Reid signs off on debt deal as negotiators get close

Politico  "Opening the Senate at noon, Reid had proceeded with an attempt to cut off debate on an alternative package he put forward. That motion failed 50-49, as expected, but Reid kept his options open to force a second cloture vote if he so chose. Timing was crucial with financial markets reopening Monday, one day before the threat of default.

"While both sides stress that nothing is final yet, the contours of the would-be agreement suggest a more practical approach by Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to achieve many of the party’s goals without pushing Obama and the nation into default."

Reid signs off on bipartisan debt deal but Boehner holds out  "But the emerging deal may be imperiled by last-minute reluctance from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) who worries the proposal cuts too much from future Pentagon budgets."  More here.

(Video) Rand Paul: Obama Manufactured this Crisis

You have to endure a 30-second commercial first.

Krauthammer: Why the Boehner Plan must pass " I have every sympathy with the conservative counterrevolutionaries. Their containment of the Obama experiment has been remarkable. But reversal — rollback, in Cold War parlance — is simply not achievable until conservatives receive a mandate to govern from the White House."

CNN anchor to Rand Paul: I hope you’re happy with yourself, Mr. Tea Party  "From that perspective, this is actually a dynamite sneak preview of how the media will react on Wednesday if today’s deal falls apart and we end up hitting the ceiling. If you want to ask someone why they’ve resorted to desperate measures, at least let ‘em explain why they think these are desperate times, no? Especially since, per Paul, these measures aren’t as desperate as they might be."

http://www.worldmag.com/editorialcartoons/

Rich Lowry: Sounding the Alarm on Defense Cuts  Quoting John Bolton:

....Defense has already taken hugely disproportionate cuts under President Obama, and there is simply no basis for expanding those cuts further. Republican negotiators must hold the line, since the Obama Administration plainly will not.

Mark Steyn on Nancy Pelosi and the debt fight: Decline starts with the money, but it doesn’t stop there.   "That thoughtful observer of the passing parade, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in on the “debt ceiling” negotiations the other day:

“What we’re trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We’re trying to save life on this planet as we know it today.”

"It’s always good to have things explained in terms we simpletons can understand. After a while, all the stuff about debt-to-GDP ratio and CBO alternative baseline scenarios starts to give you a bit of a headache, so we should be grateful to the House minority leader for putting it in layman’s terms: What’s at stake is “life on this planet as we know it today.” So, if right now you’re living anywhere in the general vicinity of this planet, it’s good to know Nancy’s in there pitching for you."

Fort Hood Suspect Had Left-Wing Fan Base

Alana Goodman in Commentary  "When Pfc. Naser Abdo applied for CO status last year, the utterly discredited Iraq Veterans Against the War organization posted a message in support of him on its website, and asked readers to donate to his legal defense fund. And Kimber Heinz, a writer for the far-left website Truthout, unluckily chose to profile Abdo in a 2010 article entitled, “One Year After Fort Hood: The Missing Story of Muslim Peacemaking.”

" “We must lift up the stories and ongoing work of Muslim peacemakers like Naser Abdo,” Heinz wrote."

Hat tip to Weasel Zippers via Freedom Fighter's Journal

Truth in pictures

Hat tip to Ronbo over at Freedom Fighter's Journal  for these.

Moody's: Neither debt plan protects the nation's AAA rating

The Hill   ""Reductions of the magnitude now being proposed, if adopted, would likely lead Moody's to adopt a negative outlook on the AAA rating," the credit rating agency said in a new report. "The chances of a significant improvement in the long-term credit profile of the government coming from deficit reductions of the magnitude proposed in either plan are not high."

"It added that "prolonged debt ceiling deliberations" have increased the odds of a downgrade, but that the firm is still confident policymakers will avoid a default."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/garyvarvel

What’s so wrong with Reid’s bill?

Hot Air  "Finally, as has been repeatedly pointed out, the savings in Reid’s bill aren’t exactly real. Reid touts dollar-for-dollar savings, but that’s a ruse. The bill actually delivers just $1 trillion in cuts in exchange for that unprecedented $2.7 trillion increase. The Global War on Terror savings are a gimmick. The administration has never requested current levels of funding for the war for the next ten years (i.e. the administration has never planned to spend $160 billion each year on the war for the next 10 years).  Not funding what the administration was never going to fund doesn’t qualify as a cut."

House Kills Reid Plan  "Per reports on Twitter, the vote was 246 to 173, with bipartisan opposition to the plan.

"UPDATE: House roll here. I believe 11 Democrats voted against: Barrow, Boren, Braley, Loebsack, Matheson, McIntyre, C. Peterson, Ross, Schrader, Viscloskey, Wu. (Yeah, Wu.)

"So we have Boehner plan killed by Senate and Reid plan killed by House.

"What now?"

The BBC, Breivik, the EDL and Islam

Gates of Vienna "The BBC regards itself as a politically impartial organisation, but their behaviour in the fallout of the Breivik atrocity shows them to be nothing other than the unapologetic propaganda arm of the hard Left and Islam." ....

At the siege of Vienna in 1683 Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. We are in a new phase of a very old war.

...."I have written before that a future religious civil-war will be preceded by tit-for-tat small scale atrocities, and now we have seen the start. By shamefully closing down a desperately needed debate in order to pursue perverse and politically-driven objectives, Paxman, the BBC and the entire political liberal/left have ensured the inevitability of potential carnage and thus have the blood of future innocents on their hands alongside those of the inevitable psychopathic perpetrator."  Paul Weston

The English writer and former UKIP parliamentary candidate Paul Weston weighs in on the state of the BBC, as evidenced by the treatment of Tommy Robinson by Jeremy Paxman on a recent Newsnight program.

Gaffe: when a politician accidentally tells the truth

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/chipbok

While this cartoon captures the nature of Obama's politics, there is one perhaps insurmountable obstacle for those running against the man; he is viewed not as a leftist politician but a celebrity.

 Consider:

From People Magazine: President Barack Obama Pens Essay on 'Being the Father I Never Had' and: Barack Obama Covers People Magazine

From The Black Spin: Obama's Picture, A Thousand Words, Countless Magazine Covers

From the Obama Collector Shop: Barack Obama Magazines

This pretty well sums it all up: 2006-2008 Magazine Covers

 Fawning:  –verb (used without object) Dictionary.com

1. to seek notice or favor by servile demeanor: The courtiers fawned over the king.

2. (of a dog) to behave affectionately.

Hey, Who Wants to Talk About Wisconsin’s Economic Miracle?

Pajamas Media  "If one listened to the violent rhetoric of the public employee unions, one would have expected today to be a dark day for education in Wisconsin. “This is a disaster,” said Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader Mark Miller in February after Governor Scott Walker first proposed Act 10. Miller predicted catastrophe if the bill were to become law, a charge repeated thousands of times by his fellow Democrats, union officials, and protesters in the streets. Now the bill is law, and we have evidence of how wonderfully it is working. Instead of a catastrophe, it is a day of miraculous optimism, balanced budgets, educational improvement, and fiscal recovery."

But it took the political and personal courage of Governor Walker to stand up to demagoguery such as this:



www.benfroland.com



And this:



www.newsrealblog.com



Obama, Geithner Hold All the Face Cards in Debt Ceiling Fight

Jazz Shaw  "The president could also reduce checks or simply fail to pay any number of defense contractors for work already performed or scheduled. This would hit a lot of major Republican donors, not to mention potentially leading to layoffs in that industry for lack of work. And once again, Jay Carney will be out on the White House lawn every day at noon with his big, sad puppy dog eyes detailing how it’s all the fault of the GOP.

"Next up we find a clever way to get the seniors out in the streets. As previously noted, Obama would obviously send out all of the Social Security checks, but he doesn’t have to pay everything associated with Medicare."

I think we can all be sure all cuts will be designed to make Republicans look bad and most people will buy into it.  Conservatives should begin now to inoculate public opinion against this, but that would require a press that was objective, wouldn't it?

Norway: Lessons from a Successful Lone Wolf Attacker

STRATFOR  "While Breivik’s manifesto indicated he planned and executed the attack as a lone wolf, it also suggests that he is part of a larger organization that he calls the [Knights Templar], which seeks to encourage other lone wolves ... and small cells in other parts of Europe to carry out a plan to “save” Europe and European culture from destruction.

"Because of the possibility that there are other self-appointed Justiciar Knights in Norway or in other parts of Europe and that Breivik’s actions, ideology and manifesto could spawn copycats, we thought it useful to examine the Justiciar Knights concept as Breivik explains it to see how it fits into lone wolf theory and how similar actors might be detected in the future."

You knew this was coming didn't you?  Google  Justiciar Knights and the left-leaning search engine will direct you to at least one to the JN as the equivalent of the TEA Party, such as here.

Other perspectives here and here.The following quote is from the latter:

To facilitate the new Crusades, Breivik and a group of others refounded the Knights Templar in April 2002. On page 817 of his tome, he notes that the 12 founding members included an “English Christian atheist,” a “German Christian atheist,” a “Russian Christian atheist,” a “Dutch Christian agnostic,” and three people with no religious description. That is, seven of the 12 founders do not feign any religion whatsoever.

While the TW attempts to diligently warn of the dangers inherent in socialism, liberalism and Islam, in the final analysis it is the God of Creation who puts "hooks into the jaws" of nations to bring about His purposes, no matter what we do.

Birthdays, Peaceful Protests and Code Pink Loonies

Big Peace  "One of the distinguished people I have met through my travels supporting the troops has been Ambassador Bolton. I saw him walking down the sidewalk and went over to say hello. We chatted for a few minutes and then he was on his way."

"As I went to pick up my sign, I noticed Medea Benjamin and her Code pink Cronies approaching Ambassador Bolton. This couldn’t be good I thought to myself. She introduced herself and it wasn’t long before she started her rant."

....

"They had their bullhorn with them and they started ranting about Ambassador Bolton being a war criminal. Criminal … These are the same despots who gave $600,000.00 to the terrorists in Fallujah, and they have the audacity to accuse Bolton of a crime.....

"I went up to him and put the two signs I had between Bolton and the Code Pink loonies, sheltering him from these vile and despicable individuals. Soon Bev Perlson from the Band of Mothers, and Chad Longel a longtime supporter and Army Vet did the same protecting Bolton from the antics of these attention seeking hippies who hate our military."

....

"Bolton continued to thank us, over and over, for standing with him until his ride arrived. He was stunned at how wacko these pathetic individuals were."

Posted by Debbie Lee  On Aug 2, 2006 she received a knock on the door that would forever change her life. She was notified that her son Marc Alan Lee had been killed in action becoming the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. Since that day Debbie has dedicated her life to honoring our troops and the families of the fallen, defending our defenders and fighting to keep the freedoms that our troops have fought for.

Comment in this post from one of the Patriot Guard Riders.

Great job! I am a Patriot Guard Rider and have encountered a few of these cowards. Fortunately I am 6'4" and weigh 225 lbs. My presence cuts down a lot of useless conversation often without a word being spoken. Of course the leathers help as does the motorcycle I ride complete with dual exhaust off a big two cylinder motor with headers. No match for their bullhorn. Wish I could have been there to cover your "6". Sounds like your friend did a fine job.

You rock, Debbie. Thanks for your Patriotism and the sacrifice of your hero son. Keep the faith.     

                                             Below: Patriot Guard Riders logo

And you rock too, Riders. God bless you all. TD

Europeans Losing Patience with Washington Gridlock

Big Peace  "European leaders have long expressed confidence that the US would find a resolution to its ongoing debt impasse. But now there is growing concern that it won’t, according to Spiegel. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble says, “Everyone in the US should be aware of their responsibility for the global financial markets.” "

Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble in June (AP)