Energy Myths

This is an excellent address given by Keith O. Rattie, Chairman, President and CEO of Questar Corporation. The talk was given to Utah Valley University...you really need to read the whole thing which you can get over at Clearly Departed. But here are a couple of samples:

"Over the past 39 years mankind has consumed nearly twice the world’s known oil reserves in 1970 – and today proven oil reserves are nearly double what they were before we started. The story with natural gas is even better – here and around the world enormous amounts of natural gas have been found. More will be found. And guess what? The 30-year cooling trend that led to the global cooling scare in the mid-70s abruptly ended in the late 70s, replaced by a 20-year warming trend that peaked in 1998."

"Under cap-and-trade, the government would try to create a market for CO2 by selling credits to companies that emit CO2. They would set a cap for the maximum amount of CO2 emissions. Over time, the cap would ratchet down. In theory, this will force companies to invest in lower-carbon technologies, thus reducing emissions to avoid the cost of buying credits from other companies that have already met their emissions goals. The costs of the credits would be passed on to consumers. Because virtually everything we do and consume in modern life has a carbon footprint the cost of just about everything will go up. This in theory will cause each of us to choose products that have a lower carbon footprint. Any way you slice it, cap and trade is a tax on the way we live our lives – one designed to produce a windfall for government."

Please go read the whole thing!

The BOHICA Cycle

Courtesy of House of Eratosthenes:

Let the Process Work!

Other than the laughter (and this is O's team!) the best part is the surprise in the woman reporter's voice when she says "so it's not," to Gibbs' "uh, umm, uh, we are going to let the process work it's way through." The "it" is the pledge not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250K.

Hey, you Obama voters lean in real close....

SUCKERS!!!!

The Public Plan Deception - It's Not About Choice

"Trojan Horse - it's right there in front of you!"

These are their own words, not some "right wing fantasy."

Interestingly there is a parallel story about government involvement in insurance. The State of Florida has set up a "public option" to insure coastal properties - it's becoming a drag on the state's economy and has driven out private insurance companies. Read about all that here.

....AND we've worked our way out of lows like this before. Ronald Reagan brought us out of the Jimmy Carter malaise by lowering taxes and getting the government OUT of the way. Facts are disturbing things for statists working overtime to take over more and more segments of the economy.

Honduras and Democracy

Maria Anastasia O'Grady has an excellent summary of what is going on in Honduras right now:


O'Grady: Honduras Defends Its Democracy - WSJ.com

What an interesting conundrum for our young, inexperienced POTUS. We don't want to meddle in Iranian affairs, but have no problem meddling with Honduras or Israel. How "elite" and "subtle" and "smart" it is to be on the side of Chavez, Castro and the rest of the South American Leftists who want to destroy freedom and democracy.

What is also interesting is how the rest of the world is drifting to the right. See what happened to Kirchner in Argentina? Well, at least Chavez and his ilk have a good friend in Barry.


BREAKING: Confirmed - Obama sides with tyrants and meddles in the affairs of other countries.

Problem Solving

Abraham Maslow once said that "if the only tool in your box was a hammer, every problem would seem to be a nail." Fits:

Religion and Society

This is a fascinating discussion about how religion is surviving alongside modernism, and where it is, good things happen! Imagine that. A taste:

"European secularists assume that the church is on the side of the ancien régime, of the establishment, that it's against reason and democracy and liberal emancipation, and there is a lot of evidence for that in Europe. But in America the evangelical movement advanced alongside democracy and liberal enlightened values. They were not oppositional forces but comrades in arms. If you give people more freedom and more democracy they will talk about what they want to talk about and obviously for many people that is God. Religion itself has also been important for advancing democracy - it's an example of the little platoons of civil society. Churches nurture certain civic values, that's why the Chinese government, and all totalitarian governments, have been very suspicious of them and have tried to crush them."

Good article, read it here.

Obamercial

So even with 164 hand-picked victims, the Big O couldn't help hogging the mike and repeating himself over and over and over and over...this is disgusting. ABC should be ashamed for whoring itself.

Too complex to exist ?

Too complex to exist - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

This is an intriguing article for both sides of the political spectrum. Corporations that become too large and therefore pose a "systemic risk" to the entire economy could be regulated to downsize...how do we regulate the Federal Government when it gets too large?

Numbers

One of the numerous ill-supported claims being thrown about by Statists is that there are "50 million uninsured Americans!!!!!!!!!!!" Panic! Government help needed immediately! See some of the discussion on my earlier post from an anonymous liberal and you will get the point.

Great analysis by Carl Bialik, aka "The Numbers Guy" over at the Wall Street Journal this morning. The former head of the CBO states: "There is a range of uncertainty in health legislation that probably exceeds that of most other issues before Congress." Really? Oh, but we have to comprehensively overhaul the system this year??

The real agenda is apparent: statist control of the entire health care system so we can be more like...France? Well, actually, of late, France has behaved more like the United States.

Beats Taxing Us...

US To Trade Gold Reserves For Cash Through Cash4Gold.com

Enumerated Powers

With the Dems in charge of all the levers of power, this little gem, titled the Enumerated Powers Act will never see the light of day. Conceptually, however, it is a great piece of legislation for Individualists to rally around. At it's core is the simple assertion that Congress is constrained by a set of documents that tell it what it can and cannot do for/to the American people.

Funny thing is, these clowns bitch about how overworked they are and how little time they have to read legislation, so they really don't know what's in a bill (other than the 3 x 5 card handed to them by a staffer)...this would start to solve the problem. Do the contents of the legislation pass muster for being an area we can Constitutionally impose ourselves? Yes? Move on. No? Ash heap. Funny thing is, MOST of Obama's programs would be in the latter category.

Good piece over at the Heritage Institute about this bill. Read it here.

"Appalled"

Well maybe BHO is coming around, if even a little bit. Now he is "appalled and outraged" by what is happening in the streets of Tehran. One of my anonymous ferrets who is a cult follower of "the One," says its about BHO "thinking before he acts," something which the evil Booosh of course never did. My guess is it has something more to do with this:

The fortunes of politics turn and as we predicted here long ago, sooner or later, the American people will come to grips with the reality that the man is a total lightweight - sadly, the Mullahs and nut jobs like Kim Jong Il already know it.

"Mobile Prisons"

Great post over at "Letters from Tory," a letter to Nikolas Sarkozy for daring to take on the burka in France.

You Go WaPo!

Something (common sense?) seems to have gotten into the liberal bastion Washington Post. They and the Wall Street Journal have been the only print media that aren't slobbering over the Big O. Take a look at this sweet graphic depicting Obaspending:

Fixing Healthcare

Pretty effective ad that Heritage Foundation is running...they also have a lot of good resources over at Fixhealthcarepolicy.com

VDH - The Maestro

Victor Davis Hanson nails it in his column over at "Works and Days." This IS the moment. What can be gained by speaking out against the thugocratic murder being conducted in the streets of Tehran and Shiraz? Quite possibly the overthrow of a regime that is the very nexus of terror support in the region. Obama could undo what Jimmy Carter wrought if he would just speak out in support. A sampling:

Obama’s realpolitik is flawed: 1) if the mullahs win, they will have greater contempt for our timidity; 2) if the dissidents win, they will not forget our realistic fence-sitting; 3) you can never believe (ever) anything the mullahs say or do. Negotiating with them is like signing a pact with Hitler. They are afraid of US voiced support for the dissidents, not the dissidents themselves who ask for our solidarity. If anything, the theocrats grasp that their own do not want a nuclear confrontation with Israel in which the people would be sacrificial pawns. Again and again, the dissidents have repeated that they are tired of being hated in the world as Ahmadinejad’s Iranians, not that they wanted Obama’s America to be less critical of Ahmadinejad.

Neda

This is graphic and haunting. This is the face of this revolution.



Women have so much to gain by overthrowing these thugs. Where are the voices of American liberals who supposedly support women's rights? The hypocrisy is disgusting.

Iranian Women Standing For Change

CNN has done a pretty good job of getting information from behind the Iron Koran. One of the intriguing plots is how the women of Iran are supporting the revolution...real change. Now, if they could just get a word of encouragement from our Dear Leader in Washington to match their bravery.

Global Warming Science

Substitute "global warming" for "a witch" and you get the picture...I love the Obamats in the opening scene!

Hat tip DFB.

Those Spoiled Kids, Fannie and Freddie

You know the ship is turning when even the uber-liberal Village Voice comes around to admitting that a big part of the economic collapse was due to LIBERAL pressure to loan money to people that couldn't afford to repay the debt.

The Obama Legacy

So, how's all that "stimulatin'" workin' out for ya? Here's the headline from the WaPo:

"HIGHEST UNEMPLOYMENT IN TWENTY FIVE YEARS."


Keep it coming BHO, Harry and Nancy...keep it coming.

Clueless

Even at the "Supreme Leader" in Tehran says there was no fraud and that the election was won fair and square, the forces for freedom around the world have learned a bitter lesson about our current Dear Leader at 1600 Pennsylvania: he is clueless. As the first chance in thirty years to affect change in this oppressive regime is at hand, where is BHO? Well, Krauthammer nails it:

And where is our president? Afraid of "meddling." Afraid to take sides between the head-breaking, women-shackling exporters of terror -- and the people in the street yearning to breathe free. This from a president who fancies himself the restorer of America's moral standing in the world.

Liberals want to give him a pass because he is so "intelligent" and "thoughtful," but the reality is, he is clueless and the thugs around the world from Kim Jong Il to the Ayatollahs have his number.

Slip Slidin' Away

Wall Street Journal is reporting that Obama's popularity is "slipping." This is just the latest in a series of polls that illustrate that the American people, though they have been hypnotized, are not flat-lined stupid. The same sampling reports Dick Cheney's popularity, though still dismal, UP eight points since April; the Pelosinator's numbers headed for the teens, even lower than Congress's mid-twenty approval rating and the "deficit" an area of concern for almost 50%.

On all of BHO's pet projects, from socialized medicine to running car companies, there is pretty healthy disapproval. Most people are still blaming the evil Boosh for everything, but soon...very soon, the Wunderkind is going to own the bad news.

The good news for those of us on the "want Obama to fail" (Shock! How aweful!!) because we want our country "to succeed," (you evil American exceptionalist!) is that it tracks with a number of other polls showing the same trend. The "wrong track/right track" poll is opening up again, with more people saying they don't like this kind of "hope n'change," and the American people REALLY don't like their Congress. Once the cult followers over at Huffpo and Kos start to turn, this guy may end up having a reign less favorable than Jimmy Carter's...let us pray he does nowhere near the damage that man did.

Narcissism in Action

The weird part is his asking everyone else's impression of this Musca domestica...brings up this analysis done by an Israeli psychologist on this type of personality...a sampler:

Obama displays the following behaviors, which are among the hallmarks of pathological narcissism:

• Subtly misrepresents facts and expediently and opportunistically shifts positions, views, opinions, and "ideals" (e.g., about campaign finance, re-districting). These flip-flops do not cause him overt distress and are ego-syntonic (he feels justified in acting this way). Alternatively, refuses to commit to a standpoint and, in the process, evidences a lack of empathy.
• Ignores data that conflict with his fantasy world, or with his inflated and grandiose self-image. This has to do with magical thinking. Obama already sees himself as president because he is firmly convinced that his dreams, thoughts, and wishes affect reality. Additionally, he denies the gap between his fantasies and his modest or limited real-life achievements (for instance, in 12 years of academic career, he hasn't published a single scholarly paper or book).
• Feels that he is above the law, incl. and especially his own laws.
• Talks about himself in the 3rd person singular or uses the regal "we" and craves to be the exclusive center of attention, even adulation
• Have a messianic-cosmic vision of himself and his life and his "mission".
• Sets ever more complex rules in a convoluted world of grandiose fantasies with its own language (jargon)
• Displays false modesty and unctuous "folksiness" but unable to sustain these behaviors (the persona, or mask) for long. It slips and the true Obama is revealed: haughty, aloof, distant, and disdainful of simple folk and their lives.
  

And even more chilling:

The University of Chicago Law School provided him a lot longer than expected and at the end it evolved into, guess what? His own autobiography! Instead of writing a scholarly paper focusing on race relations, for which he had been paid, Obama could not resist writing about his most sublime self. He entitled the book Dreams from My Father.

Not surprisingly, Adolph Hitler also wrote his own autobiography when he was still nobody. So did Stalin. For a narcissist no subject is as important as his own self. Why would he waste his precious time and genius writing about insignificant things when he can write about such an august being as himself?

Beautiful.

The I.T. Czar helps out the TARP Czar

Hat tip G.V.S.

Obama - the Diplomat

So, one of the myths along the way to the White House was how much our allies HATED Boosh!! We need someone suave and debonnaire that really understands overseas peoples we were told...and a lot of Americans bought that tripe.

So now the Magical O goes and stuffs some Gitmo Detainees in Bermuda and they are none to happy about it...forgot to call 'em ahead of time. This is better than giving the Queen an iPod with your speeches on it or DVD's that won't work in Europe...keep it up O. We've about lost the Brits, the French and Germans are heading out the door...the Israelis sure as hell don't trust you and the Brazilians, Indians, Russians and Chinese are meeting to discuss an alternative world economic structure. Not bad work for your first six months!

There is a piece of good news here - Tapper actually works for abc. Good to see someone in the state-sponsored media grow a pair. Keep it up Jake, the Fourth Estate is on life support, but maybe men like you can help resuscitate it!

Masked Police Force in Iran Showing Religion of Peace in Action

Here's what I don't get - why are not liberals with their most metrosexual leader, BHO, screaming from the rooftops for change in Iran? Is it because of their loving tolerance of homosexuals? (Nope, they hang 'em.) Could it be the equality that women revel in? (Nope, they stone 'em.) Well, it must be the wonderful free society where everyone is allowed their own religion and point of view...funny, not getting that from this video.

C'mon lefties, this is a cause you should support!

Actually, it is a cause ALL Americans and free-loving people should support. This administration's silence on this is deeply saddening...where's the "hope?" Is this the "change" you wanted?

Oops - just breaking - this is not a video from Iran, it is Obama's folks illustrating their "light touch" on the financial regulation.

The Day the Media Died

Oh it's been thrashing around for some time now - this puts it firmly into the dust bin of irrelevance...Drudge is reporting that ABC will be doing their propogandacasts from the White House to push Obamacare.

Iran

Why start a piece about Iran with Reagan's famous Brandenburg Gate challenge? Because what is happening in Iran right now demands champions of freedom (used to be the United States) to speak out. It demands that the White House say something encouraging. This is a moment in history where the entire course of the Middle East could be turned by us speaking to the Iranian people and telling them that we stand WITH democracy, WITH freedom. We understand the youth in the streets "yearning to breath free." It is a teaching moment for the world to see how a theocracy bludgeons it's people and that the world should stand for a fair election. What do we get out of BHO? ____________________________________

Exactly. Shameful.

Obama among the Doctors

Great blog post over at American Thinker this morning dissecting the "Orwellian double-speak" that is the Great Obfuscator.

Rumbler is on the road this week, but listening to the speech while driving through Texas caught the part where BHO stated "...we will even look into tort reform." (Wild applause from the Doctors) "Uhh, wait a minute, I'm not saying we can do anything quickly..." The man loves to put statements out there - especially when he goes off prompter - to draw adulation from the crowd. It's what feeds him, and after all, it's all about HIM. But then he realizes as the little voice in his head goes "oops!" that he has to retract and so he double-speaks his way out. This is a pattern that he mastered all the way back in law school. I read a column a month or so ago by a classmate of his at Harvard Law who said BHO could enter a debate and leave both sides thinking he had agreed with him. Newt said it best recently when comparing Obama and Reagan: "Reagan used his oratorical skills to tell the truth, to challenge the American people and to elevate us. Obama uses his oratorical skills to obfuscate, deceive and tear us down."

It's Working!

Obama and his crowd deplore American exceptionalism, so they should be thrilled to find out that our credit rating will be down-graded! Robert Prechter, a bit of a doom and gloom guy, but one who predicted the 1987 Crash when all else were saying "remain calm," is stating the obvious...and he is not alone:

Prechter, known for predicting the 1987 stock market crash, joins a growing coterie of market heavyweights in forecasting the United States will lose its top credit rating as the government issues trillions of dollars in debt to fund efforts to bail out the economy.

Isn't this awesome (if you are an Obamanoid)??!! We can ruin our economy just like any other Third World Country...we are the world!

Obama Drastically Scales Back Goals For America After Visiting Denny's

Funny...but I suspect this is how he really thinks.

A Glint of Good News

Gallup is reporting that the largest group in the political spectrum game is "Conservative." Same article notes that the people who call themselves "Liberal" are down to 21%. Now that's about HALF the number of those that tilt to the right. Sad news for the regular "anonymous" harassers of this blog that claim we are a dying breed.

Now polls are fickle beasts, but this is certainly a good bellwether. Another sign that the American people with Boosh fatigue threw the pottery up against the wall last November...we shall see.

Breaking up is hard to do...

There is a very interesting piece over at the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal this morning titled "Divided We Stand." The author, Paul Starobin, sketches out a possible future for the United States as a loosely knit group of republics with even some geographic boundaries obliterated. For example, "Cascadia," would be a new regional republic carved out of the Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, Canada (wait till after the Winter Olympics!). "Calibaja" would turn San Diego into the capital of Northwest Mexico, Baja and a large chunck of Southern California.

What is interesting about this is the frighteningly real possibility that this could happen. We have an imperial government in Washington D.C. now that in just six months has:

1. Violated all precepts of contractual law invalidating hundreds of years of case law.
2. Unconstitutionally seized control of a large piece of the manufacturing sector.
3. Unconstitutionally seized a large part of the capital market structure.
4. Ignored qualifying norms (like paying taxes) for high level officials.
5. Delved into private property, entrepreneurial capitalism and all aspects of commerce without right.
6. Mortgaged the futures of our children and their children.
7. Is attempting to seize control of our healthcare system.
8. Ignored the counsel of military leaders on what measures (like missile defense) are necessary to keep us safe.

The list goes on and on...we are drowning in debt we cannot pay and this is just the beginning! I know a lot of my friends are reading "Atlas Shrugged," and begining to feel like Galt. I'm increasingly feeling like a colonist in the 1770's - no taxation without representation! Washington has truly become Leviathan and we all (both political stripes) feel powerless. I love my country and desperately want her to succeed and stay together, but increasingly, I feel we have a tyrannical government and that the only way we will bring those idiots on the Potomac to heel is to consider secession and separation into distinct regions.

In the near term, this could bring some peace to the social wars too. If you want to live in a land where gay marriage, infanticide, socialized medicine and euthanasia rock your boat - move to Novacadia or Calivada. If you want religion to be allowed in the public square, low taxation and personal freedom, Texas, Kentennalageorge or Virgicarol will welcome you. Then, in these smaller, more efficient republics we will see which system really does work better for the long haul. We would have to work out some commercial rules for travel and trade between the republics and we would have to have some form of military sharing for mutual defense, but those are details that could be worked out.

My guess is, the period of republican devolution would last about 50 years. It will take two generations of pure socialism and liberal social anarchy in Novacadia and Calivada for them to come to grips with the fact that it doesn't work. Then maybe we could all get along again. Maybe.

If this sounds like fantasy, perhaps it is. But this time, one year ago, if you had told me that a U.S. hating, mixed-race racist with a resume thinner than a communion wafer would be sitting in the Oval Office I would have told you "no way." I think the election of 2010 will be a real windvane for the direction this country wants to go. If we have reached the point where those who pay the taxes are in the minority to those who receive the benefits therefrom, secession could become quite popular.

Rumble on!

Cross posted at Red State Rumblings.

I Found Something I Agree with Obama About

The headline sounds scary: "U.S. Cities May Have to be Bulldozed to Survive," but the premise is to go through some older cities, primarily in the Rust Belt and return underutilized exurbs to nature. There are some complications to be worked out, like proper compensation for the current property owners and re-settlement of residents and businesses. But with the inevitable return of $4 + per gallon gasoline, you would probably be doing some of those folks a favor. We need to take a hard look at our growth patterns in this country to minimize impact on the infrastructure which is already reeling.

I like the idea, but don't see why the Federal Government has to be involved. This needs to be handled at the local level. Obama's going to be too busy running the car companies, my bank and my prescription levels! (C'mon, you knew I couldn't let him totally off the hook!)

This is real, isn't it?

Target Education

Lee Cary over at The American Thinker sets out the frightening scenario of how these "Progressives" under Obama could take over the education system. Let's see, banks...got one...car company? Got one. Healthcare system...working on it; energy system of the country...working on it; so why not education? And for the "anonymous" posters that think this is "paranoia" or who believe that the "sheeple don't know what's good for them," go get an education - the Germans thought Hitler was doing it for the "good of the people" too. It's just like cooking a lobster.

The Truth Behind "Cap and Trade"

"...under my plan electricity rates will skyrocket..."

There is an excellent analysis of this sham that is being foisted on the American people over at the Institute for Energy Research - give it a read here. There are far easier solutions including nuclear power and increased drilling...but the Zombobamabots won't allow any discussion.

Reverend Wright and the Jooooooos!

Great audio of Reverend Wright, remember him, talking to a reporter about Barack Obama.

"Ethnic cleansing in Gaza..."

"they are all Zionists..."

"it's the Jewish people controlling him so I can't speak to him..."

Beautiful. Now this is the pastor that Santa Obama listened to for TWENTY YEARS and had no idea this kind of hatespeach was being "preached" from the pulpit. In the world according to Obama, this just happened after he declared he was running for President. We can believe that right along with "we have created or saved 150,000 jobs..."

Wright...err, I mean "right."

Al Gore 1984

Nice shot of the Obama voters watching the tube...

Economic Reporting: Then and Now

Excellent summary of what how useless the Fourth Estate has become. Hat tip Frank Strategies. Sadly though, it is still working on some people. Rumbler spoke with a good friend over the weekend...he voted for Obama. Midway through the conversation, friend says: "what could Obama do since he inherited such a huge deficit from Booosh?" "Quadruple it," says Rumbler..."he has."

The Obama Stimulus: Predictions vs. Reality

Hat tip Instapundit.

Separated at Birth??

Is it possible that Barack Obama has yet another unknown relative?


How about Magua, the Huron chief in "Last of the Mohicans" - also known as Wes Studi, the actor:

YES! Here's a shot of Obama cutting the beating heart out of private enterprise! Oops, sorry, that's Colonel Munroe's ticker there...


This ought to help him wrap up the Native American vote...

Obamacare...obamortion

Saw this over the weekend - an excellent, concise analysis by someone really in the know:



Here's a written piece that validates the information in the video.

I am NOT Saying they deserve it...YET.

It didn't take long for the American people to catch on. Rasmussen is reporting that by a margin of 45% to 39% (a BLOWOUT LANDSLIDE!!!! in Obamaspeak) more Americans trust Republicans than democrats on the Economy. The Republicans lead with varying margins on "Immigration," "National Security," "Ethics," "Iraq," and "Taxes." Tie ball game on "Abortion" at 41% and they are behind on "Social Security," "Healthcare," and "Education." It won't take long to put "Healthcare" and "Social Security" in their camp if they stick to conservative principles and show what an erosion of freedom and fiscal Titanic that socialized medicine will become. "Education," will take a little longer, although a full scale promotion of charter schools would be a good place to start.

They don't deserve these numbers yet. They haven't earned them - the lunacy of the Democrat/Socialist party is on full display and so people are voting AGAINST the Democrats. With some leadership and calm plain speaking, the Republicans could earn it back.

Our Judeo-Christian Nation

That's right - the efficiency of the Post Office with the compassion of the IRS, Socialized Medicine, here we come! Nice little exchange on this subject:



Where's the "crisis" and what's the hurry? You want to take over 25% of the GDP and you don't even want to test it in selected areas to see what works? We already tried in Tennessee, it was called "TennCare" and it was a disaster. We tried to provide universal healthcare along the lines of what the Feds are proposing and it nearly bankrupted the state. The program vastly superseded the projections for enrollment with thousands of people opting out of employer programs to take the state freebie. In the end, the program was dismantled, benefits were slashed and a more reasonable system is now in place. Pay attention folks, because this could happen on a national scale.

Need a Caption

This picture of Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni, the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, appeared on Drudge Report without a link. We need a caption, any suggestions?

Update - Chicago Ray is pointing out how inappropriate the color white is for this event, you know, respecting the fallen heroes of Normandy.

Unemployment Numbers - Fact vs. Fiction

This chart is courtesy of Innocent Bystanders and he makes a couple of excellent points, so be sure to click over there. It amazes me though that the Vice President, Joe Biden, can actually say that he sees "signs of hope" in these numbers. No mention of how badly we missed the forecast...no. Now, these are the same people that want to foist socialized medicine on us based on their economic models forecasting "savings" in medical expenses that will help pay for the increased budget. When you look at forecast versus performance, I wouldn't trust these folks to accurately predict the time it would take to walk across the hall. Finally, in the "definition of insanity" column - we've been stimulating for eight months now and look at the results. Soooo, we should double down on our efforts? Apparently so.

Teleprompter One

Wow! MSNBC, tingly legs and all, getting in on the teleprompter crutch act:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

D-Day

Another fantastic poem worth the listen is Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Poem and Prayer for an Invading Army." It was read as our boys were headed across the channel to free Europe from itself.

Buried

Buried in a STRATFOR report titled "Lone Wolf Lessons," which is an excellent analysis of the domestic terrorist shooting of two Army soldiers in Little Rock, Arkansas is this little bit of nausea inducing politics:

Several weeks ago, STRATFOR heard from sources that the FBI and other law enforcement organizations had been ordered to “back off” of counterterrorism investigations into the activities of Black Muslim converts. At this point, it is unclear to us if that guidance was given by the White House or the Department of Justice, or if it was promulgated by the agencies themselves, anticipating the wishes of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

So even though the shooter, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who gave up his Christian name of Carlos Leon Bledsoe when he converted to Islam, was known by the FBI to have traveled to Yemen and quite possibly radicalized...they could do nothing.

So once again, while the MSM railed about the killing of the abortionist Dr. Tiller, nothing was said about the death of a US soldier on US soil and the jihadi connections. Private William Long is no longer with us because of this tragedy. But we go on...BlackFive has posted a heart-rending interview with Daris Long, William's father - a former Marine himself - he epitomizes the strength that runs in the blood of the American Military. You can watch it here.

Slipped this One By

While we were all dazzled at the date in New York and the trip to the Pyramids, Obama slipped this little reported gem by us:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

Didn't see that on the nightly news didya?

The Cheney Effect

Despite all the negative press, perhaps the calm common sense of Dick Cheney's speech last week won out over the glitzy telepromptered Obamashow. Gallup is reporting that by a 65% to 32% margin, Americans are opposed to closing Gitmo. On the polling front, Rasmussen is reporting that Cheney is more popular than Nancy Pelosi! (I wouldn't brag about that, Jack the Ripper would probably poll higher than that embarrassment.) But maybe, just maybe the ship is starting to turn a little bit...here's another piece of the Rasmussen poll:

The ONE's approval and disapproval numbers are converging. Now that would be huge news if it were the hated Boosh! who was lambasted non-stop about bad poll numbers...but for Santa Obamista, not a whimper out of the MSM. Helms a-lee!

Mobilizing for Obamacare

Conservative Express has some chilling audio of a call from Obama (on board Air Force One) talking to a group of community organizers about "mobilizing" and "getting into your neighborhoods and knocking on doors" because that's how the Congress will get "intimidated into action." This is all part of the brownshirt, err community organization network that BHO set up to help him win the election and obviously will be deployed to help him win certain issues - the "Organizing for America" group...it's not illegal, but it sure is creepy. Here's a sample letter also posted on Conservative Express:


Note the marrying of the American eagle with the Obama logo? Now where have I seen that before...it was in another land, far far away and long ago:

Muslims in America are Safe

Thank God all the foaming mouth Christians that are waging "Holy War" against the peace loving Muslim peoples will now be brought to heel. Attorney General Eric "Americans are Cowards" Holder, has issued a proclamation:

"The President's pledge for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community takes root here in the Justice Department where we are committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans. A top priority of this Justice Department is a return to robust civil rights enforcement and outreach in defending religious freedoms and other fundamental rights of all of our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the housing market, in our schools and in the voting booth.

"There are those who will continue to want to divide by fear - to pit our national security against our civil liberties - but that is a false choice. We have a solemn responsibility to protect our people while we also protect our principles."

Wow! Maybe he buys into the "Jews attacked the World Trade Center" theory too.

Hat tip to Jihadwatch.

Taxes have Consequences

So you mean we CAN'T keep raising taxes on corporations? You mean they can move overseas if we do? Huh, I never made the connection. Apparently Ballmer over at Microsoft is...this is the tip of the iceberg folks. Wake up!

Once the corporations are gone, then only the poor citizens will be left to foot all the bills...but at least they will have free, government sponsored healthcare...wee!

Parsing THE Speech

I took some time this morning to actually read through the speech this morning. Posted over at the Rumblings blog.

Hussein Obama Getting Ignored

This is sad - BHO gets no respect! I mean, he's bowed to the Saudi King, he's told Muslims it's all our fault...why won't anyone shake his hand?



After all, once we talk to people and they understand us, doesn't that translate into RESPECT? Somebody call Aretha!

So we are a Muslim Nation?

Remember this doozy...



Then of course he repeated this silliness ON FOREIGN SOIL...



Now in an interview with French Canal Plus, Hussein Obama has doubled down on this bet...not only are we NOT a Christian nation, he now says we are "one of the largest Muslim countries." Now Wikipedia has us ranked 38th by total population and not even on the charts by percentage...other estimates place us even lower. Once again, the British press is doing the job that the slobbering, bowing American cult-worshipers, err, main stream media won't do...actually reporting these outrages. Great piece by Toby Harnden over at the Telegraph...read it here.

Lots of ACORNs around the Frank Tree

Ummm, Maybe not so sure

Stephen Schneider, one of the big global warming scaremongers, had boasted that he would debate skeptics, "anytime, anywhere." Kinda reminded me of the old F-14 Squadron motto, "Anytime, baby!" Turns out this guy is just another liberal girly man who likes to talk big and won't back it up by actually showing up...something more like this:

Read all about it over her at The Climate Depot.

Naivete 101

Seems reasonable -some guy who says the Holocaust didn't happen and that he wants to "wipe Israel off the map," just wants him some nukular pa'ar, as Jimmuh Carter would say, for "peaceful purposes. "

There is some weird psychosis going on here - Bambi Obama wants to be liked by our enemies and despised by our allies. We have truly fallen down the foreign policy rabbit hole with this lightweight. God help Israel - they sure won't have any help from us.

Reagan 2012

I was reading his first inaugural address the other day and stunned at how relevant it is to today's situation. Here's a campaign acceptance speech and boy does it not hit the nail on the head.

One Unhappy Loon

Obama should Resign! This demand just in from the far galactic left fringe...at some point the left was going to engage in the old GOP habit of circular firing squad, let's hope their aim is true.

A Global Warming by any other name...

I've sparred with an Anonymous poster (and a number of other mind-numbed lib-bots) over the global warming hoax...I know we're not supposed to call it that anymore since the science behind it is discredited, but even the New York Times is writing about what it should be called now so that the the ecokooks can keep the momentum up to get cap and trade (tax and ruin) legislation passed. The words for today, Comrades, are "our deteriorating atmosphere." Pass it on!

ACORN...again

The depth of the problem with ACORN may never be known, but it is interesting how many times this group's name has been surfacing of late. O'Reilly has some very damming stuff:



and Beck has been all over the group for awhile:



Here's a column from Malkin that lays out the risk to Team Obama if someone finally does squeel.