Rubio: “The president has become divisive, cynical, given to hyperbole on these issues, always looking to pit Americans against each other in some sort of political calculation”

Weasel Zippers   "Rubio’s far too nice. Obama has not “become” these things — they are in his DNA and have defined him from the beginning."
Quoting from The Hill:

“When this president ran for office in 2008, he said he was going to be different, he said he was going to be a post-partisan uniter that brings everyone together and three and a half years later the president, quite frankly, has become like everyone else in Washington D.C,” the freshman senator said on Fox News Sunday.
“This obsessive effort to win his reelection — he has lost himself and he has lost what makes him different and this issue of how they’ve used the bin Laden raid is one example about how his administration has become just like everybody else,” Rubio added. . . .
Rubio said that Obama’s time in Washington has made him more “cynical” and “divisive.”

Though I agree that Obama was always like this and has not  changed a bit, I think Sen. Marco Rubio worded it wisely and will be taken more seriously by some whose minds need to be changed. TD

Castro: Obama rips United States and compliments Cuba to visitors

Education Action Group Foundation:

“President Obama knows this only too well and has talked about it with some of his visitors. He candidly told one of them: ‘The problem is that the United States sends soldiers while Cuba, however, sends doctors.’” Really? That’s what our commander-in-chief said to visitors, presumably at the White House?
Is it any wonder our standing in the world continues to diminish?

Hat tip to Weasel Zippers

Interactive 2010 US Census Map

NY Times

You can zoom in and out to get the information on the places you know.Use your cursor and you can move around the map and zoom in on specific counties to get current stats. It is very interesting!Just glide your cursor over the map and it displays every county.Can't imagine how long it took to create this map!Amazzzzzing!

Hat tip to Chuck MacNab at The Missouri Patriot in Wentzville, Missouri

Elizabeth Warren's punchline problem (UPDATED)

Thomas Lifson  "The awful truth is dawning on many Democrats, possibly including Elizabeth Warren herself: her candidacy for "Teddy Kennedy's seat" has turned into a nightmare, raising all sorts of uncomfortable issues for public scrutiny. Even worse, Alinsky's  favorite tool, ridicule, is being deployed to make points that inflict lasting damage on sacred cows of the left like affirmative action and the transcendent wisdom of Harvard Law School progressives.
"It is starting to damage the Democratic brand."


UPDATE; Michael Barone: Comedic Counting by Race
"In the meantime, what may undermine racial quotas and preferences most effectively is ridicule. For isn’t the idea that the blond, blue-eyed Elizabeth Warren suffered some terrible disadvantage and is in need of special preference because she is one-thirty-second Cherokee just laugh-out-loud funny?"


Mark Steyn: Composite Americans  Shouldn't it be "Composite- hyphen- Americans"? But I digress.
"Then there’s “Elizabeth,” a 62-year-old Democratic Senate candidate from Massachusetts. Like Barack’s white girlfriend, she couldn’t be black. She would if she could, but she couldn’t. But she could be a composite — a white woman and an Indian woman, all mixed up in one! Not Indian in the sense of Ashton Kutcher putting on brownface make-up and a fake-Indian accent in his amusing new commercial for the hip lo-fat snack Popchips. But Indian in the sense of checking the “Are you Native American?” box on the Association of American Law Schools form, which Elizabeth Warren did for much of her adult life. According to her, she’s part Cherokee and part Delaware. Not in the Joe Biden sense, I hasten to add, but Delaware in the sense of the Indian tribe named in honor of the home state of Big F***kin’ Chief Dances with Plugs."  Mark, Mark, Mark. Sigh.
But wait! There's more!
...."George Zimmerman, redneck; Elizabeth Warren, redskin. Under the Third Reich’s Nuremberg Laws, Ms. Warren would have been classified as Aryan and Mr. Zimmerman as non-Aryan. Now it’s the other way round. Progress!"  Emphasis mine.

Obama’s Lil’ Pet

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/05/obamas-lil-pet/

The ‘Crucify Them’ Presidency

Wall Street Journal: KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL  "The Armendariz story matters precisely because he is the model Obama regulator. Hamstrung by both public opinion and Congress, President Obama has turned to these types to enact his broader agenda."
...."In other words, he was a perfect general for Mr. Obama’s war against natural gas. The White House is hostile to fossil fuels, yet it has been unable to get Congress or the public to act. So it has unleashed the EPA to crack down on those industries.

The bonanza in natural gas has nonetheless been tricky for the feds, since hydraulic fracturing regulation is technically left to the states. The agency’s solution has been to invent enforcement actions out of existing federal law to harass drillers."

...."Mr. Armendariz apologized for his “words,” though you might wonder why. He was picked to do a job-to “crucify” industry-and he did it. His real mistake was admitting it."  H/T to Canada Free Press

American Enterprise Institute

What the Frack? More Regs for Domestic Production  "The congressman noted the hypocrisy of Obama touting a rise in energy production while casting a shadow over the extraction method responsible for that rise.

"“In just the last month we have seen new regulations placed on the production of clean coal and natural gas,” Bishop said. 

"“We can be responsible stewards of our natural resources while also encouraging and supporting clean safe energy production on our public lands. The two are not mutually exclusive.” 

http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/global-warming-editorial-cartoons-pt-3/

Obama’s Disgraceful Abandonment of Chen Guangcheng

Mona Charen: China has nothing to fear from a weak and cowardly U.S. State Department.


Heritage Insider: Chen Guangcheng’s Battle Against Forced Abortion  "When Chen stood up against the ostensibly illegal but widespread use of forced sterilization and forced abortions, however, he became a target for the provincial government in Linyi, a city of 10 million people.

"Local people described women who were eight months pregnant being forced to have abortions. One or both parents of two children were forcibly sterilized, and relatives were held hostage until they complied, Chen reported. All this happened even though the government had outlawed coercion to achieve its development and population goals. […]"

LA Times: Texas pastor a key player in Chen Guangcheng case  "During the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, Fu led a group of fellow students from Liaocheng University in Shandong. That same year, he became a Christian and held worship services at a secret "house church" with help from his wife, Heidi.

"Meanwhile, Fu taught English at a Communist Party school in Beijing. He called himself "God's double-agent." "


NY Times: The case is creating sharp new tensions in American relations with China
"It is no wonder that he took desperate measures. According to The Times, he scaled the wall around his house, gave his guards the slip and made a 300-plus-mile journey to Beijing where American diplomats are believed to be sheltering him. But there are serious concerns about what has since happened to his wife, daughter and others who aided his escape."

http://www.nationalreview.com/

Chen: From ‘Purported Diplomatic Triumph’ to ‘Diplomatic Fiasco’  "The activist against China's forced abortions calls a congressional hearing for help as new questions arise about Obama administration appeasement to the [People's Republic of China]."
....“It should have been obvious to U.S. officials all along that there is no way to guarantee Mr. Chen’s safety so long as he is within reach of the Chinese police state,” she said. “The U.S. should not have given in to Chinese pressure for Chen to be taken out of the safety of the U.S. embassy.”

Rick Moran:China might bail Obama out of dissident deal mess  "Hillary Clinton, no slouch politically, appears to be orchestrating the departure of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng after the State Department botched his release from the US embassy on Wednesday.
"And the Chinese, eager for their own reasons to get the incident behind them, look like they're ready to allow Chen to leave China in order to "study" abroad."


The Foreign Policy Initiative: U.S. Must Hold China to its Promises in Chen Guangcheng Case  "The Obama administration must immediately clear up any doubt about Mr. Chen’s wishes.  Moreover, the deal the U.S. struck with China regarding Chen’s “humane treatment” in future appears not to have addressed the fate of the people who helped Chen in his flight.  U.S. officials simply “raised” the issue and urged that there be no retribution against them.  Much more needs to be done for them. 

Charles Krauthammer on Obama: Divider in chief

Charles Krauthammer  "Hispanics, however, are just the beginning. The entire Obama campaign is a slice-and-dice operation, pandering to one group after another, particularly those that elected Obama in 2008 — blacks, Hispanics, women, young people — and for whom the thrill is now gone.
"What to do? Try fear. Create division, stir resentment, by whatever means necessary — bogus court challenges, dead-end Senate bills and a forest of straw men."

...."There is a problem, however. It makes a mockery of Obama’s pose as the great transcender, uniter, healer of divisions. This is the man who sprang from nowhere with that thrilling 2004 convention speech declaring that there is “not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.”

"That was then. Today, we are just sects with quarrels — to be exploited for political advantage. And Obama is just the man to fulfill Al Gore’s famous mistranslation of our national motto: Out of one, many."

Check out this post from Yahoo! Answers:

Question: Wouldn't a Cartoon of Obama being called CAPTAIN DIVIDER be funny?...

Voted best answer: "No. Humor is based on the truth. The truth is that Obama has been going out of his way to be a uniter and find bipartisan solutions to our problems. Republicans and conservative spin doctors are the dividers because they refuse to cooperate with their political opponent and prefer to engage in baseless Obama-bashing instead." Posted by "Chewy Ivan"

Sodahead

 Youtube: Obama "The Great Divider" from The Don Smith Show

How's this for unifying America?

Andrew C. McCarthy: Compulsory Blindness

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE    "I marched into the courtroom every day for nine months and proved that there was an undeniable nexus between Islamic doctrine and terrorism committed by Muslims. The Blind Sheikh, the jury was allowed to learn, was not a fringe lunatic; he was a globally renowned scholar of sharia whose influence over a spate of international jihadist organizations was based on his doctorate from al-Azhar University, the world’s most influential center of Islamic thought. And when I demonstrated the straight-line, undeniable logic of the evidence — that scripture informed the Blind Sheikh’s directives; that those directives informed his terrorist subordinates; and that those subordinates then committed atrocities — the government gave me the Justice Department’s highest award.

"Today, I’d be ostracized. No longer is the government content to be willfully blind. Today, it is defiantly, coercively, extortionately blind.

...."The president is purging information on which, not so long ago, juries relied to convict jihadists. Notwithstanding all its willful blindness, the government used to pass out sparkling awards to the officials who stitched that information together. Now, in the era of compulsory blindness, the government stamps “Islamophobe” on your head and hands you your walking papers."

Paul Ryan: Obama's 'Julia' website 'creepy' and 'demeaning' (Updated)

The Hill  " “It suggests that this woman can’t go anywhere in life without Barack Obama’s government-centered society. It’s kind of demeaning to her,” Ryan said during a constituent meeting in Wisconsin, the National Review reports. “She must have him and his big government to depend on to go anywhere in life. It doesn’t say much about his faith in Julia.” "

The Life of Julia  at Obama for America

" “It really shows the philosophical premise they operate from, which is — I think Romney coined it well — it’s a ‘government-centered society.’ You have to have government at every stage of your life to be there for you; otherwise, you’re going to fail. It’s promoting a cradle-to-grave welfare society,” said Ryan."

 Rick Moran: 'The Life of Zachary'  "You've no doubt heard by now "The Story of Julia" - the Obama campaign's utopian, government dependent woman who owes so much to President Obama's policies and programs.

"But what if "Julia" had a son?

" "The Life of Zachary" by Nicole Gelinas writing at City Desk:"


UPDATE: The Men in Julia’s Life  ...."Age 30: He meets a woman named Julia and they date for a while. Maybe things are turning around for him. They have sex and Julia tells him she is on the pill. A few months later, she is pregnant;  he wants to get married but she can get better treatment with child support and the government paying her way and says “hell no.” Julia sues for child support. The next thing you know, she is living well and the man in her life is living part of the time on the streets and the other part in jail since he can’t afford the $1000 a month child support payment when his business is slow."


Who the hell is "Julia," and why am I paying for her whole life?  "Julia then has a son named Zachary (who has no father around, as far as I can tell) and we can start the entire storyline again".

UPDATE: The More Precise Life of Julia; A few details left out of the Obama campaign slideshow.  ...."AGE 7:

"Under President Obama: Julia’s education is going well, and she receives a personalized form letter from president/father Obama that he is pleased with her progress. Knowing government loves and cares for her gives Julia the confidence she needs to succeed.

"Under Mitt Romney: Julia goes to a crazed Christian school, thanks to vouchers funded by cutting NPR from the budget. Republicans run rampant and cut other necessary government programs, such as cowboy poetry festivals, and young Julia shudders as she feels society collapsing around her."....Frank J. Fleming is the author of the ebook "Obama: The Greatest President in the History of Everything" ... writes columns for PJ Media and the New York Post...and can't wait until he gets his Obama-assigned composite girlfriend.

DBKP: Life With Julia: The Truth About Julia
"One aspect of Julia’s life that President Obama and the Democratic Party aren’t talking about."

Even MSNBC Rips Obama’s Creepy ‘Life of Julia’ Ad "One of the best measures for the degree of it’s backfire is when even the White House talking point network MSNBC, and especially the Obama-adoring, Democrat shill Mika Brzezinski, find fault with it:

Michelle Malkin: Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be ‘Julia’ 

 "After hyperventilating for months about the Republican “war on women,” Democratic new-media gurus have inadvertently exposed the real Barack Obama: a chauvinistic control freak who would tether every last woman and child to his ever-expanding, budget-busting nanny state."

Rich Lowry: A Nation of Julias   "Ask not what you can do for your country; ask what your country can do for you."

....The alleged benefits to Julia are exaggerated or nonexistent. Pity the poor thing if she depends on Head Start for her launch into the world. A study by the Department of Health and Human Services last year found that positive educational effects tend to wear off by the first grade. The government assistance she gets for financing college feeds into the maw of inexorable tuition increases. The chances that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is going to boost her pay, as a web designer, are essentially nil. Julia is getting punked.

California-approved gun safe (Updated)

California Approved Handgun Safe

From Coiled Snake.com 
 Hat tip to Harley Standlee; Placerville, Ca

More along these same lines here:
Ann Coulter comments on the book, Negroes with guns. Written back when Democrats refused to allow blacks to own guns for protection against - as she says- Democrat organizations such as the KKK.


Other posts in the Tunnel Wall include the D-Day landings in Normandy  and the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. But mostly we post on politics and culture in the United States. 
Our links to history sites come from appreciation of America and how we became a nation in spite of - and sometimes because of - all our historical blemishes and triumphs. Some of it is due to sad reminiscences of where we once were and what is now becoming of us.
The Tunnel Dweller.


Meanwhile, check out the Texas Tan Line:

Obama’s second-term taxes

Dick Morris "If Obama is reelected, the tax increase he and a Democratic Congress would impose on middle- and upper-middle-income Americans would be disastrous. It’s easy to lose sight of his tax plans because he has hidden them in a variety of nooks and crannies, including the Simpson-Bowles Commission Report, the Pelosi budget of 2009 and the various tax proposals advanced by his party. But, should he win, they will all come out of hiding, and together, they will be the principal legislative thrust of his efforts in 2013.

http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/obamas-understanding-of-taxation-captured-by-a-cartoon/

"For a couple making $250,000, these tax hikes would add another $3,000 to $4,000 a month in taxes (depending on whether they were self-employed).

"For a couple making $150,000, they would add another $1,200 to $1,400 per month.
....

"How will he tax us? Let us count the ways:" Read on...