(Updated) ABC Skips Life March, But Highlights Attacks on Chick-fil-A By Gay Groups

Updated, Wed, Feb 2: A Christian Business in the Left's Crosshairs  "Over the weekend, New York Times reporter Kim Severson gave the Chick-fil-A bashers a coveted Sunday A-section megaphone -- repeatedly parroting the "Chick-fil-A is anti-gay" slur and raising fears of "evangelical Christianity's muscle flexing" with only the thinnest veneer of journalistic objectivity. Severson, you see, is an openly gay advocate of same-sex marriage equality herself and the former vice-president of the identity politics-mongering National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association."  Michelle Malkin  Hat tip to Jon Hodges, Richardson, TX.

Newsbusters  "After ABC’s World News ignored the March for Life pro-life event last week, the January 30 World News Sunday did find time to run a report highlighting complaints by gay rights activists over Chick-fil-A -- a family-owned restaurant chain known for its Christian-based social advocacy -- supplying food to a socially conservative group in Pennsylvania that promoted a ban on same-sex marriage in the state that was enacted in 1996."

South Bend Homosexual Organization Targets Chick-Fil-A For Protest  "Members of the Campus Ally Network, which promotes acceptance and support for the university's homosexual community protested because the restaurant's Pennsylvania franchise donated food to an anti-homosexual organization's event."

Chick Fil A Denies Anti-Gay Agenda "“Chick Fil A serves all people and values all people. Providing food to these events or any event is not an endorsement of the mission, political stance or motives of this or any other organization. Any suggestion otherwise is just inaccurate.”
"The 65-year-old privately-held Chick Fil A describes its business as operating according to Biblical principles. That’s one reason its stores do not open on Sundays."

Chick-Fil-A Says It's Dropping Its Support For Anti-Gay Marriage Groups  "“Chick-Fil-A's Corporate Purpose is 'To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us, and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-Fil-A.' As a result, we will not champion any political agendas on marriage and family. This decision has been made, and we understand the importance of it.” But Cathy added that the company would “continue to offer resources to strengthen marriages and families.” “To do anything different would be inconsistent with our purpose and belief in Biblical principles,” he said."

Chick-fil-A lends its support to tea party protesters. The founders of Chick-fil-A, the Cathy family, “have been outspoken in their support of Republican social conservatives. Chick-fil-A has won praise from religious conservative for keeping its doors shut on Sundays.”  From the liberal blog thinkprogress

The Situation in Egypt is Obama's Opportunity to Shape a New Middle East, says FPI Director William Kristol

Photo: jaxobserver

The Foreign Policy Initiative  "This is the 3 a.m. phone call. Will President Obama rise to the occasion?
"He could, and he should. His initial diagnosis two years ago of the Middle East proved wrong. His administration’s initial response to the crisis in Egypt has been halting. His normal supporters are befuddled."

Obama and the Ripple Effect  "But an American president, when wading into such turbulent and unpredictable waters, ought to know at least all the ramifications of his own strategy -- something Obama doesn't seem to have thought through.
"Watching Obama, Hamas must be licking its chops, while the Saudis and Abbas must be wondering how constant, reliable and predictable a Mideast player the U.S. really is with Obama in the White House."

Egypt: Please, Not ElBaradei

Claudia Rosett  "...in the U.S. effort to corral Iran’s nuclear program, ElBaradei was not part of the answer, but part of the problem. Glick also describes ElBaradei’s cozy relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood — progenitor of al-Qaeda and Hamas — quoting him as giving a recent interview to Der Spiegel in which he claimed the Muslim Brotherhood has “not committed any acts of violence in five decades.”"

The pragmatic fantasy "THE TRUTHS exposed by the convulsive events of the past month make it abundantly clear that Israel lives in a horrible neighborhood. It is a neighborhood where popular democracy means war against Israel."

Fear the Muslim Brotherhood

Andrew C. McCarthy "The Obama administration has courted Egyptian Islamists from the start. It invited the Muslim Brotherhood to the president’s 2009 Cairo speech, even though the organization is officially banned in Egypt. It has rolled out the red carpet to the Brotherhood’s Islamist infrastructure in the U.S. — CAIR, the Muslim American Society, the Islamic Society of North America, the Ground Zero mosque activists — even though many of them have a documented history of Hamas support."

 Alfred E. Neuman in the driver’s seat 

To this day, the Brotherhood’s motto remains, “Allah is our objective, the Prophet is our leader, the Koran is our law, Jihad is our way, and dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope. Allahu akbar!”

"That seems pretty straightforward to me. I admire the candor and forthrightness. The Muslim Brotherhood believes in waging jihad, i.e. holy war, and they embrace death as their highest goal. At least we know where we stand."

[Middle-East expert and] Ex-President Carter: Political unrest in Egypt 'earth-shaking', Mubarak likely must step down  ""In the last four or five years when I go to Egypt, I don't go to talk to Mubarak, who talks like a politician," Carter said. "If I want to know what is going on in the Middle East, I talk to Suleiman. And as far as I know, he has always told me the truth.""

The New American Fans of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt  "Only one thing is clear: Let us avoid counsel from those who urge us to accept the radical Islamists who appear in sheep’s clothing. Listening to the Richard Falks of our own day and age will assure the triumph of the worst possible outcome."  Ron Radosh

Egypt

Bringing Freedom and Stability to Egypt  "The surest path to a stable and free political system lies in a gradual evolutionary process, but the Mubarak regime has squandered that opportunity despite years of American economic aid, support for civil society groups, and diplomatic cajoling. Egyptians are now confronted with the need for much more rapid and drastic reforms in a tense and overheated atmosphere that favors the ascendancy of radical groups over moderate reformers."


Egyptian police reappear alongside army "The police, who are widely detested here, have been blamed for triggering an almost complete breakdown of law and order in recent days across Egypt, a strategically vital nation at the heart of the Arab world. But with a measure of calm returning to the city Monday, many residents appeared pleased to have officers back on the job." Also this from GlobalSecurity.org

Obama: Egypt Needs Orderly Transition  "There was no indication from the White House late Sunday of the extent to which President Obama's calls with world leaders included discussion of the role of Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei."

Egypt and the Failure of the Obama Doctrine "The Obama Administration has been slow to embrace calls for liberty in Egypt is completely consistent with the Obama Doctrine as applied in the Middle East. When the Iranian people rose against the regime in Tehran in the wake of a disputed national election, Obama offered virtually no support for the cries for freedom. He was too committed to his engagement strategy with the Iranian regime, believing his “charm offensive” would be enough to deter them from pursuing nuclear weapons. Those efforts have completely failed."

Elliott Abrams:  Egypt protests show George W. Bush was right about freedom in the Arab world
""Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe - because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," Bush said. "As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export." "

Sources in Egypt and West: US secretly backed protest "If this is true, the Western observers who have concluded that the protesters have no leaders and are propelled into the streets purely by rage against the regime may not have the full story. The movement does have a leader whose identity is known to Washington and the demonstrations' ringleaders – but not to Mubarak or his security services." DEBKAfile

http://www.gorrellart.com/

William Kristol: Beyond Mubarak: ‘Twere Well It Were Done Quickly  "The Obama administration has gradually been adjusting to reality. On Friday evening, President Obama was still exhorting President Mubarak: “I told him he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise.” By this morning, Secretary Clinton had basically abandoned Mubarak. She was talking to Chris Wallace about the need for “a transition to democracy,” “an orderly transition to a democratic government,” “an orderly transition” with a “a well thought-out plan that will bring about a democratic, participatory government.”"

Politics by the Numbers: Good Omens for the GOP in 2012

Michael Barone  "Numbers can tell a story. Looking back on Barack Obama's second State of the Union message, and looking forward to the congressional session and the 2012 elections, they tell a story that should leave Democrats uneasy."
But remember the demagogue factor.

US 'losing credibility by the day' on Egypt: ElBaradei

Jakarta Globe  "“You are losing credibility by the day. On one hand you’re talking about democracy, rule of law and human rights, and on the other hand you’re lending still your support to a dictator that continues to oppress his people,” added ElBaradei, the former head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.

"His recommendations to President Barack Obama’s administration were blunt: “You have to stop the life support to the dictator and root with the people.”"
He can't vote "present" on this.

Max Boot: Obama Must Act Now on Egypt  "Problem is, taking no stand isn’t an option for the United States in this situation. For decades, Egypt has been one of the largest recipients of American foreign aid, and Mubarak has been one of our closest allies in the Middle East. Egyptian officers have been educated in the United States, its forces are equipped with American weapons, and they regularly conduct exercises with American troops. We have a large say, whether we want it or not. If Obama stays silent about Mubarak’s future, that will be interpreted within Egypt as American support for an increasingly discredited dictator."

A Time for Leadership  "President Obama’s reluctance to firmly put the moral weight of the United States behind the protesters will not be remembered kindly, just as his failure to support democratic opposition groups during his first two years in office will be recalled by the Egyptian democrats who may soon take power. President Obama tried to use Cairo as a prop in his efforts to engage the Muslim world, but he and leading administration officials refused to talk of democracy and refused, despite their desperate efforts now to rewrite history, to seriously pressure Mubarak to reform."
 Jamie M. Fly is executive director of the Foreign Policy Initiative.


Egypt and Iran: Will We Again Fuel the Fires of Revolution?  "If Obama emulates the horrendous decisions Jimmy Carter made during the Iranian revolution, radical Islam will spread through the region like a forest fire."....
"Had Obama done more than basked in the adulation of his Cairo speech and actually leaned on the regime to evolve toward a more legitimate and inclusive government, we might not be confronting the mess ahead of us."

http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/iran-hostage-crisis/

Taylor Rule II Shows Which Fed Policies Work Best:

Amity Shlaes

Amity Shlaes  "Taylor Rule II doesn’t have math. And it doesn’t say what the Fed should do. It predicts what the central bank will do. [Economist John]Taylor says a period of less Fed intervention and stable strong growth will come, along with a strengthening dollar. But by the time this happens, [Chinese leader] Hu, now 68, might be approaching 80.
"Taylor studied the past 60 years of U.S. policy, and found that the Fed moves in a pendulum pattern, swinging back and forth between discretion-based decisions and loose money on one hand and rules-based choices and tighter money on the other."

What's Keith Olbermann doing now? (Updated)

 

Moonbattery.com

 A Look Back at Keith Olbermann's Most Outrageous Quotes  "MSNBC abruptly ended the run of Keith Olbermann on Friday, bringing to a close an era in which the left-wing host compared conservatives to Nazis, accused them of "murderous deceit," of "urinating on the Constitution" and told President George W. Bush to "shut the Hell up!""

(Update) Politics and the Anatomy of Hate  ..."And the first order of business for Olbermann in his new professional home is to “find a suitable enemy, something he is good at.”http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/


This and many more posts on American politics and culture at the Tunnel Wall

Does America stand against tyranny?

Blackfive  "The spirit of those words is distilled into a simple Latin phrase that is the motto of US Special Forces "De Oppresso Liber" To liberate from oppression. That captures the idea that we do not live in isolation. We cannot build a wall around America and ignore what happens on the other side. Even so, we are not bound to respond with force every time evil flourishes, we could not. But to quote Reagan again:"

Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.

Rep. Moran: Dems Lost Because Many 'Don't Want to Be Governed by an African-American'

Fox News "The comments were made following President Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday during an interview with Arab network Alhurra. Asked about the results of the midterm elections, the Virginia congressman compared the political environment to that which preceded the Civil War and suggested race was a determining factor." Please refer to my comments in the sidebar to your right:

The PJ Tatler  "In other words, the “racists” who elected Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Representative Allen West don’t like our president because his skin tone is too dark. “Racists” in New Mexico elected governor Susana Martinez. “Racists” in South Carolina elected Representative Tim Scott."

What a dupnik.

Moran Sneers His 24-Year Army Vet Opponent Offers No 'Public Service' Record  "Mr. Moran recently stated, "What [Republicans] do is that they find candidates - usually stealth candidates - that haven't been in office, haven't served or performed any kind of public service. My opponent is typical." Col. Murray served his country for 24 years in the U.S. armed forces. The fact that Mr. Moran thinks 24 years of service in the Army is not equivalent to public service speaks for itself."

What a dupnik.

Himalayan glaciers not melting because of climate change, report finds

UK Telegraph "Himalayan glaciers are actually advancing rather than retreating, claims the first major study since a controversial UN report said they would be melted within quarter of a century."

The Passu glacier in the Karakorum region of Pakistan Photo: ALAMY

The Left Must End Their War on School Choice

Heritage  "In the fall of 2008, 216 new low-income students were notified by the Department of Education that they had been selected to receive scholarships. Then at the behest of Obama’s education union allies, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent letters to the 216 families informing them that he was taking back the $7,500 in scholarship money that the DCOSP had previously awarded them. The Democratically controlled Congress later voted to phase the program out entirely. Mothers like Latasha Bennett were left scrambling to find good schools for their kids. The DCOSP has been a tremendous success. Students that used a scholarship to attend a private school have a 91 percent graduation rate compared to the less than half of children in D.C. public schools that graduate high school."

The Bloomberg Syndrome

 Victor Davis Hanson  "Yet the more the unfolding details informed us that the Communist Manifesto/Mein Kampf-reading Loughner was mentally unstable, apolitical and without discernible interests in contemporary issues, the more the flamboyant Dupnik went on television to expand his cast of culpable characters. He finally ended up blaming everyone from Tea Party opponents of President Obama to talk-show host Rush Limbaugh — and became an instant celebrity and hero to left-wing partisans."

I see Dupnik becoming attorney general in a Kucinich administration. I'm just sayin'.



tobytoons.com



The old Obama in new clothing

Charles Krauthammer  "The November election sent a clear message to Washington: less government, less debt, less spending. President Obama certainly heard it, but judging from his State of the Union address, he doesn't believe a word of it. The people say they want cuts? Sure they do - in the abstract. But any party that actually dares carry them out will be punished severely. On that, Obama stakes his reelection. "

Who Is Charles Krauthammer?  "Charles Krauthammer has long been recognized as one of America’s most astute and authoritative political columnists, acknowledged as a cut above the majority of his scrivening colleagues. And yet there is something cryptic and elusive about him, like the coy Waldo in the famous puzzle. Perhaps he resents being put in boxes and wishes to preserve his independence of judgment, or his unpredictability."

 Krauthammer Correcting Krauthammer  "So — how long does it take a wise columnist to recognize a mistake and call an ideologue and ideologue? Six weeks. Here’s Krauthammer today:"

Mike Ramirez on Obama's vision of America

http://www.nationalreview.com/

At filthy clinic, babies met an inhumane end, grand jury says

http://townhall.com/cartoons/glennmccoy

IN HIS SQUALID West Philadelphia abortion clinic, Kermit Gosnell had a surefire way of dealing with the unwelcome complication of a live birth: He'd allegedly plunge scissors into the squirming newborn's neck, killing it by severing the spinal cord.

Turmoil in Egypt

STRATFOR reports:  Dispatch: Egyptian Unrest Continues "Middle East analyst Kamran Bokhari discusses the Mubarak government’s potential vulnerability as a result of the street protests, which may exacerbate the country’s leadership succession troubles." Via stratfor.com

Sources in Egypt and West: US secretly backed protest "It would also explain the steadfast insistence of President Barack Obama and all his spokesmen on forcing Mubarak to do the virtually impossible, i.e. to refrain from force against the opposition movement and introduce immediate reforms by means of national dialogue. His successors would be waiting in the wings to move in when they could expect to be embraced by the opposition."

Israelis fear unwinding of political stability  "But the lack of Israeli enthusiasm for democratic change in the Arab world also reflects a specific experience: the 2006 elections in the Palestinian territories, which ended in a triumph for the Islamist Hamas movement at the expense of the pro-western Fatah party."
Via The Financial Times   Related: BUSH DEMOCRACY POLICIES HELPED BRING ISLAMIST DICTATORSHIPS TO GAZA AND LEBANON.

Egypt's riots make Israel uneasy  "Israel doesn’t have the luxury of the United States, trying to measure its reaction to unfolding events by balancing support for human rights and democracy against loyalty to an old and important ally. For Israel peace with a stable and reliable Egypt is a vital necessity, and Hosni Mubarak has withstood the test of time. But unlike the United States, Israel is not called upon to make a stand vis-a-vis Murbarak versus the demonstrators. Israel knows that its silence is what the situation requires, that to voice support for one side or the other would be counterproductive." 

Egypt, what's at stake? Just a short bullet list...

Walid Phares On President Hosni Mubarak Video.

Carter Redux? "Like Carter, Obama has made overtures to the Islamists. 1n 1978 Jimmy Carter was on the side of "human rights" and eagerly embraced Ayatollah Khomeini. Carter's UN Ambassador Andrew Young went so far as to call him "some kind of saint"."
Liberals cannot be trusted to handle international crises.

Foreign policy establishment of two minds on Egypt "The world is about to change and the administration is unable to decide what to do to help shape the future to the benefit of US interests. Is it the nature of the crisis that this is so? Or is it that Obama and his State Department are like a deer in the headlights when it comes to proposing options?"

Nobel Peace Winner Returns to Egypt to Lead Anti-Government Protest Movement  "Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's top democracy advocate and a key challenger to President Hosni Mubarak, returned to the country Thursday night after declaring he was ready to lead the grass-roots protest movement to a regime change."

National Review Online posts on Middle East riots

So why is it all right for women to be sexist about MEN?

UK Mail  "For make no mistake: sexism is alive and well in this country and applauded in all quarters — as long as it is practised by women. And they are allowed to say the most terrible, terrible things.
"Only last week, for example, Jo Brand, the newly crowned Best Female TV Comic at the British Comedy Awards, was on Have I Got News For You and replied to the question ‘What’s your favourite kind of man, Jo?’ by saying: ‘A dead one.’ Oh, how the audience fell about. And the other contestants, all male, chortled away too."

Refer to our comments in a related post here:

The Criminal Intent Report: Congress Is Eroding the Mens Rea Requirement in Federal Criminal Law

Heritage via  Overcriminalized.com    "The “guilty mind” requirement (what lawyers call mens rea) historically restricted criminal punishment to those who were truly blameworthy and helped ensure Americans had fair notice of the law’s requirements. No one could be convicted of a crime without the government having proved that he acted with a guilty mind. In a sharp break with this tradition, recent Congresses have crafted scores of new federal criminal laws that lack adequate guilty-mind requirements and define the conduct that they criminalize in vague, overbroad terms."

Download full PDF report here.

U.S. Faces New Reality As Old Order Dies

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON   "In response to this topsy-turvy world, the traditional media, tenured professors, well-paid public employees, rigid ethnic and racial lobbies, unions, organized retirees, open-borders advocates and entrenched politicians all are understandably claiming that we live in an uncivil age.
"We well may, but we also are seeing the waning of an established order. And the resulting furor suggests the old beneficiaries are not going quietly into that good night." Via Investors.com

Free Men Have Free Tongues

Bruce Thornton  "No progressive frets over “hate speech” directed at Republicans, white males, CEO’s, heterosexuals, or Christians."

Propagandists at Time Magazine put Reagan and Obama together on cover

Rick Moran   In fact, the irony escapes the propagandists at Time. Reagan's largeness of spirit in granting that his political foes were wrong, and not evil, only makes The Gipper look that much better compared to his arrogant, incompetent successor. Obama's weapon of choice is belittlement of his opponents. It is not attractive, and reveals a pettiness that shrinks the stature of Obama and the presidency - especially when compared to a man who understood all Americans; even those who disagreed with him.

Victor Davis Hanson: Obama’s rhetoric has swung from hard-left to moderate to hard-left to conciliatory. The problem is, his policies were real, not rhetorical.  "...Obama waged psychosocial warfare against private enterprise. In the space of just two years we learned from the president himself that we were two countries: Those who made above $250,000 were greedy and deserving of higher taxes; those below were okay for now and should receive rather than pay out. Traveling to Vegas or the Super Bowl (but not Martha’s Vineyard or Costa del Sol) was inexcusably self-indulgent. The president alone knew at what point we should cease making money. Doctors were limb-loppers. And so on. When an employer believes his efforts are considered unimportant or perhaps even nefarious, he is not going to be bold and risk-taking."

Iranian Regime Hails New Islamic Middle East Taking Shape

Gateway Pundit  "The Iranian prayer leader today Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami hailed the new Islamic Middle East that is taking shape. The radical prayer leader said the recent developments in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and other Arab states echo the 1979 Islamic Revolution."
These things happen under presidents like Carter.

And now, from HOLLYWOOD...

Now That Obama’s President, Richard Gere Silent on Tibet  "The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner recently hosted a dinner for the man who’s holding the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner in prison. The Hollywood community and their human rights lobby were oddly silent on this event. Could it be because Hope and Change has been placed over all those “Free Tibet” bumper stickers in Hollywood?"

Danny Glover Blames Conservatives for Tucson Tragedy  "You know what I miss most about being a Lefty? Being able to say whatever the hell I want. Reason, truth, facts be damned… It’s so 1984-ish. In your fevered, unreasonable, little, angry mind you carefully affix brown pieces of paper over what’s inconvenient, rewrite it a bit, and then memory-hole the rest.  I really do miss that. There’s no effort, no time wasted on Google, none of that pesky self-awareness. Cold weather is proof of Global Warming — stuff like that."

'Entertainment' Media Join Chorus Blaming Conservatives for Shooting  "Whenever a tragedy or important issue occurs, someone inevitably seeks out the opinions of left-wing singers and actors."

Fathers aren't TV dunces  "The NFI has also taken a particular interest in the way fathers are being portrayed on entertainment television, which regularly present dads as laughingstocks and lamebrains. There is reason for concern, too. Hollywood has taken the typical image of Dad from Ozzie Nelson to Ozzy Osbourne. As NFI's Roland Warren puts it, "Too many TV shows today tag fathers with the '3-D' image -- dumb, dangerous and disaffected. Such images must be reversed to demonstrate to viewers that fathers are there for their children and/or need to be.""

Allow me to express my personal opinion here:  PC rule: Female characters must always dominate males and make them look like fools; they must be smarter and more confident. Males must always be helpless, confused and clueless. After every encounter with a female -in which she, of course dominates-there must be an "I showed you" expression on her face. When male and female children compete in anything, she must be the winner. If not, then there is sexism.
If this inequity is addressed by women's right activists, they are crusaders; when men make these claims, they are whiners.
The Tunnel Dweller.

Did Obama administration stretch health care stat?

AP  "The higher number includes people with common health conditions such as asthma and obesity listed by insurers in their own coverage guidelines as warranting higher premiums, exclusion of coverage for a particular illness or denial, HHS said."

Do You Think The Next Generation Will See a Solvent Social Security System?

ABC News  "The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that if Congress does not act Social Security will run deficits every year until it eventually runs dry in about 2037. Once its $2.5 trillion surplus hits zero in 2037 the program would collect enough money to repay about 78 percent of benefits."
Have a nice day. 

Karl Rove weighs in

On Tuesday, Republicans offered an alternative to the president's big-government vision.

"After Tuesday night's address, the president sent supporters an email about his speech. The subject line read "We Do Big Things" and the message was signed simply "Barack." The familiarity was touching, but the theme was misplaced. Tuesday's speech gave no evidence that Mr. Obama will do the big things this country needs in the next two years."

The GOP's Health-Care Offensive Has Just Begun "Seasoned Democratic observers like pollster Pat Caddell believe that opposition to ObamaCare helped drive turnout and draw independents into the Republican column. The GOP would have deeply damaged its credibility if it failed to follow through on its pledge."

Karl Rove breaks down president's speech, responses. Video

Photo from Huffington Post

Our Sputnik Moment

Investors.com

Brian Farrington

Why Cruise Lines are sailing away from California: avoiding high taxes and Mexican violence

Coach is Right "Since California already has a “reported” $26 billion deficit, the notion that a liberal Democrat like Jerry Brown, supported by a liberal Democrat Legislature, will raise taxes is as sure a bet as the daily tides. They’re fleeing the new taxes they KNOW are coming.
"Second is the extreme violence taking place in the “Mexican Riviera.” It isn’t hard to see the cause and effect between the sickening carnage Acapulco awoke to on Saturday January 15 when 28 bodies... were found on its streets and the unusual ...Saturday afternoon announcement that the major Cruise Lines had paid enough seen enough and were leaving almost immediately. "

Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert

Fox News "The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.

"Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks."
Hat tip to Harley Standlee, Placerville, Ca.

Confronting the Unsustainable Welfare State

Robert Rector and Chuck Donovan Fourteen years ago, an energized Republican Congress voted to reform a vital part of the nation's fast-growing welfare system. President Clinton signed the bill into law, promising that the measure would "end welfare as we know it."
"But what began as a promising era of reform has completely collapsed. Government welfare spending is climbing rapidly, and at an unsustainable rate." 

We’re going to pay poor people to inflate our tires and tell us how to save energy. Yes, really.  "Some of the more astute liberal critics also recognize that workfare poisons the labor market. When companies or government agencies have access to cheap workfare labor, there’s no incentive for them to offer entry-level jobs. Unemployment increases and more people go on workfare. It becomes a never-ending cycle." Pajamas Media, 2009

Conservatives Must Lead Where Obama Has Failed

Heritage  "...President Barack Obama said Americans must “understand [that] if we don’t take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it could damage our markets, increase the cost of borrowing, and jeopardize our recovery—all of which would have an even worse effect on our job growth and family incomes.” This is all true. But then in a total failure of leadership, President Obama went on to completely abandon his own deficit commission’s spending cut proposals."
I honestly cannot see how conservatives can lead; the Democrats will demagogue them into the ground, aided by the press and the entertainment industry. Things will have to deteriorate past the tipping point before the left will get on board and by then it may be too late.

ObamaCare

500 more waivers granted for Obamacare "Note: Darrell Issa and his investigative team have targeted recipients of these waivers to see if some political shenanigans were involved. They might want to start here:"

Medicare Chief Actuary confirms Obamacare a tissue of lies  "In essence, in response to direct questions, Foster blew up the rationale for Obamacare and placed the president and his party in the uncomfortable position of having to explain why they lied to the American people about the two main selling points for the program."  Also here.  Astute Blogger has this: "Obama so-called health care reform is an epic fail and a series of lies perpetrated upon the American people."

GOP invokes 1700s doctrine in health care fight  "They are introducing measures that hinge on "nullification," Thomas Jefferson's late 18th-century doctrine that purported to give states the ultimate say in constitutional matters."

Gary Varvel on "Investments"

http://townhall.com/cartoons/garyvarvel

Darrell Issa reveals list of investigations



signonsandiego

Politico  "According to an outline of hearing topics obtained by POLITICO, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is also planning to investigate how regulation affects job creation, the roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis, recalls at the Food and Drug Administration and the failure of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to agree on the causes of the market meltdown." 

Chairman Issa’s Response to State of the Union  "We agree that American job creators deserve the opportunity to succeed and grow here in the United States. The first step is listening to the personal stories of job creators, innovators and entrepreneurs about how government impacts job creation.” 

Contact info for Rep. Issa

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform  This committee has 41 members. Click to learn about them and about upcoming committee meetings.

Obama's Education Power Grab

Photo: blogs.e-rockford.com 

American Thinker  "Perish the thought! The President is in the process of creating a top-down strategy to "prepare" (translated to mean indoctrinate) teachers to literally transform education as we know it, from an American system to a full-fledged corporatist regime where big business backs the socialist programs. No wonder Obama devoted 11 paragraphs in his SOTU to the topic of education."

More commentary about the substance in the State of the Union (Updated)

Heritage Responds To The State Of The Union  "And here are just some of our experts’ immediate reactions to parts of the speech:"
O's empty State of the Union  "Obama's call for reforming the corporate tax code and medical-malpractice law might issue in bipartisan legislation. Otherwise, the speech was a table-setter for the deeply partisan and ideological combat to come over the budget. The president is trying to take the rhetorical high ground of growth and innovation, while Republicans begin the grim work of austerity." Rich Lowry. 
And the Republicans will be demagogued mercilessly by Obama's followers.

AP’s Devastating Fact Check of Obama’s SOTU  "Apparently the President, having nothing better to offer, has decided to pretend the fact checks (and the facts themselves) don’t exist." 

Terrellaftermath




Fact Checking President Obama's State of the Union Address  "ABC News takes a close look at some of the claims in the president's second annual State of the Union address to the joint Houses of Congress. "

What Obama didn’t mention in his speech  "Some of the most intriguing things in the Statue of Union address were the issues the president did not address:"...
Hey, he didn't blame Bush for anything, did he?

Nate Beeler, TH

Stephen F. Hayes: Not a Winning Speech  "Does President Obama really mean to suggest that the engine of the U.S. economy is government spending? It’s consistent with the way he governed over the first two years of his presidency, but it’s a jarring departure from his sudden centrism.
"Overall, the speech was a lot like the Obama presidency: phony bipartisanship, too much spending, unconvincing rhetoric on fiscal restraint, and not enough attention to foreign policy and national security."

Fred Thompson: Fixing Bathroom Tiles on the Titanic "But in all seriousness, was it too much to ask for one honest statement about the most pressing challenge that our nation has faced since World War II?"

Hope, Change, and "Invest"

Ann Coulter  "Obama said, "We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook."

"And then the government outlawed Edison's great invention, made the Wright brothers' air travel insufferable, filed anti-trust charges against Microsoft and made cars too expensive to drive by prohibiting oil exploration, and right now -- at this very minute -- is desperately trying to regulate the Internet."

....

"Actually, I was glad to hear him say that "there isn't a person here" -- which presumably included Democrats -- who would live anyplace else.

"Then why are they always trying to turn us into Western Europe?"

How Liberal Journalists Think

Moonbattery  "An aspiring liberal journalists explains the connection between the Tea Party and Jared Loughner, as well as why the Unfairness Doctrine is needed to drive Rush Limbaugh off the air:"

Bachmann Hits Home Run For Tea Party

Lloyd Marcus  "Special kudos to my patriot sister Bachmann. Her response to Obama's silky empty words speech was focused, on target, fact-filled, confident and non politically correct "let's make nice nice." Bachmann simply spoke the truth and common sense . Wow, what a concept."
 
MSNBC's Contessa Brewer: Is 'Attention Grabber' Michele Bachmann 'Ruining Chances for Bipartisanship?'  "MSNBC's Contessa Brewer on Wednesday blamed Republicans for obstructionism, complaining about the "attention grabber" Michele Bachmann and her Tea Party response to the State of the Union."  Via brucekelly.com

http://townhall.com/cartoons/mikelester

The juvenile president

Ed Lasky  "Why do taxpayers have to fund his need for excitement? He is like a kid with a credit card who gets thrilled with the mere spending of money-especially other people's money. We have a bored teenager and shopaholic as President."

Here's a second opinion: Al Jazeera's Palestinian document leaks point up Obama's clueless Mideast peace strategy  "The result was an embarrassment for both the U.S. and Abbas as a result of an ill-advised, quixotic initiative by Obama the first time out of the Mideast diplomatic box. By raising the temperature over Jewish areas of East Jerusalem, Obama set off a chain reaction of totally unnecessary tensions with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who stood firm and insisted that Jewish neighborhoods in Israel's capital were not going to be on the negotiating table -- especially since these were the same neighborhoods Abbas already had abjured in private."

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Barack Hussein Obama STFU, er . . . SOTU: “US Muslims Part of American Family”

Debbie Schlussel  "Frankly, since I’ve been the victim of several legitimate, anti-Semitic death, rape, and torture threats . . . ALL of them from Muslims, I’d like to know when Barry Hussein O will lecture Muslims that Jews are part of the American family and always have been...."
 "Like I said, we don’t need to be lectured about Muslims in America being part of the American family. It’s Muslims who need that lecture."

Bachmann-Ryan Overdrive

Rep. Michele Bachmann Hammers Obama in Tea Party Response to SOTU (Video) "Bachmann challenged President Obama to remove job-killing regulations he has imposed on American business."

Ryan: ‘We Still Have Time . . . But Not Much Time’ "Perhaps most notably, he straightforwardly acknowledges what has long been a favorite Obama-administration talking point: that President Obama “came into office facing a severe fiscal and economic situation.”
"But he quickly shifts to challenging the president’s response to the crisis, accusing him of engaging in a “stimulus spending spree” that failed to deliver job creation and plunged the nation deeper into debt."

Mike Ramirez, IBD

Obama’s Moment to Redefine the Modern Middle East

Max Boot  "Unfortunately, instead of someone like Bush, who had served as an ambassador, CIA director, and vice president, we have in the Oval Office a president with no foreign-policy credentials. This president seems to think that the entire region revolves around the moribund Israeli-Palestinian “peace process.” Already Obama missed a crucial opportunity in the summer of 2009 to encourage the Green Revolution in Iran. Let us hope that will be a learning experience."
Refer to the link about the mayor of Las Vegas below.

Reaction Roundup:

The Foundry  "For progressives, politics has always been seen as an ebb and flow between periods of “progress” and “change” and brief interregnums to defend and consolidate the status quo as we wait for the bursting forth of the next great era of reformism. “It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past,” he said at one point, referring to the fight over open homosexuality in the military. “It is time to move forward as one nation.” Look at what he said about “the new health care law”: he is eager to improve it, but “what I’m not willing to do is go back.” “So instead of re-fighting the battles of the last two years, let’s fix what needs fixing and move forward.” Lock in progressive achievements and let’s move on."

Our Brave Leaders  "The Washington Post reports: “Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission’s recommendation to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits, in Tuesday’s State of the Union address.”
"When I read this, I thought of a song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:"

http://townhall.com/cartoons/garyvarvel

The President’s Speech: An Irresponsible Performance  "Still, this doesn’t mean the speech was unimportant. It was, in fact, quite significant in terms of highlighting the president’s cast of mind and how he understands, or fails to understand, the moment we’re in.
"The State of the Union address reaffirmed that Barack Obama remains a man of the left. He spent most of the speech championing an array of new programs, explaining why he believes we need to expand the size, reach, scope, and cost of the federal government." Peter Wehner
DOLLAR CRUMBLES After Obama’s Disappointing SOTU Performance  "The dollar crumbled today after Barack Obama failed to convince investors that he was serious about reducing the record deficit in his State of the Union Address last night."  See video of Las Vegas mayor below:

Reason TV and a Tale of Two SOTUs  "Remember when Obama promised to focus like a laser on jobs and the economy in his third year in office? It looks more like a laser focus on public-sector jobs in education and train service, as well as the usual laser focus on more federal spending." Via Hot Air as is this:

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion "I have a speech which I bet could get even better ratings: "Tell me what you want and it's yours. For free.""

Excuses, Excuses  "Speaking with vigor and aplomb, the president demonstrated once again that he can look serious, act like a president, and read the words that have been written for him.  But so far, he has not demonstrated his ability to be a president, create jobs, or do anything else." American Thinker

Devastating… Frank Luntz Focus Group Dumps On Obama’s “Flat” SOTU Address (Video)

Obama 2.0 - the SOTU  "Will he again boast that under his programs energy costs will necessarily soar and that coal mines will go bankrupt? Will we hear the rage towards "fat cats" and greedy doctors? Will he brag that "spreading the wealth" is his idea of how boost the economy?
"Will Americans buy what is again being sold by the master snake-oil salesman? Will history be repeated as tragedy?"

Karl Rove has this:

Enough for now, but more later, I'm sure. Especially when Ann Coulter and Charles Krauthammer check in.