Parade of extortionists squeal politics

  Covered in glory, Leftists have emerged from the shadows to speak ex cathedra about those naughty, naughty Tea Partiers who want the Democrat Party and its mouthpieces to put some muscle into cutting the deficit and righting the economy by trying to neutralize the disastrous effects of Obamacare.
  Never mind that Obama himself has illegally canceled parts of the law.
  Anything the Republicans want is fraud! arson! extortion! Part of the war on women!
  Take the stuffed sausages women in this video on The Blaze, for example, who appear in unity in front of cameras and behind an impressive government podium to breathily denounce the government "shutdown" as engineered by men who hate women. I might add their full billowing bosoms are heaving in manufactured distress.
  Stretched skin sagging over full jowls, the women, one of whom is very touchy about having earned the title of senator, declared that those nasty Republicans were depriving women of breastfeeding lessons;  they'll also cause cervical cancer for women, who, of course, are totally dependent on the government for all their needs.
  What on earth did women in the middle ages do? And, hey, let's be honest. The learning curve is steeper for the suckling infants than their mothers. 
  You can see the ancient lipsticked broads here pouting and supplicating to the men who actually "care about women!" I guess the other men can go to hell.
  Meanwhile Obama, who seems to think the universe revolves around his choom gang, looked down his fat nose and claimed he "shouldn't have to offer anything" to those who oppose him on principle because he's, well, you know. An arrogant bast.....Stop.  I've sworn off swearing.
  Starting now.
  In keeping with the government's current push that bullies must be punished, Harry Reid had to swiftly swish his Armani slacks to get in on the drubbing, flopping his limp wrist and lisping in that wonderful high pitched undertaker voice of his that the "Tea Party are bullies" and you just can't let bullies "slap you around" because that will only lead to more slaps.
  Hey, we can dream, can't we?
  And, meanwhile, unashamedly much of the press continues to get the vapors over other Leftists' "principled stands" while mocking conservatives' attempts to uphold their promises to (at least) half the country's voters.
  Hey, get up off the floor, ya suckers. Even some leftists are cooling the love affair. He's a lame duck.
  RedAlert has all the names Leftists have called Republicans in the last few days, including extortionists, terrorists, hostage takers, anarchists, squealing political pigs, murderers and arsonists.
   Sadly, the DNC is out of cash.
  Sigh. Such drama. I remain unperturbed, safely ensconced in my anarchist lazy chair, clicking away on a laptop only the elderly could love.
  We await the filmed tears of toddlers denied entry to the Statue of Liberty.

CNN cancels Hillary Documentary

It could be we were wrong about the documentary that CNN intended to do on Hillary Clinton. Some people on the right whom I trust said that the show's producer, Charles Ferguson did not do puff pieces. The documentary has been cancelled and Ferguson explains why in an excellent post at the Huffington Post which I would strongly recommend.
Briefly, opposition to the documentary was bipartisan. Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus suspected, as many of us did, that it would be a promotional flick for Hillary's candidacy and threatened to freeze CNN out of the presidential debates. That was the upside of the story. The Democratic Party and especially the Clinton people were aghast that Ferguson wanted to talk about Hillary's board membership of both Walmart and Tyson Foods. Sample this assessment of Bill Clinton;

In June, I attended a dinner for Bill Clinton, which was educational. Clinton spoke passionately about his foundation, about African wildlife, inequality, childhood obesity, and much else with enormous factual command, emotion, and rhetorical power. But he and I also spoke privately. I asked him about the financial crisis. He paused and then became even more soulful, thoughtful, passionate, and articulate. And then he proceeded to tell me the most amazing lies I've heard in quite a while. ....
Wow, I thought, this guy is a really good actor. And I also saw one reason why Hillary Clinton might not be thrilled about my movie. I discovered others. In Arkansas, she joined the boards of Walmart and Tyson Foods. One of the largest donors to the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation is the government of Saudi Arabia. The Clintons' personal net worth now probably exceeds $200 million, and while earned legally, both the money's sources and the Clintons' public statements indicate a strong aversion to rocking boats or making powerful enemies.

Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters contends that the opposition to NBC's planned mini-series by MSNBC hosts and reporters was not driven by journalistic ethics but rather by manipulation by Clinton forces to kill that project. If you're keeping score at home credit Hillary and company with a big win.

Now isn't the time for a presidential temper tantrum

Obama has long eschewed the partisan rancor of Washington, and maintaining an above-the-fray status has often served his political interests. But he's never going to run for president again—avoiding the angry-black-man trap is now not as important—and desperate times do demand reconsideration of assumptions and behavior. This could well be the moment in his presidency that demands a strategic flash of anger and/or derision. Obama ought to tell us how he really feels about the House Republicans willing to close the government or trigger a default in order to undo his signature domestic law. Whatever the political impact of such a statement, it would sure have the benefit of being the truth. 

That is from a post at Mother Jones by David Corn which parenthetically was the publication cited by the ever moderate, intellectually challenging, keenly insightful Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur during a hearing on IRS wrong doings. She was decrying the loss of tax revenue from Tea Party (c4)'s while neglecting to mention that Mother Jones is published by a tax exempt (c3). Readers who view MSNBC will remember David Corn as the fidgeting fellow who resembles an underfed chipmunk.
From Corn's point of view Obama has long eschewed the partisan rancor of Washington. Yes, and Nancy Pelosi doesn't mainline Botox. The fact is partisan rancor is Obama's only pitch and that is about to redound to his disadvantage. Obama doesn't have a sweet side. He cannot be chummy or personal for more than two minutes. He is like the dog that barked at you every time you approached his yard when you were a kid. You walked around the block to avoid going past that yard until one day prodded by friends you walked past the yard and all the dog did was bark from behind the fence. Obama is  the rookie pitcher who all the smart people said was the very incarnation of Don Drysdale who did great for half a season until everyone got good look at what he had and it tuned out not to be so much.
Yes, all Obama needs to do is to throw a temper tantrum. That is all he has done to date. He is a one trick pony and the House Republicans can eat his lunch if they just walk past his fence. Don't give an inch!

Obama will get the blame for any economic disruption-Bob Woodward

Not everyone in the liberal main stream thinks it's a good idea not to negotiate on the debt ceiling. Bob Woodward opines that any disruption of the economy will be on Obama.

Don't Fly-Cry

Really? Imagine, if you would, this guy was your plumber, or your broker, or God forbid, your doctor. Your sewer is clogged. You're peeing in Zip Lock bags, your wife is livid because she can't and your kids are using the cat's litter box. Just as the man from Rotor Rooter pulls up in your drive he hears a news bulletin on his truck's radio that the latest IPPC report says with a 95% probability that global warming is man made. He waddles to your front door with his cell in hand, talking to his wife and while tears run down his face he tells you that he and his wife have just decided he is going to get a vasectomy. "Thank God for small mercies," you scream. "Get the hell out of the gene pool before you breed us all into stupidity."

Luckily Holthaus isn't a plumber, broker, doctor or anything important. He is a meteorologist. He is one of those people who told there was a 95% probability of thunderstorms on your day off so you slept late  while your friends shot their bag limit on the first day of squirrel season. One would think he would know by now, after thousands of angry emails complaining he had forecast forty of the last two severe snow storms, that climate modeling isn't what it's cracked up to be. That aside, what kind of a man emotes to such a degree to 13,000 Twitter followers? And what about the moon bat bat he's married to? If I called my wife from an airport crying about something the UN people dreamed up I would be booked into some sort of alcoholic rehab program by the time I got home.

At last the epiphany! One calculation estimates that 11% of carbon emissions come from air travel as compared to 35% that come from automobiles. Considering the number of people flying as opposed to the number of people driving that is an astounding ratio. Yes, why should Mrs. Moonbat have to contend with a washing machine that doesn't work well and stinks and a toilet that must be flushed three times per use so frequent flyer Eric can gallivant around the country, getting drunk at airports and making a damn fool of himself on Twitter? Actually I think the wife grounded his sorry ass.

The voters are pissed at me and it's Ted Cruz's fault

Arch RINO and former terrorist supporter, Congressman Peter King is upset by the "vehemence of the phone calls coming into the office". Rather than listen to the voters he has elected, in the tradition of Washington insiders, to blame someone else, in this case Ted Cruz. Then King does a cute little do si do. Cruz isn't to blame for everything his supporters say BUT he puts ideas in their heads as if no one ever thought of calling him a sorry son-of-a-bitch until Ted Cruz came along. He spoke to the Morning Joe crowd telling them he is "not saying Ted Cruz is responsible for all his supporters, but he has tapped into a dark strain here in the American political psyche here, and again, the most obscene, profane stuff you can imagine all from people who say they support the Constitution.”
Do Peter King and Chris Christie actually think they bat in the same league as Ted Cruz and Rand Paul?

We are surrounded by morons

  Yes, my friends.
  It is true.
  We are surrounded by morons.
  And they're crazy, to boot.
  Now I'm not Glenn Beck-ing the world here, sitting in a darkened room with sad symphonies playing in the background lamenting the coming apocalypse with a half drunk scotch twirling in my fingers.
  But how do you stay optimistic about the future when you know people in this country are so dang stupid as to inject gasoline & codeine directly into their bodies? 
  The Daily Mail, as always if you can avoid the gossipy sidebars, has the details on how "krokodil" has come to the US as a Russian import:

Krokodil's, medical name is desomorphine and is created by mixing codeine with  gasoline, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, iodine and red phosphorous.

There are reportedly nearly three million users in Russia and the epidemic began in Siberia and the Russian Far East.

The drug causes flesh to rot from the inside out and the addict's skin becomes scaly, like a crocodile's, hence the name.

Blood vessels burst and the surrounding tissue dies. Gangrene and amputations are a common result and sometimes bone can be exposed.

The high lasts one hour and a half and the drug is three times cheaper to produce than heroin.

  The concoction originated in Russia; you know that country run by the half naked ex-KGB guy who easily hornswoggled our so-called brilliant president. Hey, they practically inject Vodka directly into their veins to escape their wonderful lives so why not gasoline?
  But half naked ex-KGB guy gets published in the paper of record making fun of American exceptionalism, like he knows what he's talking about.
  The stuff is, of course, flammable, so maybe the middle schoolers' dream of lighting farts will become reality.
  Then we have the morons saucer-eyed, gleaming chiclet toothed Nancy Pelosi,the undertaker Harry Reid and Leftist Tom Harkin who accuse the activities of tax paying, hard working patriots (dare I use that descriptor, IRS?)  like me of being "every bit as dangerous as....the Civil War."
  And, gosh darn that Nancy!
  Millionaire Nancy, who's personally opted herself and her staff out of Obamacare, believes that, since Obamacare is wrecking the 40 hour work week, you should look on the up side that at least you'll be able to pursue your dreams of selling old junk at a dusty flea market to make ends meet.
  When queried by hard hitting CNN's Candy regarding Jimmy Hoffa's criticism of Obamacare's devastation, Pelosi marble mumbled something about "finding a path" and being "optimistic" and "Overwhelmingly, for the American people, this is a liberation," which it certainly is, considering all the free time you'll have.
  But no worries.
  You can anticipate another huge government stimulus of "premium subsidies" to the citizens whose incomes are "below 400 percent and above 133 percent of the federal poverty level."
  Of course, if you're a small business and you have too many employees in that income category, you'll get fined an extra $1000 per employee, which is undoubtedly federal incentive to raise wages.
  And no worries about the marriage penalties in there.
  There's also that brilliant person running our government by standing on a soapbox, big ears flapping in the wind behind skinny head, screeching that (fill in the blank "anyone who disagrees with me") he won't "negotiate" with the morons who've run up the credit card because he wants to run it up even more.
  But he'll be glad to negotiate with a dictator of a terrorist state who's just buying time so they can build a nuclear bomb.
  Old big ears will walk away whistling merrily after getting rolled by the half-naked former KGB thug, claiming, against all reason that he won again. Nananeebooboo.
  The Tea Party taxpayers want accountability and balanced books, but we're the radicals.
  We're the threat.
  We're the extremists.
  Sigh.
  Stupid people.
  Everywhere.
  Poseurs doing stupid things and thinking they look good.
  At least the half naked KGB guy knows he's only half dressed.
  Where's that scotch?

Ohio companies plan healthcare cuts due to Obamacare

Dayton companies are facing massive cost increases thanks to Obamacare.

Mahoning County Democratic Chairman accused of racism by his own party.

It really isn't racism we just kicked the black people out, says Democratic Party Chairman Dave Betras, of Mahoning County. Not only did Betras remove several black committee men he did it through the media rather than privately and in person. The trouble started when Betras called out several dissenting Democrats for not wearing t-shirts endorsing mayoral candidate John McNally.

The Earth has a fever! Sort of

By the end of the day the gist of the IPPC's report on climate change will have been spread to every relevant website on the net and for many it won't be pleasant reading. The "settled science" suddenly is not so settled and some mighty big reputations are going to be a pretty mess. Looking at the so called science from a skeptic's point of view the ongoing collapse looks patently predictable. Who is going to tell Al Gore that Sarah Palin was right and he was wrong?
From what has leaked our from the report it looks as if the IPPC will state that it over estimated the impact CO2 has on climate. In other words it exaggerated the danger and made damned fools out of politicians, schools teachers, and even clergy. Good riddance!

And the winner is...Ted Cruz

It wasn't Mr. Smith Goes to Washington although Jimmy Stewart's remark that lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for seemed apropos. This was High Noon where the town fathers fled in panic leaving the dirty business of saving all that was dear up to the lone town marshal. It was intrepid bravery and fidelity to principles that a Gary Cooper would envy but could never emulate. Senator Rafael Edward Cruz gave the nation a stunning exhibition of rhetorical eloquence, humor, wit, precision reasoning, and gentlemanly deportment which did not diminish in 21 hours. He was polite to a fault. He did not resort to hackneyed talking points. He did not demean his office by resorting to ad hominem attacks and he did it all without a silly teleprompter. He set a new standard for political speech, one that of course cannot be followed by the lesser breed that dominates both parties. He also put on a seminar on effective social media use for aspiring politicians as he read aloud remarks about himself from Twitter.
But was it, as Harry Reid said, a "big waste of time"? Do not think for one minute that Obamacare is going to get through the continuing resolution process without some concessions from Obama and his Democrats. Concessions that would not have been made with out this effort. Cruz, like Rand Paul, took up a fight that many voiceless voters wanted to see fought. He addressed an issue that unites the Tea Party with the Teamsters and that has not been addressed by the president nor the Republican leadership. He spoke for millions of Americans, took the bipartisan invective with a smile and like Paul gave the voters a long look at the future of the Republican Party.
Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Congressman Justin Amash, who has a thing for taking on his own party on the important issues too, are the faces of the new Republican Party and that is a welcome change.

Protest at Kaptur's Office

From:
NW Ohio Conservative Coalition
             09/25/13
          
Protest at Rep. Marcy Kaptur's Toledo office
 
                JOIN US AND SUPPORT CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES!
Show your support for Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Mike Lee.  We need to let voters in NW Ohio know that conservative principles are alive and well.  Marcy Kaptur does not speak for us. 

Bring your own DEFUND Kapturcare signs.
HEY MARCY, You're exempt why not me?

The Obama scandals - Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS, NSA

September 27, 2013 @ 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Near Rep Kaptur's Office
Cherry Street & North Summit Street (BY WTOL)
Toledo, OH 43604
Thanks for your continued support of the NW Ohio Conservative Coalition.  Visit our webpage at www.nwohiocc.com

I'm pissed and here's why

  (I apologize for the swearing that follows.)
  But I'm really angry.
  No, no, I'd rather write that I'm pissed.
  I've had it with pandering Republicans.
  I've had it with lying Democrats.
  I've had it with the absolute worst president in the history of the United States.
  I've had it with a media worse than Monica Lewinsky when it comes to sucking up to the president.
  They make me sick; they;re all so effing predictable, doing what they always do, magnified a million times over.
  The so-called "Tea Party" is made up of selfish, extreme racists.
  What is NOT extreme is a millionaire former House majority leader who simperingly claims that, now that so many of you are relieved of any duty of actually working at a job, you'll have time to pursue your dreams of happiness.
  I might remind y'all that that particular former House majority leader whose Chiclet smile could light up a million plastic surgeons' offices vacations at $10,000 a night hotels.
  The Blessed Nancy Pelosi is worth at least $35 million bucks, along with half of Congress.
  Now, I have nothing against millionaires.
  But when they get elected with their sugar daddies' bucks and then lord if over the rest of us, making rules, regulations and laws that don't affect them but radically change my life, that pisses me off.
  And how people who are supposed to be so schooled in the Constitution become Supreme Court Justices and even POTUS yet seem to have no knowledge of what that magnificent document actually says, that too pisses me off. 
  In fact, these so-called Constitutional scholars seem to be intent on rewriting that document to be some guarantee of government intervention into every aspect of my life, including what I eat.
  And did I mention that the arrogant bastards exempted themselves and their staffs from following the same rules they imposed on us?
  (Which reminds me.
  I don't smoke but I want a cigarette. )
  When even Fox News rampages airily on the foolishness of a "freshman" Senator (as if that's an insult) who is "trying to control" the movements of the doddering vampires who are currently in charge, it pisses me off.
  And the stately Brit Hume looks down his nose at the aspirations of reformist Republicans and those of us who want to change the current rotten way of doing things:

Hume noted that the only way Cruz and others in the Senate could use the Senate’s sixty-vote threshold to their advantage is by filibustering their own bill, “which would be a very peculiar position to be in,” and predicted the resolution would be amended to include ObamaCare funding and then passed through the House with some Republican votes.

“But there would be hell to pay among some factions within the Republican Party, that this would amount to betrayal, which is what Ted Cruz and his House allies are counting on,” Hume said. “My guess is this effort will fail.”

  They're sneering at us, all of us, because we're so fed up that we're willing to cheer on someone who also is fed up with the "way things are done." Someone who's willing to speak the truth, for a change.
  I'm bored with loser Republican consultants who tried to remake Sarah Palin and then later complained--in books for profit, no less-- that she was a greedy poseur.
  I'm pissed off every time I see the smug faces of Leftists like Obama who snicker condescendingly that we protesters are worried that people will get used to having the government "provide" "free" health care that costs an enormous amount of American treasure and puts our children in unbelievable, unpayable enormous debt. 
  Won't it be great when the government gets to decide who gets to live or die?
  And, like the IRS, won't it be great when the government gets to decide whose political opinions matter, particularly on who gets to live or die or get new knees?
  No, these people are absurd caricatures of the real people, those of us out here who are really pissed off.
  They lie unashamedly ("Raising the debt limit ceiling doesn't raise the debt?), with the chorus of Obamabots behind them, singing, "Oba-ma! Oba-ma!" and eagerly handing out excoriations to everyone who refuses to sing about and for him or drink the Kool-Aid.
  So, yeah, you bet I'm pissed.
  When even Fox News starts spouting the RINO line that you Tea Partiers stink, that you're irrelevant, that all you want to do is save money so our children won't be swamped in debt and we won't end up like Detroit disrupt the very comfortable process in place, I have a pissed off problem.
  Oh, I'm not giving up.
  But I, like many other conservatives, will work to get rid of the McCains and Cornyns of the Republican party who pledged to get rid of Obamacare, who voted to get rid of it when it didn't cost them anything, and yet now claim Ted Cruz is just trying to stir up trouble.
  Long live Ted Cruz.
  He rocks and most of the rest of them suck.
  Big time.
  More than Monica.

Congress Subpoenas EPA Studies

Lost in the news coming out of Washington in the past week was a little report that the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology issued a subpoena requiring the EPA to hand over the data from two scientific studies, which provide the basis for most of its air quality regulations. Probably what is most remarkable about the story is that the EPA had to be forced by subpoena to release data that should be shared freely not only with Congress but with the general public. By now the public should have had its fill of secret science. The UN's IPPC which claims the exclusive right to speak ex cathedra on climate change has, for years, suppressed the actual studies from which its conclusions are drawn.
Almost all of the EPA's rationale for regulating particle emission into the atmosphere is based on just two studies, the Harvard Six Cities Study (HSCS) and the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS II).  Both studies were initiated in the 1980s and both linked individual information on cohort members to air pollution data obtained from monitoring stations.  The HSCS enrolled 8,111 adults in 6 US cities and followed the cohort for 14-16 years.  The CPS II used data on roughly 500,000 adults for whom air pollution data for metropolitan areas throughout the US was available and followed the cohort for 16 years.
Both studies found a correlation between high levels of air pollution and and mortality but the correlation was weak. Also the reports tended to ignore findings that did not confirm their view. Recently two statisticians, Stanley Young and Jesse Xia of the National Institute for Statistical Sciences have questioned the accuracy of the studies. The studies did not take into account other factors such as smoking, obesity, income levels, all three of which are known to effect mortality. It is one thing to discover a correlation and another to prove causality. What if below a certain point the particle matter in the air does not have a significant impact on mortality? Then the nation is spending billions of dollars annually to mitigate a non problem.
When congress asked to see the EPA's actual data as opposed to the summaries the EPA publishes it got a "trust us" response similar to the IPPC or the NSA. Not surprisingly the subpoena was a straight party line vote. There is much at steak here. If the National Institute for Statistical Sciences or the National Academy of Science were to find that the studies did not prove that EPA air quality standards improved health the courts will be crowed with litigants seeking an end to much regulation and the plaintiffs would probably prevail.

Washington Township officer placed on leave after traffic stop

Is it just the availability of video verification of police overreaction or has the propensity for unnecessary police violence risen with the assent of the warrior cop syndrome wherein police are trained to perceive themselves as at war with the community they serve? Clearly this Barney Fife is out of control.

Obamacare's creepy control of your doctor's exams

  As we wait breathlessly to see what the crooks in DC are going to do, I thought it might be interesting to watch this--yes, it's true--creepy ad  PSA about Obamacare.
  Legal Insurrection has a takedown on the creepy reactions to the creepy PSA; it's well worth looking at Leftist reactions across the web, but what's most interesting is that somehow Leftists have managed to separate themselves from what's happened to Tea Partyers with the IRS and other government entities' attacks on their lives, their personal goals, and their businesses. 
  Government harassment could never happen to them because they're always going to be in power! And they know best (which explains why all the unions are jumping ship on Obamacare.)
  USA Today:

Newly uncovered IRS documents show the agency flagged political groups based on the content of their literature, raising concerns specifically about "anti-Obama rhetoric," inflammatory language and "emotional" statements made by non-profits seeking tax-exempt status.

The internal 2011 documents, obtained by USA TODAY, list 162 groups by name, with comments by Internal Revenue Service lawyers in Washington raising issues about their political, lobbying and advocacy activities. In 21 cases, those activities were characterized as "propaganda."

  So basically if you disagree--or make him unhappy even-- with the guy in charge, you're deserving of government harassment in your pocketbook and life. Maybe if you're lucky you could even become a patsy squirrel target for the State Department's mistakes.
  Those gauzy happy videos about being sure you sign up for government health care aren't government propaganda. Neither are those commercials about how happy you'll be to land in hospice where the main goal is depleting the stockpile of ancient cuckoo's nest drugs rather than treating illness. 
  Death panels, after all, are part of the new program, as admitted by Paul Krugman and Robert Reich.
  And, see, the government wants to know your sexual habits which is a natural extension of their funding your abortion and birth control pills. All that info will go to the "navigators" who could have a history of stealing identities but you'll never know that because there will be no background checks on them.
  And, really, your sex life is just the beginning:

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to require health care providers to include “social and behavioral” data in Electronic Health Records (EHR) and to link patient’s records to public health departments, it was announced last week.

  "Social and behavioral" data is necessary to help determine what your proper behavior should be, at least according to the likes of snoopy concerned Michelle Obama who recently has a closed door hammering meeting with food companies.
  So, yeah, this ad is completely legitimate, considering what this government is doing with our personal lives.
  When all this came out in recent months, the fleshy, lipsticked Democrat consultants waved their hands and protested prettily that "you can't conflate" the IRS harassment with government health care.
  Um, yeah, ya can.

Yes We Can! Defund Obamacare

“I would predict that will we get closer to 250 votes,” Meadows said at a Conversations with Conservatives (CWC) press event that the Heritage Foundation’s Rob Bluey moderated on Thursday. “If you look at the Democrats, 25 of the most competitive Democratic races are outlined. Twenty-one of those people voted with us to delay the individual mandate. Now if that says that they aren’t paying attention to what the people say back home I don’t know what is. They’re having to vote so that they justify that.

If the Congressman's prediction is accurate this would change conventional thinking. Establishment Republicans say that the favor getting rid of Obamacare but the defunding strategy is doomed to failure. If 20 to 25 Democrats defect then suddenly the contention that only a small group of radical congressmen are dumb enough to defy Obama will collapse. The patronizing narrative from the left leaning media, that Obama is the only adult in the debate will look as ridiculous as the predictions that Obama would easily win congressional approval to strike Syria.
Without research, but strictly off the top of my head, I can state that Delta Airlines, Duke Power, UPS, Sears, Darden Restaurants, IBM, Trader Joe's, Home Depot, and Walgreens have dropped or modified their health insurance plans for their employees, retirees, or employee spouses. The construction unions that depend on a multi-employer contributions are livid that their plans will make union labor non competitive. The electorate's self interest will trump party loyalty and ideology. Obamacare will have a worse impact on the economy than any government shutdown!
With a little bit of luck and standing firm we can win this fight.

A devilish dilemma; Choosing between Mark Zuckerberg and Lois Lerner

In contrast to some internet companies, notably Yahoo, no telecom company ever contested a FISA court order for bulk metadata collection. FISA court Judge Claire V Eagan cited "unprecedented disclosures" and the "ongoing public interest in this program" as she approved a request for the bulk collection of data from an unidentified telecommunications firm. She also ordered her ruling to be declassified.
"To date, no holder of records who has received an Order to produce bulk telephony metadata has challenged the legality of such an Order," Eagan wrote. "Indeed, no recipient of any Section 215 Order has challenged the legality of such an order, despite the mechanism for doing so."
So the telecom companies are willing participants in the invasions of privacy of literally hundreds of million Americans and there is little the public can do about it. There is one player, not a telecom, that may eventually pay a dear price for it's participation in the NSA's PRISM program. A poll by the Reason Foundation found Facebook is trusted less than both the IRS and the NSA. Why? Michael del Castillo of the Upstart Business Journal explains;
Here's the only substantial difference between the information Facebook gave the National Security Agency's PRISM program and the information Facebook sells to its customers—the NSA didn’t pay for it. In fact, it turns out what Facebook sells could be even more personal than what the NSA requires. And a study that came out yesterday shows Americans are waking up to that possibility.
The Reason poll of 1,013 people representing 38 percent independents, 29 percent Democrats, 23 percent Republicans, and 10 percent "other" found 45% did not trust the IRS compared to 61% who did not trust Facebook. Forty eight percent said they didn't’t trust Google.
Anthony Wing Kosner at Forbes is not favorably disposed toward Facebook either. In his ominous sounding New Facebook Policies Sell Your Face And Whatever It Infers post he dissects its new terms of service agreement;
“What these new terms of service do for Facebook is to give them carte blanche to guess at the details of our identities that we have not specifically disclosed and target marketing to us based on their guesses,”
Right people, upload your friends' photos so we can subject them to out new automated facial recognition software and our new and more powerful search algorithms.
Quoting Kosner further;
Already, there have been cases where Facebook has outed gay people through inference-based ad selection. The same capabilities that power facial recognition could also power facial inference. Do users realize that now, or at some point in the future, Facebook could profile them racially, guess at their intelligence, judge their attractiveness or even diagnosis certain medical conditions without being supplied any specific verbal data? All of this by merely giving facebook our… face.
There are two major differences between the subservient telecoms and Facebook. First, the telecoms we cannot do without; Facebook, yes we can. Second, the telecoms divulge Americans' personal data for reasons of corporate cowardice and maybe even misdirected, in my point of view, patriotism. Facebook does it for money.
Update: Mr. Z goes to Washington to discuss immigration and online privacy. From Politico; On Capitol Hill, Zuckerberg is expected to meet Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican leaders, Senate Commerce panel Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and other committee members, and the top four House Republican leaders. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is also hosting a meeting with Zuckerberg Thursday focused on immigration, according to a Democratic aide. Democratic Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California, Joe Crowley and Steve Israel of New York, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky have been invited to the gathering. A House Republican aide said that while immigration may come up with Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans, it is not the sole purpose of their session.

The political--and bloodless--Obama

  I'm sorry.
  I think there's something humanly wrong with the President of the United States.
  I respect the office; I tried to respect the current occupant.
  But one too many times he's taken the stage and presented himself as a bloodless, cold and calculating politician who only "cares" about his base voter, and then only as an opportunist and narcissist who feeds on the admiration of a cult following.
  Remember Fort Hood?
  Obama did a "shout out" to an admirer before he discussed that human beings had been murdered in a terrorist attack.
  Then he made sure that the victims of the shootings were denied benefits as "workplace violence" victims rather than victims of the war on terror.
  The POTUS could barely be bothered to stir from his vacation in Hawaii after the underwear bomber almost took a plane down. His first official. statement that the bomber was an "isolated extremist" came 3 days after the attempt.
  While Democrats blamed Tea Partiers for the Gabby Giffords shooting, Obama slipped bloodlessly into the void to call for a "new civility," even while repeatedly attacking conservatives rather than acting as a unifying agent.
  While four Americans representing the US were being assaulted by Libyan terrorists, Obama and Hillary disappeared from view. To this day, Obama will not say where he was but he made sure to give lip service to the deaths of these men before he flew out to a fundraiser in the forbidden Vegas.
  Now we've had numerous murders at a naval base--apparently another crazy guy whose mental history was overlooked, in this case by the government its emssaries--and Obama takes the opportunity to rip on Republicans over political issues.
  He's not the only Democrat to do so, of course, but he is supposed to be the leader of this country.
  The Obamas had yet another celebrity event planned for last night; it was still on late in the afternoon after the 8 a.m. shooting. Michelle Obama was excited about yet another party, saying Obama "will shake his groove thing" at the event.  
  It was only after that comment was made public that the event was canceled around 5:30, just hours before the concert and almost 9 hours after the murderous rampage had taken place.
  Insensitive?
  Breitbart has an opinion piece on this; Pollak isn't the first person to wonder what's---wrong---with Obama.:

Yes, Obama did begin by acknowledging the Navy Yard attacks. That is, at least, an improvement from how he reacted to the Ford Hood shooting in 2009, which he only mentioned after several "shout-outs" to his supporters in the audience. 

Yet the speech itself should have been canceled, or postponed. The fact that the White House never even considered that option shows how out of touch Obama is with his basic duties.

  And:

It was an insult to the victims and their families, a slap in the face to the nation as a whole, a dereliction of the simplest duty of empathy and discretion. He may apologize--he ought to--but what Obama revealed about himself in that moment can never be undone.

  Now, of course, the White House is floating the idea that yesterday--the day Obama affirmed that he is a cold hearted bloodless cynic--was a day they wish they could do over.
  Yeah, I'll bet they do.

The next front: "Transgenderism"

Washington Shooter Described by Friend as a Liberal

Why am I not surprised. Washington shooter, Aaron Alexis, was a liberal who was not happy with the Bush administration but liked the present one.
I would say things like, 'You know, you are my brother from another mother.' And he would say things like, 'You're my Italian mafia guy from New York.' So we had things we joked about: Aaron wasn't conservative like I am. He was more of a liberal type; he wasn't happy with the former administration. He was more happy with this administration -- as far as presidential administrations.

CNN Forgets Fort Hood

Major Nidal Hasan? Never heard him. Say he shot somebody?
Evidently many members of the news media wake up in a new world everyday. CNN anchor Carol Costello never heard of a shooting on a military base.
CAROL COSTELLO: I used to work in Washington, live in Washington. This seems so unusual to me that a gunman could create this kind of havoc at a U.S. military facility.
BRIAN TODD: Yes.
COSTELLO: Have you ever heard of it happening before, Brian?
TODD: I'm sorry, Carol. I missed that question. Could you repeat it please?
COSTELLO: I was just saying that this is so unusual, because this is such a heavily-secured military facility. I've worked in Washington for many years, I've never heard of such a thing happening.
TODD: Well, we haven't either in this area, Carol. This is the first time we've seen something like this, at least in many, many years. Now you remember the Fort Hood shooting in 2009, where that was a member of the service who was convicted eventually of doing that shooting.

And where would the country be without Luke Russert? He reported that the deceased would not be getting medical care because they were deceased. Gee, I thought it was because they didn't have health insurance.
“There’s a heavy police presence at the hospital, Andrea, There are guards stationed out front. When you walk around the facility, there’s a lot of plain-clothed metropolitan police officers making sure everyone on the grounds are supposed to be there. The doctor told us that they had reports of more deceased victims who will not receive care obviously because they were deceased.”

Predicted: Only 4 Million Will Sign Up for Obamacare

When the enrollment period ends in March we will know if Obamacare will enroll the projected 7 million Americans but estimates coming from Citigroup fall far short of that Congressional Budget Office forecast. In a survey conducted for investors in the health insurance and medical care institution Citigroup projects that only 4 million will eventually enroll in Obamacare and of that number only 2 to 3 million will have been previously uninsured. Great! Uproot the established system to insure an additional 3 million?
There is this tidbit to add from a recent Pew Poll. For all the breast beating for those who didn't have health insurance it nice to know that only a quarter of them want it.

DC Shooter had "secret" security clearance

Excuse me, but there is something here I'm not understanding. We have been told ad nauseam that background checks will keep guns out of the hands of criminals but why will not background checks keep violent criminals out of government facilities? From Yahoo News;

Aaron Alexis, the 34-year-old suspect in Monday's shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, had "secret" clearance and was assigned to start working there as a civilian contractor with a military-issued ID card, his firm's chief executive told Reuters.

Other sources have reported that Alexis had just returned from a month long visit to Thailand and that he had been busted out of the Navy after a series of misconduct issues. One assumes that discharge from the navy would have been less than honorable but in these days of heightened sensitivity toward malcontents the navy may have given him good paper just to get rid of him. Still, one takes an month long trip abroad where his activities cannot be documented and no one sees a security issue?
The issue here is not the availability of firearms but rather the availability of government access to men such as Aaron Alexis, Major Nidal Hasan, Private Bradley Manning, and Edward Snowden.

No State Dept Memorial Services on 9/11 for Benghazi Victims

On 9/11, there were of course, memorial services held at the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. So how did the State Department honor the four Americans killed in Benghazi on 9/11/ 2012? It didn't honor them, it didn't eulogize them, it ignored them. John Kerry was good enough to mention the fallen men in an“annual all-department email to commemorate the day.” That was the sum total of the department's disgraceful and "unbelievably small, limited kind of effort" to honor the dead and console their families.
About 20 staffers took part in an informal ceremony held in the lobby of State Department headquarters at a memorial plaque bearing the names of Stevens, Smith, and other foreign service officers who have lost their lives while on duty. The Department said no formal ceremony was planned because the Benghazi raid has become politicized and then proceeded to politicize it further.
“We were focused on two things as the anniversary approached: honoring those we lost, and making sure we take steps to implement the ARB’s recommendations to make our people safe so this doesn't’t happen again,” said State Department spokesman Alec Gerlach. “We wish that the House Oversight Committee were focused on the same things.”
Classy! It should come as a surprise to no one that Tyrone Wood's body was allowed remain on the airport tarmac for 3 hours.

The Lack of Common Sense Behind Carbon Taxes.

I seldom write about climate change because to do so authoritatively requires conquering a compendium of terms and acronyms. To write an advanced post requires some expertise in statistical analysis, physics, and perhaps paleoclimatolog. As most readers know Australia, under Prime Minister Julia Gillard enacted the mother of all carbon taxes. Gillard and her party have now been dumped by an outraged citizenry that felt her government thought they existed for the sole purpose of paying taxes to a feckless government.  There is this irony. If carbon taxes are high enough to be effective they will be unaffordable. If they are low enough to be affordable they will be ineffective.  Now from Australia comes the 50 to 1 project. In commonsensical prose using only only eight grade arithmetic the lecturer demonstrates the folly of preventing climate change as opposed to adapting to it as it occurs. The cost of prevention as opposed to adaptation is is a ratio of 50 to 1. Below is the introductory video. You may view all 9 of them here.

Incredibly small pin pricks come home to roost

  In political developments, this week was significant and, we hope, a harbinger of better things to come. 
  Many of us are beaten down by the press and the Leftists who despise Christians, conservatives, Republicans, white people and sometimes even children except when they're politically useful. ("Do it for the children, even though there are too many people on the planet and we consider children a nuisance." I'm not kidding. I've heard it discussed.)
  So here goes:
  1.  The whole Putin/Assad/Obama mess opened a new wound in Obama's (and ultimately America's) relationship with the world. Suddenly even Leftists are complaining about the lack of leadership skills of their beloved one, realizing the absurd philosophy of "leading from behind" has serious repercussions, exposed for the nonsense that it is. You know, like "leading from the behind."
  Between Kerry & Obama, foreign policy has become a ludicrous side show of unfurrowed Botoxed brows, solemn contradictory pronouncements about "incredibly small" bombs and "pin pricks" and I don't mean the guys running the show.
  2.  Given that hesitation to start WW3, another interesting development is the Chicago Second City troupe's hilarious video ridiculing Obama's rush to war; the video mentions that "we're broke" and need to crowdfund over a trillion dollars. This won't be any old "Republican war," the comedians explain, but one with green bombs and tanks with Prius engines. At the conclusion of the video, the comedians say "Why? Because Obama." which is in direct contrast with the cultish unbelievably committed movie star video in which participants changed over and over "O-Bam-a! O-Bam-a!"

  Do not underestimate the importance of this political statement. Why?
  Because it affects the low information voter and pop culture, something conservatives and/or Republicans really haven't been very good at doing. It also exemplifies the previous slavish "There's nothing funny about Obama" attitude Leftists have had all his charmed life is crumbling.
  This is a very significant development, as it indicates a break through in cognizance for Leftists.
  3. The unions are angry about Obamacare, suddenly awakened from the comfortable hammock Leftists have hung for them for years. Yesterday union leaders met with Obama, who's refused to offer the same exemptions that Congress has carved out for themselves.
  Given a choice, people choose not to join unions, as evidenced in Scott Walker's right-to-work campaign. Membership in unions has dropped nationwide except in a few statess and the more right-to-work bills that pass, the likelihood is that the larger unions will suffer. 
  There are many reasons unionists are angry. In DC, a liberal Democrat mayor has rejected his council's proposal of making Walmart pay an exorbitant minimum wage.
  And make no mistake, Obamacare is imploding and the union members are just now beginning to realize they're going to get screwed. This isn't really good news, except that its failure will reveal the absolute vacantness of its engineers. Exempt themselves from it but make everyone else suffer? Wow. You really couldn't be more hypocritical than that.
  And you really couldn't pick a better way to inflame the masses than to give yourself something you've taken from others.
  4. In another case of giving themselves protection but taking it away from the masses, we have the Democrat recall of two Democrat politicians who passed gun control restrictions in Colorado. GONE!
  Dems who lost are floating the delusional idea that it was "voter suppression, pure and simple" because a court would not allow mail-in ballots, as Hoosierman discussed here, because of time constraints, once again proving that Leftists seldom take the blame for anything when they mess up. 
  Blame, blame, blame appears to be SOP, as Obama so shamefully proved this week.
  5. Internationally we have the elections in Australia and Norway, if you can believe it, of conservatives. This is remarkable, considering how far down the road of liberalism these countries had become.
  6. Nobody showed up for the Muslim "million man march." Thousands and thousands showed up for the Rolling Thunder response. Booyah!
  7. The problem is that Leftists are all about judging your life and determining what YOU should do based on what THEY think is right, making sure to carve out exemptions for themselves in the more particular areas of life. 
  Of course, Leftists seldom value the same things we value, in fact they value the opposite and, dammit! they're going to change your value system through the courts, through browbeating and through your kids.
  As I predicted, Leftists are burning themselves out with their religious zeal, much of which is repulsive to the majority of people. Take California, for example.
  In recent days, they've passed laws that allow boys to go into girls' locker rooms and play on girls' teams. They've promoted "transgenderism" in schools. They passed a minimum wage of $10 an hour and passed more restrictions on guns; they've signed laws to give illegal immigrants legal drivers' licenses.
  They've overplaying their hands and they don't even realize it because they're drunk with power. 
  John Fund at NRO sums it up this way in "Liberals in Retreat":

In all three elections held in the last week — from Australia to Norway to Colorado — liberals forgot that their priorities aren’t often those of the average voter. In each case, they were punished for it.

  Here's to the punishment! I raise my glass and pray we get there without major damage. Oy!

Lame ass HHS video

  Well, here's the first in a long line of lame ass indie (not to insult indie filmmakers) videos that will be coming to a tv or computer near you.
  This video won $30,000 of our taxpayer dollars, with which the young man can pay 4 months' tuition at an ivy league school who will be eager to get him, no doubt.
  It exudes the quality of an inexperienced high school freshman's video making skills. HHS thought this was an early bird winner probably because its goal is to scare young people into buying health insurance because if that doesn't happen the whole mess that is Obamacare will go under.
  We're not invincible, the young filmmaker declares, so we need to buy insurance cuz, you know, you could trip in your yard on your cape and break your arm or something.
  Yeah. No.

Community organizer meets KGB: FAIL

  Watching Kerry & Obama this week has been like Frick and Frack at work or the bumbling alter egos of Heckel and Jeckle in action on the world stage.
  I've been wondering--as have many other Americans--if this POTUS is clueless or malevolent toward this country, its foundation and its needs.
  I decided this week that we have the answer to that question.
  He's both.
  Two POTUSes in one! You can kind of comfort yourself if you believe he's just clueless as he's appeared this week, not so much if you think he's intentionally trying to cut America down to whatever size he deems appropriate. In fact, it's not unusual for Leftists like Obama to complain that this country is too powerful, that more countries should have the kind of power America has.
  Thus we have the unbelievably impotent and biased "United" Nations, an entity this country pays to support.
  The ultimate irony is that in his NY Times piece Putin disparages American exceptionalism to a scandalous American president who does not himself believe in it. That had to hurt, considering that, if Obama could have spoken these words which have caused such a kerfuffle out loud himself, undoubtedly he would have.

It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.

  Because, of course, Russia has been the country who's been there first when a tsunami occurs. Of course, Russia has given billions to alleviate the scourge of AIDS in Africa. And everyone knows that Russians are driven by the desire to be free since its founding.
  Heck, Russia's biggest problem is alcoholism, eh, what? Now there's exceptionalism.
  Even Leftists can't deny that Obama's confused, inept "policy" toward foreign affairs exploded this week. 
  So in honor of Obama & Kerry's utterly banal & insipid performances this week, I raise a glass and a cartoon. Here's an old Heckle & Jeckle carton called "House Busters" which seems somehow appropriate.
 

Let's Call it the Rocky Mountain Rebellion

As late as Sunday the Colorado GOP deemed the recall elections futile. Yes, the NRA did kick in $350 thousand but recall proponents were outspent 6 to 1 as Mayor Bloomberg's slush fund, Mayors Against Illegal Gun and other gun control groups poured $3.2 million into the race. When all was said and two Democratic Senators were fired, turned out through the work of three people with no political experience. This should be a shot across the bow of all elected official who refuse to listen to the voters. As Charles C. W. Cooke at NRO put it.
The new gun laws, locals in both Colorado Springs and Pueblo told me repeatedly, were “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Their more fundamental message: “Listen to me, goddamnit!”
Senate President John Morse was a case study in democratically elected despotism. He antagonized not only gun owners but also the legalize-marijuana movement, rural Coloradans, independent taxpayers, and women’s advocacy groups. He engineered the hearings for the anti gun legislation so the opposition was barely able to be heard. As a good Democrat he indulged in ad hominem attacks against the recall organizers calling one, Victor Head, "an unemployed plumber" ( Head and his brother operate a plumbing business) That produced this morning after tweet.

'And I have a message for John Morse ... Who's unemployed now?' -- Victor Head, Pueblo Freedom & Rights. #PuebloRecall #COpolitics
— Nick Bonham (@NickBonham1) September 11, 2013

Angela Giron refused to talk to the opposition. At two townhalls she would not answer questions on the subject of gun control. Eventually she relented and at a third townhall thousands crowed into a library to shout their opposition to no avail.
Rather than reflecting on their mistakes in well earned humility the defeated duo took to the airways with their new found grievance, voter suppression.
"This was voter suppression, pure and simple," moaned pure and simple DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
 Oh yes, court ordered voter suppression; there's a lot of that going around. After the recall petitions were certified an election date was set but election officials complained there was insufficient time to mail out ballots. The question was eventually resolved in court and there were no mail in ballots. Rather than admit that their people were to lazy to go vote Morse pled his case on sympathetic MSNBC while Giron went on CNN where she ran into a professional anchor, Brooke Baldwin who was in a no nonsense mood.
“Forgive me, but I’m going to cut you off right there,” Baldwin said to Angela Giron as she began to cite the issue. She then tried to steer Giron back to the salient issue, gun control. Worse yet she pointed out Giron's huge cash advantage she seems to have fumbled away.

Take heed politicians, this could happen to anybody. Even you.

Sharpton's latest shakedown

  I have a relative whose lower lip is in perpetual pout mode. Why did life treat me this way. I got screwed. I want more. Why is everyone against me. Give me something free.
  This, to me, describes the perpetual grievancemonger Al Sharpton, who is a regular visitor and advisor at the White House. (Yes, THAT Al Sharpton who has a habit of trumping up false claims against people and who incites riots.)
 Now, it appears, Sharpton (a reverend since he was 9 years old), no stranger to controversy or loan sharks, is after Apple, a globally successful American company.
  Sharpton of the bouffant hairdo wants more Apple appeals to black people and more influence with Apple, as if black people are not one with the American people.
  Some sports dork who interviewed racist Sharpton wants more Facebook & Twitter ads to black people:

 They have no African-American directors in the company. They do little to no spending in African-American media.

   Um,  yeah. No. 
  The "free" market shouldn't work that way, although that's undoubtedly what old Al wants to interrupt. He doesn't like "free" markets unless it means something "free" for old Al, who makes his living accepting free clothes, free membership to exclusive clubs, free money and free kickbacks, "free" being a relative term to Sharpton.
  See, the way this works, Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson will approach a company, complaining loudly that said company doesn't acknowledge/employ/give back anything to the black community.
  Then when the company, whose deep pockets would rather avoid a lawsuit than bad PR, caves to the likes of Sharpton, who claims something about "them Greek homos" and that "white folks was in caves when we was building empires," he moves in for the dollar kill.
  Thus Sharpton has acquired over 50 companies' blessings to his wardrobe and family legacy. How does he "juggle" it all? NPR sympathetically explains.
  It seems like whenever Sharpton needs more cash, all he does is pick a company, go complain to it and wait for the cash to roll in.
  Next, Apple.
  Sharpton complains that, though blacks "spend a lot of money on Apple," Apple gives not back to  Al Sharpton's family estate black people in general (or, as Sharpton puts it so eloquently says, "we buying up all this Apple stuff") . So Newsbusters maliciously reports the truth:

SHARPTON: There are no blacks on 30 percent of the Fortune 500 companies' board of directors. Apple, where we spend a lot of money on Apple, they have a new iPhone coming out today, no blacks in board of Apple. We buying up all this Apple stuff and can't get a bite. ... Now today the iPhone comes out. That is of course produced by Apple and Apple is one of those companies, I mean, we do a tremendous amount of business in our community with Apple, yet we're not on their boards and there is no evidence they do a lot of advertising or a lot of contracting in our community, is that correct?

  So expect your iPhone to go up in price, if only .40 apiece for, after all, what's .40 to you when it goes to fattening the "Reverend" Al Sharpton's family estate?
  And that, my friends, is the way all presidential advisors should make a living. 

Mike Pence for president?

Mike Pence for president? He would certainly get my vote. The Daily Caller is touting Indiana Governor Mike Pence as a 2016 presidential dark horse. I can find no evidence that Pence harbors such an ambition but it's a pleasant thought. Truthfully, Pence hasn't been in the Governor's Mansion long enough to judge his performance there. His congressional career is stellar from my conservative point view but Governor Mitch Daniels did not leave many challenges for his successor.
Daniels had a nerdy love for government. He would tinker with policy as if he were adjusting a carburetor. Just a little more performance, just a little smoother idle. He enjoyed governing and was a very able governor but I would wince when the Weekly Standard crowd suggested him as the Republican Party's nominee. He is the inverse of Obama. Obama loves campaigning and hates governing. Daniels loved governing but he has as much charisma as a fence post. He could give three speeches in an afternoon without notes and never repeat himself but he was all about information not inspiration.
Pence is personable. Much more so than Scott Walker and he is much more conservative than Chris Christie but both of those men inherited a mess. Daniels didn't leave messes so Pence's first term is apt to be short on drama but that would be a welcome change. If he decides to run I'm sure he would be in the top tier.

The Republican Party Trends Libertarian

Just three month ago no one outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan had ever heard of Justin Amash. Today because the second term congressman stood and narrowly lost on principle his name is well known in Republican and more especially Tea Party circles. His attempt to limited the NSA’s ability to gather telephone metadata on Americans has established his maverick, Tea Party, libertarian bona fides. Amash appears to be on the crest of a wave of libertarianism that may well wash away many entrenched careers.
The recall of the two Colorado senators should have rumbled like a sonic boom in the ears of establishment politicians of both parties. With no help from the national Republican Party and scant support from local Republicans, local gun rights activists made history. In its 137 years Colorado had never recalled a state senator. Tuesday it recalled two. No one can fault the tactics of the pro gun rights movement. It was awesome but perhaps it is very much in line with the mood of the country. When Colorado voted to legalize the sale of marijuana that should have sent the signal to legislators that the population was in favor of more individual freedom, not less. Not only did the voters react but 54 of the state's 64 sheriffs condemned the new gun restrictions.
Maybe owing to the IRS scandal and the revelation that the NSA was spying on Americans a surge of anti government libertarianism is sweeping the country. The Tea Party which has always had a libertarian streak is becoming more so. A poll by FreedomWorks shows some remarkable traits in the Republican Party. The survey of all registered voters, which was conducted last month, found that a full 78 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning voters self-identify as being fiscally conservative and socially moderate.
Kellyanne Conway who conducted the poll said there is a massive increase in the number of Americans who see government as being too large and too oppressive. “The perfect storm is being created between the NSA, the IRS, the implementation of Obamacare and now Syria,” Conway said. “People are looking at the government more suspiciously. They’re looking with deeper scrutiny and reasonable suspicion.”
Hint: It isn't a good time to champion more anti-gun legislation.
Furthermore two thirds of Republican leaning respondents are not into compromise. They expect elected officials to keep their words and stand on principles. It isn't a good time to preach "electability" either. Been there and done that with Romney. Fifty-five percent of GOP survey respondents said they are more likely to vote for someone who has “stronger principles” and 34 percent said they would rather choose “a candidate who has more political experience and party leaders say is more likely to win.”
Put into this context the Colorado recalls seem almost like the expected outcome but they exceeded everyone's expectations. There is a kerfuffle over PPP (Public Policy Polling) and the poll it had done showing Senator Angela Giron losing by 12 points in a heavily Democratic district. PPP did not release its finding until after election causing many on the right to accuse PPP of partisanship. Of course PPP is partisan ; it works only for Democrats but it seems logical to me that PPP didn't believe its own polling and didn't want to look foolish. Giron lost 56 to 44-just as PPP's polling had predicted.
Email blasts urging the House to defund Obamacare have almost crashed its servers yet Boehner and Cantor remain stubbornly opposed to the tactic. A new CNN poll shows support for Obamacare to has dropped below 40% yet there is no courage in the House leadership. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans oppose any intervention in Syria yet Boehner and Cantor support it. A year has passed since the deaths of 4 Americans in Benghazi yet Boehner refuses to create a select committee to investigate why they were abandoned. Where are the strong principles?
As dismal as Republican leadership is much of the party seem quite connected to the new libertarian leaning electorate. The recent recalls should send the message to RINO's and Democrats alike that safe seats may be hard to find in 2014. Below is the FreedomWorks poll.

Fw Polling Report Digital Proof Final Copy

Million Muslim March Draws 25

From NBC News;

About 25 people -- including activist Cornel West -- were at the march as of 12:30 p.m., Segraves reported.

Organizers from the American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) say they are "patriotic Muslims" who are demanding new laws to protect their First Amendment rights.

Approximately 20 protesters are also at the scene, Segraves said. It is not yet clear whether they are from a specific church or organization.

The rally included prayers, speeches and a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Video: Rolling Thunder Nears DC

Here they come! As one spectator says "as far as the eye can see". Notice the horn salutes from the Virginia state troopers

Update: The million Muslim march has been downgraded to"the hundreds of Muslims march".
According to the Weekly Standard, a memo sent to tenants of a downtown D.C. office building in anticipation of the rally, since renamed the "Million Americans Against Fear," said to expect "somewhere in the hundreds, not thousands, of participants," according to police estimates. The participants are set to begin marching at noon.

Update: A second video.


A third video.

Rand Paul's Rebuttal Speech

Rand Paul gave a rebuttal to President Obama's speech. I don't think it was the official Republican response. It was aired on Fox News but most are going to have to watch it on YouTube. That is a pity. It would be interesting to see how many Americans prefer Paul's message to Obama's.

"The question must be asked: would a U.S. bombing campaign make it more or less likely that [Syrian President Bashar] Assad loses control of the chemical weapons?" Paul said.
"Would a U.S. bombing campaign make it more or less likely that Assad attacks Israel with chemical weapons? Would a bombing campaign make it more or less likely that refugees stream into Jordan?" Paul said. "Would a bombing campaign in Syria make the region more or less stable?"
"Just about any bad outcome you can imagine is made more likely by U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war."

Colorado Recall Works,Morse Concedes

What a follow up to a tedious presidential speech. Colorado Senate President John Morse has conceded.

Colorado Sen. John Morse delivered his concession speech in Colorado Springs on Tuesday night, ending a historic recall election saw the one-time state Senate president lose his seat just months after leading the effort to enact stricter state gun laws.
With about 86 percent of returns counted in the historic recall election of Democratic Senate President John Morse show 52 percent have voted "yes" and 48 percent "no."
The new results as of 9 p.m. are not good for Morse as about 2,500 votes still need to be counted — a margin that leaves him little room for error.

Read more.
 

Update on Rolling Thunder

  A small group of local patriots waited for a contingent of Rolling Thunder to roll through Maumee toward D.C.

 

  We waited quite a while to catch a glimpse; what was most remarkable to me were the many honks we received as these folks waved their signs and flags. (That yellow one is quite identifiable these days and I have to say I had one hanging from my porch before September 11, 2001. Now the first Navy Jack hangs there. Well, not the FIRST one, but the first one. I'm not THAT old.)
  Most of the honks came from truckers; in fact, it seemed to me that most of the truckers who passed us gave a shout out but maybe I'm too optimistic.

  You'll be rockin' to know that the DC police have agreed to help the Rolling Thunder out even though the Park Police (Obama admin?) denied them a permit.

  It's been verified that at least 800,000 bikers are blowing through for tomorrow, 9/11.

  From TammyPBOL over at Twitter:

   You can follow the updates over at Twitter, where pictures are being posted hourly:

These Republicans make me sick

I make no secret that I support Senator Mitch McConnell against faux Tea Party candidate Matt Bevin. I am not now nor have I ever been a fan of Mitch McConnell but I distrust his challenger. Up until today it would be fair to describe McConnell as a conventional politician but today McConnell is unique. He is the only leader of either party who has not flipped off the American people. I admit that this is pragmatism over principle but the result is the same and at some later date expect his supporters to trumpet the fact that when Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor tried to pull the country into another no win middle eastern war McConnell alone dissented. It is not the McConnell is so great; the other actors are so small. I'll let the Democrats deal with Obama and Pelosi and Reid. This is the first time in my memory both parties have lined up against the voters and some in Washington are going to pay dearly for that offense.
One can partially excuse Pelosi and Reid for their chauvinism and that is what it is. Nicolas Chauvin was a French soldier, maybe more fictional than real, wounded 17 times in the Napoleonic wars and known for his extreme loyalty to Napoleon. It would be an understatement to say that Pelosi and Reid follow Obama blindly. John Boehner and Eric Cantor were among the first of either party to announce their support of Obama's military strike on Syria. They did so without consulting members of their own party who overwhelming oppose Syrian intervention. Rumor has it Boehner finds he needs to spend more time at home and will step down in 2014. Cantor will not be the next Speaker. He won't even be the next majority leader. When the leadership of a party stands for nothing what does that say about the party? It says the national Republican Party does not give a damn what the voters think. It's loyalty is not to country and not to principle. It's not even loyalty. It's lust, lust for power and lust for office and you, dear voter, can go to hell.
Just to drive that point home, on the eve of the Benghazi attack Jeb Bush presented to Hillary Clinton the 2013 Liberty Medal, saying it’s part of a shared interest in the “importance of civic engagement.” Really! What about the moral and legal engagements one is supposed to exercise when one holds a position of public trust? The public be damned! Neither Bush nor Clinton can see the irony here? Four people are killed and they pin a medal on the person responsible on the first anniversary of the event. The word for that used to be sacrilege.
Both political parties have done themselves grave and maybe lasting harm. The trouble is when both parties do it they can usually get away with it but that won't translate in to a get out of jail free card for all come the 2014 elections. One possible victim may be the very noticeable and obnoxious Senator Lindsey Graham. He received just 42 percent of support from likely South Carolina GOP voters in an August 25 poll of 500 likely GOP voters conducted by Landmark Communications. He faces three challengers but should he not reach 50% in the primary he will face a run off with the second place finisher, currently state Senator Lee Bright. The future is Bright?

Let's help kickstart World War III!!

  From Second City, here's my reaction to Obama, prepared to give an order tonight, tomorrow or next month to bomb the children of Syria, who presented his case to the American people tonight.
  Because Obama!

Rolling Thunder, TODAY 4:30 in Maumee, Ohio-BE THERE

  Today at Maumee's Rolf Park at 4:30, we will be lining the streets with signs and flags as the Rolling Thunder goes through on their way to DC to honor victims of 9/11 and veterans.

This is a sign wave to support the bikers coming through Toledo on 9/9 on their way to DC. We will meet at 4:30 and should be done no later that 5:30 We need Patriotic signs and flags! Great idea for teaching kids some history while showing your support! We will line the fence at Rolf Park.

  Here's the local Facebook link. Here's the national link.
  But drama from DC as AGAIN this administration tries to stop American citizens from marching on Washington. Rolling Thunder, however, is going anyway for 9/11. You will remember that the hate group "Million Muslim March" is also on 9/11.

Washington DC has DENIED our permit for a no-stop ride through Washington DC. We find this regretful for the residents and businesses of that great city, and humbly offer our apologies. What could have been a one or two hour ride through will now likely be an all day event. We will be obeying all laws.

We will be stopping at all stoplights, stop signs, and yielding to all pedestrians.
RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES OF WASHINGTON DC: On behalf of the National “2 Million Bikers to DC” Team, please accept our sincere apologies. We did the right thing and went through the proper channels to secure a no-stop permit to ride through your great city.

We wanted to ride an established route, which would have taken us past the Viet Nam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial, across the bridge into Virginia, and that’s it! We would have been completely out of Washington DC, and your city would have been back to normal.
The National Team fully expected our permit to be rejected, and have already drafted a Plan-B.

  So be part of the controversy! 
  DC DENIED these people, many of whom are veterans, DENIED a permit to roll through DC, the people's town. 
  Support them as they decide to carry on with their plans anyway!

  What's funny is that the Rolling Thunder crowd was out of cash so they posted on Facebook a need for $1000, which they reached within 5 minutes. The donations rapidly reached $15000 at which time they said this:

FOLKS WE TURNED OFF THE DONATIONS PAGE. IN LESS THAN 12 HOURS YOU DONATED $15,410.00! WOOO HOOO! GOD BLESS YOU EACH AND EVERYONE...AND FOR THOSE WHO COULDN'T AFFORD "A PRAYER FOR A PEACEFUL AND SAFE RIDE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GOLD" THANK YOU

WE ARE AWARE MANY WANTED US TO KEEP IT UP. BUT WE HAVE TO BE HONEST, YOUR GENEROSITY HAS BEEN MIND BLOWING! WE ARE IN AWE OF ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR THIS EVENT. BUT, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT REALITY. WE ARE NOT GREEDY AND WANT TO BE ABLE TO DONATE TO 2 OTHER INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE SURVIVORS OF THIS HORRIFIC EVENT. WITH THE FUNDS "YOU" SO GENEROUSLY DONATED WE THINK WE CAN DO THAT AND ADD TO NEXT YEARS EVENT!

**PLEASE REMEMBER THOSE FUNDS TAKE 2-3 DAYS TO PROCESS AFTER GOFUNDME TAKES THEIR PERCENT. YES, WE WILL HAVE AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF ALL WHO DONATED AND THE AMOUNT**

(I HOPE EVERYONE RECEIVED OUR PERSONAL THANK YOU EMAIL)

GOD BLESS YOU EACH AND EVERYONE AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!

  God bless America and BE THERE!  
  UPDATE: See update HERE.