(UPDATED) Unverified Report Claims Westboro Baptist Church's Plans to Picket Sandy Hook Funerals Thwarted by Good Samaritan Bikers

Seeking confirmation of this story; The Newtown Bee has no mention of these bikers attending yet.  Nor does the Woodbury newspaper. Below is what we have found on the story. Tunnel Dweller.

Update from Dec 15th: Connecticut school shooting: Protest planned to stop Westboro Baptist Church  Counter-protest Facebook page here. Excerpt from the Facebook page:

There was a collection of mostly local people on the Woodbury town green from noon on, growing to over a hundred by 2pm. People ... formed a human wall to block the signs of any would be protestors. There was also a number of members of a biker club, and visible police presence. The Westborough Baptist Church ... did not show up. The atmosphere was quiet and respectful for the sake of the families. .... I believe our numbers and our determination to not create a media scene or any trouble they could capitalize off of dissuaded them from showing up today.

The Stir   "Anyway, after Westboro threatened to picket the funerals of these innocent children (but haven't actually done so yet so far as I can tell), strangers from all over traveled to Newtown to form a human chain to block messages of hate from the eyes of the grieving townspeople. These human chains have been formed before at the funerals of soldiers.

"This time, a line of motorcyclists formed on the streets to keep watch for the Westboro loonies. "All these guys see us and think we're bad. We're not. It's solidarity, is what it is," New York biker Jim Hannigan told a reporter. "I just felt I had to be here." Seriously, Westboro, do you want to mess with bikers?!

"I don't know what kind of God Westboro Church believes in, but it's not the God the majority of people believe in. The idea that God sent down a reign of terror on Connecticut because of its gay marriage laws is absurd. But, you know, there's all kinds of nutty people in this world. I think this group only gets attention because it calls itself a church. I really feel sorry for the children (most of them children of the pastor) who are stuck in this "church.""

Westboro Baptist Church to picket Sandy Hook funerals: 4 ways to respond "How do you solve a problem like Westboro Baptist Church? Here are a few options."

Photo above from Hells Angels-1 Westboro Baptist Church-0  This story is unverified by other sources; "A group of other "Angels" and their leather clad brethren formed a human chain along the road in Woodbury to protect the mourners at Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Hochsprung's services today alongside firefighters and town's folk. It worked, the WBC stood down. "

Left Wing Strategy Exposed in John Kerry’s Letter

John LaRosa  "On a more serious note, I found the text of Kerry’s letter to be quite revealing. It is a blueprint for the 2010 liberal game plan! The first paragraph sets the tone:

 track-em-down.com  from 2004

“I have been a senator for 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like this. As President Obama works to dig us out of a deep hole and build our country back up, the Republicans in Washington at the highest levels have adopted an entirely different goal: Force his failure. It disgusts me every time I see it.”

"Analysis: Demonize dissent. Imply Republican racism and personal animosity toward Obama. Remind people about the famous “inherited mess”. Label Republicans as “obstructionist” and “The Party of No”. Feign indignation." 

news.shm.com

Continuing further, Mr. La Rosa makes another point:

"Later in Kerry’s comical yet disturbing letter, he revealed the tired and increasingly ineffective strategy of isolating and demonizing Tea Party patriots.

“We must defend our majority against a Tea Partier crowd that wants to make the ideology of the far right fringe the basic operating procedure of the federal government.

"Analysis: Use the word “crowd” to imply “dangerous mob”. Label the Tea Party as “extremists” with the word “fringe”. Link a grassroots, bottom-up movement to a top-down GOP strategy."
(Emphases in the original)    Via Conservative Bloggers on Facebook

As the world ends, let's look back on 2012

Jib Jab, who else?  Since the world is about to end or fall off some cliff, this could be my final post, but it is a good one. The Tunnel Dweller

Commentary on the failure of Plan B

TD honestly has nothing but ignorance to pass on to you, so instead of doing that, here is the research I have been doing on the Plan B affair. Take it for what it is worth to you.

American Thinker; Boehner and Cantor Must Go "...Speaker Boehner's plan to raise taxes didn't woo GOP House caucus members or tea parties and grassroots conservatives across the republic. Boehner and his team were effectively trying to legislate against their party's conservative base and the outcome was thankfully predictable.

Human Events; House Speaker John Boehner on Friday morning blamed a Republican Party defection over his “Plan B” tax proposal on a misconception that the measure was a tax increase that could be used against the members.  "Boehner (R-Ohio) also told reporters he did not believe the late-night defection put his speakership at risk."  Plan B collapses; "The collapse was announced shortly after an emergency GOP conference was called at 7:45 p.m. to count votes and twist arms, just moments before the legislation was to be debated on the House floor."   Also this.

ABC's Jonathan Karl asks, "Now what?"   "Tea party groups including Heritage Action, Freedom Works and the Club for Growth –ruined Boehner’s Plan B." This and the next via Lucianne

American Spectator; Reagan’s House Heroes Stop Plan B  "What is the take away here? This was a botched GOP House Leadership issue. It is exactly what happens when the governing principle is deal making and not principle."  The article quotes Mark Levin:

I just don’t think he’s up to the monumental task of saving the country from Obama’s designs. It’s time for the Republicans to seriously reassess what they’re doing.

Legal Insurrection; Plan B fails — Now the House needs to consider Plan C

  "The basic premise is that no agreement can be reached with Obama this calendar year because any deal Obama will offer when he thinks we are under the pressure of a year end “cliff” will be horrible. And sure enough, what little movement the White House has made has been horrible."

WSJ; Plan B's Demise  "Some leadership aides now fear the terms of the deal with Mr. Obama will only get worse for Republicans after Christmas, or if we go over the cliff in a week and a half. The question almost no Republican could answer after Mr. Boehner's embarrassing setback is: What is Plan C?"

Pedophiles and the Regulation of Hugging

CATO  via Heritage  "Concerns about protecting children may deprive them of important physical contact."

http://imagesbycat.com/

My wife and I worked with children in AWANA for 25 years in a rough area of town with many, um, dysfunctional families represented among our kids. Many were badly in need of an adult's tender, loving touch and responded hungrily to love. We were circumspect in our giving of affection and diligent about screening our workers, but felt the warning not to hug your kids left all with an emptiness that cried out to be filled.

What is not appreciated is how pedophiles have indirectly harmed tens of millions of children, especially disadvantaged children, whom the pedophiles have never touched. This harm comes in the form of institutional policies on how supervising adults can interact—or, rather, not interact—with children. In the main, incidences of pedophilia, both proven and unproven, have led to institutional regulations that restrict adult caregivers, teachers, ministers, and coaches—among other adults who have regular contact with children—from hugging (or even touching)

children under their care and instruction. For fear of being wrongly accused of child molestation, many adults have increased the distance they stay from children.

The article gives us this advice on overcautious guidelines:

The problem with restrictive hugging policies is that hugs can be good for children’s souls, minds, and behaviors, which can have subsequent beneficial economic consequences.

I cautioned my leaders about the dangers of hugging, but one man told me, "These kids need to be hugged and I love hugging them!" I knew this man for decades and saw his gift with children,  how they loved him and his gift for making them feel loved. My misguided advice-regardless of it being well-intentioned- would have denied those children something they were badly in need of.
The Tunnel Dweller

Profound words: "The hypocrisy of having Obama and Holder lecture the rest of us on "gun control" is appalling and unacceptable."

Hope n' Change  "For 2012, "Sandy" was our least favorite name owing to its association with so much sadness, destruction, and shameless politicization. Per the cartoon above, MSNBC newsidiot Chris Matthews actually expressed delight that Hurricane Sandy occured because it helped the president politically.

"But the worst has got to be Barack Obama's current invoking of the murdered children of Sandy Hook not just to promote gun control- but as the reason that members of the GOP should "take off their partisan war paint" and raise taxes, increase spending, and give Obama unlimited borrowing powers.

"It says a lot (in fact, frighteningly too much) about this president that he would enthusiastically use the blood of innocents for his selfish political power grab. The children of Sandy Hook did not die to promote Socialism. "...

Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown

http://terrellaftermath.com/

WSJ; Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown  ...."The 1980s were much worse than today in terms of overall violent crime, including gun homicide, but they were much better than today in terms of mass random shootings. The difference wasn't that the 1980s had tougher controls on so-called "assault weapons." No assault weapons law existed in the U.S. until California passed a ban in 1989."
The writer describes the difference between gangsters and the lone, crazed mass shooter, stating: "They are predominantly weaklings and cowards who crumble easily as soon as an armed person shows up.

"The problem is that by the time the police arrive, lots of people are already dead. So when armed citizens are on the scene, many lives are saved. The media rarely mention the mass murders that were thwarted by armed citizens at the Shoney's Restaurant in Anniston, Ala. (1991), the high school in Pearl, Miss. (1997), the middle-school dance in Edinboro, Penn. (1998), and the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. (2007), among others.
"At the Clackamas Mall in Oregon last week, an active shooter murdered two people and then saw that a shopper, who had a handgun carry permit, had drawn a gun and was aiming at him. The murderer's next shot was to kill himself."  (Emphases added, both here and below)
But the writer nails the entire issue here in a way that- I fear- any Obama-led commission will not:

Real gun-free zones are a wonderful idea, but they are only real if they are created by metal detectors backed up by armed guards. Pretend gun-free zones, where law-abiding adults (who pass a fingerprint-based background check and a safety training class) are still disarmed, are magnets for evildoers who know they will be able to murder at will with little threat of being fired upon.

People who are serious about preventing the next Newtown should embrace much greater funding for mental health, strong laws for civil commitment of the violently mentally ill—and stop kidding themselves that pretend gun-free zones will stop killers.

Name a commission whose recommendations this president has followed.

Obama voters called "Low-information" voters

TIME: Obama Appealed to Low-Information Morons by Losing First Debate to Romney

"Richard Stengel, the TIME Magazine guy, the editor. You know, yesterday he was on Today show, announced Obama as the Person of the Year. He said the reason why they named Obama Person of the of Year is because the no-information voters love the guy. They're transforming America. They actually said this. TIME magazine said it's remarkable he's worth being Person of the Year, 'cause he's the guy that ended up being able, the first politician to get votes from people who don't care about anything and who aren't paying attention. That is worth honoring in 2012, almost 2013 America."   Rush Limbaugh

Do We Want to Reach the Low-Info Crowd? One caller told Rush Limbaugh, "I had breakfast with Romney. And I looked at him and I said, "Are you gonna attack President Obama during this election?" And he said, "No." I said, "Then you're gonna lose, because we need to start thinking about elections separately than governing." And we don't do that. ..."I think you should go out there and say to people, 'Look, progressives want to tax less people more and conservatives want to tax more people less. Because when more people are being taxed less, then people are working and the economy grows.'" He looked at me and said, "Ah, it's a great idea, it's true, but you can't say that." I said, "Why can't you say it? It's the truth. And we need to separate --"

NRA vs. Hollywood

http://www.wnd.com/?attach_external_tab&97615520&4&0&0&0&0&iexplore

Weinstein Chains 'Django': L.A. Premiere Cancelled    "Jamie Foxx, who only a week and a half ago was jokingly celebrating how in his new film, he gets to “kill all the white people,” sounded off in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, stating, “can't ignore the fact that movie violence can influence people.” Weinstein has apparently signaled that he agrees – and admitted tacitly that his hyperviolent films may play a role in the creation of situations like Sandy Hook." 

 

Liberal celebrities have a funny way of showing how much they value life.

Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary; What Does it Mean?

Caroline Glick gives us her opinion as an Israeli  "Obama wants to hurt Israel. He does not like Israel. He is appointing anti-Israel advisors and cabinet members not despite their anti-Israel positions, but because of them.
"Some commentators said that Susan Rice would be bad because she was anti-Israel and they hoped that Obama would appoint someone pro-Israel. But John Kerry is no friend of Israel. And as far as I was concerned, we would have been better off with Rice on the job. "

Jennifer Rubin; EXCLUSIVE: ADL pans possible Chuck Hagel pick  Quoting Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League:

http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/

“Chuck Hagel would not be the first, second, or third choice for the American Jewish community’s friends of Israel. His record relating to Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship is, at best, disturbing, and at worst, very troubling. The sentiments he’s expressed about the Jewish lobby border on anti-Semitism in the genre of professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt and former president Jimmy Carter.”

Also from Rubin:

Six ways you know Chuck Hagel is in trouble
Senate Dems in a pickle if Hagel nominated

From the Wall Street Journal: Chuck Hagel's Jewish Problem;  " The would-be secretary of defense has some curious views."

 Politico: HAGEL ALLIES FIRE BACK   "Hagel's former aides yesterday released a fact sheet outlining his positions on national security, Israel and the Middle East. And separately, a group of nine former ambassadors signed a letter, obtained by POLITICO, calling Hagel "an impeccable choice" for Defense secretary. Signatories include Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of State for political affairs, and Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan."

Time Magazine's "Person of the Year"

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Forbes Magazine: President Barack Obama Is Time's Person of the Year, By Default  "Barack Obama survived a presidential election against a weak opponent despite an underwhelming legislative record and his own failure to define the choice in positive terms. In 2012, that’s good enough to earn you a Person of the Year nod from Time."

Big Journalism: "Kind of a no-brainer pick for "Time," but check out this slobbering love affair of purplish prose oozing from the pores of editor Rick Stengel."

Limbaugh: Obama TIME’s ‘Person Of The Year’ Because He Symbolizes New ‘Stupid People’ Demographic   "I wonder what these elite Democrats really think about that. So this guy’s Man of the Year because idiots love him? Because believe me, they think low-information voters are idiots. I guarantee you. They’ll be glad to take their votes. The new stupid America? That should have been Man of the Year. Person of the Year: Stupid people. The low-information voter should have been the Person of the Year.” "

It's Thursday; what are your kids doing now?

conservativedailynews.com

Lieberman: 'Rumors' CT Shooter Had 'Hypnotic Involvement' With Video Games  "Joe Lieberman I-Conn: “Very often these young men have an almost hypnotic involvement in some form of violence in our entertainment culture – particularly violent video games, and then they obtain guns and become not just troubled young men but mass murderers.” "