Sometimes laughter is the best medicine. So before the month is over, I just had to post this small collection of hilarity that ensued in August with some of our most ridiculous libs. Enjoy!
Al Gore unhinged...it's just always funny, especially with ManBearPig in the background!
I wrote a piece at the beginning of the week exploring this rule by executive fiat mentality that’s running rampant throughout the Obama Administration. Well, light appears to be shedding on both the Gibson raid and today’s AT&T/T-Mobile blocked merger, and what we’ve witnessed is nothing short of a blatant misuse of the Department of Justice for personal backscratching and over-the-line meddling in private business affairs.
Landmark Report, via Breitbart's Big Government, reveals the true nature of the harassment and punishment being inflicted on Gibson:
One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of elections (though, to be fair, he did donate a whopping $750 to Republican Congressmen in the 90s.) According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars.
When you aren’t a donor, supporter or subsidiary of the Obama Administration, yet you’re an American staple, you will nonetheless be targeted.
In the case of the DOJ suit against the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, RedState has uncovered a tale of two men with connections to Obama, a donor and a former transition team member, who are tied to Sprint/Clearwire and simply don’t want their biggest competitor to compete against them. Enter Big Government:
The time has now come for Clearwire’s 4G competition to be expanded further, as AT&T seeks to get ahold of T-Mobile’s spectrum, to allow it to roll out 4G wireless to over 95% of Americans. So naturally, the Obama DoJ is seeking to stop that from happening.
Yes, it’s really this simple. Private industry, if you’re not willing to genuflect to the Statist-in-Chief and his new government model, reminiscent of some past planks, WATCH OUT!
When observing today’s latest jobs destruction report from the DOJ’s suit filed against the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, costing 5000 pledged jobs, we’re inclined to look at all the other aspects of Big Government’s hand in the free market cookie jar. And one such crumbling area is Green Jobs, particularly the unemployment they're raking in. Check out this glowing track record:
• EPV Solar Inc. – New Jersey – “A cloud has passed over the local renewable energy industry as a township-based solar manufacturing concern, once trumpeted as a leader in green technology, has been forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.” – 3/13/10 • Evergreen Solar Inc. – Massachusetts – “The Chapter 11 filing by a company once seen at the forefront of U.S. renewable energy technology came after a two-year struggle to stave off competition from Asia. The increasingly crowded market forced Evergreen to close its much-touted but short-lived Massachusetts factory and relocate manufacturing to China, and resulted in the virtual disappearance of its once-lofty stock market value.” – 8/15/11 • SpectraWatt – New York – “Solar-manufacturing hopeful SpectraWatt has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming operational problems and difficult market conditions. It's the second U.S.-based solar company to file for bankruptcy this month.” – 8/24/11 • Solyndra – California – “Solyndra, a renewable energy firm that became the darling of the Obama Administration, shut the doors to its California headquarters today, raising fresh questions from the administration's critics about political favoritism in the federal loan program.” – 8/31/11
$535 million of taxpayer revenue wasted and 1,000 full-time jobs lost in that last failure. While this administration is still funding their eco-experiments, they continue to lose jobs, waste exorbitant amounts of money and simultaneously obstruct our proven energy sources through moratoriums and regulatory red tape (thus losing even more jobs).
UPDATE:FBI raids Solyndra on the morning of Sept. 8th...oops! I don't recall hearing about that stimulating company in Obama's jobs speech...
Commenting on the latest Congressional Black Caucus race-baiting rhetoric, particularly that of Andre Carson, Levin had this to say about the vile and hateful speech:
Now, I’m not gonna do a throwaway line here where they talked about civility and where’s Obama. This is SICK, and I’m gonna tell you something: IT’S DANGEROUS. This kind of talk is intended to incite violence…tea party members of Congress want to see blacks hanging from a tree? I almost don’t know what to say; do you know what to say? And then when you add in Maxine Waters the other day, ‘the tea party can go to Hell, and she’s gonna help them go to Hell.’ This is a concerted campaign to create volatility, instability, and I believe they’re leading it up to the election.
The race card is going to be used by the politicians, which means We the People of all races, all creeds, all ethnicities, and yes, all parties and philosophies, we have to make sure that these politicians, like Andre Carson, do not succeed in what it is they are trying to do. We should have passionate disagreements…we can be outspoken…but to say that somebody wants somebody to hang from a tree?
Wow, I really thought that the Ulsterman and White House Insider stuff was mostly elaborations, in essence, storytelling…but this rhetoric, without any word from the Democrat leadership or Obama, seems to be shaping up in that dangerous direction!
I know Lt. Col. Allen West joined the CBC in an attempt to bring a conservative consensus to its membership, but somehow I don’t think they’re interested, considering the violent rhetoric they’ve initiated. Perhaps at this point, it may be beneficial for the freshman congressman to either step away from this caucus, or engage Carson’s most despicable statements, particularly considering his connections…
UPDATE: Now we're reminded that CBC membership is reserved for LIBERAL blacks only...
The Hill reports, "West’s membership in the CBC has been a point of some controversy. In October, the caucus’s chairwoman, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), questioned whether West should be allowed to join the CBC." Now, due to the incendiary remarks of Carson, and I'm sure the overall treatment, Rep. Allen West is considering leaving the Black Caucus, saying, "When you start using words such as lynching … that’s a reprehensible word and I think we should move away from that language," and "One of the things I’m starting to think about is reconsidering my membership in the Congressional Black Caucus, because I don’t think they’re moving in the right manner toward solving the problems in not just the black community, but all of America."
The CBC has been pushing Lt. Col. West towards the other door since he's been there. Complete and utter hypocrisy. King would weep.
Onyango was pulled over last week after he nearly collided with an unmarked police Mitsubishi SUV patrol car near a fried chicken shop in the Boston suburb of Framingham while allegedly over the legal limit.
That’s not the only thing that was over the legal limit. Apparently, like Auntie Zeituni, the President’s ‘Uncle Omar’ is an illegal alien, and has been here for quite sometime, long enough in fact, as Irish Central points out, to have somehow obtained enough valid credentials to become a registered U.S. voter!
The first surprise for many was the fact that President Obama had a second illegal alien relative living in the United States. We previously learned about his Auntie Zeituni Onyango, who made headlines when it was revealed she was an illegal immigrant living in South Boston public housing. She has since been granted asylum by the State Department and it is assumed, still living in public housing.
But probably the most disturbing fact is that Uncle Onyango, had a valid Massachusetts drivers license and a social security card in his possession. How in the world do you get these documents when you are not an American citizen and you are here illegally?
Many are now wondering how easy or difficult is it for an "undocumented" alien, someone who is in our country illegally, to obtain these valuable documents?
But another realization is dawning on many: That if you can obtain these documents, then it must be very easy to obtain a voter registration card and vote. Lots of voter law requirements have been watered down over the years, some states don't even require I.D to vote. So a most troubling question for many: Is Uncle Onyango registered to vote in Massachusetts/US and has he voted in our elections?
Besides Obama’s incessant need to divide-and-pander towards any likely voter group, including the Democrat’s heavily courted Hispanic bloc, this sheds light on the President’s global citizen perspective, bringing new meaning to , ‘It’s all in the family!’
And once again, Levin speaks frankly on the illegal alien subject and delves deeper into a troubling Balkanizing bureaucracy…
(Here's a link to that CNSNews report that Levin referenced)
ADDENDUM: Here's a thought for a southern border solution. If the Obama Administration seems intent on encouraging the ousting of dictators throughout the Middle East, why don't we switch gears on that potential disaster and assist the Mexican People in cleaning up their corrupt government, as well as alleviating the cartel problem (the radical element that's being unaccounted for overseas), so there would no longer be a need to cross into our country illegally? But what do I know, that'd involve real diplomacy and action.
Tuesday afternoon, Sean Hannity received his shot at asking some pertinent questions to presidential hopeful Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Check it out (oh, and a long deserved hattip to 'MrTimotheus'!):
By the way, Perry is right not to mince words, however much it may perturb the establishment types. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history IS almost treasonous! And he's not the first, nor will he be the last, to call Social Security what it has been from inception: a Ponzi scheme; as well as a monstrous lie for younger Americans today. No amount of liberals playing the crazy card will help Obama against an imploding economy and a collapsing welfare state.
Picking up on Morrissey’s piece in the previous post concerning the plethora of liberal media attacks on presidential contenders that don’t end with the name ‘Obama’, another aspect of bias is playing into the usual media games: religion, specifically Christianity and the media’s ignorance on the subject. Erick Erickson of RedState writes:
…instead of lecturing candidates on how the candidates should shut up about religion, it is really obvious the American political press should shut the hell up when it comes to issues of heaven and, well, hell.
Ed Morrissey noted at Hot Air that the media really is ignorant about religion. More specifically, the media is ignorant about Christianity. Even supposedly professing Christians in the media are ignorant about Christianity, the religion a majority of Americans profess to believe in.
Both Morrissey and Erickson point out how supposed top-tier editorialists err on the fundamentals when it comes to writing about Republican presidential candidates' faith, and are quick to jump to conclusions based on their own biases either against the candidates themselves or against the very religious beliefs they’re attempting to write about. It is with these skewed perspectives that such writers then assemble attacks on Christianity, as opposed to their rather benign treatment of say Islam, or any of the individuals of Christian faith who would dare challenge Barack Obama for the presidency. Case in point, Morrissey ponders:
Perhaps they are as ignorant about Islam as they are about Christianity. However, if they want to start asking questions about religion of presidential candidates, how about starting with Barack Obama and his 20-year affiliation with Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ? Wright took a lot of political stands that the media roundly ignored in the 2008 election, including his sermon that the US deserved the 9/11 attacks as “chickens coming home to roost,” supports Hamas, and infamously declared, “God damn the United States.” Maybe someone can ask about the TUCC’s adopted “value system” that insists that the US sends black men to “concentration camps.” Does Obama believe that? We don’t know, because Keller and his ilk didn’t bother to ask questions about Obama’s religion in 2008.
These people are no more religious scholars or experts than the next man on the street, but it’s evident that this is yet another method that they’d exploit in an attempt to sway voters away from any alternative, Republican, or press forbid, conservative, to their sacred, or rather invested, Obama presidency. And Erickson concludes his piece with the following:
These examples are, at best, deeply, deeply ignorant of Christianity and have taken atheist formed stereotypes of Christianity and treated them as mainstream depictions of evangelicals. These are complex questions for which even within Christianity there is no settled answer. Labeling the whole of the Christians who actually believe their scripture as some group of fringe nuts is rather vile and we could never expect reporters and editorialists to do the same of other mainstream religions.
In fact, were any Christian to raise similar points about Islam, the media would immediately call them bigots — dare I say despite the Christians having a more thorough understanding of Islam than the same members of press willfully bashing Christians and painting Christians as bigots if they engage in discussions on Islam.
What’s sad is the American press corp at the national level is largely devoid of practicing Christians and these largely secular, if not out and out atheist, reporters are attempting to write about and cover a religion most Americans profess to believe in and they write about it with either ignorance or outright contempt.
It’s not the politicians who should stop talking about religion. It is the American press corps who should shut up.
Interestingly, both men reference a passage from Rick Perry’s book Fed Up!:
Let’s be clear: I don’t believe government, which taxes people regardless of their faith, should espouse a specific faith. I also don’t think we should allow a small minority of atheists to sanitize our civil dialogue on religious references.
…on the attack towards Republican presidential contenders, that is. By now, you’ve heard about or read the latest hit piece (via Politico) on Rick Perry, who happens to be the GOP presidential frontrunner according to the fourth poll conducted in the past two weeks. If there’s one thing to remember about the liberal media during this and every presidential election cycle, it’s what Ed Morrissey at HotAirwrites:
It’s like clockwork. As soon as a Republican primary season starts to heat up, the national media likes to uncase its three narratives about presidential contenders. They’re either weird (Romney), scary (Bachmann), or idiots. Guess who gets the idiot treatment?
Notice that these memes never get applied on the other side of the aisle, either. Did any media question Obama’s intelligence when during the campaign when he made these whoppers?
No, they didn’t. Why? Because the media only uses the weird, scary, and idiot memes for Republican candidates, that’s why.
Precisely, Ed. And how about this latest gem: the fact that Obama has pledged to unveil a jobs plan in September, just as he pledged to do last August...deja vu?
Nope, we get the ‘nothing to see here, move along’ lines from the liberal media. Geniuses.
What does one do when federal bureaucracies are out of control?
To address this issue is nothing new, particular with this most radical administration. It’s a sad commentary that the norm has become some ridiculous intrusion of private industry or obfuscation of the law by the many executive departments. We’re used to hearing the common occurrences of one EPA regulation after another chipping away at our country’s economic prosperity. In fact, the latest target of the EPA’s regulatory zeal is the U.S. coal industry (guess it's time to move past the air regulations and oil & gas moratoriums). However, I would like to address the latest among some of the other branches that are equally damaging towards both our economic viability and liberty itself.
Probably the newest story out there is the Gibson raids in Tennessee last week. This is a perfect example of out-of-control federal bureaucracies that raid and confiscate without the benefit of due process. As the Gateway Pundit reported:
It’s an Obama world…The Holder Justice Department raided Gibson Guitar facilities in Nashville and Memphis this week because the company is using unfinished wood from India and this violates Indian law… Not American law. Unreal.
Illegal aliens are pouring over our border, the Obama Administration circumvents existing law towards illegal entry, and our own government is even involved in a cover-up of illegal arms sales to the Mexican cartels, but who do our executive bureaucracies go after? That’s right…GIBSON GUITARS…wait, what?!
It should also be pointed out that these raids were executed as a coordinated effort between up to 3 different executive departments: the Dept. of the Interior (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and the Dept. of Homeland Security (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) at the bequest of the DOJ. Seriously, who’s got hard wood now?!
Gibson’s CEO Henry Juszkiewicz made a statement on Thursday to set the record straight:
And here’s a clearer one-on-one interview with Mr. Juszkiewicz (IMHO, this one’s the more compelling):
The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.
Gibson went on to reveal the astonishing details of the first raid that took place two years prior:
In 2009, more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons invaded the Gibson factory in Nashville. The Government seized guitars and a substantial amount of ebony fingerboard blanks from Madagascar. To date, 1 year and 9 months later, criminal charges have NOT been filed, yet the Government still holds Gibson’s property. Gibson has obtained sworn statements and documents from the Madagascar government and these materials, which have been filed in federal court, show that the wood seized in 2009 was legally exported under Madagascar law and that no law has been violated. Gibson is attempting to have its property returned in a civil proceeding that is pending in federal court.
As RedState points out, apparently the DOJ believe they’re complying with the Lacey Act, specifically, this provision:
Anyone who imports into the United States, or exports out of the United States, illegally harvested plants or products made from illegally harvested plants, including timber, as well as anyone who exports, transports, sells, receives, acquires or purchases such products in the United States, may be prosecuted. In any prosecution under the Lacey Act, the burden of proof of a violation rests on the government.
The RedState piece concluded, it’s hard to believe the government would become so territorial with an American business that remains in compliance with a self-regulatory agency like the Forest Stewardship Council, which is an industry-recognized and independent, not-for-profit organization established to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. However, a Human Events article makes the case for the proverbial ‘why?’ (with a hint of sarcasm):
I can’t imagine why we have stagnant GDP growth and chronic high unemployment! The Obama Administration is actively at war with every business they don’t choose to subsidize.
And several of the commenters to the above videos (certainly, conservative Gibson fans) expressed this same sentiment. One commenter wrote, “Textbook example of the on-going destruction of U.S. manufacturing by the Federal government. Regulations like this have forced millions of our jobs overseas. Gibson USA is a national treasure and one of the last major USA guitar companies that does the majority of it's manufacturing in the USA.” Another wrote, “The Obama administration is suing Boeing to force them to move production from a new $750,000,000 plant in a non-union state back to a union factory in Seattle. Gibson is non-union. The Obama administration advocates policies that take from companies they don't like to give to the ones they do. The Obama administration adopted a policy of not conducting workplace raids related to immigration enforcement. Not a history that points to him being hands-off and laissez-faire.” Folks are definitely getting it out there!
So reflecting on the original question of what one does when federal bureaucracies are out of control, and looking in great detail at the above example of the heavy-handed bureaucratic action taken without the benefit of due process, why don’t we take a quick look at how these bureaucracies have scantily acted on a couple of more dire issues: Operation Fast & Furious and De Facto Amnesty.
In the case of Operation Fast & Furious, which perfectly illustrates the lack of bureaucratic accountability or the prosecution thereof, it’s been discovered that many more of these guns that were allowed to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico have been connected to at least 11 U.S. crime scenes, with other smaller cases possibly growing from the bigger ATF scandal. And while getting pertinent information out of Holder and top brass is like pulling teeth, the ATF recently decided to promote three of the supervisors who were intimately involved in devising the failed operation that’s resulted in many casualties on either side of the border, including one U.S. border patrol agent! And as if that weren’t enough, we’ve got sympathetic liberal media outlets, like the New York Slimes (hat-tip, Levin), practically libeling House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darrell Issa for forging ahead in investigating this most serious matter, while reporting virtually nothing on the Fast & Furious scandal that should take center stage. A HotAir piece pegs the establishment media perfectly:
Given Big Media’s twin failures on the Great Recession and the debt bomb, perhaps it should be obvious that the NYT would be more interested in smearing Issa than covering Operation Fast & Furious. However, much of the history of the 21st Century is shaping up to be about the institutional failures of 20th Century progressivism — so-called Keynesian economics, the over-promising Ponzi schemes of the welfare state, and so on. In this sense, the decrepitude of establishment journalism is not simply another feature of the weather report, but part of a larger, more important story — a scandal establishment journalism inherently won’t cover.
It’s past time for answers on that scandal, but let’s quickly touch on another, one that exemplifies in its most simplest of terms of directly thwarting the Rule of Law.
Since last year we heard about the circulation of secret memos addressed to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, detailing strategies for the Obama Administration to simply avoid the deportation of illegal aliens, not through legislative means, but by executive fiat. And that de facto amnesty is just what the Dept. of Homeland Security served up with its recent announcement that many illegals who were facing deportation will be allowed to stay in the country and apply for work permits under DHS’s ‘new rules’. Repeating an American Thinkerpiece, “Ed Lasky puts it this way: "Obama decides what laws to enforce and what laws to ignore--and our jobless rate is sky-high."” And as Weasel Zippers make the case, “Could it be because he’s facing a brutal reelection effort and needs every vote he can muster?” Yes it could.
So, finally, I return to my original question, the same that Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz asks about his case, what does one do when federal bureaucracies are out of control?
Besides spreading the word, whether through the media we have or alternative outlets, and speaking out by continuing to expose these governmental power grabs through activism, our only finite course of action besides the ability to persuade Americans against statism, lies in exercising the privilege to vote; and in this case, that vote lies solely with the office that has the ability to install, rein in, or potentially dismantle, these regulators. ADDENDUM: In the interim of replacing a statist Executive, the fall agenda released on Monday by the GOP leadership lends credence to ridding American business of over-burdensome regulations and much needed tax relief, which would absolutely benefit private sector job creation. This is a step in the right direction in stamping down the massive expansion of rule by executive fiat under the Obama Administration.
Laura Ingraham interviewed Gov. Perry yesterday, and began delving into those on our side who seem to have reservations about a Perry presidency…
When asked about the anti-Perry push within the Republican beltway elite, and reflecting on his electability within Texas in conjunction with the fact that ‘we’ve been a job creation machine’, Gov. Perry responded...
“Americans are not going to sit here and get carried backwards…they’re not gonna be diverted off of a story and a vision that can get America back into the economic position that it needs to be. You know, with all due respect, anybody that’s out there either directly or indirectly criticizing me because I speak plainly, I call it like I see it….look, I’m not an establishment figure, never have been, and frankly I don’t wanna be. I dislike Washington; I think it’s a seedy place, but our country is in trouble, and I don’t have the privilege to sit on the sideline and watch our country be destroyed economically by a president who has been conducting an experiment on the American economy for the last two-and-a-half years. My wife told it like it was when she looked me in the eye and said, “Listen, you have to do your duty.” And that’s what I’m doing.”
Curt Anderson released a poignant article this morning in Politico, likely strategically, that cuts to the chase of Ingraham's questioning:
A wave of fear has come over Washington — and it’s not the earthquake or the hurricane. Self-appointed Republican elites, fretting Hill Republicans and left-wing carnival barkers all have one thing in common: Perryphobia.
After starting with the easily described liberals’ irrationale, and moving past the equally uncredible accusations from members of our 13% disapproval-rated Congress, we finally get to these annoying Republican beltway elites who think they're attuned to the pulse of America:
We can all agree that proving this class to be arrogant is unnecessary. But one would think that these folks might embrace Perry. Isn’t Texas the place where half of America’s new jobs have been created recently? Isn’t Texas the place where the private sector is encouraged to grow without massive government regulation? Isn’t Texas the place that cut a world record 15 billion from its state budget this year? Isn’t Texas the place where they have actually passed tort reform?
Well, yes. But you must understand — Perry is a “cowboy” after all. He holds prayer services in football stadiums, he’s skeptical of Al Gore’s global warming dogma and he even has the nerve to say in public that it is possible that God created the heavens and the earth. What a Luddite!
Thank goodness brother Karl Rove set him straight on FOX news last week for committing the unpardonable sin of suggesting that the chairman of the Fed’s behavior was treasonous. Tut, tut. Such talk is undignified.
Oh, yes, it is true that Bernanke and this administration are destroying the America economy — but we have to be careful how we talk.
Of course, all that pales in comparison to real sin of Perry -– he has been around for a long time, but failed to appropriately court, or pre-clear, his plans with the Washington-based Republican elites. While crafting the best economy in the nation, he apparently failed to solicit the input of the greatest minds of conservative elitedom in the nation’s capital.
Quick, let’s get Paul Ryan to run. Oops, he said no. Let’s take another trip to New Jersey to see if Gov. Chris Christie is still a no. Maybe we can lure Steve Forbes in for a third try. I know, let’s get Palin — maybe she can divide the conservative vote and stop Perry.
Howdy, folks. Well, as Perry gallups ahead of Romney, a fire has been lit under the Obama campaign, encouraging Texas Democrats ‘to start attacking Rick Perry’, even supplying an online form! Yep, if this isn’t proof enough that Perry now poses a real threat to Obama, then maybe one of the Texas governor’s latest endorsements will help wrangle Democrats into the stark reality that even the independents are leaping from that damaged stagecoach. The autonomous, cigar-chewing, Jewish cowboy, Kinky Friedman submitted his endorsement of longtime rival Perry last night. After elaborating on Perry's character, as an adversary or friend, Kinky candidly admits...
More to the point, could Rick Perry fix the economy? Hell, yes! Texas is exhibit A; Rick’s fingerprints are all over it. He’s been governor since Christ was a cowboy. The Lone Star State is booming. The last time I checked, Texas is kicking in a hell of a lot of the U.S. GDP. Unemployment is lower than the vast majority of the other states. Hell, we could probably even find a job for Paul Begala.
So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes! As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes, regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats. While Obama is busy putting the hyphen between “anal” and “retentive” Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.
A still, small voice within keeps telling me that Rick Perry’s best day may yet be ahead of him, and so too, hopefully, will be America’s.
I think Ed Morrissey said it best, “You won’t find a more entertaining endorsement this season.” Regardless of how much credence you give it, I think one things for certain: this rodeo is on!
As it stands, the budget deficit for 2011 is at $1.28T. After the AP’s initial whitewashing...
The federal budget deficit will hit $1.28 trillion this year, down slightly from the previous two years, with even bigger savings to come over the next decade, according to congressional projections released Wednesday. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says budget deficits will be reduced by a total of $3.3 trillion over the next decade…
…we get to the painful reality:
Nevertheless, the federal budget will be awash in red ink for years to come. Even with the savings, budget deficits will total nearly $3.5 trillion over the next decade…only modest economic growth over the next few years, with the unemployment rate falling only slightly by the end of 2012.
And the national debt stands at $14.6T and rising. CNSNews reports:
Although the national debt under President Barack Obama has increased $4 trillion since he took office in 2009, as a presidential candidate in 2008 Obama criticized then-President George W. Bush for adding $4 trillion to the national debt, saying it was “unpatriotic” and also “irresponsible” to saddle future generations with such a large national debt.
So, what took Bush 8, only took Obama less than 3, and he’s not finished! What’s “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic” is the President’s statist hypocrisy at play…and it’s not ‘racist’ to point out. Neither is it to point out, as the Obama’s vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, that Michelle Obama has spent $10M in taxpayer money on vacations alone over the past year. How ‘bout that shared sacrifice?! These limousine liberals certainly aren’t hurting like the rest of America…that includes the very base they claim to compassionately guard.
Conservatism, which Republicans beyond name only should and must subscribe to, is at the very core of our Founding Principles, professed through our Declaration, our Constitution and the Divine Providence of America's exceptional niche, rooted in not only what we know of it's modern incarnations of Buckley, Goldwater and Reagan, but from the 'classical liberals' and, yes, even libertarians, of ages past.
And today, I read Jeffrey Lord's latest American Spectator piece that not only made me reflect on conservatism's foundation, but I found it quite reinforcing and enlightening as to this modern so-called 'libertarian' movement that surrounds Ron Paul, focusing intently on those associated with it. As such, it would appear that all is not as it seems, and Lord's research greatly sheds light on this...
Looming over the interesting and appealing ideas of the Paul campaign is a veritable political tornado of allegations involving anti-Semitism, racism, pacifism, far left-wingism and, at the edges, a tiny flicker of intimidation.
I'd rather not spoil every bit of Mr. Lord's venture into the non-interventionist/isolationist camp of what might be called 'Neo-Liberalism' or even 'Quasi-Conservatism' by trying to dissect every piece of his discussion. That's for you to read and assess in total. Rather, I'd like to point the reader to the crux of Lord's research: "perhaps the real key to understanding the decided left-leaning tendencies of neoliberals is their considerable dislike of… Conservatives," to which he follows with, "You read that right."
Here are the views of various prominent Paul supporters about some conservatives you may be familiar with.
• Ronald Reagan: Here the late Paulist Murray Rothbard labels the conservative presidential icon as a "cretin," Reagan's two-terms in office described as "eight dreary, miserable, mind-numbing years."
• William F. Buckley, Jr.: The man who became the very gold standard of the American conservative movement is viewed as a "defacto totalitarian" here, again in another Rothbard selection from ex-Paul chief of staff Lew Rockwell's site, a site for which Paul himself has written.
• Antonin Scalia: Justice Scalia is not only no conservative in Paulville, he is -- sitting down? -- "a reliable supporter of presidential dictatorship, the police state, the torture-warfare state, and the empire." This gem was penned by ex-Paul chief of staff Rockwell himself.
• Sarah Palin: That's right. This business of Sarah Palin being a conservative, according to Rockwell, is just a ruse. In fact, Governor Palin is really a "double agent" for the "regime." From the same article as above. Oh yes… don't forget Governor Palin is quite possibly a "puppet" (as seen here by Jack Hunter, now the Paul campaign's "official blogger"). Oh, and Mr. Mulshine, the Paulist columnist? To him Palin is "just another whiny liberal claiming victimization."
• Edwin Meese: The former Reagan Attorney General beloved of conservative activists is described in Paulville as the "mouthpiece" for fascists
• The Koch Brothers: The fascists for whom Ed Meese is the fascist mouthpiece? That would be the libertarian Koch brothers who, apparently, aren't libertarian at all in the eyes of Paulville. In Paulville, libertarian conservatives David and Charles Koch are said to be supporters of a "fascist regime." Same post as above. It is surely no coincidence that the Koch brothers were targeted earlier this year by the far-left hacking group Anonymous. As seen in this Politico story. Once again, the right/left neoliberal profile surfaces.
• Clarence Thomas: Dubbed part of a fascist "tag team" by Paul supporters. Why? Because Justice Thomas, along with fellow Justice Scalia, spoke at that gathering sponsored by those fascist Koch brothers. Where Ed Meese was covering as the mouthpiece for the fascists.
• Rush Limbaugh: Rush? Rush Limbaugh? That Rush Limbaugh isn't a conservative? Nope. Not in Paulville. In the eyes of Paulvillians the Rush Limbaugh so many millions of conservatives thought they knew and loved turns out to be a man with "Stalinist tendencies" -- aka a commie. Read all about it here.
• Sean Hannity: So OK, understanding that Sarah Palin is a double agent and a puppet and Rush is pulsing with Stalinist tendencies, surely Sean Hannity -- conservative talk show and TV host extraordinaire, author of the bestselling Conservative Victory -- surely Sean is a real conservative? Naaaaaaaaah. Not in Paulville. There our friend Sean is -- no kidding -- "evil" That's right. You read that right. Hannity is, quite seriously in the minds (?) of Paulville's neolibs, part of the "pantheon of warmongers that make up the true axis of evil." Once that is understood, this video of Ron Paul supporters literally chasing Hannity through the streets of New Hampshire in 2008 can be seen for the leftist intimidation it was intended to be. The fact that the video of Paul supporters chasing Hannity so closely matches this video of Wisconsin leftists chasing and trapping a Wisconsin Republican legislator is a chilling reminder of the commonality of the protestors involved.
• Mark Levin: Come on. So he wrote the bestselling conservative manifesto Liberty and Tyranny. So Michele Bachmann has called Levin an inspiration to the Tea Party. So Tea Party members were waving the book in the air at their rallies. So what? Levin's no conservative in Paulville. Levin's… you know… wink wink… one of them [Jewish].
• The Cato Institute: The Cato Institute? The premiere libertarian think tank in America under attack in Paulville? No way! Yup. Here.
There's more -- much more than we have room for here. The Ron Paul campaign's "official blogger" Jack Hunter hates Lincoln but can't find his tongue with Confederate president Jefferson Davis suspending habeas corpus or 100% of the civil liberties of blacks -- aka slavery. Then there's Thomas J. DiLorenzo, whose arguments are recommended reading by Ron Paul. Here's Mr. DiLorenzo on Amazon.
Jeffrey Lord surmises that, "The Ron Paul campaign is really about re-educating America to what can only be called Neoliberalism. Which, based on the evidence and writings of its supporters, appears to be a thin gruel of free markets and non-interventionism seasoned heavily with anti-Semitism, morally obtuse Neo-Confederates, and an outspoken contempt for both conservatism and conservative leaders past and present." And while it's even hard for Lord to understand "why Mr. Paul let's himself be associated with this shameful, shameful stuff," one thing is for certain: this is notconservatism.
UPDATE: Levin had previously mentioned this article at the end of Tuesday's show and returned to this topic on Thursday's program...
...then had Jeffrey Lord join him to discuss this in more detail...
So after this group of neo-confederate Paulists are done trashing most other conservatives, who's left? Mark answers, "Ron Paul, I guess?" And Lord affirms, "That's right...that is the whole point...to undermine the credibility of all of these people...that's what their objective is, because at the end of it all then, Ron Paul and his interpretation of this stuff is left standing, and that frankly is nonsense on stilts."
Then I made an addendum to that piece on Monday when Maxine Waters told the tea party to “go straight to Hell,” with the very plantation mentality, described by Rep. West, that hampers any effort towards unity and breaking through the politics of identity. In other words, the dire socio-economic situation that our nation finds itself in is not about race; it's about policy...but some Democrats refuse to admit statism's failure, and would rather mask such failures in class and race divisions to maintain power.
Well, rather than make yet another addendum, and skew the focus of identity-group subservience in that post, I’ll open this post up to yet another rung of the race-wielding Congressional Black Caucus members (minus Allen West, of course). Now on deck as the latest ‘overseer’, we’ve got the very flamboyant Frederica Wilson (D-FL) stirring the pot (move over, Maxine, you’ve got competition!)…
Let’s play ‘Did you know…?’
Or how about this one?
What to say about this? Well, for starters, congresswoman, if you are an American who loves liberty, capitalism, American tradition, all those things that make America exceptional, then, no, the tea party is not your enemy; it is your ally. BUT, if you pursue the tyranny of statism in an effort to dismantle and remake America, then, YES, the tea party is your worst nightmare! And it has not a thing to do with race, which is a tired misnomer, as there is only ONE human race, but that's for another discussion.
You know, I had a friend who recently asked me to check out the legitimacy of the alternative source NewsFlavor, anonymous publisher ‘Ulsterman’ and the even more (likely nonexistent) anonymous ‘White House Insider’, concerning The Obama Plan (you’d have to read all three parts to understand it’s tie-in). And although I don’t find it to be a credible source, it would appear that the Democrat members of the Congressional Black Caucus took this piece of fiction to heart and have run with it! More misdirected racial rage from the Democrats in the self-segregated Congressional Black Caucus. This is what the ugliness of power slipping away looks like, folks.
ADDENDUM: Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the latest ravings from Garofalo and the MSLSD loons (or former, in this case) against Herman Cain. However, Cain addressed this and the CBC libs in a recent interview with Hannity...
...and for some much-needed comic relief, check out the Janeane Garofalo doll over at Toby Toons...instant classic!
Oh, how history repeats itself. After excoriating the 'moderates' of the day, setting up the discussion in his opening monologue, Levin took listeners on a little stroll down memory lane with a 1980 TIME Magazine article that questioned Reagan's electability, the polls leading up to the presidential election and the establishment party operatives of the era. Listen as Levin goes through the entourage of yesteryear's Rove's and Huntsman's. Weren't we just discussing this same crap with the Krauthammer's and Will's just a few short months ago? Yep, we'll continue to endure this over the next year...God Willing, we'll continue to have the Great One helping us through it!
"Be confident in our principles. Be confident that our candidates can win. Do not allow the Washington operatives, the consultants, who've worked for this candidate or that candidate, or this president or that president, deter you. Don't allow it... This isn't about moving to the center, it's about moving forward with our principles."
Throughout the years – and for some of us, most of our lives – we’ve seen the politics of race played out in the public arena. Of course, in our PC world, this isn’t a topic that’s supposed to be discussed…but it’s past time to break through this taboo. So the way the story goes is that the Democrats are the compassionate ones, while the Republicans just don’t care. Now anyone with two neurons to rub together realizes how erroneous this statement is; nonetheless, it’s played out time and time again, and has been used to divide us and manipulate minority groups repeatedly. Whether that be with the dialogue that’s been bantered about throughout the week with the Congressional Black Caucus’ concerns that Obama’s not doing enough for the black community (and I’ll let this interview with Congressman Allen West speak for itself and set that one straight)…
…or whether it be the constitutional usurpation of the executive branch (yet, again) through the DHS’s ‘new rule’ that will, as HotAir reports, “halt deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria,” on a case-by-case basis, essentially rooting for a blanket amnesty avenue for approximately 300,000 illegals, per theLos Angeles Times tally (in other words, whatever it takes for more votes)…the Democrat Party will use whatever tool at its disposal to keep its boot on the neck of minorities in the name of compassion.
Kevin DuJan made a great point in a piece written for HillBuzzyesterday, that was also read on the Rush Limbaugh Show, in which he not only compared the stark similarities between slaves on plantations and blacks who blindly vote for Democrats, but went on to succinctly and quite accurately describe the tactical manipulation used on a host of demographics that the Democrat Party lay claim to control:
The Democrat Party survives because it keeps blacks poor and dependent on Democrat hand-outs to survive.
Democrats do something similar with gays: they keep us in check by scaring gays into believing Republicans are evil and want to kill us, so the only protection we have is to vote Democrat, Democrat, Democrat.
Democrats keep Hispanics under control by pushing Spanish as much as possible, so Hispanics never learn English and don’t progress as much in society.
Women are kept in line by Democrats through cultural wedge issues like abortion, where, once again, people are convinced to vote against their own economic best interests because Democrats create boogeymen to scare them into believing conservatives are evil and want to harm them or take away their rights.
If even one of the groups above could be reasoned with, and would actually see what the Democrat Party does to them, the fragile identity-bloc coalition that makes up the Democrat Party would collapse on itself.
If you blindly vote Democrat, year after year, without ever asking what you REALLY get out of it, you are either a slave or a damn fool.
As DuJan goes on to point out, the ‘Cocktail Party GOP establishment’ are just as guilty of playing along with the Democrat Party, because they both “work hard to keep each other in power,” while simultaneously keeping these “identity-groups subservient in their respective reservations.” And it is for these reasons why conservatives must eclipse this notion of identity politics, speaking openly about these realities, and encourage Americans of all colors and creeds to reinvigorate the great Melting Pot of Exceptionalism and Liberty, for there is more that unites us than divides us, particular against the tyranny of statism.
ADDENDUM: And in the circular ill-logic of everything these days, the latest rhetorical assault returns to the plantation mentality described by Rep. West that will not allow us to unite and break through the politics of identity. It's rather unfortunate that Democrats, like Maxine Waters, would not only ignore the inclusiveness of liberty movements like the tea party, but instead, aid in the statist dependency and racial division that conservatives advocate against...
And as Breitbart properly asks, "Is there any doubt that if a Tea Party representative had said that “the Congressional Black Caucus can go straight to hell and we intend to help them get there”, we would be hearing loud condemnations about the hateful rhetoric from the extremists in the Republican Party?" He's got that right...although minus the 'dog pound'...what tha...?
Like a breath of fresh air that we haven't felt in quite sometime now, at least two of our high-profile contenders for the GOP presidential nomination have cast aside the timidity of some and are speaking out about conservative views on energy and the environment.
Whether that be, as The Hill reports, Rick Perry questioning man-made global warming and the eco-scentist-manipulated data hoax...
Or whether, as Politico points out, Michelle Bachmann makes a campaign promise that you'll once again see gas down below $2/gallon under her presidency (can you say ANWR?!)...
...conservatives are returning to the refreshing messages of American common sense and real progress towards actual growth in not only the areas of energy independence, but towards an overall prosperous national path, as well as a return to its exceptional place in the world.
Whether inadvertently or purposefully (I'd guess the latter), this direction also speaks to much needed economic improvements, particularly towards JOB creation. But don't bother Obama with that while heading for his Martha's Vineyard vacation, as he plans to unveil his economic approach in September. As AllahPundit over at HotAir says, "That had better be some speech next month, champ," because his job approval ratings aren't looking so hot. Gallup reports:
A new low of 26% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, down 11 percentage points since Gallup last measured it in mid-May and well below his previous low of 35% in November 2010.
Obama earns similarly low approval for his handling of the federal budget deficit (24%) and creating jobs (29%).
Finally! Someone besides the Obamatons got through to confront the President. Iowan tea party members Ryan Rhodes and Stacey Rogers, asked Obama face-to-face several questions that we'd all like the opportunity to ask...
Timothy McVeigh, Barry? Seriously?! How about that 'tone'? As Rhodes said after requesting the passage of a balanced budget amendment 'and nothing else', in which Obama questioned the man's 'interest in listening', Rhode's fired back, "But you haven't listened either. You're blaming it on everyone but yourself, after 3 years, plus 2 years of a Democrat-controlled government." Right on, right on! We salute you, Mr. Rhodes.
Hannity was one of the first to pick up on the exchange yesterday evening...
So much for that 'listening' tour, huh? Well, I've got news for Obama, the tea party is listening every hour of everyday, because WE ARE THE PEOPLE, who are not only being affected by this administration's statist policies, but who will not rest as long as the breath of Liberty resides within each of us to rescue our Great Nation from the Washington mentality 'of, by and for Big Government', and returning it to a Nation 'of, by and for its People'.
Also, a message to the Republican Establishment: We don't need Rove, Perino, Blakeman or any other sad remnants of Bush's staff once again badmouthing the tea party and preaching to us about 'disrespect', when they're motives, particular in the realm of presidential politics, are questionable. Hey Karl, how's Rasmussen's first national post-straw poll numbers sound to ya? Scared yet?
ADDENDUM: Both Limbaugh and Levin interviewed Mr. Rhodes...
As the weekend brought much movement in the Republican presidential race, with Perry in, Bachmann winning the Ames poll, and Pawlenty out, all of which points to a solidifying GOP field, things are looking up. Unfortunately (no, actually very 'fortunately'), the same can't be said for Obama, with his sinking job approval (or should I say, 'credit') rating at record lows, including among his key voters, and his desperate 3-day Magical Misery Tour with 3 tricked-out buses at $1.1M a pop (great use of taxpayer money with the possibility of a double-dip recession lingering)! But no, the media would have us believe that we need more government spending, higher taxes and, oh yeah, America is turning against the tea party! Laughable. As Rush said today, "The great thing about the Tea Party is it can't really fade away because it really isn't a party. It's a state of mind. As long as the American people want a smaller and less intrusive government, the Tea Party's always gonna be popular -- and it's always gonna be large as long as a guy like Obama's in the White House."
So, back to Barry...when stepping back to observe the entirety of the glib situation that this president has thrust onto our nation -- quadrupled budgetless deficits, an unfunded socialized healthcare plan, stimulus wastes, skyrocketing energy prices, over 9% unemployment (over 16% underemployed) and ushering in America's first downgrade (there's 'historic') -- the Canada Free Press has it absolutely right with what's turned out to be quite a different race than the one heating up with the GOP contenders:
"The race is over, Jimmy Carter can rest easy. Until this feckless administration, the hapless 39th President of the United States was safely ensconced as the worst President in U.S. history. Now, Carter who gave us double digit inflation and interest rates, a national malaise and a military in decline has been surpassed in the race for the bottom. President Barack Obama is now the undisputed “Worst President in U.S. History.” He can place this award on his mantle next to the Noble Peace Prize."
