.

A few pages later, the suit claims the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation failed to do the proper environmental analysis and that "their actions also constituted civil rights violations as they discriminated against minority and low income communities."

Welcome to Obama's post-racial America !!!

(h/t - Ace)

So, how's that "smart diplomacy" thing working out ??

Apparently, not so good. Seems the rest of the world has no problem saying "no" "hell no !!" to Obambi.

Everybody is saying no to the American president these days. And it's not just that they're saying no, it's also the way they're saying no.

The Saudis twice said no to his request for normalization gestures towards Israel (at Barack Obama's meeting with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia, and in Washington at meetings with Hillary Clinton). Who says no to the American president twice? What must they think of Obama in the desert kingdom?

The North Koreans said no to repeated attempts at talks, by test-launching long-range missiles in April; Russia and China keep on saying no to tougher sanctions on Iran; the Iranians keep saying no to offers of talks by saying they're willing to talk about everything except a halt to uranium enrichment; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is saying no by refusing to meet with Binyamin Netanyahu until Israel freezes all settlement construction; the Israelis said no by refusing to agree to a settlement freeze, or even a settlement moratorium until and unless the Arabs ante up their normalization gestures. Which brings us back to the original Saudi no.

Let's hope that there is a plan "B" for when the world fails to swoon at your soaring rhetoric, cool demeanor and dazzling smile. Maybe this is what they meant by hope in Hope and Change.

Breitbart's next big scoop

Audio of the White House using the NEA to push Obama agenda. Too bad that's illegal.

Question: Who looks the worst in this scandal ?? The White House, the NEA or the dinosaur media that can't seem to find these stories and refuses to cover them when they do ??

Cash-for-clunkers is a lemon

Looks like that jump-start didn't happen:

Nationwide, customers snatched up 700,000 new cars, most of them foreign-made, and the government ended up paying out nearly $3 billion toward the purchases. But from the start, analysts predicted that Cash for Clunkers would not boost sales for the year. September’s sales swoon seems to be making their case. Car sales are usually slow after Labor Day, but because of the recession consumers this year are especially reluctant to say yes to major purchases. To make matters worse for dealers, most are still waiting for voucher reimbursements.

“It was probably, in the end, a complete waste of taxpayer money,’’ said John Wolkonowicz, a senior auto analyst at IHS Global Insight, Lexington forecasting firm. “The dealers, who were supposed to be the primary beneficiaries, many were forced into cash flow problems because the government didn’t pay them in a timely fashion.’’

From the outset, there were problems with the Car Allowance Rebate System. It was supposed to start July 1 but was delayed until July 24. The rules were complicated, and the list of qualifying vehicles and other requirements changed repeatedly. And in addition to the formidable paperwork, the government website set up to process the deals kept crashing, creating a backlog.

Ray Ciccolo, president of Village Automotive Group, which operates eight Boston-area dealerships, said he has received $400,000 from the government, but that is only half of what he is owed. Ciccolo was in Washington last week to hear Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood address the National Automobile Dealers Association. Ciccolo said LaHood pledged to have all claims paid by the end of this month.

In addition to wasting billions of taxpayer dollars, the insistence on junking the old vehicles will inevitably lead to a shortage of used cars and after market parts, driving up the costs for those who cannot afford a new car. Sheer genius !!! And remember, the administration considers this one of their biggest success stories.

Avast, ya scurvy dogs!!

It be Talk Like a Pirate Day again.

Hey, if racism claims don't work, try misogyny

First Lady (and "one big dude"), Michelle Obama claims the health care status quo is "unacceptable" to women.

Michelle Obama said women are being “crushed by the current structure of our health care” because they often are responsible for taking care of family illnesses, arranging checkups and monitoring follow-up care.

“Women are the ones to do it,” she said to an audience of 140 people, including representatives from groups such as the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the National Council of Negro Women. “Mothers are the ones that do it. And many women find themselves doing the same thing for their spouses.”

Coming next week -- opposition to ChappaquiddiCare is anti-Semitic and is causing the polar ice caps to melt !!

How Obama will extend health care to illegals

One word .... you know it.... Amnesty, baby!!!

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage.

He also staked out a position that anyone in the country legally should be covered - a major break with the 1996 welfare reform bill, which limited most federal public assistance programs only to citizens and longtime immigrants.

"Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don't simply believe we can simply ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken," Mr. Obama said Wednesday evening in a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. "That's why I strongly support making sure folks who are here legally have access to affordable, quality health insurance under this plan, just like everybody else.

Mr. Obama added, "If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all."

When they said that Obama operates on a whole different plane than the rest of us they weren't kidding. Let's take a quickly tanking health care bill (still not sure which one he is referring to, but I digress) and tie it to the even more wildly unpopular goal of amnesty. Sheer genius. To liberally quote the character, Mason, from "Dead Like Me": [He's] so smart, [he's] practically retarded."

Why people hate politicians

Creigh Deeds is the Dem nominee in the Virginia Gubernatorial race. Creigh Deeds is also a bumbling jackass. Watch Mr. Deeds explain how he is in favor of raising revenue, but not taxes, even though "everything is on the table" --- or at least that's what I think he's saying. Did I mention he's a jackass??

Environmental idiocy

How to reduce your pet's carbon footprint.

Seriously, does anyone sit around wondering about this ?? Really ??

And if so, I have a suggestion ... Michael Vick !!!

Some good news...

Execution date set for DC sniper, John Allen Muhammad.

Virginia judge on Wednesday set a Nov. 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area that left 10 dead.

The attorney general's office last week requested that the execution be on Nov. 9, but Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O'Brien chose a day later. The date, which falls on a Tuesday, was picked so courts would be open the day before in case they have to take up last-minute appeals, said Jonathan Sheldon, Mr. Muhammad's attorney.

Buh-bye, dirt bag!!

Even more ACORN videos to come

So says Mike Flynn, Editor-in-chief of BigGovernment.com.

Flynn yesterday:

“There are more,” Mike Flynn, Editor-in-chief of new site BigGovernment.com, told HUMAN EVENTS in an exclusive interview this afternoon regarding the number of undercover films exposing ACORN. Flynn would not reveal the location of the ACORN office where the latest video was filmed, but he said, “It’s a slightly different discussion in this one than you’ve seen so far.” The video should break around 9 p.m. EST.

Flynn said this is not the last one, either. “There are more after that. It is amazing. Stay tuned.”

As T.O would say: "Getcha popcorn ready !!"

Is Harry Reid a racist ??

Well, Dingy Harry says that ChappaquiddiCare won't work for Nevada.

No sooner than the Senate Finance Committee's chairman released his long-awaited health care bill today than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it's not good enough for Nevada.

Reid is concerned about the cash-poor state's inability to boost Medicaid spending as would be required under the bill.

Or maybe it's just that most of his constituents are racists.
So here is an interesting question: Will Reid vote for it anyway even after stating that he knows it is bad for his state?? Especially when Reid's poll numbers continue to tank.

Obama's white flag diplomacy

Following in the footsteps of FDR, Obama has once again thrown Eastern Europe under the bus to fend for themselves against pressure from Moscow. Obama has decided to scrap the missile defense shield based primarily in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Vice President Joe Biden earlier refused to confirm to CNN that the George W. Bush-era plan was being shelved.

But he did explain the logic of doing so, saying Iran -- a key concern for the United States -- was not a threat.

"I think we are fully capable and secure dealing with any present or future potential Iranian threat," he told CNN's Chris Lawrence in Baghdad, where he is on a brief trip.

Got that, Iran's not a threat. Is that because they have given up their nuclear ambitions, had a change of heart about their policies in the Middle East or have decided to embrace the west ?? Nope, they are no longer a threat simply because it is politically expedient for Obama to say they are no threat. See -- problem solved. First he saved hundreds of thousands of jobs and now he has neutralized the threat of a nuclear Iran. Impressive, no ???

Of course our allies don't quite see it that way:

Poland and the Czech Republic had based much of their future security policy on getting the missile defenses from the United States. The countries share deep concerns of a future military threat from the east -- namely, Russia -- and may now look for other defense assurances from their NATO allies.

"At the NATO summit in April, we adopted a resolution focusing on building a defense system against real, existing threats, i.e. short-range and medium-range missiles," Fischer said. "We expect that the United States will continue cooperating with the Czech Republic on concluding the relevant agreements on our mutual (research and development) and military collaboration, including the financing of specific projects."

What do we tell them ?? Maybe we can use the words of Eric Stratton from Animal House: "You f**ked up, you trusted us!!" And what kind of signal does this send to Ukraine and Georgia ??

Clearly this was done with an eye toward appeasing Putin who has been bitching about this for years. But what exactly are we getting back in return. Looks like this was a unilateral move based on a hope and a prayer that the Russians will press Iran to stop their nuclear development. Although Russia has shown no inclination to do so in the past and their does not seem to be any strategic reason for them to do so now. Hopefully I am wrong.

To add insult to injury: Obama decided to do this on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. Smart diplomacy !!

Uh oh!! Rocky goes off script.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) admits that ChappaquiddiCare will lead to "a big, big tax" on the middle-class:

The Baucus proposal would impose, starting in 2013, a 35 percent excise tax on insurance companies for "high-cost plans" -- defined as those above $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for family plans.

Health economists believe a tax on high-priced benefits could help slow the growth of health costs by making consumers more sensitive to prices.

The tax contemplated by Baucus is also a big revenue raiser. It is expected to raise $200 billion, money that Baucus is hoping to use to pay for subsidies for the uninsured.

Given how much money this kind of tax can raise, Rockefeller says he understands why it is "tempting."

The West Virginia Democrat worries, however, that a lot of middle class workers, like the coal miners in his state, will end up facing "a big, big tax" under the Baucus bill because they currently enjoy generous employer-provided health care benefits which they receive tax free.

Referring to Baucus, Rockefeller said, "He should understand that (his proposal) means that virtually every single coal miner is going to have a big, big tax put on them because the tax will be put on the company and the company will immediately pass it down and lower benefits because they are self insured, most of them, because they are larger. They will pass it down, lower benefits, and probably this will mean higher premiums for coal miners who are getting very good health care benefits for a very good reason. That is, like steelworkers and others, they are doing about the most dangerous job that can be done in America."

Hmmmm. Maybe Rocky is just a racist.

New York Times scrubs ACORN statement

Shocking !! Except that it is really not. Duane Patterson details how the Times omits ACORN's claim that they rebuffed O'Keefe and Giles' requests for assistance in starting an underage Salvadoran brothel in New York. Of course this was before the released video proved otherwise.

Scott Shane is the writer, and he reports on the story, seeing this series of video stings as another example of how modern day conservatives fight against Barack Obama and the Democrats. The facts Mr. Shane uses in his story are true, and include portions of a statement released last Saturday by ACORN chief organizer, Bertha Lewis. Here's one graph.

In a statement over the weekend, Bertha Lewis, the chief organizer for Acorn, said the bogus prostitute and pimp had spent months visiting numerous Acorn offices, including those in San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami and Philadelphia, before getting the responses they were looking for.

Here's what the statement by Bertha Lewis actually said. I would give you a link to the citation from ACORN's website, but the statement has been disappeared. So instead, I refer you to Big Government's website, which reprinted a copy of the statement before it vanished.

This recent scam, which was attempted in San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia to name a few places, had failed for months before the results we’ve all recently seen.

Notice any cities in Ms. Lewis' litany of failed attempts by O'Keefe and Giles that do not appear in Mr. Shane's list? I'll give you a hint. It's the largest city in the nation. Need a second hint? It also is the city that the Times is purportedly in business to serve. That's right, New York.

Why is this important? After the release of the first two videos in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Ms. Lewis wrote the statement on Saturday trying to reassure supporters that this was nothing but a racist smear campaign by Fox News, and tried to leave the impression that this stunt had failed far more times that it had succeeded, and in doing so, mentioned some pretty high profile big cities, including New York. Two days after her statement, the New York videos were made public, making the heart of Ms. Lewis' claim inaccurate

Should we consider it progress that the Times reported the story at all??

Jihadist gift to US taxpayers

Blowing themselves up with an IED and saving us big bucks on the Hellfire missiles.



Thanks boys!!

Jimmy Carter seeks to lock up title.....

...of worst ex-President. EVER.



And Jimmy's animosity toward Israel is because he's an anti-Semite. If Jimmy can guess what motivates people to criticize Obama it's only fair that we can speculate as to his animus with the Israelis. The point is we can never know what is in someone's heart but can only judge them by their actions. Again, does anyone think there would be any less opposition among conservatives if it were Hillary Clinton or John Edwards ?

And let's not forget that it was Jimmy who referred to Obama as "this black boy".

And for the record, I agree with Ed Morrissey that I don't think there was anything racist in Carter's awkward phrasing... which makes Carter's accusations that much worse!

Who deserves a Congressional rebuke ??

From Michael Ramirez.

Obama, the media and racism

I think this picture (h/t Ed Driscoll) pretty much says it all about how the media perceives any criticism of their boyfriend:



If that was clear enough, Howard Kurtz emphasizes the ridiculousness in his latest post. The tip off for Kurtz that the animosity toward Obama is racist... the protesters cite -- the Constitution!!!

But I began to suspect that race was a factor for at least some critics when I heard them shouting about "the Constitution" and "taking our country back." Maybe Obama's health-care plan is an awful idea and his budget is way too big, but how exactly is any of this unconstitutional? Clearly, for some folks, there's a deeper rage at the man occupying the White House.

So questioning the constitutionality is racist. I recall hearing how George Bush was shredding the Constitution; were his critic racists?? And "taking back the country" was a mantra of the left in the last two election cycles.

Beside, all one has to do is examine the media (particularly MSNBC) track record on covering racist issues:

Exhibit A:
We were lectured by L.A. Weekly that the Obama as the Joker picture was racist. Of course it didn't matter that the artist turned out to be a fellow Chicagoan, of Palestinian dissent who supported Dennis Kucinich.

Exhibit B:
MSNBC attempting to show the underlying racism of armed white guys at anti-ObamCare rallies. Didn't even slow them down that the protester they reported on was actually black.

Now, for you hyperventilating media types -- some free advise to help you sort racism from criticism. Ask yourselves this question: Would Hillary have had an easier time if she pushed these policies ??

It's not like the the Republicans kept their powder dry with her husband either. Some of the media might even recall that they actually impeached his lying ass.

ACORN to lose funding ???

Probably wishful thinking but at least the Senate has so voted.

Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) introduced an amendment to the HUD and Transportation appropriation bill to strip ACORN of all federal funding. A week ago, Johanns wouldn’t have gotten the amendment to the floor. Today, however, after three straight days of BigGovernment.com’s video exposés of ACORN offices in Washington DC, New York City, and Baltimore offering assistance to pimping, tax evasion, and trafficking in underage Salvadorean girls, Johanns not only got his vote — but he got an impressive bipartisan showing. The Senate passed the Johanns amendment 83-7.
At the beginning of the vote, it appeared that Democrats might resist. Initially, a half-dozen Democrats cast votes in opposition to the amendment. A few more cast votes against it as the rest of the Senate voted, but the tide appeared to shift. More and more Democrats signed onto the amendment, and votes started changing. One male voice could be heard in the chamber saying, “I want to change my vote!” Among those who changed their votes: Tom Udall (D-NM), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Herb Kohl (D-WI).

Not even close at 83-7. Doubt the House an Commissar Pelosi will follow suit. While it is a symbolic victory, this will die in committee and ACORN will still get their funding thanks to our Community-Organizer-in-Chief.

Question, if you only follow the MSM, are you scratching your head wondering what the hell just happened ?? Fox notes the media blackout.*

Is that a racist term in the Age of Obama ???

Astroturf ?!?

Looks pretty real to me. If I were a Dem (especially a "blue dog) I would be very concerned about the direction and pace of the Obama administration.

Note to Republicans: Don't get too excited. There is a reason people soured on you: i.e. your fiscal irresponsibility malpractice. This doesn't mean the masses are swinging back to embrace you. It simply means that people are awakening to the reality that we are governed by far too many incompetents on both sides of the aisle. People who have little accomplishment outside of politics.

(h/t) - Instapundit

"Never Forget"

Means never forgetting. From PJTV.

Great job by Bill Whittle, Stephen Green and Scott Ott.

5 words I never thought I would ever string together in the same sentence: I agree with Robert Gibbs

By now pretty much everyone has heard about how CNN screwed the pooch on their Coast Guard "report" this morning.

CNN is reporting that the Coast Guard has fired on a boat on the Potomac River.

Update at 10:10 a.m. ET: The report of some activity on the river comes only minutes after President Obama concluded 9/11 memorial ceremonies at the Pentagon not far away.

Update at 10:12 a.m. ET: CNN says the Coast Guard fired 10 rounds at the boat.

Update at 10:14 a.m. ET: CNN broadcasts what it says is audio of the Coast Guard apparently speaking to a suspicious boat. The Coast Guard speaker is heard saying; "Slow down or you will be fired on."

Except, CNN was wrong. Very, very wrong. It seems that CNN aired the story based upon overhearing radio traffic from a training exercise and ran it without confirming the story. As the Washington Post explains:

No shots were fired," Currier said. "There was no suspect vessel. There was no criminal activity. This was a pre-planned, normal training exercise."

He said that unspecified "members of the public" had "intercepted" clear-channel, unencrypted Coast Guard radio transmissions regarding the exercise and apparently concluded erroneously that a real interdiction of a suspect vessel was taking place on the Potomac, near Memorial Bridge. Not far from the river, President Obama attended a ceremony Friday morning at the Pentagon to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Currier said that although no shots were fired during the exercise, there was "verbalization of gunfire" in the radio transmissions.

"Somebody said, 'Bang! Bang!' on the radio at an appropriate time in the training exercise when the actual interdiction of the boat would have taken place," he said.

CNN's response was essentially that the White House created a panic by staging this exercise on 9/11 and, by golly, they want answers!!!



The White House response?:

Gibbs said he wouldn’t second-guess Coast Guard leadership for holding a Potomac River exercise on the morning of the 9/11 commemoration. But he took a shot at CNN, which initially didn’t know the maneuvers in the Potomac were an exercise and erroneously reported that gunshots were fired — something the homeland security department said didn’t occur.

“Let’s understand that best I can tell there was reporting based on listening to a police scanner that was not verified, and then it was on television and now we’ve raced back to find out that it’s a training exercise. So I think it appears as if a lot of this might have been avoided,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs told reporters that the Coast Guard was holding a news conference to explain the exercise. "Hopefully CNN will go,” Gibbs quipped. "My only caution would be that before we report things like this, checking would be good."

What kind of crazy, mixed up world is this that finds me on the same side of an issue as Gibbsy??

Pro-life activist shot and killed in Michigan

Jim Pouillon was killed while protesting across the street from a high school.

Authorities say the suspect, Harlan James Drake, was offended by anti-abortion material that the activist had displayed across from the school all week.

Drake, 33, is accused of shooting anti-abortion activist Jim Pouillon, 63, and Michael Fuoss, 61, who were killed in separate locations Friday morning, the prosecutor's office in Shiawassee County said.
.......

Pouillon, whose anti-abortion activity was well-known in the area, was protesting across the street from Owosso High School about 7:20 a.m. Friday when he was killed by several shots fired from a passing vehicle, Owosso Police Chief Michael Compeau said.

I'm sure the President will be taking to the airwaves shortly to strongly condemn the murder. It was only a matter of a few hours before he told the world how he was "shocked and outraged" by the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller.

Similarly, the media (or at least David Shuster) is quick to point out that we should not be to quick to look for a political motive. From his Twitter feed:

To be clear, the murder of anybody is horrific. But, it's too early to ascribe a political motivation to the suspect.

Of course this is from the same media who ascribes any opposition to Obama policy as racially motivated. In fact, here is Shuster today:



By the way, looks like abortion was an issue in the shooting:

"The indication is that he had ill will ... a grudge against these three individuals," said Shiawassee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry. "The defendant was offended by the manner of Mr. Pouillon's message."

Still waiting to hear about Barry's shock and outrage.

Obama explains ChappaquiddiCare in plain English

The folks at Cato break down the rant speech here. A taste:

It’s a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge – not just government and insurance companies, but employers and individuals.

Translation: I’m going to tax the hell out of you, but I don’t want you to notice how much I’m going to tax you. So I’m going to tax employers and insurance companies, and they’re going to pass the taxes on to you. Most of the taxes won’t even show up in the government’s budget. It’s all very clever. No, seriously – just ask my economic advisor Larry Summers.

It’s a plan that incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans – and yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election.

Translation: I may have savaged your ideas in the past, called them irresponsible…risky…dangerous…whatever. But that wasn’t about principle; I just wanted to become president. Now that I’m president, I need a win. So you’ll help me, won’t you? Hey, where’s Hillary?

And, as an added bonus, you don't have to watch the preening.

Obligatory Obama speech summary

Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit .... Rep. Joe Wilson correctly (but inappropriately) calls him on his bullshit, ... it's all Bush's fault, Republicans suck and are responsible (with insurance companies) for every tale of woe I will lay on you tonight, and my opponents are all liars... pass my plan or we're all gonna die ... yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.

Heard it all before.

Obama may the most brazen liar I have ever seen as President. All politicians take liberties with the truth and some have told outright lies. But I have never, ever seen a President say something that he knew that people knew was a lie. Clinton told lies he thought he could get away with. Obama doesn't care that you know he's lying. This is truly frightening.

Jeter ties Gehrig

Hit number 2,721.

Jeter singled to right field in the seventh inning for his third hit Wednesday night against Tampa Bay, matching Gehrig with 2,721 hits in a Yankees uniform.

Much more entertaining than that lying bastard on all the other channels.

ChappaquiddiCare in a nutshell

From Ace:

Health care in the US is covered by three main systems-- Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Two of these systems are bankrupt, and will be unable to make payments beyond 2017. The third is solvent, and can make all of its payments for the foreseeable future.
Obama's plan is to take the one system meeting its obligations and fold it into the two systems that are bankrupt.

Obama's "schoochildren"* address

I know a lot of people have their panties in a knot about this but I think it is a good thing. Our children (including mine who are starting school again today) are constantly being told by the media, Hollywood and the schools about the how wonderful, dynamic and cool everything is that pertains to President Hopenchange. When they see what a colossal windbag this narcissistic geek is, they may be disillusioned.



* Not my spelling but the the Department of Education -- you can't make this stuff up.

Once again, Obama gets a pass

So Van Jones is officially out.* But to date, nowhere in the MSM has Obama repudiated Jones' views -- or even been asked to repudiate it.

The media is scratching their chins wondering how a nutjob like Jones got past the administrations vetting. Two answers:

1) Their vetting sucks -- see Daschle, Geithner, etc.

2) He was never meant to be vetted.

He was made a czar; a position accountable to no one and not subject to confirmation by the Senate. Jones was chose because of who he is, not because the White House didn't know.

Remember, it was Obama who told us not to judge him by his resume but by who he appoints. Well, let's hold him to that -- because the media won't !!


* Jones may not hold an official title but he will still maintain the same influence within the administration.

Van Jones betting pool

How long until we hear "That's not the Van Jones I knew".

I have 4:17 today-- Friday (holiday weekend) news dump,

Who else is in ???

Pete Stark: economic illiterate

"...it's good to have a huge national debt, because the more we borrow, the wealthier we are."



We are soooooo screwed if this is indicative of the mastery of economics of our elected officials.

Stark shows the class he is known for in ending the interview:
“Get the f--- out of here or I’ll throw you out the window.”

You stay classy Pete !!!

Is there ever another reason ??

A Massachusetts state legislator, a Democrat, gets caught in a rank act of hypocrisy:

A Westport lawmaker who voted to hike the state sales and alcohol taxes was spotted brazenly piling booze in his car - adorned with his State House license plate - in the parking lot of a tax-free New Hampshire liquor store, the Herald has learned.

Michael J. Rodrigues’ blue Ford Crown Victoria, emblazoned with his “House 29” Massachusetts license plate, was parked outside a Granite State liquor store on Interstate-95 South over the weekend, according to a witness who provided pictures to the Herald.

The witness, who requested anonymity, claimed he approached Rodrigues, noted his State House plate, and asked if he was on personal or official business. Rodrigues, who was loading booze into his car, snapped “mind your own business,” the witness said.

So who is responsible for the ruckus this has created ?? Hmmmm ??? ......wait for it... Republicans, of course!

He also blamed the brouhaha on “Republican demagoguery.”

“Unfortunately, I think that’s why the Republican Party is in such bad shape in Massachusetts,” Rodrigues is quoted as saying. “The electorate here is smart enough to figure out what they’re up to.”

Most ethical Congress -- ever !!!

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charlie Rangel previously "forgot" about rental income on a villa in the Dominican Republic and last week "discovered" that his income was almost twice what he declared on his financial disclosure forms.

Now this would appear to be scandalous as he is entrusted with chairing the committee that writes the nation's tax laws. Speaker Pelosi has not called for his resignation nor made any overt attempts to strip him of his chairmanship. The fig leaf for this inactivity has been the House's ethics investigation.

Rangel doesn't seem troubled by the investigation and here may be why:

Congressman Rangel has been arrogant in refusing to discuss how, as the man who writes this country's tax laws, he failed to report over $1 million in outside income and $3 million in business transactions as required by the House, lapses under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

"I recognize that all of you have an obligation to ask questions knowing that there's none of you smart enough to frame it in such a way that I'm going to respond," Rangel said.

There may be a reason for Rangel's arrogance. CBS 2 HD has discovered that since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.

Charlie's "angels" on the committee include Congressmen Ben Chandler of Kentucky, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Peter Welch of Vermont. All have received donations from Rangel.

Sadly, this is not surprising.

Does Obama have a plan (or a clue) ???

For nearly two years while running for President and almost one year since winning that election, Obama has made numerous references to his health care plan. Of course, his "plan" was whatever legislation came out of Congress. But his party's far left leadership couldn't help themselves and, misreading anti-Bush sentiment as socialist mandate, overreached.

But now, finally, he will deign to tell us what he actually wants in a health care bill. And it looks like the public option may soon join Rev. Wright, Obama's granny and several others under the Obama bus:

Obama is considering detailing his health-care demands in a major speech as soon as next week, when Congress returns from the August recess. And although House leaders have said their members will demand the inclusion of a public insurance option, Obama has no plans to insist on it himself, the officials said.

What does Obama really want. I take him at his word when he said in the past that he wants a single payer system. But he will settle for anything that can be called a legislative victory.

Obama's poll numbers hit new low

From Rasmussen

Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That’s down a point from yesterday and the lowest level of total approval yet measured for Obama. Fifty-three percent (53%) now disapprove.

Going down faster than a $5 crack whore!!!