Obama thinks you're stupid, # 5698

  Hey, Obama voter, just so you know, he thinks you're stupid. 
  And maybe you are, considering the stuff he tells you and that you cheer at all those rallies where his admirers faint in ecstasy or something.
  The latest LIE--and, yes, I dare use that word and I don't mean fabrication, falsity, hyperbole, misrepresentation, tall story, misstatement or fable.
  Obama's latest LIE is that the Keystone Pipeline will only create about 50 jobs, even though he himself said at one time it would create 2000 jobs which also is false.
  Hahaha! Our POUTUS is so cute and funny! He laughs about this stupid idea of the Keystone Pipeline in front of all his fannies who laugh and cheer and mock those silly unionists and Republicans and energy conservationists who realize the value of the pipeline and its impact on our country.
  Apparently becoming energy independent is silly too.
  But our brilliant POUTUS knows best, as Townhall observes:

Quite the cavalier attitude from a president who's in the middle of a potemkin "jobs" tour, with the national U-6 unemployment rate hovering above 14 percent.  Discounting 2,000 American jobs as a "blip" might strike many unemployed Americans as an odd formulation.  Beyond that, he's wrong on the numbers, ignoring the dramatically more optimistic findings of his own State Department.  The Washington Post's fact-checker lays out the stats, awarding Obama "two Pinocchios" for his misleading characterization:

  Apparently it hasn't occurred to Mr. SmartyPants that all those boom town jobs would resonate in all industries--like restaurants local landowners, hoteliers and so forth--in the areas that are creating the Keystone Pipeline.
  This "cavalier" attitude is pretty much POUTUS's approach to life, such as when he laughed at any pipeline development because it'd take TEN YEARS and we can't wait that long!!! Har!
  In fact, from MyBarackObama's own website, we learn some of the goals of candidate Obama:

With oil prices doubling in the past year, Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we ... Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years ... Obama and Biden will require oil companies to develop the 68 million acres of land ... Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline. [This part is available only on the Google search.]

• Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.
  An Obama-Biden administration will establish a process for early identification of any infrastructure obstacles/shortages or possible federal permitting process delays to drilling in the Bakken Shale formation, the Barnett shale formation, and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
  
  Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.
  As president, Obama will work with stakeholders to facilitate construction of the pipeline. Not only is this pipeline critical to our energy security, it will create thousands of new jobs.

  Um, really? 
  But anyway, the Keystone Pipeline will generate far more jobs than Obama admits, not to mention how many jobs could be created if other shale is developed.
  Financial Post takes issue with the number of possible jobs created, saying that a POUTUS who mocks the creation of private sector jobs--no matter the number--is "beyond belief."
  In fact, Obama's figures directly contradict his own administration figures on the number of jobs Keystone would create. FP:

That’s in direct opposition to his own administration’s draft report on the project.

The analysis released earlier this year by the U.S. State Department found that the pipeline would support 42,100 jobs during the one- to two-year construction period, with total wages of about US$2-billion, although only 35 permanent and temporary jobs will remain once Keystone XL is fully operational.

  Huh. Now don't you feel stupid, Obamabot?
  Eh, I didn't think so.

Paul Ryan Still A Tea Party Favorite

And the winner is? Paul Ryan. Really?

This findings in this Pew Poll shouldn't be a surprise. After all Ryan was well liked as a veep candidate. His flirtation with amnesty has made some of us nervous but he has not involved himself in any controversy since he was picked by Romney. He remains one of the most knowledge fiscal thinkers in the Republican Party and a bona fide foe of big government.
Fully 69% of Tea Party Republican voters want Republican leaders in Washington to move in a more conservative direction. That compares with just 43% of all non-Tea Party Republicans and just 24% of moderates who do not agree with the Tea Party. This chart shows the support the above Republicans have among Tea Party and non Tea party Republicans.

Evidently Tea Party Republicans have had their fill of Chris Christie but notice Ted Cruz and his appeal to the Tea Party; 48% favorable to only 9% unfavorable and 43% don't know him. He has room to run.

IRS Targeted Progressive Groups-Political Myth

NPR, believe it or not, has looked into the IRS scandal and while tepid in its criticism produced this interesting graphic. Relative to the progressive groups that were allegedly targeted by the IRS notice that each group was asked, on average, an additional 4.7 questions. Seven progressive groups were "targeted" and all seven groups were eventually approved for tax exempt status. Small wonder there was no contemporaneous outrage.
Contrast that to the Tea Party groups. Each group was asked an additional 14.1 questions and as to date only 46% have been approved. The 9/12 groups were asked an extra 18 questions but did get 12 of 24 groups approved for a 50% approval rate.

In other IRS news Congressman David Camp is suggesting that Lois Lerner and an attorney in the Federal Election Commission’s general counsel’s office appear to have twice colluded to influence the record before the FEC’s vote in the case of a conservative non-profit organization, according to e-mails unearthed by the House Ways and Means Committee. Also at question is; did the IRS illegally share information with the FEC? From NRO;

“Several months ago . . . I spoke with you about the American Future Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization that had submitted an exemption application the IRS [sic],” the FEC attorney wrote Lerner in February 2009. The FEC, which polices violations of campaign-finance laws, is not exempted under Rule 6103, which prohibits the IRS from sharing confidential taxpayer information, but the e-mail indicates Lerner may have provided that information nonetheless: “When we spoke last July, you had told us that the American Future Fund had not received an exemption letter from the IRS,” the FEC attorney wrote.

Obviously that case did not involve the Tea Party. The Tea Party was not yet born but if Lerner shared information illegally with the FEC it's apparent she is more than a mere bureaucrat. Rep. Camp has sent a letter to IRS acting Director Danny Werfel demanding the complete email chain.

MSNBC bilge continues---Laughing at Liberals

  It seems we've become such a separatist nation that most of us can't see anything through the same lens anymore, possibly because the memory of 9/11 has faded. It was 12 years ago, and today's young voters have no more memory of it than the OJ murders, which are  now almost 20 years ago.
  Thus the fascination with a president who promises goodies for all! who will worship at his feet.
  But seriously, how do even the most Leftist voters tolerate without absolutely puking the bilge "news" generated by MSNBC such as when Socialist Georgetown professor and self-described "child of the streets," "the overrated Michael Eric Dyson" complains that Bill O'Reilly probably thinks black people throw bananas at each other, using an edited and noncontextual videotape. O'Reilly had the temerity to question black leadership. How dare....
  Seriously? You have a black attorney general, numerous black people in power in the government not to mention the POUTUS and you have 5 highly paid, pampered people--most of whom are black--who have access to the highest and most far reaching halls of government sitting around bitching lamenting that black people just can't cut a break, white privilege and unconscious bias and blah blah blah.
  And like that lame=o millionaire Jay Z (the pampered of the most pampered whose wife wears $36,000 fingernails, $2 million on earrings and spent $1.3 million on their wedding) really scared that America is full of bigots who want to stop black people from voting and put them all in jail. He can't sleep, he's so worried about racism in America.
  Honestly.
  Which they aren't.

Look What happened to the Tea Party

There is a fascinating poll out from Pew. I'm always amazed when the national media pooh poohs the Tea Party then directs considerable resources to study its positions and sentiments. As might be expected, after Edward Snowden's revelation that the NSA was collecting phone metadata on virtually all Americans, the public changed its mind on the balance between security and freedom. No demographic was more effected than the Tea Party. In less than 3 years it went from 20% thinking the government had gone too far in protecting in restricting civil liberties to 55% thinking it had. Notice that moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans seem the least concerned about the restriction on civil liberties.

Another demographic that jumps out is the young. In the 18 to 29 year old bracket a full 60% sees too much restriction on civil liberties. These are Obama voters!

It's hard to predict where this will go. It's doubtful that that NSA spying will be the defining issue in the 2016 presidential election. In the 2014 mid terms I would not be surprised to see liberal Democrats use this issue to run against moderate Republicans nor Tea Party candidates to use it against moderate Democrats.
As to the Tea Party evolution, I've always maintained the Tea Party had a deep libertarian streak. With Rand Paul and Ted Cruz as its most visible  spokesmen the Tea Party, it seems, has staked out new ground in the area of civil liberties, no longer content to restrict it focus solely on smaller government and lower taxes. As it has found leadership who can articulate the values it intuitively held it is becoming a more powerful force.
The MSM gleefully reports that the Republican Party is divided. Good. Competition brings out the best. The civil rights clashes between Hubert Humphrey and Strom Thurmond grew the  Democratic Party as did the the anti-Vietnam War movement. Complacency is not a virtue and thank God the Tea Party is not complacent.

A Million Dollar Baby

Hunter Mahan was two strokes up in the Canadian Open when he got word that his wife had gone into labor. Leaving a possible $1 million on the table, Mahan withdrew from the tournament and flew to Houston to be with his wife.
Brandt Snedeker, who ended up winning the tournament, praised Mahan's decision - and his wife's timing.

"Zoe will be getting a very nice baby gift from me," Snedeker said. "I can't thank Kandi enough for going into labor early. I don't know if I'd be sitting here if she hadn't. But that is a way more important thing than a golf tournament. I missed a golf tournament when my first was born, and it was the best decision I ever made. I'm sure Hunter would say the same thing."
Classy!

Is Detroit making the same electoral mistake yet AGAIN?

  The last week or so a number of news outlets have been performing a post mortem on the city of Detroit and what happened. Some claim air conditioning was a primary reason so many manufacturers and citizens left the north and felt comfortable moving south. Others claim leaded fuel helped drive everyone crazy. Then there's the belief that right to work states stole the north's manufacturing base.
  Stossel had an hourlong special on FNC last night, with one reporter claiming that conditions in Detroit are turning citizens into libertarians who rely on one another because there are so few city services available. Like a 4 hour police response time.
  Wackydoodle Leftists are trying to pin Detroit's demise on conservatives and Republicans, even though no Republican or conservative has been elected in Detroit for 60 years. Other wackydoodles claim government is almost non-existent in Detroit, regardless the details.
  Mayor Coleman Young exacerbated race relations intentionally in Detroit to hide corruption, just as our current POUTUS does. Screaming RACIST is the equivalent of screaming SQUIRREL these days, as everyone looks at the distraction and away from what's happening, although screaming BEAR or ZOMBIE might be more appropriate considering the danger of actually being called a RACIST these days.
  Obviously lots of things got them where they are today, including a minimum wage businesses cannot afford, an uneducated and illiterate "work" force, and some of the highest taxes in the country. Michigan Capitol Confidential:

Specifically, "price theory" predicts that artificially high business costs caused by excessive regulation and above-market labor compensation rates imposed by so-called "living wages" will lead to an increase in unemployment. Detroit's minimum wage is more than $2 above the federal minimum wage; and pressure groups are pushing for more. Additionally, any company contracting with the city must pay its employees $11.03 an hour if they offer benefits or $13.78 an hour if they do not.

  What's sad is that the idiocy continues. Rather than humbled by the deterioration, activists are holding rallies and calling for a $15 minimum wage. 
  Others claim that capitalism is the problem, completely ignoring the deep and cancerous corruption among politicians that voters put in office.
  Let's be honest. Detroit didn't want white people in the city. Coleman Young made this clear. So they left. 
  The Democrats, as always, take care of their cronies; according to records, which have been very badly recorded, 54 retirees are under the age of 20. WSJ:

Local politicians bought union support with generous labor agreements. Pensions were sweetened retroactively. In good investment years, retirement funds issued bonus checks. Until two years ago public-safety officers didn't have to pay a penny to their pensions and could retire at 55 with roughly 85% of their salary, a 2.25% annual cost-of-living increase and nearly free health benefits.

  One has to have sympathy for the 85 year old retiree living on $19,000 annual income but, of course, that's never the end of the story. 

While the average pension is $30,000 for public safety and $19,000 for other municipal workers, these figures are skewed by workers who retire early with reduced benefits or on disability. A quarter of retired officers receive disability pensions, which pay two-thirds of salary. Fifty-four retirees are under the age of 20 and earn pensions that average $23,300, according to a 2011 actuarial report.

  And rather than nurture business, the state under Jennifer Granholm allowed this (WSJ): "Detroit collects 50% more tax revenue per capita than Dearborn and receives four times as much money from the state."
  Most tragic are the citizens like the one interviewed on Stossel's special who mowed the empty lawns next to his neatly maintained house to keep intruders away and give the illusion of more than just his family living there.He matter of factly stated that this is where he lives and he's going to stay there. 
  Stossel also interviewed a city council member, asking why council (known for its irregular and raucous meetings) refused to let a developer demolish old houses and plant trees. He had all the right answers, eh?

On my TV show, I confronted the council's second in command about his refusal to let Detroit sell land. He says he voted against it "because the developer wants to grow trees. We don't need any more new trees in our city." The politicians micromanaged themselves into bankruptcy, and they want to keep digging.

A member of the British Parliament writes that Detroit is like the fictional city of Starnesville in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel "Atlas Shrugged" — a car-manufacturing city that became a ghost town after experimenting with socialism. In the novel, Starnesville's demise is the first sign that the entire society is approaching collapse.

  What's disturbing is that it doesn't appear that Detroit has learned any lessons. They're hoarding their wonderful art collection, rather than sell it to pay bills. They won't allow Belle Isle to be handled by developers, claiming it's one of the "city's jewels" and it would be racist to steal it from Detroiters.
  Though Mayor Dave Bing has tried to turn the city around, I have personally spoken with Detroiters who had little more faith or trust in Bing than the previous disastrous and criminal Kilpatrick administration.
  Racist attitudes still run rampant in Detroit, including city council members who openly scream about racism, even though they're in power in the city and racists themselves. In fact, the head of Detroit city council has disappeared in the face of corruption of a minor and other unsavory charges.
  As the race for mayor approaches a primary, more hanky panky is occurring, as usual for Detroit.
  On flagship station WJR, black callers openly admit a white person probably cannot win in Detroit; thus, when businessman Michael Duggan, now endorsed by the Free Press, was disqualified for turning his papers in too early, opposition Benny Napoleon crowed as the field opened with him as a front runner.
  Duggan decided to run as a write in candidate, an endeavor that is not entirely hopeless considering the business support Duggan has around the city.
  Benny Napoleon is Wayne County Sheriff; he is being investigated by the FBI. 61 workers in his office have take home vehicles, paying nothing for their maintenance, even while his office does not respond to 911 calls. Napoleon is over budget, of course.
  Napoleon is one of 80 double dippers who receives a pension of over $90,000 in addition to his current salary. Napoleon's is $111,000.
  Now Napoleon apparently has persuaded a barber named Michael Dugeon who's only voted one time in his life to run for mayor as a write in candidate.
  Leftists are cross-eyed, picking at anything to discredit Duggan.
  Napoleon surely seems like a person who should stay on the periphery of Detroit, certainly not entering into running the city.
  Isn't Detroit finished with questionable politicians yet?

Do You Support 4th Trimester Abortion?

Support fourth trimester abortions? I wish I knew which college campus has so many deep thinking and concerned students. The Media Research Center set up the fake petition drive and interviewed students to find out show how solidly they support abortion on demand for any reason throughout pregnancy — and beyond.

Can we call Governor Christie a Neo-bama ?

For those of you among us who think the discussion of our freedom under the fourth amendment " to be secure in (our) persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures," is esoteric or intellectual Governor Chris Christie is the man for you. His dear friend Barack Obama and his administration's "internet freedom agenda" has been exposed as patronizing cant. By assuring the public that no US based internet company can protect its private data the Obama administration has killed the free internet. And it gets worse. Even private medical data is demanded by the HHS through the mandates arising in Obamacare as is much credit card data by the Orwellian Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Esoteric and intellectual? How about visceral? It makes one sick to his stomach!






I would be more inclined to trust Christie had he not started his run for the White House two weeks before the last election. He opened the field in 2016 by making sure Romney would not be the incumbent president. He used Hurricane Sandy, and in this message is using the victims of 9/11 to propel his entire state into victim hood.
To his assertion that Obama has changed very little Bush's war on terrorism. WTF! The Obama administration will not even acknowledge a war on terror. Electing Christie would make Obama's radical transformation of America complete.
Update:
Rand Paul responds, “They’re precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme — give me all my Sandy money now.’

Looking back at Obama's 5 years

  Now that we're five years into the eight years of the reign of Barack Obama, it's probably time to look back and see where we've come.
  I've written many times that some Tea Party friends are disheartened; who can fight the government when all its forces are marshaled against individual citizens?
  Yet everything that has happened with this man as POUTUS has happened before and will happen again: we will survive this contemptible skinny little man who more resembles Ichabod Crane in figure and pre-convert Scrooge in nature.
  I particularly like Obama's reaction to the traitorous Snowden: he's so outraged that he won't speak to anyone in Russia while Snowden stews in a Russian airport. Like the murderer enticing his victim from the cliff, Holder has even gone so far as to reassure Russia that Snowden will not be tortured or put to death for his treachery, as if our country so easily commits such acts.
  But Obama's reaction is typical: how dare this pipsqueak Snowden challenge Obama's will? 
  How dare Putin not accede to Obama's wishes by returning the traitor who challenges Obama? Didn't Putin get the iPod with Obama's speeches? (Oh, wait. That was the Queen.)
  How dare the states ask for voter ID? 
  How dare the Tea Party question Obama's judgment? 
  How dare Fox News not grovel at the feet of Obama and his cronies? After all, other news media compliment him on his ideas. They like them, dammit.
  We've joked for years in the blogosphere that Obama is a fat headed narcissist but this past year he's proven it again and again.
  Like when he spent $100 million taxpayer dollars and lots of fuel to fly to Africa to inform Africans that the planet will boil over if they want air conditioning like us.
  Damn the cost of spreading the gospel!
  And like when the Grand Bargain began to dissolve in front of his eyes and so The Prince traveled to a friendly crowd, barring naysayers from entry due to danger to himself, to scornfully denounce his opposition, as if he had nothing to do with the failures of the last five years.
  Keith Koffler thinks Obama is an angry little man; well, yeah:

It shouldn’t be too surprising that this man, who presented himself as the King of Cool and the Apostle of Hope in 2008, is really not all that nice.

[SNIP]
He throws in “inequality of opportunity,” but what Obama is really angry about is inequality of result. He’s mad that some people have more than others. That we’re not spreading the wealth around enough. That people are getting ahead even though you didn’t build that. Because at a certain point, you’ve earned enough money.

It’s the politics of resentment, touted by someone who harbors resentment. It’s at bottom the philosophy of, gimme what you got, you rich bastard.

  WSJ got on his case today, too, saying what Gary and Eric at Red Eye Radio have been saying dispassionately all along. 
  Obama doesn't really want or know how to create jobs; he wants to knock down people who are accomplished and somehow try to raise up the losers of the nation who prefer to have opportunities handed to them.
  Obama has no desire or idea how to create wealth: he only knows how to destroy it, regulate it and redistribute it, as if this economy is a zero sum game.
  WSJ:

The core problem has been Mr. Obama's focus on spreading the wealth rather than creating it. ObamaCare will soon hook more Americans on government subsidies, but its mandates and taxes have hurt job creation, especially at small businesses. Mr. Obama's record tax increases have grabbed a bigger chunk of affluent incomes, but they created uncertainty for business throughout 2012 and have dampened growth so far this year.

The food stamp and disability rolls have exploded, which reduces inequality but also reduces the incentive to work and rise on the economic ladder. This has contributed to a plunge in the share of Americans who are working—the labor participation rate—to 63.5% in June from 65.7% in June 2009. And don't forget the Fed's extraordinary monetary policy, which has done well by the rich who have assets but left the thrifty middle class and retirees earning pennies on their savings.

  We've long puzzled if this man is clueless or evil: it appears, after five years of living with him daily, that he is both. 
  Lots of people have postulated that his speech the other day--which ran over an hour--was self-indulgent, boring, repetitive and inane.
  It was all those things, in addition to the same "soaring rhetoric" he so loves to employ. Skies. Seas. Oceans about to recede because of Obama's life force which demands that they not destroy the cities.....
  He believes all this stuff about himself and he's frustrated that people aren't bending to his will.
  The problem is that fewer and fewer people are believing the hogwash he swills to his minions.
  We are entering a dangerous period; Obama will be more reckless as he attempts to mold America the way his grandparents, who were sympathetic to communists, molded him.
  We elected him; now we have to survive him.
  Prosperity could be right around the corner, if we choose it.
  Now is the time to fast and pray for good leaders--which we lack--to rise up around our country.
  And a reminder that the battle is not to the strong alone, but to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
  We may be old, but we are vigilant, active and, God willing, brave.

Defeat Lindsey Graham Super PAC Formed

No one should be surprised that Senator Lindsey Graham is facing primary opposition. Let's hope it's successful but while a super PAC, Defeat Lindsey Graham, has be formed no challenger has stepped forward. How about Trey Gowdy? or Nikki Haley? I'll pass on Mark Sanford but even his soul mate would be better than Graham, lack of citizenship notwithstanding. Here is Defeat Lindsey Graham's first ad.



Here is a statement from Carolina Conservatives United.
“As residents of South Carolina and grassroots activists in the conservative movement, we are concerned not only about Lindsey Graham’s voting record on important issues but also the contempt he regularly displays toward small-government conservative citizens."
“Lindsey Graham is part of the DC culture that is crippling our nation. We believe that he’s been there long enough and we are going to spend time outside our normal day-to-day jobs & lives to bring him home,” said Breeanne Howe, CCU Board Secretary. “Fellow conservatives who would like to join us can donate to the cause and also send us leads on Graham’s record through our email: DefeatGraham@gmail.com.”

Sen. Mike Lee Pushes to Defund Obamacare as Support Among Moderate Democrats Implodes

I doubt if they saw this coming and as Joe Biden would say "this is a big freaking deal".

Support for Obamacare among self identified moderate Democrats has imploded as the implementation nears. Party pundits of both persuasions are always wont to explain to us who are ill informed that the votes are in the middle. As in moderate? The Post tries to spin this as inconsequential.

Politically, the downward shift among moderate and conservative Democrats may be inconsequential. Senate Democrats have ignored more than three dozen House Republicans efforts to repeal the law, and even if they lost control of the chamber in the 2014 midterm elections Obama would surely veto any attempt to undo his signature legislative achievement.

Lost in that argument is the fact that many House and Senate Democrats feel very strongly about keeping their careers. Senator Mike Lee is ramping up a campaign to defund Obamacare at the end of the fiscal year when both houses must vote on a continuing resolution. Lee has already lined up 15 Republicans, needing at least 40 on the Senate side. Lee plans a government shutdown until Obamacare is defunded and polls showing diminishing support for Obamacare among Democrats makes it easier for Republicans to oppose it.


I was thinking this would be a great time for Obama to pivot to talking about the economy.

Z Street Demands IRS Spell Out Its Policy On Pro Israel Groups

The IRS has not caught many breaks lately and defending itself in court in a suit brought by the pro Israel group Z Street isn't likely to go well either. When Z Street filed for tax exempt status the IRS said that the agency had singled it out for special scrutiny because its pro-Israel positions conflicted with Obama administration policies. Now Z Street is demanding to know exactly what guideline the IRS used and are those guidelines constitutional.
“There clearly is a policy—it’s just they haven’t had the chutzpah to say out loud what it is,” said Z Street attorney Jerome Marcus.
The IRS says that Z Street must first resolve its exempt status before it can revel its policy. "The review of the process can only take place if Z Street wanted to put its money on the line” and get a court or government ruling on its tax-exempt status, said U.S. attorney Andrew Strelka.
“We’re not seeking tax-exempt status in this case. We are seeking an untainted process,” said Marcus. “What is the policy that the IRS has been following since 2010, and is that process constitutional?” He added the group was entitled to a decision on the constitutionality of the IRS’ policy now, regardless of the resolution of its tax-exempt status application.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed skepticism of the IRS position and will decide if the IRS must spell out its policy.

Cruz, Paul, Worry Washington Post Conservative

So called conservative blogger, Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post is out to warn conservative voters of the dangers posed by two potential Republican primary candidates, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. It seems they just don't measure up to the high standards Rubin demands of her candidates. Rand Paul has taken some heat over a former aide, Jack Hunter who used the show name Southern Avenger on a South Carolina radio talk show. Like many of the followers of Ron Paul, Hunter was clearly a liability the younger Paul should avoid but he was not the subject of Rubin's post.
Rand Paul’s dangerous demagoguery was the title of Rubin's post. Yes, Rand Paul actually told the Veterans of Foreign Wars that foreign aid should be conditioned upon how well the recipient had served the interests of the United States since it received the last dose of American largess. According to Rubin such "what have you done for me lately" was counter to everything Dwight Eisenhower had stood for during the cold war. Then we get to the hard core demagoguery.

His language reveals a blithe indifference to facts. For example, he bellows:

Even if you believe we should arm Islamic fighters in Syria, shouldn’t, at the very least, Congress vote on the matter?  The Constitution is very clear.  Congress is to declare war, not the president.
Nevertheless, President Obama is moving ahead with plans to get involved in the Syrian civil war, without the authorization of Congress.
How can we ask our brave men and women to fight against al-Qaeda in some countries and with al-Qaeda in other countries?

Who is talking about troops in Syria? How did he get from aid for rebels to fighting in a civil war?

Jennifer babe, there are 1000 marines in Jordan and they wouldn't be there if there were not some possibility they would be involved in combat. The two prime advocates of the Libyan intervention Susan Rice and Samantha Power still hold policy positions in the Obama administration. Paul may not be straight down the middle but he hits the corners. Asserting the premise that lethal aid does sometimes lead to combat is hardly dangerous demagoguery.
Cruz has it wrong, again posts Rubin.

On ABC’s “This > Week,” he asserted: “The most divisive element of the Gang of Eight bill is that it grants amnesty. It grants a path to citizenship to those who are here illegally. . . . I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who followed the rules.”

Maybe being the son of a legal immigrant has something to do with Cruz's feelings but Rubin is a Gang of Eight groupie. No, it's not amnesty they have to pay a fine and learn English. Cruz misunderstands presidential politics. Candidates are supposed to hedge their bets, employ slogans, and repeat talking points just as John McCain and Mitt Romney did and Marco Rubio does now. Can Rubin name any candidate other Paul who has stood up to Obama on drone warfare and NSA spying? Can she name any candidate other than Cruz who has not pandered to the amnesty crowd. Rubin really should read her polls. Cruz and Paul's respective opinions are closer to the American public's than Obama's, or Rubio's.

Detroit IS Obama

  It's Bush's/Republicans'/conservatives'/austerity measures' fault. We are responsible for NOTHING that goes wrong EVER! Give us more money and we can fix it!
  That's the unbelievably stupid meme being floated repeatedly--as memes are wont to be--out in the universe since Leftists are nakedly exposed as the incompetent buffoons they are when it comes to money, freebies, efficiency and organizing anything effectively--other than just rabble rousing, carrying professionally printed protest placards and throwing crap at people who disagree with them.
  They've gone off the deep end, sinking into oblivion, apparently unaware that they've lost their minds. 
  Yet Detroit is the epitome of Leftist policy and thought.  

  I present exhibit #1. Everything's somebody else's fault.
1. In between baby coverage, Martin Bashir somehow managed to slip in that the baby's arrival was more exciting to the centuries old tradition of the arrival of a new king because the UK has suffered economically because of....Paul Ryan's economic policies. No, really.
   Exhibit #2-Obama can do no wrong EVER no matter what he does
  2. San Diego voters just signed a petition granting Obama immunity from any crimes he's committed. The nauseating link is here. Can you say Bush did it? Can you say Zimmerman got off scot free?
  Admittedly an extreme example, these voters exemplify the attitude of the typical fainting Obamabot voters. 
  Can you say Kwame Kilpatrick? Monica Conyers? Othis Mathis? Joanne Watson? 
  Exhibit #3-It's wrong, wrong, wrong to live within a budget. Spend as much as you can and don't worry about long term debt.
  3. I was watching FNC last night when Sally Kohn took part in the final panel. I confess I kinda like her even though she's a flaming liberal but when she rattled this insanity with wide eyes and chipper voice, I crossed her off the list of anyone who could ever utter a sane opinion that made any sense ever again.
  She cheerily proclaims that austerity doesn't work. 
  It's been proven over and over! 
  All the studies show! 
  Republicans just want to cut and cut and cut! 
  This proves Republicans are wrong about austerity!
 
  Exhibit #4. POUTUS's advisors are hucksters, criminals and agitators, just like Detroit's
  4. Jesse Jackson? He's known for shaking down companies for a few hundred thou which he pockets and then deserts the righteousness of his cause.
  Eric Holder? He refers to blacks as "his people," refusing to prosecute civil rights cases against any race other than black, including situations where black poll workers refuse to allow whites to vote. He lies.
  Al Sharpton? Peh. Tawana Brawley. Crown Heights. Freddie's Fashion Mart. No justice. No peace.
  Exhibit #5. No honesty. No justice.
  5. Let's have an honest talk about race.
Um. Yeah. The way this goes is, "You sit down and shut up. I'll do the talking"
And YOU don't even try marching on Washington in protest of something like a health care law.
  And Ed Schulz actually complains the reason Detroit failed is because of conservative policies... a conservative utopia.

  And that, my friend, is how you wind up going 60 years, spending money you don't have and throwing out anybody who tries to tell you the truth about the mess you're making.

Redemption Candidate Weiner Suffers Relapse

It goes without saying that we are both surprised and amused but more amused than surprised by the revelation that  Anthony Weiner had a relapse. We here in the mid west tend to look askance at political redemptions as if they are but another iteration of jail house religion. For the faithful denizens of New York City Weiner's candidacy provided an opportunity for moral preening. The city was practicing the politics of forgiveness which is its way of supporting any Democrat, no matter how lurid his past, wrapped up in sanctimony as if by tortured reflection the body politic had looked into its soul and found forgiveness for the pipsqueak penitent whose behavior it mildly condoned to begin with. Good wife, Huma would probably sell her soul to keep the motorcade moving so no need to pity her.
Now Weiner has added lying, hypocrisy, and more infidelity to the mix. New Yorkers  have much more to forgive but no doubt they will be up to the challenge. They can revel in forgiveness all the way to the ballot box. The voters always get what they deserve.

Weiner proves he's a pervert

  And he'll probably be the mayor of New York.
  Gosh darn it.
  Leftists will vote for anyone.
  New sexts and a picture have "emerged."
  You can view one here.
  "Hurt my wife yada yada...deeplyflawednotperfect yada yada...move on yada yada... nothing to see here SQUIRREL!! yada yada!"
  This is one sick puppy.
  We're thrilled to learn Huma forgives her husband....still.
  What is wrong with women who do this? When you consider who her boss is, it's not surprising.
  Or does she have other reasons for sticking with him?
  After all, she has access to some pretty important information and ears right where she is.
  But it's all no biggie, Weiner claims, even though these sexts & the photo were sent a year after he resigned.
  And he kept in touch with her until April.

Profound intelligence of CNN anchors

  Like I said, the loonies are all over the airwaves.
  CNN anchor claims we "hunted the dildos into extinction."
  And, see, I thought global warming was all a hoax.
  His giggling afterwards is the cherry on the cake.
  Who knew?

Leftist loonies are all over the airwaves

  I don't know if it's the opportunity, boldness because of their hero POUTUS, or the moon, but lately Leftist have been openly spouting their craziness, which is really a good thing in the long run because we get to see the underlying motives for their behavior.
  AND we get to see who they really are, which ain't so pretty.
  For example, in the past a tv host--well, at least CNN since MSNBC is off the charts weird-- would at least avoid looking petulant, spoiled and openly antagonistic toward guests.
  Not so for CNN's Don Lemon, who verbally assaulted a guest who questioned Obama's claim he had been discriminated against. Lemon claimed the white guest had no right to have an opinion on POUTUS, that he wasn't in their bodies and that the guest's "white entitlement" caused him to "filter through a place of privilege that [the guest] didn't understand.
  In the past, for those who do not know, broadcast journalists hid their personal biases.
  Then there's Professor Melissa Harris-Perry, whose weepy prejudice is on display daily over at MSNBC; she rode high on the sobbing wave of fabricated despair of the well heeled elite who decried the "not guilty" verdict of the not guilty Zimmerman.
  When Texas passed a law to clean up abortion clinics this month, MHP was not happy. Toward the end of the argument in the Texas state house, protesting women (all attractive, no doubt) were caught bringing in jars of urine, feces and used tampons, to which feminists around the nation claimed that this was part of the Republican war on women.
  Showing their tampons became all the rage at rallies, although these feminists conveniently forget to mention that the ones to be thrown at the Texas legislators were used.
  So MHP goes on tv, lisping in that cutesy way of hers, that her producer had made her a clever set of tampon earrings, which she dramatically hung from her cute little ears. See? Ain't she cute?

photo from Daily Mail

  Some are wondering if the tampon earrings have poisoned her brain.Um, no. She's always like that.
  Stop me if you've heard THIS one before. Ya been hot this summer? Well, if you'd only change your way of thinking, ya wouldn't need air conditioning! 
  The Boston Globe's Ideas Reporter says we ought to consider not using AC because it isn't natural. It'd save money, after all, and the environment.

A lot would have to change. We’d wake up earlier, and nap in the middle of the day to make up for it. We’d ride bikes and scooters everywhere, and swimming would replace running as the preferred form of exercise. Maybe we’d see the return of porch culture—of screened-in card games and flowing iced tea. And maybe we’d start taking pride in tricking out our finished basements. After a while we’d get used to it, just like we got used to the artificial indoor chill we take for granted now. And who knows—eventually we might even come to like it.

  One can only imagine that the Ideas Reporter himself tries sleeping upstairs on limp damp sheets in 85 degree nighttime weather.
  I could go on because, really, this stuff is funny but I don't want to bore you. Oh, well, a couple more.
  Elitist Andrew Sullivan cheerfully hopes that America will no longer be a super power and he's looking forward to it: 

"“I think the transition to a post-imperial America is coming,” Sullivan added.  “I think it’s overdue, and I welcome it.”

  Because, you know, Andrew Sullivan will still have a good income, a comfortable home and his proper place in the Hollywood/DC party circuit.
  And, you know, it'll be great when China and Iran are able to yield their imperial power over the rest of the world. They're kinda like big brothers to all the weaklings out there and big brothers are always nice, right?
  There's more, but I'm saving it for a post about how Leftists are trying to shirk responsibility for the mess that is Detroit.
  And, wow, that's a doozy.

Building the middle class? Hardly.

 I see Leftists are already at work trying to defeat the Right to Work in Ohio running commercials equating Right to Work (the ability to work without union harassment and coercion) with ruining the middle class.
  As usual, Republicans in Ohio are MIA.  
  The current commercial is a pompous officious looking man intoning that right to work equals the ruination of all that is holy to the unions and Leftists.
  I'm guessing the unions are pissed off that half Wisconsin's union membership--given a choice--has dropped, along with half their cash. Thus they have to cut their fatly paid staff which has spent much of their working lives running around the state lying about conservatives and Republicans, in addition to ginning up anger against anyone who doesn't support unions.
  This is right in line with the "White House's" directive of "protecting the middle class" by gouging EVERYONE to pay for the exorbitant greed of the unions. 
  And it's right in line with the absurd Leftist talking point that the ruination of Detroit was brought about by Republicans, who have had nothing much to do with Detroit....and no Republican has been mayor of Detroit since 1961. I think there's been one city council member who's Republican in about the same length of time.
  But somehow it's Republicans' fault for the mess the city is in. On WJR out of Detroit, we learned that emergency manager Kevin Orr discovered that just one employee was making $450,000 a year. The city has twice as many retirees as workers. These retirees were promised billions in pensions and health care and, to be honest and slightly uncivil, the loons have been running and benefiting from the fat of this city for decades.
  Leftists aren't about building the middle class.
  They're about destroying it.
ALSO: Detroit is second only to San Francisco in the number of residents per employee. There are 55 residents per employee, compared to 27 residents per employee in San Francisco and 158 residents per employee in San Jose. Mayor Bing would like to cut the work force but that's a catch 22, since there are twice as many pensioners as workers and that will cut even more money out of the pensioners' fund.

No, Obama, you're NOT Trayvon Martin

  I confess I haven't posted a blog post in several days because I have been so utterly disgusted with the events of this country that I find it nearly impossible to remain civil. 
  Hoping the period of hostility has passed, today I would like to write about the George Zimmerman mess.
  I know. I know. I wrote about it extensively before but the dang thing has mushroomed into a monstrous situation that has consumed our country and a dishonest news media that cannot emerge from their apoplectic fit.
  Top this off with a despicable "impromptu" speech by a national leader and throw a little MSNBC in out of curiosity and you have the perfect stinking pile of horse hockey through which most decent citizens do not want to walk.
  The most abhorrent behavior are the numerous claims and clamoring from wealthy elites who have been raised in pampered homes and been treated like royalty since their births; somehow now we learn that, once in life, someone "locked their doors" when he/she passed or "clutched their child tighter" because a black person was in the elevator, Jesse Jackson is allowed to say be relieved to be trailed by a white person rather than a black person but white people are racists if they say the same:

Jesse Jackson is traveling the country with a tough anti-crime message that he is delivering to inner-city youngsters. In Chicago he said, "There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery -- then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.

  And why does he feel relieved? Because statistically young black males are more likely to commit crime than any other race.
  We've covered this already. But black folks find their culture in trouble, statistically and spiritually. (Just google twerking, yet another distinctive creation of the black culture.) (That is not to say that white folks are in great shape culturally. )
  The black family is in trouble. Did it take white folks and nuclear black families to protest the creation of a reality series about one black rapper, his 10 "baby mamas" and 11 children, all on government welfare? 
  And why was that series canceled?
  People complained it was a stereotype. What is a stereotype?

~something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially : a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment~ 

  Even the definitions have been cleaned up to reflect political correctness. Is it wrong to stereotype individuals? Yes, but a stereotype is rooted in reality. It's a stereotype for a reason.
  While it is true that many white people in this country rarely suffer physically because of the color of their skin, I have seen children of color from privileged wealthy families receive college admission and tuition grants while white poor children received nothing. I have sat next to graduate students who, if failing a class, preferred to drop the class rather then continue because "I'm not worried about the money because I'll just get another grant."
  Black attacks on whites are up 18% around the country, gang membership is up 40% even while we watch the horrendous numbers climb in Leftist cities like Chicago, day after day, year after as young black men kill children, the elderly and innocents of all races, 45 murders in June and 43 so far in July.
  But it's never "the kids' fault." It's the police, or poverty, or white privilege, or somebody else's fault. It's never the destruction of the family, the fact that there are so few fathers in the home or that fathers are ridiculed and made to look stupid by the media.
  So what does our Fearless Leader do? He gets on television and offers a self-pitying exaggeration of his youth and some presumed offense by white people and even his grandmother. 
  It's not difficult to see that Obama always has cut an elegant figure, dressed well and appealed to most people.
  Yet he claims that whites have run from him in fear.
  Well, maybe he scared some people because he was high most of the time in high school, even dabbling in hard drugs in college. How stupid would you have to be NOT to be afraid of such a "child"? A "child" who boasted about his drug use?
  But for Obama and so many privileged others to claim they've suffered from racial abuse and "could have been Trayvon" is ridiculous.
  Fortunately I'm not the only one who's extremely frustrated by the constant racist drums that certain people beat incessantly.
  I'm tired of being afraid of being accused of being a racist because I disagree with racists. 
  This great country has some wonderful black doctors (I have 2), blended families of white and black members (like mine) and filled with people who like one another because of who they are, without being so deferential to black people just because they're afraid of being accused of being a racist.
  Even some Democrats are tired of this whole discussion. Over at PuffHo (this article worth reading), actor Romany Malco nervously offers a "message to Trayvon Martin supporters":

If we really wanted to ensure Trayvon Martin's killing was not in vain, we'd stop perpetuating negative images that are now synonymous with black men in America. We'd stop rapping about selling drugs and killing niggas. The next time we saw a man beating a woman, we'd call for help or break it up, but one thing we would not do is stand by with our cellphones out -- yelling WORLDSTAR! Instead of rewarding kids for memorization, we'd reward them for independent and critical thinking.

  Charles Barkley,actress  Stacey Dash, conservative Larry Elder,  Rapper Lupe Fiasco and Bill Cosby have offered criticism to the community activism of drumming up hatred toward Zimmerman, only to be ripped to shreds by black activists. 
  Shelby Steele puts it best at the WSJ today:

Today's black leadership pretty much lives off the fumes of moral authority that linger from its glory days in the 1950s and '60s. The Zimmerman verdict lets us see this and feel a little embarrassed for them. Consider the pathos of a leadership that once transformed the nation now lusting for the conviction of the contrite and mortified George Zimmerman, as if a stint in prison for him would somehow assure more peace and security for black teenagers everywhere. This, despite the fact that nearly one black teenager a day is shot dead on the South Side of Chicago—to name only one city—by another black teenager.

   Let's just review the facts one more time, considering that all you've heard in the media is that Zimmerman tracked, attacked and killed a black "child."
  Zimmerman got out of his car to see where Martin was headed; when told to stop he did, returning to his car. Before he reached his car, Martin, who was high at the time, jumped from the bushes (after telling his friend on the phone he was going to offer a "whooping" to Zimmerman) and asked, "You got a problem?" and then, "Well, you do now."
  Martin who was taller and fitter than GZ, then jumped the older man and beat him, breaking his nose and lacerating his head, a fact mocked by Leftists as an inadequate reason for killing the attacker.
  Courtesy Legal Insurrection's excellent coverage of the trial by lawyer Branca, here's a rundown of the misinformation that's out there about that night:

• Zimmerman “stalked” Martin. (There is no evidence that Zimmerman ever sought to close with Martin or sought to do anything but observe from a distance.)
• Zimmerman volunteered Martin’s race to police. (No, NBC doctored the 911 recording to make that appear to be the case, the police asked and Zimmerman answered.)
• Zimmerman disobeyed police instructions to stay in his truck. (No such instruction was ever given.)
• Zimmerman disobeyed police instructions to not follow Martin. (No such instruction was ever given; when it was suggested that he not follow, he complied immediately.)
• Zimmerman has a history of convictions for acts of violence. (Simply, no.)
• Zimmerman was high on pills at the time. (No evidence of this whatever.)
• Zimmerman appointed himself head of the neighborhood watch. (No, HOA offered him that role, he accepted.)
• Zimmerman had called the police about suspicious characters dozens of times in the weeks preceding the events with Martin. (No, it was perhaps a half-dozen calls in similar number of months)
• Zimmerman used a racial slur in reference to Martin while on the phone to police. (Never happened.)
• Zimmerman was a racist seething with anger against young black men. (No evidence of this whatever, despite thorough FBI investigation.)
• Zimmerman injuries prove he was never in danger of death or grave bodily harm. (First, no injury need be suffered before self-defense; second, blows to the head always carry a danger of hemotoma and death.)
• Zimmerman used a gun against an unarmed child. (Had the events not happened nobody would have referred to 6-foot-plus 17-year-old Martin as a child; in any event, Martin armed himself with his fists and the sidewalk.)

  I hope never to express an opinion again about this case, which has been absolutely disgustingly nauseatingly abused by Leftists to further the malcontents who refuse to take responsibility for their lives and to purposely perpetuate grievances to further their own political and financial interests.
  That any leader of this country would do this makes me ill. What's sad is that he could have truly been a transformative president who brought people together. He has not chosen to do this, but rather continues to pit groups of people against one another, always with an eye on achieving his goals of furthering this country down the road to a country ruled by elites.
  But he's not Trayvon Martin, he couldn't have been and it's pathetic that he thinks he can get away with claiming that this country is run by racists. (Other than the administration currently in charge, that is.)
  Though the media would have all of us believe the country is in unity over hatred for Zimmerman and whites, it is simply not true. 
  Witness this epic rant by Leftist attorney Leo Turell, who admittedly loves to be bombastically effusive over any issue he supports.
  Watch the whole thing and bask in the glow. We sure aren't alone if we despise and are embarrassed by the behavior of the current crop of racists parading around on television. 
   I might add that for those of us who care about freedom, who care about unity, who care about the direction this country is taking, who care about equal rights for all, the last week has been agonizing as we watch all the efforts, laws and concerns of the past 60 years have been discarded as if no one's been doing anything to set right the racial balance in this country.
  And many thanks to Hoosierman for covering for me while I was simmering outside the blogosphere. 
  UPDATE: A CNN host upbraids a white guy--same race as the author of this blog post-- and says if you're white, you have no right to offer an opinion on any of these issues:

"You have a certain entitlement as a white person that people of color don’t have. You don’t see that? You’re filtering through a place of privilege that you don’t understand. Your privilege does not allow you to see certain biases and certain circumstances in society."

  Likewise, Mr. Lemon. Likewise.

Dept of Energy: Fracking Safe

No fracking does not contaminate ground water. That is the opinion of the Obama Department of Energy. In a study conducted in Pennsylvania for the first time ever, a drilling company allowed tracers to be mixed with its fracking compound. After a year of research the study found that the fracking fluids stayed thousands of feet below the surface. Water wells are usually 500 feet or less. Drilling fluids tagged with unique markers were injected more than 8,000 feet below the surface at the gas well bore but weren't detected in a monitoring zone at a depth of 5,000 feet. The researchers also tracked the maximum extent of the man-made fractures, and all were at least 6,000 feet below the surface. That means fracking fluids didn't come within a mile of water.

States Act to Protect Electronic Privacy

While NSA and the FISA courts seem to think they have an unfettered right to invade the American public's privacy the states have become the protectors of the fourth amendment. Last week the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that under its constitution police are forbidden to track a person's location through cell phone records without a warrant. This is similar to a ruling just previously handed down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that found the state's constitution prohibited extensive GPS monitoring of an individual -- regardless of whether they are the driver or passenger of a car -- unless police obtained a search warrant.
On the legislative front, Montana became the first state to require police get a search warrant by statute before tracking a person's location. California passed a similar measure but it was vetoed by Governor Moonbeam Brown. That didn't work in Maine where the legislature overrode the governor's veto. Massachusetts is considering similar legislation. The New York Times reports over a dozen states are considering various electronic privacy bills.
Any bets that electronic privacy will not be a campaign issue in both the mid term and 2016 elections?

OMG! Detroit bankruptcy does not honor Obama

No, that not Judge Judy. That is County Circuit Judge Rosemary Aquilina who attempted to halt Detroit's bankruptcy proceeding on the grounds it violated Michigan's constitution and that it does not honor Obama. How's that for judicial temperament?
“It’s cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,” the judge told assistant state Attorney General Brian Devlin. “It’s also not honoring the (United States) president, who took (Detroit’s auto companies) out of bankruptcy.”
Okay, Your Honor, if full faith and credit bonds are subordinated to union pension funds in bankruptcy who is going to buy future bond issues? Also. Inasmuch as Detroit has spent $100 million more than it took in every year since 2008 where will it get the money to meet next week's payroll if your order is not overturned? Borrow it? From whom? More.

I Don't Like Alison Lundergan Grimes' Chances

This is more musing than insight but the Roll Call article on Senator Mitch McConnell's senatorial opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes causes me to reflect on Kentucky politics. For some reason Democrats convinced themselves that only a woman could beat McConnell. They first flirted with Ashley Judd, then former Miss America Heather French Henry before settling for a non celebrity. Grimes does at least have a political background and would not subject the voters to pithy insights she gleaned in drug rehab. Now for the dirty little secret about Grimes. She is probably the only credible candidate of either gender that could run a competitive race against McConnell and I doubt if it will be all that competitive. Yes, you say, but the present Governor Steve Beshear is immensely popular. Been there and done that. He pulled less than 43% of the vote against McConnell when he ran for senate in 1996. Wild horses could not have pulled Beshear into this race.
The New Deal coalition that brought the Democrats to power feels it has been sold out. The loyal tobacco farmers in central and western Kentucky and the strongest ally the Democrats ever had, the United Miner Workers, in eastern Kentucky feel justifiably betrayed. One might date the Democrat's decline in Kentucky with Hillarycare. In order to pay for that monstrosity the Democrats hit on a wonderful idea namely higher tobacco taxes. Speaking of getting the voters' attention, it was so contentious that none other than the dear first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton was burned in effigy at a rally in Owensboro, Kentucky.
The benefits of tobacco accrued not only to tobacco farmers but to the small army of temporary workers it took to harvest it. Harvesting tobacco is very labor intensive. The leaves must be hand picked, then stuck on long sticks and hung in barns to cure. The harvest created thousands of short term cash jobs and those jobs paid surprisingly well. Hard working factory workers would spend their vacations picking tobacco. Construction workers between jobs liked to work the tobacco harvest too. Much of that work is long gone as are the days when the non smoking section in the local McDonalds was in the back of the restaurant.
If nothing else Kentucky politics is colorful. It's mildly corrupt although I would not rate it with the axis of evil-Illinois, Louisiana, and New Jersey. Corruption is natural in non contested races so one might argue that Kentucky is less corrupt than it was when the Democrats controlled the state outright. Grime is a legacy politician; the daughter of a former Democratic Party state chairman and while that may play well in Democrat circles it may not serve her well in a low voter turnout election. Roll Call provides some of her pedigree;

Grimes enters the race with the support of many key Kentucky Democratic Party leaders. Her parents are prominent Kentucky Democratic Party leaders. Her father Jerry Lundergan is a former Kentucky Democratic Party State Chairman. He has also been the Kentucky point person for former President Bill Clinton and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Her mother Charlotte is the DNC National Committeewoman for the Kentucky Democratic Party. She is married to Andrew Grimes and they reside in Lexington.

So much for the tobacco farmers' vote. What about the coal miners?

Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, noted that Grimes last year "stood proudly at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Barack Obama, who has followed through on his promise to destroy the coal industry; in essence declared a war on the state of Kentucky and the middle-class families who call it home."

In the 2012 primary Obama lost 40% of the Democratic vote to "non committed". Are Kentuckians apt to turn McConnell out in favor of an Obama rubber stamp rookie? I doubt it.

Cute little Martin attorney reveals goals

  Well, gol darn, this is just downright fun. 
  This frat girl  law "professor" Jasmine Rand is a Martin family "lawyer"; she was seen on television for weeks wearing a hoodie carefully placed over her professionally tousled flowing umber locks, presumably in emulation of the victim whom she vigorously defends. 
  She appeared numerous times on MSNBC, passionately demanding another beer claiming the "child's" innocence, shaping the words coquettishly through perfectly glossed & Sephora plumped lips.

She explains her rationale for wearing the hoodie to CNN:

Rand said during the interview, “Today I’m wearing my hoodie as a symbol to all of those who supported us, the millions of followers that we’ve had that brought George Zimmerman to the arrest, who brought him to meet a jury of his peers and we have faith this time we’ll get a conviction.”

  Rand claimed the jury was wrong, that they hadn't "properly examined the evidence" and, if they had, Zimmerman would have been convicted as a murderer. Her statement echoes the Angela Corey prosecutor meme that Zimmerman is a murderer.
  Greta van Susteren, the professional and experienced lawyer, was shocked, reminding the hot partyer sorority chick younger j.d. that it was the jury's job to consider the evidence and the lawyers' jobs to uphold the process.
  Jasmine pouted at that comment, and then unfortunately let the cat outta the bag, revealing this:

 "I have a greater duty beyond being an attorney, and that’s to be a social engineer,” Rand responded. “And when the law doesn’t get it right, I believe that we have the right to peacefully, and morally, conscientiously object to the decision of the jury.”

  Actually the beauteous Jasmine Rand is just one of the new provocateurs entering professions such as law, journalism, broadcast journalism and academia who believe they have a vision for the country that is better than the rednecks citizens of this country and current democratic process.
  In journalism, it's called civic journalism, described on the user-written Wikipedia as an integration of journalism and democracy. A few years ago the definition of civic journalism indicated that practicers of civic journalism believed they had the right, the obligation to help shape society through their reporting.
  That's all been cleaned up now over at Wikipedia as advocacy journalism has become identified and unpopular in some circles.
  Anyway here's the clip of Susteren taking the nubile young lass to task.

Senselessly expanding self-defense

   "Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhood."

  Most of us think that citizen deserves every advantage to defend himself and his family.
  In an attempt to make this country more like England, it isn't enough, apparently, to steal our health care and put us under the government's thumb, where incompetence is rewarded and people are left to die on gurneys in the hallway. 
  Now Eric Holder wants to strip citizens of "senselessly" expanding the "concept of self-defense."
  Essentially what Holder is saying is that the fewer tools--legal and otherwise--victims have to defend themselves the fewer "conflicts" there will be in a neighborhood.
  This is at the root of Holder's protestations concerning the "Stand Your Ground" or "Castle" laws in over 20 states in this country. SYG laws had nothing to do with the Zimmerman case, but Holder is making use of a crisis to get what Leftists want: gun control.
  In England, guns are strictly controlled and police generally do not carry them, yet gun crime is up by 89% in the last decade in England.
  Somehow criminals still manage to get them. Imagine that.
  So it's really specious when Holder suggests victims need to retreat from suspicious teenagers rather than defend themselves.
  Yet it's consistent with the Obama administration's contention that black people are picked on more than other races, and in keeping with his executive order that all school discipline be race based rather than behavior based.
  Examiner:

The DOJ reports that the homicide rate in the black community is nine times greater than in the white community. Between 1976 and 2005, the DOJ reported that blacks averaged 13 percent of the population, but accounted for 59 percent of felony homicide charges and 53 percent of non-felony manslaughter charges. It also might come as no surprise that 93-95 percent of black homicides victims are killed by a black perpetrator. Most of the rest are killed by a Latino perpetrator.

  How would repealing the Stand Your Ground law benefit Black people if they are not aggressors? Why does the Obama administration always assume the worst of African Americans?
  Now we know that black people have benefited most--disproportionately--from Florida's SYG law.
  In Michigan, the Castle Law dates back to 1925 when Clarence Darrow defended a black minister who killed a KKK member who had assaulted the minister in his home.
  This attitude that black people do not have the same opportunities and excellent teachers as other races was evidenced in Obama's African American Education Initiative executive order. Chicago's teachers are some of the highest paid in the nation, yet the dropout rate for Chicago students is 40%. In fact, CPS are bragging that their graduation rate is up to 60%.
  Thus Obama's bill regulates disciplinary measures for students: all races must be punished at exactly the same rate, regardless their behavior.
  This idea was put into effect for Trayvon Martin's school, where administrators ignored his illegal activity and simply suspended him for a minor infraction, thus suspending him for 10 days rather than getting him the legal and psychological discipline he needed.
  From Atlas Shrugs:

School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho gave his hire, Police Chief Hurley, instructions to reduce the criminal behavior of young black males. The chosen strategy between them, to insure optical success, was to stop using the Criminal Justice System to punish black student behavior. Instead they instructed the School Resource Officers to use school discipline in place of criminal justice.

Another approach was the use of The Baker Act, to quantify behaviors under health HIPPA law secrecy by assigning the students with psychological problems. This allowed them to again use school discipline and work around criminal reports.

  It becomes apparent that the Leftists in this country simply do not care about increasing jobs through the manufacturing base; they do not care about the health and welfare of black people; they do not care about the educational mess many children are in; and they do not care  about the civil rights of any citizen in the United States.
  In fact, Leftist goals are to increase dependence on the state, favor certain target groups while penalizing other targeted groups through excessive taxation, regulation and behavior modification.
  So it makes perfect sense, I guess that there's no reason people should be able to defend themselves, even though murder rates are down across the country.
  Highly paid, pampered and protected elites continue their war on the American citizen.