Senators Feingold And Palin?

It looks as if former Wisconsin Senator, Russ Feingold, is planning a comeback by replacing retiring Senator Herb Kohl. The logical choice for the GOP nomination would be former governor Tommy Thompson. Public Policy Polling polled Democratic voters and found Feingold had a commanding lead of 70%. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin holds on to second place with 12%.

Will Sarah do a Hillary? With all the speculation as to will Sarah Palin run for President another possibility has been overlooked. Sarah Palin recently purchased a home in in North Scottsdale. It would, perhaps make it easier for her to pursue the Republican nomination than staying isolated in Alaska. Overlooked in the speculation is the fact that Arizona will have a vacant Senate seat in 2012 due to the retirement of John Kyle. Ms. Palin campaigned for her old running mate John McCain in the 2010 Republican primary and surely must have a feel for the Arizona electorate.

Just let 'em examine your hard drive, wouldja?

  All weiner all the time. Well, not really. 
  But it is really interesting how snippy the dude is getting. 
  An expert says it wouldn't be unusual for a hacker to grab Weiner's tweeter and allow him to have it back (rather than change the password and lock him out.) However, this whole mess could be cleaned up in seconds, if Weiner would let the authorities check out his hard drive.
  Sheesh. He sure ain't playin' this right.
  It's downright embarrassin.'

Weiner Lawyers UP

You are the victim of identify theft. Someone has hacked into your Facebook and Twitter accounts. How would you respond? Call the FBI? Contact Facebook and Twitter? No you hire a lawyer. Congressman Anthony Weiner has dismissed the alleged hacking of his Twitter account as a prank and sees no need to report the crime. Even the Daily Kos which blames all this on Andrew Breitbart cannot understand why Weiner hasn't hauled Breibart into court or at least reported him to the FBI. To paraphrase the Daily Kos "it was wrong when Chris Lee did it and it's wrong now".

Roasting The Weiner

Any hope that Congressman Anthony Weiner held that his Twitter escapade would go unnoticed during the long holiday weekend has been rendered obsolete. A quick look at the blogosphere yesterday should assure the congressman almost a sort of immortality. Big Government.com provided eleven links to stories relevant to Wiener's embarrassing episode. Even the New York Times got into the act. Well sort of. Noting that
a sexually suggestive photograph had been sent from Weiner's Twitter account it declined to speculate on who the sender might be and accepted Weiner's half-hearted explanation that he had been a victim of hacking. Interestingly, nowhere do we see a comparison to former Congressman Chris Lee's conduct and Weiner's. Congressman Lee was forced from office after he sent a shirtless (and tasteless) likeness of himself to one of his Craig's list friends.

The NLRB's Hooliganism

The National Labor Relations Board was intended to impartially resolve issues between companies and unions in a fair an unbiased manner thus avoiding strikes and other job actions. Until the Obama administration the NLRB conducted itself with a modicum of professionalism. In recent months the NLRB has waged a frontal assault on property rights as exemplified in the Boeing case wherein the NLRB has sought to force Boeing to shut down a newly built plant in South Carolina and limit its expansions to the state of Washington.

Now, in what even the kindest interpretation and charitable assessment can only be called political hooliganism, the supposedly neutral NLRB has engage in blatant political thuggery by blasting the Republican budget plan on its web site. The site was quickly scrubbed when an Office of Budget and Management official, Michael Lazzeri, emailed the budget director of the NLRB, " In case didn’t get my vmail. That press release needs to come down from your website. In the future you guys have to clear that stuff with us," wrote Mr. Lazzeri. The email was obtained by The Hill in a FOIA request.

During the continuing resolution debate for the 2010 budget Rep Tom Price (R-GA) tried to defund the NLRB entirely but 60 Gop congressmen voted against the proposal. It would be nice if someone in the Gop had the temerity to station a 16 foot inflatable rat outside the offices of the NLRB since the courts and the NLRB consider such buffoonery to be protected speech.

Palin vs Obama: a sharp contrast

  American Thinker has a great piece up about the future of the Democrat party. As we mentioned yesterday (and as the Party of Stupid hasn't noticed yet EITHER), the new DNC chair is a real piece of work. She spouts off nonsense without seeming to notice it's nonsense. 
  The charming Mr. Obama, whose personal charisma is his only primary qualification for office, is leading us merrily toward national ruin, without regard to little things called bottom lines and balance sheets.
  Unions are oblivious to the upper class they have created that the middle class must support in perpetuity through pensions and benefits. Unions continue to play class warfare to trick those middle class voters into maintaining the unsustainable.
  So here's a portion of the American Thinker piece entitled "Will Obama sink the Democrats :

The media are playing "divide and conquer" games against Republicans now, a strategy that worked in 2008 by leaving us with John McCain as the only candidate.  This time they are swinging between viciously attacking Sarah Palin and her family, and hyping real or imaginary divisions between Republicans -- never among the Democrats, who present the image of a united front with Stalinesque unity.  But you can bet there's a lot of vicious in-fighting among Obama, the Clintons, and all the rest, because Obama may be destroying the Democratic Party as we know it.

  Two video clips yesterday were particularly striking.
  One was of Sarah Palin, laughing about enjoying the smell of emissions, surrounded by grey haired hurly burly former soldiers trying to get her ear.
  The other was the Charming Mr. Obama, mugging for the camera, chin jutted out, eyes fixed on some unknown higher place. Oh, the speech was fancy, with high sounding words and lofty ideals; he was in the right place, in Joplin on Sunday, trying to hug people enough so that some sycophantic writer at the Christian Science Monitor could praise him for his cool detachment in the face of tragedy, just before he jetted outta there to play golf on Memorial Day.
  Oddly, the second video was staged, while the first, though it may also have been, had a certain warmth and camaraderie about it.
  The differences were sharp, the lines distinct.
  One is real; one is a fabrication. One is a warm blooded straight talker; one excels at obfuscation and cool detachment. 
  This CS Monitor article, which has to be read to be believed, describes The One this way:

A friend, a center-right voter, told me recently, “The reason I voted for Obama is because he has no hatred in him.”

  Well, I guess we know the truth about that. The whole rewarding friends and punishing enemies thing, which refers to US out here in the hinterlands. And Texas; there's Texas, where Obama wouldn't send FEMA or funding after weeks of fires but across whose lands Obama WOULD send aid to Mexico. 
  One of the reasons this writer describes Obama as a good leader is that he has "good taste."
  Palin, with a rough and tumble family, may or may not have "good taste."
  But she loves this country. Not too many would argue about that.
  The One? Loves this country?
  Well, maybe when he's in charge of it.
  Otherwise, maybe not.

Sarah Palin confuses the media

  Apparently the press cannot understand why Sarah Palin isn't falling at their feet, begging them to cover her tour across the country.
  While the traditional Republicans continue to mock her, they'd kill for the kind of publicity she gets just by being who she is. Starting her tour with Rolling Thunder was a brilliant move, and now that she rolls across the country, the media are begging to find out HER itinerary.
  They can snot all they want, but she inspires people.
  Allahpundit's take at Hot Air on this is pretty hilarious, whether intentionally or not:

The Times snarks that, notwithstanding the branded bus she’s riding around in and the obvious campaign implications of a tour that’s destined for New Hampshire, she’s “made it quite clear that she just wants to be left alone.” Which isn’t really true: She’s been chatting with supporters along the way but keeping her interactions with the media scrum that’s following her around to a minimum. Why make a huge press splash by announcing a tour of the country’s major historical sites and then not do any media availabilities or photo ops with local pols along the way? Time’s Jay Newton-Small speculates:

  Huh. It appears the lady has plans.

Let The Weiner Roast

Normally people visit the graves of their loved ones, watch the Indy 500 on television, barbeque, or just soak up the first holiday of the summer but his Memorial Day weekend many are in profound though on the purpose and mechanics of Twitter. Why do people "tweet" and who do they choose to follow on Twitter. Assume that celebrities, politicians, journalists, and bloggers "tweet" to promote their work and themselves. That seems almost axiomatic. Nothing to see hear. But when one ponders the question who celebrities, politicians, journalists and bloggers follow things get kind of murky. This blogger is followed by a nationally known author and while this led to much excitement, the excitement quickly waned when it was discovered the author followed some 45,000 other people. Why would anyone follow 45,000 people?

Congressman Anthony Weiner has about the same 45,000 followers but at the time he, or someone using his Twitter account, in the throes of a testosterone rush, dispatched an untoward likeness of himself to a young lady in Seattle he was following 214 people. Today the congressman has pared his "following" list to 198, apparently loosing interest in 16 people overnight. The congressman's press aide says the Twitter account was hacked but no one reported the hacking. The press aide does not say why Congressman Weiner was following a 21 year old lady in Seattle. Hey, 214 is a relatively short list! The congressman and his staff have the remainder of this long weekend to come up with a plausible explanation.

If the congressman hasn't deleted the offending photo perhaps there is someone who may really appreciate the attention. Meghan McCain, the pleasingly plump daughter of "maverick" senator and inept presidential candidate, John McCain says in a schmaltzy New York Times article that her favorite Democrat is none other than Congressman Anthony Weiner.

And Sarah Palin has really screwed up her love life! In her own words:

"I’m in, like, dating Babylon. Like, I go on dates with men and, literally, like Sarah Palin will come up in like the first 20 minutes, and that doesn’t put me in the mood. Like, talking about Sarah Palin. And they just want to know gossip, and I’m just kind of taking a little hiatus from dating right now, because I just don’t want to talk about Sarah Palin."

Now Sarah is out with Rolling Thunder and having a good time and Meghan is moping around her bachelorette pad. Come on, Tony Wiener, send Meghan a tweet!

The bobble head that is the DNC chair

  The new DNC head has proven to be a real boobette so far. First there were the comments that Republicans are, darn it!, just anti-women because of _______ policies.
  Then there was the comment that Republicans keep accusing illegal immigrants of being, um, illegal.
  Now she's declaring that the whole Mediscare thing will let senior citizens choose, when it comes to health care,  between being dead and being, um, dead, or something.
  Here at NRO, here's what she said:

Like I said, the Republicans have a plan to end Medicare as we know it. What they would do is they would take the people who are younger than 55 years old today and tell them You know what? You’re on your own. Go and find private health insurance in the healthcare insurance market, we’re going to throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for pre-existing conditions. We’re going to give you X amount of dollars and you figure it out.

  Here's the truth: 

So rather than having a board of 15 experts decide what treatments would be covered and what price controls would be imposed and leaving seniors with no options while still failing to prevent Medicare’s looming insolvency—which is roughly the Democratic plan—the Republican approach would let seniors decide on their insurance plan from a range of guaranteed options and provide them with a subsidy to help fund that plan, with those most in need getting the most help.

  The demagoguery has gotten really intense lately. It'd be really nice if people would start telling the truth and trying to save the systems we've got rather than scoring political points to keep their little empire going. 
  She has proven to be a real embarrassment to the Democrat party.
  Is anyone over there noticing?
Update: I forgot about this over at American Thinker:  To wit: She attacked GOP presidential candidates for favoring foreign car companiesbut owns a Japanese car herself.
  T'wit.

Everybody But You

Last week it was reported that 20% of the new round of Obamacare waivers had gone to businesses in Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's district. Now it is being reported that the entire state of Nevada, represented in the Senate by Harry Reid, has received a partial waiver. And then there is the AARP waiver whereby AARP, a strong advocate of Obamacare and a health insurance provider has been granted a waiver for its Medigap supplemental Medicare policy.

Palin at Rolling Thunder

Yowza!

Update on Tucson shooting

  Michael Yon posts a link to a statement from the Arizona SWAT team who shot a former Marine 22 times in his own home. In the report, the marine is referred to as a "bad guy" but appears to have had nothing to do with the drug lords the SWAT team was pursuing.
  The statement can be found here.
  Sheriff Dupnik is in charge in that district.

Holiday weekend barbecue: Is Weiner one hot DAWG?

  Oh, wow. So it's not even 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning and all over the web, I mean, ALL over is the story about Representative Anthony Weiner, he of the pursed lips and condescending wit, accidentally sending out a photo of his, um, hot dog on Twitter to a young woman in Seattle.
  The links, photo evidence, tweets are piling up.
  So let's start at the beginning.
  Weiner claims his Twitter and Facebook accounts were hacked; this after the infamous picture was posted online directed to the aforesaid young woman. 
  All evidence has since been taken down and, as we speak, the web is being scrubbed of not only it, but links to the young woman's claims that he was her "boyfriend" AND her writing, which included the not too startling assertion that the new media will help ordinary voters connect personally with those important and famous celebrities known as politicians.
  So after Big Government posts the rather, um, unappetizing pic, Mediate quickly goes into action trying to refute BG's screen capture of the hot dog and BG's claim that there's more.
  So Mediate goes all in to suggest this may be a BG plot to discredit the hot dog. After all, BG has credibility problems ever since the Sherrod incident, they claim, right?
  Here are the links. It's a pretty hilarious story with serious undertones and questions about the credibility of the hacking claims of the married Weiner.
  BG's initial story here.
  Lee Stranahan at Big Journalism follows up here.
  Mediate calls the situation a "Whodunit," while swiping at Big Government for posting the "lewd photo."
  Ace takes apart the whole "I was hacked" argument here.
 The Other McCain does a little background and asks some serious questions here, who has also posted at the Spectator here.
  Director Blue does a little more background on the 21 year old student who claims Weiner is her boyfriend.
  Red State wonders WHY the young lady's profile is being scrubbed from the web if she has no real connection to Weiner.
  More as the story grows, as it surely will, today.
  Or will Mediate be right in asserting that only the right wing media is interested in sexual escapades of left wingers, who appear to have little responsibility with regard to morals since they never claimed to have any in the first place.
  Fire up the grills. It's a holiday barbecue.
UPDATE: Big Journalism wonders why no one's covering the story, considering that it's either a story of a predatory congressman or a serious hacking done on a congressman. Read it here:

So ask yourself: how does the MSM justify all but ignoring something so juicy? And then if you’re still not convinced of the story’s newsworthiness, remind yourself that these events are not unfolding in one of those odd, square-shaped states our journalist-class fly over every once in a while. This is a New York story that involves the trifecta of politics, sex, and a rising political star. Furthermore, the icing on the cake is Bill and Hillary Clinton. Last July, in a ceremony officiated by former President Clinton himself, Rep. Weiner married Hillary’s top aide, Huma Abedin.

Update: Wow. Verum Serum. And Weiner's New York Post answer refuted here. 

Newtonian Optics

Looper Report (Des Moines,Iowa)

The Looper Report interviewed former Speaker of the House and presidential aspirant, Newt Gingrich on his campaign for the Republican nomination in Iowa.
LR: Thank you for this opportunity and good to see you Mr. Speaker.
Gingrich: Good to see you!
LR: Mister Speaker you got off to a rocky start but you seemed to have righted your ship and are now cruising with a full head of steam. Is that correct?
Gingrich: Well I think "rocky" is too strong of a word to use here. We just refer to it as mild turbulence, the normal sort thing we always see at the beginning of any epic journey. You can see on my web site, American Solutions, that after Picket's charge in the battle of...
LR: Excuse me sir. Let's press on. About this $500,000 bill you owe Tiffany's; does that strike you as something that is fiscally conservative?
Gingrich: Put in context it is conservative. Bear in mind I've was very young when I got married and while I've always admired the beauty of natural Zirconium Jackie preferred a genuine diamond and not having much money I charged it. The ring. It's as simple as that.
LR: You wanted to give your first wife a phony diamond?
Gingrich: It's called diamond simulant jewelry.
LR: By whom?
Gingrich: By the staff at HSN.
LR: HSN? That would be in what department?
Gingrich: It' not a governmental agency it an interactive retailer.
LR: What does HSN stand for?
Gingrich: Home Shopping Network.
LR: Well what did Jackie say?
Gingrich: Since I embraced Roman Catholicism I've forgotten almost everything about my first marriage.
LR: Everything? Really?
Gingrich: Well, I do remember her saying that the square of the hypotenuse was equal to the sum of the square of the sides.
LR: That's right, she was your high school geometry teacher. So you been paying on your ring since 1962? Must have been some ring.
Gingrich: Well I had to buy two more wedding sets and some Oneida flatware.
LR: Oneida flatware from Tiffany's?
Gingrich: No from HSN but I charged it on my Tiffany's card. See when we partnered with HSN....
LR: You are a partner with the Home Shopping Network?
Gingrich: Not me personally but American Solutions partnered with HNS's Home Solutions to market a German made synthetic fabric.
LR: Gore-Tex? That is remarkable?
Gingrich: Actually it was Shamwow. You know the Germans always make good stuff. Callista hardly ever buys paper towels anymore. Anyway this Vince guy stole the product from us and we suffered a little set back that we put on the Tiffany's card.
LR: Okay, we have one failed business venture and two failed marriages and one active marriage on the card. But Mr. Speaker you have made a tidy sum of money. Surely there must be more to it.
Gingrich: There was a large campaign donation.
LR: To Whom?
Gingrich: It was a congressional race. I backed the only true conservative in the field. Dede Scozzafava.
LR: Add in one failed political campaign. Anything else?
Gingrich: Well there was an over draft. I put it on the Tiffany's card too. It was the result of a business venture.
LR: What sort of venture?
Gingrich: I was chatting online with a close friend I met on Craig's list when this Nigerian banker IM-ed me. He needed my expertise to help him move a large sum of cash from Sri Lanka to Singapore and all I had to do was put up $200,000 to make $2 million. Anyway to make a long story short he was robbed by the KGB and we ended up loosing everything. And I was long Bear Stern in 2008.
LR: I can see the private sector hasn't been good to you.
Gingrich: That's not true. Callista and I hope to bring to market soon a line of Yasser Arafat DVD's and boxer shorts. And then we have the Thomas Merton diet plan, and the Mother Teresa cook book and we are planning a Dag Hammarskjold skiing trip to Sweden. The beauty of all this is none of them are protected by copyright laws. Just like Pope John Paul.
LR: Getting back to the primary, Mr Speaker, what do you think of Sarah Palin?
Gingrich: She's too flakey!

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Should one go to jail for not knowing an answer? Well only if one is a seismologist living in Italy. Seven seismologists are charged with manslaughter for failing to give adequate warning before the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit the city of L'Aquila in 2009. Minor tremors had occurred prior to the disastrous quake and the seismologists when asked to speculate on the probability of a major quake gave "gave inexact, incomplete and contradictory information".

Obama: We don't want to be energy independent

  The Perfect One made a Freudian slip at his presser today with the Polish president: "We don't want to be energy independent on anybody and Poland doesn't want to be energy dependent on anybody."
  "We want to be transparent"....which usually means the opposite.
  Obama: "Shale gas..extract that gas..[safely]...share that technology with Poland." Does this mean he's going to allow our entrepreneurs into extracting shale gas? Because as of now, it's off limits.

Olbermann's ego criticizes O'Reilly's ego.

  Well, lucky for us, Olbermann is back on Current TV. Whew. This is pretty sour stuff. Be prepared to hold your stomach contents down if you are brave enough to watch.
  Olbermann's first target is : TA DA! Fox News and Bill O'Reilly!!
  Olbermann's complaint is that Bill O'Reilly has a huge EGO because he touted the survey that said he was the most believable and trusted name in news.
  Though indeed O'Reilly has a huge EGO, Olbermann is completely oblivious that he himself looks like a whiny jealous loser because he first proclaimed that the reason Current TV was taken off Italian tv by Rupert Murdoch was TA DA! as a preemptive strike against the entry of TA DA! Olbermann onto Current TV! This was suggested to Olbermann, according to Olbermann, by his new BOSS, the owner of another famous EGO, Al Gore.
  Ok, so Murdoch is afraid of Olbermann being on Italian tv.
  Right.
  This video reveals KO as a mashed up bag of meat with lipstick.

I repeat: why are SWAT teams shooting civilians?

  And why are the rules of engagement stricter in Afghanistan, where IEDs can kill you in seconds, than they are in TUCSON? WHY?
  And why are we primarily reading about this horrific incident in a UK paper?
  WHY?
  This isn't the first time we've written about the shocking debacle that took the life of an Iraqi war vet, who woke from sleep to find SWAT team members at his door who gunned him down with 71 shots, 22 of which penetrated his body. 
  Our war hero, who never fired a shot and still had the safety on his weapon, was a Marine who served two terms in Iraq.

  He was buried in his uniform.

Ohio unions robocall HB 159

  From a reader, we discover that Ohio unions are robo calling in "unity" voters to protest HB 159.
  No, this isn't SB 5, which reconfigures collective bargaining.
  And, no, this is HB 153, the budget bill.  
  Just what is this dangerous bill HB 159?
  Why it's a voter ID bill! 
  From Soros's ProgressOhio, the shocking bill is revealed:

House Bill 159 would require every voter to present one of four approved Government IDs to vote: an Ohio Driver's license, an Ohio ID Card, a Military ID, or a US Passport.  The stated purpose is to combat voter impersonation at the polls.  The only problem? No one, including the bill sponsors, can point to an actual case of someone being convicted for voter impersonation.  This is a "solution" in search of a problem. 

  Though we now have to produce a license or government issued ID to vote, this bill would narrow down to 4 the types of IDs that would be acceptable.
  Progress Ohio is calling it a "poll tax," trying harken back to the old days when persons of a certain skin color were not allowed by Democrats to vote.
  The academics are out, claiming voters will be disenfranchised.
  The truth is that these same academics want to be able to use university IDs as IDs to vote.
  Gee, I dunno why citizens would be hesitant to do that, do you? Lemme think.
  Can you say ACORN?
  
  So why are liberals so hysterical about asking voters to actually produced the same kind of ID that we all have to produce to do just about anything?
  It's not just here. It's all over the country. Liberals don't like voters to have to identify themselves.
  Again. Geez. I wonder why.

RINOs more damaging to this country than liberals

  Liberals are who they are. Just as in the "Republicans want to kill old people" commercial that is currently running, they don't fight fair or logically. 
  The MSM won't cover the fact that LIBERAL Democrats cut $500 billion from Medicare to make the farce that is Obamacare.
  Instead the "kill old people" commercial is running without any critical analysis, commentary or fact checking by anyone by a few blogs and a conservative news service or two.
  So where are the Republicans on this?
  They're abandoning the Ryan budget plan.
  They aren't running any ads refuting the ridiculous "kill old people" ad.
  Instead they're letting the Democrats establish the narrative.
  Look at the whole "WMD weapons were never found" argument. Or "Bush stole Florida."
  In every study and recount ever done, Bush won, including MSM followup counts.
  Yet this ridiculous resentful argument is still made by Democrats. The Republicans let it happen, chickening out whenever they got the choice of offering a forceful argument.
  WMD? Everyone thought there were WMD (as many people believe those WMD were moved to Syria, where they lie in wait to be useful one day). Hillary Clinton and other Democrats supported what we did. Bush waited a year before the military action all agreed to take, and yet as soon as it got tough, the lily livers abandoned the cause and protested what they had originally agreed to do.
  Now we have the same problem. 
  Republicans are truly the do nothing party of wimps.
  Instead of standing up for liberty, instead of defending logically through argument, instead of actually putting money into ads fighting some of the more ridiculous charges, they roll over and claim NY 26 is a reason they should back off. 
  Do they have any, ANY spine? Do they have any, ANY sense of responsibility to this country and its seniors?
  In pushing their radical agenda, all Democrats of different stripes stood together to take over the health care industry. The safe seats among them KNEW that conservative Democrats would be gone after the next election but weren't shy about tossing them overboard to get their agenda passed, which is proving to be so costly and damaging to this country that we may never recover from its demands.
  Now Republicans have an opportunity to give power back to the taxpayer, to clean up the mess of corruption that is DC, to put their interests of this country and its citizens before partisan and weak kneed behavior, and what do they do?
  The lily livers chicken out and run like little girls in the other direction, arms and legs flailing.
  Get some backbone, Republicans.
  The future of the country depends on it.

Selling Medicare Reform Short

Republicans are getting cold feet. Thank God these people don't have to trade stocks for a living. Successful traders aren't successful because they are smarter than their peers but rather they are successful because they are as smart as their peers but have the courage to hold their positions when everyone else is bailing out. In other words they don't fold when they know they are holding the winning hand. A professional bear is a trader who shorts a stock and then starts rumors to drive the price of that stock down and some of their schemes have made millions.

Paul Ryan has put forth a budget that includes reforming Medicare. All but four House Republicans voted for that plan. Why? Because they thought it was a good plan. In other words they "bought" into the plan. They are long Medicare. The Democrats had no plan. They had no position but as questions about the Ryan budget arose they began to take a short position. Using rumors and misinformation they have driven down the value of the plan and hope to profit by winning elections and then buying into the plan or one very similar when of course, the political price is cheaper. Now all the Republicans can do is fret and panic. When the Ryan plan reached the Senate, five Republicans "sold" out their position by voting against it. Now some House Republicans would like to bail out at the bottom. Republican pundits are saying it was a mistake to attempt to reform Medicare prior to the 2012 elections. They bought in but now they want to sell. Instead of panic selling Republicans have to hold firm and forcefully explain that the Ryan Medicare proposals are far more preferable than health care rationing seniors would face under Obamacare. On such Republican is Marco Rubio.


Perhaps Republican should remember Warren Buffet's dictum: "Be worried when people around you are greedy and be greedy when people around you are worried."

Special Ed Suspended From MSNBC

MSNBC has given Special Ed Schultz a week off without pay in response to his radio remarks about Laura Ingraham. Mr.Schultz has apologized to Ms. Ingraham, mouthing the usual banalities about taking full responsibility, embarrassing himself, his family, and his company. Shultz's suspension brings to four the number of MSNBC on air personalities who have been disciplined in recent memory, joining Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann,and David Shuster.

Little Obamas, happy at last, finally worshipped

  See, if you fancy yourself THE KING, then you do everything right naturally, you never have to be TAUGHT protocol and everyone should follow YOUR lead.
  Perhaps this is the hazard of appearing with other country's leaders. They don't allow you to get away with whatever you want. They have their own lackeys.
  Still, the look on The One's face is priceless. It's like he's five and the box that arrived with the morning mail had nothing in it for him, downturned mouth and all.
  Rush's take on the incident is hilarious; this transcript has the conversation of the various MSM adulators who cluck that the Queen should have saved Obama.
  Maybe it was that iPod that did it for her.
  Rush, who is sure the MSM would have been more sympathetic to Bush:

Libs blame botched toast on everyone but Obama.The first thing you look at is the Queen, and you note the Queen fully aware of the gaffe that's taking place here. I mean you do not offer the Queen your glass until the music's over. You don't pick up your glass and offer your Queen your glass to toast until the music's over. He had no teleprompter 'cause you can't put one in there so he's got no cards and they're on the table, and they're way back so he has to lean over to read every other word of the toast.

  Meanwhile The One found an award he DIDN'T want and managed to offend the Brits with a peremptory refusal to attend the award ceremony. From The Telegraph:

he US President rejected the invitation from the world-leading group of scientists and instead chose to visit a south London state school.

Sources close to the state visit said members of the Royal Society were “deeply offended” by the snub and had accused Mr Obama of being obsessed with his “street cred”.

  Michelle enjoyed flaunting showing off wearing a massive set of jewels which seems oddly overshadowing of the Queen's attire. As The Daily Mail notes, there's an unfortunate plant in this photo which makes her look like she's back in the sixties:

  The gushing goes on at The Telegraph:

Mr Not-So-Secret Service talked into his lapels and looked straight ahead when I asked him a question; his answers were perfunctory to say the least.

But on the subject of Michelle Obama, he was positively exuberant.

“She has this glamour that I haven’t seen before. She isn’t just a First Lady. She is Hollywood.”

  Hollywood? Mmmm. Yeah. That's probably true.

  Meanwhile, The One was having difficulty without his teleprompter. Telegraph:

Perhaps Mr Obama was smothered also by his audience, which remained stubbornly unresponsive. For most of the time the President had nothing to bounce off: no applause and certainly no shouts of praise or blame as might be heard in an American church or at an American political rally. 

  So have a good time over there, Obamas, playing ping pong, sipping $1700 wine and rubbing shoulders with royalty while the country suffers through natural disasters. We wouldn't want to put you out, because, dang it, every time you plan a vacation, the MSM sympathizes that something bad happens in the United States that just ruins, RUINS your vacations.

  No, in fact, we hope you feel right at home over there.

  Right at home.

  Back at the ranch, Obama operatives are busy accusing people who disagree with The One of being racists.

  McClatchy gushes:

WASHINGTON — House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, on Wednesday blamed most of President Barack Obama's political problems on racism

  And the taxpayers are now paying someone to "terminate" bloggers who disagree with The One

  Need proof? Take a look at this, taxpayer funded civil service employee, servant of the people:

Yowza. Just think what the Republicans will be able to do when they get back in office.

Ohio unions make conference call to beg for support

    Ohio Unity Table Teleconference to 2893 union workers.
  Call from AFL CIO live conference, Tim Burger, president of AFL CIO. Sue Taylor AFT president 
  It's wrong. It's wrong. It's wrong. Call Senator Mark Wagner to restore cuts from education. House Bill 153 is anti-worker, anti-worker rights, jobs killer.
  Call 1888 218 5931 telephone number for Mark Wagner. Repeatedly asked to call.
1. Remove all language regarding prevailing wages in HB 153.
2. Do not privatize state assets and services.
3. Restore "cuts" to education.
4. take all references about SB 5 out of HB 153
  Status of numbers with getting out the "message" against SB 5. 
  Orchestrated attempt to marginalize union and its workers.
  Goal is to create permanent low wage class of Americans.
  "Good evening, brothers and sisters" Mark Sanders, President of Fire Fighters begins speech.
  Wagner, Wagner, Wagner. Contact Wagner. Concerned about staffing levels cut to cut services while rewarding Kasich's staffers.
  Those who hold public trust are held to a higher standard. Public safety never had partisan approach before.
  Turnpike question. Why is he privatizing? Contact Mark Wagner.
  Bricklayers Union president begins speech. Budget bill and anti-middle class allies will have a bad effect, most profound on my family is language regarding prevailing wage law. 
  Questions being asked are not being answered. All speakers are reading statements.
  Will create a situation like free trade agreements. 
  Employers will compromise safety, compromise quality and compensation. Will raise construction rates. Will affect all taxpayer funded projects.
  Phone number given again, about the tenth or more time.
  Question from listener: How does Kasich believe he's saving money? 
  Answer from Sanders: Kasich pulling a shell game. His budget is $5 billion over projected budget. Will take professionalism away from public employees. You the listener are seeing through him. Will line the pockets of Kasich's cronies. Take jobs away.
  Contact Mark Wagner.
  Question for Bricklayers' Union (police siren in background): Is the country not of the people now but by the rich? (really profound.)
  Answer: We're fightin' 'em. Two types of people-people who work and people who make money off people who work. (Huh.) Money has shifted to upper class. Economy slowed down to nothing.
  (Everything is Brother this and Brother that.)
  Contact Mark Wagner. Stop harmful budget bill.
  Question for Taylor: I'm a student, will be a freshman. Scary about our school's budget cuts. What other cuts are going to be made?
  Answer Taylor AFT: Heartbreaking cuts being made. Need to give priority to giving quality education. This governor cutting $10 billion from education. Wrong with priority. Inferior materials, old textbooks. Staff are laid off. We live in a democracy. Petition the government. Call Mark Wagner.urge students to call number. Petition. Copy to Wagner and Kasich.
  Contact Mark Wagner.
  Question: How can we reverse damage that's already been done?
  Blah blah blah.
  Contact Mark Wagner.
  Sign petition. 35 days to get the referendum on the ballot (not yet).
  www.ohaflcio.org

Hey, fella, wear these cufflinks with my signature on 'em

From Politico, we learn that the Obamas have again given highly personalized gifts to the Prime Minister's family, including a new book he's written for children, a puzzle of their dog and this:

"The President and Mrs. Obama gave the Prime Minister a custom-made pair of White House Magnolia wood and sterling silver cufflinks engraved on the reverse with the President's signature, as well as a first edition of President John F. Kennedy's book, Profiles in Courage.

How thoughtful. 
I want a picture of Cameron wearing 'em.
Heh.

Tornado warnings, hail in Northwest Ohio

  Lots of tornadic activity and warnings in NWO. People are taking these warnings seriously these days, ever since the Lake destruction last year. Forecasters are saying there is a high probability of some pretty destructive hail and funnel clouds.
  What's interesting is that, if you were watching the news with specific details about your area, the Emergency Alert System came on around 5 and literally took over the television, with no options to watch anything but that.
  This sounds like a great idea, except it was a good minute before anything came on; while specifics about tornadic activity in Wood County were undoubtedly being announced on the local station, residents in the tornado warning area were treated to...nothing. Then two minutes of a one message screen with no specifics other than the county name. Then another screen.
  There has to be a better way than that for an emergency alert system.

A Bush Era Mistake?

Aside from flubbing his toast to Queen Elizabeth, President Obama signed the guest book at Buckingham Palace and dated it "24 May 2008".

Fearing The Known More Than the Unknown

The Washington Post is reporting on the results of a recent poll that showed voters, by a margin of 52% to 37%, worried more about raising the debt limit ceiling than the possibility of the United States defaulting on its debt. In other words the Democrats' scare tactic have not been a roaring success. It's hard to believe the Republicans did such a bang up job of selling this message in contrast to its making the case for the Ryan budget plan. It seems to be that American voters know the danger of debt without any coaching.

Your Call Comcast

How long will Comcast, the parent company of NBC, allow the wacky cast of MSNBC to probe the depths of good taste and the lower limits of respectability? While Ed Schultz made these remarks on his radio show, he is nevertheless, a commentator on MSNBC and Comcast should be both embarrassed and ashamed.

Mark Haines R.I.P.

Mark Haines is dead at 65. Regular viewers of CNBC, of which I am one, were shocked to learn that the veteran newsman had died. He had been at CNBC since its inception in 1989. The managing editor and founding anchor of "Squawk Box" brought a very relaxed and personal touch to television journalism. By his own estimate he had interviewed over 20,000 corporate CEO's, stock analysts, and politicians and was never awed by anyone. This morning his colleagues recounted his scolding of Congressman Barney Frank and low opinion of Arianna Huffington's great mind among his many on air battles. He will be missed.

Liberal bias reveals itself

  Al Roker: "climate change is such now that we are seeing this kind of weather not just in rural parts of our country, but in urban centers as well.”

  Diane Sawyer: 'This Is the Evidence of a Kind of Preview of Life Under Global Warming?'
  Jimmy Carter: "I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents."
  Leslie Stahl, on Al Sharpton's evolution from race baiting poverty pimp to "stately" prominent presidential advisor: 

Well, the Reverend Al has gone through something of a metamorphosis. Today, he's downright tame, so much that he's made his way into the establishment. It's been quite a trajectory: from street-protest agitator to candidate for president in 2004, to now, a trusted White House adviser, who'sbecome the President's go-to black leader, campaigning around the country for President Obama and his agenda. 

  ABC, sympathetic reporting on Obama's European tour in the face of the horrific tornadic activity which cost millions of dollars and lost lives: Obama's Trips Overshadowed by Natural Disasters

Look For The Union Label

Now the left is spinning the Dominic Strauss Kahn scandal as a union victory.

"A woman attacked by her employer's very powerful customer was perhaps empowered to come forward knowing her union contract meant she wouldn't lose her job for it."

Oh please, the alleged offender is a big time Socialist, the natural protector of down trodden hotel maids whether they are unionized or not. If only Andy Stern had thought to organize White House interns maybe the country could have been spared the Monica Lewinsky scandal, blue stained dress and all. Oh yes, that was very clever of her union to put a "no rape" clause in its contract. The article tells us it took "guts" (a popular metaphor for courage when exhibited by food stamp Presidents and undocumented domestics employed by Meg Whitman) but guts alone are not enough without union representation. Who did the maid call first? The police or her steward?

Thanks But No Thanks, Rudy

Congressman Peter King of New York says former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani is "is very close to saying he's going to run." Apparently Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Sarah Palin have the Republican establishment quite worried. Giuliani was an extremely competent mayor-exceptionly so in fact-and a genuine hero to many of us who watched in horror, anger, and despair the 9/11 tragedy unfold. He was America's mayor and America's Churchill. Then came wife number two with her expensive handbags and snarky demeanor. Then came the 2008 primaries when he pinned all of his hopes on the Florida primary and lost. Prior to Mitch Daniels' decision not to enter the race not a word was spoken about Rudy Giuliani. One has to believe that someone in the Beltway crowd prevailed on the former mayor to run. Mickey Mantle, and Joe Dimaggio before him, knew when it was time to go.
Come on, Mr. Mayor, let us remember you as the hero you were.

Herman Cain: I like this guy

  Herman Cain is a likable guy. He has experience in the business world, although a political novice.
  Writers and other sites have chewed him out because he did not know what the "right of return" was when Wallace asked him Sunday.
  Pathetic gadfly was the determination of Cain's nomination.
  This really rankles an interested political novice like those of us out here in the hinterlands. It's not a buzz phrase, they claim, but anybody who knows ANYTHING about politics should KNOW that phrase and its portent. It's been all over TELEVISION, after all, the last few weeks.
  And so it goes.
  One Republican or conservative candidate after another is leaped on for this or that gaffe, while Al Gore can wonder who the bust of Ben Franklin is and Obama can say that this country is made up of 57 states.
  While it's true that some mistakes are indeed made out of ignorance rather than slips of the tongue, one might wonder: What's so wrong about that? Is it possible to know everything about everything?
  Do we really want senators and congressmen to be our presidents because they know the buzz phrases and names of obscure politicians? Is that what the standard is?
  Do we really want a president who can glibly respond, however disingenuously, to any question a Fox or CNN reporter can throw at him or her?
  If you've never been president, the questions should ascertain that your character is one of integrity, honesty, leadership and maturity, rather than gotcha moments in attempts to discredit. Vet, yes. Gotcha, no.
  Herman Cain responds to accusations that he wasn't informed about the phrase "right of return."
  No, he says. I wasn't.

The ego that roared

  It's nice to know the president of the United States doesn't remember petty grudges from when he was a nobody who thought he was a somebody.
  The Chicago Tribune today relates that The One still remembers the bad old days when he was denied a prominent float in the Chicago Irish parade, relegated to the back of the parade because no one knew or cared who he was. 
  But now he's got revenge on them, because aren't they jealous if they could see him now, being jetted around the world from royalty to pub to castle! OOOO eeeee!
  Tribune:

"It was a little depressing," he said. "But I'll bet those parade organizers are watching TV today and feeling kind of bad, because this is a pretty good parade right here."

  Dang! If they'd only known who they were denying a float in the front row, they'd be so upset now!
  Ah, well. Life is full of missed opportunities.
  Opportunities for others to venerate and acknowledge the greatness of The One.
  Not help others. Or lift others up through your own humility.
  Somehow I'm betting Chicago has lotsa love (and money) to give to The One yet.

Three Cheers For Tim Pawlenty

Three cheers for Tim Pawlenty! Poker faced Tim Pawlenty opened his campaign today in a manner reminiscent of the '50's television hit show, Dragnet. "Just the facts ma'am, just the facts." While in the past I have complained to family and friends that his low keyed tone invited tedium it might be nice to have a president who makes us sleep well for a change. Promising straight talk, Mr. Pawlenty led the first sacred cow to the killing floor. It was ethanol subsidies and it was in Iowa. In his finest monotone Mr. Pawlenty simply said,
"The truth about federal energy subsidies, including federal subsidies for ethanol, is that they have to be phased out," and further,
"We simply can't afford them anymore."

One speech is not enough to win an election but if Pawlenty has the courage to face and articulate unpleasant realities and the political skill to survive the primaries he could become a formidable contrast to the hyperactive, in your face, food stamp president.

Well, la dee dah: Obamas are proud of the Queen

  What greater compliment can be conferred on the Queen of England?
  Well, greater than having an iPod with the American King's greatest speeches on it.
  Barack and Michelle are PROUD of the Queen.

“I think,” the president said, “what the Queen symbolizes — not just to Great Britain but to the entire commonwealth and obviously the entire world — is the best of England. And we’re very proud of her.”

  One has to infer from this tidbit of information that the Obamas believe that the greatest thing in the world is to  receive such an acknowledgement from the King and Queen of this country.
  In the midst of his compliment-fest, Obama somehow AGAIN managed to compliment, yes, HIMSELF. (Little sumpin for her, little sumpin for ME.) From Politico:

“One of the great aspects of this job is it gives you an opportunity to meet with people from all walks of life,” he said. “You’ve had a chance to talk to the Queen of England on one day, and the next day you have the chance to talk to somebody in a diner off a highway here in the United States. And what you find is that there’s a lot of wisdom to be found — if you’re willing to listen. And I think most politicians spend most of their time talking instead of listening. That’s a habit that I try to break.”

  Hail, Barack and Michelle! 
  Maybe that's why you have such big ears to hear the people with.
  We don't think this is condescending at all.
  It's much more level headed than an iPod with the King's SPEECHES.

Pick Your Winner

Yesterday on Fox News Sunday Herman Cain assured Chris Wallace that his campaign wasn't in financial trouble but he declined to say how much cash he had on hand. Without a single primary election for another seven or so months one would expect all the campaigns to be reasonably solvent. Last week much was made about Mitt Romney's raising $10 million in a single day. Prior to the Romney fund raiser it was thought that Michele Bachmann was the top fund raiser, garnering $13 million for her Congressional race. Last week it was reported that Sarah Palin had launched a 400,000 piece direct mail appeal. So not much is known about the fiscal strength of any campaign really just bits of antidotal data. Probably it's a good idea not to confuse successful fund raising with actually winning elections.
Flash back to 2008. Romney spent $107 million, $45 million coming out of his own pocket just to finish third. Spending only $16 million Mike Huckabee finished second. The obvious lesson to be learned from 2008 is money helps, every candidate needs some, but we shouldn't make to much of it.

Some pundits seem to think that a candidate's ability to raise money speaks to the candidate's voter appeal. Looking back again to 2008 Ron Paul raised $6 million online in a single day and how much voter appeal did he have? He had enthusiastic support among a small number of voters. Money talks but too much money talk leads to weird of circular reasoning.

Ok. So who among the declared and probable candidates wins the Iowa caucuses? Michele Bachmann was born in Iowa and lives in a neighboring state and stands a good chance to win here.

In 2008 Romney was humiliated in New Hampshire by John McCain. Romney, living in nearby Massachusetts, was supposed to win with ease. If endorsements count newly elected Senator Kelly Ayotte, one of Sarah Palin's "Mama Grizzlies" could be a big asset for Sarah Palin. The same can be said of the next race in South Carolina where "Mama Grizzly" Niki Halley occupies the governor's office. Four days later comes the Nevada caucuses. Nevada has a large Mormon population and Romney won there in 2008 but does Huntsman split the Mormon vote and allowing one of the other candidates to win? One might ask "What about Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum? Don't they win anywhere?" Yes, probably one of them will win somewhere and maybe one of them will win it all, and maybe the race will go someone not even mentioned by the smart money. Political forecasting is fun but not always accurate, That's why we have elections.

Obama: cash is king

  Question: Will Obama giving American taxpayers' cash to every country he visits?
  This seems to be his MO.
  Running around the planet dropping our cash on every country to make sure everyone likes him, at least enough to get some cash.
  Do we start with Ireland?

Obama: Israel's security as a moment of opportunity

  I'm the first to admit I don't know much about foreign policy. I'm also the first to admit I kept falling asleep through The One's press conference with AIPAC and therefore did not carefully consider each nuance to be able to come up with 10 theses concerning the differences between the Thursday bombshell and the backup on Sunday.
  My impression, then, not to be construed as a political opinion because I sure don't want to run into the buzz saw that determines you're a moron because you don't grasp the significance of a phrase like "right of return," was that Obama was disappointed that his grandstanding about Osama's death was coming to an end because people were remembering they had no jobs and gas costs a lot.
  So, as Clarice Feldman says so eloquently over at American Thinker, his "narcissistic needs needed stoking with some bold new initiative" and thus he dreamed up the brilliant idea of telling Israel to go kill itself. In fact, the struggle to establish some kind of message by that lead tongued doofus Jay Carney. Look at his comments here, uttered before the Israel speech:

MR. CARNEY:  I actually was -- happened to be in his presence when he said he wanted to do this, which was a while back in the wake of the successful bin Laden mission.  So this was a presidential decision that he wanted to make this trip.

      So, with questions.

      Q    Jay, what can you tell us about the reports on the aid package for Middle East tomorrow?

      MR. CARNEY:  I’m not going to get into any specifics.  I’m not going to go beyond where I was yesterday.  I think that we will have a call later this afternoon backgrounding on the speech a little bit.  I’ll simply say that the President views the situation in the Middle East as a moment of opportunity, the Middle East and North Africa, as a real moment of opportunity for America and for Americans.

      In the last decade, our focus in the region was largely on Iraq, which was a military effort, and on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the fight against al Qaeda.  That fight against al Qaeda continues, but there is an opportunity in that region to focus on advancing our values and enhancing our security, and that’s what the President looks forward to discussing tomorrow in his speech.

  Here the focus is certainly not on Israel, as a thoughtful assessment might be when considering a drastic policy shift. The focus is on America's security, not the security of the state of Israel.
  Back to Feldman at AT and her take on the policy shift:

First, of course, he patted himself on the back for imaginary achievements, indicating that he had supported democracy in the Middle East from the moment of his Cairo speech.  Actually, for those who paid attention, he did no such thing.  He ignored the popular revolts in Iran and Syria, and he was slow to respond to the events in Egypt and Tunisia.  Of Syria, in fact, he said this week, "The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy.  President Assad now has a choice: He can lead that transition or get out of the way."  I'm not sure Assad or his people heard the clarion call.  At the moment it was made, Assad's forces were firing at and killing peaceful civilians gathered in pro-democracy demonstrations in Banias and Homs.

  So here's my professional non wonkish opinion. Obama needed to ramp up his numbers again, so he sought to do that with the first speech, never imagining he'd stir up such a nasty hornets' nest. 
  When he was called on the carpet at AIPAC, he was generally really ticked off and angry that this latest gambit could not parallel the SEALS' courageous actions. 
  Watching both AIPAC and the previous Israel conference (admittedly not in entirety), it seemed to me that The One contradicted himself several times.
  But then, what do I know.

Mullah Omar Dead

The BBC is reporting that Mullah
Mohammad Omar has been killed in an apparent US missle attack.

Mitch Is Neat

Growing up with three sisters I can imagine the conversation when my mother announced:
"Uncle Charles Krauthammer brought that nice Mitch Daniels boy by today."
"Mother he didn't! Why?"
" Uncle Charles speaks very highly of Mitch, says he's president of the Latin Club and was picked to be a future Rotarian."
" Porto potare! Mother, the guy is a square.
"Well your aunt Peggy Noonan thinks he's cute. She says he's forty times smarter than that Sarah friend of yours. Says she's too impulsive."
"And of course aunt Peggy doesn't like Michele either."
"Of course not."
"Why?"
"Honey your uncle Charles and aunt Peggy mean well. They just don't think that you are old enough to make good choices-yet."
"Then tell aunt Peggy to go out with Mitch and tell uncle Charles he really should go to a Tea Party rally. Just once!"
"Easy, easy, no one meant any harm. You're starting to sound like your Dad."
"Mother I know they mean well but would look at the people they think are neat."
"They go on and on about Chris Christi who says he doesn't want to go out with anyone, they sing their praises of Mitch Daniels like he was a second Elvis and next it will be Jon Huntsman."
"Jon Huntsman? really? He seems like a nice young man. What's wrong with him?'
"Nothing is wrong with him but nothing is right with him either. You never know whose side he's on."
"Well he does have a nice smile."
"So does Rick Santorum but I wouldn't go out with him either?"
"But why?"
"He looks positively anorexic!"
"Anorexic? I don't think I've ever heard that word. What's it mean?"
"Anorexia is an eating disorder but aunt Peggy probably thinks it's a virtue."
"Okay, Okay, let's drop the subject. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. But your uncle Charles had a riddle I think is cute."
"What's that, Mom?'
"Is Cain able?"
"Wow! Or as Mitch would say ora pro nobis."