PJ Media

Intercepted!

The website BuzzFeed obtained a copy of the book, “Barack Obama: The Story” by David Maraniss, and excerpted the parts about Obama’s pothead youth.

Among the highlights:

— Obama was known for his interceptions. This is the act of joining a circle of people passing around a joint, taking a hit and yelling, “Intercepted!”

— Obama and his friends at the Punahou School in Hawaii called themselves the “Choom Gang” — choom means smoking weed — and drove around in a Volkswagen bus called the “Choomwagon.”

Later in life, Barack Obama would go from mooching marijuana to mooching history.

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Posted at 11:52 am on May 26th, 2012 by

DNC Chair Gives Up on Wisconsin?

If you’re a conservative, try reading this without laughing.

The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee said Friday that if Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) doesn’t prevail over Gov. Scott Walker (R) in next month’s Wisconsin recall election, there won’t be any ramifications for Democrats nationally.

“I think, honestly, there aren’t going to be any repercussions,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said in a broad-ranging interview on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.”

“It’s an election that’s based in Wisconsin. It’s an election that I think is important nationally because Scott Walker is an example of how extreme the tea party has been when it comes to the policies that they have pushed the Republicans to adopt,” Wasserman Schultz said. “But I think it’ll be, at the end of the day, a Wisconsin-based election, and like I said, across the rest of the country and including in Wisconsin, President Obama is ahead.”

The interview, taped Friday morning, is scheduled to air 10 a.m. Sunday.

That’s called preparing the ground for a defeat that you can’t prevent, with a little bit of Baghdad Bob thrown in. The recall is not in Oklahoma, mind you, where the Democrats have a hard time winning anything, but flippin’ Wisconsin. Cradle of the modern labor movement. Walker’s win would signal the possibly terminal decline of that labor movement as a force in American politics. It will give governors and legislatures elsewhere a freer hand to reign in excessive government worker union benefits. It puts Wisconsin in play in November.

What I’m saying is, Walker winning, if that’s what happens will be quite a big deal indeed. Bigger than if he lost, actually. But all signs point to Walker running away with this thing.

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Posted at 2:57 pm on May 25th, 2012 by

Breaking: George P. Bush Blasts Dewhurst ‘Amnesty’ Attack Ad on Ted Cruz

George P. Bush has issued a statement regarding the radio ad airing in Texas that accuses Republican Senate candidate Ted Cruz of supporting amnesty for illegal aliens. Cruz has been consistent and clear that he does not support amnesty and never has. Bush slams the ad’s dishonesty.

“It’s very disappointing to see David Dewhurst resort to blatantly false attack ads charging that Ted Cruz supports amnesty. Ted has always categorically opposed amnesty. The only basis for Dewhurst’s fraudulent claim is that Ted serves on the ‘advisory board’ of a Hispanic civic organization that seeks to empower Hispanics economically by promoting entrepreneurship.

“When I first heard this false attack ad, I was offended not only as a Hispanic but as a Republican. We are a party of inclusion that welcomes the fastest growing demographic in our State that largely shares our conservative values of limited government, strengthening the family and supporting small business. This is the type of divisive racial politics used by President Obama and the Democrats. It has no place in the Republican party.”

The blowback from this ad could have a profound impact on the Senate GOP primary, which in all likelihood will determine who becomes Texas’ next senator. Dewhurst, Texas’ current lieutenant governor, leads in all of the polls, but has yet to top the 50% of the vote he would need to avoid a runoff in the nine-candidate race. Cruz has consistently stayed close in second place; a runoff would presumably include Dewhurst and Cruz. Early voting is ongoing, with the primary itself taking place on Tuesday May 29th. Voters going to the polls now through Tuesday are hearing both the ad, and the powerful pushback against it. George P. Bush’s decision to intervene at this stage will drive this story, which isn’t helping the Dewhurst campaign at all at this point, high up in media attention.

George P. Bush is the nephew of former President George W. Bush, son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and a resident of Texas.

Disclosure: I voted for Ted Cruz.

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Posted at 10:49 am on May 25th, 2012 by

‘I Don’t Care What You Choose’ Also Turns Out Not to be Spam From a Dodgy Foreign Dating Site

The come-ons from the Obama campaign get a little bit weirder by the day. Here’s today’s, which thankfully did not come addressed from Bill Clinton. It’s from some campaign minion I don’t think I’ve heard of before.

Friend –

If you’re wondering why we have so many contests to meet President Obama, I’ll be honest.

Yeah, it’s partly because they’re really popular.

It’s also partly so they can get you to give ‘em as little as three bucks, while getting your personal info for their permanent files so they can target you more directly for more money later on. The donor file is really what this raffle stuff has been about all along.

But it’s also because we don’t accept any money from Washington lobbyists or corporate-interest groups — not a dime. We don’t want them owning any piece of this campaign or expecting any special consideration.

Unions, however, are a different matter entirely. For them, it’s special consideration, all the time, every time, any way they want it, that’s the way they get it. The only real question related to Big Labor and the administration is which one owns the other.

I wonder, does the Obama campaign realize: Democrats work at, and own, corporations too?

Here’s how things actually work with Obama vis a vie corporations. CEO donates big bucks to Obama’s campaign. CEO later gets big tax-payer funded loan to develop some boondoggle “green” tech. CEO’s company goes belly up, people lose their jobs, taxpayers get fleeced. But Obama gets his donations and the CEO gets a little bit richer. See: Solyndra or any of the other half dozen greendoggles the Obama administration has wasted your money on.

So Barack Obama has only you.

Then he’s out of luck. I can phrase that more colorfully if you’d like.

And the feedback from people like you is that they like chipping in a few dollars at a time — and if there’s a chance to meet President Obama as a result, all the better.

What do you say?

How ’bout “No.”

Right now you have some pretty cool options, each with a deadline approaching. While there’s still a spot for you:

1) Enter to meet President Obama and President Clinton for an evening on the town in New York City.

2) Throw your name in to join President Obama and the First Lady at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house in New York.

Neither of those options sound “cool.” At all.

Of course, you can always enter both.

Or neither. I’m going with neither.

I don’t really care what you choose.

Yay, they’re pro-choice. Except on decisions that actually matter, like what kind of insurance you’d like to buy or not, or whether to join a union or not. Then, they’re not really pro-choice at all.

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Posted at 10:27 am on May 25th, 2012 by

Why Isn’t Undersecretary of Defense Michael Vickers Being Prosecuted for Outing SEAL Team 6′s Commander?

Earlier this week, Judicial Watch announced that it had won its battle with the Obama administration regarding its collusion with Hollywood producers to produce a movie about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The movie was originally slated for release in the weeks ahead of the presidential election, so its political import is obvious. It would remind voters about the raid, one of the very few bragging points President Obama can claim, as they consider re-electing or replacing him in November.

Among the bombshells Judicial Watch found in the documents, and there are several, is the fact that Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers disclosed the true identity of SEAL Team 6′s commander to those Hollywood producers. Vickers even offered the heroic commander’s services as a consultant on the film.

The July 14, 2011, meeting transcript also reveals that the DOD provided the filmmakers with the identity of a “planner, SEAL Team 6 Operator and Commander.” (The name is blacked out in the document.) In proposing the arrangement, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers said: “The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant because . . . he shouldn’t be talking out of school.” Vickers went on to say during the meeting at the Pentagon: “This at least, this gives him one step removed and he knows what he can and can’t say, but this way at least he can be as open as he can with you and it ought to meet your needs.” Boal later responds, “You delivered.”

That is classified information. The military keeps such information closely guarded for multiple reasons, operational as well as for the safety of our special forces’ families. Once that information is in the hands of anyone outside the DoD, though, its potential to leak and end up in the hands of our enemies is very great. The damage that can be done to our national security with this information can be very grave.

Supposing Vickers was authorized to hand this highly sensitive information over to the movie producers, the authorization must have come from very high up, probably either the secretary of defense or the president. Congress must investigate who authorized handing this sensitive, classified information over to Hollywood producers. If Vickers’ disclosure was not authorized, then he must be prosecuted.

More: Flashback — the SEALs were not happy to be used as campaign props by the Obama campaign.

A serving SEAL Team member said: ‘Obama wasn’t in the field, at risk, carrying a gun. As president, at every turn he should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line to do this. He does so in his official speeches because he speechwriters are smart.

‘But the more he tries to take the credit for it, the more the ground operators are saying, “Come on, man!” It really didn’t matter who was president. At the end of the day, they were going to go.’

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Posted at 9:10 am on May 25th, 2012 by

Great News: Egypt’s Next President Will Either be an Islamist or a Leftist

Either way, Egypt’s future post the Arab Spring is not bright.

The candidate of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood won a spot in a run-off election, according to partial results Friday from Egypt’s first genuinely competitive presidential election. A former prime minister an a leftist were in a tight race for second place and a chance to run against him to become the country’s next leader.

The run-off will be held on June 16-17, pitting the two top contenders from the first round of voting held Wednesday and Thursday. The victor is to be announced June 21.

The landmark vote – the fruit of last year’s uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak – turned into a heated battle between Islamist candidates and secular figures rooted in Mubarak’s old regime. The most polarizing figures in the race were the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi and former air force commander and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of Mubarak’s rule.

Read the tea leaves a bit: The Islamist has the best organization and the most enthusiastic support. He’s the odds-on favorite to win the Egyptian presidency.

The secular Mubarak regime repressed the Brotherhood in the decades since the group assassinated President Anwar Sadat. If they take full power, Egypt won’t be safe for anyone who had any connection to the old regime at all, or for anyone who supports secular government. There will be revenge pogroms and an exodus of secular intellectuals as there was from Iran after 1979, which will end up strengthening the Islamists’ grip on power in Cairo. Looking a bit farther afield, Egypt’s Islamist turn could help revive al Qaeda: Ayman al-Zawahiri heads the terrorist organization since bin Laden’s death, and he is Egyptian and was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood there. He spent years in prison for his role in the assassination of Sadat. He made headlines a few days back for calling on Saudis to follow Egypt’s lead and have a Spring of their own.

The June 21 runoff may be Egypt’s last chance to avert a full blown Islamist takeover.

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Posted at 8:39 am on May 25th, 2012 by

Romney Campaign Memo Denounces Obama’s ‘Obsessive and Misleading’ Attacks

Today the Mitt Romney campaign posted a fascinating inside look at how the past week has gone for them and their opponents. Authored by campaign communications director Gail Gitcho, the memo captures the struggles that the Obama campaign has faced, due mainly to its own unforced errors.

By any objective measure, President Obama and his campaign have stumbled into the general election. According to one report, the president’s recent troubles “have shaken the overwhelming confidence of his campaign in Chicago and of Democratic leaders in Washington.”

This week, we saw wave after wave of Democratic officials and Obama surrogates stand up against President Obama’s attack machine. From New York to California, and North Dakota to Alabama, the message was loud and clear. The Obama campaign’s best-laid plans to wage an all-out assault on the free enterprise system have predictably backfired.

These obsessive and misleading attacks – which the president himself confirmed will be the focus of his campaign – have been rebuked by fellow Democrats for being “nauseating” and “unfair” and ridiculed by the media and Democratic operatives as “clumsy” and “ancient.” The media felt compelled to eulogize “the 2004 version of Barack Obama,” who promised unity and a new era of leadership, while introducing the world to “the new, nasty Obama campaign.”

Meanwhile, the current chair of the DNC distanced herself from the Administration’s decision to grant a visa to the daughter of Cuba’s communist dictator, while a former DNC chair declined to endorse the Obama campaign in its current state.

Tuesday’s primaries in Kentucky and Arkansas provided valuable insight into the Obama campaign’s struggles. President Obama has no primary challenger, but is losing significant amounts of support within his own party – to no one in particular. More than four in ten Democrats who voted this week declined to support President Obama.

The memo notes that despite the Obama campaign’s efforts to talk about anything but the economy, Mitt Romney has remained focused on highlighting what he would do to fix the problems that Obama has either failed to fix or made worse. That brings us to the most important sentence in the memo:

This is the real crux of the Obama campaign’s dilemma. It’s not the messengers that are causing the problem – it’s the message.

And the incumbent. Obama was never the bi-partisan conciliatory figure that he claimed to be. Lately he has been exposed as a hard core far left ideologue who is striving to win at all costs.

Read the entire memo here. The Romney campaign is releasing it to right-side online media ahead of distributing it to the legacy media.

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Posted at 8:02 am on May 25th, 2012 by

It’s Lying Felon Brett Kimberlin’s Day in the Sun

Last evening on the way home from casting my vote in the Texas primary, I spoke with Stacy McCain. Mr. MCCain gave me a quote that was too good not to use despite its saltiness. Stacy said — and said that I can quote him on this — that “Lying felon Brett Kimberlin is a f****** criminal.” Stacy verified that he was and still is in an undisclosed location following the threat that Kimberlin clearly does pose to Stacy and his entire innocent family. Stacy McCain cannot go to his home.

Kimberlin is, as Mark Tapscott writes at the Washington Examiner, a sinister enemy of free speech. The question is, how did Kimberlin go from convicted bomber and perjurer to free man receiving funding for leftwing activism. Sweetness and Light’s Ed Barnes clears that up: Kimberlin was the man who falsely claimed that he sold marijuana to Dan Quayle in the 1970s.

Kimberlin, a convicted bomber and drug dealer, learned that lesson in 1988, when he claimed from his prison cell that he had been Dan Quayle’s marijuana dealer in college. The claim got a lot of attention because Quayle was running for vice president of the United States at the time.

Now, 22 years later, Kimberlin has taken that lesson and made unfounded accusations a profession of sorts. Using two popular leftist blogs, the 56-year-old from Bethesda, Md., has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public and left-leaning foundations by promising to put conservatives he disagrees with in jail, often with offers of large rewards. So far — without success — he has called for the arrest of Karl Rove, Andrew Breitbart, Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue, Massey Energy Chairman Don Blankenship and other high-profile public figures.

Brett Kimberlin was convicted of perjury before he left high school. He would later be convicted of the Speedway bombing, which would lead to an innocent man’s suicide. But rather than becoming a pariah for the rest of his life, Kimberlin parlayed his criminal career into well-funded leftwing activism at Velvet Revolution and Justice Through Music.

Kimberlin’s threats against McCain and Patterico — who was also “swatted” and could have been killed — and Aaron Walker, all aimed at covering his past and his tracks, have earned him this attention today. Everyone’s blogging about him. Even Foxnews.com.

A review of tax filings for Kimberlin’s blogs, “Velvet Revolution” and “Justice Through Music,” raises troubling questions about whether his “nonprofit” operations are dedicated to public activism — or are just a new facade for a longtime con artist.

Though neither website publicly reveals Kimberlin’s role, tax and corporate documents show that he is one of four directors who incorporated the Velvet Revolution, and that he is the registered agent for the tax-exempt, non-stock company, which is registered at his mother’s house in Bethesda. In 2008, the last year for which tax records are available, Velvet Revolution took in $83,000 in gifts and contributions.

Kimberlin is also one of two incorporators of Justice Through Music, as well as a $19,500-a-year employee of the non-profit, whose purpose is to “shed light on some of the injustices of the world through music” and which took in more than $550,000 in contributions in 2008.

He deserves the notoriety. So do his financial backers: Barbra Streisand, George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry are among the left’s leaders who fund this convicted perjurer, convicted bomber and career criminal.

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Posted at 7:04 am on May 25th, 2012 by

Why I Voted for Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate Primary (Updated)

Early voting is underway in the Texas primary, with election day next Tuesday the 29th. I did my civic and moral duty and voted this afternoon.

Texans have many choices before us, and the most important at the state level this year is the choice of who will represent our state in the US Senate. With Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison retiring, Texans have the opportunity to send a message, or several messages, with our votes. We need to send a serious, intellectual conservative to carry our principles and concerns to the nation’s capital on our behalf. We need to send someone who is a real conservative, and who will take Texas to Washington rather than bringing any of Washington to Texas.

I am not in the business of making direct endorsements on this blog, but I will tell you why I voted for Ted Cruz to become Texas’ next senator. Ted Cruz is a solid family man and a real Texas conservative. He believes in smaller government, he defends freedom, and he stands on principles. He is a brilliant litigator who already has the experience of representing Texas at the United States Supreme Court as the state solicitor general. He is young and represents the future of Texas. His family’s experience with totalitarianism in Cuba gives him the background and the desire to defend every inch of our freedom. Ted has also worked harder than any of the other candidates in the race. He spent the last two plus years of his life traveling all over this huge state, speaking to any club who would hear him, no matter how small their numbers or how remote they might be, to make the case for why he should be our next senator. No other candidate has come anywhere near Ted’s efforts. He is a tireless worker who will defend conservative ideals, which he sees as his duty.

My voting for Cruz should not be taken as a negative on most of the other candidates. I have friends and former colleagues on at least two of those campaigns, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Craig James are good men. My vote for Ted Cruz is a positive statement about what I think of Ted Cruz. He’ll be a great senator for Texas given the chance. Texas Republicans should give him that chance. Ted Cruz deserves to win on Tuesday.

And another thing: If you’ve seen any of the ads being run by one of the other campaigns, you’ve seen Ted Cruz accused of being weak on border security. That’s absurd. A lot of wrong, inaccurate and frankly dishonest things get said in the heat of a campaign. This accusation is one of those things. It’s nonsense. Scurrilous nonsense.

More: Did I mention that the ad accusing Cruz of supporting amnesty is scurrilous nonsense? Because that’s exactly what it is.

Update: The ad in question was played on the Mark Levin Show tonight. The Cruz campaign responds to it:

David Dewhurst is a shameless desperate and sad career politician so hooked on power that he thinks Texans are stupid enough to believe that the same Ted Cruz who successfully defended Texas’s right to execute an illegal alien for raping and murdering two teenage girls is somehow soft on illegal immigration. Dewhurst’s latest lie would be laughable, if it wasn’t such a sad reflection of his contempt for voters and the truth. With this last minute desperate attack, David Dewhurst has earned a color photo in the dictionary next to hypocrisy, as Dewhurst supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, waffled on a border fence, and refused to pass legislation fining Texas employers who hire illegal immigrants at the expense of hard-working Texans.

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Posted at 5:06 pm on May 24th, 2012 by

Ask Chris Matthews if the ‘Thrill’ is Still There, and He’ll Accuse You Of Being Gay

That’s what happened to CSPAN’s Steve Scully. Scully asked Matthews if the “thrill” was still there for Obama, referring to the comment Matthews made in 2008 when he said listening to Obama give a speech gave him a “thrill up his leg.” Matthews made that comment on MSNBC, alongside Keith Olbermann, who is currently unemployed in the Obama economy.

Confronted by CSPAN’s Scully, Matthews expressed something other than a thrill.

“I hope that you feel satisfied that you’ve used the most obvious question that is raised by every horse’s ass right-winger I ever bump into,” Matthews responded, after defending the comment.

Tell us what you really think, Chris.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have said so because I’ve given a lot of jackasses the chance to talk about it,” Matthews continued.

“And usually they say ‘tingle’ which says something about their orientation, but that’s alright,” he added. Later he interjected, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. I have to throw that in.”

Of course you do, otherwise every anchor at your own network would be obliged to accuse you of hate speech. If they were honest and fair, anyway.

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Posted at 2:24 pm on May 24th, 2012 by

War on Conservative Women: Day Two of NOW’s Silence on Hustler

S.E. Cupp appeared on The View today to discuss the Hustler fake explicit photoshop of her. Here’s the video, from which there are two pieces of actual news. One, the only conservative on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, called up the National Organization of Women to get a statement or reaction from them. They didn’t take her call and haven’t said boo about this disgusting attack yet. Why didn’t famed journalist Barbara Walters call them up? Two, Cupp probably doesn’t have a case to sue Flynt, which is unfortunate but not surprising. Flynt has been involved in media and speech cases in the past, and certainly knows where the constitutional, if not moral, lines are. He’s a piece of slime who knows the law and has enough money to buy sharp lawyers.

It’s good that The View had S.E. on, and good that they took the stand that they’ve taken. Not that there was much choice in the matter; Flynt’s actions are about as lows as things get, revealing more about his base character than anything about anyone or anything else. He makes Gawker look responsible and classy sometimes. It is odd that they had S.E. in the audience instead of giving her a chair at the table. Leaving her in the audience reinforces Cupp is and, as long as that image is online anywhere, will always be the victim of one of the sickest figures in America.

I wonder, has the president called S.E. yet?

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Posted at 1:52 pm on May 24th, 2012 by

Study: ObamaCare Will Make Individual Premiums, Taxes Go Up

Read this Hill story for comprehension. Headline: ‘Study: Most individual insurance plans fall short of health law’s standards.‘ ObamaCare, obviously, is the health law.

Most people who buy their own health insurance would get a much more generous policy under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.

Hm, sounds good. How?

Most individual policies today fall short of the ACA’s most basic standards, the study said. That means many consumers will get more benefits and will likely face lower out-of-pocket costs — but premiums could rise as a result.

The subject is individual plans — i.e., plans individuals pay for out of their own pockets. So how do rising premiums and “lower out-of-pocket costs” go together?

They don’t.

People who buy health insurance on their own typically pay higher premiums and higher out-of-pocket costs than people who get their coverage through an employer. Individual policies also tend to offer less coverage and, until the ACA is fully implemented in 2014, can exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions.

So they’ll end up paying more to cover those with pre-existing conditions. It’s basic math.

According to the Health Affairs study, even the most basic plan under the ACA’s new standards would be significantly more generous than what most people get today on the individual market.

“More generous”? With whose money?

The ACA establishes new insurance marketplaces, called exchanges in every state and it sets minimum standards for plans sold through the exchanges. For the most basic policies, insurers have to cover 60 percent of a plans’s total cost, leaving customers to pay no more than the other 40 percent.

But a majority of the plans in today’s individual market cover less than 60 percent of all costs, according to the Health Affairs study.

Slightly more than half of people on the individual market are enrolled in policies that cover less than 60 percent of plan costs. One-third of individual policies pay 60 to 69 percent, enough to meet the lowest thresholds under the healthcare law.

Many consumers will therefore get more generous coverage by buying through an exchange. But, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the boost in benefits could also raise premiums.

“Generosity” has been re-defined as forcing people to pay more for something they may not need or want.

“Premiums for health insurance in the individual market will be somewhat higher on average under [the healthcare law] than under prior law, mostly because the average insurance policy in that market will cover a larger share of enrollees’ costs for health care and provide a slightly wider range of benefits,” CBO said in a 2009 report.

CBO said the increases would be partially offset by other policies that would lower premiums, but would still come out slightly higher.

I included that last sentence because it’s funny. So is this one.

Consumers won’t necessarily shoulder the extra costs, though, because the federal government will provide subsidies to help cover the cost of insurance.

And where does the federal government get its money, ultimately?

Now look back to the lead sentence: The Hill’s story creatively tries to obscure the fact that what ObamaCare provides is “generosity” flavored by the taxman’s jackboot.

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Posted at 1:18 pm on May 24th, 2012 by

Detroit Rock Dark City

I feel uptight on a Saturday night/Nine o’clock, the radio’s the only light…

Who knew that KISS would turn out to be rock’s Nostradamus?

Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating almost half its streetlights.

As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can’t afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing’s plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year.

Other U.S. cities have gone partially dark to save money, among them Colorado Springs; Santa Rosa, California; and Rockford, Illinois. Detroit’s plan goes further: It would leave sparsely populated swaths unlit in a community of 713,000 that covers more area than Boston, Buffalo and San Francisco combined. Vacant property and parks account for 37 square miles (96 square kilometers), according to city planners.

“You have to identify those neighborhoods where you want to concentrate your population,” said Chris Brown, Detroit’s chief operating officer. “We’re not going to light distressed areas like we light other areas.”

If a private enterprise decided on its own not to service certain parts of a city, we would never hear the end of it. But government doing it is ok. The victims of all this will just keep voting the same people back into office decade after decade.

You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Dark City.

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Posted at 1:00 pm on May 24th, 2012 by

Obama Speaks at Turbine Blade Plant Financed by Eeeevil Private Equity

Matt Lewis delivers a pretty good laugher today regarding the president’s campaign stop at TPI Composites in Newton, IA. TPI produces those sleek giant turbine blades for wind-power producing wind mills.

Expect to see him promote clean energy tax credits — and laud himself for pushing public funds to help get these companies get off the ground.

(After all, there’s no way they could possibly survive without the government helping them out, right?)

Except they can. And they did.

It turns out that the bulk of financing ($68 million) for TPI (like most non-Obama affiliated companies in America) has come from private equity. (Source, Source, Source.)

In comparison, the nine million in stimulus funds they received is just a small chunk of the pie.

It’s good to see the president discover some capitalism, even if it’s by the accident of his campaign’s poor venue vetting.

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Posted at 12:11 pm on May 24th, 2012 by

Senate Committee Cuts Aid to Pakistan After Doctor’s Treason Conviction

Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi made a truly gutsy call: He orchestrated a fake vaccination campaign to obtain DNA that was used to confirm that Obama bin Laden lived in the Abbottabad compound where US Special Forces killed him a year ago. His reward for doing America and the world a favor? First, the Obama administration apparently outed him in the process of crowing about getting bin Laden, and then the Pakistani government convicted him of treason. He had no chance to defend himself in court over the ludicrous charge and now faces 33 years in prison.

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to cut $33 million in aid to Pakistan.

The punitive move came on top of deep reductions the Appropriations Committee had already made to President Barack Obama’s budget request for Pakistan, a reflection of the growing congressional anger over its cooperation in combatting terrorism. The overall foreign aid budget for next year had slashed more than half of the proposed assistance and threatened further reductions if Islamabad fails to open overland supply routes to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Pushing aside any diplomatic talk, Republicans and Democrats criticized Pakistan one day after the conviction of Shakil Afridi. The doctor ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden’s presence at the compound in Abbottabad where U.S. commandos found and killed the al-Qaida leader in May 2011.

The United States has called for Afridi’s release, arguing that he was acting in the interest of the United States and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s response: Telling the US to butt out of its affairs. Pakistan harbored bin Laden for years and has double-dealt throughout the long war on Islamist terrorism. Its initial reaction to the raid that got bin Laden was to howl in pain, and then sidle up to China.

Perhaps it’s time we respect Pakistan’s wish to its logical conclusion and cut off all aid altogether.

The failure to protect Afridi from Pakistani injustice is a serious stain on the Obama administration. It sends the message worldwide that trusting and helping the Americans is a losing bet.

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Posted at 11:46 am on May 24th, 2012 by

Romney Calls on Obama to Disavow Castro Endorsement

Fidel Castro’s niece, Mariela Castro, this week joined the likes of the Communist Party USA in endorsing President Barack Obama’s re-election. Speaking at a gay rights conference while representing a regime that holds and tortures political prisoners for speaking out against it, Castro said that she believes Obama is “sincere and speaks from the heart,” adding that she would vote for him.

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney today is calling on the president to repudiate the Castro nod.

“President Obama should disavow the endorsement of the daughter of Cuban dictator Raul Castro. It is galling that an envoy from a Communist regime would come to our country and lecture the American people on who to vote for while the regime refuses to hold free and fair elections and systematically violates the human rights of its people. The decision by the Obama Administration to welcome Mariela Castro to our shores—a decision that has received rightful criticism from both Republicans and Democrats—continues to be an egregious affront to the people of Cuba and those who love freedom everywhere.” – Romney Campaign Adviser Alberto Martinez

Thumbnail photo from VotingFemale.

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Posted at 10:44 am on May 24th, 2012 by

‘Meeting You’ Email in My Inbox Turns Out Not to be Spam from a Shady Foreign Dating Site

It’s an Obama campaign fundraising email from Bill Clinton.

Friend –

I’ve been in President Obama’s shoes before — less than six months to go before an election to let you finish what you started. It was tough enough back then, but this election is going to be tougher.

We’re facing a tidal wave of anonymous, unlimited spending. The other side has pledged to throw more than 1 billion dollars into tearing down our president.

It’s unprecedented.

Fortunately, so is the grassroots organization you’re building.

Pitch in what you can today to strengthen the campaign — and you’ll be automatically entered to join me and President Obama in New York City, with the campaign covering airfare and accommodations.

And if you’re a porn star, you may already be a winner!

Former President Bill Clinton, surrounded by porn stars, at a Monte Carlo casino last night.

If our opponent succeeds, so much of what we’ve fought so hard for will be rolled back. Health care reform — which many presidents, including me, tried to pass and couldn’t — will be gone. Same goes for the opportunity for millions more Americans to afford to go to college, and a growing economy that works for middle-class families.

Our opponent is actually advertising a more extreme version of the policies that got us in trouble in the first place: policies that will leave us with more debt, weaker regulations on risky investments, and fewer jobs.

All of that’s at stake between now and November, but here’s why I’m feeling good about our chances: I know people like you have the President’s back.

That’s not the only reason Bill’s feelin’ good, ifyaknowwhatimeanandithinkyado. He’s spending quality time with “Best New Starlet” Brooklyn Lee, star of titles like Farm Girls Gone Bad and Sexual Messiah 1. Lee is the redhead in the blue dress on the right, wrapped tightly in the impeached president’s arm. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, back in Washington, could not be reached for comment. Not that Bill tried to reach her.

And I can’t wait to meet you. I hope you’ll give it a shot:

I’m not touching that.

https://donate.barackobama.com/Presidents

Thanks, and good luck,

Bill Clinton

Keep is classy, Barack. Keep it classy.

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Posted at 10:00 am on May 24th, 2012 by

War on Coal? Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown Never Heard Of It

Ohio is the nation’s 10th largest producer of coal. Coal produces 86% of Ohio’s electricity. So the Obama EPA’s coal regulations are kind of a big deal to Ohio, which by the way is a swing state.

A senator from the state could be expected to be up on what’s going on in Congress regarding the EPA and its anti-coal activities. But according to Phil Kerpen, don’t ask Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown about it. He doesn’t know.

This morning I had an opportunity to discuss the Obama administration’s War on Coal with Joel Riley on WTVN on in Columbus, Ohio. No state is being hit harder by forced closures of coal plants than Ohio is, as last week’s PJM auction showed. I ended the interview with Joel by pointing out that Senator Sherry Brown will soon be put on the record on the War on Coal when he votes on S.J.Res 37, Senator Jim Inhofe’s resolution to overturn the most costly anti-coal regulation known as Utility MACT.

Joel said he has Brown scheduled for an interview this morning too, and promised to ask him about it. When he asked him about how he would vote on S.J.Res. 37, Brown said: “I don’t know what is it from the number.”

Bloggers, talk show hosts and blog readers know more about what’s going on in Congress than the fine folks we’re all paying to actually consider and vote on things in Congress.

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Posted at 9:05 am on May 24th, 2012 by

Tea Party Radical Says Obama Has ‘Failed the One Test America Had For Him’

Did I say “Tea Party radical?” I meant Democrat hand-picked to run for the Senate. My bad.

Heidi Heitkamp, a former North Dakota attorney general seeking to replace the retiring Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), told the AP that Obama has “failed in the one test America had for him, which was to unite the country.”

“I think he needed to be more hands-on … I don’t think he’s done enough to think broadly and come up with solutions that would engage both sides in a reasonable dialogue,” she added.

Heitkamp is one of two Dem recruits running away from Obama. The other is Ron Barber. He’s only running for the seat Arizona House seat vacated by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

But the president shouldn’t fret too much. He picked up a very important endorsement from a prominent Cuban:

Fidel Castro’s niece on Wednesday hailed Barack Obama’s support for gay marriage and the loosening of US-Cuba travel restrictions, saying: “I would vote for President Obama.”

So he has that going for him.

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Posted at 8:04 am on May 24th, 2012 by

Joe Biden a Drag on the Ticket?

Imagine this: A confirmed plagiarist and career politician who failed in business and has been demonstrably wrong on just about every major issue of the past 30 years isn’t all that popular. Shocking, I know.

In a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, Americans split on whether they like or dislike the vice president – 42% said they had a favorable opinion, 45% said unfavorable – but the numbers are worse in key swing states.

In the 12 swing states likely to determine the outcome of the presidential election, only 40% of registered voters view Biden favorably, while 54% view him unfavorably. These numbers are worse than President Obama’s who is seen favorably by 50% of registered voters in those same states and unfavorably by 49%.

The 12 swing states in the poll are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. These states are all considered too close to call for the November election.

Independents are also down on the VP, with 50% saying they view him unfavorably and 35% holding a favorable view.

I’m sure Joe’s numbers will turn around once tradesmen learn that he thinks none of them are qualified to be president.

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Posted at 7:52 am on May 24th, 2012 by

White House Email: Now You Can Watch All Those Concerts You Paid For But Weren’t Invited To See Live!

Uh, thanks?

“You paid for all this through the taxes we confiscate from you. Have some web videos, which you also paid for, as our way of saying ‘Thanks!’”

The same email gives us the president’s schedule for the day.

Do we even need a president? It’s not like we have one on the job now.

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Posted at 7:24 am on May 24th, 2012 by

Reason Poll: Walker Has Big Lead in Wisconsin

According to a Reason-Rupe poll released today, Gov. Scott Walker leads Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the June 5th recall election by 8 points:

Gov. Scott Walker leads Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 50-42 among those likely to vote in Wisconsin’s June 5 recall election, according to a new Reason-Rupe poll of 708 Wisconsin adults on cell phones and landlines.

In the presidential race, 49 percent of all adults surveyed approve of the job President Obama is doing and 45 percent disapprove. President Obama leads Mitt Romney 46-36 in Wisconsin, with 6 percent selecting the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson. Obama’s margin over Romney shrinks to 45-41 among those likely to vote in June’s recall election, with Johnson taking what would be a crucial 5 percent of the vote.

The poll also finds that Walker’s policy priorities enjoy strong support among Wisconsin voters. Nearly three-fourths favor requiring government union workers to pay into their pension plans, and also favor requiring having government union workers pay more of their health care plan premiums.

Additionally:

If state and local governments have to reduce spending, voters were asked what should be cut first: 38 percent say public employee pension benefits, 29 percent believe prison and court cuts should be made first, 17 percent would reduce funding for roads and infrastructure, 5 percent chose education, and 4 percent would target health care spending.

Government employee unions are viewed favorably by 35 percent of those surveyed and unfavorably by 31 percent. Voters remain split on limiting the collective bargaining power of public sector unions, with 47 percent in favor of, and 46 percent opposed to, restricting unions’ ability to negotiate things like health care and pension benefits.

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Posted at 7:01 am on May 24th, 2012 by

Will.I.Am Attends Climate Change Talk in ‘Hip.Hop.Copter’

Whether it’s Al Gore’s 10,000 square foot mansion that uses 20 times the energy of the average house, or Will.I.Am’s use of a private helicopter to get to a brief green meeting, the message from some elites to the rest of us couldn’t be clearer: Do as we say, not as we do. Delivered in cheezy autotune, in this case.

The Voice judge had been meeting climate change experts at Oxford University as part of a guest speaking role.

Despite his environmentally-conscious stance on green issues, the Black Eyed Peas rapper, 37, chose to take a private helicopter to the venue.

It is understood the journey, which is a 286 mile round-trip from London, used 71.5 gallons of fuel and released three-quarters of a ton of CO2 into the atmosphere.

He even tweeted pictures of the so-called “hip.hop.copter” for fans to admire, after landing at the Oxford’s University Parks.

From there, the singer used a pedal cycle to travel the remaining few hundred yards to the Radcliffe Observatory Weather Centre.

Well that that was good of him.

There, he told an audience: “Climate change should be the thing that we are all worried and concerned about as humans on this planet, how we affect the planet, our consumption, and how we treat the place that we live in.”

Or fly over. Whatever.

Will went from his hour-long summit to toss a few more emissions into the atmo carrying the Olympic torch.

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Posted at 4:38 pm on May 23rd, 2012 by

Brett Kimberlin May Not Have a Soul, But He Has a Lengthy Internet Trail

Friday, May 25 is “Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day,” but I thought I’d get some of my blogging done early. Yesterday I asked cryptically “Who is Brett Kimberlin?” You can’t find out who he is or why he wages lawfare against anyone who points out his criminal history by looking him up on Wikipedia, because his page there got sent down the memory hole. Wikipedia hasn’t explained how or why that happened, but Kimberlin seems to be blaming the Klan for writing the page about him. Who knew that the Klan, founded to be the Democratic Party’s terrorist wing after losing the Civil War, is so wiki-savvy as to write up a wiki page about a convicted terrorist now? The sheet-wearers get around, I guess.

But Kimberlin’s Klan haven’t gotten to Google yet. Lee Stranahan linked to this very useful page on Google Scholar. It lists a whole lot of court action involving Mr. Kimberlin. Any lawyers in the readership here want to take on some of those links and see what sort of person we’re dealing with?

One huge and relevant question hangs over all this: What did Barbra Streisand know and when did she know it? It’s her money that funds Kimberlin’s leftwing activism. Is she cool with funding an unrepentant terrorist? Did she even know that she was? Does she know that she’s funding a man who has forced an innocent family to flee their home?

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Posted at 3:51 pm on May 23rd, 2012 by

Montana Rancher in Democrat Super PAC Ad is Not Quite the Average Montana Rancher He’s Made Out to Be

Democrat super PAC Patriot Majority is out with a new ad supporting Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, titled “Charter.” The title comes from Steve Charter, the principle figure in the ad which criticizes Montana Senate candidate Rep. Denny Rehberg. Rehberg is the presumed GOP nominee to face Tester this fall.

The ad, as seen in this screen shot, depicts Steve Charter as a run-of-the-mill rancher. When Charter accuses Rehberg of having “lost touch” with average Montanans, the audience is intended to take his criticisms of Rehberg as if they’re coming from an everyday Montana rancher.

The Patriot Majority ad may also transgress the alleged new tone of civility, by using a stereotype image to suggest that Rep. Rehberg is a wanted criminal.

Steve Charter, it turns out, is not quite the everyday Montanan. Rancher or not, Steve Charter is an environmental activist. He sits on the board of directors of the Northern Plains Resource Council. The NPRC opposes both the XL pipeline and the American coal industry. While the majority of Montanans and Americans have questioned President Obama’s political decision to scuttle the XL, Charter’s NPRC praised the job-killing decision.

Charter also runs another environmental advocacy group, the Bull Mountain Landowners Association, and from that position advocates against coal mining in Montana. According to the National Mining Association, Montana ranks as the nation’s fifth largest coal producer.

There is nothing wrong or illegal about any of Steve Charter’s environmental activities of course. But Patriot Majority’s use of him in the ad attacking Rep. Rehberg does raise a fair question as to who is really out of touch with Montana: The Republican who is advocating for more jobs and more use of domestic energy sources, or the campaign using an environmental activist posing as an average rancher, who is on board with some of the most unpopular aspects of the Obama war on energy.

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Posted at 2:17 pm on May 23rd, 2012 by

War On Women: Hustler Mag Publishes Fake Explicit Image of S.E. Cupp

There isn’t much to add to the Blaze’s report:

Under the headline “Celebrity Fantasy,” the text beside the picture asks, “What would S.E. Cupp look like with a [d**k] in her mouth?”

S.E. Cupp is a lovely young lady who read too much Ayn Rand in high school and ended up joining the dark side. Cupp, an author and media commentator who often shows up on Fox News programs, is undeniably cute. But her hotness is diminished when she espouses dumb ideas like defunding Planned Parenthood. Perhaps the method pictured here is Ms. Cupp’s suggestion for avoiding an unwanted pregnancy.

A disclaimer follows: “No such picture of S.E. Cupp actually exists. This composite fantasy is altered from the original for our imagination, does not depict reality, and is not to be taken seriously for any purpose.”

There is no shaming Hustler or its publisher Larry Flynt. That can’t be done to the man who trolled for dirt on a GOP governor and later on offered a job to disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner. But the image has managed to pull a couple of condemnatory tweets out of Planned Parenthood and Sandra Fluke. That’s as far as that will go. He gives thousands of dollars in political donations, the heavy majority going to Democrats.

Cupp and her boss, Glenn Beck, discuss the matter here on GBTV.

Imagine if Rush had gone anywhere near publishing anything close to this. Which he never would have. We would never hear the end of it.

There’s a twitter hashtag — #IStandWithSECupp. So far, the National Organization of Women hasn’t reacted at all. Outside a few blogs, no media are reporting on this. Which isn’t much of a surprise. If you’re a conservative, you’re fair game for any sort of attack.

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Posted at 1:09 pm on May 23rd, 2012 by

GOP Has a Good Laugh at Obama’s Weak Primary Showings

After President Obama fared poorly against “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s Kentucky primary, the Republican Party has rolled out a new button:

Predicted Democratic response:

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Posted at 10:10 am on May 23rd, 2012 by

How Bad are Things in Greece? Hospitals are Repossessing Newborn Babies

The combination of nationalized “universal” healthcare, extreme unemployment and a bankrupt state has produced a very anti-family outcome.

When the Athens maternity hospital where Anna gave birth asked her to pay for the costs of her Caesarean section, she told them she did not have the 1,200 euros (£970, $1,500) they wanted.

They responded, she says, by threatening to keep hold of her baby until she paid the full amount.

Like hundreds of thousands of people in Greece, Anna (not her real name) is not eligible for free non-emergency healthcare. The Greek state only provides that for people who are employed and making regular national insurance contributions, or, when people are unemployed, if they are fully up to date with tax payments.

Out of work, you’re out of luck. And more than a fifth of Greeks are out of work.

Greek governments have cut healthcare spending by 13% over the last two years and instructed hospitals to tighten their belts dramatically.

At the same time, public health facilities have seen a 30% increase in demand, as middle class Greeks stop paying for private healthcare.

Doctor Katerina Stypsanelli says that in the past managers would not always insist on payment from the poorest patients, but are now under pressure to enforce the rules.

“It is not the hospital’s fault, it is the government’s policy and budget tightening which is forcing their hand,” says Stypsanelli, who works at a sister hospital under the same administration.

Anna made a call to a women’s group, who made a call to the hospital director, and he gave the order to allow Anna to take her baby home. The hospital director denies that any of this happened.

The director of the hospital where Anna gave birth, Nikos Faldamis, denies that he was contacted about Anna’s case. He says his staff never threatened to hold Anna’s child and that they offered her the option of paying in instalments right from the start.

“This is not a pawn shop where we hold your ring as a deposit. Nothing like that has ever happened here,” he says. “The lady gave birth and was due to be released on a Sunday but since our administrative staff don’t work on weekends she had to wait until Monday at which time both she and her baby left this hospital together.”

But a similar case apparently happened at the same hospital back in December and other cases have happened around the country. Predictably, leftwing advocates aren’t taking this bizarre turn as a hint to decouple health care and government power and unleash the private sector, but as an excuse to get the Greek government to spend even more money on health care that it doesn’t have.

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Posted at 9:50 am on May 23rd, 2012 by

Keep it Classy, MSNBC

This is how MSNBC is framing the “debate” over Bain Capital today on Alex Wagner’s show.

I won’t suggest combining the above with the network’s current marketing slogan.

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Posted at 9:09 am on May 23rd, 2012 by

Which Democrats Will Pay a Price for Siding with the NLRB’s Big Labor Agenda?

The Democrats have picked a curious and potentially very costly fight this election year. President Obama came into office promising Big Labor that its agenda is his agenda, and he wasted little time using the National Labor Relations Board to make good on that promise. That board is supposed to be a fair arbiter of labor disputes, but the president packed the NLRB with Big Labor activists, and the board tried to ram a union-favoring “ambush rule” through to implementation. The rule would slash the amount of time employees and employers have to consider unionization in non-unionized work places from six weeks to as little as 15 days, potentially tilting America’s increasingly non-unionized work force toward unionization. When unions can plot and ambush workers and employers with snap elections, their winning percentage goes way up, but when more time is allowed for both sides to weigh all the potential ramifications of unionization, workers routinely reject unionization.

The NLRB was short two of its five members when it voted for the ambush rule. Additionally, only two of its sitting members actually voted on the rule. The lone Republican on the board abstained from the vote, denying the board a quorum.

The US Senate took up the board’s illegal vote, or to be more accurate, it could have and should have. But ahead of the rule’s implementation this month, the Democrat-controlled Senate declined to put a halt to it. But in so doing, the Democrats may have won what will prove to be the most fleeting of victories.

First, a federal judge struck the ambush rule down on the reasonable grounds that two votes do not make a quorum on a five-member board. But the NLRB isn’t taking a federal judge’s ruling for the last word. Despite the clear ruling against them, the board is signaling its intent to implement the rule anyway. Like its vote to adopt the rule, and President Obama’s later move to pack the board with more Big Labor supporting members without consulting the Senate, the board’s move would be illegal.

Even more disturbing, several Democrats from swing states are allowing the NLRB to get away with its lawless moves. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill has refused to take a public position on whether the Senate should overturn the board’s actions. McCaskill had the opportunity to side with her state’s businesses and workers, but instead she has chosen to stick with the Obama NLRB and its radical rule-making.

McCaskill isn’t alone in putting her party and its Big Labor backers above the people of her own state. Montana Sen. Jon Tester came into office promising to be a moderate Democrat, but like McCaskill, when workers’ freedom was on the line, he sided with Big Labor. And like McCaskill, Tester refused to tell the voters of his state which way he planned to vote or why. He ambushed Montana voters and sided with the NLRB ambush rule.

Why would Sen. Tester put his future in the Senate on the line? It’s tempting to simply follow the money: Tester has accepted nearly $500,000 in contributions from the unions since 2007. Montana is a forced union state. Tester is siding with the unions to help them preserve and expand their power over Montana workers and employers.

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Posted at 8:24 am on May 23rd, 2012 by

I Told You They Would Blame Obama’s Awful Kentucky and Arkansas Results on Race

And here comes Politico to prove me right. Thanks!

[H]is rough ride through the Upper South is a reminder that in some ways Obama is still haunted by his 2008 remark about people who “cling to guns or religion.” While there are plenty of more important factors driving the Upland South hostility toward him – among them, race, culture and some specific administration policies – it’s hard not to notice his unpopularity in a region of the country where gun ownership and church worship rates are high.

You Christian wingnuts just can’t stand a black man. We have a troll here who trots that argument out in comments with mind-numbing routine. And they’re right of course, unless you count Allen West, who is a conservative hero. And Clarence Thomas. And Thomas Sowell, and once upon a time, Colin Powell and Alan Keyes etc and etc. Except for them, and J. C. Watts, the former Oklahoma congressman, southerners can’t stand a black man holding office.

Check out the comments on the Politico article, which mostly amount to Democrats convincing themselves that Obama’s weak showing in unchallenged primaries are not his or his policies’ fault. Show the Democrats and their media allies empirical evidence that the president’s policies are hurting his chances to keep his job, and they’ll plug their ears and shout racism. It’s all too predictable. Here’s to hoping that the media don’t stop believing, and keep on goosing polls to prop their dear leader up. That will make Obama’s ouster in November that much more unexpected for them, and sweeter for everyone else.

Update (10:34 am central): An MSNBC White House correspondent just blamed Obama’s poor showing on race. She couched it with the “some analysts say” trick. They had her do the stand-upper at a NASCAR event. Heh.

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Posted at 8:13 am on May 23rd, 2012 by

They’re Going to Blame This on Racism

In Kentucky, “uncommitted” kept things interesting in the Democratic primary tonight. Obama won, 57-42. But he was running against air.

The results come on the heels of West Virginia’s Democratic primary earlier this monthwhere a felon incarcerated in Texas took 41 percent of the vote from the president.

In Kentucky, Obama did get more total votes than presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who won the GOP primary with almost 67 percent of the vote.

Obama had more than 118,600 votes to Romney’s approximately 117,100.

Kentucky is red. No chance it will go for Obama in November. So Axelrod and company will float that his poor showing is due to the economy, and his race. And by the way, his race. Not the high unemployment, or the attacks on religious freedom, ObamaCare, the war on coal, none of that. It will be 100%, grade-A

The fact that they’ll be throwing fellow Democrats under the bus? Less than irrelevant.

Update: They’ll blame the Arkansas result on racism, too.

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Posted at 7:21 pm on May 22nd, 2012 by

Bain Mutiny: Obama Loses Deval Patrick?

The first mate has just threatened to plank the captain of the SS Obama.

MA Gov. Deval Patrick has joined Ed Rendell, Cory Booker, Harold Ford and Mark Warner in defending Bain Capital, former lair of Mitt Romney, the Mormon “vampire.”

To clean up the language of the vice president, this is a big flippin’ deal.

Deval Patrick is Barack Obama’s forerunner, the prophet who came before The One, speaking the poetic lines written for both by huckster David Axelrod. For Patrick to say that Bain is “not a bad company” is pretty close to him disavowing hope and change itself. Among other things, Patrick is going to have to find a new speechwriter.

Add to the list of ways to know that the Bain attacks aren’t working: Only Jim Clyburn and Joe Biden are still on board with it. Everyone else has figured out that it’s worse than a waste of time.

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Posted at 6:55 pm on May 22nd, 2012 by

Biden: Plumbers Can’t Be President

Or something. Honestly, I’m having a hard time figuring out what’s up Biden’s bonnet in this attempt to attack Bain Capital.

Vice President Joe Biden offered a defense Tuesday of the Obama campaign’s questioning of Mitt Romney’s business experience, saying that the Republican candidate’s specific experiences are what make him a bad fit for the Oval Office.

“Your job as president is to promote the common good. That doesn’t mean the private equity guys are bad guys. They are not,” he said in a campaign speech in Keene, N.H. “But that no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber. And, by the way, there are a lot of awful smart plumbers.”

Plumbers don’t promote the common good now? Plumbers can’t be president because they haven’t spent their lives in politics? What the…

There’s video at the link. Biden clearly isn’t speaking out on his own, since he’s evidently sober and he’s saying almost the same thing Obama said after the NATO meeting yesterday. Obama just neglected to directly insult honest workers who keep civilization from being overrun by clogged sinks and backed up toilets. And who, by the way, are people who provide services that we will always need, and who earn their livings by working with their minds and their hands. Team Obama actually wants to argue that because Romney worked in the private sector for 25 years, he never had the “greater good” in mind and shouldn’t be president? Seriously?

And Obama’s policy, which Biden supports, of killing off the US coal industry one regulation at a time constitutes proper looking out for the common good?

The spectacle of two particularly unaccomplished career politicians ripping one of the captains of capitalism for being successful ought to elicit nothing but derision out of the media and the American public. But the fact is, those two are currently president and veep. And they’re showing the entire world just how bright neither one of them is with this kind of rhetoric. That makes their cluelessness downright terrifying.

Update: I suppose we should take a small victory from President Obama repudiating Jim Clyburn’s “Romney the corporate rapist” comment. They do have a line, it seems.

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Posted at 4:20 pm on May 22nd, 2012 by

Bryan Preston

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