From Hope and Change to Fear and Smear

Victor Davis Hanson  "The "hope and change" slogan for a new unity gave way to a new "us versus them" divide. "Us" now means all sorts of targeted appeals to identity groups like African-Americans for Obama, Latinos for Obama, gays for Obamas, greens for Obama, or students for Obama. "Them," in contrast, means almost everyone else who cannot claim hyphenation or be counted on as a single-cause constituency. In 2008, the Obama strategy was supposedly to unite disparate groups with a common vision; in 2012, it is to rally special interests through common enemies."
....
"To be re-elected, a now-polarizing Obama believes that he must stoke the fears of some of us rather than appeal to all of our hopes by defending a successful record, while smearing with the old politics rather than inspiring with the new. That cynical calculation and constant hedging and flip-flopping may be normal for politicians, but eventually it proves disastrous for the ones who posed as messianic prophets."                         Image from Zazzle (right)

The recall heard round the world

Ann Coulter  "I watched the Wisconsin returns on MSNBC Tuesday night, and it came right down to the wire between “the Democrats were outspent 7-to-1″ and “Republicans are stripping union rights!” ....
"This election had nothing to do with people being paid a fair wage for the work they do. The question is: Do you want a society where the people whose salaries you pay make more than those who pay them?"
"The Democrats will do anything the government unions ask, because (1) It’s not their money they’re spending, it’s the taxpayers’; and (2) Government unions reciprocate by making sure the Democrats keep getting re-elected."


Coulter then discusses what the consequences were when Gov. Schwarzenegger tried to take on unions in an off-year election:

"Let’s see, who would be likely to vote in an off-year election? We’re going to cut your exorbitant benefits, require you to work, and make it easier to fire you, public employees. Do you have any interest in voting on that?....

"In the end, union members turned out in droves on Election Day, defeating every single initiative. "Everyone else in California woke up the next day and said, “Hey, did you know there was an election yesterday?”

"The failure of Schwarzenegger’s propositions ended his governorship. From that day on, he became the Democrats’ plaything.

"The 2010 census marks the first time California has lost population since it became a state."

http://www.calwatchdog.com/cartoon/

The Cycle of Stupidity…

http://liberallogic101.com/?p=360

D-Day covered in past Tunnel Wall posts (Updated)

Update: Normandy visit, 2010  A very good tourist's account.
Via Lucianne: FDR's D-Day Prayer

Revisit past Tunnel Wall D-Day links:
The Tunnel Wall: D-Day- and beyond- Airborne site; one of the best I ...

May 15, 2011

Trigger Time This site has links for the researcher, the historian and for those just learning about D-Day, perhaps after viewing "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers". Those focusing on the upcoming anniversary of ...

http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/

The Tunnel Wall: Omaha Beach D-Day landings from above; Victor ...

Jun 06, 2011

Omaha Beach D-Day landings from above; Victor Davis Hanson column. (Updated with more info.) . (Above) Some sources list this as Omaha Beach, but this is most certainly Utah Beach. The small dots on the beach are ...

http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/

The Tunnel Wall: D-Day; Omaha Beach then and now photographs ...

Jun 05, 2011

D-Day; Omaha Beach then and now photographs (Updated, 12/3/2011). Dec, 2011 Update: Normandy, 1944; then and now photos "Our previous emphases (below) on Omaha Beach gave short shrift to the other landing sites ...

http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/

Many more listed in the site. Here is one new one: D-DAY, NORMANDY: Operation Overlord.  Art work by combat artists.  

"While the invasion forces gathered throughout Great Britain, the United States Navy assigned combat artists to record the great adventure. For the young artists, the challenge was unique. During their training period, they lived with the crews of the vessels destined to take part in the invasion; they rode the ships across the channel, and accompanied the troops as they landed. Their paintings, including descriptions of their work, were subject to strict censorship. Not until well after the events occurred did the Navy Art Collection receive these historic records." 

Muslims Slaughter Convert to Christianity in Tunisia

 Raymond Ibrahim  "Liberal talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on "Egypt Today" airing a video (At the Link) of Muslims slicing a young man's head off for the crime of apostasy, in this case, the crime of converting to Christianity and refusing to renounce it. The video—be warned, it is immensely graphic—is embedded here (the actual execution appears from minute 1:13-4:00). For those who prefer not to view it, a summary follows:

"A young man appears held down by masked men. His head is pulled back, with a knife to his throat. He does not struggle and appears resigned to his fate. Speaking in Arabic, the background speaker, or "narrator," chants a number of Muslim prayers and supplications, mostly condemning Christianity, which, because of the Trinity, is referred to as a polytheistic faith: "Let Allah be avenged on the polytheist apostate"; "Allah empower your religion, make it victorious against the polytheists"; "Allah, defeat the infidels at the hands of the Muslims"; "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."

"Then, to cries of "Allahu Akbar!"—or, "God is great!"—the man holding the knife to the apostate's throat begins to slice away, even as the victim appears calmly mouthing a prayer. It takes nearly two minutes of graphic knife-carving to sever the Christian's head, which is then held aloft to more Islamic cries and slogans of victory."

Salafi Leader: No Freedom in Islam; Apostates Must be Persecuted

Muslim Prayers of Hate  "The Christian preachers offer up universal supplications that include phrases like "O lord, lover of all mankind and savior of all the world"; they quote biblical passages such as "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5: 44); they pray that God may "heal all people around the world of their diseases."

"While such prayers are familiar, taken for granted even, the supplications of the Muslim preachers may surprise some. Popular Egyptian preacher, Sheikh Muhammad al-Zoghbi, was taped invoking his god thusly:

Muhammad al-Zoghbi: "Allah, strike them with cancer!"

May Allah cut your tongue out! May he freeze the blood in your veins! May he inflict you with cancer and allow you no reprieve… Allah, strike them with all sorts of disease, afflictions and pain! Allah, strike them with cancer! ....

Although I'm sure his words have been taken out of context and that he actually meant it all in a nice way.

Andrew C. McCarthy: CAIR-Michigan Leader: Jews Incurred the Wrath of Allah  "It is a continuing outrage that CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations)...is treated as if it were a “civil rights organization”."
In "a May 25 “sermon”  in which CAIR’s Dawud Walid rhetorically asks, “Who are those who incurred the wrath of Allah?” Then, he answered his own question: “They are the Jews, they are the Jews.” "

The decline of a glorious empire

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/06/06/99949

Now New York City is going after Big Soda — bureaucratic guns blazing.

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE  "Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to ban the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces at restaurants, delis, sports stadiums, movie theaters, and food carts would fine businesses as much as $200 for each plus-size drink they sell.

Gulp. Big gulp. Speaking of which, since the rule won’t apply to supermarkets and convenience stores, you should still be able to buy 7/11’s enormous 32-ounce Big Gulp, a giant container of sugary fizz dwarfed only by the 44-ounce Super Gulp and the 64-ounce Double Big Gulp, which is twice the size of the average human stomach."

McCain: Security leaks coming from ‘highest levels’ of White House

The Hill  "McCain suggested that the administration was leaking the information, which he called a “breach of national security,” to bolster Obama’s foreign-policy credentials ahead of November’s election.

" “It makes the president look very decisive,” McCain said, “and it gives very little credit to the other men and women who make these things happen.” "

Team of Mascots

Vanity Fair:  "Four years ago, Barack Obama said he wanted a Lincoln-esque “team of rivals” in his Cabinet. Thanks to his own temperament, the modern White House, and the 24-hour news cycle, what the president has created is something that doesn’t look Lincoln-esque at all.
"In dealing with a Cabinet, as with life itself, there is no substitute for experience. Clinton-administration veterans told me that their boss made better, fuller use of the Cabinet in his second term than he did in his first, when officials such as Les Aspin at the Pentagon and Warren Christopher at the State Department sometimes struggled to build a cohesive team."
Via  Weasel Zippers

AYERS AND OBAMA: WHAT THE MEDIA HID

Breitbart:

..and now

Ayres then...

"Ayers methods have certainly changed since the 60s, but his commitment to bringing down the American system has been a constant throughout his life. Therefore, it's fair to ask what Obama saw in Ayers, the committed anti-capitalist radical. It's also fair to ask why the NY Times (and the rest of the media) were so quick to dismiss the import of the connection. No one is saying Obama and Ayers were part of a secret cabal, but they do seem to have been friends over a period of years, so presumably they had something in common. Given Ayers' consistently extreme views on America and government, isn't that worth exploring?"  Hat tip to Lucianne


Did Bill Ayers Write Obama’s Book?  "Also unfortunately for Obama, Andersen’s sources – all of whom were sympathetic and appear to be at least neighbors to Obama – came to other conclusions. Andersen wrote:

These oral histories, along with a partial manuscript and a truckload of notes, were given to Ayers. “Everyone knew they were friends and that they worked on various projects together,” another Hyde Park neighbor pointed out. “It was no secret. Why would it be? People liked them both.” In the end, Ayers’ contribution to Barack’s Dreams From My Father would be significant – so much so that the book’s language, oddly specific references, literary devices, and themes would bear a jarring similarity to Ayers’ own writing. Even the caveat at the beginning ofDreams, in which Barack points out that he uses invented dialogue, embellished facts, composite characters, inaccurate chronology, and pseudonyms to create an “approximation” of reality, resembles Ayers’ defense of the inaccuracies in his memoir Fugitive Days.

Book confirms: Ayers wrote Obama's book "As the Obama-as-Milli Vanilli story unfolds, Matthews and those willfully blind souls like him are in for a shock.  To admit that Obama needed a collaborator would have undercut his campaign for president and to reveal the name of that collaborator would have ended it.
"Now that he is president, it may be time to start telling the whole truth about the man we elected president."

What happened in Wisconsin?

Recall results show a deeply divided electorate  "This is a pretty positive preview of the November election. The independent vote seems to running to right this year. But before the GOP can start thinking about chilling the champagne, conservatives should carefully consider that the liberal base still turned out in very respectable numbers in support of Barrett."


Rick Moran: One downer on a good night: Wisconsin Dems possibly take senate
"Democrats appeared to have assumed control of the state Senate with results posted early  Wednesday showing former Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) defeating incumbent Van Wanggaard in a tight race."

It's All Over in Wisconsin   "Unions took it on the chin.  They will not – at least not now – turn back the reforms enacted by Walker that have already resulted in improvements in the Wisconsin economic picture.  The principal reform?  Government employee unions no longer have collective bargaining rights, with the exception of police and firefighters."

"Here is the way it works when government employee unions can engage in collective bargaining."

• Step 1.  Unions pour money, sometimes millions of dollars, into the campaigns of favored politicians.

• Step 2.  Unions then negotiate with the very politicians they managed to get elected with their money for increased pay and benefits. 

• Step3.  Taxpayers foot the bill for the increased pay and benefits while the politicians pull down campaign donations from the unions that will help to keep them in office.

Bill Kristol: Obama’s Tepid Tweet

"Obama was so determined to avoid damage to his "brand" that he didn't show up in Wisconsin to rally the troops in what's likely a losing cause—but then, stung by the criticism that he was ducking the fight, he has a staffer tweet a message that he's "standing by" Tom Barrett? Really? "Standing by" is in fact an apt description of what Barack Obama's doing. One wonders whether other Democratic elected officials and parts of organized labor will similarly "stand by" Barack Obama in the fall, focusing instead on other races and fights important to them?" As nice as it sounds,  I don't think so.
From Salon:  Obama: Too little, too late? Obama's last minute tweet and an Election Day pro-Barrett video won't stop complaints about inaction in Wisconsin
"Urging people to “sign up for a shift” might have been a little more helpful a few days ago, don’t you think?" 

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/06/wisconsin/

An NRO Symposium: Making sense of the Wisconsin vote  "While the election represents a major setback for public unions (whose perks and benefits are low-hanging fruit in a time of budget crises), it demonstrates a healthy civic impulse and clear-sightedness on the part of voters. The decision to retain Governor Walker demonstrates an ability on the part of voters to discern the difference between private unions (which can be a perfectly legitimate part of a free-market negotiating process) and public unions (which are a different sort of creature)."
...."The exit poll also shows Romney has real problems in Wisconsin. He loses to Obama by 11 points, and nearly a third of Walker’s voters say they are either voting for Obama or haven’t decided yet."

Steve Hayes (One of my favorites on the Fox Special Report All-Star Panel): Why Scott Walker Won the Battle of Wisconsin
"Scott Walker won for a simple reason: He did what he promised to do as a candidate and it worked."
[Public sector unions] "understood two things from the beginning: The reforms would work and they would thin the ranks of public sector unions. That is precisely what happened. Public sector employees, given a choice about union membership, are opting out."

The uber-tolerant liberals rejoice that American voters have ruled, er...wait!

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Ronbo over at Freedom Fighter's Journal has found this: "Angry libs flood Twitter with death threats after Wisconsin recall defeat."    One of these tweets shown here, more at the link:

AHH FACK IM BASED!@caleb_white

Scott walker will die within the next week ive already payed for the hit

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire: Many Didn't Think Recall was Legitimate    "Maybe the most important numbers in the exit poll from last night: Just 27% said recall elections are appropriate for any reason (and Barrett won those folks, 90%-9%). By comparison, 60% said that recalls are legitimate only for official misconduct (and Walker won them, 68%-31%), while another 10% said recalls are never appropriate (and Walker won here, 94%-5%)."...

[MSNBC's Ed] Schultz Worries About 'Damn Scary Stuff' from GOP Following Walker's Win.  This is what you hear from a political hack who portrays a journalist:

"There's a big effort in this country by the conservatives to destroy and defund public education. This, of course, is hurting the minority communities. State budgets are being chipped away at. In this state of Wisconsin, they took a billion dollars out of public education. What does this mean? Because there's a lot of Republicans who are saying that they're gonna model what Scott Walker has done in Wisconsin, and that they're gonna do this and move forward with this radical agenda to knock out public education in America. What does this mean? Is this a bellwether night?"

File under "Demagoguery" 


The Whupping in Wisconsin: Seven Key Conclusions  

"Remember, the left was perfectly fine with money in politics when they thought Barack Obama was going to raise $1 billion with which he would bludgeon the GOP. Now that it is not happening, money in politics is again evil. It is no coincidence that the left seized on this talking point even before the polls closed."

WATCH: Angry Democrat SLAPS Tom Barrett After Wisconsin's Recall Election
"One Wisconsin woman was so upset over the results of Wisconsin's recall election last night that she actually smacked Democratic candidate Tom Barrett across the face." (Video)

Legal Insurrection

At right- pretty much how the anti-Walker cartoonists portray the whole affair: