Urban Legend: Military funeral protocol

One of those forwarded emails came today telling how President Obama has changed the wording of the flag presentation from, "On behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation, I wish to present you with this flag in appreciation for your husband's service ..." to the following: 'On behalf of the Secretary of Defense and a grateful nation...'
The account continues with this statement:

"Today for the first time in my adult life, I am ashamed of the current U.S. President!"
I did not serve in the military but my love of country parallels that of people like my late uncle who bled red, white and blue. As a second generation Serbian-American who's heritage produced many patriotic military men and women who fought for freedom both in the United States as well as in the former Yugoslavia (most recently in Kosovo against the slaughter of Serbs by Muslim extremists), I implore you to make the American people aware of this little-known or, at least, publicly acknowledged fact.

 Snopes refutes this account here.
The Marine Corps covers it in the MARINE CORPS DRILL AND CEREMONIES MANUAL on page 25-19, section 25006:

The escort commander will present it to the next of kin in a dignified manner with a short statement such as “On behalf of the President, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Marines everywhere, please accept this flag in memory of the honorable and faithful service performed by (relationship).”

On to other rumors: Truth or Fiction lists some of the trending e-rumors and if they are true or false.

Obamacare Mandate Survives as a Tax

RightChange.com

Even ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos challenged the president and Obama was his usual petulant, juvenile self when disagreed with.

Is this the last laugh?

Via Legal Insurrection

Newsbusters   "After the applause subsided, Leno continued, "This is a major victory for President Obama who spent three years promoting it, and of course a major setback for Mitt Romney who spent three years creating it."  

"As we won't really know for months who the political winner and loser is from this ruling, that joke seems a stretch if not typical of the liberal media view on this issue. 

"What we do know is the Romney campaign has seen a huge surge in donations following Thursday's announcement. But that didn't stop Leno's celebration."

We all share your joy.

Those who understand the economic and social impact of the Healthcare law realize how much freedom has been lost and shudder at the Great Mediocrity that is descending on this nation. Meanwhile, the shallow left can only think, "Wahoo, we beat your a**!"

Obamacare taunts from the civil left

Ethel C. Fenig: Democratic three word summaries of Obamacare decision  "Patrick Gaspard, Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee, tweeted the following summary on the Supreme Court Obamacare decision."
                           it's constitutional. Bitches.

"According to Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit Gaspard also tweeted this but then deleted it:" 

                           

....Gloating about the ruling, Obama followed up with this oh so modest tweet  

                             Presidents tried to pass health care reform for decades-and this one got it       done.

Weasel Zippers interprets this report as: Obama Taunts Romney After Supreme Court Ruling…

And liberal, conservaphobic cartoonist Pat Oliphant gloats this way:

Obamacare conservative reading list

Charles Krauthammer: Why Roberts did it   "The law stands, thus obviating any charge that a partisan court overturned duly passed legislation. And yet at the same time the commerce clause is reined in. By denying that it could justify the imposition of an individual mandate, Roberts draws the line against the inexorable decades-old expansion of congressional power under the commerce clause fig leaf.
"Law upheld, Supreme Court’s reputation for neutrality maintained. Commerce clause contained, constitutional principle of enumerated powers reaffirmed."


J. Christian Adams: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the Court Decision
"There will be lots of analysis and spin today on the Supreme Court’s decision. But here is all you need to know. The Court got the Commerce Clause part right, but so what? They were never going to find the mandate within the power of the Commerce Clause. The Court, on the other hand, disregarded the position of the government and read the law to be a tax, and therefore within the power of the Constitution."

Roger Kimball:SCOTUS and ObamaCare: The Search for a Silver Lining  "There is also the issue of whether overturning legislation judicially (as distinct from repealing it legislatively) is a habit to be encouraged. Right and Left complain about “judicial activism” whenever the court’s activity goes against legislation they like. “Activism” is not the issue so much as the proper role of the courts in our tripartite system. There is something to be said for limiting the use of the courts as a legislative tool."

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/06/tyranny-at-the-wall/

Andrew C. McCarthy: ObamaCare Ruling: Pure Fraud and No Due Process  "The ObamaCare mandate was enacted as a penalty flowing from Congress’s Commerce Clause power. It has been upheld as a tax flowing from Congress’s power to tax-and-spend under the General Welfare Clause. As the dissent sharply demonstrates, the contention that the mandate could have been enacted as a tax is frivolous. Meanwhile our country, trillions of dollars in debt and rapidly sinking further, desperately needs a debate about the limits of Congress’s power to tax and spend for the general welfare."

Rand Simberg: The chief justice threw down the gauntlet on Thursday to those of us who support limited government.

American Thinker: The Chief Justice Done Good  "Chief Justice John Roberts has handed a remarkable victory to American conservatives by threading the judicial needle with perfect precision.  The initial disappointment collectively felt by Americans who had hoped for a Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Obamacare soon will be replaced, upon further reflection, by the excitement that will come with a fuller appreciation of what the Chief Justice has wrought."
As Laura Ingraham asked, if this decision is such a good deal for conservatives, why weren't we hoping all along this would be approved?  Or maybe some did and we were too obtuse to recognize it.

Breitbart isn't so optimistic and I'm afraid with good reason: What Long-Run Victory?
"Conservatives who are trying to salvage a little “hope and change” from Chief Justice John Roberts’s disastrous ruling in the Obamacare case yesterday argue that the limits the Court placed on the Commerce Clause and the power of the federal government vis à vis the states are victories for conservatives in the long run. But in this case, the short run is the long run: Obamacare will change our society forever--and not for the better." Via Lucianne


Big Government: The Path to 50  "Contrary to popular opinion, Republicans don’t need a 60-vote majority to ram through an Obamacare repeal – as Ken Klukowski pointed out yesterday, “The only way to stop Obamacare now is with a one-page repeal bill that must be passed by the House and Senate. Because it would reduce the deficit you can pass it with 51 votes as a reconciliation bill in the Senate; you don’t need 60 votes.” "  Via Lucianne

Perfect fit, sayeth the Supreme Court

http://terrellaftermath.com/

High court upholds key part of Obama health law

AP  "The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul.

"The decision means the huge overhaul, still only partly in effect, will proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care. The ruling also hands Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty."

  
What Happened to John Roberts?    "It does not have the force power, but the four judges, justices who dissented -- Scalia, Alito, Thomas, Kennedy -- made it plain in their dissent that this was nothing constitutional about this act.  They found nothing in it.  They plainly said, in their dissent, the whole thing should have been tossed out.  You can't have a greater divide than what we had.  You've got the four libs, who, it's never even considered that they might change their tune.  And the chief justice, who we know now I think is a creature of the Washington establishment, a creature of the notion that government is the center of the universe.  It's pretty obvious.  But the four justices who dissented, they didn't even want to get into the idiosyncrasies of the majority opinion.  They found the whole thing tossable."  Rush Limbaugh

More from Rush: Our Only Choice: Win Elections  "Ladies and gentlemen, we are not, as a people, as free as we were at 10:15 this morning. We didn't lose a war. No foreign enemy is taking away our liberties. Our own government did this. We're not nearly as free as we were five hours ago."

"Read my lips - NOT A TAX!"

http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2012/06/obamas-read-my-lips-moment/

The politics of the ObamaCare decision (repeatedly updated with dissents)

Thomas Lifson  "It looks to me that there are some sweet lemons for conservatives in the ObamaCare decision. Before we burn the chief justice in effigy, let's read the decision and think about the implications.
"First of all, upholding ObamaCare is going to energize opposition to Obama, and the determination to elect a Congress that can repeal and replace it.  Just a day ago, the MSM was telling us it would be a plus for Obama if the act were held unconstitutional because it would take the issue off the table and weaken his opposition.  

"On the other hand, as Rick Moran points out, "it gives Obama a big boost;  everyone likes a winner."

 Rosslyn Smith: Back to We the People
"The promises Roberts made during his confirmation hearings cut both ways.  If Roberts doesn't believe in legislating from the bench, as the Warren court did in the face of legislative inaction, he made clear today that he also doesn't believe in using the Court to overturn ill conceived or simply unworkable laws if there are any arguments under  which they can be upheld -- at least in cases that do not directly involve the Bill of Rights.  As I look at the opinion I suspect Justice Roberts may be playing long ball here."

More from American Thinker:

Hard Questions for Conservatives In the Wake of SCOTUS Ruling  "Obviously, hitching conservative fortunes to Republican judicial appointees, and the Republican Party generally, has been a failure. Is it time for a conservative third party?"


The Power to Tax is the Power to Destroy  "This interpretation is a splash of acid in the face for limited government libertarians. If any activity mandated by Congress accompanied by a money transaction can be construed as a tax, despite its commerce clause proscriptions, there is no limit to the power of the federal government over our lives."


Big Government: Did Roberts Give in to Obama's Bullying?  Many speculate "that Chief Justice John Roberts switched his vote at a late stage. If so, it would appear that the Chief Justice may have succumbed to the bullying meted out by President Barack Obama, who attacked the Court in the aftermath of oral arguments in March, when Obamacare seemed headed for certain defeat."

What Just Happened to the Rule of Law?

Warning Signs

"Following the Obamacare decision, The Heartland Institute’s Maureen Martin, a Senior Fellow for Legal Affairs, said, “Today’s decision will go down in infamy. It marks the moment when we all lost our freedom because the Supreme Court drew a road map to guide those dedicated to imposing a totalitarian, statist government on the American people.” "

"A Heartland colleague, Peter Ferrara, a member of the bar of the Supreme Court and a Senior Fellow for Entitlement and Budget Policy, said “The Supreme Court of the United States just endorsed the most fundamental dishonesty of our politics today. The President intimidated Chief Justice John Roberts like Hugo Chavez intimidates the Venezuelan Supreme Court. The rule of law is now dead. The American people have only one more chance now to save their country.” 

"Heartland is a non-profit, free market think tank."

Obamacare After the Court/ Reading List on the Obamacare Decision

Morning Bell  

"The policy landscape will change dramatically after 10 a.m. today. If the Supreme Court does not strike down Obamacare in its entirety, Congress should move to repeal it. Americans support repeal of the health care law, as they have demonstrated in more than 100 polls since it passed in 2010. The infamous individual mandate is only the beginning of the problems Americans face under this law.  Most importantly, Americans need real health care reform, and we need to begin moving toward a patient-friendly system where people have the freedom to choose the care that is best for them.

"Beyond the Individual Mandate"....

1. The Taxes. It is often forgotten that in addition to being a massive federal power grab, Obamacare contains one of the largest tax increases ever imposed on the American economy—at a time when job growth should be the nation's number one priority.2. Deficits and Debt.....3. The HHS Mandate.....4. The Bureaucratic Micromanagement of American Health Care.....

Alan Caruba: The Liars Have Triumphed  "As Politico.com reported: On the losing end of a 5-4 decision, Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said that the entire health care reform law should have been struck down. 
"They wrote:

The Act before us here exceeds federal power both in mandating the purchase of health insurance and in denying non-consenting states all Medicaid funding. These parts of the Act are central to its design and operation, and all the Act's other provisions would not have been enacted without them. In our view it must follow that the entire statute is inoperative.

"Obamacare is a blow to state's rights as sovereign republics."

Legal Insurrection: How right I was: “IRS The New Health Care Enforcer”

Meet your government's new healthcare enforcer here.

Bing

Volokh Conspiracy: Supreme Court Majority Endorses Activity-Inactivity Distinction

"Although the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate as an exercise of the Tax Power, a majority of the justices also ruled that it is not a legitimate exercise of Congress’ powers under the Commerce Clause. In doing so, they endorsed the plaintiffs’ argument that the individual mandate exceeds the scope of the Commerce power because it does not regulate “economic activity,” but instead targets inactivity. Chief Justice Roberts also noted that upholding the mandate on this basis would lead to unconstrained congressional authority to enact other mandates:"....

"The problem is that Roberts then proceeds to “empower Congress to make those decisions” for us under the guise of imposing taxes. More on that point soon." Watch here.

WSJ: The ObamaCare Tax  "...what is certain is that what saved the law was the "ObamaCare tax." The Court ruled that the individual mandate to purchase health care or face a fine is a tax, not a requirement. 

"In other words, the Court said that Congress can impose a "tax" on people if they don't buy health insurance."

Courting Disaster  "Chuck" posted this comment:

"It is offical. The Constitution is dead. Next up:

- You will buy a Chevy Volt … or pay a special tax.- You will have a specific, healthy, body-mass index … or pay a special tax.- You will have a cholesterol level below 190 … or pay a special tax.- You will vote democrat … or pay a special tax.- You will renounce your religious beliefs and worship the government … or pay a special tax.- You will work at the job we give you for the salary we dictate … or pay a special tax.

"Okay, maybe some of it is extreme, but I can sure see some of it actually happening, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. No, the government can force us to do anything they want us to do … or pay a special tax."

Support the President with your wedding gifts

http://terrellaftermath.com/