Ace: What the Media Decided For Me About Wright

Ace wraps up this whole Wright controversy and translates the MSM's cheerleading. Let the healing begin:

1. Wright's anti-semitic, anti-American, hardcore Marxist radical hatred was entirely occluded from Obama, the world, and most especially the NYT until yesterday. It came as a complete shock to one and all, and no one should hold it against Obama that he cultivated a mutually advantageous political partnership with a Nazi for 20 years. Now he's "repudiated" the Nazi, and we all know that you can consort with Nazis for almost all of your adult life and then simply "repudiate" them at a press availability and the issue goes away entirely.

2. Obama's 20 year political partnership with Wright may raise questions about his judgment, but it is wrongful for his political opponents to raise such questions in campaign ads. ...Certainly we do not need to audibly ask questions about a presidential candidate. That's just hurtful and corrosive of our political process, which relies, at its core, of utter trust in our political leaders without question.

3. Not only does Obama's very late-inning "disowning" of Wright completely insulate him from questions about their 20 year history together, it actually transforms Obama into an anti-Wright, the good, cleanshaven mirror-universe good version of the goateed evil version Wright.
[...]
7. There was nothing wrong with Wright's anti-American Marxist racist hatred until he paraded it in front of the public, with "context" provided by he himself, and thus threatened the Liberal Media Spirit Squad's boyfriend's chances of being elected. That, and that alone, was Wright's sin. And the one he must be repudiated for.
[...]
8. And this has nothing at all to do with Obama. Did I mention that?

Oh there's more. Much more.

New movie posters for The Dark Knight

(New bootleg trailer and info added. Scroll down for updates.)






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UPDATE: Here's the HD version of the official trailer.

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UPDATE: Holy bootleg, Batman! The second trailer for The Dark Knight was scheduled to release this Sunday but has already hit the web:

MTV has a shot-by-shot analysis of the trailer.

If that wasn't enough, the first 6 minutes of the movie have leaked and can be seen here.

Daily Kos: 'Uncle Tom' Obama

Looks like some in the Daily Kos hard left are doing an about-face on Barack Obama. Could it be because they don't like him making public statements against 911 conspiracies, anti-American rants and race-baiting?

I have been a huge supporter of Barack. He is the guy I’ve been behind for quite awhile now. Check my older diaries if you wonder about that. And while I’ve been steeling myself for a Barack loss in November, because I think the Repug machine is too good for him to beat, I had resigned myself to still working hard for him and for the Progressive cause!

But today something changed for me...

Today, the scales fell from my eyes and I saw Barack Obama for what he truly is: a weak man and a standard politician. I really never thought I would say this...

But I am disgusted with him!

They're just now figuring it out? I know many Democrats are have a hard time with reality, but come on!

Personally, I think the Kossack has it backwards: Obama is a standard man and a weak politician.

Roger Waters litters for Obama

Liberals doing their part to save the planet litter in the cause of their vacuous candidate: confetti flyers and parts of a vinyl pig courtesy of former Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters. (h/t: Michelle Malkin)

A stream of tiny fliers endorsing presidential candidate Barack Obama was released from a plane flying over the Empire Polo Field during Roger Waters’ Coachella-ending set late Sunday evening, Indio officials said.

But the plane missed its target. Instead, fliers drifted over a two-mile radius area northwest of the field, according to Indio Police Department spokesman Ben Guitron.

But, but, but I thought liberals cared more about the environment than the rest of us do!

Pieces of the white, spray painted pig were found dropped over two homes in a gated community in La Quinta on Monday.

Judy and Patrick Rimmer and Susan Stoltz each found pieces of the vinyl white balloon scattered in their driveways and backyards, hours after the two-story sized inflatable porker floated away from the Coachella Music and Art Festival Sunday night.

The balloon was released over the Coachella crowd during a performance by former Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters. It then drifted away toward north Indio at the end of his performance of "Pigs" off the Pink Floyd "Animals" album.

Yeah, I know, this is not that big of a deal, and the Obama campaign isn't responsible for it. I just find it hilariously ironic. I do question Waters' logic on his choice of imagery. Does he think Obama will be elected when pigs fly? Is he highlighting Democrats' predilection for pork-barrel spending? Is he saying that the Obama campaign is full of hot air? What was he thinking?

This campaign just keeps getting better and better. You can't make this stuff up!

Midweek Peek 04.30.08

Newly naturalized American citizen, Pamela Anderson.

The wheels on the bus go "thump thump thump" over Rev. Wright.

Although he's avoided it for weeks ("I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community."), Obama finally did it: threw his pastor under the proverbial bus.



It's been humorous today watching Barack Obama desperately attempt to distance himself from the venomous mentor he's followed for the past 20 years. His "spiritual leader" harbors a deep hatred for America (and his wife publicly espouses several similar views): America is a "mean" country, our Marine Corps are like the Roman legionnaires who crucified Christ, the U.S. government secretly carried out the 9/11 attacks and engineered the AIDS virus to wipe out black people, the American flag stands for the same things as does Al Qaeda. This whole situation with Rev. Wright is an inadvertent glimpse at Obama's judge of character. If Wright is the kind of friend and confidant that Barack has embraced for the past two decades, one can only imagine an Obama cabinet would look like.



It's beyond disingenuous that he now claims that Rev. Wright "isn't the person" he met 20 years ago. He's attended that man's church and sought that man's counsel on a regular basis. For crying out loud, Wright was appointed to Obama’s African American Religious Leadership Committee just a few months ago!

It strains credibility to say he's never heard Wright's crackpot theology and conspiracy theories before this past weekend. Obama’s only denouncing Wright NOW because he's become a serious liability to his campaign. It's insulting that he thinks we'll believe his dishonest excuses.

You're right, Sen. Obama, when you describe Rev. Wright's words as "appalling," "ridiculous," "divisive," "destructive," and "that's enough." But those descriptions apply equally to your candidacy.

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Related question: does this mean Obama is also disowning the black community?

/snark

More "context" from Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Today's a busy one for me today, what with an early doctor appointment, a mid-afternoon interview, and trying to keep up with my freelance work in between. But this was just too much to let slide.

There's been a lot of controversy in the media for the past several weeks regarding speeches made by Barack Hussein Obama's "spiritual mentor", Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Claims have been made that his bigoted and anti-American comments are being taken out of context. Rev. Wright took time this weekend to offer further "context" in diatribes to the NAACP and the National Press Club (accompanied by bodyguards from the Nation of Islam). In retrospect, he might have been smarter to heed the words of Lincoln: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

• He attempted to compare himself to both Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ


• He mocked John F. Kennedy's accent in an attempt to legitimize "ebonics"


• He characterized America's reaction to his "God damn America" and “U.S. of KKK-A.” comments as "an attack on the black church"


• He defended his conspiracy theories that the U.S. was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and created AIDS to wipe out black people


• Said white people worship on Sunday, then don KKK robes to kill blacks on Monday morning


• He claimed that black people are incapable of learning in the same manner as white people because their brains are different

That last one is about as racist as it comes. I can only imagine the response had that tripe been uttered by a white minister.

Right about now, I have to believe that the Obama campaign is secretly screaming "will you please shut up!" But no matter, CNN was only to happy to carry water for Wright and explain it all away.

It would seem that Rev. Wright missed that little part in Rev. King's speech about "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
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More:
Michelle Malkin has clips of the NAACP speech and liveblogged the Nat'l. Press Club speech.

Victor Borge's Phonetic Punctuation Routine

When I was a kid, this was one of my favorite bits on The Electric Company.

What Would Hancock Do?

This looks like it could be cool. It's Will Smith's new summer blockbuster Hancock, where he plays a homeless superhero.

Quote of the day

From a good post today about Los Angeles banning bacon-wrapped hot dogs.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis

Creepiest. Photo. Ever.

My eyes! My eyes!

Friday Trip Around The 'Net

Some from the blogroll, others are just too good to pass up.

• Dennis Prager: A Response to "What You Have To Believe To Be a Republican Today" (lefty meme meets common sense)


• Mike Gallagher: Media Jumps the Gun for Barack (bias we can believe in)


• Musings of a Vast Right-Winger: Will Harvard be the Next Terrorist Training Camp? (ivy league Shari'a creep)


• American Papist: On day of PA primary, Hillary wears Catholic Madonna Bracelet (say anything, do anything, wear anything to get elected)


• al-Reuters: Penis Theft Panic in the Congo (now wait just a darn minute...)


• R.O.P. update: Islamic Law Is Now Imposed On All In Indonesia (but "there is no compulsion in Islam," right?)


• Say Anything: Where Obama Stands On The Issues (hint - waaaaay left)

Religion of Peace update: U.S. State Department lexicon now forbids use of jihadist terminology

Well, it's official, the the State Department has caved to Muslim pressure and become the Ministry of Truth by banning any words associating terrorism with Islam:

• Jihadist
• Islamic terrorist
• Islamist
• Islamofascist, Islamofascism
• Holy Warrior

Sure, I can see their logic: If we just apply political correctness to the way we talk about Islamic terrorists, they'll become peaceful, right?

Next, I suppose we'll replace the term "beheading" with "cranial emancipation"?

Robert Spencer from Jihad Watch states the obvious:

Of course, one is probably no longer allowed to point out that Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Abdullah Azzam, co-founder of Al-Qaeda, both criticized the idea that jihad was a spiritual struggle as based on a weak hadith, and argued that the primary meaning of jihad in the Qur'an and Sunnah was warfare against unbelievers. The problem here, in short, is that many Muslims believe that jihad essentially means holy war, and refusing to talk about it will not make it go away.

Which terrorists support which Dem for pres?

"If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas." Although one could argue which are the dogs and which are the fleas, you get the idea.

Seedubya made a nice little chart to help keep track of which terrorists support which Democrat candidate. Because there are so many, one literally does need a playbook to keep them all straight.



Check out the actual post, as there are many links that wouldn't fit on the chart.
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UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has compiled LOTS of new info on Obama's cozy relationship with the Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

And Powerline posted many audio files, some as recent as 2007, whose radical content skewers Obama's ludicrous assertion that Ayers and Dohrn are now "respectable, mainstream figures" in Chicago.

OK unemployment down due to immigration enforcement

Newsbusters gets the award for common sense: enforcement of immigration laws and the subsequent lack of illegal aliens means more available jobs for American citizens. (h/t: Crush Liberalism)

Oklahoma's unemployment rate, which was a seasonally adjusted 4.3% and 4.4%, respectively, in September and October 2007 (4.1% and 4.2% unadjusted), has fallen to a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in both February and March of this year (3.5% and 3.2% unadjusted).

The unemployment rate in most states has gone up from September 2007 to March 2008. In states where the rate has gone down, none has shown an improvement like that seen in the Sooner State -- not even close.

Why is that?

What has happened in Oklahoma that hasn't happened elsewhere?

Well, one thing Oklahoma did last year was to pass an enforcement-focused immigration reform law.

House Bill 1804 was passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate of the Oklahoma Legislature. The measure’s sponsor, State Representative Randy Terrill, says the bill has four main topical areas: it deals with identity theft; it terminates public assistance benefits to illegals; it empowers state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws; and it punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Oklahoma is no longer “O.K.” for illegal aliens, Terrill observes. “When you put everything together in context,” he contends, “the bottom line is illegal aliens will not come here if there are no jobs waiting for them, they will not stay here if there is no government subsidy, and they certainly won’t stay here if they know that if they ever encounter our state and local law enforcement officers, they will be physically detained until they’re deported. And that’s exactly what House Bill 1804 does.”

The Oklahoma legislator is pleased the bill he sponsored into law was signed by Governor Henry and believes it will go a long way to curb the illegal immigration problem in the state.

It seems reasonable to ask if the law has accomplished the intended curbing of illegal immigration. This January 9 USA Today article by Emily Bazar indicates that it has -- not that Bazar thinks that this is a good thing.

The next question to ask would be whether citizens have taken jobs that illegals used to do. Though the lower unemployment rate doesn't in and of itself prove that, it does point strongly in that direction.

The improving employment situation in the state has received sparse coverage, and the only two relevant stories I found (here and here) did not attempt to explain why it’s happening.

Will anyone in Old Media dig more deeply into the Sooner State’s situation? Or will they try to pretend that Oklahoma’s improvement doesn’t exist, because finding out why might expose some inconvenient truths, and hurt the cause of illegal-immigrant “amnesty”?

I won't hold my breath waiting for the MSM (or any of our presidential candidates) to hail immigration enforcement as the right thing to do. Or to show the successes involved with law enforcement and responsible legal immigration.

I only wish Dallas mayor Tom Leppert would learn from Oklahoma's example, grow a pair and push for similar enforcement here in our city. Unfortunately, he's weaseling out of his duty and totally avoided the topic of illegal immigration when he met with Mexican President Felipe Calderón yesterday. Passing the buck and waiting for a "comprehensive" national solution is what got us into our current predicament. The Eldridge Cleaver quote is overused, but it's very apropos here: "You're either part of the solution or part of the problem."

NYT to Hillary: Stop winning and give up already!

Never mind that "inconclusive" 10% victory in Pennsylvania last night. And never mind the fact that they actually endorsed Hillary (kinda like how they "endorsed" McCain, I guess). The editors of the New York Times are complaining that the Dem bloodletting has to stop, democracy be damned.

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.
[...]
It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box.

Wow, that's rich. Never mind what the voters want, let the party's elite tell them what's best for them.

Are Hillary's supporters "tired" of the race? I think not. The NYT simply sees that the Democrat dirty tactics and vitriol usually reserved for Republican opponents is doing damage to the Dem party, and they're probably scared that the more time voters have to examine Obama beyond his populist smokescreen, the less likely they'll be to vote for such a stealth extremist.

Neal Boortz opines:

"We have handsome and glib young man with no accomplishments to his name beyond college. We have a candidate who pays homage to terrorists and seeks their support in his early political campaigns, and who now preaches the doctrine of surrender in the face of Islamic terrorism.
[...]
People are starting to understand Barack Obama. They're starting to wonder just how far he has come from his Marxist-worshiping days in school. It takes a lot to make Hillary look good. Perhaps that's Barack Obama's greatest accomplishment."

And the New York Times' greatest fear.

Midweek Peek 04.23.08

Local Dallas hottie, Amber Campisi.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

Bill Clinton gets caught with his pants down lying on the campaign trail yet again, this time about the WHYY radio interview yesterday in which he claimed the Obama camp was playing the race card over his comments comparing Barack Obama to Jesse Jackson on the day after the South Carolina primary.

Just how stupid does Der Schlickmeister think we are? Wait, don't answer that. After all, we did elect him twice.



Here's the transcript:

NBC/NJ: “Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?”

CLINTON: “When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?”

NBC/NJ: “On WHYY radio yesterday”

CLINTON: “No, no, no. That’s not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and I’m not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day. Go back and see what the question was, and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your game today. Have a nice day.”

NBC/NJ: “Respectfully sir, though, you did say …”

CLINTON: “Have a nice day.” [continues shaking hands with supporters]. I said what I said, you can go and look at the interview. And if you’ll be real honest, you’ll also report what the question was and what the answer was.”

NBC/NJ: “They asked you if you regretted your comparing Jesse Jackson to Barack Obama on the day after the South Carolina primary.”

CLINTON: “And I pointed out that I did not do that, and that I complimented them both. And that Jesse Jackson took no offense. And I called him myself, I said, ‘Did you find that offensive?’ And he said no.

Allahpundit snarks, "Compulsive lying or willful sabotage? Or head injury?"

Happy Earth Day

I don't normally celebrate Earth Day, but I couldn't resist this brilliant observation from Beer In The Headlights:

Any coincidence that Earth Day is celebrated on Vladimir Lenin's birthday?

Don't get me wrong, folks... I'm not a pro-pollution kind of guy. For that matter, I'm a firm believer that one shouldn't take a dump where one eats.

I just have a serious problem with ecotards shoving their anti-capitalist agenda down our throats using guilt, shame and demagoguery.

These clowns are merely "watermelons." Green on the outside and red on the inside.

Think that's hyperbole? Think again, tovarich. If you don't worship at the Enlightened Church of Global Warming, Al Gore wants to change the laws to force you to believe.

The Sun – Despite the success of his film An Inconvenient Truth and last year’s Live Earth concerts in raising awareness, the former US Vice President believes little has changed where it counts and the situation is even more urgent.

And he warns that while individual efforts such as changing to low-energy lightbulbs are important, it is more significant for world leaders to change laws to stop pollution pouring into the atmosphere and affecting the climate.
[...]
So if it’s all down to governments, is there any point in people “going green”? “Absolutely”, he booms. “I believe that while it’s important to change lightbulbs, it’s far more important to change laws.

“The idea that individuals in their own activities are going to change this is wrong.

“But when they do change they are likely to get behind the movement and that is very important because it is going to be changes in law that will ultimately solve this problem.”

The man who is now as much part of the Hollywood Establishment as he was a political player with the Democratic Party is very careful not to upset any of his celebrity friends.

He wouldn’t dream of suggesting that their lavish jet-setting and gas-guzzling lifestyles could be reined in for the good of the environment.

More government control over your life. After all, it's for the children planet.

J.C. Superstar + Hamas = EPIC FAIL

Foolish. Deluded. Treasonous (yes, his visit was a violation of the Logan Act — the federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments against the interests of the United States).

The terrorist-coddling former president just can't seem to understand the meaning of the word "no." Or "genocide." (Image courtesy The People's Cube)

JERUSALEM - Former President Carter said Monday that the Islamic group Hamas was willing to accept the Jewish state as a "neighbor next door," but the militants did not match their upbeat words with concrete steps to halt violence.

Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, instead recycled previous offers, including a 10-year truce if Israel takes the unlikely step of withdrawing from the West Bank and Jerusalem first.

Hamas has repeatedly confounded observers with its conflicting messages. Actions on the ground — seven rockets were fired on Israel from Hamas-ruled Gaza Monday, including one that wounded a 4-year-old boy — contradicted the Islamic militant group's positive words about coexistence and a truce.

And a leader of the Hamas military wing, which carried out a twin suicide bombing on the Gaza border Saturday, said his group would step up attacks against Israel in coming days.

The salvo of rockets came despite a last-minute phone call from Carter, urging a one-month halt to attacks on Israel, to gain some international goodwill and defuse tensions.

"I did the best I could," Carter said of his conversation with Hamas supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, pressing him to declare a one-month truce. "They turned me down, and I think they're wrong."

Carter, who delivered a speech in Jerusalem Monday summing up his visit, said top Hamas leaders told him during seven hours of talks in Damascus over the weekend that they are willing to live next to Israel.

Hours later, however, Mashaal sent mixed messages. He stressed that while the militants would accept a state in the 1967 borders, meaning alongside Israel, the group would never outright recognize the Jewish state.

Sure, Hamas will live next to Israel. Meaning Israel can exist as a cemetery alongside Palestine. Thanks for the clarification, Jimmah.

Tool.

Monday blogroll roundup

Blogmeister USA: Carter's Middle East Pilgrimage—Cause For Concern?
Jihad Watch: Why the Anti-Jihad Resistance is Not About Race
Capt. Ed: Grade Schooler Threatens To Kill George W. Bush
Say Anything: Obama’s Special Interest Politics
Hot Air: Why the Obama-Ayers Connection Matters
Screw Liberals: Hamas For Obama '08!
The Jawa Report: Phelp and Radical Islamists Have A Lot In Common
Crush Liberalism: Obama Lying (again) About Being Gun-Friendly
Neal Boortz: Government Flashcards

Religion of Peace update: Iranian cleric wants Iran to "defend" Muslims everywhere

Yeah sure, Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Tehran - A high-ranking Iranian cleric on Friday said the country should grow into a military super power to defend all Muslims, following an army parade at a time of mounting tension with the West.

"In a not so distant future, we should reach a point to have the most powerful military equipment in the world so that no one even think about invading our borders." Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in his Friday prayer sermon carried live on state radio.

"And not only that of the Islamic republic, but also the borders of Islam ... We must defend oppressed Muslims everywhere so that the enemies do not dare to attack Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq."

On Thursday's annual Army Day celebration in Tehran, dozens of fighter jets and other aircraft flew over the parade ground in a bid to show the power of the air force.

Also on display was Iran's Shahab-3 missile, whose range includes Israel and even the fringes of Europe.

The hardline cleric also vowed to cheering worshippers, who chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," that their slogans will materialise.

"I tell you that the death of the United States has come. You shouted Death to the Shah and he died," Jannati said, referring to the monarch overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution and who died in exile.

"You say Death to Israel and it is dying. You say Death to America and it does not take so long that its death prayer will be said."

Obama's middle-class tax cut goes POOF

While the far left has conniptions about the audacity of ABC questioning Obama in Wednesday night's debate, the Wall Street Journal takes him to the woodshed over his economic nescience.

We thought the debate was one of the best yet, precisely because it probed the evasive rhetoric we've heard from both Democratic candidates throughout the campaign. Nowhere was this more apparent than during the exchanges between Mr. Gibson and Mr. Obama over taxes.

Time and again, the rookie Senator has said he would not raise taxes on middle-class earners, whom he describes as people with annual income lower than between $200,000 and $250,000. On Wednesday night, he repeated the vow. "I not only have pledged not to raise their taxes," said the Senator, "I've been the first candidate in this race to specifically say I would cut their taxes."

But Mr. Obama has also said he's open to raising – indeed, nearly doubling to 28% – the current top capital gains tax rate of 15%, which would in fact be a tax hike on some 100 million Americans who own stock, including millions of people who fit Mr. Obama's definition of middle class.

Mr. Gibson dared to point out this inconsistency, which regularly goes unmentioned in Mr. Obama's fawning press coverage. But Mr. Gibson also probed a little deeper, asking the candidate why he wants to increase the capital gains tax when history shows that a higher rate brings in less revenue.
[...]
The facts about capital gains rates and revenues are well known to our readers, but we’ll repeat them as a public service to the Obama campaign… (W)hen the tax rate has risen over the past half century, capital gains realizations have fallen and along with them tax revenue. The most recent such episode was in the early 1990s, when Mr. Obama was old enough to be paying attention. That’s one reason Jack Kennedy proposed cutting the capital gains rate. And it’s one reason Bill Clinton went along with a rate cut to 20% from 28% in 1997.

Either the young Illinois Senator is ignorant of this revenue data, or he doesn’t really care because he’s a true income redistributionist who prefers high tax rates as a matter of ideological dogma regardless of the revenue consequences. Neither one is a recommendation for President.
[...]
By the way, a higher capital gains tax rate isn’t the only middle-class tax increase that Mr. Obama is proposing. He also wants to lift the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax. That cap was $97,500 in 2007 and is $102,000 this year. “Those are a heck of a lot of people between $97,000 and $200,000 and $250,000,” said Mr. Gibson. “If you raise the payroll taxes, that’s going to raise taxes on them.” Ignoring the no-tax pledge he had made five minutes earlier, Mr. Obama explained that such a tax increase was nevertheless necessary.

In other words he dodged the question, as he so often does with impunity. But thanks to Mr. Gibson’s persistence, for 90 minutes Wednesday night Mr. Obama didn’t get away with it. The voters learned a lot about Mr. Obama, who needs to learn a lot more about taxes and revenue. [emphasis added - ed.]

Neal Boortz cuts to the chase:

An absolutely incredible exchange during the debate on Wednesday night. This is the type of question that so infuriates left wingers. First Obama was reminded that when capital gains taxes are cut revenues to the government go up. Then he was reminded that when capital gains taxes are increased, tax revenues go down. Then he was asked in light of these statistics why he was promoting an increase in capital gains taxes. His answer? He said that he capital gains taxes should go up out of fairness.

There you have it folks. Barack Obama believes that taxes serve purposes other than raising revenue for the legitimate operations of government. He also thinks that taxes should be used to make things more "fair." In other words .. to take from the people who are making too much money and give to the people who are making too little. Or, as some of Barack's communist heroes might say, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

Friday coolness: Boston Dynamics' Big Dog

This thing is amazing. And more than just a little creepy (the chainsaw-sounding engine and the spidery legs don't help). Meet the Big Dog.

The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog's legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight.

BigDog has an on-board computer that controls locomotion, servos the legs and handles a wide variety of sensors. BigDog’s control system manages the dynamics of its behavior to keep it balanced, steer, navigate, and regulate energetics as conditions vary. Sensors for locomotion include joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load, a laser gyroscope, and a stereo vision system. Other sensors focus on the internal state of BigDog, monitoring the hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine temperature, rpm, battery charge and others.

In separate trials, BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load.

BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with the goal of creating robots that have rough-terrain mobility that can take them anywhere on Earth that people and animals can go. The program is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).

Cool? I know, right? But check the spoof that's already making the rounds...


If that doesn't make you smile, your funny bone's broken.

Obama compares GOP Senator to terrorist bomber

This explains a lot about Sen. Barack Obama's history of associating with terrorists, racists, and crackpots. Moral equivalence redux.

Capt. Ed - Afterwards, when asked about his years-long political association with unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayers, Obama tried equating the Weather Underground bomber with Senator Tom Coburn:

"The fact is, is that I’m also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions.

Do I need to apologize for Mr. Coburn’s statements? Because I certainly don’t agree with those either."

I doubt Senator Coburn will remain friendly with Obama after equating him to a terrorist because of a policy dispute. Coburn wanted to pass a law through legitimate democratic and political means; Ayers tried to terrorize people into policy changes by blowing up buildings, for which he remains unapologetic to this day. Does Obama really see no difference between the two? And if not, what does that say about Obama?

In an absolute Obama world...

Absolut's reconquista map of America has been redrawn to reflect Barack Obama's "bitter" worldview: (h/t: STACLU)

Recession? Yeah, if you say so.

Funny how the press reports economic news differently when there's a (D) beside the President's name.

During the 2000 election, with Bill Clinton as president, the economy was viewed through rose-colored glasses. According to polls, voters didn’t realize that the country was in a recession. Although the economy started shrinking in July 2000, most Americans through the entire year thought that the economy was fine.

But over the last half-year, the media and politicians have said we were in a recession even while the economy was still growing.

Gas prices are going up. The economy is slowing. Talk of recession is seemingly everywhere. While the majority of people rate their personal finances positively, consumer confidence in the economy has plunged to a 16-year low, well below what it was during the last year of the Clinton administration when we were in a recession.

A Nexis search on news stories during the three-month period from July 2000 through September 2000 using the keywords “economy recession US” produces 1,388. By contrast, the same search over just the last month finds 3,166. Or, even more telling, take the three months from July through September last year, when the GDP was growing at a phenomenal 4.9 percent. The same type of Google search shows 2,475 news stories.

Over 78 percent more negative news stories discussed a recession when the economy under a Republican was soaring than occurred under a Democrat when the economy was shrinking.

A little perspective on the economy would be helpful. The average unemployment rate during President Clinton was 5.2 percent. The average under President George W. Bush is just slightly below 5.2. The current unemployment rate is 4.8 percent, almost half a percentage point lower than these averages.

The average inflation rate under Clinton was 2.6 percent, under Bush it is 2.7 percent. Indeed, one has to go back to the Kennedy administration to find a lower average rate. True the inflation rate over the last year has gone up to 4 percent, but that is still lower than the average inflation rate under all the presidents from Nixon through Bush’s father.

A true recession would be a decline in a America's gross domestic product for two or more successive quarters of a year.

Does this look like a DECLINE to you?

Despite the housing market slump, spiraling inflation, and an escalating credit crunch, the U.S. economy should still manage to advance 1% to 2% in the coming year. Not great, but certainly not The Great Depression 2.0, as warned by former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

And yet, the mainstream media keep carping about us being in a recession! There isn't one, but all their doom-and-gloom reporting sure seems like an attempt to scare people into one (75% of Americans believe we're already in a recession – I can't imagine where they'd get that idea!). Seems like if the Democrats can't disparage us into losing in Iraq, they're gonna do all they can to tank a weak economy in order to blame Bush and then ride to the rescue with their patented "fix": a colossal tax wedgie.

Nope, no media bias here!

Midweek Peek 04.16.08

Lorrie Ann Dohoney

Happy Tax Day!

(Bumped because it's Tax Day. Scroll down for today's posts and updates)
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“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson

So, does the IRS fear you or is it the other way around?

I challenge you to take just one minute to read the high points about the Fair Tax, a movement to abolish the IRS and replace our confusing and punitive tax code with a progressive national retail sales tax. Taxing spending instead of income; it doesn't get any more fair than that – for all Americans.

Don't just take my word for it.

Sen. Zell Miller (D) – "The current income tax code requires massive files, dossiers, credits and collection activity by the IRS. Under the FairTax there is no IRS as the founding fathers intended. The current income tax pushes rates up and is biased against savings and investment. The FairTax would increase investments by U.S. citizens and attract foreign investment. The current income tax is an antiquated, unenforceable morass with annual tax returns long enough to circle the planet Earth twenty-eight times. Under the FairTax there are no forms for individuals. Not a single one."

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) – "[T]he most important reason to move from an income tax to a FairTax is because an income tax is designed to manipulate behavior. It gives the government the power to manipulate your behavior. 'I reward you for the things I want you to do by giving you a tax cut. I penalize you for the things I don't want you to do by raising your taxes.' That is too much power for the federal government."

Neal Boortz – "As I've done every tax day for decades .. here are a few little tests to try on some of your coworkers. First .. you can ask them how much they had to pay in taxes this year. Sadly, more often than not you're going to get a response to the effect that 'I didn't have to pay anything, I'm getting some back.' That's the nature of our present tax system. People don't even have a clear idea of just how much income taxes they paid.

Your second task is to find out if your coworker actually knows how much they earn? Go ahead, ask them. They'll probably tell you that it is none of your business. Press the issue ... tell them there is a specific reason you're asking the question. You want to see if they really know ho much they make. If they finally cough up the information it will probably be a statement much like 'Well, I take home $xxxx a week.' Take home. Isn't that wonderful? Thanks to withholding people don't even know what they earn!

Just think about what you've been going through the past few weeks .. and think about what the IRS can do to you if you win the audit lottery. These people have all the power. You have virtually none. This balance of power can be shifted ... but you need to get out there and fight for change."

None of the three candidates for president support the Fair Tax. Why do you think that is?

Thomas Sowell: Obama has contempt for the working class as human beings

As usual, Thomas Sowell skillfully flays the Left, this time wading into Snob-ama's "bitter" blunder:

"...while Hillary Clinton tells lies, Barack Obama is himself a lie. That is becoming painfully apparent with each new revelation of how drastically his carefully crafted image this election year contrasts with what he has actually been saying and doing for many years.
[...]
However inconsistent Obama’s words, his behavior has been remarkably consistent over the years. He has sought out and joined with the radical, anti-Western Left — whether Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers of the terrorist Weatherman underground, or pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli Rashid Khalidi.

Obama is also part of a long tradition on the Left of being for the working class in the abstract, or as people potentially useful for the purposes of the Left, but having disdain or contempt for them as human beings.
[...]
It is understandable that young people are so strongly attracted to Obama. Youth is another name for inexperience — and experience is what is most needed when dealing with skillful and charismatic demagogues."

Hillary: I'm f**king Obama

Since Tax Day sucks like a $2 whore, here's a little something to lighten the mood: a funny video mashup in the style of Sarah Silverman's "I'm f**king Matt Damon." (h/t: The Ramblings of an Ordinary Guy)

Another personality test

I love memes and especially enjoy taking personality tests, so when I saw this one over on Debbie's blog, I couldn't resist. Here are my results. Seems pretty accurate to me!
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My Personality

Neuroticism	71
Extraversion	42
Openness to Experience	74
Agreeableness	49
Conscientiousness	55

Mostly your emotions are on an even keel and you do not get depressed easily, however you feel enraged when things do not go your way. You are sensitive about being treated fairly and feel resentful and bitter if you think you are being cheated. You lead a leisurely and relaxed life. You would prefer to sit back and smell the roses than indulge in high energy activities. You prefer familiar routines and for things to stay the same. You can tend to feel uncomfortable with change. You do not enjoy confrontation, but you will stand up for yourself or push your point if you feel it is important. You are mostly a compassionate person, however you prefer to make objective judgments when possible. You have a strong sense of duty and obligation, and feel a moral obligation to do the right thing.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

Religion of Peace update: Hamas calls Muslims to conquer Rome and then the world

"Good tidings" from Hamas. Yep, the very same terrorist assclowns to whom Jimmy Carter is capitulating.

This past Friday, April 11, Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal addressed the faithful on Hamas' Al-Aqsa television, explaining the Islamic imperative to subjugate the world: (h/t: Jihad Watch)

"Today Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam - this capital of theirs will be an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, and even Eastern Europe"

Again, I'll quote FDR: "...when you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him."

Snob-ama

Just when it looks like Sen. Barack Obama has finally sidestepped culpability for his support of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's racism, he hops the irony bus to Bitter town.

While watching the Sunday morning news shows yesterday, I was delighted to see Hillary's hypocritical response to Obama's newest gaffe – the one where he calls middle class America a bunch of bitter, gun-crazed religious bigots:

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them,” Obama said. “And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Newt Gingrich has some good analysis of Obama's latest condescending, arrogant comments:

If you go to the most expensive private school in Hawaii and then move on to Columbia University and Harvard Law School, you may not understand normal Americans. Their beliefs are so alien to your leftwing viewpoint that you have to seek some psychological explanation for what seem to be weird ideas.

They can’t really believe in the right to bear arms.

They can’t really believe in traditional marriage.

They can’t really believe in their faith in God.

They can’t really want to enforce the law on immigration.

This is the closest Senator Obama has come to openly sharing his wife’s view that “America is a mean country”. Not since Governor Dukakis have we seen anyone so out of touch with normal Americans. It makes perfect sense that it was in a fundraiser in San Francisco that he would have shared the views he has so carefully kept hidden for the entire campaign.

Leave it to Obama to paint religion, gun ownership, and law enforcement to be the hallmarks of bitterness.

At least we're getting a good look at Obama's idea of "hope" and "change" now, rather than after Jan 20, 2009.
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UPDATE: Jonathan offers a cogent translation of Obama's “If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that” non-apology:

“If I offended you rednecks incapable of deciphering my doublespeak and nuance, then I’m sorry you’re too stupid to understand me.”

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UPDATE: Leslie Carbone gets right to the heart of Obama's elitist Freudian slip.

Modern liberalism is based on the premise that some people are just too incompetent to make it on their own and need their superiors, like Sen. SnObama, to plunder the competent in their ersatz behalf.

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UPDATE: Former Democrat Kat at Castle Argghhh! embraces the "bitterness":

I am bitter that I have to keep hearing Sen. Obama and his associates talk like he's going to save me from something; from myself, apparently, because I can't seem to grow cultured and intelligent like the people he knows, leaving behind my faith in God for faith in the state and its alleged ability to care about, or for, me and mine.

I cling to my religion just as I cling to my right to keep and bear arms because it's people like me who are always ready and have defended this country, its people and its ideas from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I do have a distinct antipathy for people who are not like me. Not immigrants, as Sen. Obama boldly insists. At least most immigrants, legal and illegal, know what it means to work hard and struggle every day. They don't have time to try to impose their ideology on anyone. My antipathy is largely reserved for those like the good senator and his followers who see me and people like me as a threat. We stand in the way of the Utopian order they wish to create. "Utopia" is what they mean when Sen. Obama and his followers hi-jack the phrase "a more perfect Union".

It is people like me in small town America, clinging to our religion and guns, who struggled bitterly against the "utopias" and "perfect unions", the tyrannies, of the twentieth century. Wherein these utopias, men discarded their faith and clung, instead, to the religion of the state; exchanging the eternal moral compass solely for the rationale of man. An exchange that often included the loss of compassion, sympathy, empathy and even humanity and the gain of mass graves.

Pardon me if I keep my religion and gun to insure that we do not lose those same necessities.

The entire post is well-worth the read.

Hillary or Obama = socialism

No, I'm not just being quarrelsome because they're Democrats. They actually say it themselves now. In case you hadn't already read these...

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - Hillary Clinton

"The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more." - Michelle Obama (if you think Michelle doesn't speak for Barack, you're deluding yourself)

so·cial·ism – The stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Winston Churchill put it this way: "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

On one hand, I'm glad the Democrats are at least honest about their confiscatory goals. On the other, I'm sad that so many Americans are happy to go along with it.

How is it we've fallen so far as a nation that we have two popular candidates who are running on the notion of robbing from achievers in order to fund more government handouts? How is it that nearly half of my fellow citizens are willing to trade the American Dream for a punitive Marxist society of laziness and shared misery?

The proper role of government is to protect our rights and freedoms, not to provide a never-ending source of entitlements.

*sigh*

Bill Clinton's pants spontaneously combust during Hillary defense

Bill never did know when to leave well enough alone. It's bad enough that his wife was shamed (and ridiculed) for blatantly exaggerating the dangers of her Bosnia trip. But his latest prevarication in her defense strains even his lack of credulity.

A lot of the way this whole campaign has been covered has amused me. But there was a lot of fulminating because Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated and immediately apologized for it, what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995. Did y’all see all that. Oh, they blew it up. Let me just tell you. The president of Bosnia and General Wesley Clark — who was there making peace where we’d lost three peacekeepers who had to ride on a dangerous mountain road because it was too dangerous to go the regular, safe way — both defended her because they pointed out that when her plane landed in Bosnia, she had to go up to the bulletproof part of the plane, in the front. Everybody else had to put their flack jackets underneath the seat in case they got shot at. And everywhere they went they were covered by Apache helicopters. So they just abbreviated the arrival ceremony. Now I say that because, what really has mattered is that even then she was interested in our troops. And I think she was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone.

Chuckling about it doesn't make your lies stink any less, Bubba.

Truth deficit disorder.
Pathological liars.
Culture of corruption.

All of the above.

ABS's Jake Tapper tears both Clintons a new orifice with their own words, complete with footnotes!

Oddly enough, Wikipedia has a whole list of different kinds of lies. The thing reads like the Clinton legacy.

US-Israeli Report Shows Saddam Transferred WMDs to Syria

I know I'm jumping the gun on this a bit, as it remains to be seen exactly what type of WMDs were secreted in Syria. But the fact remains. He DID have them. He DID hide them. Told. You. So.

The Jerusalem Post - An upcoming joint US-Israel report on the September 6 IAF strike on a Syrian facility will claim that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein transferred weapons of mass destruction to the country, Channel 2 stated Monday.

Good thing I'm not expecting to see liberals and the mainstream media admit their "no WMDs" mantra is an utter falsehood. But it makes me smile to see them proven wrong. Yet again.

"Birdie Wrangler" by Roman Dirge

Just had to show off, this is a piece of original artwork by Roman Dirge that I just bought. It features his quirky character Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl. My girlfriend and I are huge fans of Roman's work – love his originality and unusual sense of humor – and we were lucky to snap this one up when he offered it for sale. Woo hoo!

Slow blog day

Today is hella busy with work. I'll be back later this afternoon with a new post.
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UPDATE: Ok, so I lied - I've got nothing to post. Today has been a total suck-fest at work and I'm tired of sitting at this computer. But I'm off early tomorrow, so expect some make-good piss and vinegar.

In the meantime, check out some of the good folks in my blogroll...

Ex-President Jimmy Carter (D) to meet with terrorists - again

Tool.

NEW YORK CITY — Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly preparing an unprecedented meeting with the leader of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. government considers one of the leading terrorist threats in the world.

The Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter was planning a trip to Syria for mid-April, during which he would meet with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, on April 18.

Deanna Congileo, Carter’s press secretary, confirmed in an e-mail to FOXNews.com that Carter will be in the Mideast in April. Pressed for comment, Congileo did not deny that the former president is considering visiting Meshal.

“President Carter is planning a trip to the Mideast next week; however, we are still confirming details of the trip and will issue a press release by the end of this week,” wrote Congileo. “I cannot confirm any specific meetings at this point in time.”

Meshal, who lives in Syria to avoid being arrested by the Israeli government, leads Hamas from his seat in Damascus, where he is a guest of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Leave it to the de facto leader of the ultra-liberal wing of the Democrat party to legitimize an organization whose charter states, in no uncertain terms, their dedication to genocide of the Israeli people.

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.

There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”

Carter's mission is already doomed to failure before it begins, as described above. There can be no peace with such homicidal animals. Sitting down with them only bolsters their cause and makes America look weaker.

Midweek Peek 04.09.08

Danielle Riley

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, where are you?

I've been doing some reading on FDR. And while I'm not a fan of the collectivist havoc Roosevelt's "New Deal" welfare programs have wreaked on America, he was a good man whose leadership and steely resolve saw our nation through some The Great Depression and WW2. He made many mistakes, of course, but I really wish we had a candidate in the upcoming election who could be such a stalwart champion of American sovreignty! Sadly, I don't see that in Clinton or Obama, and McCain's frequent ambivalence gives me pause.

I've been reading one of FDR's "fireside chats" and was struck by how closely some of his words mirror our current situation with Islamic radicals who seek a worldwide caliphate, just switch out the Nazi references:

"There has now come a time when you and I must see the cold inexorable necessity of saying to these inhuman, unrestrained seekers of world conquest and permanent world domination by the sword: 'You seek to throw our children and our children's children into your form of terrorism and slavery. You have now attacked our own safety. You shall go no further.'

Normal practices of diplomacy--note writing--are of no possible use in dealing with international outlaws who sink our ships and kill our citizens.

One peaceful nation after another has met disaster because each refused to look the Nazi danger squarely in the eye until it had actually had them by the throat.

The United States will not make that fatal mistake.

No act of violence, no act of intimidation will keep us from maintaining intact two bulwarks of American defense: First, our line of supply of material to the enemies of Hitler; and second, the freedom of our shipping on the high seas.

No matter what it takes, no matter what it costs, we will keep open the line of legitimate commerce in these defensive water.

We have sought no shooting war with Hitler. We do not seek it now. But neither do we want peace so much, that we are willing to pay for it by permitting him to attack our naval and merchant ships while they are on legitimate business.

I assume that the German leaders are not deeply concerned, tonight or any other time, by what we Americans or the American government say or publish about them. We cannot bring about the downfall of Nazism by the use of long-range invective.

But when you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him."

Law Enforcement, Bush-style vs. Clinton-style

An interesting contrast...

Religious extremists as handled by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and President George W. Bush:

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Officials on Monday announced that 534 women and children — more than twice as many as had been earlier reported — were removed from a polygamist compound and that all 401 children have been placed in state custody because a judge deemed them in imminent danger of physical abuse.

An unknown number of men remained there and are not free to leave, officials said.

State police earlier made an arrest as they searched the sprawling rural compound built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs in their investigation into a possible underage marriage.

Religious extremists as handled by Attorney General Janet Reno and President William Jefferson Clinton:

WACO, Texas - On February 28, 1993, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located nine miles (14 km) east-northeast of Waco, Texas. An exchange of gunfire resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Davidians. A subsequent 51-day siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ended on April 19 when fire destroyed the compound. 76 people, including 21 children and two pregnant women, along with Davidian leader Vernon Wayne Howell, better known as David Koresh, died in the fire. This has come to be known as the Waco Siege or the Waco Massacre.

Hyperbole, I know. But you can bet your ass we'd be hearing about the "Bush police state" had the current incident ended the way Waco did.

Seattle Democrats Boo Pledge Of Allegiance

Democrat patriotism, as exemplified by Seattle’s 43rd District in their legislative caucus: (h/t: Say Anything)

There was some time to kill as multiple tallies of the delegates and alternates were done, and when the time-killer of taking audience questions had run its course and the idea of teling jokes had been nixed, someone suggested doing the Pledge of Allegiance to pass the time.

At the mere mention of doing the pledge there were groans and boos. Then, when the district chair put the idea of doing the Pledge of Allegiance up to a vote, it was overwhelmingly voted down. One might more accurately say the idea of pledging allegiance to the flag (of which there was only one in the room, by the way, on some delegate’s hat) was shouted down.

R.I.P. Charlton Heston

I was sad to hear of Charlton Heston's passing this weekend. From his memorable roles in Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, El Cid, Soylent Green, and Planet Of The Apes, to his remarkable basso profundo voice, to his time as president of the NRA (1998 - 2003), I've always held a deep admiration for the man. He famously said that the only way his gun would be taken away is "from my cold, dead hands."

And although the extreme Left still can't disarm him, nor tolerate even the idea of a well-spoken and responsible gun owner, they're wasting no time in proverbially dancing on his grave. Looks like their derangement syndrome isn't confined to President Bush. (h/t: Jawa Report)

"Quick, someone pry out his gun!"

"Is he soylent green yet??"

"If Heston lived another 20 years would the world be a better place? no. I think not. Its just that simple. So break out the good wine. Drink to vanquished enemies."

"Their brain-eroding diseases coincided with their rightwing turns." (referencing Heston and Reagan)

"he was a real PRICK alright, just like his 'hero' ray-gun..."

"1 less right wingnut to worry about"

"I'll see you at Nancy Reagan's funeral. I will be the guy with the air horn and a big ol' grin."

"Rest in Hell is where I am coming from."

"I had no empathy for the aging Nazis, either."

"The harm he did in encouraging our gun culture far outweighs and 'good' he did with his acting."

"He was a mediocre actor who believed he was Moses."

"he was scum"

"If 'liberal' means...feeling any sense of loss that some sorry piece of shithumanity such as C Heston has checked out?...Then sign me out. I am glad that he is no longer breathing the same air that you and I share."

Damn dirty apes.

Sunday smile: Sitar Hero

As someone who has an addiction to Guitar Hero, I couldn't resist posting this. Check out the sample songs listed... "Pour Some Curry On Me". Too funny!

Absolute Aztlan A-holes

Michelle Malkin broke this story yesterday and has a good update, including info on the ad agency that created the Absolut Reconquista ad as well as a lot of pithy reader feedback that was sent to Absolut's press person Jeffrey Moran – and his spineless responses.

I can't fathom what these saboteurs are thinking. Why should we give American soil to Mexico? We bought it fair and square, so stop whining. Sí usted puede.

• The Republic of Texas voted to be annexed by the United States in 1836 and was granted statehood in 1845.


• In the Mexican Cession of 1848, Mexico sold to America (for $15 million) parts of what is now Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, and the all of California, Nevada and Utah.


• In the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, America purchased land along the U.S.-Mexico border (what is now New Mexico and Arizona) for $10 million.

Plus, Mexico does such a bang-up job with the land they have now, how well do you think they'd handle our southwestern states were they to reacquire them?
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UPDATE: Following Absolut's "logic" to it's illogical conclusion, The Nose On Your Face came up with the rest of their Imperialism ad campaign.


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UPDATE: Looks like there's been enough outcry and loss of business; Absolut has issued a "genuine and sincere apology" as a sort of tourniquet.

Absolut Reconquista

More open-borders nonsense; this time it's Absolut vodka seemingly endorsing a Mexican reconquista of American territory in the print edition of Quién magazine. (h/t: Michelle Malkin)

Contact information for Absolut:
Jeffrey Moran
Director of Public Relations and Events
The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.
1370 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
USA
Phone, direct: +1 212 641 87 20
E-mail: jeffrey.moran@absolut.com
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UPDATE: One of Michelle's readers Photoshopped a much better pro-sovereignty version. As the poet Robert Frost said, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Another Bill Clinton tirade

Bubba gets mad and throws a churlish fit when someone lies to him? How wonderfully hypocritical of him! (h/t: Leslie Carbone)

The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former president who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama.

In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.

"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said.

According to those at the meeting, Clinton - who flew in from Chicago with bags under his eyes - was classic old Bill at first, charming and making small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the convention stage.

But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a former Richardson delegate who now supports Hillary Clinton, told Bill how "sorry" she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Richardson a "Judas" for backing Obama.

It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.

"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted. [emphasis added - ed.]

The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.

"It was very, very intense," said one attendee. "Not at all like the Bill of earlier campaigns."

When will these deluded Clinton supporters realize that the lying, petulant Bill Clinton is the "real" Bill? Only when he's flustered does his oily charade become exposed. Both Clintons have a preposterous sense of entitlement to elected office, and it's delicious to see them unmasked for the megalomaniacs they truly are.

More new ink!

I haven't posted personal pics in a while, so here's an update. For the past year, I've gradually been getting more ink. My left sleeve was finished back in February, and I've been getting my right arm sleeved out a few hours at a time (since that's all I can afford). The line work was done a few weeks ago; adding waves, peonies, and skulls to the half-sleeve I already had. (click the pics to enlarge)

Instead of a traditional cap on the end of the sleeve, I asked my artist (Casey Cokrlic of Fine Line Tattoos in Garland, TX.) to use the negative space of the skin to create a wave pattern, much like we did with flames on the end of my left sleeve. It's not 100% traditional Japanese style, but I like it better. Yesterday's session was 2 hours' worth, adding shading and color to the water, next time we'll put the color into the flowers and skulls. Just a few more sittings and this one will be finished!



traci also got some brand-new tattoos: a rose on her middle finger, a heart on her ring finger, and "DILLIGAF" on the edge of her left hand. It was all hella painful, but at least her session didn't last too long and she wound up with some exciting new pieces. She loves her hand tattoos and gets lots of comments on them. These are sure to cause quite a stir.

Zombie launchs his own blog!

Zombie, best known for regularly capturing photographic evidence of the derangement of the far left, has finally created the Zomblog. Check in periodically for regular doses of liberal insanity, like his first post about Code Pink's April Fool hoax. (h/t: The Jawa Report)

Light blogging today

I'm getting some new ink on my right sleeve, so blogging will be light today. Back tomorrow with pics and more.

8th grade honor student strip-searched for Advil

There's a vast difference between "zero tolerance" toward drugs in school and unreasonable search and seizure. Apparently, this Vice Principal never learned about that obscure document called the U.S. Constitution.

Safford Middle School has a "zero tolerance" policy that prohibits possession of all drugs, including not just alcohol and illegal intoxicants but prescription medications and over-the-counter remedies, "except those for which permission to use in school has been granted." In October 2003, acting on a tip, Vice Principal Kerry Wilson found a few 400-milligram ibuprofen pills (each equivalent to two over-the-counter tablets) and one nonprescription naproxen tablet in the pockets of a student named Marissa, who claimed Savana was her source.

Savana, an honors student with no history of disciplinary trouble or drug problems, said she didn't know anything about the pills and agreed to a search of her backpack, which turned up nothing incriminating. Wilson nevertheless instructed a female secretary to strip-search Savana under the school nurse's supervision, without even bothering to contact the girl's mother. [emphasis added - ed.]

The secretary had Savana take off all her clothing except her underwear. Then she told her to "pull her bra out and to the side and shake it, exposing her breasts," and "pull her underwear out at the crotch and shake it, exposing her pelvic area." Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between drug warriors and child molesters.

"I was embarrassed and scared," Savana said in an affidavit, "but felt I would be in more trouble if I did not do what they asked. I held my head down so they could not see I was about to cry." She called it "the most humiliating experience I have ever had." Later, she recalled, the principal, Robert Beeman, said "he did not think the strip search was a big deal because they did not find anything."

Strip-searched? For two ibuprofen? Maybe Beeman will think it's also not a big deal if he gets fired and sued, ya know, since they didn't find anything.

If ever there was a case for school vouchers, this is it.

Midweek Peek 04.02.08

Sofia Vergara

No joke: Dallas police arrest 49 illegal aliens working as security officers

I saw this on the local news yesterday but didn't have time to post it. "Jobs Americans won't do," eh?

A task force led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50 illegal immigrants in weekend raids of mostly Latino night clubs in Dallas, officials said Sunday.

Authorities raided 26 businesses, including night clubs, restaurants and pool halls. They were targeting employees working as security guards for two security companies, which officials declined to identify.

Law enforcement teams of local, state and federal officials simultaneously hit the 26 businesses around 11 p.m. Saturday and arrested 49 people. They recovered four pistols.

Those arrested will faces charges of being in the United States illegally. Federal law also prohibits illegal immigrants from possessing weapons.

¿Cómo se dice "good riddance?"

Meet Rev. James Meeks: Another bigoted "spiritual advisor" to Obama

First we learned of Obama's schmoozing with terrorists.

Next, we got a taste of Rev. Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright's hatred.

Now, another of Obama's close advisers comes to light, Rev. James Meeks: an Illinois state senator who also serves as the pastor of Chicago’s 22,000 member Salem Baptist Church.

Described in a 2004 Chicago Sun Times article as someone Barack Obama regularly seeks out for “spiritual counsel”, James Meeks, who will serve as an Obama delegate at the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver, is a long-time political ally to the democratic frontrunner.

When Obama ran for the U.S. Senate in 2003, he frequently campaigned at Salem Baptist Church while Rev. Meeks appeared in television ads supporting the Illinois senator’s campaign…

Since that time, not only has Meeks himself served on Obama’s exploratory committee for the presidency and been listed on the Obama’s campaign website as one of the senator’s ‘influential black supporters’, but his church choir was called on to raise their voices in praise at a rally the night Obama announced his run for the White House back in 2007.

Interestingly, the Chicago Sun Times has also reported that both Meeks and Obama share a history of substantial campaign contributions from indicted real estate magnate Tony Rezko.

So now we've got another hateful bigot who spews divisive venom like this from the pulpit:

“We don’t have slave masters. We got mayors. But they still the same white people who are presiding over systems where black people are not able, or to be educated.”

“You got some preachers that are house niggers. You got some elected officials that are house niggers. And rather than them trying to break this up, they gonna fight you to protect this white man.”

This is the kind of support and counsel he continually seeks from within the "black community" while hypocritically making eloquent speeches about healing racial divisions in America. It's unclear whether Obama secretly embraces the racism of "black liberation" theology or seeks the power of black churches simply for his own political aggrandizement. Either way, I find it despicable.

Will the press give Barack Obama yet another pass for another close associate with such malignant and incendiary views? Will Obama's supporters turn a blind eye yet again to his poor judgment of character and the possibility that the long-term embrace of such acrimony reveals his true attitude? The old saying goes, "A man is known by the company he keeps." What does Obama's choice of associates tell us about him?

Gun pr0n: Full-auto shotgun!

The Auto Assault-12 (AA-12) is an automatic 12-gauge shotgun that can fire 300 rounds per minute and is recoilless. (h/t: DPGI)

Now go wipe your chin. You're drooling.

Anti-military protest goes horribly wrong

In Berkeley, CA, the battle between military recruiters and the soldier-hating Code Pink has been joined.

Dear Sister: April Fool!

I'm not pulling pranks this year, so here's a bit 'o fun: SNL's hilarious spoof of the OC featuring the song "Hide & Seek" by Imogen Heap.


And a "wabbit season" (Rabbit Fire) parody of the parody. Mmmm whatcha say...