Running Out of Excuses on Iran

Jonathan S. Tobin  "Though even the president will occasionally say that no options are being left off the table, the administration has been doing its best to argue that military strikes would only give the West a temporary respite. But, as Lee Smith writes in Tablet, the claim that strikes on Iran wouldn’t effectively end the threat tell us more about the president’s unwillingness to use force than it does about its effect on Iran."
....Keane is right. The whole thrust of American diplomacy has tended to reinforce Iran’s belief that President Obama is a paper tiger who will never challenge them. (Emphasis added)

http://www.capoliticalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Iran-Obama-Nuclear-Bomb.jpg

The Texas Voter ID Law challenge

Texas Voter ID on Life Support  "Other states can learn a lesson from what is happening in a Washington, D.C., courtroom to the Texas Voter ID law.  Take as much time as you need to prepare the case.  Keep the constitutional challenge close in time to the trial on the merits.  Don’t generate statistical data that hurt your case.  And most of all, be prepared to wage war in a battle of experts.  Otherwise the burden shift of Section 5 will be the undoing of other state Voter ID laws."


Texas Photo-ID Law Vetted For Voter Bias In U.S. Trial  "The Obama administration’s claim that Texas’s voter identification law will keep blacks and Hispanics away from the polls this November will be tested in a week-long federal trial that started today in Washington."

Texas officials defend voter ID law, citing votes cast by felons, corpses  "A Texas elections official, Brian Ingram, testified that felons, non-citizens and those declared dead have voted in past elections, including the May primaries.

" “It’s more common than we thought – and it’s troubling,” Ingram said."

Trees have souls and we give them names, but...

Two more urban legends to discuss

Obama and the "D-Day Monument" Only 3 Times...Only 3 (Link to Snopes, which calls it false)

In all the years since D-Day 1945, there are three occasions when a president failed to go to the D-Day Monument that honors the soldiers killed during the Invasion. Only Three Times.
The occasions were:
1. Barack Obama 2010
2. Barack Obama 2011
3. Barack Obama 2012

The Tunnel Wall covered these rumors a month ago


False: "Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee."


Also refuted at TruthOrFiction and it includes this apology from Sgt Wright, who wrote the original rumor:

Almost 5 months ago I sent an e-mail to you my faithful friends.  I did a wrong thing that needs to be cleared up. I heard by word of mouth about how Starbucks said they didn't support the war and all.  I was having enough of that kind of talk and didn't do my research properly like I should have.  This is not true.  Starbucks supports men and women in uniform. They have personally contacted me and I have been sent many copies of their company's policy on this issue.  So I apologize for this quick and wrong letter that I sent out to you. 

This column by Snopes does discuss another e-rumor about one Starbucks store charging 9-11 rescue workers $130 for three cases of water: True: Starbucks charged 9-11 rescue workers $130 for three cases of water It was later corrected by Starbucks, but done rather poorly.

So, these three German Shepherds walk into a bar...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60LU71vNRYg

Hat tip to John Paul Curnutt, former classmate from Oregon

Top 5 Reasons to Repeal Obamacare

Heritage   "Heritage has laid out the impacts of Obamacare on the American people—and according to a poll released this week, a majority of Americans agree that Obamacare should be repealed. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took to the pages of The Washington Post this week to re-argue the Administration’s positions, claiming basically the opposite of the havoc Obamacare is wreaking on the U.S. economy and health care system.

As Congress takes up the issue, we present the Top 5 Reasons to Repeal Obamacare:"....

ttp://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/07/06/100783

Putin nails it

Neal Boortz  "Monday of this week Putin said that the West – and by this he means America – is in decline as the American economy recedes.  It’s tempting, of course, to disregard these comments from a Russian leader.  After all, for most of our lives we’ve been having either Soviet or Russian leaders talk about the decline of the west.  Well .. this time they may have a point."

The ‘God Particle’ and God

Dennis Prager; Without God, major scientific discoveries have no meaning.  "Not only is science incapable of discovering why there is existence; scientists also confront the equally frustrating fact that the more they discover about the universe, the more they realize they do not know."

Does the 'God Particle' Prove that God Does or Does Not Exist  "So the term God particle was first used by a scientist, but was picked up and popularized by the media. It's catchy and enhances interest in the subject among the public. But like so much else that the media promotes, it is misleading and inappropriate."

Texas refuses to expand Medicaid or establish health-care exchange

bostonherald.com

"AUSTIN, Texas — In a sharply worded letter to federal officials Monday, Gov. Rick Perry said Texas will not participate in two key programs under the Affordable Care Act, noting that the law recently approved by the U.S. Supreme Court "will find no foothold here."

"Perry said Texas will not expand Medicaid, forgoing an estimated $13 billion a year in federal money from 2014 to 2017, and will not create a health care exchange, an online market that would allow uninsured people to shop for coverage.

" "Please relay this message to the president," Perry wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "Both represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state." "

Healthcare discussed: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting over Obamacare (Updated by PolitiFact)

Daily Caller  "The DPMA found that many doctors do not believe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will lead to better access to medical care for the majority of Americans, co-founder of the DPMA Kathryn Serkes told TheDC.

" “Doctors clearly understand what Washington does not — that a piece of paper that says you are ‘covered’ by insurance or ‘enrolled’ in Medicare or Medicaid does not translate to actual medical care when doctors can’t afford to see patients at the lowball payments, and patients have to jump through government and insurance company bureaucratic hoops,” she said."

Victor Davis Hanson; Supreme Court Hypocrisies  "What was “unprecedented” was a presidential shot across the bow of the Supreme Court on the eve of a critical decision — especially given the fact that Obama would soon welcome the Court’s activism in overturning most of a duly-passed Arizona immigration law that sought to enforce federal statutes."

Hearse of a Different Color  "For starters, Obamacare moves millions of Americans into the Medicaid program...and doctors already lose money on every Medicaid patient they see. What would your reaction be if Obama suddenly ordered you to not only give your services away for free...but pay for the privilege?"....


Update: GOP lawmaker Jeff Duncan repeats survey finding that 83 percent of doctors are considering quitting due to Obamacare  "The group asked: "How do current changes in the medical system affect your desire to practice medicine?" According to the group, 83 percent answered, "Makes me think about quitting," 5 percent said, "I’m re-energized," while 13 percent said they were unsure or had no opinion.....
"Duncan said "83% of doctors have considered leaving the profession because of #Obamacare." But that's an inaccurate description of the foundation’s poll.
"The poll did not specifically ask about the federal health care law and was meant to measure concerns about a wide range of changes in health care. Also, it's worth noting that the poll had a small return rate and the group that conducted it is opposed to the law. We rate the claim False.

We need hope

NAACP Requires Photo I.D. to See Holder Speak in State Being Sued Over Voter ID

Katie Pavlich  "Earlier today, Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the NAACP Nation Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. What did media need in order to attend? That's right, government issued photo identification (and a second form of identification too!), something both Holder and the NAACP stand firmly against when it comes to voting. Holder's DOJ is currently suing Texas for "discriminatory" voter ID laws. From the press release:"