The Humanity: A Fitting Thing For Veteran's Day And Beyond

Maybe you, like me, have had the impulse to go up and say "Thank You" when seeing one of our service members in an airport or other public place.  Maybe you have acted on it, or maybe you let the opportunity go by.

Between Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving, my friend Bruce McQuain, a fer-real warrior who retired after serving in the Army for a long and honored career, and a bunch of other fine folks will be working to put on Cooking With The Troops events, whose purpose is to raise money for service members.  It is a way to do something to say we appreciate our people in uniform.

McQ, as he's known on the blog-o-sphere, blogs at Questions & Observations, and also at Blackfive, one of the best milblogs.  Though retired, his service to the nation is hardly over.

I can hardly endorse this notion enough, and it seems particularly apt as we approach Thanksgiving.  If you are like me, one of the things for which we are most grateful...and in awe of...is the quality of the people who volunteer to serve this nation under arms.




Join me and McQ and his posse in celebrating Veteran's Day, and the days between then and Thanksgiving, by donating to Cooking With The Troops, and looking for a CwtT event near you.  It will give you the chance to meet some fine people, and to say "Thank You".

BURN: Death, Destruction and Hopeful Humans

swede

I’ve been trying to get my head around the event’s in Japan and write something of substance.  I can’t.  It is mind boggling and heart breaking.

Enough said. Please pray for these people, and help if you can.

Also another plea to continue praying for Marizela Perez and family, missing since March 5. Update at Michelle Malkin. (Marizela's cousin) God is my witness, I have never asked anyone to forward anything in my life.  Please forward this! Thanks!

Humanity: Heart Break and Hope

swede and rags
UPDATE: UPDATE:

Here's the latest photos and information for Marizela Perez, Michelle Malkin's cousin who went missing last Saturday. Today, March 12, the family is launching a massive search of the neighborhoods where she was last seen. Please join us in praying that someone will be led to Marizela, and this precious girl will be restored to her family.

 MARIZELA PEREZ Date Missing: Saturday March 5, 2011 Safeway in University District between 2-3 P.M.

Possible Routes:

Sound Link Light Rail stations, Downtown/Chinatown areas, UW Seattle campus, U-district

Please call

911 if you have any information regarding this person or

Seattle Police District Missing Persons Bureau:

(206)684-5582

Description:

Asian female, 5’5” tall, 110 lbs, skinny build,

asymmetrical bob with short bangs and brown/red

highlights hairstyle, tattoo on left inner arm with

the words “lahat ay magiging maayos” (all will be

well), last seen wearing a dark jacket with hood

over a light color sweater with hood, denim jeans,

light brown suede laced boots, possibly wearing

green eye contacts, carrying a denim drawstring

backpack with rainbow butterfly screenprint, with

a Macbook Pro laptop.

MACBOOK S/N: 340257DBATM

CELLPHONE IS SAMSUNG SOLSTICE II

CELLPHONE IMEI #: 354493040314352

This beautiful young lady is Michelle Malkin's cousin Marizela Perez, who went missing in Seattle Saturday.  We're urgently requesting help getting this information to as many people as possible and seeking any information that may lead to finding this precious girl.

MISSING PERSON
Name: Marizela Perez  (Nickname "Em Em")
Date Missing: March 5, 2011, 12:00-12:30 P.M.
Last Seen: Rainier Beach area, heading to UW Seattle campus to meet friends for lunch or study in the UW libraries
Possible Routes: Sound Link Light Rail stations, downtown/Chinatown areas, UW Seattle campus, U-district
Description – Asian female, 5’5” tall, 110 lbs, skinny build, asymmetrical bob with short bangs and brown/red highlights hairstyle, tattoo on left inner arm with the words ‘lahat ay magiging maayos’, last seen wearing denim jeans, light brown suede laced boots, possibly wearing green eye contacts, possibly carrying a plaid backpack with a Macbook Pro laptop, taking medication for depression.

Please contact if you have any information regarding this person:
Edgar Perez (father): 609–646–0905
Jasmin Perez (mother): 609–742–2360
Melinda Mendoza (aunt): 206–760–1822
Joy Mendoza (cousin): 609–742–2336

The tattoo on her arm is Tagalog for "All will be well."  God, make it so.

Please join us in praying fervently for her safe and speedy reunion with her family, and for strength, comfort and hope for Michelle and family.

Thanks!

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

UPDATE:  Little news to report on the search. The only good news is that her last known location was a Safeway store on campus - a safe neighborhood - and the police “have no reason to suspect foul play” at this point. Other than that we continue to pray.  Please help us if you can to get this information to as many people as possible.

I lived and worked in Manila from ’97 – ’02. Filipinos are without question the the most kind, genuine, caring and generous people I have ever had the honor to know. And for Filipinos, immediate and extended “pamilya” (family) is everything. As in EVERYTHING.  A Filipino has “utang na loob” to family – especially parents. It means a “debt of gratitude”, but that doesn’t really describe it. It literally means an “obligation from within” – from the heart and soul. Michelle Malkin will pour her heart and soul into this until Marizela is safe. No hesitation, no question and no limit. It’s just what Filipinos do when family needs you.  Pray for her and this family, and especially that this precious young girl will be restored to the love and safety of her family.

Many, many thanks!!!
 

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

Name:

Last Seen:

BURN: The Deliberate Madness Of The Courts, Pt 1

Normal people can read where our Constitution says Congress has power "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes".  After reading those plain words, normal people understand what they say.  But the very deliberate people who sit on our courts cannot read those words and understand them.  They are deliberately mad.

For anyone of average intelligence and understanding "interstate commerce" is distinguished from "intrastate commerce".  This distinction was a great big "wull, duh" that you will see for about 150 years in American Commerce Clause jurisprudence.  Commerce "among the states" (INTERstate commerce) was the kind of commerce the Constitution permitted Congress to regulate.

There were excellent reasons for that EXPRESS reservation, and for the power being granted to Congress in the first place.  Consider who was meeting at the Constitutional Congress, and what experience had brought them there.

These were REPRESENTATIVES from sovereign states...mini-nations.  They were meeting to CONSIDER a replacement for the Articles Of Confederation, which had kind of been a flop.  The CONSTITUTION they were playing around with was an EXPERIMENT...another turn at the governmental bat, and they did not...some of them...even believe it would work out.  Their first royalty was to their individual state.

One of the BIG failures of the Articles Of Confederation was in the area of commerce between these mini-nations.  It had been quite ugly, actually.  The states put tariffs on stuff moving through them to other states, there was huge disparity between a state citizen and an "alien" from another state in the courts, and there was even some barrier to travel between the states, not the least of which was just having roads.  I could go on at length, but clearly, this would not do.

So, INTERstate commerce was a VERY BIG reason there was a Constitutional Convention.  But, remember who was there...representatives from mini-nations...who were TRYING a new EXPERIMENT.  These people were not about to give away the farm to the untried experiment.  HELL NO!  They were very jealous of their own mini-nation's rights.  There was no need...and certainly no intent by the Founders...for the newly formed Congress to have power to regulate INTRAstate commerce.  That belonged to the individual states, and they WANTED it that way.  That is why they WROTE it that way.

Somehow...and we'll discuss that in a future post...this idea of making commerce possible and productive and fair when conducted between the states has been perverted.  It has been perverted now to the point where a judge can deliberate a question under this simple clause, and come up with shear madness.

CRASH: Is Cain Able?

I like Herman Cain.  As a man, Mr. Cain is an extremely impressive individual, with an absolutely stellar "life story".  The question of the hour is, "What kind of presidential candidate would he be?".

In the recent past, we were sold Sonya Sotomayor as SCOTUS nominee on the strength of her "life story"...or what used to be called her "biography".  It was supposed to be impressive, because her intellect and her work as a jurist certainly were not.

So, in the world where "life stories" are important, Herman Cain's biography is a literal Horatio Alger story (hey, it's been recognized by the Horatio Alger Society!).  Mr. Cain, at 65, is everything that Barack Hussain Obama is not and never will be, including a man of solild accomplishment, applied intellect, and an American value system predicated on hard work and faith in God.

Unlike Obama, Cain was raised in a strong two parent home.  Unlike Obama, Mr. Cain understands and likes capitalism.  Unlike Obama, Cain was taught and understands the value of work.



As recent days show, he is not afraid to get down in the hustings of American political controversy, either.



He has been a frequent guest host on both Neil Boortz's and Rush Limbaugh's radio programs.  He speaks with what seems a remarkably authentic voice...meaning that (unlike Obama or Hilliary Clinton) whatever audience he is addressing, you hear the same tone, cadence, and vocabulary.  With Herman Cain, you get a consistent product, as he might put it in branding terms.

The Boortz connection is perhaps a telling one; Boortz self-identifies as a Libertarian/Conservative.  But the Cain/Boortz relationship may be built more on their shared Atlanta roots than any identity they share politically.  Both men have an apparent love of Atlanta, where Cain was raised (it is hard to avoid puns).

Can a black American conservative have a prayer of getting even fair treatment by the MSM?  That is an open question.

Can Herman Cain become the "brand" that every presidential candidate must, successfully making himself a household name?  Mr. Cain knows how that is done in the business world.  Are politics and business enough alike?

What, if anything, would opposition research performed by some of the nastiest people ever to slither in the political grass turn up to hurt Mr. Cain?  He could be assured that he would be Palinized by the Collective.

There is no doubt that Herman Cain is interested in running to be President.  Could he do that successfully?  There are too many unknowns at this time to know that answer, but I personally could happily vote for the man, based on what I know of him today.  Cain could be able.

BURN: Wisconsin's Quiet Riot

The democratic process in Wisconsin has been halted by what is aptly called a "quiet riot".  Just like its noisier cousin, this is a lawless suspension of the civil order.

For days now, the schools in many parts of Wisconsin had been closed.  They are closed because so many of their staff have called in to lie about being "sick".  Those same people have been outside for days, or cramming the capital halls, to protest the results of democracy, and to prevent it from happening.  In the process, they commit fraud and essentially steal their salaries.

Apparently, many of these people and their fellows have made explicit threats against elected officials and their staff.  This was so serious that the operation of the legislature was suspended late last week.

The "Flee party" of fourteen thug senators are still a large...somewhere OTHER than where their elected duty mandates, insisting that the rule of law be suspended so their "demands" can be negotiated, exactly like kidnappers would do.  They, too, appear to be violating the Wisconsin criminal law.

What is also apparent is that Mr. Community Organizer, Obama, and his minions in Washington, D.C. are behind this lawlessness...not just in spirit, but in real ways pushing it forward.  So far, the lawlessness they are pushing has not resulted in injury.  So far...

CRASH: The Presidential Outlaw In Wisconsin

Let's just call what we have been seeing in Wisconsin what it is; this is outlaw behavior.  The state government in several important ways has been shut down.  The lives and safety of people have been threatened.  People have openly defied the law, and they are being directed from the White House.  The President of the United States is complicit in illegally shutting down the democratic operation of a sovereign state.

If this is not an impeachable offense, why not?

Don't take this as a call for impeachment.  That is a whole different can of worms, with way too many tactical and strategic angles to consider here.  I only want to...in all seriousness...consider the conduct of The Mad King Barack in light of his exposure to the law.  Has he committed impeachable offenses?

Here is what we do know--

1. It is broadly reported...and not denied...that the action in Wisconsin is being orchestrated out of the White House and by the Deemocrat party.

2. It is a violation of law for the 14 Wisconsin senators (the Flee Party, as some call them) to absent themselves for the express purpose of preventing legal, democratic processes.

3. The business of the Wisconsin legislature at large had to be shut down over real concerns for the safety of members and staff.

4. Teachers (along with others) have called in sick for days, shutting down entire school districts.  This is fraud.

5. Doctors have provided pretty much anyone who asked signed "excuses" for missing work.  This is fraud and medical malpractice in support of a crime.

6. The only public word from Mr. Obama on this has been a statement that was calculated to distort the facts and inflame the situation.

I wrote a book about two decades ago where I predicted "entitlement riots".  It seemed like almost a joke at the time...something too preposterous to ever really happen.  But, of course, they have happened...in Greece and other places, and now here.  Because, while these have been low-key riots...perhaps kept that way by their organizers...they are riots nonetheless.  They are calculated to do what riots do; trade civil order for anarchy.

Barack Hussain Obama has, with remarkable openness, apparently worked to subvert the democratic process in Wisconsin.  He has violated his oath of office.  Those seem to be simple truths.  What we do with them is another...much larger...set of questions.

BURN: Planned Child Abuse and Infanticide

swede

On the heels of the Kermit "the butcher" Gosnell, this is making my skin crawl.  It doesn't get any clearer:

Sex trafficking of minors is a federal crime and punishable by imprisonment from 10 years to life.
18 U.S. Code 1591

Any person who aids, abets, or counsels a federal crime to be committed may be punished as if they had committed the crime themselves.
18 U.S. Code 2



I cannot begin to express the level of disgust and anger I have for these sub-human / sub pond scum life forms. Using my tax dollars to facilitate abuse of children as sex slaves - then killing their children? How can we call this a civilized society? We're more worried about whales, polar bears and trees than these kids?? There is perhaps some hope for sanity:



Please call, write, fax and email your congressman and Senator. Repeatedly. Public funds for Planned Child Prostitution and Infanticide must end. Yesterday. Please do something.

BURN: My New Favorite Fast Food Places

The Collective has put CROSSHAIRS on the good folks at Chick-fil-A and Chipotle.  I plan to make it a point to eat at each more, and encourage others to do likewise.

It is no revelation that the Collective HATES fast food places...just for being fast food places.  They have outlawed them in certain parts of Kulhifornia cities...places where the consuming public are known to WANT them.  "Pro-choice", my little pink butt.

But Chipotle has been targeted for special treatment by the shock-troops of the Collective, SEIU.  Why?  Because they fired a passel of illegal aliens who were caught working at Chipotle shops--

"We are here today with a simple message for Chipotle: You cannot sell Mexican food and then sell out Mexican workers," said Grant Stevensen, Pastor of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in St. Paul. "After years of service, Chipotle has failed to treat these workers with any sense of integrity - in most cases even breaking Minnesota employment statutes by failing to pay back wages."

"I worked at Chipotle for over nine years and always treated my job as if I owned the restaurant, wanting to do my best for my managers and for my customers," explained Juanita Cruz, a Chipotle employee fired in December. "But getting fired so abruptly was a disrespect to my nine years of service.

The layoffs at Chipotle followed a statewide I9 audit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - however, rather than giving workers the standard 90 days to clear up any problems with their documents, Chipotle fired them on the spot.

So, Chipotle CONFORMED to the law, and THAT is what the bitch is!

"We are here to remind Chipotle, and every other company that reaps enormous profits from an immigrant workforce, that they are on watch. Immigrant families and their allies will not stand by while corporations continue to exploit to benefit from a broken immigration system." said Greg Nammacher, Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU Local 26 in Minneapolis. 

 Now, that is chock full of stupid lies, first of all.  There is no allegation that anybody was paid less than minimum wage.  The workers were happy as clams...til they were asked for documents they don't have and fired when they could not produce them.  "An immigrant workforce" is a rather racist thing to say.  If those folk had been born in Texas, would the SEIU puke call them immigrants?  But you see where this is headed, right?  Open-borders policy driven by SEIU thugs.

The Chick-fil-A controversy stems from the general Christian belief-system of the parent company and most franchisees.  One Pennsylvania franchise hired a family support outfit to put on a seminar.  The family support outfit opposes same sex marriage.  So, Chick-fil-A in general is now the target of a hate campaign by the Collective.

Which makes these fast-food outfits my new "go-to" guys.  Prior to this writing, I had never been in a Chipotle shop, but I will be going soon.  Chick-fil-A dittos.  I hope you will join me, and say why you are there.

CRASH: Egypt...And The Mid-East...On The Knife's Edge

As the rest of the world waits in anticipation, Egypt is playing out the events that will shape its future...and the future of the Mid-East...for perhaps a generation.

The $64,000 question is this: what will the Egyptian populace turn toward; modernity or Islamism?  How the Egyptian people treat the Muslim Brotherhood will tell the tale.

According to the available metrics, the picture is not bright (h/t Michael Totten)--

In Egypt, 30 percent like Hizballah (66 percent don’t). 49 percent are favorable toward Hamas (48 percent are negative); and 20 percent smile (72 percent frown) at al-Qaida. Roughly speaking, one-fifth of Egyptians applaud the most extreme Islamist terrorist group, while around one-third back revolutionary Islamists abroad. This doesn’t tell us what proportion of Egyptians want an Islamist government at home, but it is an indicator.

In Egypt, 82 percent want stoning for those who commit adultery; 77 percent would like to see whippings and hands cut off for robbery; and 84 percent favor the death penalty for any Muslim who changes his religion.

Asked if they supported “modernizers” or “Islamists” only 27 percent said modernizers while 59 percent said Islamists:

Is this meaningless? Last December 20 I wrote that these “horrifying figures in Egypt…one day might be cited to explain an Islamist revolution there….What this analysis also shows is that a future Islamist revolution in Egypt and Jordan is quite possible.

The Muslim Brotherhood is one...if not the prime...mover in the radicalization of Islam.  They are active, militant, and utterly committed to a vision of Islamism that allows for no place in the world for Western culture.

Under Mubark, they were outlawed in Egypt, which by no means suggests they were not a presence that shaped Egyptian life.  It is believed by people who study Egypt that the MB numbers its Egyptian followers in the millions.

Barack Hussain Obama has floated the lie that he essentially "counseled" Mubarak on human rights.  That is a dirty joke, in these circumstances. 

What this means for Israel is apparent.  It will either have a neighbor more interested in life, or one more committed to the cult of death that is Islamism.

BURN: GOP - Like, All Stuffy N'stuff

swede

Why I'm in any way interested in what Meghan McCain thinks baffles me, yet here she is in all her GenX blondish glory. 'Tis interesting that the only people interested in her opinions are the liberal media, especially MSNBC, who have dubbed her the de facto spokesperson for the GOP. Larry O'Donnel seems, like, quite concerned here about the best interests of the GOP, ya know, and would like Mz Powderpuffs learned opinion n'stuff.

I guess it's the absurdity of this spoiled blonde rich brat who has not - nor ever will - accomplish anything of significance, attacking a woman of accomplishment, conviction and substance, and in her best valley girl prose. N'stuff. Much like driving by a wreck site I suppose, and glad I'm not part of it.



I have nothing to add.  The future of the GOP? If so, 'twould be the end of the GOP methinks. N'stuff.

CRASH: State of the Universe

swede

The Mucho Magnifique State of the Universe Address: Condensed (translated into reality) version:

Good evening and congratulations to the 112th Congress. The voters have spoken and their message is clear.  They want Republicans and Democrats to set aside partisanship and work together to fundamentally transform America, expand government, transfer the wealth and systematically destroy constitutional freedoms . Welcome. We have much to do.
 

The pathetically devastated economic cesspool we inherited from you know who is all better now. Pay no attention to 20 months of the highest unemployment since 1929 - So now we need to take responsibility "and reform our government. That’s how our people will prosper. That’s how we’ll win the future." [Direct quote. sigh] And tonight, I’d like to talk about how we get there.

Innovation - "our generation's sputnik moment!" [does he realize that's when the Russians kicked our azzez?] We need to spend vast sums of money on greenie stuff like algae powered electric cars, solar mills and wind panels.  People won't buy the crap because it costs too much and none of it works.  So we'll just take their money and shove it all down their throats.  You know, like BarryCare.

Ejakashin - We have created the Department of Progressive Education (DOPE) to ensure the teachers union gets much more for doing much less - and has full salary and healthcare for life.  DOPE will also make sure functionally illiterate public school graduates have good self esteem and feel all good about themselves n'stuff.

Infrastructure - The engineers who make all their money building infrastructure have given our infrastructure a grade of "D", and say we should give them $2.2 trillion to fix it. Oh, and Russia, Europe and China are way better, or something - so we're going to [Fanfare HERE] whip up some more shovel ready stimulus projects!

Let's see, what else? Ummm, oh yeah the deficit thingy. Yessir, we're gonna fix that dopey deficit by spending more money. But wait!! There's more! We're gonna have a domestic spending freeze! That'll save a super awesome $400 billion over ten years [less than the interest payment on the debt].  And no more earmarks.  If you congresscruds want something for your district, apply to my Czars. 

Yes my friends, spending more to spend less means a bright, shiney future world with peace, love and polar bears - and you know you're gonna spend 20 bucks a month on paper towells anyway! You'd be crazy not to own this schtick! Here's how to order!

For the first time since the Ice Age, Republicrats sat side by side with Democritters and sang Kumbaya as the Dear, Dear Leader ignored their sorry arzzes and told all us little people what's what.

Ryan and Bachman's responses were effective and on target, but I fear The One pulled off a "WeeWee Are the World" public opinion coup with this one. He's on a roll.

My response to this Scheistenkaka would be pretty simple:

National Debt Clock

Now return to your seats and shut up. We are in control here.

THE HUMANITY: Two Monsters And Some Victims

I am about to say some things many will not like in the least.  I have been pondering the stories of Jared Loughner and Kermitt Gosnell.  But much more, I have been pondering their victims, and the "voice" they have been given in the media and in our society.

We all know who Jared Loughner is.  And we all know the name of at least one of his victims.  She is Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.  A Federal District Court judge was also killed; can you recall his name?  He was murdered, according to accounts, while shielding another of the victims; a hero, performing an act of humanity.  There was a sweet nine-year-old girl who Loughner murdered, as well.  You can, perhaps, remember her name, and you might have an image of her face in your mind.

But can you name any others of the dead?  Do you know their stories in the slightest degree?  Can you name any of the wounded besides Giffords, and perhaps Eric Fuller (the poster-boy for Collectivist moonbat-level hate)?  Do you have the least idea how they are doing as they recover?

As respects Rep. Giffords, each day brings new stories of her miraculous recovery.  Who else among the wounded have you heard about?

The nation was so emotionally fractured by acts of a monster in Tucson, the President Of The United States found it useful to hold a memorial (after a fashion) to help us "heal".

Only some of us know who Kermitt Gosnell is.  Many of us do not have a clue.  But virtually NONE of us has any idea of what his (almost certainly) hundreds of victims looked like.  We have no concept of their stories.  We don't have a sweet picture of their smiling nine-year-old selves, and descriptions of what good or interesting people they were becoming.  We never will.  We cannot recall a single name, because most had no names...outside of "Baby X".  A few were adult women.  But they were mere units of society, nobody you or I would know.

There will be no memorial for Gosnell's much higher body count of victims, televised over the networks in prime-time and presided over by the Mourner-In-Chief.  There is no need to "heal" a shattered nation, because pretty much nobody is shattered by what Kermitt Gosnell did.  And certainly not the President.

Loughner committed his monstrosity in a matter of seconds.  Gosnell took years.  Loughner is mad.  Gosnell is sane, as were the people he hired to help him with his monstrosity.  As were the OFFICIALS who enabled it.

We have...from tragic time-to-time...mass killings in the U.S.  Most of us never know a single victim's name, or their story.  Why was Tucson different?  I will leave the full answer to that question for you to ponder, but I think we all know the overarching answer; this murderous spree involved someone of power and some fame.  A Congresswoman.

Now, I totally get all the rationales that could be named to explain why the life of a Congresswoman suddenly elevates this from your too commonplace mass killing.  I get those, and they make me very uneasy.  I get them, and I deplore them.

There is a basic wrongness at work here, where we go into a national paroxysm over the shooting of a famous person, but actively, INSTITUTIONALLY conspire in the cold butchery of dozens of helpless, anonymous others.

Part--but only part--of that wrongness in how we weigh the value of human life lies in the FACT that POLITICS plays such an immense role in these disparate stories.  But another part is in our culture, and if that changes, our politics will change, too.  And, to change a culture, you change hearts.

CRASH: Stupid Regulation, Brought On By Hysteria

In the same week in which Mr. Obama calls for a review of needless...and counter-productive...regulation, we have hysterical calls for new "restrictions" on pistol magazines.  They have come from the nanny Collective, but have some support from even some people you would think would be more rational.

The video below shows very graphically why such laws are simply a vacant "feel safer" emotive response to such tragedies as the Tucson murders.  Start at about the 2:14 mark for the meat of the demonstration--


The shooter who swaps mags is NOT that quick, BTW.

A second to a second-and-a-half difference; that is all this kind of nonsense legislation would mean.

As the Collective has quite openly admitted, the really big gun control laws have resulted from the hysteria immediately following a national tragedy.  Those laws have proven...not simply ineffective...but counter-productive.  Such is the case here, again.

BURN: Never Let a Mass Murder Go To Waste

swede

The Tucson Memorial Pep Ralley has brought more than comfort to the families and nation, it has put TOTUS back on top of public opinion. Per RCP averages, Obama's job approval is in positive territory for the first time since July of last year. (Move over the image for dates and spreads)

I've always leaned toward Rasmussen for the most accurate polling.  They called the '08 election dead on target. Even Rassy has Obama in a dead heat 49 - 49.

It is not important what the far left or far right think of Dear Leader. What is important is what the 50-60% of indy swing voters think. These folks are the majority of the voting block, and are for the most part culturally, politically and history illiterate. (See "Don't Know Much About Nuthin'") They can and do swing right or left based on image and perception rather than ideology.  The Intercollegiate Studies Institute did a very basic civics literacy test of the US. (you can take it here, if so inclined) The results were not pretty.

I would consider this test middle school level civics. I scored 91 and missed at least one question I read wrong. The sad reality is most Americans don't know or care what goes on in Washington, and vote according to who presents them the best "package".  Image is everything.


Here's the present lay of the land in the US.  Conservatives are now enjoying a boost from the rejection of the hyper-liberal agenda.  The curve usually leans slightly right, now more so.  Also in play is a large sector of conservatives abandoning the GOP and identifying themselves as "independent" moving the indy block further right.

The present move left is unsettling. It means Obama may be suceeding in distancing himself from the hugely unpopular Congress and painting himself as a uniter that will get things done.  What I'm wondering is...was Barry was just lucky with events, or is he actually wising up - playing to the middle?  I'm hoping the former.

BURN: That Ol' Blood Libel That You Weave So Well...

The Collective has been caught with their knickers about their ankles over the Tuscon tragedy.  They tried mightily to smear various individuals and whole swaths of the American people...and the American people did not like it one bit.

Only today, however, I learned of another such libel...as that term has come to be used in the popular parlance...of which I had never heard.  It is equally reprehensible.

In a long and interesting piece by Jack Coleman at Newsbusters (which I recommend you all read) I learned about a Collectivist libel I had never heard before--

As a matter of fact, when the P.A. system in public schools in Texas announced that Kennedy had been murdered, children as early as, as young as fourth graders applauded because they had been so brainwashed with hate. No doubt those are the same Fox News regulars we see today, age-wise it's about right. Like fathers, like son, the Koch brothers have simply relaunched the same murder and hate campaign that they had in the '60s.

That was spoken by a puke named Mike Papantonio, who hosts a program called Ring Of Fire with that genius Robert Kennedy, Jr., on the Ed Schultz radio program.

It is, of course, a lie.

It's author was the famous liar, Dan Rather.

I was in what we call in Texas "junior high" when Kennedy was assassinated.  I remember it well.  Everyone was devastated, as you might expect.  The assassination of an American president...especially in such perilous times...was a deeply frightening event.  Nobody said much of anything, and a deep pall settled over the entire school.  So I know first-hand that the story of Texas school children cheering the assassination of the leader of the free world is an outright lie.

Rather lied.  Panantonio is lying now, by republishing the original libel.  Or dare I say "blood libel"?  It is the way of the Collective.  It is who they are, and how they operate.

CRASH: This Only Proves Moonbats Are Not Bullet-Proof

I devoutly hate that I have to point this out, but someone must; Eric Fuller is simply a moonbat who got shot.  I am profoundly sorry Mr. Fuller was wounded by a madman, and that he is experiencing any pain.  I wish him a speedy recovery...from both his wounds and his own, quieter, form of madness.

Update: Fuller arrested for threats of violence!  IRONY...

His status as a victim is, as we know we can expect from the Collective, being exploited.  The barking-mad end of the political spectrum has made very large with his outrageous statements, made on tape, following the shooting.

Listen VERY carefully to this "report" from "Democracy Now" (which is a fundamental Collectivist outfit).  See how many lies you can count during the "report", and then listen to Mr. Fuller--



Here are a few of my impressions from the Fuller statement:

1.  He had worked to elect Giffords, but was not real happy with her (note what he says about his questions for her).

2.  Giffords' is swing district, and Mr. Fuller is certainly on the fringe of her supporters.

3.  He is not really bright, much less attached to reality.  (Note that he refers to a single notice for a fund-raising event by Jesse Kelley [Giffords' GOP opponent] as a "campaign slogan").

4.  Note that during the interview he reads a screed he wrote, indicting everybody who is not Nancy Pelosi, and accusing them of wanting to kill nine-year-old girls.

It looks like Palin, Beck, Sharron Angle and the rest got their first target. Their wish for Second Amendment activism has been fulfilled—senseless hatred leading to murder, lunatic fringe anarchism, subscribed to by John Boehner, mainstream rebels with vengeance for all, even nine-year-old girls.

The priceless part about this "report": it was followed immediately by an interview with Frances Fox Piven, of Cloward-Piven fame, who is making a call for renewed efforts to bring down our nation...including mob action.

“So where are the angry crowds, the demonstrations, sit-ins and unruly mobs?” she writes. “After all, the injustice is apparent. Working people are losing their homes and their pensions while robber-baron CEOs report renewed profits and windfall bonuses. Shouldn’t the unemployed be on the march? Why aren’t they demanding enhanced safety net protections and big initiatives to generate jobs?” 

He also appears to have given an interview to Media Mutters (to itself, in a dark basement), where he doubled down on his own hate and madness--

Asked if he thought Palin or other media commentators had an impact on the shooting, he said:

"Definitely. Let's say through some fluke Jared Loughner never ever heard of Sarah Palin or [Glenn] Beck or Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity and the rest of the crime syndicate, and dreamed it all up on his own, that he'd go over there and wack her.

"There are still plenty of demented people that are in need of a good spanking who are out there and plenty of access with the gun shops to assault weapons thanks to the son of privilege letting that expire. There is the matter of the media attention to it. It is going to make this even more desirable yet.

"If you are going to scream hatred and preach hatred, you're going to sow it after a while if you've got a soap box like they've got. We've got a surplus of demented dingbats, wackos."

Fuller went on to criticize national media outlets that allow violent rhetoric on the air: "I would put Sarah Palin in first place there. I think, really, she should be incarcerated for treason for advocating assassinating public officials. That map I saw that she published on the Internet had crosshairs on it and one of them was meant for Gabrielle Giffords."

Loughner needed a good spanking?  How about an enema?

As with all the Collective, cause-effect relationships are just too hard for Mr. Fuller.

I feel about Mr. Fuller as I did about the tragic wreak of an exploited human being, Cindy Sheehan.  They are very alike in many ways.  I hope Mr. Fuller has people who love him, and can help him avoid the fate that Sheehan experienced.  Get him under control, and don't let him be exploited by these ghouls...for pity's sake.

BURN: Big Tents Are For Circuses

swede   
Update: Steele Tenure - Start: $15 million / Finish: $25 Million Deficit

Michael Steele Graciously Steps Aside; Nobly Sacrificing Personal Interest for the Sake of the Party He Loves
- and also because he lost. Big.

The prevailing punditology proclaims Steele's chronic size 12 hoof-in-mouth syndrome was the reason for his untimely demise. Well, no one can deny the endlessly recurring, cringe inducing effect of watching Sleele digging deep holes with stunningly moronic statements - then digging deeper yet with strange and pathetic attempts to spin it, deny it or explain it.

The real reason for his exit, however is that he never should have made an entrance. His credentials: 1) An unremarkable lawyer with no notable cases or projects. 2) One term / two years as Lt. Governor of Maryland - no notable accomplishments there. 3) And, oh yeah, He is an African American - Political Party Affirmative Action or something. Before you start - please, just give it a rest. It is not racist in any way, shape or form to say this man had zero qualifications to lead the GOP other than to act as a counter balance for the first Democrat African American president. And his accomplishments at the helm of the GOP were predictably every bit as mundane as those of his previous endeavours.

Moreover, his attempts to steer the leaderless, wandering GOP hard left and establish the RINO faction as the mainstream in the GOP was ill informed and demonstrated a stunning cluelessness of core Republican values. Then he had the mind-boggling arrogance to claim he represents the Tea Party - and that his work won the election!?  MEMO: To Michael, "Big Tents are for circuses." Just sayin'

Top Ten (MOL) Steele Hits - Those Golden, Bone-Headed, WTF-Were-You-Thinking Moments:

1. February 2009: Steele Promises New GOP Image - Hip-Hop??!? - "We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles," Steele told the Washington Times. "But we want to apply them to urban-suburban hip-hop settings."

2. March 2009: "Rush Limbaugh is not the leader of the Republican party... he is an entertainer... incindiary... ugly."  Wait! Yes he is - I mean, uuhh, no, he isn't... Steele Appologizes to Limbaugh, Praises His "Leadership." D'OH!!??!

3. March 2009: Abortion Is An Individual Choice -- No Wait, It's Not! "I am pro-life, always have been, always will be."

4. November 2009: White Republicans Are 'Scared Of Me'

5. January 2010: Will The GOP Win The House? 'Not This Year' (Face Palm)



6. January 2010: 'I Wrote This Book Before I Became Chairman' - Didn't 'divide my time'. You're lying Mikey - The book contained reference to issues up through late 2009.

7. April 2010: African-Americans 'Really Don't Have A Reason' To Vote GOP

8. July 2010: Afghanistan 'Was A War Of Obama's Choosing'...'not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.' - Wait no it wasn't.

9. August 2010: Arizona Immigration Law Doesn't Reflect GOP's View


The core problem in the current Republican Party is a pronounced leadership vacuum and the resulting absence of a compelling vision for the future. Pining for Reagan's Republican Revolution is useless, and more than a little pathetic. We need new, dynamic, visionary, resolute, focussed, genuinely conservative, consistant, charismatic, compelling leadership. In other words, Adios, Senior Steele - Don't let the door hit your assets on the way out. Drop by any time. But call first.

***********************************************

Update: Michael Steele Ignored Large Donors (from WSJ)

Raising cash is obviously among the most important responsibilities of the chairman.  Steele blew off the party's largest and longest standing donors. As in ignored them. Donors looked at the chaotic management structure and put their money elsewhere.

"[An internal] document shows that the RNC raised $21.1 million from its largest donors during the 2006 congressional elections and $19.1 million from them in the 2008 presidential election. But during Mr. Steele’s two-year tenure, the RNC brought in just $2.5 million from the Regents."

We knew his accomplishments would be anemic. We did not know his biggest accomplishment would be driving the party into the ground.  Heckuva job, Mikey!

CRASH: The Neurotic Times

swede

"Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible" - says Sarah Palin offering a very reasonable defense for being irresponsibly and absurdly accused of inciting Saturday's violence. No word yet whether Ragspierre will be pursuing a plagiarism claim.

In a nameless (gutless) op-ed, the brain rust at the NYT today begins with a titanic genuflect at Dear Leader's awesomely awesome wisdom, coolness and transcendence in calling for civility, setting aside partisanship and "taking great care" in assigning blame in the face of a senseless tragedy. Says the Gray Lady... "It was important that Mr. Obama transcend the debate about whose partisanship has been excessive and whose words have sown the most division and dread." Well, good on ya mates - finally an appropriate mea culpa. Please continue... "This page and many others have identified those voices and called on them to stop demonizing their political opponents."  Right. And I am a magical rabbit with death-ray eyes. It boggles the imagination how people ostensibly with cognitive function beyond that of a cantaloupe could be this obtuse. The level of hypocrisy and/or utter ignorance here defies comprehension.

But let's give them a chance - perhaps they will do a little soul searching... "The president’s words were an important contrast to the ugliness that continues to swirl in some parts of the country." Well there, finally. A small glow of reality and veracity from the deep, dark NYT psyche. But wait... "The accusation by Sarah Palin that “journalists and pundits” had committed a “blood libel” when they raised questions about overheated rhetoric was especially disturbing, given the grave meaning of that phrase in the history of the Jewish people."

Longing for the old civility

The absurdity of this farcical fantasy would be hilarious, except for a very grave resulting reality...

Death Threats against Sarah Palin at 'Unprecedented Level,' Aids Say

The real tragedy is that Jared Loughner suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia, caused by a chemical imbalance that could easily have been treated had someone intervened - and the heartbreak would have been limited to the Badgers losing the Rose Bowl.  The NYT however suffers from Palin Derangement Syndrome, which is just stupidity. And of course you can't cure stupid.

BURN: Obama To Dupnik--"Heckuva Job, Clarence!!!"

Pima County Sheriff Clarence "Fact Free" Dupnik (what a great name for a Collective propagandist!) was called by President Barack Hussain Obama.  Mr. Obama thanked Dupnik.

Well he might.  Certainly NOT for providing security to a public forum where Tucson CITIZENS were gathering according to their rights under the Constitution.  He did not secure them.  It is fair to observe that nothing is 100%, and perhaps NOBODY could have stopped the killer who slaughtered Dupnik's charges.  But he appears to have done NOTHING.

Obama did not...could not...thank Dupnik for his work in removing...years ago...a known menace to Tucson.  He didn't.  It would be unfair to impute "perfect information" to Dupnik.  But that is EXACTLY what was imputed to G. W. Bush respecting the 9/11 attacks.  In this case, Dupnik HAD information.  Apparently LOTS of information.

I wasn't privy to the Obama-Dupnik con-flab, so I cannot know what in the world Obama was "thanking" Dupnik for.  I have a pretty good idea.

Without...by his own admission...the slightest evidence, or any idea of a causal connection...Dupnik has been more than willing to smear everyone who is not a Collectivist "open-borders" lover.

Not only "willing", Dupnik has INSISTED on it, and smearing his own constituents.  According to Dupnik, Arizona is full of sick bigots.  The most dangerous place on earth for a few days following the massacre was between Dupnik and a camera, where he variously slandered Arizona, Palin, the TEA Party, Rush Limbaugh, ETC.

I am put in mind of the Obama mirage of a racial healer, the man who would heal partisan divides.  That mythical person...the one so many Americans were dupe-niked into voting for...would NEVER have thanked a demonizing thug like Clarence Dupnik.  But that man NEVER existed.

BURN: What The Collective Wants Out Of Tucson

Shut up!

There is NO support for the Collectivists blood libel.  NONE.

On Sunday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, waxed about the good old days when the big three news networks dominated the news cycle, "and they saw their job as to inform us of the facts and we would make a conclusion." Of course, this alleged golden age also produced assassins Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray and Squeaky Fromme, among others.MSNBC's Keith Olbermann declaimed rhetoric that "has devolved and descended, past the ugly and past the threatening and past the fantastic and into the imminently murderous." Despite such hysteria, this "climate of hatred" argument has no empirical backing. Federal data show that so-called hate crimes have declined from 4.0 incidents per 100,000 people in 1995 to 2.4 in 2009, a 40 percent drop. Facts like that spoil the "right wing hate speech" narrative, so liberal pundits simply ignore the facts.

The political agenda at work is the long-time liberal objective of imposing controls on political speech on television, radio and the Internet. The subtext of the liberal argument is that the American people cannot be trusted to engage in a rational debate of public policy, but must have their choices limited by government lest violence ensue. To the contrary, the First Amendment must never be truncated because of the actions of a single deranged individual.

Anyone who understands civics knows that the real danger of violence comes when the PEOPLE are denied a voice.  But watch the actions of the Collectivists in government and the MSM.