Marco Rubio, Senator, and future President

I've yet to hear a better speech from anyone, anywhere, on our massive and destructive debt debacle. Marco Rubio speaks, then answers a challenge from Senator John Kerry without missing a beat.




Can't get any better than this.

America can still produce good men and women. And, once again, we'll have to bring together good families.

As far as this ongoing debt debate, well, Senators and Representatives, you're likely too late.

I don’t think this weak-on-cuts bill that Reid is fondling in the Senate will be adequate to stop S&P and Moody’s from downgrading our credit ratings. We’ve just too much debt, and we still have Democrats who want to continue on an inexorable path leading America to dirty socialism; they still want to dole out money to moochers in exchange for votes. This bill does not Cut, Cap or Balance; therefore, it is inadequate.

It’s time to clean out your home's empty spaces, Americans, because Granny is coming to live with you. We’ll have to recall how strong families once worked together, and do so again, as we did before LBJ and the Great Society programs Progressives invented started tearing this nation apart. Who knows? Maybe even Churches will make a comeback, fighting back against Democrat-enabled atheists who’ve diminished Church charities and outreaches.

We got along just fine before Dirty Socialisms started infiltrating this little Republic, when FDR and LBJ and a succession of LeftLibProggs who think money is theirs for the taking began damaging, hopefully not beyond repair, the very fabric of Democracy in America.

Suck it up, LeftLibProggs; your time of ascendency is just about OVER. Socialism never, ever works, and here in America it’s gonna flame out spectacularly. Have your fire-retardant suits ready.

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Doorbell: It's the Government.

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h/t Blake

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House panel approves 'Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011', a twisted, lying crapweasel of a bill.

Nothing more than a mislabeled ruse, a law that would enable more government encroachments on privacy. From CNET News...

Internet providers would be forced to keep logs of their customers' activities for one year--in case police want to review them in the future--under legislation that a U.S. House of Representatives committee approved today.

The 19 to 10 vote represents a victory for conservative Republicans, who made data retention their first major technology initiative after last fall's elections, and the Justice Department officials who have quietly lobbied for the sweeping new requirements, a development first reported by CNET.

A last-minute rewrite of the bill expands the information that commercial Internet providers are required to store to include customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and temporarily-assigned IP addresses, some committee members suggested. By a 7-16 vote, the panel rejected an amendment that would have clarified that only IP addresses must be stored.

It represents "a data bank of every digital act by every American" that would "let us find out where every single American visited Web sites," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who led Democratic opposition to the bill.

Lofgren said the data retention requirements are easily avoided because they only apply to "commercial" providers. Criminals would simply go to libraries or Starbucks coffeehouses and use the Web anonymously, she said, while law-abiding Americans would have their activities recorded.

To make it politically difficult to oppose, proponents of the data retention requirements dubbed the bill the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011, even though the mandatory logs would be accessible to police investigating any crime and perhaps attorneys litigating civil disputes in divorce, insurance fraud, and other cases as well.

Anyone who wondered if I ever opposed so-called 'Conservative' 'Republicans' need look no further. This is an attack on my Classical Liberal foundations; one that I oppose completely. This needs die.

Let's hope this gets defeated on the House floor.

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Charles M. Blow, New York Times' Racialist, attacks "Captain America".

Blow...

It illustrates just how quickly things can fade into the fog of history if not vigilantly and accurately kept alive in the telling.

That is why the racial history of this country is not a thing to be toyed with by Hollywood. There are too many bodies at the bottom of that swamp to skim across it with such indifference. Attention must be shown. Respect must be paid.

So as “Captain America” ended and the credits began to roll, I managed a bit of a smile, the kind that turns up on the corners with a tinge of sadness. I smiled not for what I’d seen, but for what had not been shown, knowing that I would commit it to a column so that my grandfather and the many men like him would not be lost to the sanitized vision of America’s darker years.

Why am I not surprised that you, Charles, would dredge deep in the bile-pit of your deep-seated racial hatreds to pull out an attack on a shallow science fiction film such as 'Captain America'? Do you not realize that it it 'acquiescence to black leaders' that such films 're-write history' for the purpose of helping bury angst and resentments such as yours?

Why don't you just let these evil past wounds you're keeping bleeding-fresh heal? Or do you need to keep these hatreds burning, in order to earn a paycheck?

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Global Warmalist alarmists get a massive beat down from... SCIENCE!

So, what happens if you are heavily invested in a pet theory, you've declared that THE DEBATE IS OVER! and practically shut down new avenues of scientific research, fought for and almost succeeded in CHANGEing the economic makeup of the entire WORLD, what do you do when new SCIENCE! data surfaces that punches holes in your carefully groomed AGW theory? Watch carefully for the next several weeks. We're getting ready to find out.

I predict that alarmists will find some way to discount this new data, no matter how well-grounded and repeatable it might be. There's too much at stake for (Disciples of) Al Gore to give up any ground whatsoever...even to... SCIENCE!. From Forbes...

NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA's Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA's Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models.

Oh, my. What's happening is, as the Earth warms up, it's venting to space, much more than the alarmist's models predicted. So, the warmer we get, the more venting of excess heat to space occurs. It's as if a 'pressure relief valve' opens, and things stabilize.

In addition to finding that far less heat is being trapped than alarmist computer models have predicted, the NASA satellite data show the atmosphere begins shedding heat into space long before United Nations computer models predicted.

Heh. I'm wondering if these original computer models were programmed to be purposefully alarmist.

The new findings are extremely important and should dramatically alter the global warming debate.

Justwaitagoddmanminute! The Al Gore hasn't yet Spoken; He has not passed on allowing this new data to be admitted to His Vast Plan (to screw the World). Nice data you've got there, NASA. Shame if something happens to it...

In short, the central premise of alarmist global warming theory is that carbon dioxide emissions should be directly and indirectly trapping a certain amount of heat in the earth's atmosphere and preventing it from escaping into space. Real-world measurements, however, show far less heat is being trapped in the earth's atmosphere than the alarmist computer models predict, and far more heat is escaping into space than the alarmist computer models predict.

Damned pesky data, messing up our perfectly adjusted computer models. Is it time, once again, to pull a HIDE THE DECLINE! trick? Where's Michael Mann when you need him?




What a damned shame for those who've fallen for the religion of AGW.

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Stay Staunch, House Tea Party Freshman Class

We've managed to buy another day; the House vote Boehner was counting on never materialized. The Tea Party freshman class turned him back. Democrats are digging in, hoping to get that bill sent to Harry Reid today, so they can...dump it and substitute their own gimmick-ridden plan (which should be as Dead On Arrival in the House as the House bill is in the Senate). Why can't Democrats realize that they MUST curtail the spending of public monies, that their game is OVER?

Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to save their shifted to far-Left, now nothing but a neo-Socialist and becoming ever-more-Marxist Party from extinction. Because, if Government 'spending' is truly and effectively curtailed (as MUST be done, just ask the credit rating agencies), how then will they they buy the votes they need to stay in power?

Democrats have become the Looters; attracting the lowest-level of society's Moochers with Other People's Money. They've worked this game since LBJ's Great Society program began back in '68, and today, there's nothing else they've to offer that's attractive enough to rake in Party-line votes. So, they are fighting for their political lives; hoping to save their miserable LeftLibProgg culture of thievery and redistribution.

Stay staunch, #TeaParty. Keep this fight alive, because it's time to stop our Republic's slide into Dirty Socialisms. If not now, when?

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Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious: the "Stench of Cover-up" may reach Obama's Oval Office.

If, if IF this damned debt crisis were not going on, consuming all the oxygen in the media, we could be delving into Barack Hussein Obama's first major scandal: a scandal that's cost the lives of an American Federal agent, and the lives of numerous Mexican civilians and agents, all because the Administration approved an 'operation' designed to snare gun dealers and therefore promote and move forward Obama's and LeftLibProgg Democrat's stalled anti-gun agenda.

This, from today's Investor Business Daily...

ATF: The White House Knew

Scandal: A former ATF special agent tells Congress a National Security Council staffer was informed about Operation Fast and Furious before guns allowed into Mexico wound up at the murder scene of a U.S. agent.

The latest evidence that both the White House and attorney general knew and approved of Project Gunrunner and its deadly offshoot, Operation Fast and Furious, came this week in the testimony of William Newell, ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix office, before Rep. Darrell Issa's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

That the "stench of cover-up," as Fox News analyst Brit Hume described the administration's handling of the matter, may reach even into the Oval Office itself was evidenced by Newell's testimony that he communicated with Kevin O'Reilly, a staffer on President Obama's National Security Council, about Operation Fast and Furious in September 2010.

O'Reilly was national security director for North America tasked with monitoring the activities of Mexican drug cartels. We are asked to believe he inquired about a program that was providing the cartels with guns but kept what he found out to himself.

That date, by the way, is three months before weapons permitted to "walk" into Mexico were found at the scene in Arizona were U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered. Newell said O'Reilly had inquired about the status of Project Gunrunner to brief administration officials before a trip to Mexico.

Newell sent O'Reilly the requested information with the caveat, "You didn't get this from me."

Why was a National Security Council staffer asking about an operation that no one in the upper echelons of the administration was supposed to be aware of? We find it hard to believe it was for O'Reilly's personal amusement. Why would Newell request that he not be acknowledged as the source?

Certainly the whole area of drug cartels, cross-border violence and gun trafficking are matters of national security. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made a cause celebre of blaming the easy access to U.S. weapons for Mexican violence.

Are we to believe neither the White House nor the Department of Justice knew about a program that made that access even easier?

Administration officials have taken the Sgt. Schultz "we knew nothing" approach to any inquiries, only to be tripped up by their own words and actions.

Newell's email to O'Reilly is evidence that at least one person in the White House did.

It's not yet time to really press this issue, not until we survive the debt 'crisis' that Baracky is attempting to finesse to his favor.

But after that's put to bed, boy do we have something to turn loose on this squalid Administration: Darrell Issa.

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"Four Ways the U.S. is Pulling Apart": Same-Sex Marriage, Abortion, Guns, Immigration

From NationalJournal, an analysis of the ripping of America; traditional values vs. 'LeftLibProgg' encroachments.

Of the four battlegrounds, we (Conservatives) are pulling ahead in all except for the same-sex marriage issue (see the charts at the linky).

Same-sex marriage...

Twelve of the 18 blue-wall states now have same-sex-marriage or civil-union laws that guarantee equivalent spousal benefits. By contrast, every state that has consistently voted Republican in recent presidential elections has a law or constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Very strange, being attracted to the same-sex; something I just can't fathom. Democrats embrace this filthy-seeming behavior. Just goes to show how rotten their minds really are.

Abortion...

While blue states moved left on same-sex marriage, a number of predominantly conservative states moved right on abortion. Fifteen states, including 13 that have voted Republican in at least four of the past five presidential races, enacted at least one major restriction on abortion in the first half of 2011. Many states enacted one or two measures, but Indiana and Kansas adopted all five restrictions that National Journal tracked: mandatory ultrasounds before abortions; longer waiting periods or more-stringent counseling requirements; limits on insurance coverage; defunding of Planned Parenthood; and a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a policy that abortion advocates say violates Roe v. Wade.

Seems correct that if, politically, one embraces 'same-sex' unions that one can also embrace killing the unborn. Scabrous and decadent, Democrats.

Immigration...

The traditional “immigration-receiving states” of the Northeast and the Pacific Coast mostly leaned against bringing the law down on illegal immigrants, while Southern and Midwestern states moved the other way. Five red states enacted Arizona-style immigration enforcement laws, while nine expanded the use of the E-Verify database in public and private hiring. Seven states, including traditionally blue Wisconsin and Rhode Island, passed laws requiring voters to show photo identification. On the coasts, blue states made in-state tuition benefits available to illegal immigrants, and Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York opted out of the Secure Communities federal enforcement program. Utah went in both directions, enacting a strict enforcement law along with a guest-worker program.

Only the most dirty-socialist Democrat will ignore the porous borders. Of course, Democrats who do are looking to pick up another fellow traveler. A illegal immigrant is simply an undocumented Democrat in their eyes.

Guns...It's clear that Democrats took a major whipping after Bill Clinton's overreach in the '90's. Democrats lost in 2000 because they ran Al Gore, and he could not retain Tennessee (his 'home state') because WE in the NRA worked overtime to defeat his LeftLibProgg ass. Democrats have not forgotten that, and have wisely backed off attacking the 2nd Amendment directly. Of course Barack Hussein Obama will do whatever he can to re-start the gun controlling. If this debt ceiling crisis mess weren't in the headlines, taking up so much oxygen, then this major DOJ - ATF Gunrunner scandal might well be nipping at BHO's heels right now, possibly becoming an impeachable offense. What did Barack Hussein Obama know, and when did he know it?

Gun-rights advocates this year loosened restrictions primarily, but not exclusively, in Republican-leaning states. Blue-state Maryland passed a law strengthening penalties for gun crimes, but other than that it has been one-way traffic on guns so far in 2011. Thirteen states (including eight traditional red states) lightened restrictions on carrying firearms, with the laws ranging from a Wisconsin act legalizing concealed carry to North Dakota and Texas laws allowing people to keep loaded weapons in their cars while unattended in parking lots. Pennsylvania, a blue-wall state, joined North Carolina in passing a stronger “castle law,” giving people more leeway in defending themselves with deadly force.

It's obvious that each individual should have access and ability to defend him/herself. Especially with the (forced) downsizing occurring - getting ready to occur - at State, Federal and Local governments, police departmental staffing levels might well be decreasing, as funding dries up. I won't mind that, given that I'm self-protected.

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Various reactions to "Barack the Mad"'s pathetic debt Speech

Fred Thompson...

MSNBC's Chris Matthews: President Obama is "doing what Reagan did." Yeah - making people not want to re-elect a Democrat President. #tcot

From the Daily Caller

Sen. Orrin Hatch...

“The President spoke of consensus and compromise,” said Hatch in a statement, “but when has he ever brought people together?”

Sen Roy Blunt...

“Our problem in Washington isn’t that we’re taxing too little — it’s that we’re spending too much. Unfortunately, the President’s repeated calls for higher taxes will not encourage job creators to grow their businesses and hire more workers.”

Sen Lindsey Graham...

“President Obama has never committed to any plan that will stop America from becoming Greece. [T]he only hope I see where we avoid becoming a debtor nation,” Graham added, “is passage of a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.”

Sen Rand Paul...

“Political scare tactics and smoke-and-mirror ‘deals’ won’t solve our debt problem, and in fact will likely cause a larger one by forcing the downgrading of our debt rating.”

Rep. Tom Price (Ga)...
[the president] “continues to sow the seeds of division in this nation by lining his misleading rhetoric with the tenants of class warfare.”

Can't find Sen. Lamar Alexander's or Bob Corker's immediate reactions. Sen. Corker is supposed to be on the radio (Ralph Bristol's show) at 8:05 AM today. Listen live online (WWTN 99.7).

BEST FOR LAST! From the LA Times...

New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles

With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:

"I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."

This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Yes, yes, this is just a crusty old New England independent for now, albeit one who caucuses loyally with Harry Reid's Democratic posse.

To be sure, 30 months after he returned to home cooking, George W. Bush still gets majority blame for the economy.

But here's the breaking news for wishful Democrats: George W. Bush isn't running for anything but exercise.

"More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama’s policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base," the Post reports. ...

Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy have plunged from 77% to barely half.

Obama's overall job approval on the economy has slid below 40% for the first time, with 57% disapproving. And strong disapprovers outnumber approvers by better than two-to-one.

Ahhhh, it's nice to smell the 'Primary' talk early in the mornings, isn't it?

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Speaker Boehner's epic smackdown of Barack Obama, the video.

Best speech of the night, 7/25/11.

Good evening. I’m John Boehner. I serve as Speaker of the whole House — of the members of both parties that you elect. These are difficult times in the life of our nation. Millions are looking for work, have been for some time, and the spending binge going on in Washington is a big part of the reason why.

Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in America. Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual.

I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.

President Obama came to Congress in January and requested business as usual — yet another routine increase in the national debt limit — we in the House said ‘not so fast.’ Here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history.

Here’s what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for. A ‘stimulus’ bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs. And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.

The United States cannot default on its debt obligations. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake. What we told the president in January was this: the American people will not accept an increase in the debt limit without significant spending cuts and reforms. And over the last six months, we’ve done our best to convince the president to partner with us to do something dramatic to change the fiscal trajectory of our country…something that will boost confidence in our economy, renew a measure of faith in our government, and help small businesses get back on track.

Last week, the House passed such a plan, and with bipartisan support. It’s called the ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ Act. It CUTS and CAPS government spending and paves the way for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which we believe is the best way to stop Washington from spending money it doesn’t have. Before we even passed the bill in the House, the President said he would veto it.

I want you to know I made a sincere effort to work with the president to identify a path forward that would implement the principles of Cut, Cap, & Balance in a manner that could secure bipartisan support and be signed into law. I gave it my all.

Unfortunately, the president would not take yes for an answer. Even when we thought we might be close on an agreement, the president’s demands changed.

The president has often said we need a ‘balanced’ approach — which in Washington means: we spend more…you pay more. Having run a small business, I know those tax increases will destroy jobs.

The president is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs. As the father of two daughters, I know these programs won’t be there for them and their kids unless significant action is taken now.

The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen. You see, there is no stalemate in Congress. The House has passed a bill to raise the debt limit with bipartisan support. And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.

Obviously, I expect that bill can and will pass the Senate, and be sent to the President for his signature. If the President signs it, the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised. Spending will be cut by more than one trillion dollars, and a serious, bipartisan committee of the Congress will begin the hard but necessary work of dealing with the tough challenges our nation faces.

The individuals doing this work will not be outsiders, but elected representatives of the people, doing the job they were elected to do as outlined in the Constitution. Those decisions should be made based on how they will affect people who are struggling to get a job, not how they affect some politician’s chances of getting reelected.

This debate isn’t about President Obama and House Republicans … it isn’t about Congress and the White House … it’s about what’s standing between the American people and the future we seek for ourselves and our families. You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people. And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.

The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it.

There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future. We are up to the task, and I hope President Obama will join us in this work. God bless you and your families, and God bless America.

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Obama: "PLEASE PLEASE ME!" Boehner: "NO. BLANK. CHECK."

The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen.

You won't mind if I hold you to that, will you?

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"Barack the Mad: The American presidency comes off the rails."

That's the best headline I've seen all day, and just had to link to it.

Again...

Barack the Mad

The American presidency comes off the rails.

On Friday, right after his Democrat colleagues in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to kill the Cut, Cap and Balance Act without a real vote, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland before a carefully screened, very supportive audience. He said a few interesting things in this relaxed and comfortable environment.

Obama blamed divided government for the debt ceiling crisis. “I’m sympathetic to your view that this would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own,” he told a questioner who brought up the theory, fashionable in some liberal circles, that the 14th Amendment gives the President power to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally. The President went on to remark, with a chuckle, that this would give him more time to spend with his daughters.

In addition to recoiling in horror at the thought of America’s chief executive being arrogant enough to even speculate about the joys of dictatorship out loud, a thoughtful town hall attendee might ask why the Democrats didn’t balance the budget when they had total control of Washington from 2009 to 2010, and point out that they have controlled both houses of Congress since 2006. But you’re not supposed to ask questions like that.

Obama also told his audience that “it’s hard to keep up with all the different plans” for handling the debt crisis. No, it isn’t. There’s are only two real plans: the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, which enjoys the support of a huge majority of Americans, or leaving the debt ceiling where it is. There are no other plans. There are only vague outlines… absolutely none of which have come from President Obama, who has made no concrete proposals at all.

The President trotted out his focus-grouped buzz phrase, “balanced approach,” by which he means some combination of tax increases and spending reductions. “It’s a position that has been taken by every Democratic and Republican president who’ve signed major deficit deals in the past, from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton,” he said.

Is that the full panorama of the American experience now? Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton? We’re lucky we have a genius President who can keep all that history straight. And if these “balanced approaches” taken by three of the four previous presidents in American history – rather pointedly excluding George W. Bush – were so wonderful, then why the hell do we have a $14 trillion national debt?

But, again, you’re not supposed to ask questions like that, and Obama’s people made certain the “town hall” contained no one likely to do so.

On the topic of his conduct so far, the architect of the new Depression said, “we’ve made good choices so far.” (I am not making this up. He really said that.) He also declared, “The United States of America doesn’t run out without paying the tab. We pay our bills. We meet our obligations.”

Um… Mr. President? Running a huge deficit means, by definition, that you are not “paying your bills,” and you are the one who keeps threatening that your government will not “meet its obligations,” by shutting off Social Security checks, veterans benefits, and other essential services.

It’s time to face the unpleasant truth. President Barack Hussein Obama has gone mad.

Maybe not 'mad' in the Hatter sense of the word, but certainly 'not up to the job', 'underqualified', a 'poor choice'. A 'Joker'.

Seems Rush Limbaugh was right. Barack Hussein Obama was doomed to fail.

A good thing, that failure, IF we can get this little Republic back on track to be a successful haven for Capitalism and free thinking, as the founding fathers envisioned, and as once we were.

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Douthat: "A Right-Wing Monster" in Norway doesn't mean that "conservatives need to surrender their convictions."

Finally, something that Ross Douthat 'splains to the haughty LeftLibProgg set at the NYT makes enough sense that I can agree with him. Mark a calendar, please...

For many years, a quiz entitled “Al Gore or the Unabomber?” circulated on conservative Web sites. The quiz juxtaposed passages from the former vice president’s eco-manifesto “Earth in the Balance” with quotes from Theodore Kaczynski’s critiques of industrial civilization and asked the reader to guess which writer was which. ...

Enterprising left-wing bloggers have already begun to play a similar game with Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian man who apparently justified last week’s mass murder of helpless teenage campers with a 1,500-page “compendium” calling for a right-wing revolution against Europe’s ruling class. Judging by the manifesto’s contents, Breivik has roughly the same relationship to the cultural right that Kaczynski had to certain strains of environmentalism. The darkest aspects of his ideology belong strictly to the neo-fascist fringe. But many of his beliefs and arguments echo the rhetoric of mainstream cultural conservatives, in Europe and America alike.

As I've already pointed out, that's truth. And as I could have (and did!) anticipate, a certain far-left Professor, sporting the tiniest of woodys, was quick to 'tar' me with this heinous killer. I've answered him already; but Douthat is easier on the clueless Left than I with my mighty cluebat.

Douthat...

Despite what the Norwegian authorities suggested over the weekend, those beliefs probably aren’t a form of Christian fundamentalism. Breivik’s writings bear no resemblance to the theology of a Jerry Falwell or an Oral Roberts, and his nominal Christianity (“I guess I’m not an excessively religious man,” he writes at one point) seems to be more of an expression of European identity politics and anti-Islamic chauvinism than any genuine religious fervor.

But it’s fair to call Breivik a right-winger. As Commentary Magazine editor John Podhoretz put it, the Norwegian killer is “exactly the kind of psychotic ideologue of the right so many in this country instantly assumed Jared Loughner, the schizophrenic who shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords” to be. His compendium quotes repeatedly from conservative writers on both sides of the Atlantic, and it’s filled with attacks on familiar right-wing targets: Secularism and political correctness; the European Union and the sexual revolution; radical Islam and the academic left.

Those 'targets' (watch your descriptors there, Douthat! Wouldn't want Markos Moulitsas to label you as a 'Sarah Palin'!) are perfectly valid. There's been great strife and conflict in Europe and England over the flood of immigrants of Muslim belief; cartoonists have been 'targeted' for poking fun at a particular Prophet who was also a child-rapist; many more people have been killed by Muslims who act badly than by any so-called 'Christian' 'terrorists'.

Douthat...

This means that last week’s tragedy is also a political opportunity for Europe’s left-of-center politicians, should they choose to respond to Breivik’s rampage the way President Bill Clinton responded to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Timothy McVeigh’s connections to Republican politics were several degrees short of tangential, but Clinton successfully linked the heartland terrorist to talk radio and the government shutdown, implying that McVeigh’s crime was part of a broader story of antigovernment conservatism run amok. Judging by Breivik’s manifesto, the Continent’s left-wing parties won’t have to work nearly that hard to connect the Norwegian’s act of terrorism to Europe’s broader rightward turn.

We remember Bill Clinton's reaction, don't we? That party-boob seized on the moment and did nothing more than deepen the chasm forming between Americans, Right and Left. Instead of using that catastrophe to draw people together (as George Bush did after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11/01), Bill Clinton gouged at the eyes of Conservative critics. He did not help either side with his antics.

Douthat...

But this doesn’t mean that conservatives need to surrender their convictions. The horror in Norway no more discredits Merkel’s views on Muslim assimilation than Ted Kaczynski’s bombs discredited Al Gore’s views on the dark side of industrialization. On the big picture, Europe’s cultural conservatives are right: Mass immigration really has left the Continent more divided than enriched, Islam and liberal democracy have not yet proven natural bedfellows and the dream of a postnational, postpatriotic European Union governed by a benevolent ruling elite looks more like a folly every day.

That's the bottom line, and Douthat is smart enough to see it.

No matter what the Left comes out with in the coming days, the bottom line is that Muslim extremism and Koranic Kulture is anathema to a settled, peaceful community IF Muslims fail to assimilate (read: 'Lose their Religion'). And a fiery Iman can deftly use the Koran to 'persuade' young Muslim men to do things that it'd be very difficult for a Christian preacher to persuade a young Christian to do.

While I think when I see Mormons riding bicycles in this hot weather, going door-to-door in their white buttoned-down shirts and ties, that 'that's crazy!', I certainly don't have to worry about one of 'em having a strapped-on explosive device.

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The video that Anders Behring Breivik posted on YouTube: "Knights Templar 2083"

A damn shame the madman killed people, women and children; his research as reflected in this video is spot-on.

http://stian.blogg.no/1311421767_angrepet_minutt_for_m.html
The video that Anders Behring Breivik posted on YouTube before he attacked Oslo City with a bomb who killed 7 people, and afterwards killed almost 90 youth people at Utøya outside Oslo

Drop the 'Knights Templar' crap and this video is a factual study.

There is a problem with advancing multiculturalism, that's undeniable. The solution is NOT to kill people; that's more a Muslim tactic; fly planes into buildings and all of that, whilst we wring our hands and blame ourselves.

I'd like to see what'll be happening in 2083. I obviously won't be around 72 years from now; my daughter would be 92. The world will be much changed, with a couple three major wars done, at least one of the nuclear variety. Maybe Israel will stand, maybe not; if not, then Mecca should be glassed over as well.

But no matter 2083. It'd be a damned shame if Anders Behring Breivik lives past next weekend, really.

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Amy Jade Winehouse wakes up dead; joins the '27' Club.

Amy Jade Winehouse was born on Sept. 14, 1983; died yesterday, July 22, 2011.

Who didn't know this was gonna happen?

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse died yesterday of a suspected drug overdose at her London home.

The 27-year-old star, who had fought a long and well-publicised battle with drink and drug addiction, was pronounced dead after police were called to her £2.5 million three-storey home in North London.

Her untimely death follows a long list of musicians who have all died at the age of 27, known as the 27 Club. They include rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Rolling Stone Brian Jones.

Does she belong amongst those names? certainly not as talented as were Jimi and Jim and Janis. They were the exceptional ones.

This one, I can't place a single song she did.

Meh.

Oh, and FYI, Lady Gargoyle is only 25. You've got 2 more years left before you're qualified. Get yourself cleaned up soonest.

In tribute...



...from the leading talent of the '27' club.

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AUSTERITY! AMERICA! AUSTERITY! AMERICA! AUSTERITY!!11!1!1!

Get ready for "it", here "it" comes...

In Europe, austerity is in the air, and in the headlines: "Italy Fast-Tracks Austerity Vote." "Greek Minister Urges Austerity Consensus." "Portugal To Speed Austerity Measures." "Even Queen Faces Funding Squeeze In Austerity Britain." The word has become so instantly ubiquitous that Leftie deadbeats are already opposed to it: "Austerity Protest Takes Place In Dublin." For the rentamob types, "austerity" is to this decade what "Bush" and "Iraq War" were to the last. It can't be long before grizzled old rockers are organizing some all-star Rock Against Austerity gala.

Is there any nation on the planet more deserving of AUSTERITY! than America? We've for long been bloated and disgusting, fat, spoiled, and take all of it for granted.

The problem is structural: Not enough people do not enough work for not enough of their lives. Developed nations have 30-year-old students and 50-year old retirees, and then wonder why the shrunken rump of a "working" population in between can't make the math add up.

By the way, demographically speaking, these categories – "adolescents" and "retirees" – are an invention of our own time: They didn't exist a century ago. You were a kid till 13 or so. Then you worked. Then you died. As Obama made plain in his threat to Gran'ma last week that the August checks might not go out, funding nonproductivity is now the principal purpose of the modern state. Good luck with that at a time when every appliance in your home is manufactured in Asia.

Mark Steyn gets it. Obama and the Democrats don't (yet) get it.

It'll take a downgrade from S&P's and Moody's to get their attention I'm guessing. By the time they 'get it', spoiled Americans will be in the streets, protesting a return to the reality that is normalcy: humans can't be coddled for votes, because they are inherently lazy.

There's a wake-up call coming to fat, dumb and happy Americans.

Let's call it Austerity.

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The Face of the Oslo Killer, Andres Behring Breivik, Madman.

Andres Behring Breivik

A madman.

Oh, wait for it: the Left will have you believe this madman is a typical Right-Wing Christian, instead of being a madman with brains squirming like toads.

You likely won't have to wait very long.

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Weekend Video

Hank Williams Jr.'s "The Last Love Song"...





...was written and released in 1973, with the album appearing in '74. When I heard this single on AM radio back then, I was transfixed, mistakenly hearing the lyrics as "black hair against white legs" instead of "black hair against white lace". I think the former makes more sense, and that sort of thing would certainly have scandalized Nashville 'establishment' (they would be 'rocked' soon enough).

The album's cover photo was obviously made a couple years before Hank Williams Jr. fell 442' on Ajax Mountain in Montana, suffering severe head and facial damage, and permanent scarring, prompting the sunglasses, hat, beard (and OUTLAW! disposition?).

Oh, and Williams is a Republican. A Good Man. From Wiki...

Williams has been politically involved with the Republican Party. For the 2000 election, he redid his song “We Are Young Country” to “This is Bush–Cheney Country.” On October 15, 2008, at a rally in Virginia Beach for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, he performed “McCain–Palin Tradition,” a song in support of McCain and his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.[7]

On November 20, 2008, Williams announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 as a Republican party candidate, challenging incumbent Republican Senator Bob Corker.[8] Williams was reported to have already consulted with Senator Lamar Alexander and former Senator Bill Frist, both Republicans from Tennessee.

Could he beat Bob Corker? Would people come out and support Hank Williams Jr. as U.S. Senator from Tennessee? Hell yeah!

Stranger things have happened. Just look at what is sitting Senator from Minnesota, Al (Freakin') Franken. And at what is that?, a dirty socialist sitting in the Oval Office.

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Jennifer Lopez and her "Broad Sides"

Someone left a comment on an old photoshop I created way back in 2007. Thought I'd bring it back, 4 years later, to see if it'll get any new hits up here in present time.

Jennifer Lopez has a HUGE derriere. That is all.

Heh. What an exceptional ass Jennifer Lopez is sporting there. You could land a tailhooker on that one, I'll warrant.

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Grover Norquist, at the New York Times: "Read My Lips: No New Taxes"

Causing quite a stir amongst the LeftLibProggs this morning...

THE Taxpayer Protection Pledge has received increased attention as the Aug. deadline for raising the debt ceiling approaches. My organization, Americans for Tax Reform, created the pledge in 1986 as a simple, written commitment by a candidate or elected official that he or she will oppose, and vote against, tax increases. Over the years many candidates and elected officials have signed the pledge, including 236 current members of the House of Representatives and 41 current senators

Nevertheless, there is some confusion these days about what the pledge does and doesn’t mean, and numerous people have tried to reconfigure its intent to somehow allow its signatories to support tax increases. But in fact the pledge has not changed — indeed, fiscal conservatives must stick to their commitment to oppose tax increases and fight to reduce the size of the federal government.

There have been four main challenges to the pledge and what it means. The first is to charge that it gets in the way of a deal to allow a debt ceiling increase. But that’s not the case at all. John A. Boehner, the speaker of the House, has repeatedly stated that the House would grant the president a debt ceiling increase of $2.5 trillion if Mr. Obama would sign a deal to reduce government spending from his planned levels by the same amount or more.

The problem to be solved is not the deficit; it is overspending. Federal spending in the 2008 fiscal year was $2.9 trillion, and Washington will now spend $3.8 trillion in the fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30. Raising taxes is what politicians do instead of reforming and reducing the cost of government. Advocates of larger government prefer to talk about deficits rather than spending. Why? Because there are two solutions to a deficit problem: spend less or raise taxes. The issue, in other words, isn’t the pledge; it’s Washington’s inability to deal with its own overspending. There is only one fix for a spending problem: spend less.

Mr. Norquist (a Good Man) goes on at length to explain exactly what that Pledge means: Hey, you dumbasses who are trying to find 'wiggle room' to get out of the commitment you made to the American Citizens when you signed this Pledge: stop wiggling. The Pledge still means exactly what it says; the intent is clear: NO NEW TAXES.

We are Taxed Enough Already, my good friends.

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Failure to Pass the CCB Will Herald the End of Dirty Socialisms. Count On It.

Cut, Cap and Balance vote FRIDAY, 7/22/11. Please call your Senators at 202-224-3121, and urge your friends to do the same.

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So, Harry Reid couldn’t manage to pass a Senate budget (800-some days and counting) but trips all over himself to get the Cut, Cap and Balance vote moved up to tomorrow. Bill Wilson ‘splains things to these bastards, who have no real timely choice left but to pass CCB, because Judgment Day is fast approaching...

But if they vote to reject “Cut, Cap, and Balance,” resulting in a downgrade, members risk guaranteeing a future of more austerity, more pain, and more uncertainty for their own constituents. ...

It will tear our society apart. For, the effects of a credit downgrade will be even more far-reaching than just state and municipal debt markets. It will affect real interest rates, lead to inflation, and even higher unemployment. It risks everything from pension funds to mortgage-backed securities.

But it’s even worse than that. A downgrade will most likely crash markets all over the world, erasing trillions of dollars of wealth in the blink of an eye. And it will be on the head of every senator who voted against “Cut, Cap, and Balance” — not to mention Barack Obama, who has sworn to veto it.

A Democratic Party failure to appease S& (eat your)P’s might very well signal the beginning of the end of dirty socialisms. It’d then be a matter (for the survivors) of picking up the peases the morning(s) after.

Two-thirds of Americans favor passage of CCB. Is that enough to sway some of these Democratic Senators who once said they favored a Balanced Budget Amendment?

Hey, Congressperps! Got Spenditol ?

Cut, Cap and Balance vote FRIDAY. Please call your Senators at 202-224-3121, and urge your friends to do the same.

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Is that Barack Obama escorting the Atlantis to ground there in Florida?

A damned shame it has to end this way; Barack Hussein Obama killing off the Space Program, ending an era of manned flight given it's initial boost stage by John F. Kennedy.

More photos.

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S&P and Moody's are the entities that Barack Obama and Democrats must convince. You think they'll be impressed by "Chicago Thug" tactics?

Barack Obama and Democrats are this time not playing to sway "The American People"; instead, they must convince S&P and Moody's of the U.S.A.'s ability to control it's out-of-control spending habits. I'm thinking it's a very tough audience indeed.

My prediction is that our credit rating gets 'dinged' down from it's AAA rating, and deservedly so, if Congress fails to get enough Senate votes to send the Balanced Budget Amendment back to the several states for ratification (the Balanced Budget Amendment would bypass Barack Obama, whose 'veto powers' can't effect the Amendment process). This Amendment is desperately needed to 'fix' our bloated economy and would also serve to force the downsizing of the out-of-control Federal government.

Unfortunately, if we did manage to get a Balanced Budget Amendment ratified, the Democratic party might cease to exist. How could they go on, without the ability to 'buy' votes using funds from public coffers, borrowed funds from other nations, and newly-printed monies for which the interest will come due only after they've left office?

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Oh, and the "Gang of Six" plan is losing steam...

The bipartisan debt limit proposal called the only one "that is going to ever pass" is increasingly likely not to, as the deadline to reach a deal rapidly approaches.

While the framework introduced by the Senate "Gang of Six" has gained the support of much of the chamber, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans are up in arms about many of its proposals.

House Democrats are rallying against the cuts to Medicare and Social Security, while the GOP is nowhere near accepting the plan's $1 trillion in new revenues.

Even the White House stopped short of embracing the plan, first saying President Barack Obama hadn't had a chance to read it, then noting there were elements within it he was not comfortable with.

Ultimately Democrats and the White House would get behind a plan they knew could pass and could avoid default. House Republicans, on the other hand, have shown few signs of a willingness to compromise — despite Democratic concessions on entitlement reform that would normally make a GOP lawmaker salivate.

If we get 'dinged', that could mean the end of Dirty Socialisms in this here little Republic. That could only be a good thing, really.

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On Keith Olbermann's attack on Rep. Allen West (R, CouldEasilySnapOlberdoucheInHalf):

Jeff Goldstein...

Here’s the takeaway, if there is one: You can clearly tell that the left is winning the culture wars when pale, soft, saggybacked needledicks like Olbermann feel safe talking smack about men who, were this country not busy catering to metrosexual twattery watched over by big government Nannies, would almost certainly put a well-deserved boot in Keith’s veneered teeth.

OLBERDOUCHE~!

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Representative Allen West (R, SlapADem) is a Good Man. Debbie Wasserman Shultz IS vile, and pernicious too.

From Flickr: Allen West's Photostream

“Anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool.”

I like this guy!

Allen West's latest email update (all emphases mine)...

Greetings to our constituents, fellow Floridians, and all Americans, here we are for another weekly update. There is only one word that describes the past week: appalling.

It was appalling to hear the President of the United States truly threaten our nation’s senior citizens and Military Veterans/Retirees. Furthermore, the blatant lie that 80% of Americans want their taxes raised is beyond unconscionable.

I believe we are headed towards the ultimate ideological clash in America. There is a widening chasm which has developed between those who believe in principled fiscal policies and those desiring the socialist bureaucratic nanny-state. An unfortunate aspect to this is the complicity of a mainstream media which does not report facts, but rather ideological bias. This clash will determine the future and legacy of our Constitutional Republic.

I know who wins in the end, but it is going to be one heck of a fight.

This week the House GOP shall vote on a plan that will enable us to protect the full faith and credit of the United States but also tackle the long-term fiscal viability of our nation. The plan is summarized by the concept of “Cut, Cap, and Balance.” Our Congressional office issued a statement on Friday which explains the legislation, of which I am an original cosponsor - you can click here to view.

Neither I nor any other reasonable person wants to see the United States default on its debt interest payments and threaten a potential rise in our interest rates. I do not want to see my country devolve into the European situation played out in Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, or Spain (PIIGS). However, now is the time to get our fiscal house in order by implementing spending control measures which will begin to turn around our economic ship of state.

We must have equitable and immediate spending cuts to our non-defense discretionary spending. We must cap federal government spending as per the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), currently near 25%, down between 18-20% putting it in line with revenues. And lastly, we must have a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution which will force us to prioritize and operate within our means, similar to American households and many state governments.

As for President Barack Obama, he has no such plan. He has never had a plan, just words, just speeches. His Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 failed 0-97 in the United States Senate. Speaking of the Senate, it has been over 800 days since the Senate, under Democrat control, has passed a budget.

President Obama has added some $4.5 trillion to our national debt in less than three years. President Obama has produced record deficits, the negative difference between revenues and spending, of $1.42 trillion, $1.29 trillion, and an estimated $1.65 trillion for each year since taking office.

The unemployment rate under President Obama is a problem of epic proportions, national (9.2%), black community (16.2%), and among veterans (approx 12%). This comes from someone who told us his almost trillion-dollar stimulus would keep unemployment in America under 8%. As well, the almost $2 trillion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been a disaster, and the worst is yet to come.

This has nothing to do with race (unfortunately my colleague from Texas, Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee believes so), and it has everything to do with an economic vision which is anathema to our free market/free enterprise system...an economic vision which has failed at every turn.

And all we hear from the President is talk about “shared sacrifice,” “tax the rich,” and “increase revenues by tax hikes.” It was just December 2010 that President Obama and the Democrats extended the Bush era tax rates for two years…now less than a year later they are FLIP-FLOPPING!

The problem is, there is no confidence and certainty in the fiscal vision emanating from Washington D.C. and hence revenues and receipts are down. We are not setting the conditions or creating an environment for economic and job growth. For all of you, that is what has to change, and that is where I am committed to seeing change and not the empty rhetorical doublespeak of 2008.

I suppose the President forgot that 47% of wage earning households in America do not pay federal income taxes.

In the area of foreign policy, the United States has officially recognized the Libyan rebels as the “legitimate” government of Libya. Now, I am just a simple fella from down South, but I recall a previous Democrat President recognizing a bunch of undefined ideological zealots called the Taliban…and we all see how that ended up!

The voices of the American people who want sound fiscal, taxation, and regulatory policy need to be heard this week. I am issuing a “call to action” – let the White House, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid hear how you feel. Are there REALLY 80% of Americans who want higher taxes?

I must confess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool.

Steadfast and Loyal,

Allen

Fuuuuugly Debbie

Allen West just fired off an email to the spokestool of the Democratic LeftLibProgg Party, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman and fellow Florida Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz (h/t memeorandum)...

From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz

Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!

I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.

You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!

Steadfast and Loyal

Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)

Slap-a-ho~!

Finally, we have a man of strong convictions unafraid of any of these rotten Democrats, speaking out without fear of reprisals. As it should be.

This man would make a much better President than that Barack Hussein Obama fellow, don't you think?

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Choices, choices.

None of 'em are good at this point.



Choose wisely, because a misstep might just bring this little Republic to it's end game.

(hint...if you are leaning Dirty Socialist, you are part of the problem, not the solution)

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Herman Cain and the Murfreesboro Mosque

RS McCain at The Other McCain has this video posted, and more; the video features an interview with Herman Cain speaking of the troubled Mosque that's under construction here in Murfreesboro, and this Mosque's links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Herman Cain articulates quite well the Mosque opposition's points and arguments.




I've not come out against this Mosque, for 1st Amendment reasons (they have the right to build the damned thing, by law, if it is a valid and humble religion-only establishment and not a stealth political implant). But new information linking it to the all-political Muslim Brotherhood, if that's verifiable, is troubling. The Muslim Brotherhood believes in the 'conservative' application of Shari'a Law, and pushes for a new Islamic Caliphate, with all the world's Islamic nations under one rule...and non-Islamic religions eliminated. Oh, they've teeth too; the terror group Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

My bottom line is this: until there’s two-way traffic between Mecca and Murfreesboro, I’m with Cain on this one. Why should Mecca and Medina be closed, if Islam is truly an open-to-all-comers and a tolerant religion? Do you see any other cities closed for and because of a particular religion? Open the damned doors to Mecca and Medina, Mohammedists, and I'm sure other nations will then actually believe that 'tolerance' is in your creed.

Run over to The Other McCain and read the rest of his post, and check out his links.

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Say, Nice POLO Shirt You've Got There, Casey Anthony

Lots of questions as to what young FREE AS A BIRD! Casey Anthony is gonna do post-jailhouse. Seems she's a high-school dropout, she's been kicked out of her parent's home (something about false accusations of sexual abuse when she was a child, and other unfounded accusations of their conveniently hiding a corpse). Last we've seen of her is she's leaving that Orlando Jail in the company of her lawyer.

Oh, and she's wearing a Ralph Lauren POLO shirt.

Ralph Lauren must be so proud! 

Say, what Casey Anthony needs more than anything is a rich sugar daddy, to pay for the armed guards and the safe house. You don't suppose... Ralph ... ?

He's a fashion designer, you say? Never married? Oh. Nevermind.

Barking up the wrong tree, Casey. Should've chosen a nice Tom Ford.

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"Not enough consumin' goin' on out theya!" or, "We're Spent." or, WHO IS JOHN GALT!

An interesting opinion piece up at the New York Times today, written by one David Leonhardt.

Mr. Leonhardt offers up an explanation as to why Barack Obama has been unable to kickstart our 'spent' economy: because we, the American people, have finally stopped spending...

If you’re looking for one overarching explanation for the still-terrible job market, it is this great consumer bust. Business executives are only rational to hold back on hiring if they do not know when their customers will fully return. Consumers, for their part, are coping with a sharp loss of wealth and an uncertain future (and many have discovered that they don’t need to buy a new car or stove every few years). Both consumers and executives are easily frightened by the latest economic problem, be it rising gas prices or the debt-ceiling impasse.   ...

Now, the economic version of the law of gravity is reasserting itself. We are feeling the deferred pain from 25 years of excess, as people try to rebuild their depleted savings. This pattern is a classic one. The definitive book about financial crises has become “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” published in 2009 with exquisite timing, by Carmen M. Reinhart, now of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Kenneth S. Rogoff, of Harvard.

Surveying hundreds of years of crises around the world, Ms. Reinhart and Mr. Rogoff conclude that debt is the primary cause and that the aftermath is “deep and prolonged,” with “profound declines in output and employment.” On average, a modern financial crisis has caused the unemployment rate to rise for more than four years and by 7 percentage points. (We’re now at almost four years and 5 percentage points.) The recovery takes many years more.

THE notion that the United States needs to begin moving away from its consumer economy — toward more of an investment and production economy, with rising exports, expanding factories and more good-paying service jobs — has become so commonplace that it’s practically a cliché. It’s also true. And the consumer bust shows why. The old consumer economy is gone, and it’s not coming back.

Well, of course we've stopped spending. There's not piles of 'easy' money laying around to be blown on such things as minks and diamonds, because we're funneling much of that cash into our gas tanks. Those of us who have jobs are likely looking over our shoulders, waiting to see if there's an unemployment monster overtaking us. Those on Government dole? Why, they are out canvassing with Barack Obama's 'Organizing for America' for votes so as to keep the flow coming for as long as possible. Nothing new there.

I'm not sold on Leonhardt's notion. It's easy to see that consumer spending is down across all sectors, but when my refrigerator goes out, I'm buying a new one. Dittos for other major appliances. And those things do go out. There's more to our prolonged malaise than just consumers not buying. Perhaps we are sick of socialists ?

Give a LeftLibProgg time and they'll deconstruct themselves. Towards the end of his piece, Leonhardt's taking a shot at the Bush tax cuts. Because that money, taken from the 'evil rich', wasn't there to help Big Government do more stimulatin'. OK, then, Leonhardt, if we aren't buying enough, doing enough consumerin', why not leave that 'stolen' tax money in the hands of the 'evil rich', who spend that money? They, too, are consumers, right? If you take that money away from the 'evil rich', doesn't that affect their consumerin' ways? But Big Daddy Government knows best, right?

Show me one job that's created by taking more tax money from anyone. NOT a government-worker job, either; they don't count. Their jobs are make-work (recall the hiring of the census workers who gave the unemployment curve a little tweak last summer, a tweak that disappeared soon enough).

This...

The biggest flaw with the past stimulus was that it imagined that the old consumer economy might return. Households received large tax rebates, usually with little incentive to spend the money (the cash-for-clunkers program being the exception that proves the rule). People did spend some of these across-the-board rebates, and kept economic growth and unemployment from being even worse, but also saved a sizable portion.

A more promising approach could instead offer a tax cut to businesses — but only to those expanding their payrolls and, in the process, helping to solve the jobs crisis. Along similar lines, a budget deal could increase funding for medical research and clean energy by even more than President Obama has suggested.

A tax cut to businesses to hire...why should they? What would you have businesses hire people to do? If there's no consumin', there's no need for manufacturin', or sellin', or shelf-stockin', or broom-pushin' now is there? A businessman hires an employee to fill an immediate need. If there's not an immediate need for an employee, that employee doesn't get hired, because s/he won't do enough to earn his or her salary. We in business are not in business to pay people to stand around fingering their pockets or surfing the internet - or to make Barack Obama's re-election any easier. If an employee can't do enough for me to earn it's keep, then there's the highway.

Fund more medical research, you say? Read this nice article by Brooksie, also at the NYT, where you'll find him imploring people to stop trying to live forever, spending monies this nation needs to stay alive in pain and misery. We've thrown enough money at medical research over the decades; likely until there's massive breakthroughs in nanobot technology, traditional medical research isn't going to provide any new superhighways to health, or pay for itself. No one lives forever, sorry.

Oh, my. "Clean Energy". Well, sure! let's get started on 100 new nuclear reactors. That would mean shutting down the EPA, and enacting major tort reform, so businesses can get busy creating these necessary new nuclear plants...in my and your backyards. Every damned major metropolitan overpopulation 'burg needs a new source of grid power; nuclear energy fits the bill. Any other ideas for 'green energy' are busts, as they can't scale up to meet demand.

It might be a good thing that excessive consumption is waning; we aren't going to go back to those heady days of buy and toss, buy again and toss again.

Here's a growth industry for you: repair and refurbish. Reclaim and salvage. Let's recycle old products instead of bringing in new 'junk' from China.

The 'new' growth-business model for our future ?

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Barack Obama sneaks the Dalai Lama...

...into the 'map' room.

Sure. Can't have the Chinese, the nation's creditors, angry with us over Tibet, now can we?

Here. Let me draw you a map...

This is one 'impressive' little prezzidint-man we've got here, ain't he? Balls, too. He's got big balls.

Show 'em, Baracky! Let those Chinese know who's the real man on this here mudball! Oh, and be sure to stick up for Taiwan like we said we would!

The Taiwanese have no worries, right? Because we've got their backs.

Just like we've got Israel's back.

Right, Barack?

You really are the Hindmost, you know.

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Weekend Video: Politzoid's "Little China Debt"

Heh. Someone else likes David Bowie.

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Marilyn Monroe in Chicago: Twenty-Six Feet of Statuesque Beauty

Heh. This will make the 'upskirt'-haters cry, won't it?

This iconic pose, never yet duplicated to my satisfaction (I'll give Kate Middleton's yellow dress blowup some credit for trying) might be the most famous upskirt shot in the short history of photography.

(Note: these two images are not the same images you'll find at this linky; they've been enhanced by me using my own post-production techniques, methods that bring out colors and enhance features as to my liking. If you're interested in exactly what I've done here, drop an email.)

Newly-wed bride Anya Nguyen and her bridesmaids look at "Forever Marilyn", a sculpture by Seward Johnson, on July 15, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The stainless steel and aluminum sculpture, which stands 26 feet tall and weighs 34,000 pounds, will be on display in Chicago through the spring of 2012. The sculpture was inspired by Marilyn Monroe iconic scene in the 1955 movie "Seven Year Itch". (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Recalls that Marilyn Monroe 'sand sculpture' from about a year ago...

A girl poses for a photo near a statue of Marilyn Monroe at a sand sculpture festival in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

I've had trolls complain about my Rule 5 posts, pointing out that invariably these women might well be much younger than me (Kate Upton, below the fold), or that they might be married to other men (Kate Middleton). One frequent troll even said that he didn't like women in dresses; that he didn't know any women who owned dresses; that he preferred women to wear pants. The little guy is insane, really, and likely has never known a woman (literally or biblically).

A woman who wears a dress immediately becomes classier in my never-to-be humble opinion. If yours doesn't have a dress, buy her one! (Hint: Wal-Mart is not where you want to shop for dresses! Or for women, for that matter!)

h/t The Daily Edit (and for that previously-mentioned troll who hated women in dresses ).

Kate Middleton, below the fold...

Model Kate Upton (L) poses with designer Angela Chittenden backstage at the Beach Bunny Swimwear show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim 2012 at The Raleigh on July 15, 2011 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Beach Bunny)

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UPDATE
Linked by The Other McCain for Rule 5 Sunday! Thanks, Wombat-socho!

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Cut, Cap and Balance: Too little, too late?

This letter from Diane Black, my TN 06 representative...

Update: Debt Limit Negotiations

A lot has happened this week in regard to the debt limit negotiations and I want to update you all on the events here in Washington, as well as assure you of my outlook going forward.

Our nation's debt is highest it has ever been in history—a staggering $14.3 trillion dollars.  According to a June report by the Department of Treasury, this year our national debt will eclipse our nation's GDP.  Every child born today already owes more than $46,000 to our creditors.  America cannot continue on this path.  Our crushing burden of debt is a threat to future generations, our security, the economy and the very greatness of our country. 

Look no further than this week's announcements by Standard & Poor and Moody's credit agencies.  In the July 13th statement from Moody's, they announced that the organization "has placed the AAA bond rating of the government of the United States on review for possible downgrade given the rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis, leading to a default on US Treasury debt obligations."

In order to restore certainty in our economy to bolster job growth and keep America competitive, we need to stop spending money we don't have.   That is why next week, the House of Representatives has cancelled our scheduled Constituent Work Week in order to stay in Washington and work to solve this problem.  We will be voting on our Cut Cap and Balance plan, which will:

• Cut total spending by $111 billion in FY 2012
• Caps total federal spending over ten years, eventually leading to spending capped at 19.9% of GDP by 2021
• Requires the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment before raising the nation's debt limit.

Earlier this week, you heard from me after the president said publicly that he could not guarantee that Social Security checks would go out on August 3nd should Congress not pass a debt limit increase.  However, based on study of the issue, I believe there is enough money for the Treasury to pay out Social Security checks for some time after August 2nd, and that such statements are merely scare tactics.  But what is true, is that should Congress not pass a debt limit increase, the decisions about what bills to pay would be up to the sole discretion of the Treasury Department.

Today a presentation was given to me and my colleagues that explains how August 2nd is in fact the day the United States can no longer pay its obligations, and outlines possible spending scenarios should Congress not reach an agreement on increasing the debt limit.  I hope you will take the time to look over the presentation by the Bipartisan Policy Center and tell me what you think. 
All politics aside, I am committed to getting our country's fiscal house in order.  This burden of debt will be with us long after the debate over raising the debt limit is decided, and I am in this fight for the long haul.  Securing our country's fiscal future remains a top priority of mine, one that will last well past August 2nd.

Click here to view the presentation from the Bipartisan Policy Committee.

To read more about the Center, or their work on the debt limit, click here.

Sincerely,

Diane Black
Member of Congress

Thank you, Representative Black, for your considerations and support of necessary Government actions, desperately needed to correct the problems we are facing. Especially necessary is the Balanced Budget Amendment, which should have been in place before Lyndon Baines Johnson set us on this wild ride to fiscal irresponsibility in 1968.

However, we might be coming to fiscal sanity just a wee bit too late.

I think the U.S.’s vaunted AAA credit rating gets dinged no matter what, because there’s no way BHO and the Democrats, with or without Team R’s contributions – detractions, will agree to the S&P’s demands that they see 4 trillion in cuts ‘n tax increases, or else…

Standard & Poor's still anticipates that lawmakers will raise the debt ceiling by the end of July to avoid those outcomes. However, if the government is forced to undergo a sudden, unplanned fiscal contraction--as a result of Treasury efforts to conserve cash and avoid default absent an agreement to raise the debt ceiling--we think that the effect on consumer sentiment, market confidence, and, thus, economic growth will likely be detrimental and long lasting. If the government misses a scheduled debt payment, we believe the effect would be even more significant and, under our criteria, would result in Standard & Poor's lowering the long-term and short-term ratings on the U.S. to 'SD' until the payment default was cured.

Congress and the Administration are debating various fiscal consolidation proposals. At the high end, budget savings of $4 trillion phased in over 10 to 12 years proposed by the Adminstration, (separately) by Congressional leaders, as well as by the Fiscal Commission in its December 2010 report, if accompanied by growth-enhancing reforms, could slow the deterioration of the U.S. net general government debt-to-GDP ratio, which is currently nearing 75%. Under our baseline macroeconomic scenario, net general government debt would reach 84% of GDP by 2013. (Our baseline scenario assumes near 3% annual real growth and a post-2012 phaseout of the December 2010 extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.) Such a percentage indicates a relatively weak government debt trajectory compared with those of the U.S.' closest 'AAA' rated peers (France, Germany, the U.K., and Canada).

We expect the debt trajectory to continue increasing in the medium term if a medium-term fiscal consolidation plan of $4 trillion is not agreed upon. If Congress and the Administration reach an agreement of about $4 trillion, and if we to conclude that such an agreement would be enacted and maintained throughout the decade, we could, other things unchanged, affirm the 'AAA' long-term rating and A-1+ short-term ratings on the U.S.

This pretty much seals it. Tax increases will trigger another downturn; cuts in handouts will trigger street protests; then S & P dings; the resulting fallout across the economic spectrum ushers in a real and painful economic crisis. I don’t think the word ‘depression’ would correctly describe it; we’ll need a new term.

Fun times will be had by all.

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