In Other Words...

Ann Coulter "[Dana] Milbank was employing the MSNBC motto, "In Other Words," which provides the formula for 90 percent of the political commentary on that network. The MSNBC host quotes a Republican, then says "in other words," translates the statement into something that would be stupid to say, and spends the next 10 minutes ridiculing the translated version. Which no one said. Except the host."

Why Are We Tiring of Obama?

Victor Davis Hanson "...Bottom line: an academic sermon on peace/war with the now accustomed Obama characteristics:1) long again (4,000 words); 2) “I” or “me” 34 times: same old self referencing; 3) the inadvertent cosmic arrogance [“I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war.” = you think?]; 4) straw men trope: some say this; others say that; but I uniquely say…; 5) reference to my own personal inspirational story; 6) trash my predecessor or his policies; 7) end with hopey/changey cadences.That was pretty much it — a pulpit exegesis that could have been cut to 500 words." And check out the list of gaffes Hanson adds.

Senate Bill Has Un-Killable ‘Death Panel’

Sweetness&Light ‘‘INDEPENDENT MEDICARE ADVISORY BOARD ‘‘SEC. 1899A. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an independent board to be known as the ‘Independent Medicare Advisory Board’. ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to, in accordance with the following provisions of this section, reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending—" Some annotations deleted within the excerpt to eliminate clutter. Open the link and you'll see what we mean. TD

Seeing the Savior ; Are Our Eyes Ready?

By Regis Nicoll in Breakpoint "But on this particular day, the Promise slipped into human history unnoticed by eyes and ears that were scanning the horizon for a conquering king. I can imagine village folk approaching the curious crowd, asking, “What’s going on there? Why all the fuss? The Messiah, you say? A Savior?” Some, familiar with the narrative and piqued to know more, lingered. They examined the setting and asked further questions to see if the prophesies and circumstances lined up. While others, expecting a full-grown Homeric hero, shook their heads and walked away."

Surprise: Obama Administration Telling General Motors How To Operate Plants

SayAnythingBlog "Back in November, in the midst of the auto bailout circus, Obama assured the public that “we are not in the business of running a car company. We’re not getting involved in day-to-day management.” But according to the Wall Street Journal today, it appears as though the Obama administration is involved in the day-to-day running of the car companies." h/t to Neal Boortz

Christmas, 2009

Roxanna Moser in AT "...Apologies rampant to those far abroad? /Rights dear and precious for those in jihad? /Of bowing and scraping we've had quite enough. /And to those who would harm us, it's time to get tough...."

The Washington Post Asks a Really Stupid Christmas Question

Newsbusters "The headline writers of Washingtonpost.com ought to win an award for the dumbest question of December. In a sentence promoting their discussion board for "The Secularist’s Corner," they wrote: "One in four Americans believe in 'spiritual forces' like ghosts. Is belief in the supernatural unlike the traditional story of Christmas?""

Alan Caruba: "America's Christmas Wars"

Warning Signs

"Now they drive apart those who respect the traditions of all religions and those atheists who insist that everyone else reject belief in a higher power or give voice to it. Not content with toleration, they appeal to the courts and, as is the case in New Jersey, they get their way."

Yes, Virginia there was a Santa Claus.

Phil Boehmke in AT "Sadly our new "green" sleigh could not be deployed this season. The Secretary of Health and Human Services informed me that flying in an open sleigh, making entrance and egress to domiciles via chimney and consuming whole milk and cookies constitute dangerous and unnecessary health risks and that I would be subject to fine and possible imprisonment under the provisions in the Affordable Health Care Reform Act."

Hamas Declares Intention: all of Palestine, Brits Fall in Line

Atlas Shrugs "The cat is out of bag. As if we didn't know. The destruction of Israel is in the first paragraph of the Hamas charter. Hamas wants it all. All of Palestine. In front of a hundred thousand people in the city center of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh explained this week the goal of Hamas. The moderate Minister President of the moderate wing of this religious Palestinian organization announced publicly which peaceful peace solution his government was seeking....The ultimate solution is the liberation of all of Palestine."

Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces New Delay

NY Times "...officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest..."

Gitmo Does Not Cause Terrorism/ Doubt It? Ask the Blind Sheikh.

Andrew C. McCarthy "The red-carpet treatment didn’t begin or end with the trial. There were Miranda warnings upon arrest (no one cooperated). ...Mountains of evidence were culled from intelligence files and duly shared with overseas terrorist organizations. The defense enjoyed a couple of years to make motions to get more discovery, to suppress evidence, and to dismiss the indictment. When things finally went to trial, there was a two-month defense case (that’s much longer than most criminal trials), which allowed them to put the government on trial for its investigative tactics."