Themes Like Old Times

Colt .45

Talking Points-R-Us on Fox News Sunday

One of these people inspires others to do something with their cash.
The other is Gene Sperling.

Find the focus grouped word and talking point from Gene Sperling, Director of the president's National Economic Council, on Fox News Sunday this AM:

we can't have a cloud of uncertainty either hanging over our heads now, or just a plan that would kick that down the road to Christmas and have us going through all of this again in such a short time.

we as a country need to not only lift our debt limit and take away the specter of default, the heavy cloud of uncertainty

But those are things outside of our control, Bret. What is inside our control is to not add the cloud of uncertainty...

(More on this one later!)

And you saw a lot of economic forecasters say that if you could take that cloud of uncertainty off our economy

if we can take the specter of our nation's first default --
take that cloud of uncertainty off our economy

If you said "cloud of uncertainty", give yourselves an "A". If you picked "specter of default", give yourself a "B+". If you caught both...go to the head of the class!

Now, let's take a look at all the things "we have no control over":

We have had headwinds that have hurt this economy -- higher oil prices, supply chain disruptions from historic earthquake in Japan.

We have no control over higher oil prices? How about the government's strangling of domestic oil production? How many oil platforms have moved out of the Gulf of Mexico since this administration took office? Name one thing this administration has done, apart from woefully inadequate, "pie in the sky" green energy, this president has done to make this country more energy independent or to promote the domestic exploration and production of oil, which is currently the fuel for the engine of this economy?

Candidate Obama virtually assured us that he would shut down domestic coal production through costly environmental regulations. I do wonder how he would propose to charge all these electric vehicles, coming home and plugging into their chargers right at the peak of electric demand without any new hydroelectric, coal, gas fired or nuclear plants to make up the difference in demand? Obama wants the car you're living out of to be a hybrid.

And many in the solar and electric car industries Obama likes to promote (and shovel government money to) have gone bankrupt as soon as the spigot of government money is cut off. When you say we have "no control" over oil prices, which part of "drill, baby, drill" doesn't this administration understand?


Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Quote du jour

In 2008, when throngs of Americans came to see Barack Obama speak, it wasn’t because they loved him. It was because they loved the image he presented to them. The Barack Obama they cheered and fainted over wasn’t a real man with real and tangible accomplishments that he and others could point to. He didn’t have any. Candidate Barack Obama was a figment, a marketing ploy, a charlatan.

-Kim Priestap

One Man's Debt Ceiling is Another Man's Floor

Do you remember not that long ago, that one of the race baiting, lesser lights of Congress was bleating that the only reason Republicans were resisting Obama in raising the debt ceiling was because he was black?

The fact is, the debt ceiling has been raised three times already since Obama became president. Where was the drama then, Mama? Sorry! Don't mean to let facts spoil a perfectly good narrative!

And all the current shills for the President, and Obama himself are telling us a "six month deal" is "no good". And "Why put the country through this crisis again in six months?"

The three debt ceiling raises to date in "Obamaville":

February 2010 - $14.294 trillion
December 2009 - $12.394 trillion
February 2009 - $12.104 trillion

Gosh! February '09 to December '09 was just ten months. And December '09 to February '10 was just three months! Mirabile dictu! How can this be??? Obama and the Democrats in Congress wouldn't put this country's credit rating in peril for a lousy three months, would they? Would they??

The answer is yes, they would. Because the debt ceiling crisis is a phony one. The matter of an ever increasing public indebtedness is the real crisis, which neither Obama nor more than a few in Congress are willing to even admit, much less discuss like adults.

Maybe the fact that the debt ceiling was only raised seven times in Bush's eight years, and already it's been raised three times, going on four, in Obama's two and a half years has something to do with it?
Or maybe it's the multi-trillion dollar, out of control spending with no end in sight that is causing people to resist giving the President another trillion dollar blank check?

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

A Little Saturday Night Music

Simon and Garfunkle- Sound of Silence

Saturday Linkaround

Cartoon of the Day – NRO Home page

The folly of gun control explained

The Terminology of Taxation

Voting Rights Act: I was wrong about racial gerrymandering - Cynthia Tucker

Fast & Furious update: BATFE emails show stonewalling.

Operation Fast and Furious: Report Shows that ATF 'Stonewalled' Agents on Gun "Walking" Scandal Probe

The debt ceiling and the fifth labor of Hercules

Obama Fumbles Yemen

Shovel-Ready Stimulus — 100 Years Ago –Victor Davis Hanson

Obstruction of Justice? Obama Administration Accused of Intimidating Fast and Furious Witnesses

Utility Nightmares Of Electric Cars

Speaking of Shared Sacrifice . . .

The Deficit Dance – Jerry Pournelle

He knows what he’s doing, “he got bin Laden”

York Times Reader Kills Dozens in Norway –Ann Coulter

Romney's weakness

Mumbai vs. Oslo

Debt problem as explained in photos [SLIDESHOW]

Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves –Iowahawk

64% Of National Health Service Clinics Now Ration Operations

Dollar for Dollar – Mark Steyn

Voter Fraud Is Business As Usual For Left-Wing Organizations

Battle hound




Rule Five Roundup*:
American Perspective- Angelina Jolie

American Power- SI Swimsuit video

Amy Winehouse

Camp of the Saints - Rule Five Saturday, Rule Five News

Classic Liberal – Justify My Rule 5

The Daley Gator – Daley Babes, Naomi Cambell, Emmanuelle Chriqui

Eye of Polyphemus – Laura Croft, Monica Bellucci, Marisa Miller, Sofia Vergara

Friday Night Babe – Emily Scott

Hookers and Booze

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Friday Pin up

Maggie’s Notebook – Rule 5

Pirates Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup, If All You See Is An Evil Truck, If All You See…

POH Diaries -Amy Winehouse

Randy’s Roundtable –Thursday Nite Tart, Midweek break , Kristen Cavallari

Reaganite Republican - Getting Jealous of the Russians...

Smurfette

Support your local Gunfighter – Christina Hendricks

The Last Tradition- Imogen Thomas, Freida Pinto

Theo Spark –Bedtime Toddy , Bonus Babe

The Other McCain- Rule 5 Sunday : Too Fast for Love

Vintage Babe of the Week – Betty Brosmer

Rule 5 Woodsterman Style




*By no means comprehensive.

Use the comments as an open thread on any of these topics. If you feel that I’ve neglected a link, news, commentary, humor or Rule Fivage, send a link to the contact email on the sidebar. (All spambots must die!)

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

“It’s quite a success story for the new leader. (Of Al-Qaeda) He worked his way up all the way from the mail bomb room.”

-David Letterman

Welcome to the CAFE of Death. My name is Barry, I'll be your Waitperson.

In anticipation of new CAFE standards, Honda introduced a new model, the Honda Accordion* today...


*Not a Honda

Much as President Obama and other liberals may think natural laws for things like physics and economics don't matter, the reality is they do and nowhere more so than on American highways. The president reportedly has secured agreements from Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, Honda and Hyundai to raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy fleet average standard to 54.5 mpg by 2025. The new standard will be reviewed in 2018, but that won't change the fact that automakers will immediately have to embark on efforts to lighten and downsize all of their models.

Don't hold your breath waiting for your favorite Congress Critter to lead by example on this any time soon. Anyone want to bet that government limos won't be exempt from CAFE standards? Or will the fleets just have to make more wind up cars to offset them? Part of that "shared sacrifice", don'tcha know?

H/T Rob Port

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Emily Scott!

(*a.k.a. Rule Five Friday)

Feeling Blue

Feeling a little blue, today, are we?

Photo swiped from Eye of Polyphemus

Ocho Cinco Tres Annos as a Nuevo England Patriot

New England gave Cincinnati a couple of draft picks, probably for the prospect of watching Ocho Cinco arm wrestle Patriot Aaron Hernandez for the number 85 on the jersey.

Just in case you're wondering, I really didn't care about the story that much, but I wanted to try my hand at bilingual headline writing. That third grade Spanish class really paid off!

Quote du jour

I cannot call to mind a single instance where I have been irreverent, except toward the things that were sacred to other people.

-Mark Twain

Deflation Hits Another Government Program

A $150million U.S. Army airship crash landed in woods today after it could only reach half of its expected altitude on a test flight. The unmanned solar-powered airship was only in the air for less than three hours after it launched in Akron, Ohio, on Wednesday morning. It ascended as planned up to 32,000ft but the Lockheed Martin airship then encountered problems and was not able to get up to 60,000ft.

A hundred and fifty million for a solar powered blimp? I guess all those years of subsidizing the strategic helium reserves has finally paid off!

H/T Support Your Local Gunfighter

Klaven on the Facts of Life for Liberals

H/T American Power

Quote du jour

Bigamy is the only crime where two rites make a wrong.

-Bob Hope

Medal of Honor

Specialist Fifth Class Charles Chris Hagemeister

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While conducting combat operations against a hostile force, Sp5c. Hagemeister's platoon suddenly came under heavy attack from 3 sides by an enemy force occupying well concealed, fortified positions and supported by machineguns and mortars. Seeing 2 of his comrades seriously wounded in the initial action, Sp5c. Hagemeister unhesitatingly and with total disregard for his safety, raced through the deadly hail of enemy fire to provide them medical aid. Upon learning that the platoon leader and several other soldiers also had been wounded, Sp5c. Hagemeister continued to brave the withering enemy fire and crawled forward to render lifesaving treatment and to offer words of encouragement. Attempting to evacuate the seriously wounded soldiers, Sp5c. Hagemeister was taken under fire at close range by an enemy sniper. Realizing that the lives of his fellow soldiers depended on his actions, Sp5c. Hagemeister seized a rifle from a fallen comrade, killed the sniper, 3 other enemy soldiers who were attempting to encircle his position and silenced an enemy machinegun that covered the area with deadly fire. Unable to remove the wounded to a less exposed location and aware of the enemy's efforts to isolate his unit, he dashed through the fusillade of fire to secure help from a nearby platoon. Returning with help, he placed men in positions to cover his advance as he moved to evacuate the wounded forward of his location. These efforts successfully completed, he then moved to the other flank and evacuated additional wounded men despite the fact that his every move drew fire from the enemy. Sp5c. Hagemeister's repeated heroic and selfless actions at the risk of his life saved the lives of many of his comrades and inspired their actions in repelling the enemy assault. Sp5c. Hagemeister's indomitable courage was in the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces and reflect great credit upon himself.

Sp5c. Hagemeister: We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.



Hat tip Home of Heroes

There are fewer than a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice. In the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while, I was a suspect.

-Steven Wright

How Long Does it Take to Run the Country Dangerously Into Debt?

John Kerry Supporter Stripped of Silver Star

Depravity knows no party lines.

Back in December of 2008, I wrote about Wade Sanders, a John Kerry supporter, who had plead guilty to possession of child pornography.

Seems this guy is doing hard time and has recently had his Silver Star revoked.

John F. Kerry almost became president running on the basis of his alleged heroism in Vietnam. Thanks to the efforts of a group of truth-tellers, the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, the serious holes in the fantasy narrative propounded by the Kerry campaign came to the attention of enough Americans that John Kerry was not the first faux-Irish President of the United States.

One of Kerry's enablers in propounding his imaginary heroism was a man named Wade Sanders, who himself held a Silver Star, and who introduced Kerry to the Democratic Convention. Scott Swett, who was central to the unraveling of the Kerry storyline, tells us that the Kerry enabler has been exposed for what he is. His Winter Soldier site has the details:

John Kerry was introduced at the 2004 Democratic National Convention by Wade Sanders, a retired Navy Captain and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy who served as a Swift Boat officer in Vietnam. Like Kerry, Sanders was the recipient of a Silver Star for gallantry in action. During the 2004 campaign, Sanders functioned as Kerry lead attack dog against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, repeatedly denouncing the veterans on the air as liars and comparing them to Nazi propagandists.

Wade Sanders is now in Federal prison, serving a 37-month sentence for possessing child pornography. Now the Navy Times reports that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has revoked Sanders' Silver Star. The highly unusual decision appears unrelated to Sanders' felony conviction. A Navy spokesman cited "subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself."

-Thomas Lifson

I will breathlessly await his defense, both from those who approve of child pornography and or those so out of touch with reality that they still think that depravity is the exclusive purview of one political party. You know who you are.

Update : The Navy Times story is now online.

H/T This Ain't Hell
More at Mememorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Aftermath of Obama's Speech

Like the flotsam and jetsam that floats up onto the shore after a hurricane, President Barack H. Obama II floated in front of the microphones last night to give his spin to the deal which is being brokered (and quite more efficiently and quickly without the "help" of Biden or Obama, I might add!) between the House and Senate.
So, the president makes a speech outlining what he believes is the most important thing that Congress and America can do to solve the looming financial crisis...re-elect Barack H. Obama II!



Starting off with the old canard that "Bush spent Clinton's surplus", Obama tried to pin most of our economic woes on the "Bush tax cuts for the rich", which, incidentally became the "Obama tax cuts for the rich", since Bush was a private citizen when Barry signed that extension!

In addition to the fact that Bush really did spend too much, and conservatives called him on that, there was this little thing called the Global War on Terror, which started in earnest after three thousand Americans were killed on our soil on a single day, which also crippled parts of our economy.

If Obama wants to talk about a "surplus", maybe we can talk about the surplus of terrorist attacks Clinton had, which he sent highly skilled teams of lawyers to fight. The first attack on the World Trade Center comes to mind!

The terrorist attack of 9/11 led to what the Democrats like to whiningly call: "two 'unpaid for' wars". Meanwhile, they've added a third 'unpaid for' war in Libya and a half a dozen "kinetic military actions", so do they not care what the effect of these wars are on the economy, or is it simply OtbB? (Opportunity to bash Bush)

Not content just to ask America to "eat your peas" (while the Commander-in-Chief seems always to be seen with an ice cream cone), Obama tries to relate the problem to all you little people out there who just don't see things his way, so he goes into a "credit card schtick".

Now, every family knows that a little credit card debt is manageable. But if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost us jobs and do serious damage to the economy

Could? Only could Mr. President?? Where have you been for the last two and a half years??? And a "little"? This country, especially under our current president has spent trillions more than it takes in. The "credit card" analogy is more closely, we have an irresponsible guy who maxes out all of his credit cards and then, refuses to pay the rent or buy groceries unless his credit limits are raised and he can spend more money he doesn't have!

I won’t bore you with the details of every plan or proposal

Which is convenient, since most of Obama's plans and proposals are conspicuously and notoriously short on details of what he'd like to cut...the so called "waste" he keeps promising to find. Remember when candidate Obama told us he was going to go through the budget line by line and eliminate waste,fraud and abuse? I wonder if you can even see a line of the budget from the 17th green?

The only reason this balanced approach isn’t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress are insisting on a different approach -- a cuts-only approach -– an approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all

So the country has maxed out its credit card and those wascally Wepubwicans are telling you to stop using the card? Imagine that! But, speaking of "an approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all"...how about your pal Jeffery Immelt? Immelt, CEO of GE and Obama's hand picked guy for the "President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness", heads a company that is growing in profitability and yet paid no corporate income tax at all in the US last year. Guess that's one way to stay "competitive", eh, Mr. President? Another way to be more competitive, according to Mr. Immelt is to take even more jobs to China.

General Electric Co.’s health care unit, the world’s biggest maker of medical imaging machines, is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing.
“A handful’’ of top managers will move to the Chinese capital and there won’t be any job cuts, said Anne LeGrand, general manager of X-ray for GE Healthcare

Well, of course! You want management to be closer to the manufacturing end of it, don't you? There won't be any job "cuts", but I'd bet there won't be many new jobs, at least not here in the States.

The X-ray business, whose financial results aren’t reported separately by GE, will hire 65 new engineers and support staff at a new Chengdu facility

And, of course, if management and engineering and manufacturing are all in China, then it's most certainly a Chinese division of GE. How many of the "millionaires and billionaires" of GE China do you think will be paying their "fair share" of American taxes? Didn't think so!

But the new approach that Speaker Boehner unveiled today, which would temporarily extend the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts, would force us to once again face the threat of default just six months from now. In other words, it doesn’t solve the problem

Whoa! You guys keep telling us there is an imminent crisis, a "financial Armageddon" if we "default" on August 2nd., but averting that default "doesn't solve the problem" if it only lasts six months? I've got news for you Barry. Nothing you are proposing will "solve the problem" either. You just don't want anyone talking about the problem you've done nothing to fix and have only exacerbated with your failed economic policies, between now and the 2012 election.

And, as late as 2009, you agreed, Mr. Obama, that you don't raise taxes in a recession, but now you seem pretty hellbent on raising taxes...just to make it "fair"!

But then, the Obama plan is not to raise revenue to pay off the debt. He certainly wasn't concerned about "debt" with his trillion dollar so called "stimulus" plan. He just wants business as usual, so he can spent as much money as he wants supporting his cronies and ideological fellow travelers. You little people insisting that Washington live within its means, like the rest of the country has to do, are just getting in his way.

Here's an idea, Mr. President: How about Washington shares in the sacrifice? After pouring over the budget line by line, (which surely you did because none of your promises come with an expiration date, do they?) are you unable to find a single worthless or wasteful program (other than our military)? Is there no redundant Department of Redundant Redundancy that can be eliminated under your eagle eyes?

Show us that government is willing to "share in the sacrifice" before you ask a single citizen to do with less. Lead by example for a change, Barry! Eat your peas!

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Quote du jour

I want govt out of my bedroom. I also want it out of my office, den garage, toilet, refrigerator and light sockets.

-David Burge (Iowahawk)

Quote du jour

When liberal politicians tell you that conservatives want to "end Medicare as we know it", the operative words are "as we know it". As we know it today, Medicare is going bankrupt. If it crashes and burns under its own weight, that too will "end Medicare as we know it".

It's the unsustainability that needs to be changed, not demagogued.

-Proof

Themes Like Old Times

Firefly
(It isn't that old, but it went by rather quickly and you may have missed it!)

Celebrating Five Thousand (and Seven) Posts: Will There Be Cake?

My five thousandth post should be something deep and profound...and have something to do with cake!

This sneaked up on me a little sooner than I thought! The actual 5,000th post was Sic Transit Gloria Americanus?

Turbo Tax Timmy Geithner Has His Head in the Clouds

I watched most of Turbo Tax Timmy's interview on Fox News Sunday this AM. (Transcript here.) A few things, I thought, were notable.

One was the apparently focus grouped word "cloud". Three times Turbo Tax Timmy mentioned "raising the cloud of default" that hovers over the country.

The idea that we're going to spend another seven months lifting the cloud of default from the American economy...

But they're going to look at whether we lift the cloud of default off the American economy...

And if Congress makes some sensible decisions right now, lifts this cloud of dysfunction, of default, off of the American economy...

He also used "specter" (the ghost, not Arlen) and I believe misspoke it once as "spectrum".

...we're trying to do avoid not just default today, but the specter of default in the future.

Note particularly the partisan blame game in this next quote:

And this spectrum of default that Republicans have put over the country is hurting the confidence of average Americans.

So, when Democrats controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House in 2010, and were Constitutionally required to submit a budget by October of 2010, wherein they could have addressed any budgetary cuts required, they failed to do so and this is why the Republicans are at fault? Takes two to tango, Timmy! The Democrats' failure to provide any leadership at all up to this point is what fomented the crisis. And now, any Republican plan is met by demagoguery from the Dems (You can't spell "demagogue" without "dem"), which is what they do best.

For the Dems to paint themselves as blameless in this negotiation, in which there are things upon which they themselves will not compromise (like class envy), is rank hypocrisy. Had the 2010 budget been passed, perhaps there would at least be more of a framework to work with here.

However, it was for political reasons that the Dems abdicated their Constitutional duties. They knew that if the voters saw exactly how irresponsible their spending plans were, there would have been more Democrats defeated in 2010. So they ignored the Constitution for the sake of holding on to power, hiding their intentions from the will of the people, so that there would be more of them to demagogue whatever plan the real adults in the room, the Republicans, would put forward.

On a side note, when you're watching the Sunday shows, listen for that one word or phrase that keeps creeping into the conversation, like "cloud of default". It usually means that it's a word that focus groups reacted favorably to. In other words, it will help people buy what you're selling! The most adept interviewees will work this word both into their opening statement and again the last sentence they utter. The gratuitous use of the word in between those two statements is what the spinmeisters hope you will take away from their efforts.

Anyway, little Timmy believes that raising the "cloud of default" that hovers over the country is to do that which is "most important". Actually, kicking this can down the road past the next election is what this administration considers most important.

“We have to lift this credit default from the economy for -- you know, for the next 18 months. We have to take that threat off the table through the election”

Yeah. Right! Obama does not want his stewardship of the economy to be an issue in the 2012 election. The Dems would rather sweep it under the rug than to deal honestly with a problem that affects every household in the country. Notice that Obama and the Dems have stated they will not negotiate on any plan that needs to be re-examined between now and November 2012. Getting Obama re-elected is, as Ford used to say, "Job One".

There is class envy in Geithner's answers. The so called "shared burden", which of course means taking more from those who are productive, because the poor don't have a lot to share. (More on this in another post.) Note the language that Geithner uses, and know that it is not accidental. Geithner wants to raise taxes on the "most fortunate Americans". Get that? people haven't really earned their money, they just "got lucky". "Fortune" smiled upon them and money apparently rained from the skies!

The hypocrisy in this? Our tax code is not set up to tax the fortunate, so much as people who actually produce something. If you inherited a lot of money, you may be "fortunate", but that's not "income". If you work for a living, or own a small business, that's income. And small businesses, which create the bulk of jobs in this country, are squarely in the cross hairs of this administration and their tax "revenue" plans.

Unfortunately, most liberals use a "static" model of the economy, which is "How do you divide up a pie that always stays the same size?" Only, it doesn't stay the same size. More economic activity can increase the size of the pie, providing more and more to more people, while disincentives can discourage economic growth and production and leave an even smaller "pie" to be divided.

Liberal ideologues, like Obama and Geithner talk about increasing tax "revenues", when historically, revenues to the treasury have increased with the introduction of tax cuts**. Tax cuts stimulate the economy, which employs more people who become taxpayers and increases the volume of productivity, which means the government collects less tax on any given individual, but more than makes up for it in the volume.

To the liberal ideologue, this is unacceptable. It offends their sense of "fairness". They would rather see Americans unemployed and businesses ruined than to compromise their class envy based belief system. Candidate Obama said as much, that he would make taxes more "fair" even if it meant less revenue to the government. This was long before he told Joe the Plumber that he wanted to "spread the wealth".

Then, there is the obligatory: "Bush did it." When Chris Wallace pressed Geithner on poor unemployment and growth issues, here's what he had to say:

the American economy is still suffering undeniably from the tragic after-effects of the crisis this president inherited.

Translation: The effects of Bush's spending and participation in two "unpaid for" wars were so bad that Obama spending three to four times as much and involving us in yet another war and assorted :kinetic military actions" (KMA seems to be a recurring theme for the Obama administration, along with WTF*) cannot be blamed. The "denial" is all ours! Shutting down oil production in the Gulf and refusing to allow drilling and other activities that would increase the nation's wealth (and tax a portion of it as it grows) is not as important as appeasing the environmentalist wackos and trying to foist "green" solutions to every problem. Despite massive influxes of government cash, electric car companies and solar companies are going bankrupt or cutting back. Obama is sacrificing the economy of today for some imaginary tomorrow. Obama and Tim Geithner's plans for "winning" sound more like Charlie Sheen's.

I'll post video from the interview as soon as it becomes available.

*They say it means "Winning the future". Most people say it with regards to the present actions of the president.

**JFK knew this. If only we had a few Democrats like JFK again! Well, in a sense we do. They're all Republicans now!

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

The Other Gerber Baby

Gerber, the baby food company, is conducting a search for the new "Gerber Baby". I myself, carry a Gerber knife in my pocket most everywhere I go. And it got me to thinking, "Just what kind of baby carries a Gerber knife??"


"Step away from the binky with your hands up!"

Quote du jour

Xavier (Becerra) should run as Obama's veep in 2012. He's very slick verbally, his words mean nothing and his demonstrated knowledge of the economy and monetary policy is next to zero. Or else, he's lying, and either way would make a perfect fit with the current resident of the Oval Office.

-Proof

Eat Your Peas, America!

The ad begins, "You never know when a stubborn streak will show up..."

"This Is Obama At His Most Sanctimonious, Demagogic, Self-Righteous And Arrogant"

C'mon, Charles! Tell us what you really think!

H/T GatorDoug

Michael Ramirez on the "Debt Ceiling"

The incomparable Michael Ramirez:

Sic Transit Gloria Americanus?

I wasn't planning on writing about this today, but the fading glory of our space program moves me to write. In 1977, Jerry Pournelle wrote about the "2007 expedition to Ceres". The old Buck Rogers TV show spoke of the "last of NASA's deep space probes in 1987". The last?? when was the first???

Robert Heinlein spoke of the expectation that many of us had growing up of the inevitability of space travel. In 1949, he wrote in the preface to "The Man Who Sold the Moon":

" (the stories)...are of the "What-would-happen-if" sort, in which the "if", the basic postulate of each story, is some possible change in human environment latent in our present day technology or culture. Sometimes the possibility is quite remote; sometimes the postulated possibility is almost a certainty, as in the stories concerned with interplanetary flight."

Did you get that? In 1949, R.A. Heinlein considered interplanetary flight "almost a certainty".

How did we get from the first Model A Ford to the first walk on the moon in forty two years and from the first walk on the moon to the last flight of the shuttle program in exactly the same time?

And perhaps, more importantly, how do we get back?

Cross posted at LCR, Lady Cincinnatus , Say Anything.

Saturday Linkaround

Cartoon of the Day – NRO Home page

Singer Amy Winehouse found Dead in London

The Great Charade –Mark Steyn

What kind of guy lies about his Mother’s death for cheap political points?

Get Ready For A 70% Tax Rate

Only 15% of the Bush Tax Cut Extension Went to “Millionaires and Billionaires”

Environmentalists Wage War On Copper, Gold, Industry, Jobs

The Debt Ceiling Debate - Liars and Losers on display

The Last Dog Ole Osama Ever Saw...

Canadian Tories to scrap long-gun registry this fall

Calling All Conservative Bloggers!!

Geithner Moves the Goalposts: Treasury Says August 10th Might Be the Drop Dead Date, Not August 2nd

‘No Plan’ Obama SLAMS GOP – Says GOP Is Not Serious About Cutting Debts & Deficit (Video)

How To Fire A Teacher In 20 Easy Steps

Foreclosed Homes and Gardens (satire)

Steyn Sounds Less Than Confident On Debt Talks. Wonder Why.

IRONY: Liberals Want To Ban Styrofoam Three Years After They Worshiped Obama In A Fake Temple Made Of Styrofoam

Talk about "punishing someone with a baby"!



Rule Five Roundup*:


American Power- Bikini Beach Party


Camp of the Saints - Rule Five Saturday, Summer wear for the ladies

Classic Liberal – Rule 5 26’ Tall Marilyn

The Comic Nut - Awesome

The Daley Gator – Daley Babes: Salli Richardson, Minka Kelly

Eye of Polyphemus – Kelly Brook, Aly Michalka, Isla Fisher

Friday Night Babe – Jennifer Lopez

Full Metal Patriot – Hayley Atwell

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Friday Pin up

Maggie’s Notebook – Rule 5

Pirates Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup, If All You See…, If all you see...

POH Diaries -Rule 5: Kate Middleton

Randy’s Roundtable –Thursday Nite Tart, Midweek break , A Little Saturday Morning Rule 5 Palooza, Tiger's Ex


Support your local Gunfighter – Four Month Orgasm

Teresamerica – Rule 5 – Whitney Port's bikini


Theo Spark – Regrip your golf clubs -video

The Other McCain- Rule 5 Sunday : Navigator

Vintage Babe of the Week – Cleo Moore

wyblog -Bikini Slip and Slide












*By no means comprehensive.

Use the comments as an open thread on any of these topics. If you feel that I've neglected a link, news, commentary, humor or Rule Fivage, send a link to the contact email on the sidebar. (All spambots must die!)

Cross posted at Say Anything

A Little Saturday Night Music

Chad and Jeremy- Summer Song

Quote du jour

"He who eats meat should not condemn the butcher."

-Robert A. Heinlein

Another Socialist for Hillary?

I have said on a number of occasions, that the bloom is off the hibiscus with this President. One more voice from the far Left who thinks it would be a good idea for Obama to face a primary opponent (or opponents). Bernie Sanders, Socialist Independent-VT:

I think there are millions of Americans who are deeply disappointed in the president, who believe that with regard to Social Security and other things, he said one thing as a candidate and is doing something very much else as a president. Who cannot believe how weak he has been for whatever reason in negotiating with Republicans, and there’s deep disappointment. So my suggestion is, I think one of the reasons the president has made the move so far to the right is that there is no primary opposition to him and I think it would do this country a good deal of service if people started thinking about candidates out there to begin contrasting a progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama believes he’s doing. [...] So I would say to Ryan, discouragement is not an option. I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.

So, the far Left thinks Obama is too conservative. The conservatives know him to be too far Left and the Moderates are deserting him in droves.

Might this be the time for a Democrat woman for President???

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

More at Hot Air

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Jennifer Lopez!

(*a.k.a. Rule Five Friday)

Management Goes "Old School": Turns Heat Lamps on Strikers on 100° Day

This sounds like the cruel treatment of the "robber barons" of old, doesn't it? Poor abused or at least aggrieved workers set upon by dogs, or in this case, heat lamps on a scorching hot day, to dissuade them from striking.

The heat lamps are used in the winter to help keep the sidewalks clear and to give their guests a bit of a respite from the cold as they enter and exit their limos one might presume. Al Gore comes to mind.

But, what makes this story ever so delicious is exactly which robber baron is abusing the strikers:

Pritzker turns heat lamps on striking Hyatt workers. That's the chair of Barack Obama's national campaign finance committee, Penny Sue Pritzker.*

It was already approaching 100° at 8 a.m. when I arrived at the Park Hyatt where, after 22 months of stalled negotiations, hotel workers were staging a one-day picket to protest the hotel chain's intolerable treatment of their housekeeping staff.

In case you didn't know, Hyatt is owned by the Pritzker family. Heiress Penny Sue Pritzker chairs Obama's national campaign finance committee. She is also big player in Democratic Party politics as well as in the world of anti-union, corporate school reform and was recently appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to a seat on the Chicago school board.

Pritzker's response to the Park Hyatt strikers was to turn on the hotel's powerful heating lamps to try and bake the workers into submission on this brutally hot day.

What's that Obama said about walking the picket lines and standing with the unions? Well, so far, not only has Obama not shown up on any picket lines (not too surprising, since most of his campaign promises come with an expiration date) but now, one of his chief fundraisers is using a little old fashioned union busting when it affects her personally.

Expect a flood of outrage from the President who said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly", when he knew nothing of the circumstances, to vigorously condemn and perhaps fire his campaign finance chair. (Stop laughing!) Maybe he could add this outrage to his litany of millionaires and billionaires and why we need to raise their taxes? Don't hold your breath.

*To be fair, we don't know that it was Penny Sue with her hand on the switch, but using the Obama "acted stupidly" standard, the threshold is very low.

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Say Anything.

Avarice By Any Other Name...

In beautiful downtown Pasa Robles, on my way to dinner, I got behind a BMW, and though it's nameplate was partially missing, I noticed that the car was an "Avarus". I'd never heard of one before.

And I couldn't help but wonder if it was pronounced the same way as "avarice"?

What? Was "Gluttony" already taken???

"U.S. Flag 'Primes' Voters Toward Republican Viewpoints"

Just a glimpse at the American flag can sway voters, even Democrats, toward more Republican voting behavior, attitudes and beliefs, a new two-year study says.

The authors, from the University of Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, say the research proves the American flag has a powerful effect on voters.

"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting eight months," reads the study titled, "Long-Term Effects of U.S. Flag Exposure on Republicanism."

Can't say for certain that it's true, but it never hurts to display the symbol of our great country on every suitable occasion.

I've placed a small flag at the top of the sidebar. Let's turn the Internet red white and blue between now and 2012 November.

Quote du jour

Showing a previously unknown talent for stand-up comedy, Barack Hussein Obama has declared that there is no need for a balanced budget amendment, because "we don't need a constitutional amendment to do our jobs...and to make sure that the government is living within its means and making responsible choices. "

-Stilton Jahrsberg

Quote du jour

Despite ongoing wars around the world, domestic fiscal meltdowns, and inconceivable death and destruction in America's "tornado alley," Mr. Obama has now racked up nine consecutive weekends in which he's decided the best use of his time is whacking a ball around the fairways.

And God help us all...he's probably right.

-Stilton Jarlsberg

"I know Nusssing!"

Update:

Col. Harry Klink

Medal of Honor

Captain Harold A. Fritz

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. (then 1st Lt.) Fritz, Armor, U.S. Army, distinguished himself while serving as a platoon leader with Troop A, near Quan Loi. Capt. Fritz was leading his 7-vehicle armored column along Highway 13 to meet and escort a truck convoy when the column suddenly came under intense crossfire from a reinforced enemy company deployed in ambush positions. In the initial attack, Capt. Fritz' vehicle was hit and he was seriously wounded. Realizing that his platoon was completely surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and in danger of being overrun, Capt. Fritz leaped to the top of his burning vehicle and directed the positioning of his remaining vehicles and men. With complete disregard for his wounds and safety, he ran from vehicle to vehicle in complete view of the enemy gunners in order to reposition his men, to improve the defenses, to assist the wounded, to distribute ammunition, to direct fire, and to provide encouragement to his men. When a strong enemy force assaulted the position and attempted to overrun the platoon, Capt. Fritz manned a machinegun and through his exemplary action inspired his men to deliver intense and deadly fire which broke the assault and routed the attackers. Moments later a second enemy force advanced to within 2 meters of the position and threatened to overwhelm the defenders. Capt. Fritz, armed only with a pistol and bayonet, led a small group of his men in a fierce and daring charge which routed the attackers and inflicted heavy casualties. When a relief force arrived, Capt. Fritz saw that it was not deploying effectively against the enemy positions, and he moved through the heavy enemy fire to direct its deployment against the hostile positions. This deployment forced the enemy to abandon the ambush site and withdraw. Despite his wounds, Capt. Fritz returned to his position, assisted his men, and refused medical attention until all of his wounded comrades had been treated and evacuated. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Capt. Fritz, at the repeated risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect the greatest credit upon himself, his unit, and the Armed Forces.

Capt. Fritz : We humbly salute you and thank you for your service.



Hat tip Home of Heroes

There are fewer than a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice. In the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors; the men it remembers.”

Cross posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid. I support Democrats and Republicans. And I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.

- Steve Wynn

Electric Car Maker Folds, City Loses $500,000

Aren't you glad that government is investing in "Green" technology, rather than promoting that nasty old oil that private industry is willing to drill for, pump, refine, pay taxes on, and increase the supply of gasoline to lower its cost? Yeah. Me, too!

A Salinas car manufacturing company that was expected to build environmentally friendly electric cars and create new jobs folded before almost any vehicles could run off the assembly line.

The city of Salinas had invested more than half a million dollars in Green Vehicles, an electric car start-up company. All of that money is now gone, according to Green Vehicles President and Co-Founder Mike Ryan.

The start-up company set up shop in Salinas in the summer of 2009, after the city gave Ryan a $300,000 community development grant. When the company still ran into financial trouble last year, the city of Salinas handed Ryan an additional $240,000. Green Vehicles also received $187,000 from the California Energy Commission.

Funny! I drove through Salinas a couple times today, never knowing they were snookered into investing with a Green Weenie. I was out in the fields with all those nasty gas powered tractors and harvesters and pumps and all the good things petroleum products provide to make American farms prosperous and productive. I even put 388 miles on my own POV just getting there and back.

If only we had a president who encouraged oil production in this country as much as he does in Brazil, or Columbia or China...

The start-up company promised city leaders that it would create 70 new jobs and pay $700,000 in taxes a year to Salinas.

Hope! Change!!

Including the California money, the company... burned through over $700,000 of taxpayer money.

Anyone want to bet that some of that $700,000 was spent on carbon spewing private jets and limos to impress the marks, er, investors, that this was a good deal?

Yeah. Me, neither!


H/T Newsbusters

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Quote du jour

According to CNN, only 15% of the cost of the two year extension (of the Bush tax cuts)went to those folks. That means 85% went to families nearly all of whom are not millionaires or billionaires. In fact, these are the same people Obama repeatedly promised a tax cut during the 2008 election.

-John, at Verum Serum

Xavier Becerra and the Talking Points of Doom™

Xavier Becerra (D-CA) was on Fox News Sunday a week ago Sunday. It is instructive to watch.

At :54 in..."when you don't pay for two wars...you're going to have to pay for that at some point"

He's got the talking point down pat, doesn't he? Bush's "two unpaid for wars" got us into this recession and Obama adding a third and possibly a few more "kinetic military actions" never enters into the equation!

Here's where it really gets good, at around 2:04, he is asked about the pile of IOUs in the Social Security "trust fund" (stop laughing!). To illustrate it, he pulls out a five dollar bill and a treasury bond and then compares them both to the S.S. IOUs, because they are all backed by the full faith and credit of the US.

If they are all backed by the "full faith and credit of the US", then why scare seniors about the possibility of not getting their checks? Just pay them all out of the IOUs, which I'm certain they can take to the grocery store and gas station to buy whatever they need, right? Or was it just a little verbal sleight of hand, where you make a false equivalence, because a dollar bill is not a bond is not an IOU?

Xavier should run as Obama's veep in 2012. He's very slick verbally, his words mean nothing and his demonstrated knowledge of the economy and monetary policy is next to zero. Or else, he's lying, and either way would make a perfect fit with the current resident of the Oval Office.

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Reason TV on the Debt Ceiling -video

This one is worth watching, if you haven't seen it yet!

Quote du jour

It's the spending, stupid.

-Proof

Themes Like Old Times

Super Chicken

Okay. Technically the whole show wasn't called "Super Chicken", but it's the only theme my friends and I have ever sung at a friend's wedding reception.

This Last Week's Poll

This Last Week's Poll, "The Last Space Shuttle Lifted Off Friday:" (check for "Yes")

Should the program have been discontinued? (0%)

Should it be replaced with something else? (45%)

Should that replacement have been in place before retiring the shuttle program? (75%)

Will the discontinued shuttle program add to unemployment? (40%)

Is Obama's talk of "going to Mars" simply empty rhetoric in light of his gutting and his redirection of NASA? (70%)

Will the private sector be able to replace NASA in maintaining America's lead in space exploration? (30%)

Multiple choices and Obama's crack budget office accountants may account for totals greater than 100%

Thank you for your participation!
Not a scientific poll. Respondents are self selecting. Questions are drawn from fortune cookies, hieroglyphics and tomorrow’s New York Times.

Please make your opinion known in this week's poll.

Quote du jour

"Unfortunately, the balance of nature decrees that a super-abundance of dreams is paid for by a growing potential for nightmares."

- Peter Ustinov

Ron Paul - The Movie (video)

Escapism for the Paulbots. Remember Don LaFontaine? He'd start a movie trailer: "In a world ...". In a world where Ron Paul can actually get elected president, what color is the sky??

H/T NRO

A Little Saturday Night Music

Gerry and the Pacemakers- Ferry Cross the Mersey

The Poetry Corner - My Grandfather's Glock

My grandfather's Glock was too large for his hand,
so an old Smith and Wesson he wore.
It wasn't that great, just an old .38,
but it proved the right tool for the chore.

For you'd stare down the bore, if you showed up at his door,
unexpectedly or late at night.
As he said, once, never to bring a knife
to your own gun fight.

-Proof

For those of you not familiar with the inspiration for the poem, here's Johnny Cash with his rendition:

Saturday Linkaround

Cartoon of the Day – NRO Home page

Arianna Huffington – End Public School Tenure, Pay Good Teachers More - Video

Shopkeeper a hero after catching a 4-year-old who fell 15 feet from mall escalator – Video

The graphic crime details of the man Obama, the UN, and others wanted to save

Think Progress is Stuck on Stupid

‘That’s Racist’ –Leftist troll mentality in two words

Great News: Friday's Anemic Jobs Number Are Likely Bogus

Pot meet Kettle (New York Times edition)

TSA agents pat down 6-year-old – twice

Democrats Should Know Jim Crow, They Created Him

Bigger Than A Wheelchair. More Powerful Than A Moped. Sportier Than Most Golf Carts. It’s…

New York's Same Sex Marriage Law and Libertarians –Andrew Roman

The Duchess of Cambridge vs the Queen of Tarts: it’s a Throwdown -Catty fluff, but funny!

New anti-Romney website launches –Romney Exposed dot com

TSA’s Forced Indignities Don’t Make Us Safer

After Decrying Scare Tactics, Obama Embraces Scare Tactics

The Song is Ended, But the Malady Lingers On –Mark Steyn

Tampa ATF Office Ran Their Own Version of Operation Fast and Furious That Fed Arms To Gangs In Honduras

Obama: 80% Of American People Want Higher Taxes As Part Of Deal – Reality: 55% Oppose It, Only 34% In Favor…

Call Obama’s bluff –Krauthammer

War in Libya: Dumb and Dumber –Victor Davis Hanson

Hitting Obama’s nerve… what the debt ceiling fight is really about

GOP Has Had Enough Of Obama, Will Attempt To Pass Cut, Cap, And Balance

Raise Taxes or Granny Gets It

The Iceberg – Bill Whittle from the Eject, Eject, Eject archives, July 2010




Rule Five Roundup*:

American Power- Saturday Rule Five, Kate Upton

Mila Kunis - King Shamus

Camp of the Saints - Rule Five Saturday, Hump Day Rule Five, Rule Five News , Donna Michelle

Classic Liberal – Rule 5 Bar Refaeli

Comic Nut's Sunday Night

The Daley Gator – Daley Babes, Rosie Jones, Beyonce – video, Kim Smith, Liz Hurley, Asian Babe

Dustbury – Well, Ronald McDonald is a redhead!

Eye of Polyphemus – Jessica Alba, Jaime Pressly, Alessandra Torresani, Sarah Shahi, Kaley Cuoco

Fleece me – Rule Five Patriotism

Friday Night Babe – Bianca Kajlich

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Friday Pin up

Maggie’s Notebook – Rule 5 , Mila Kunis

Pirates Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup, If All You See…, If All You See…

Randy’s Roundtable –Thursday Nite Tart, Midweek break

Support your local Gunfighter –Holly Madison, Mila Kunis

Teresamerica – Rule 5

The Last Tradition- Hillary Duff

Theo Spark –Bedtime Toddy , Bonus Soccer Toddy

The Other McCain- Rule 5 Sunday

Vintage Babe of the Week – Christie Brinkley






*By no means comprehensive.

Use the comments as an open thread on any of these topics.

Quote du jour

The World’s Greatest Orator (Obama) is almost always uninspiring, condescending, self-aggrandizing, peevish and grim.

-James Taranto

Sheila Jackson Lee's Insanity on Parade

Somehow, when you think "Texas politics", this is the last thing that comes to your mind!



Around :26, "Only this president" (which she babbles several times, so it must be true!) , only Obama has the "attacks, disagreements and inability to work with him" (because we all know how those Democrats bent over backwards to please and agree with George Bush and make his agenda come true!)
Obama doesn't get the "same kind of respectful treatment" (As George Bush? Stop laughing!)
Around one minute, she talks about "something required by statute". You mean like the budget the House was supposed to pass no later than last October, when Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House? Please, Ms. Jackson Lee! Link me to your outrage over not fulfilling your obligations required by statute then! (I won't hold my breath!)

At 1:09, she talks about a "fact", but doesn't say what planet it is a fact on:

"The Republicans are having their way gutting and cutting everything we can find"

What exactly have the Republicans "gotten their way" on? A balanced budget amendment? Substantial cuts in spending? An agreement from Obama and Reid not to raise taxes in a recession? Take your meds, Sheila! (And no, I'm not disrespecting you because you're black, Ms. Jackson Lee. I'm disrespecting you because you're nuts!)

"Gutting and cutting"? I haven't heard of a single line item in the billions of dollars in the federal budget (other than the military) that Democrats are willing to cut! Maybe if you had done your Constitutional duty in 2010, Ms. Jackson Lee, and passed a budget, even an unbalanced one, we'd know what programs you are willing to pare back to keep the country solvent?

The last twenty seconds are filled with race baiting, as if Obama were being singled out for being black, when in reality (a place Ms. Jackson Lee cannot visit without a visa) he is being singled out for taking an economy that had been driven into a ditch and driving it over a cliff.

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

More here, and Memeorandum

Friday Night Babe

Tonight's FNB* is Bianca Kajlich!

(*a.k.a. Rule Five Friday)

"Eat your Peas, Barry!"

Instead of Reagan at Reykjavik, Barry looks more like "Don't Bee" at Romper Room.

H/T Jammie Wearing Fool

Words of Dope Hope From Barack Obama

Between now and Nov. 2012, expect to see more ads like this one:



H/T Wizbang

Headline du jour

"Off to see the Wizard (One last time)"

-dead tree paper, on the Harry Potter finale

Quote du jour

Politicians with the power to determine each citizen’s income are no longer public servants. They are public masters.

-Thomas Sowell

Quote du jour

"Better to have loved and lost a short person than never to have loved a tall."

-David Chambless

The Least Serious President in the History of the Republic™ Is Also the Most Hypocritical (video)

"I cannot guarantee that those checks ("Social Security, Veteran's checks, folks on disability...70 million checks")go out on August third if we haven't resolved this issue."

Compare that to his remarks before House Republicans in 2010...

From a You Tube video of Obama's Q & A with Republicans (about one hour, twenty three minutes in). Transcript here.

...there is a political vulnerability to doing anything that tinkers with Medicare. And that's probably the biggest savings that are obtained through Paul's plan.

And I raise that not because we shouldn't have a serious discussion about it. I raise that because we're not going to be able to do anything about any of these entitlements if what we do is characterize whatever proposals are put out there as, "Well, you know, that's -- the other party's being irresponsible. The other party is trying to hurt our senior citizens. That the other party is doing X, Y, Z."

Get it? We can't solve the nation's problems if some demagogue is claiming the other party will hurt our senior citizens...unless those mean spirited Republicans don't do what I want, then they are personally jeopardizing 70 million senior citizens, veterans and the disabled from getting their checks on time.

I think it is instructive, that of the billions of dollars the federal government spends in millions of places, the first and apparently only places Barack Obama can think to cut, to pay for all his other pork projects, is Social Security checks, veterans' and disability benefits.

The federal government needs to stop the insane spending levels. The endless borrowing has got to stop. For Barry to try to scare seniors and others on a fixed income by threatening to stop their checks is despicable.

And make no mistake. The money is there not to default on any loan payments or Social Security checks. If any senior or veteran who is denied a benefit check on August 3rd. it will be because Barack Obama makes a conscious decision to callously play politics with these people's lives.


Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Glenn Greenwald: US More Unpopular in the Arab World Than Under Bush

Obama Didn't Make Us Loved Around the World? I'm shocked. Shocked! Remember when the fake Hope and Change candidate stood before the fake Greek columns muttering fake promises about transparency and making the oceans recede and how once we got rid of the dreaded George W. Bush, people around the world would love us? They were going to throw down their bombs and their guns and all sit around the campfire with us eating s'mores!

Well, Glenn Greenwald, of Salon, not exactly "Mr. Republican", notes, it ain't necessarily so!

I've written numerous times over the last year about rapidly worsening perceptions of the U.S. in the Muslim world, including a Pew poll from April finding that Egyptians view the U.S. more unfavorably now than they did during the Bush presidency. A new poll released today of six Arab nations -- Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco -- contains even worse news on this front:

The hope that the Arab world had not long ago put in the United States and President Obama has all but evaporated.

Two and a half years after Obama came to office, raising expectations for change among many in the Arab world, favorable ratings of the United States have plummeted in the Middle East, according to a new poll conducted by Zogby International for the Arab American Institute Foundation.

In most countries surveyed, favorable attitudes toward the United States dropped to levels lower than they were during the last year of the Bush administration . . . Pollsters began their work shortly after a major speech Obama gave on the Middle East . . . Fewer than 10 percent of respondents described themselves as having a favorable view of Obama.

So, Obama's Cairo speech and a few predator drones across a half a dozen borders wasn't enough to convince the world that the US was their "buddy"? Imagine that!

Greenwald goes on to say,

What's striking is that none of these is among the growing list of countries we're occupying and bombing. Indeed, several are considered among the more moderate and U.S.-friendly nations in that region, at least relatively speaking. Yet even in this group of nations, anti-U.S. sentiment is at dangerously (even unprecedentedly) high levels.

Read the whole thing. It's not just Republicans and conservatives who realize that the Charlatan-in-Chief falls far short in the leadership department. Greenwald is part of a growing dissatisfaction on the Left with the blank slate candidate they foisted upon us in 2008.

Hillary Clinton, anyone?

H/T Memeorandum
Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.