Friday, January 31, 2014

State Department Report Says Keystone Pipeline Will Have No Impact on Carbon Emissions, Clears Way For Approval…

Now it's up to the Man With The Phone.
Weasel Zippers   "There will be a freakout of epic proportions on the left if the Obama administration approves this."

(CNN) — A long-awaited environmental report by the government on the proposed Keystone oil pipeline indicates the project would have negligible immediate impact on overall carbon emissions.
The report released Friday by the State Department is considered crucial to the Obama administration’s eventual decision on whether to move forward with the project.
The pipeline that would transport oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast has been a political football, pitting the oil industry and its Republican backers against environmentalists and liberal Democrats who complain it bolsters the especially dirty fossil fuel production from the tar sands of northern Alberta.

Full article.

 

The Poison of Postmodern Lying; When truth is relative, political expediency becomes the truth.

And the Constitution becomes nothing more that a list of suggestions.

Victor Davis Hanson  "All presidents have, at one time or another, fudged on the truth. Most politicians pad their résumés and airbrush away their sins. But what is new about political lying is the present notion that lies are not necessarily lies anymore — a reflection of the relativism that infects our entire culture."
....
"For that matter, the “law” that requires a president to enforce legislation passed by Congress is likewise a construct. If ignoring bothersome laws — whether the individual mandate and timetable of Obamacare, or federal immigration law — serves a greater social justice, then such dereliction also becomes “truth.” Blindly enforcing legalistic details of the law that are deemed no longer in the interest of the people would be the real lie, or so the reasoning goes."

Charles Krauthammer: How to debunk the ‘war on women’

WaPo   "What is it about women that causes leading Republicans to grow clumsy, if not stupid? When even savvy, fluent, attractively populist Mike Huckabee stumbles, you know you’ve got trouble. Having already thrown away eminently winnable Senate seats in Missouri and Indiana because of moronic talk about rape, the GOP might have learned. You’d think."
....
"Yet there is a very simple, straightforward strategy for seizing the high ground on abortion in a way that transcends the normal divisions and commands wide popular support: Focus on the horror of late-term abortion — and get it banned."
....
"What was her 11-hour filibuster about? Blocking a state law whose major feature was outlawing abortions beyond 20 weeks. Make that the battlefield. Make Davis explain why she chose not just to support late-term abortion but to make it her great cause.

"Stay away from the minefield of gender politics. Challenge the other side on substance. And watch them lose."
 

State Dept. Webcast Features Guest Who Called Clarence Thomas, Condi Rice 'Uncle Toms'

Weekly Standard   ... "The host of the webcast, rapper and State Department Music Ambassador Toni Blackman, will be joined by Pras Michel, a founding member of the hip hop group the Fugees, to discuss "how rap and hip hop have increased social awareness of the African-American experience — and raised even broader issues in contemporary society."  Some of Michel's more inflammatory comments in the past raise questions about the appropriateness of his appearance with the U.S.'s music ambassador on a government-sponsored webcast representing America to the world.

" ... But he saved his harshest words for some well-known black conservatives as he contrasted them with then-presidential candidate Barack Obama:
Somebody said to me you only like Obama because he's black. Well I can think of a couple black people I wouldn't vote for. I'm not into black power. And on the other end of the spectrum, you got the Uncle Toms, the Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice ... I'm not into that either. Obama is a uniter. He's perfectly comfortable with the skin he's in. He's not gonna sell out. That's a man of great principle.
This happens when an agency is run by the left, people who appreciate cartoons like this one:
 

Ann Coulter takes MSNBC's Chris Matthews to task for racial double standard

Examiner.com  "In her new book, "Mugged: Racial Demagoguery From the Seventies to Obama," Ann Coulter takes MSNBC's Chris Matthews to task for his double standard on race, according to an interview published by Newsbusters on Thursday."
....
"Thanks in part to Matthews and other liberals, Coulter says that America is "right back to the '70s and '80s again where people feel that they should be walking on eggshells about anything they say about Obama."

"Worse yet, Coulter told Newsbusters that liberal Democrats are stirring "racial fires" in order "to get Obama reelected.' "

George Will; Four words in the ACA could spell its doom

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne
Washington Post   "Someone you probably are not familiar with has filed a suit you probably have not heard about concerning a four-word phrase you should know about. The suit could blow to smithereens something everyone has heard altogether too much about, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (hereafter, ACA)." Heretofore, "Obamacare"
....
"The four words that threaten disaster for the ACA say the subsidies shall be available to persons who purchase health insurance in an exchange “established by the state.” But 34 states have chosen not to establish exchanges."
Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

Dinesh D'Souza was Right about Obama

By Ed Lasky  "To dispel concerns that he is anti-Israel Obama has repeatedly boasted of his knowledge of Judaism and his dedication to fighting anti-Semitism. They were, like much of what he has says, not quite true.
"When Barack Obama began his presidential campaign, concerns were raised when it was discovered that Jeremiah Wright,  the man he called his "moral compass" and the pastor of his church,  was a severe critic of Israel and anti-Semitic as well ("them Jews"). The tip off to me came when Wright told New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor that when Obama's "enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli" to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."

Watch these workers' faces as they realize what ObamaCare does to them


Investors.com  "To millions of Americans, however, ObamaCare has been just a word. Now, however, every single day thousands of Americans learn the details of ObamaCare's impact on their family, lives and wallets. It's not pretty."
 

... "Since not one single Republican member of Congress voted to pass ObamaCare, its ownership resides solely with Democrats. Which is why you do not hear many of them bragging about that position." ... 
Emphasis added, TD

"Obama is already a lame duck. But whether he talks about his plan or not, these voters will have the opportunity to express their opinion in just 277 days.
If they want to keep their congressional Democrats, they can. If not, they'll have other choices. Period."

The plight of the people above is not the concern of the liberals who voted for this Obama supporter:  

 
The fog is beginning to lift.

President ignores ObamaCare horror stories as human, financial costs pile up  ... "But despite the questionable claims of easier access and more people enrolling in the ObamaCare exchanges, the ugly truth is the horror stories are piling up and, sooner or later, ObamaCare’s cheerleaders will have to confront the overwhelming evidence indicting them for repeatedly lying to the American people." ...

Thanks, Mr. President, but I think we'll do better without you over here.

In Landrieu Races, Obama Helps and Hinders  "Sen. Landreau's "success will ultimately come down to her ability to retain enthusiasm among those blacks while attracting moderate white Democrats who increasingly vote Republican, many of whom are furious about the Affordable Care Act. “Senator Landrieu has supported President Obama’s agenda 97 percent of the time,” her likely opponent, Representative Bill Cassidy, wrote in an email.
 
"While Ms. Landrieu, 58, has largely kept her distance from the president, she is taking any help she can get from her colleagues."...

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Totalitarian Troubadour; We shouldn’t forget that Pete Seeger was Communism’s pied piper.

John Fund
... "Seeger was a talented singer, but he was also an unrepentant Stalinist until 1995, when he finally apologized for “following the [Communist] party line so slavishly.” You’d think Obama might have at least acknowledged (as even Seeger did) the error of his ways. Instead, Obama celebrated him only as a hero who tried to “move this country closer to the America he knew we could be.”
“ 'Over the years, Pete used his voice — and his hammer — to strike blows for worker’s rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation,” said Obama. “We will always be grateful to Pete Seeger.” Not even a hint that the “world peace” Seeger was seeking was one that would have been dominated by the Soviet Union.
....
"I recall interviewing East German dissidents in 1989 who were still angry at Seeger and Kris Kristofferson for the concerts they did on behalf of the Communist regime that built the Berlin Wall. He was hailed in the pages of Neues Deutschland, the Communist-party newspaper in East Berlin, as “the Karl Marx of the teenagers.”
"By all means, let’s remember Pete Seeger for his talent while also remembering the monstrous causes he sometimes served."

Pete Seeger: Culture Warrior Extraordinaire    "How America’s most successful Communist claimed folk music for the Left."

Pete Seeger: A Mean-Spirited and Vengeful Recollection
... "I was not just a Pete Seeger fan, but a to-the-hammer-born, born-and-bred cradle fan of Pete Seeger. With those credentials, permit me to take note of his passing with the observation that he was a fraud, a phony, a poseur, an imposter. The notion of folk music he espoused was a put-on from beginning to end." ...


 

Budweiser Super Bowl commercial: about seven layers of cuteness

Hot Air     ... "I mean, it’s even called “Puppy Love.”
 

 
"Dark exit question: What happened to the guy who tried to adopt the puppy?"

MSNBC apologizes again

MSNBC Fires Employee Responsible for Cheerios Tweet "Priebus sent a letter Thursday morning to Griffin denouncing what he characterized as "demeaning attacks" that "have become a pattern" at MSNBC.
" 'With increasing frequency many of your hosts have personally denigrated and demeaned Americans -- especially conservative and Republican Americans -- without even attempting to further meaningful political dialogue," wrote the RNC chairman.
"It is the latest embarrassing gaffe for MSNBC, which has already parted ways with Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin, while weekend host Melissa Harris-Perry issued a tearful apology for belittling Mitt Romney's adopted African-American grandson.
....
[Sean Spicer] "continued: "We don’t expect their liberal bias to change, but we will call them out when political commentary devolves into personal and belittling attacks.' "

NBC, MSNBC sink to bottom of who the public trusts   "In its fifth trust poll, 35 percent said they trusted Fox news more than any other outlet, followed by PBS at 14 percent, ABC at 11 percent, CNN at 10 percent, CBS at 9 percent, 6 percent for MSNBC and Comedy Central, and just 3 percent for NBC."


MSNBC's Chuck Todd fears "There is a dehumanization going on. There’s some opinion folks trying to dehumanize politicians and other reporters.”
MSNBC anchor Alec Baldwin was recently fired for screaming anti-gay slurs on the street. And let's not forget that MSNBC hired Baldwin just a few weeks after the actor hurled homophobic slurs and threats at a gay journalist.

MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir was recently shown the door for arguing that someone should defecate in the mouth of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

MSNBC anchor Melissa Harris-Perry recently had to apologize for hosting a segment that ridiculed Mitt Romney's adopted grandson over the fact that the infant is black.

MSNBC anchor Toure' recently attacked CNN's Don Lemon's racial bona fides with a taunt accusing the black anchor of being a "white leader."

And there just isn't enough room on the Internet to list the sins MSNBC and NBC News committed against George Zimmerman, or the outright fraud NBC News and MSNBC have engaged in to unjustly smear the Tea Party and Rick Perry and others as every "ist" known to man. 

Barack Hussein Obama’s half-brother, Malik, joins terror group Hamas in advocating the destruction of Israel

Bare Naked Islam
 
"Posted on Malik Obama’s WEBSITE, ‘The Barack H. Obama Foundation,’ is a photo of Malik wearing a Hamas scarf (keffiyeh) that bears a well-known Palestinian slogan – ‘Jerusalem is ours – WE ARE COMING!’ It also includes a map of Palestine that says, ‘From the River to the Sea!’ In other words, Malik is saying, ‘there is no Israel.’ "
Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al wearing the same kind of
Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al (Right) wearing the same kind of keffiyeh
 
President Obama's brother declares his intent to destroy Israel   "President Obama may not be his brother's keeper, but he certainly has honored his half-brother Malik. When he married Michelle Robinson, his best man was Malik. And the president of the Barack H. Obama Foundation? None other than Malik. And that very foundation was fast-tracked to nonprofit status approval at the same time that Tea Party affiliates were being grilled on the content of their prayers.
....
The keffiyeh (or scarf) doesn't just say, 'Al Aqsa is ours and is not their temple'. It also says 'Innana Qadimun', which translates to mean 'We are marching forward'. This famous battle command which is a reference to the prophecy that some day the Muslim world will march on Jerusalem and then the trees and stones will cry out, 'here is a Jew hiding behind me... come O Muslim, come and kill him'.

MSNBC being, well, MSNBC.

First, the cute commercial at the center of the kerfuffle:
"MSNBC brought upon itself a tsunami-sized response from conservatives Wednesday evening for a Tweet promoting an article at MSNBC.com about the new Cheerios ad set to debut during this weekend’s Super Bowl broadcast." From The Gateway Pundit

 
Slimy MSNBC fails to apologize for deleted claim of ‘conservative’ backlash against biracial family  First, the Tweet from MSNBC:
BUSTED: MSNBC Race-Baiters Quietly Edit Cheerios Article Smearing Conservatives "In other words, Gabriela Resto-Montero and MSNBC made up the alleged ‘conservative’,’ right wing’ racist attack on the Cheerios ad.
After Michelle Malkin went after MSNBC on Twitter, MSNBC.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe posted a personal apology on Twitter. Wolffe did not apologize for the article that prompted the tweet nor did he mention the edit.
"The article was edited so that the word conservative was taken out. The article now reads “…sparked a backlash last year.. ”
This from the network that mocked the biracial Romney family a short time back.

 "In a now-deleted tweet, MSNBC predicted “the rightwing” would hate a cute Cheerios ad featuring a biracial family. MSNBC executive editor Richard Wolffe absurdly claimed that his race-baiting network’s race-baiting tweet was “not who we are at MSNBC.' ”
Who you gonna believe - MSNBC or your lying eyes?

From Newsbusters: MSNBC* Slimes 'Right Wing' as Racist Over Cheerios Ad Featuring Biracial Kid; Forced to Apologize
*Home of the race-o-phobic Chris Matthews
"Less than a month after Melissa Harris-Perry's tear-drenched apology for a panel discussion on her MSNBC program which mocked Mitt Romney's adopted black grandson, the cable network again had to apologize on Wednesday, this time for an online post (now deleted) that unjustly accused conservatives of being against interracial marriage and reproduction. An anonymous writer on MSNBC's official Twitter account wrote: "Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family."

"Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin led the charge against the inflammatory Tweet, encouraging her followers to post photos of their multiracial families, using the hashtag #MyRightWingBiracialFamily. It didn't take long for the pictures to come in:"  Read more:

In conclusion, the author of this Newsbusters piece, Matthew Balan wrote:

This latest MSNBC controversy struck a particular chord with me, as I am biracial myself. It was my immigrant father, who came to the United States from the Philippines five years before I was born, who helped form my sense of patriotism and my conservatism. My Caucusian mother of Polish/German/mixed British heritage deserves much of the credit for my Catholic faith and for my pro-life activism. The left's overuse of the race card regularly infuriates me, as too many of them cannot fathom that any "diverse" person could be a conservative. I hope that MSNBC's apology was sincere, but I can't say I will be surprised if they get caught up in another racial gaffe in the future.

This lawless, intimidating administration that makes Republicans tremble and our enemies laugh

Tankity tank

"Now that we’ve heard Obama at the SOTU, it’s a perfect time to check in with PJ Media’s Trifecta.
"What do you think of Obama’s latest power grabs, gentlemen?"


Judicial Watch Continues Lawsuit Against Obamacare Lawlessness  "It’s very clear why President Obama has resorted to these extra-constitutional means to avoid the unpleasant consequences of Obamacare. He’s a politician, and he knows that his unpopular healthcare overhaul will lead to disastrous political results he’d rather delay as long as possible. The problem is the Obama administration is operating outside the law, and businesses are suffering."
 
Sheila Jackson Lee On SOTU: ‘Executive Orders Are Legal,’ Obama Acting ‘On Behalf Of The American People’

Jim DeMint’s Message to Obama: Stop Acting Like an Imperial President



Holder Confirms Obama Ready to Use Executive Order on Guns ‘in Absence of Meaningful Action’ by Congress   “ 'When you look at the quality – not just the quantity, but the quality – the nature of the executive orders that he has issued, he has usurped an extraordinary amount of authority within the executive branch,” ...
"[Sen. Mike Lee] Lee called for the Department of Justice to release documents that explain the executive action decision “so that the American people can be aware of what’s happening and on what basis [the President] is claiming that authority.”

This Is Starting to Look Like a Pattern of Political Moves and Prosecutions  The author of this post gives us twelve examples of Obama administration acts and asks if we see a pattern in them. After the list, he gives us this fact:
"Here is one more fact. In 2012, Obama’s campaign deliberately disabled safeguards on its website, allowing it to collect illegal foreign donations. It did accept illegal foreign donations; to what extent is unknown. Those donations, and the campaign staff who disabled the safeguards, were never investigated or prosecuted. The media never showed much interest in investigating, either."

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

GOP Crafts Plan to Wreck the Country, Lose Voters

Ann Coulter  ..." Immigrants -- all immigrants -- have always been the bulwark of the Democratic Party. For one thing, recent arrivals tend to be poor and in need of government assistance. Also, they're coming from societies that are far more left-wing than our own. History shows that, rather than fleeing those policies, they bring their cultures with them. (Look at what New Yorkers did to Vermont.)

"This is not a secret. For at least a century, there's never been a period when a majority of immigrants weren't Democrats.

"At the current accelerated rate of immigration -- 1.1 million new immigrants every year -- Republicans will be a fringe party in about a decade.

 ... " According to a Harris poll, 81 percent of native-born citizens think the schools should teach students to be proud of being American. Only 50 percent of naturalized U.S. citizens do."

After numerous disconcerting statistics about where illegal immigration is taking America, Ms. Coulter has to wonder
How are Republicans going to square that circle? It's not their position on amnesty that immigrants don't like; it's Republicans' support for small government, gun rights, patriotism, the Constitution and capitalism.

Reading these statistics, does anyone wonder why Democrats think vastly increasing immigration should be the nation's No. 1 priority? 

Christian Singer Walks Out on Grammys After ‘Satanic’ Performances

Infowars
"Katy Perry conducts bizarre witchcraft ceremony during event

"Popular Christian gospel singer Natalie Grant walked out of the Grammys after witnessing a series of performances that even the mainstream entertainment media admitted were occult in nature.

Natalie Grant         @NatalieGrant

I've never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I've never been more sure of the path I've chosen.
 
"Grant, who was nominated for two Grammys last night, tweeted her excitement upon arriving at the event but soon made it clear that she left early because what she witnessed conflicted with her Christian beliefs, stating, “We left the Grammy’s early. I’ve many thoughts, most of which are probably better left inside my head. But I’ll say this: I’ve never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I’ve never been more sure of the path I’ve chosen.”
"Although she remained coy on the exact circumstances, Grant was probably referring to Katy Perry, who was surrounded by demons as she danced around an upside down broomstick before being encircled by fire during a performance of her song “Dark Horse”. Perry wore clothing bearing an illuminated Knights Templar cross.
"Even E! Online tweeted that Perry’s performance resembled “actual witchcraft”."

AJ McCarron: 'Really Demonic' Performances at Grammys Show 'There's a Lot of Evil in the World'  "Former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, who is preparing for the NFL Draft, was watching the Grammys on Sunday and felt that the "really demonic" performances showed that "there is a lot of evil in the world.' "

SEE PEOPLE REACT TO OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH... Before it even happened.

KSFO San Francisco  "We’re not certain if it’s just an American problem, but some people in this country seem to care more about appearing on television than they do about actually knowing what they are talking about.
 
"Several hours before President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress with his State of the Union address, ABC-TV’s late night star, Jimmy Kimmel sent his “Lie Witness News” cameras to the streets outside of his Hollywood Boulevard studios to ask people what they thought about the president’s speech. Again, Kimmel’s camera crew was on the streets before the SOTU even happened."

Hat tip to Harley Standlee; Placerville, CA.

Feminists Furious About Cathy McMorris-Rodgers’ SOTU Rebuttal

By Cassy Fiano at Victory Girls  "It was inevitable. It happens whenever a conservative female Republican dares to be vocal about their political beliefs. Last night, President Obama delivered his State of the Union speech. The rebuttal for the GOP was delivered by Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. And she did well — even the liberal media is begrudgingly admitting that
"Shockingly, the woman chosen to deliver the GOP’s rebuttal spoke about conservative policies. This has just infuriated the self-proclaimed feminists, who are all outraged that the woman-hating Republicans let a woman talk, or something.
"First up is the ever-inclusive Amanda Marcotte:" ...
....
"The only thing that matters to feminazis is that a woman is a liberal feminist extremist. If you don’t fit the bill, like Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, then don’t dare make the mistake of expecting that today’s modern feminists will speak for you. They’ll rip you to shreds, and then claim they did it in the name of being pro-woman."
 
‘Where’s the Needlepoint?’: MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Mocks McMorris Rodgers’ GOP Response

 Alex Wagner         @alexwagner
"Living room. Lady on a settee. Where's the needlepoint?"
 ....
"Curious to know how Wagner would have reacted if someone had said something similar about this Hillary Clinton video, [h/t @redsteeze]:"
 

What lies ahead after this SOTU?

Political Cartoons by Eric Allie
Will presidential arrogance deliver the Senate to the GOP?
"The arrogance on this approach exists on more than one level. Once again, it plays directly into the Republican narrative, and Democrats who hitch their wagon to Obama may find that provoking the GOP base is a bad idea when Obama doesn’t have anything personally at stake in an election … again."

A speech to wake up a very sleepy base  "Last night's performance speaks volumes about President Obama's political problems. 
"He did not mention the Affordable Health Care Act until the 40th minute!  Isn't this his premiere accomplishment?  Then he goes after the House's repeal votes but overlooks that it's Democrats running for reelection who are worried about it."

This cartoon via Alan Caruba on Facebook:
Photo
 

Governing by Pen and Phone; Obama used to sigh that he was not a dictator who could act unilaterally. No more.

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson
Victor Davis Hanson  ... "We are reentering Nixonian times, or perhaps worse, given that a free press at least went after Nixon’s misdeeds and misadventures. Now it has silenced itself for fear of harming a once-in-century chance for a fellow progressive’s makeover of America. We live in an age when a CNN moderator interrupts a presidential debate to help her sputtering candidate, and when a writer for the often ironic and sarcastic New Yorker sees no irony in doing a fawning interview with the president, tagging along on a shakedown jet tour from one mansion of crony capitalists to the next — as Obama preaches to the head-nodders about inequality and fairness in order to ensure that the bundled checks pour in.

"Without the media acting as a watchdog, the administration has with impunity found the IRS useful in going after political opponents. When Obama’s IRS appointees were exposed, he for the moment called their deeds outrageous; when the media did not pursue the outrage, he wrote it off as a nothing story.

"The media certainly thought it was nothing, given that none of the obsequious Washington press corps will be unduly audited or indicted."

State of the Union: Assessing the man and his message

Pabulum from the POTUS  "This man, our President, is the emptiest suit of empty suits.  There is no there there. "
...."He has devastated American medical care, intentionally; he wants it redistributed from the rich to the poor.  The result is that no one but the very rich will get good care, if any care at all."
...."He took credit last night for our oil production even though he has done everything he can to impede it."
.... " There is not a single person in the Obama administration that measures up to any one of those former or current philosophical geniuses.  Not one.  He has surrounded himself with lesser beings than himself which is proof of his narcissism and a tragedy for our country.
By Patricia McCarthy, who otherwise thought Mr. Obama was a genius.

AP ‘Fact-Checks’ Obama’s Latest SOTU Address
"Fact check: Less than meets eye in Obama speech"
"He’s ordering a higher minimum wage  for a sliver of the workforce, which affects no one now and not many later."
... "Oh, and never mind that this tiny sliver of federal workers are mostly janitorial and cafeteria workers who just happen to be represented by the SEIU. The union that seems to own Obama lock stock and barrel."
Political Cartoons by Henry Payne
 Snow jobs and minimum honesty: Fact-check roundup on SOTU 
 "Perhaps because Barack Obama managed to “win” Politifact’s Lie of the Year in 2013, we have a few media outlets on the case today — the Associated Press, Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post, and Politico all got rapid research completed overnight. What nuggets did they find?" ...

The TOTUS Who Can’t Look America in the Eye   "Not once — not even once — did the man who claims to be the legitimate leader of our nation ever look me, and all the other watching citizens of this nation, in the eye during his State of the Nation speech. He was a dash-top bobble-head, swinging back and forth from prompter to prompter.
"Good grief! The man can’t uncouple himself from his comfort-zone technology for even a moment to look Americans in the eye just once, and give us some sense of our comfort that he is sincere."
Political Cartoons by Jerry Holbert
“The world is literally about to blow up,” Graham said, saying he completely disagrees with Obama on Iran policy.

Political Wire:    ..."Obama's State of the Union was agreeable in tone -- he laid out what he was for (on the economy, immigration, health care) but did so hoping that some Republicans could agree with him. It wasn't confrontational. And not surprisingly, it tested well:" ...

Obama Draws Chuckles At SOTU When He Says He’s Trying To Fix Healthcare
Political Cartoons by Gary McCoy
 Consider the source line of the night: "If you like your health insurance you can keep your health insurance—PERIOD..
"If you like your doctor ,you can keep your doctor—PERIOD…
"Global warming is a fact —PERIOD
Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy
Ted Cruz reacts to State of the Union: Obama doesn't need a pen, he needs an eraser  " 'When the president says that he has a pen and he has a phone -- if you want to bring back opportunity, he doesn't need a pen, he needs an eraser," Cruz said. "He needs to start erasing the job-killing regulations, the job-killing taxes. He needs to start erasing the damage that Obamacare is doing to millions of Americans.' "


MSNBC's(!) Howard Fineman: Obama Not Taken Seriously Around Town
"This is a huge acknowledgement by Fineman, who has been second only to Matthews as chief MSNBC Obama cheerleader." 

Governor Christie has nothing on Obama bully boys at payback time


Washington Examiner  "Closing down a bridge to punish a mayor for not endorsing Gov. Chris Christie for re-election was an unambiguous abuse of power by individuals on the governor’s staff and was rather petty to boot. This kind of bullying is hardly unique to New Jersey, though. It goes on at the federal level, too. In fact, the now-former Christie associates are amateurs compared to President Obama’s team of pin-striped tough guys.

"Consider the government shutdown last fall when the president authorized the needless closing of federal parks and museums in an attempt to smear Republicans. Obama’s team got so carried away that they even tried to close state-run parks in Wisconsin that weren’t dependent on federal funds. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had to defy federal orders to keep them open."

Alan Caruba: One Speech Too Many

Warning Signs
 
... "Obama’s refusal and failure to work with Congress, combined with the disaster of Obamacare that was passed with only Democratic Party votes and, even then, required Chicago-style bribery and pressure, has seen not just his approval begin to slip away, but it includes the whole of Congress.
"Obama’s assertion that he will use executive orders to get his way is simply an admission that he has failed to work with Congress and intends to continue as his second term shapes up to be one of increased resistance. Earlier presidents faced with a Congress whose power was held by another party used persuasion and compromise, but Obama uses neither." ...

The President Won't Be Needing You

Obama speech 'goading' GOP  Rep. James Lankford called Obama's speech Tuesday, "an intentional provocation of congressional Republicans, calling the speech an empty attempt rally his liberal base."

Heritage
HR-Jan29-Action-Figure_600
 
"President Obama says this is a “year of action”—and last night he made it very clear whose action he was talking about.
"After noting recently that he has a pen and a phone and can use those to make changes without the help of Congress, Obama charged forward with promises of taking executive action wherever lawmakers fail to meet his demands.
“ 'This President has acted like the playground bully who when he can’t have everything he wants, he decides to take his ball and go home,” Heritage President Jim DeMint said yesterday. “This is not the way our government is supposed to work.”
"Indeed—Heritage’s legal experts have long questioned the legality of the President’s lone ranger style. And early analysis of this year’s State of the Union proposals indicates the executive branch will continue to run amok." ....

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Is It Possible to Love the Artist, but Hate His Politics? The culture clash over Pete Seeger's legacy.

This is a good reprimand to those of us who only know of Seeger as a communist sympathizer and look no deeper into the man than that. These thoughts could have also applied to Springsteen had he practiced his art in the early to mid-twentieth century instead of today. I disagreed with Seeger, but knew he was for real; I cannot help but see Springsteen's music - excellent as it is - as shtick  .  TD
Heller cartoon: Pete Seeger
By Rick Moran at PJ Media  "Communist activist and troubadour Pete Seeger is dead. The outpouring of vitriol on the right and hagiography on the left is entirely predictable and, with few exceptions, entirely banal. Turning Seeger’s death into another clash in the culture wars somehow seems tiresome, like two old boxers coming out of their corners for the 12th round. Battered, beaten, bloody, all they have left is the instinct to try to destroy each other. Whatever art and artifice they possessed disappeared long before the bell clanged for the last round.

"Must we reduce everything in America to a right vs. left Armageddon? One longs for a more complicated, less knee-jerk combative analysis of people like Pete Seeger. Actually, there has been no one like Pete Seeger, and future historians will brush aside most of the shallow, venomous assaults on his memory — as well as the one-dimensional paeans that whitewash his execrable politics — and look at the totality of his life and judge his monumental contributions to American society."

Clinton supporter to CSPAN: Ben Carson 'trying out for Uncle Tom’s Cabin'

Examiner.com  "On Monday, a supporter of Hillary Clinton went on a racially-charged rant during a call to CSPAN's "Washington Journal," attacking Dr. Ben Carson, Allen West and men in general, the Washington Free Beacon reported:

 
" 'Good morning. I am a black woman from Fort Washington, Maryland. And yes, Hillary Clinton will run for office and she will win," the caller began, before launching into a racist tirade against conservative blacks who dare to not stay on the Democratic Party plantation.

" 'Mr. Carson, the only thing he’s going to be doing is trying out for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, because it’s kind of full right now with Allen West and the crew," she said.

"The caller then went on a rant against men in general." ...

This is all the natural result of Today's Democrat Party and the leftist demagoguery that is woven into their character, smothering all traces of tolerance and compassion. TD

These were NOT Pete Seeger's finest moments

Famed Folk Singer, Songwriter And Political Activist Dies At 94
"His musical career was always braided tightly with his political activism, in which he advocated for causes ranging from civil rights to the cleanup of his beloved Hudson River. Seeger said he left the Communist Party around 1950 and later renounced it. But the association dogged him for years."

Seeger was apparently a sucker for liberal causes and apparently not wise enough to judge the worth of them. He supported the Occupy movement -including, in my mind- their deplorable excesses (I've never heard of Seeger condemning them) and, most amazingly, Al Sharpton and Tawana Brawley.
He got himself jailed for five days for blocking traffic in Albany in 1988 in support of Tawana Brawley, a black teenager whose claim of having been raped by white men was later discredited. He continued to take part in peace protests during the war in Iraq, and he continued to lend his name to causes.
America’s Most Successful Communist ... ... "Given his decisive influence on the political direction of popular music, Seeger may have been the most effective American communist ever."
...
"Though Seeger didn’t formally join the Communist Party until 1942, the Almanacs’ lyrics marched in lockstep with the party’s views well before then. In keeping with the line adopted after the 1939 Hitler-Stalin pact (which caused many U.S. party members to quit in disgust), for example, the Almanacs warbled against American entry into World War II, foreshadowing the preference for peace at any price that later characterized the McGovernite Left. “Franklin D., listen to me,/You ain’t a-gonna send me ’cross the sea.” The group continued in this vein into the late 1940s. Campaigning for Progressive Party anti–cold war candidate Henry Wallace in 1948, they regularly performed a send-up of Harry Truman, to the tune of “Oh, Susannah”:" ...

Governing by Pen and Phone; Obama used to sigh that he was not a dictator who could act unilaterally. No more.

Victor Davis Hanson  "There are lots of creepy things about such dictatorial statements of moving morally backward in order to go politically “forward.” Concerning issues dear to the president’s heart — climate change, more gun control, de facto amnesty, more massive borrowing supposedly to jump-start the anemic, jobless recovery — Obama not long ago had a Democratic supermajority in the Senate and a strong majority in the House. With such rare political clout, he supposedly was going to pass his new American agenda.

"Instead, all he got from his Democratic colleagues was more borrowing and Obamacare. In the case of the latter, the bill passed only through the sort of pork-barrel kickbacks and exemptions to woo fence-sitting Democratic legislators that we hadn’t seen in the U.S. since the 1930s. And for what? Obamacare (be careful what you wish for) is proving to be the greatest boondoggle in American political history since Prohibition. If Obama sincerely
wished to work in bipartisan fashion with Congress, he probably could easily get a majority vote to build the Keystone XL Pipeline, or a backup sanction plan against Iran in case his own initiatives fail." ...

Bridenstine Bringing Ty Woods' Dad to SOTU

Father of SEAL Killed in Benghazi to Attend Presidents Big Address Tuesday
Charles Woods
Big Government  "Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) is determined to counter the Obama Administration’s efforts to sweep the massacre at the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya under the rug. Bridenstine announced Monday that his personal guest at Tuesday’s State of the Union address will be Charles Woods, the father of Navy SEAL Ty Woods, who was murdered in the 2012 terrorist attack that the Obama Administration initially insisted was the result of an anti-Islam video."
Mr. Woods testified,
When I was approached by Hillary Clinton at the coming-home ceremony of the bodies at Andrews Air Force Base, and she said, “We’re going to go out and we’re going to prosecute that person that made the video,” I knew that she wasn’t telling the truth, and I think the whole world knows that now.
 More on this here.

A GOP Congressman Is Bringing Father of SEAL Killed in Benghazi to Obama’s State of the Union Address
“ 'Republican leaders were urging their members to bring people who have been hurt by Obamacare. Some Democrats plan to bring illegal immigrant children who were granted a temporary stay of deportation by Mr. Obama, hoping their presence will spur a push for a broader immigration bill to pass Congress this year,” the report notes."


The nauseating spectacle the State of the Union has become

Pinocchio
 
Republicans, beware The SOTU Curse  "Why responding to the president can be hazardous to your political career."

Jonah Goldberg; The Pull of the SOTU    ... "But I really do resent the demand on my time and attention to listen to a fairly pathetic wish list of focus-grouped programs and the rhetorical placating of various constituencies. As a fan of civic rituals myself, I understand why some people have a soft spot for the pageantry of this thing. But I find it all canned, tacky and vaguely monarchical. If you find that too mealy-mouthed, I strongly recommend you read Kevin Williamson’s piece today. He’s less equivocal. "...


OK, we will. Here:

On the nauseating spectacle that is the State of the Union address
"The State of the Union is only one example of the deepening, terrifying cult of the state that has taken root here. Many heads of state — and some royals, for that matter — fly on commercial aircraft. ... but are known to use mass transit — just like the people they are elected to represent. An American president stages a Roman triumph every time he heads out for a round of golf. ...Washington has become ...a Renaissance court with armored sedans and hundred-million-dollar paydays.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Thinking ahead to the State of the Union speech.

image1-Gallery: Obama State of the Union cartoons
You Said A Mouthful  "His major thrust is going to be "income inequality" and all that goes with it - jobs, the economy, education, and a half-century of progressive, overfunded social programs which haven't made a dent in poverty. Actually, he'll skip that last bit because it now seems like the biggest factor in creating upward economic mobility is having a stable family structure - something to which the Left is adamantly opposed."

Forbes; Obama's State Of The Union Address: If You Like Your Income Inequality, You Can Keep It  "President Barack Obama was right when he said, “The long-term unemployed are not lazy. They’re not lacking in motivation. They’re coping with the aftermath of the worst economic crisis in generations.”
"He should know, his policies prolong the situation.
"From a promised minimum wage increase, to destabilization of the health care system,  to an energy policy encapsulated by “Under my plan … electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,” no part of the Obama vision is about making America freer and richer."

Obama enlists corporations in State of the Union plan to address long-term unemployment   "The wall street journal reported the pledge Monday morning. It commits corporations to boosting the long-term unemployed by ensuring that they are not unfairly treated in companies' advertising or hiring decisions and improving their efforts to hire those out of work for long periods. The pledge does not appear to include any legally binding provisions."
image13-Gallery: Obama State of the Union cartoons

Feeding the RGI ( “Racial Grievance Industry” )

Neal Boortz  "This is an industry operated by and for the benefit of people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.  The simple fact is without racial grievances to promote and to wail over, these people generally cease to exist.
            "The Atlanta Journal Constitution certainly did its part to provide fodder for the RGI over the weekend.  How’s this for a story?  “New Cities Reignite Debate Over Race.” 
            "Really?  As you went about your daily routine in Atlanta and the ‘burbs were you aware that the debate over race had been reignited?  All this time I thought that people were concerned about finding or keeping their jobs, navigating the crevasse-filled landscape of 0bamacare, or how to put aside enough money to retire in the face of today’s confiscatory tax rates."
....
All this fits the leftist template:
To recognize people as individuals is to deny their all-important group identity.  Group identities are so important to the left – so easy to exploit for political power.  Liberals love groups .. mobs.  Groups don’t think, they just react in mass like lemmings.  Individuals – white or black – think independently and are thus difficult to control or manipulate.

George Floyd Revisited: Derek Chauvin Was Wrongfully Convicted

  The American Spectator | USA News and Politics Derek Chauvin and his colleagues did not murder George Floyd. Chauvin’s prosecution and tri...

https://spectator.org/