Watch for Rand Paul posts later today

We await more commentary on this and will draw from it as the day progresses. Meanwhile these should be sufficient.

Mr. Paul Goes to Washington  "It delayed, if not aborted, a terrible nominee's confirmation. Brennan should not assume directorship of the CIA, and a little sand in the gears of his confirmation is welcome."

His filibuster raises very important issues about citizenship.  "There are a few things about this debate worth considering. One is that we are too much focused on the instrument of these killings rather than on the moral and political context of them."

Unreal: Lindsey Graham Uses Poster On Senate Floor To Attack Rand Paul… 

A Government to be Feared

American Thinker  Excerpts posted here,  but the article contains much more content on the subject.

TOTUS

 "With each passing day of President Obama's second term he continues to consolidate power and undermine any notion of conventional democratic governing norms."
....
"Let us think about that statement. Yes, 9/11 would certainly constitute an extraordinary circumstance that would have justified Dick Cheney's order for the military to shoot down a hijacked plane... that would have resulted in massive loss of American life. But that is not what is happening at the moment. At the moment, Department of Homeland Security is ordering that drones be adapted to detect a gun-carrying citizen at the same time that it is purchasing souped-up armored vehicles typically found on the battlefield. One report estimates that by 2020, there will be 30,000 drones flying in American airspace."

....
"Putting aside the fact that Obama has never articulated national security objectives for his administration, he has yet to explain why a civilian national security force is required to be funded with money the government does not have to face an enemy or threat that is nonexistent."
....

"As a Jew, I fear the beginning of history repeating itself." 
Read more.  

 

The sins of Secretary Clinton are falling on John Kerry

Fox News  "John Kerry is going to have a rough tenure as secretary of state. But let’s face it, whoever came after Hillary Clinton was going to have to deal with a foreign affairs press corps that has been sleeping for four years. From the moment Hillary entered Foggy Bottom, political reporters have treated their beloved secretary of state with kid gloves.
"Watching media outlets now play catch-up on just how dangerous the world really is makes you feel a bit sorry for Kerry. Suddenly the State Department reporters have realized that Iran is about to get a nuclear weapon, GITMO is still open, North Korea is invigorated, the Russians are actively out-maneuvering us, Syria is in flames and the French are leading the fight against Al Qaeda. "  Hat tip to Harley Standlee; Placerville, CA

Maybe Republicans Should Try Being Popular

Ann Coulter  "Republicans don't control the U.S. Senate and they don't have the presidency. Instead of wasting time and energy in doomed efforts to defeat President Obama's Cabinet nominees or sucking up to illegal aliens, why not focus on issues where Republicans can be off-the-charts popular while forcing Democrats into taking stupid positions?
"After the slaughters at Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., Tucson, Ariz., and Newtown, Conn., every sentient person knows we need to do something about institutionalizing the mentally ill and -- at the very least -- keeping guns out of their hands."

....
"After the Virginia Tech shooting, an ABC poll showed that while Americans remained dubious about the effect of more gun control laws, 83 percent supported requiring states to provide information on the mentally ill* for gun background checks.
...
At the risk of joining the Republicans' circular firing squad when we ought to be fighting Democrats, here's how I think Republicans should be looking at things:
-- Pushing amnesty for illegal aliens: 80 percent of Americans ferociously oppose you.
-- Pointlessly opposing Obama's Cabinet nominees: 99 percent of Americans need a constant supply of NoDoz just to listen.
-- Staking out an Amnesty International position on a president's hypothetical ability to use a drone against an "American citizen" (named Anwar al-Awlaki) about to launch a devastating terrorist attack on U.S. soil: 70 percent of Americans are against you.
-- Opposing the Democrats' idiotic proposals on gun control: 60-70 percent of Americans support you, but the other 30 to 40 percent will hate you because they want to "Do Something."

-- Proposing the involuntary commitment of dangerous psychotics and implementing measures to prevent them from obtaining guns: 83 percent of Americans support you and will be furious at Democrats for trying to undercut such laws.

worldnewscurator

*Ok, I agree with that, but how do you keep someone like the Newtown shooter from taking another gun owner's weapons? Do you keep anyone in the mentally deranged person's home from owning weapons?

All tin-pot dictators may now move up one space (UPDATED)

Breaking News: Hugo Chavez is still dead  "After Franco's death, Chevy Chase, reader of the news on NBC's Saturday Night's comedic news segment Weekend Update, announced the dictator's death and read a quotation from Richard Nixon: "General Franco was a loyal friend and ally of the United States. He earned worldwide respect for Spain through firmness and fairness."... As an ironic counterpoint to this, a picture was displayed behind Chase, showing Franco giving the fascist salute alongside Adolf Hitler"

Obama's former mentor praises Hugo Chavez's 'warmth and generosity'

"Professor Charles Ogletree served on the president’s black advisory council"   Video here. 

 Via Lucianne

 

UPDATE:  Ahmadinejad’s claim that Chávez will be resurrected with Jesus ‘went too far’   "The reappearance of Mahdi is anticipated by believers in a manner comparable to that with which Christians anticipate the second coming of Jesus. Shia Muslims believe both will come on the resurrection day."
 

 

From the UK: How typical of the Left to idolise a despot who gloried in attacking America and Britain   "

One can only speculate as to what post-Imperial resentment has inspired such irrational sentiments — and led such people to view a belligerent bully like Chavez as some sort of saint."

I'd have much preferred to select the print version of this article to get rid of the trashy links that come with it, but that did not seem possible. TD

Related, wouldn't you say? Speaking of tin-pot dictators: A Government to be Feared   "With each passing day of President Obama's second term he continues to consolidate power and undermine any notion of conventional democratic governing norms." 

This article is of such import that TW will post it elsewhere as a stand-alone feature. I use it here as to show you that America is not far from being a third-world country with third-world economics and a congress containing far too many members who honor third-world rulers and want our president to emulate them.

Speaking of deadly weapons in the hands of a man with dysfunctional thought processes...

 

Alan Caruba; The Speech No One Heard  "By any measurement one applies, the nation is sliding toward another financial crisis and Mitch McConnell’s efforts in the Senate continue to go largely unreported.

"Is anyone listening?"
Too bad that McConnell's over-Botoxed face cannot register the emotion that is needed to attract listeners.

Sequester Spin  "So, the janitors who were about to take a body blow from the sequester actually got a raise.

"The White House has, however, eliminated tours for the public under pressure of the Sequester.  But, so far, is keeping the staff calligraphers."

Email tells feds to make sequester as painful as promised  ...."So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be," Mr. Brown, in the internal email, said his superiors told him."  Read it all here.
Hat tip to Neal Boortz, who, as you may notice, subtly spells Obama's name with a zero. Low-information types aren't likely to catch that.

 

Forbes Magazine; Sequester This! President Obama's Colossal Media Blunder  "With a glut of examples a mere Google search away, it won’t be long before even the most disengaged voter—facing some Obama-generated inconvenience and having these stories shoved in his face—asks, “What do you mean I can’t get my passport renewed? Couldn’t they fire Obama’s $100,000 a year dog trainer instead?” And if this phony “austerity” is imposed on the rest of us, how do you think the public will react to the First Lady’s next multi-million dollar vacation?
"Sound far-fetched? Then consider that the sequester has already backfired on Obama once."...
 

Michael Barone; The New Economic Normal? Maybe spending cuts are the cure for stagnation. "Republicans are being attacked as irresponsible for allowing the relatively small sequester cuts to occur. But maybe that was the responsible thing to do. Maybe it would be responsible to cut spending even more." 

 

Obama’s atrocious statement on Chavez’s death

Jennifer Rubin  "A dictator dies. He’s persecuted Jews, denied basic civil liberties and acted as a banker for the Iranian regime. What does the president say? “Sic semper tyrannis. After the welcome news of Hugo Chavez’s death, I hope that the oppressed people of Venezuela will be able to live in freedom, not under miserable tyranny. I look forward to working in the House to promote a free, democratic, and pro-American government in Venezuela.” "

"No, no that’s from a freshman congressman, Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)"

Our president actually says something so meaningless it is impossible to decipher whether he thought Chavez was a friend or foe: “At this challenging time of President Hugo Chavez’s passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government. As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.”
....

Another Republican, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said:

“Hugo Chavez was a tyrant who forced the people of Venezuela to live in fear. His death dents the alliance of anti-U.S. leftist leaders in South America. Good riddance to this dictator.

" The president,  in his embarrassing and mealy-mouthed statement, offered no such condemnation of Chavez’s past behavior. Obama thereby displayed a number of his greatest failings. He is an irresolute defender of the oppressed. "He is too afraid of giving offense to vile regimes and calling out gross abrogation of human rights. He thereby demoralizes democracy advocates and human rights dissidents. He fails to appreciate that the way in which we interact with Iran’s allies (e.g. Syria, Venezuela) affects their perception of our resolve."

Hume: Obama Needs To Put On His "Big Boy Pants And Prepare To Shoulder The Responsibility"

RealClearPolitics

http://terrellaftermath.com/

 

"BRIT HUME: The president seems prepared to let the public suffer almost as much as possible, as long as he can blame somebody else. This is not what we expect of presidents. Presidents, in the end, are supposed to be the people who put their big boy pants and prepare to shoulder the responsibility. And if they're criticized for using that responsibility, or authority, so be it. But that's what you expect of presidents.

"This president seems more inclined to let the chips fall where they may and hit as hard as they might, as long as he thinks he can blame somebody else. It's very unusual for a president. (O'Reilly Factor, March 4, 2013)" 

Even the left-wing Daily Kos admits it: Yes, the Sequester is President Obama's Fault. These are facts.

"....If one did pay attention, this conclusion is undeniable. The sequester was basically an invention of Gene Sperling and Jack Lew.

...."These are the people that were hired by and work in the Obama administration that wrote the damn Sequester! It's pretty hard to deny, but some will try."

IT'S A WASTE OF TIME TO TALK TO LEFTISTS

From the Freedom Fighter's Journal  I hate these commercials you have to endure before the video begins, but what can you do?  There is a cleaner video further on down.

Twitchy says, "It’s been a while since the claim of “You lie!” has caused such a stir, but Bill O’Reilly’s refusal to let Alan Colmes fudge on his claim of spending cuts by the Obama administration turned heated tonight, to the delight of viewers everywhere." Lots of comments in here.

 

Video here also: Bill O'Reilly Goes Ballistic On Alan Colmes: 'You Are Lying! You Are Lying!'  O'Reilly brought Colmes on to discuss what he saw as a lack of willingness from President Barack Obama to offer a single spending cut. When Colmes pushed back on that, O'Reilly started to get heated. 
O'Reilly pushed him to name a specific program Obama has been willing to cut. Colmes offered Medicare — which has been put on the table repeatedly in budget talks — but O'Reilly blew up at Colmes and said that was not "specific" enough. 
"Hold it, hold it, because now I’m getting teed off at you. Give me one damn program he said he would cut? One?" O'Reilly said. More video here.

This lib site says O'Reilly yelled at Colmes for "telling the truth"

Bullies in the Newsroom Manipulating the News

Godfather Politics
"Richard Salant, former president of CBS news, said: “Our job is to give people not what they want, but what we decide they ought to have.” That’s pretty arrogant, isn’t it?
"Walter Cronkite, former CBS news anchor said, “News reporters are certainly liberal and left of center.”
"Herman Dismore, foreign editor of the New York Times, said, “The New York Times is deliberately pitched to the liberal point of view.”
"Richard Cohen, senior producer for CBS, said, “We are going to impose our agenda on the coverage by dealing with issues and subjects that we choose to deal with.”
"America, it is time to turn off the controlled media sources. You have two options: stand for truth and demand justice, or become the victims of your own undoing and be trodden under the foot of media oppression.
"Let’s take the next step and show you the twisted ideology of those who report the news:" 

How's that Obama-Media marriage doing lately?

Was SNL’s mocking of Obama’s sequester hysteria a sign of change?

"Or just the lowest hanging fruit of the week?

"This past week, SNL mocked Obama’s fear-mongering over the sequester.
But SNL went even further, mocking Obama’s economic ignorance, having his character say:  ”I really have no idea how money works or how budgets work.” (h/t NRO)" 

 

Also from LI: What if the President threw a Sequester hissy-fit, and no one cared?

John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz     

2-1 support sequester cuts save defense. Has Obama made biggest political miscalculation in years? http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/most-back-cuts-overall-but-not-to-the-military/ …

 

President Obama's approval rating has dropped to 43%

 

 WaPo Busts White House In Another Sequester Lie  "To his great credit, the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler continues to hold the White House responsible for spreading sequester falsehoods. This morning, Kessler did what good reporters are supposed to do: fact-checked a White House claim -- again about Capitol Hill janitors -- and reported the fact that it was 100% false."
Protestors will appear on his front lawn in three...two...one...

Tom Brokaw: Obama Spends Too Much Time Campaigning  "Brokaw replied that he didn't think that Republicans were flat out refusing to work with the President but are negotiating with an eye to the 2014 midterm elections and don't want to give away too much. Brokaw went on to lament that Obama is doing little else but demonizing the GOP instead of looking for ways to work with them."

Obama's White House: Hostile Work Environment for Reporters "In Obama's America, workers can sue their employer if they are subjected to a hostile work environment. Can you imagine the litigious field day trial lawyers would have with a paper trail showing a pattern of behavior like this one? I know that in my workplace I can't send continuous, abusive e-mails to people with whom I work. I can't use the kind of vulgarity and bullying tactics as described by these reporters."

David Gregory Gets Sperling to Admit Obama Lied During Presidential Debate   "Anyway, it's great that four months after the fact David Gregory busts Obama for a bald-faced lie he told during a 2012 presidential debate, but this would've been much more helpful, you know, before the election."

 

Among the mourners of Hugo Chavez are...

Weasel Zippers listed these:

Jimmy Carter (worst-president-ever-emeritus)
"So unlike Jimmy Carter to coddle enemies of America… yeah, maybe not."

The morbidly massive Marxist Michael Moore  "Oddly, Moore doesn’t mention Cuba’s healthcare system (the one he fawned over in his movie “Sicko”) not being able to save Chavez."

Oliver Stone  "I mourn a great hero to the majority of his people and those who struggle throughout the world for a place."

Sean Penn " The Hollywood actor Sean Penn has paid tribute to Hugo Chavez. “Today, the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion. I lost a friend I was blessed to have.” He also says Venezuela and its revolution “will endure under the proven leadership of Vice-President Maduro”."

NY. Rep. Jose Serrano whose performance we can check here.

Of course, people from San Francisco  "The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) remembers Comrade Chavez in San Fran:"...

Socialist Hero Hugo Chavez Amassed $2 Billion Fortune… "Somehow makes Michael Moore’s pro-Chavez rant even more absurd."

Howie Carr at the Boston Herald does not concur with all of the above. Says he:

 

Moonbats mourn another Red thug     Joe Kennedy II among them:

“President Chavez cared deeply about the poor … while some of the wealthiest people on our planet have more money than they can ever reasonably expect to spend.”

"Damn right, comrade! Es verdad. For the 
record, according to 2011 tax filings, Comrade Joe made $901,236 from Citizens Energy and related corporations. His lovely bride, Beth, grabbed another $346,764. 

Total: $1,248,000."

....

"It was a sad day for the moonbat community.
The People’s Republics of Cambridge and Amherst rushed to lower their flags to half staff first. A spontaneous candlelight vigil erupted in Muddy River. Funeral dirges played endlessly on the NPR stations..."

cartoonsbyhenry

Hugo’s Hagiographers   "Not all liberal outlets were so uncritical of Chavez in the aftermath of his death, however. To its credit, the liberal news site ThinkProgress published a highly critical piece, entitled “Why Democrats Shouldn’t Eulogize Hugo Chavez.”
"The real shame, though, might be that such an article even had to be written."