The State of Al Franken's Union

"Traitors" of the Lost Snark

In keeping with our Harrison Ford themed headlines...I give you Moooove On dot Org!

Dear MoveOn member,
What's the word for American citizens who undermine the diplomatic efforts of the American president by communicating directly with a foreign government?
"Traitors," according to the New York Daily News—referring to the 47 Republican senators who signed a letter to the Iranian government with the goal of derailing sensitive and potentially historic nuclear negotiations.

I've been hearing this "47 traitors" horse hockey being tossed about for too long now. What's the word for American citizens who undermine the diplomatic efforts of the American president by communicating directly with a foreign government? Traitors?? Let me take you on a little trip down memory lane, and then you tell me!

According to wikipedia:

In the fall of 2002, (Baghdad Jim) McDermott and fellow Representatives David Bonior of Michigan, Nick Rahall of West Virginia and Mike Thompson of California visited Iraq; in Baghdad they met with members of parliament and the Iraqi Foreign Minister...

Wow! George Bush is president in 2002. (He was a Republican in case that small detail slipped anyone's mind.) Jim McDermott, Democrat, David E. Bonior, Democrat, who served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002. Mike Thompson, Democrat. Nick Joe Rahall II, Democrat:

Rahall and another Congressman of Arab descent traveled to Syria and ignored State Department policy by meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat...

Great! Nicky Joe is a twofer! He was not only trying to "undermine the diplomatic efforts of the American president by communicating directly" with the foreign government of Iraq, but tried to "undermine the diplomatic efforts" of the American State Department by communicating directly with a foreign leader (and part time terrorist), Yasser Arafat.

So these four...traitors(??) didn't just send a letter to Saddam Hussein. What's that they say? When you care enough to send the very best? They traveled to Iraq and met with the Iraqi foreign minister and members of their parliament.

Now, typically foreign policy isn't the purview of the House of Representatives, there probably isn't a lot in the budget for treason (according to good liberals), so where did they get the funding to pay their way to Iraq? Funny you should ask!

Muthanna Al-Hanooti was an official with a Michigan "charity" that offered to pay their way. But, in reality, Saddam Hussein offered Al-Hanooti some 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil in exchange for the charity funding the treasonous (according to liberals) quartet.  Saddam apparently used Iraqi intelligence agents (read: "spooks") to fund the intermediary.

And, as they say in the infomercials, But wait! There's more!!

Remember the Sandinistas? Ronald Reagan was president. (He was a Republican, in case that has slipped anyone's mind). Remember how many Democrats tried to thwart Reagan?

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hammered John Kerry in 1985 for interfering in diplomatic negotiations with Nicaragua’s Marxist government as a (Democrat) Massachusetts senator.
... Kerry and then-Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin (Democrat) visited Nicaragua in 1985 to cut a deal with the Sandinista government, which was close to the former Soviet Union. President Ronald Reagan, however, was already set on overthrowing the Marxist government in Nicaragua by sending aid to a group of Nicaraguan rebels — the contras.

So, Kerry and Harkin were  "trying to "undermine the diplomatic efforts of the American president by communicating directly" with a foreign government".  Which makes them (say it with me, America!)

Traitors.

(By the way, if you really wanted to call Kerry a traitor, there's more than enough material, but that's a story for another day!)

In 1984, Speaker of the House Jim Wright, Democrat (Are you starting to see a pattern here?) sent a letter - SENT A LETTER! - signed by ten Democrats, to  "undermine the diplomatic efforts of the American president by communicating directly" with a foreign government"!

Looking for this reference, I ran across the following from Breitbart News:

Senators John Sparkman (D-AL) and George McGovern (D-SD). The two Senators visited Cuba and met with government actors there in 1975. They said that they did not act on behalf of the United States, so the State Department ignored their activity.
Senator Teddy Kennedy (D-MA). In 1983, Teddy Kennedy sent emissaries to the Soviets to undermine Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy. According to a memo finally released in 1991 from head of the KGB Victor Chebrikov to then-Soviet leader Yuri Andropov...

...Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). In 2002, Rockefeller told Fox News’ Chris Wallace, “I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq...

...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). In April 2007, as the Bush administration pursued pressure against Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to visit him.

Traitors, traitors, traitors, traitors, TRAITORS!!!!

Can you say "hypocrisy"? I will bet you a large lunch at a drive in of your choice, that you will not be able to find a liberal, Democrat, no good lying weasel (but I repeat myself) who called any of these Democrats "traitors".

Democrats have been trying to criminalize differences of opinion for years. (Remember the Boland amendment?)  Aside from the Jonathan "I know the entire Democrat base is stupid" Gruber crowd,  this is demagoguery of the worst kind. Well, maybe not the worst kind. Nancy Pelosi bleating that Republicans wanted to defund Homeland Security and leave America defenseless, because they wanted to defund the part of Homeland Security that funded Obama's illegal illegal alien program is petty demagoguery.

Of course, you can find examples at least as far back as Newt Gingrich's speakership, when Newt proposed giving MORE money to school lunches, but funding it through the states, demagogues and their accomplices in the MSM spread the lie that the Republicans wanted to "starve kids", because they wanted to eliminate federal funding for school lunches. More money for school lunches = starving kids, if the feds aren't in charge of the funds.

So, I guess you could say that dishonest, lying Democrats (but, I repeat myself!) accusing Republicans of being traitors for doing no more or no less than the things they themselves do is just more of the same when it come to demagoguery.

"...Now We're Just Haggling Over the Price"

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

Cross posted at LCR

Democrats Run Like Scalded Dogs From "Progress Kentucky"

As well they should! No doubt by now, you've heard about the kerfluffle with a "progressieve"* PAC of Democrats accused of bugging Mitch McConnell's office to eavesdrop on his campaign strategy. They then fronted a tape of McConnell and his aides discussing the dastardly prospect of repeating what Ashley Judd had actually said, should she choose to run against him. Horrors! The worst thing you can do to a liberal is to quote them correctly!

Now the fall back claim is that these clean cut, Democrat chappies just happened to be standing in the hallway outside McConnell's office and just happened to overhear what was being said and just happened to have an iphone with them to record the conversation. Does this remind you at all of the Florida couple who managed to tape both sides of a cell phone conversation with Newt Gingrich who just happened to have a recorder in the car along with their scanner?

Picture that for yourself: two guys trying to stand nonchalantly outside McConnell's office, not having a conversation (because that would have turned up on the tape, right?), apparently loitering in that spot for the duration of McConnell's staff meeting?

I'm not that familiar with the place, but don't you think that during that time someone might have passed them in the hall or called security to check on the guys loitering outside a Senator's office?

Just for comparison, one of McConnell's aides should stand in the hallway with an iphone and see what they can record from outside the office, for comparison. Think back to the last conference call you sat in on, where people were huddled around a microphone in the center of the conference table and you didn't have trouble hearing what everyone had to say.

Funny how the liberals who are always oh, so, concerned about people's privacy, can't seem to grant the same courtesy to their political opponents. (Or your medical records, when it suits them. More on this later.)


See also:
Dems run from Progress Kentucky as group appears to implode in another McConnell attack

FBI probes Ashley Judd tape at McConnell's request

* A Progressive whose arguments don't hold water.

Vermin Supreme - Democrat for President

No, not the kick off for Obama 2012, there is a guy who calls himself Vermin Supreme who has been running for President since at least 1996. (May work out as a veep for Paul, if Kucinich isn't available!)

And no, this is not photoshopped in any way, shape or form. ...He's a Democrat!

Occupy Madison Loses Permit Because Protesters were "Publicly Masturbating"

Any chance they were in a circle??

Once again, I feel the need to point out that members of the Tea Party never did anything like this. Occupy Madison has temporarily been denied an extension in their protesting permit because members of the movement violated "public health and safety conditions." The group also did not properly fill out the form. City officials cited several specific reasons for their decision. The most notable was repeated complains from a nearby hotel, which stated that protesters were "publicly masturbating" in full view of passersby. The city also cited health violations because the group had "no restrooms," implying that the protesters may have been defecating in public as well.

*Sigh* Stay classy liberals!

H/T Memeorandum

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

"GOP Allies Hatching Sleazy Dirty Tricks in Wisconsin Recall Wars"

GOP allies hatching sleazy dirty tricks in Wisconsin recall wars ...is an opinion piece by Greg Sargent, (Yeah. I never heard of him either!) which gave me a chuckle this AM. Let's look and see what our left-of-center friends think constitutes a "sleazy dirty trick"?

It looks like allies of Wisconsin Republicans are growing so desperate that they’re resorting to sleazy dirty tricks in their last-ditch bid to help the GOP hang on to the state senate.

This is deep in the weeds, but bear with me. As you know, Wisconsin GOP state officials have hatched a scheme to run fake Democrats in Dem primary elections against the Democratic recall candidates, in order to delay the general recall election between Dems and the GOP state senators they’re targeting. As the labor-backed We Are Wisconsin warned recently, this could have major ramifications: Because Wisconsin law allows cross-party voting, Republican voters can vote in Dem primaries and vote for the fake Dem candidate in order to keep the real Dem out of the general election.

Too funny! Greg, have you ever heard of Democrats running fake Tea Party candidates? Um, like recently?? And speaking of states that allow "cross-party voting", I'll give you two words: John McCain.

Now, I can't say for certain that "GOP allies" are doing what you assert they are doing, Greg, but in your learned, humble opinion, these supposed allies of the GOP are "resorting to sleazy dirty tricks" by acting like Democrats?

Got it.


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

"Fleebaggers" Funded by Liberal "Nutroots"? I'm Shockled!

Liberal Democrat fleebaggers all stated that their cowardly run and hide act was financed on their own dime. Except another bunch of liberals couldn't bypass the opportunity to beat their puny chests and say they did it...to the tune of $200,000!

Liberal Democrats lying about who funds their agenda? Whodathunk it?

H/T Rob Port

Cross posted at LCR.

Contempt for the Consent of the Governed.

Jim Hoft had this story, which really needs to go viral. One of the infamous Fleebaggers of Wisconsin is facing a recall, and some cowardly thugs who show nothing but contempt for the consent of the governed try to subvert the political process through dirty tricks and illegal acts. So, if you don't think you can win a recall election, you steal the petitions? The Founding Fathers would have been so proud! This may be a novel thought for the anti-democratic (small "d") thugs and miscreants in Wisconsin, but have you ever considered arguing your case on the merits and simply let the people decide how they want to be governed? Oh, I see. As usual you're against any choice but your own. Figures. Update: Silverfiddle reminded me of a picture over at Randy's Roundtable. Notice the sign calling Wisconsin a "banana republic". Compare and contrast what Governor Walker did to the actions of the hooligans who stole those petitions. Which do you think more closely mirrors that of a "banana republic"? And, as I mentioned down in the comments, Liberals are irony impaired. Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-ipwad) Finally Pays Taxes on Her Private Plane

What is it with Democrats and not paying taxes? Claire McCaskill has never struck me as the sharpest knife in the Democrat drawer, from her lackluster appearances on the Sunday morning shows, but here, she shows the same tin ear most Democrat politicians do when it comes to meeting their civic obligations.

In a conference call with reporters, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill just disclosed that she failed to pay $287,000 in property taxes related to her co-ownership of a private aircraft. This scandal comes quickly on the heels of recent revelations that McCaskill improperly billed taxpayers for use of the same private aircraft, for which McCaskill reimbursed the Treasury $88,000

Tom Daschle gets chauffeured around in a limo and "forgets" to pay his fair share of taxes for the privilege. Turbo Tax Timmy Geithner "forgets" to pay his taxes. Claire McCaskill flies around in her own private plane and "forgets" to pay taxes on it (and inappropriately bills some of the expenses to the taxpayer to boot!).

Maybe she's angling for a cabinet position in the Obama administration?

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything

Tea Partiers to Clean up Leftist Mess at Wisconsin Capitol

by the Left Coast Rebel

This week we covered the story that the cost of damage, filth and wreckage left behind by leftists camped-out in the Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin far exceeded the seven figure range.

Good news today though, Tea Partiers are donating their time and dollars to clean up the mess:



Recommendations for Tea Party patriots embarking upon the cleanup effort:

• Please wear Hazmat suits. One can only wonder what kinds of bacteria, viruses, drug paraphernalia (needles?), and other unmentionables that may be need to be disposed of.
• Consider vaccinating yourselves before you begin the work.
  
• Log your hours. Unions would demand union-scale wage compensation for the effort. You should too. Also, brace yourselves: Wisconsin Union Sanitation Workers may claim that you took jobs and work away from them and may sue you.
  
• Consolidate the trash into one pile, preferably away from the capitol building. Is there as much (or more) trash than leftists leave behind at Earth Day 'celebrations' or Obama's 2008 inauguration (a tough act to follow, considering they left 100 + tons)?
• Film the effort. Make a documentary that highlights the filth and lack-of-respect for property.
  

Updated: Clifton at Another Black Conservative notes that the Facebook page set up by the Tea Partiers involved with the cleanup went viral and cleanup began ahead of schedule this morning! Check out Another Black Conservative for more.

Cross-posted to Right Klik and the Libertarian Patriot.

Civility, Leftist Style

Michelle Malkin had a video of this sweet fellow, seconds before he assaulted the cameraman.

Send in the Clowns, er, Lawyers

According to Fox News:

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, says the DSCC is already taking legal action in some areas across the country.

In Bridgeport, Ct., Democrats are looking for an hour-long extension in that precinct since polling stations ran out of ballots. According to the Connecticut Mirror, the registrars of voters sent police officers with photocopied ballots to the stations, but some voters left without voting. Photocopied ballots can be used in an emergency, but they must be counted by hand.

And in Illinois, the DSCC has filed Freedom Of Information Act requests to take a look at provisional ballots.

Via Drudge Report

Congress Hard at Work

Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a new budget.

Remember when Bill Clinton said he'd worked harder than he'd ever worked to try to keep his promise on tax cuts? Looks like the latest crop of Democrats are following in his footsteps. At least we're not paying these clowns, are we? Are we???

No, no, no Barbara! Black ten on red Jack!

More at Allied Liberty News

Cross posted at LCR.

Clueless Joe Biden to Campaign for MyCongressmanIsNuts Alan Grayson.

Hey Joe! Just how many IQ points do you and Alan Grayson have between you?

Just how desperate do you need to be to invite Clueless Joe Biden to campaign for you? According to The Hill, that's exactly what's going to happen. (I love the smell of desperation in the morning!)
You have the historically illiterate plagiarizer Joe Biden, who thought that FDR went on TV for a fireside chat during the Great Depression, campaigning for the Oaf from Orlando, whose thin skin caused him to call for the arrest a person for merely expressing a political opinion (MyCongressmanIsNuts.com) of him. Good thing it wasn't Juan Williams, he'd have had him shot!

Among the outrageous things Grayson has said, was "The Republican health care plan is this: 'Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly'.", and posting an ad of his opponent, edited wildly out of context, accusing him of being like the Taliban, for uttering words that were taken out of context from a heavily edited speech. Because Alan Grayson is a well spring of integrity, once the utter falseness of the ad was pointed out, he continued to run it.

He may not be your Congressman, but he is nuts. With any luck, Biden will regale Florida audiences of how he, Clueless Joe, son of a Welsh coal miner, was the first of his family to have a college education wasted on him...

H/T memeorandum

The Big Fail -Video

Saw this over at Gina Cobb. From the first "Hannitized Surfs the Rooftop" clip to the text at the end, there is a great mix of the funny and the obscene.

Think of it as "Obama's Greatest Hits".

Allen West's SSN Revealed By Opponent

Could it be because he's black?? Sorry! I was just channeling some of my liberal acquaintances there! In the Democrats-Have-No-Shame, Dirty Tricks department, Allen West's Democrat opponent has dug up a five year old tax lien against Mr. West, which has since been resolved, which they published along with his Social Security number!

Didn't the Dems do something similar when Michael Steele, then Lt. Governor, was running for office in Maryland?

BALTIMORE -- Federal prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that two Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee employees illegally tapped into Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's credit history.

Maybe the canard about how unfriendly the Republican Party is to black candidates would evaporate if the the supposedly liberal, Liberal Democrats would stop violating the privacy of any conservative black who runs for office and stop assassinating the character of conservative blacks like Clarence Thomas?

I suppose that's too much to ask for!

H/T Riehl World View
Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Say Anything, Lady Cincinnatus

Google Maps Can't Find Lincoln Memorial With Both Hands

In an unusual circumstance for a company that purports accuracy down to street numbers, Google Maps, for inquiries on the Lincoln Memorial have been directing people to a map to the FDR Memorial, about a half a mile away. This has reportedly been happening for the last two days. From PC World:

According to the Geographic Travels blog, this "misplacement" has been happening for about two days now. Typing "Lincoln Memorial" into the regular Google search bar brings up a number of listings related to the Lincoln Memorial, yet shows a map of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial.

Worse yet, when I Google Mapped "Lincoln Memorial Washington DC", I got two hits...in Kansas!



Larger image here.

Hmm. Wonder if the fact that Glenn Beck is holding a rally at the Lincoln Memorial soon might have anything to do with that? It is reminiscent of the Searchlight Tea Party Express rally, where mind numbed Democrat drones (but I repeat myself) tried to direct people away from the event. Think that Google might be trying to mislead any out-of-towners away from the event? Nah. That would be disgusting!

H/T Weasel Zippers

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Lady Cincinnatus, Say Anything

Senate Candidate Alvin Greene: Pre-indicted For Your Convenience!

Senate candidate Alvin Greene, in a move guaranteed to save time, has been pre-indicted before he ever had the chance to take the Oath of Office. (Or in this case, the Oaf of Orifice!)

From the Fox News story:

A South Carolina grand jury indicted surprise U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene on Friday on two charges, including a felony charge of showing pornography to a South Carolina college student.

Which, in a way, proves the old point: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they're not out to get you! Poor Alvin Greene has been in the cross hairs of flummoxed Democrats ever since he stumbled into a victory in the Democrat Senate primary in South Carolina. As a Native Son of the South, I think I can speak without fear of being accused of Regionalism, that this guy far exceeds the stereotype of a back water Southern boob.

And now, as standard bearer for the Democrat party in South Carolina (snicker), Alvin is taking quite a lot of heat from Democrats who would like to see him step aside or somehow be disqualified from the race.

Anyone want to bet that there are more than a few Democrats on that Grand Jury?

H/T Michelle Malkin

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel,
Lady Cincinnatus