Gibbs mocks conservative reporter, White House reporters laugh

Hot Air "Of course, Obama and Gibbs want to keep this dirty little secret a secret. The argument against Obamacare rationing put forward by Ryan is exactly what Obama was trying to ignore by bypassing the Senate and giving Berwick a recess appointment."

Court refuses stay in deepwater drilling case

Yahoo "U.S. appeals court on Thursday rejected the Obama administration's request to stay a lower court decision to lift a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the wake of the BP Plc oil spill. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, ruled about an hour after hearing arguments."

Parasitic Tort Lawyers

John Stossel "Even when the lawyers do help their clients, they hurt everyone else because fear of their lawsuits takes away many good things: Swimming pools, playgrounds and gymnastics programs close because liability insurance is so expensive. Kids lose their favorite places to hang out in the summer.
"More importantly, innovators dump potentially life-saving inventions. Companies that started work on a safer asbestos substitute, an AIDS vaccine and a Lyme disease vaccine gave up the research because any work in those areas risked stirring up the lawyers. The liability risk was too great."

BP Relief well overview and ranging animation (Updated)

BP "This presentation by BP will give you an up to date synopsis of what is going on with the relief well that looks like is going to be a success." Hat tip to Ron Gazda, Richardson, TX 
Progress made on Deepwater Horizon "So now the decision goes back to the secretaries of Energy and Interior to make a decision that could finally "plug the damn hole." Do they allow BP to increase the flow of oil for three days to install the capping stack BOP in order to preclude the need to wait at least until July 20 to stop the well via the relief well."

Discoverer Enterprise Drillship photo.

The Hollow Case Against Arizona (Updated)

Investors.com "After smearing Arizona's immigration law as racial profiling, the Justice Department has issued its lawsuit against the state. But it's not about civil rights anymore. It's about a federal "right" to not enforce U.S. law."
Republicans Slam Obama for Suing Arizona  "Attorney General Holder speaks of the ‘federal government’s responsibility’ to enforce immigration laws; but what are the people of Arizona left to do when the federal government fails in its responsibility?"

Community Board Unanimously Denies Landmark Status to Ground Zero Mega Mosque Site

Atlas Shrugs "New York politicians are bending over backwards, violating protocol, to build a mega mosque at Ground Zero. In warped speed they are ramming it through, removing every obstacle to expedite the process and erect a triumphal mosque at Ground Zero in time for it to meet its stated opening date, the tenth anniversary of September 11th. Why? Would they do this for a church? A synagogue? This is an outrage."

H/t to Townhall

Busted Tribute

Commentary Magazine  "Regardless of what the artist may say, there are artistic conventions. A bust of Stalin commemorates Stalin, not his victims. It is the wrong image in the wrong place." Ben Schachter

The D-Day Memorial  Read about the Stalin Debate .

The Bedford Boys "Nineteen of the young men cut down that day were from the small central Virginia town of Bedford. The saying has been oft repeated that Bedford suffered the greatest loss of any town in the U.S. that day, per capita."
 Why Bedford, Virginia was chosen for the D-Day Memorial. Then we spent the next half-century keeping Stalinists out of this country; only to erect a statue to the tyrant. In Bedford.

President Obama to Make Recess Appointment of CMS Administrator Republicans Attacking as 'Expert on Rationing'

ABC News "In response to these and similar criticisms, a number of physicians' groups and health care organizations wrote a letter on Berwick's behalf, saying "Unfortunately, some of Dr. Berwick’s speeches and writings have been quoted in ways that misrepresent his beliefs. Specifically, it has been suggested that Dr. Berwick is an advocate of health care rationing and that he in some way supports the government making health care decisions that should be made by patients and their doctors. This misrepresentation does a disservice to Dr. Berwick who has a long history as a leader in promoting patient-centered care." "

Democrats digging harder than ever for dirt on Republicans

WaPo "The Democratic Party is moving faster and more aggressively than in previous election years to dig up unflattering details about Republican challengers. In House races from New Jersey to Ohio to California, Democratic operatives are seizing on evidence of GOP candidates' unpaid income taxes, property tax breaks and ties to financial firms that received taxpayer bailout money. " Democrat theme: "See, they ARE worse than we are!"

Afghanistan R.O.E. - Clarify, Not Change

Blackfive "I agree that soldiers need to be able to protect themselves. Personally, I think that the ROE was not that restrictive. I believe that some commanders on down the line took it upon themselves to interpret the ROE in order to ensure that no civilians were killed under their watch in order to protect their careers." Uncle Jimbo.

More Tunnel Vision  "But the purpose of this post (and those that follow) isn't to relive the past so much as it is to examine the present - and determine what, if anything, has changed. Certainly something has (or some things have) but before identifying them it's worthwhile, says I, to revisit a point in time not long ago - before that change occurred... "Greyhawk in Mudville Gazette

Obama Making Carter Years look Like Paradise

Townhall "Plus, the Carter administration didn't view every real or perceived crisis as a political "opportunity." Quite the contrary: The Carter administration learned that crises can lead to political demise. Where did that demise eventually come from? Independent voters. They had committed to Carter because they were weary of Watergate and President Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. They wanted change they could believe in. " Matt Towery is a former National Republican legislator of the year and author of Powerchicks: How Women Will Dominate America.

American Decline is a State of Mind

Victor Davis Hanson "The United States still remains the most racially diverse, stable, free, productive and militarily strong country in the world. Its current crises are largely the political and cultural creations of the most affluent and leisured generation in civilization's history -- not due to long-standing civil unrest, structural weakness or a sudden shortage of natural resources.
"America may well soon decline and simply become no different from any other nation. But such a depressing future would largely be our generation's own free choice; it is not a historical inevitability."