Thomas Sowell on Hit Piece Journalism

Townhall  "Front-page editorials, disguised as news stories, have become such familiar features of the New York Times that it should have been no surprise to discover in the December 28th issue a front-page story about a professor of finance at the University of Houston who has been a paid consultant to financial enterprises.

"Since professors of all sorts have been paid consultants to organizations of all sorts, it is questionable why this was a story at all, much less one that covered an entire inside page, in addition to a central front-page opening, under the headline "Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward.' "

Speaking of hit pieces:
Controversial black sports columnist Jason Whitlock compared black conservative scholar Thomas Sowell to a house slave in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
This is how the left treats those who dare to have the courage to speak openly about race and liberal policies toward blacks.

Obama gave away all our troops fought and died for

Battle of Fallujah Redux: Al-Qaeda rises in Anbar province
"The president's failure to sign a new status of forces agreement with the Maliki government led to our early withdrawal from Iraq. Many analysts believe Obama gave up on the negotiations too early - as he appears to be doing in Afghanistan with his inability to come to an agreement with President Karzai on future American troop deployments there."

Obama’s Afghanistan Mess    "It’s safe to say that “freeing imprisoned Taliban and al-Qaeda jihadists who targeted and killed American troops” wasn’t on any military family’s New Year’s wish list.
"As for the commander-in-chief? It’s back to the golf course. Fore!"

From DEBKAfile: " Ironically, the tribal militias backing al Qaeda are the same “Awakening” groups which the US army sustained and armed for the battle to root out Al Qaeda from western Iraq during the 2005-2007 landmark “surge” campaign devised by Gen. David Petraeus.
"That surge wheel has clearly turned round in favor of al Qaeda." ...
Obama has been al Qaeda's main ally in their return:
"1.  There is no military force in the region capable of going into Iraq and stopping al Qaeda’s advance, which was allowed to happen in consequence of the US army’s precipitate exit from the country three years ago."

Blackfive: Al Qaeda seizes partial control of 2 cities in western Iraq  "The ISIS began retaking control of areas in Iraq after the US withdrew military, intelligence, and logistical support from the Iraqi military and intelligence services and abandoned its support of the Awakening in December 2011. The Syrian civil war and a political standoff between Prime Minister Maliki and Sunnis in Anbar have also fueled the resurgence of al Qaeda in Iraq." 

 

Is our healthcare going to work well, or are we condemned to a lifetime of this?

I still think of Michael J. Fox on a daytime talk show discussing treatment for Parkinson's; he said nobody can do it as well as the US government. We'll see.

Doctor’s Office Spends 2 Hours On Hold With Health Insurer For Patient’s Surgery Authorization

 

Certified Enrollment Specialist, Marlene Nesmith, waits on the HealthCare. gov website that reads, “HealthCare.gov has a lot of visitors right now!” as she waits for it to allow her entry into the Affordable Care Act website at a Miami Enrollment Assistance Center on Dec. 20, 2013 in Miami, Fla.

 

"The new year brought relief to some Illinois patients newly insured under the nation’s health care law. Others still weren’t sure whether they were covered, despite their best efforts to navigate the often-balky new system.

"The major benefits of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul took effect Wednesday, the first day of 2014." ...

 

This next is from the UK Daily Mail, where people have known screwed-up nationalized healthcare for decades. Even they think our health Obamacare is bad.
Obamacare confusion reigns as frustrated patients walk out of hospitals without treatment  "Patients in a close-in DC suburb who think they've signed up for new insurance plans are struggling to show their December enrollments are in force, and health care administrators aren't taking their word for it.
In place of quick service and painless billing, these Virginians are now facing the threat of sticker-shock that comes with bills they can't afford.
" 'They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!' a coughing Maria Galvez told MailOnline outside the Inova Healthplex facility in the town of Springfield.

She was leaving the building without getting a needed chest x-ray.

" 'The people in there told me that since I didn't have an insurance card, I would be billed for the whole cost of the x-ray,' Galvez said, her young daughter in tow."

Gallup: U.S. Uninsured Still Rate Exchange Experience Negatively
"Uninsured Americans who have visited a health insurance exchange website mostly say their experience was negative rather than positive, by 59% to 39%. That reading, from Gallup Daily tracking throughout December, is only a slight improvement from Gallup's combined October and November polling, when 63% reported a negative experience and 33% a positive one."

That health care law, by the numbers  "The government churns out tons of numbers, but here's one you won't see: 0.0002. That's the percentage of estimated online visitors to healthcare.gov who actually signed up for coverage the first day. Altogether, that's six people out of just over 3 million. Not all the figures associated with the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law are so ridiculously dreary. Three million tells a happier tale, too..."

Galen Institute: Obamacare's utter chaos 

 

"Grace-Marie Turner and Avik Roy join Larry Kudlow to discuss the recent decision by the Obama administration to exempt millions of previously insured Americans from the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate." ...

Krauthammer: Republicans can end Obamacare by stopping the impending bailout of insurance companies.

Charles Krauthammer

... "Nancy Pelosi was right: We’d have to pass the damn thing to know what’s in it. Well, now we have and now we know.

"The whole scheme was risky enough to begin with — getting enough enrollees and making sure 40 percent are young and healthy. Obamacare is already far behind its own enrollment estimates. But things have gotten worse. The administration has been changing the rules repeatedly — with every scrimmage-line audible raising costs and diminishing revenue."

Incandescent light bulbs; should auld acquaintance be forgot?

The Burdensome Bulb Ban by Bok from Bokbluster

"It’s 2014 and, thanks to President Bush, the creation of incandescent light bulbs is now banned.

"Will mercury contamination from EPA mandated fluorescent lightbulbs become the lead paint issue of the future?  
"A story in the Washington Examiner blames the light bulb ban on a conspiracy between big makers of the low margin bulbs and government."

 

The Comical Conservative

Steve Hayes on Benghazi and the New York Times

Stephen F. Hayes   "To hear it from the New York Times editorial page, the many issues surrounding the attacks in Benghazi are now settled.

"In a December 30 editorial, published under the headline “The Facts About Benghazi,” the newspaper proclaims an end to the 15 months of debate about the fatal attacks on the U.S. consulate on September 11, 2012. Citing an “exhaustive investigation by The Times” that it says “goes a long way toward resolving any nagging doubts about what precipitated the attack” and “debunks Republican allegations,” America’s Newspaper of Record declares that “in a rational world” the investigation “would settle the dispute over Benghazi.”

 

"Well then.

 

"It’s hardly surprising that the New York Times would find the New York Times the final word on an issue.

 

"But for the rest of us, rational and irrational alike, this revisionist account is neither authoritative nor definitive. The central thesis of the piece is wrong, and the sweeping claim the author has made in defending it is demonstrably false.

 

"Here’s the background...."    Full article here.

....

"And contrary to the claims of the New York Times, many of those in the U.S. intelligence business continue to insist that members of this al Qaeda network participated in the Benghazi attacks."   H/T to Lucianne.

Stephen F. Hayes is a senior writer at The Weekly Standard and author of two New York Times bestsellers: Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President and The Connection: How al Qaeda's Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America. He is a regular Fox All Stars panelist on Special Report with Bret Baier.

2014: The Year of Obama's Reckoning

The Weekly Standard  "Two days after Christmas I found myself in a doctor's office in New Jersey at eight o'clock in the morning. As I sat in the waiting room, a middle-aged woman came in and began a discussion with the receptionist. It seemed that her daughter, who would turn 26 on December 31, was trying to figure out what to do about health insurance.

"The woman explained that her daughter had been on a policy with a low co-pay and deductible (she didn't specify what they were) that cost $240 a month. But Obamacare had scuttled that policy and the most affordable plan open to her was a lot more in monthly costs (again, she didn't specify), but with a $6,000 deductible and $50 co-pays. What this woman was inquiring, on her daughter's behalf, was how much the doctor actually charged just for a garden-variety visit, in case she got sick. Sighing, she said that she and her daughter both suspected that it was probably best if she just skipped insurance, paid the penalty—her word—and then bore any healthcare costs directly.

 

"The entire conversation almost sounded like the script of an RNC ad. But it wasn't. These were real people trying to navigate the real problems caused by Obamacare. And I suspect that over the holidays this scene was replicated all over the country."  Jonathan V. Last

The character of this Democrat president

Obama’s Half-Brother ‘Floored’ About President’s Lying About Meeting Him   ..."When Ingraham pointed out that Obama doesn’t spend very much time with his extended family and seems to prefer the company of celebrities such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Ndesandjo said she “had a point.' ”

Related links:
Thomas Sowell;  Obama and the Art of Phoniness 

Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland and leader of the Solidarity movement is not enamored with President Obama and his leadership.   "Walesa, in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, spoke negatively about President Obama's leadership skills."
....
"Where we aren't getting kicked out, we're retreating. No one fears us, no one trusts us. No one much likes us. The thugs of the world rejoice that President Obama is in office, while our former allies try to make sense of our policies."

Dumb and dumber: 2014  Hey, he said that, not me.  But Valerie Jarrett says President Obama has never been challenged intellectually.

American Thinker and PJMedia  author Kyle-Anne Shriver claimed that if Obama were really smart he wouldn't have done these things:

REGAL R and R: Obamas live like royalty on lavish Hawaiian holiday

... "What’s more, hundreds of federal workers — from White House staffers to the Secret Service security detail needed to protect the Obamas — join in for what turns out to be an all-expenses-paid vacation. "

http://www.tobytoons.com/td/

 

Obama goes to bed during Benghazi but pulls ‘all-nighter’ for campaign  "Obama’s sure not going to explain why his campaign schedule and a good night’s sleep was more important than protecting Americans trapped in a terrorist attack and so far no one else is talking."  Also here.

 

 President Obama spills military secrets for political gain   And just in time for the election, I might add.  "Panic is never pretty. When it involves a politician scrambling desperately to stay afloat, it is ugly. When it involves a president of the United States trading national-security secrets for political gain, it is obscene."

Posts from The Comical Conservative

Posts from The Comical Conservative

 

 

 

 

FEINSTEIN and BOXER ASK CALIFORNIANS TO LAY DOWN THEIR WEAPONS DURING STATEWIDE MANHUNT FOR KILLING MANIAC CHRIS DORNER.

 

... "Other California lawmakers chimed in on the Senators’ anti-gun stance with Los Angeles’ Democrat Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa saying disarmament was a good idea, except for public officials. Republicans thought the idea was just crazy.

“ 'Feinstein and Boxer want everybody to go unarmed as a madman is running a round shooting people,” said a Riverside, CA. alderman. “If that is the truth… I’m never going to San Francisco again… something must be in the water to make them that insane.' ”

 

Kinda Funny But Kinda Sad

By Richard Fernandez at PJ Media  "Perhaps the saddest and funniest story in recent days comes from Forbes. Merrill Matthews, himself an insurance industry leader, writes about how  his industry was led on by the golden visions of Obamacare only to find itself in a waterless desert.  While being courted by the president they were shown fleeting glimpses of gold and jewels.  But what they got instead was a website that wouldn’t accept payments and a set of rules that forced them to accept non-paying customers, retroactively.
....
"He concludes that “health insurers are being battered by Obamacare and they deserve it.”  And while he feels sorry for them he’s looking for a violin small enough to do justice to the suffering they are experiencing.

"Maybe he can find an even smaller one for Pajama Boy. After he finishes his chocolate he might try his Obamacare policy on for size. Running a close second for the story of tragi-comic news of the year is an article in the Huffington Post which is somewhat jarringly headlined: ”Doctor Shortage Looming As Obamacare Rolls Out”. Signing up hard as it was and paying your premium, difficult as it may be, turns out to be the easy part."  Full article
Richard Fernandez was an early joiner of PJ Media, and he is a longstanding PJ Columnist.
Richard has been a software developer for nearly 15 years. Before that, he worked in forestry, assisted in the negotiations between Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines and the Cabinet, organized tribespeople in the Philippines and played a role in the anti-Marcos movement.
On his PJM blog, titled Belmont Club, Richard provides a discussion of history and history in the making:

Leno: Biden was Buying Sandwiches and was $10 Short... -

CNS News

"During his monologue on a repeat episode of The Tonight Show Wednesday night, Jay Leno said, “Vice President Joe Biden went to pick up a couple of sandwiches for lunch for him and the president…”

Must-Watch: Irish MP Blasts President Obama as 'Hypocrite of the Century'

IJReview  "President Obama got blasted by Clare Daly, a fiery Irish Member of Parliament. She rips the shameful, sycophantic American media for supporting a ‘war criminal’ and the ‘hypocrite of the century.’ And — she’s a soft socialist.

Hat tip to Eddie Strickland on Facebook