John Hood is standing up.
» I Will Not Comply

I’ve been arguing the case against ObamaCare for more than a year ... There is no conceivable way that the president or the leaders of Congress can legally enact their legislative monstrosity.

Instead, they are going to cheat. They are going to employ some kind of legislative trickery to pretend to pass a bill that, they now realize, will never become law through constitutional means.

I will not comply. If the government tries to make me comply, I’ll sue. And I’ll win

~~ thanks for the tip, Hans ~~

How Democrats may 'deem' ObamaCare into law, without voting
or How Dhimmicrats Intend to Blatanly Violate the Constitution and Dare You to Do Anything About It.
» Slaughter House Rules

Under the "reconciliation" process that began yesterday afternoon, the House is supposed to approve the Senate's Christmas Eve bill and then use "sidecar" amendments to fix the things it doesn't like. Those amendments would then go to the Senate under rules that would let Democrats pass them while avoiding the ordinary 60-vote threshold for passing major legislation. This alone is an abuse of traditional Senate process.

But Mrs. Pelosi & Co. fear they lack the votes in the House to pass an identical Senate bill, even with the promise of these reconciliation fixes. House Members hate the thought of going on record voting for the Cornhusker kickback and other special-interest bribes that were added to get this mess through the Senate, as well as the new tax on high-cost insurance plans that Big Labor hates.

So at the Speaker's command, New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who chairs the House Rules Committee, may insert what's known as a "self-executing rule," also known as a "hereby rule." Under this amazing procedural ruse, the House would then vote only once on the reconciliation corrections, but not on the underlying Senate bill. If those reconciliation corrections pass, the self-executing rule would say that the Senate bill is presumptively approved by the House—even without a formal up-or-down vote on the actual words of the Senate bill.

Democrats would thus send the Senate bill to President Obama for his signature even as they claimed to oppose the same Senate bill. They would be declaring themselves to be for and against the Senate bill in the same vote. Even John Kerry never went that far with his Iraq war machinations. As we went to press, the precise mechanics that Democrats will use remained unclear, though yesterday Mrs. Pelosi endorsed this "deem and pass" strategy in a meeting with left-wing bloggers.

This two-votes-in-one gambit is a brazen affront to the plain language of the Constitution, which is intended to require democratic accountability. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution says that in order for a "Bill" to "become a Law," it "shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate." This is why the House and Senate typically have a conference committee to work out differences in what each body passes. While sometimes one house cedes entirely to another, the expectation is that its Members must re-vote on the exact language of the other body's bill.

» Pelosi: 'Once we kick through this door,' more reform will follow

In a particularly Alice-in-Wonderland moment, Pelosi argued that the debate over health care reform can begin after the bill is passed. "Pelosi said passing the bill would allow Dems to undertake a 'debate' with Republicans over 'what is the balanced role that government should have,'

Once you let a dhimmicrat step on your Constitution, they just want to do it again. and again.
Their satisfaction will be complete only when it's ground into dust.

» White House Ducks "Slaughter Solution" Controversy

» Foreclosure worries cramping your style? President Obama's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) lets taxpayers foot the bill!

In short, the unions and the bankers were paid off -- courtesy of you, the taxpayer -- but the salve is only a temporary remedy. The bill will come due someday soon. And because this administration can't deal with economic realities, the fall will be far swifter and far more painful than it ever needed to be.

» So America – How Easy Are You To Dupe?

Somehow I don’t get the feeling a real democracy should be run by pretending to vote on one set of laws and then having a small group commit a coupe d’etat and slip in their own preferred version. That is not the ‘law of the land’ I grew up to admire in this country.

» Hiding Holder’s True Intentions

One Obama cabinet member I think is in serious trouble, though he seems to be flying under the radar of the Health Care debate at the moment, is Attorney General Eric Holder. The fact he held back key amicus briefs from his Senate review is very disturbing, and just another sign the Obama administration is anything but ‘transparent’
...
Clearly this is subterfuge, an effort to hide Holder’s risky and dangerous views from public scrutiny. This was a brief which exposes Holder’s (and Obama’s and John Brennan’s) views that they could dial back our reaction to terrorist threats used under the Bush admininstration. It explains completely why the terrorist investigations into Major Hasan were suspiciously and abruptly shut down before the true nature of the man was discovered. After all, he was an American citizen talking about Jihad and killing soldiers with another American citizen now in Yemen and tied to al Qaeda and 9-11.

In the twisted and limited views of liberals that is called free speech.

» Paul Ryan: ‘We are not governing here today, we are greasing the skids’

So said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) during today’s Budget Committee farce wherein the “shell” bill was passed. It now heads over to be marked up and can include whatever they want, including public option, and can be loaded with earmarks to secure wavering or undecided votes. Like I said last night, everything is now on the table. Everything.

Ryan then went on to say the following during Budget Committee today: “This abuse of the process, this abuse of the constitution…are not worthy of your support.” Among other things.

» The unconscious racism of a San Francisco liberal newspaper reporter

I’m try to come up with a suitably scathing statement about a reporter who is so miserably informed about the world around him, and so biased, but I can’t. I’m just beyond words. Maybe that ignorance itself shouldn’t surprise me so much, though. It turns out that vast numbers of reporters are miserably uninformed about American iconography. And yet we trust these people to filter our complex world and given honest, comprehensible information about what they know.

» "I Won"

In the end everything we ever needed to know about Obama could have been gleaned from his two word reply to a Republican Senator who objected to Obama's disastrous economic stimulus plan. "I Won." And of course Obama won the battle and lost the war. The economic stimulus plan passed but was widely considered unpopular and a failure. It played a big part in the public perception of a wasteful government tossing around money with no real results. But Obama is still wedded to the "win".

» Obama to Israel: 'Drop Dead'

Murdered Jews or Jewish apartments: Obama evidently finds the latter more repellent. Then again, Obama was silent on the mass murder of hundreds of Christians in Nigeria by Muslim marauders. Never will an unkind word be said about Muslim murderers or Palestinian killers that might detract from Obama's charm offensive to the Muslim world -- the one that so far has accomplished only a projection of weakness, cowardice, and a loss of any ability to weigh competing claims fairly.

The Rewards of Liberal Education
» Unrecognized Iwo Jima photo shows how World War II memories fading

I took a quick survey in the newsroom the other day, something between a Rorschach test and a pop quiz, asking younger colleagues to identify an iconic photograph of World War II.

While some instantly recognized the image, others couldn't quite place it.

"I know I ought to know it," one co-worker said. "It was in the movie, ‘Flags of Our Fathers.' " Some, seeing uniforms, realized it must be a war photo. Maybe Vietnam? One got the era right but the battlefield wrong. She guessed it was D-Day, not, as it was, the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima.

Nearly a quarter of 17-year-olds recently surveyed by Common Core, an educational advocacy group and think tank, couldn't identify Adolf Hitler.

For many of us who remember World War II, it was the biggest event of our lifetime, not just in magnitude but rectitude. It was a morality play, lacking shades of gray or traces of ambiguity. Americans took lives, but they did so in order to stop the slaughter of millions.

Pass the image around at the next leftist-sponsored anti-war protest (or a Ron Paul rally), I got a $100 bill that says you'll find at least one prick that guesses it's a photo of American troops stabbing an Iraqi child with a flagpole.

» Gitmo's Indefensible Lawyers
"Legal counsel to some of the detainees went far beyond vigorous representation of their clients. " ... Far enough to qualify as treason.

On the evening of Jan. 26, 2006, military guards at Guantanamo Bay made an alarming discovery during a routine cell check. Lying on the bed of a Saudi detainee was an 18-page color brochure. The cover consisted of the now famous photograph of newly-arrived detainees dressed in orange jumpsuits—masked, bound and kneeling on the ground at Camp X-Ray—just four months after 9/11. Written entirely in Arabic, it also included pictures of what appeared to be detainee operations in Iraq. Major General Jay W. Hood, then the commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, concurred with the guards that this represented a serious breach of security.

How did the detainee get it? More importantly, who gave it to him?

An investigation by JTF-GTMO personnel revealed that Julia Tarver Mason, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, had sent it to Al Joudi and eight of the firm's other detainee clients through "legal mail"—a designation for privileged lawyer-client communications that are exempt from screening by security personnel. Worse, the investigation showed that Ms. Mason's clients passed it to other detainees not represented by Paul, Weiss lawyers. In all, more than a dozen detainees received a copy.

» Americans Don’t Give Up On America

Americans have always faced great challenges, and we’ve always persevered. The difficulties we face today are no different; we can overcome today’s challenges. We can reverse our debt burdens. We can reverse our education failures. We can defeat terrorism and Al-Qaeda. We can improve our health care delivery system. We can solve our energy problems. We can prosper and keep our environment clean and enjoyable. We can compete with China and India. We can live within the constraints of the Constitution.

» Faith, Hope and Charity

America, this is the moment. The fundamental transformation of America is here.

I know you are busy. I know you have other things going on in your life. But I also know that this is still America. It was right before Christmas 1776, Washington had lost two thirds of his army. They were about to face a far superior army. They wanted to go home. Congress ran away. Washington's bold plan was to just go get them or be slaughtered. As everyone freaked out, Thomas Payne wrote in the follow-up to "Common Sense":

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: It is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

We're not tired. We're going to keep on fighting this thing. We know what this bill means and that it seeks to fundamentally transform America. We will fight it with everything in us — not with bullets, not with guns, but with faith, hope and charity.

» Absence of U.S. flag in Haiti sparks controversy

The many nations helping Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake that struck there have set up their own military compounds and fly their flags at the entrances.
France's tricolor, Britain's Union Jack and even Croatia's coat of arms flap in the breeze.

But the country whose contributions dwarf the rest of the world's — the United States — has no flag at its main installation near the Port-au-Prince airport.

Oversight? Mistake?
What could be the reason?
You know, don't you? Of course ....

The Obama administration says flying the flag could give Haiti the wrong idea.

» Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

It's time to start cashing them in.

» Obama Kills Offshore Drilling

In case you thought there was any hope that the Community Organizer in Chief would set aside ideology long enough to alleviate unnecessary impediments to our economic recovery and slow the cascade of our money flowing into the pockets of our enemies, it is confirmed that he will not lighten up on senseless drilling restrictions.

"Despite public comments that favored a new leasing plan by a 2-to-1 margin, the Administration has decided to disregard the overwhelming opinion of the American people who support opening additional areas to drilling. By extending this drilling ban to 2012, the Administration is single-handedly preventing new job creation, billions in new government revenue and increased energy security."

If Chairman Zero wanted the economy to recover, would he prevent us from drilling our own oil? Prolonging the Depression worked out great for FDR; let's see how the strategy plays for Comrade Obama, who has a better informed public to contend with.

I know what you're thinking: Obama must lay awake at night, racking his pea brain for new ways to screw America.
And you are correct.

» Toy Gun Control

Airsoft guns, which fire little plastic balls, are used by a growing number of loyal enthusiasts (think paintball, only not as messy). In addition, thanks to their realistic look, weight, and feel, these guns are often used for training purposes by National Guard units and law enforcement.

It was this realism that led CBP agents to seize the shipment—which was destined for Airsoft Outlet Northwest in Cornelius, Oregon—and to call in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) for a closer look.

So far, a reasonable response ... well, reasonable if you factor in a certain amount of ignorance.
But ...

The BATFE was at least knowledgeable enough to discern that the guns in question were, in fact, not real guns. The case should have ended right then and there. After all, the agency has authority only with respect to the importation of real guns. Toy guns fall no more under BATFE jurisdiction than teddy bears.

Oh! You silly right-wing terrist, since when does ATF need jurisdiction? They invented jurisdiction!

However, a little technicality like lack of jurisdiction was not enough to keep BATFE off the case.

“In its present state, our firearms technology branch classified this as a machine gun,” said BATFE special agent Kelvin Crenshaw.

But wait a minute. Didn’t the BATFE previously admit that these are not real guns?

Yes, but “With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun,” Crenshaw said.

...
Brad and Ben Martin were robbed just as surely as if they had been mugged walking down the street. Only in this instance, the thugs operated under the color of law by an agency whose very existence is questionable.

Neener, Neener, Neener
» Matt Damon’s Bush-Bashing, Anti-American Iraq War Movie Bombs at Box Office

When will Hollywood learn that just because they hate America does not mean that we hate America?

» Courting Disaster

With Obamacare, the president knows that he will never run out of other people to blame for the failure of his policies. He can drive up the cost of health care through a vast new entitlement program, complete with new mandates, a whole new premium subsidy program and compulsory coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and then turn around and blame the "greedy" insurance companies and the mindless pursuit of profit for the inevitable rise in premiums. Everything that goes wrong will become the rationale for more government intervention and control.
Last week Obama went out onto the highways and byways to sell the impending government takeover of health care as an act of personal benevolence and great political courage. But this was not like Daniel going into the lion's den. To the contrary ... it was more like a visit to Romper Room with assurances from the teacher that all the bad kids had been sent home

» The Dishonest Tyrant

Where the honest tyrant openly loots the people for his own enrichment, the dishonest tyrant claims to loot the people for their own benefit. The honest tyrant's answer to rebellion is naked force. The dishonest tyrant's answer is, "But just try to imagine what you would do without me." That is because the dishonest tyrant thrives by fostering the people's dependency on him, through a campaign of propaganda that convinces them that without him society would break down and nothing could function any more.
...
The American Revolution was fought in order to create a government of the people and by the people. A state in which the people were the masters and government their servant. But through the trojan horse of progressive politics, the dishonest tyrants who claimed to be the protectors of the people wormed their way in and turned the government into the master, and the people into its servants.
...
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, and We're From the Government and We're Here to Help, essentially mean the same thing. The Constitution was written with the understanding of the inevitable tug of war between the people and their leaders. To prevent tyranny, the people may not relax their grip, or accept gifts from the government, or the balance of power will be changed. As it has been changed. And as it is being changed right now, every day.

The dishonest tyrant does not need an army to rule the people. All he needs is their own complicity in their own oppression. Their willingness to be robbed and beaten down in the name of their own welfare. And it is only by bringing the people to such a state, that he can hope to rule over them.

James Lovelock Then and Now

UK ads banned for overstating climate change

TWO government advertisements that use nursery rhymes to warn people of the dangers of climate change have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for exaggerating the potential harm.

The adverts, commissioned by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, used the rhymes to suggest that Britain faces an inevitable increase in storms, floods and heat waves unless greenhouse gas emissions are brought under control.

The ASA has ruled that the claims made in the newspaper adverts were not supported by solid science and has told the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) that they should not be published again.

It may be clever, but it is not constitutional
» Michael McConnell of Stanford Law: 'Slaughter solution cannot be squared with Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution'

Democratic congressional leaders have floated a plan to enact health-care reform by a procedure dubbed “the Slaughter solution.” ...Democrats would pass a rule that deems the Senate’s health-care bill to have passed the House, without the House actually voting on the bill. This would enable Congress to vote on legislation that fixes flaws in the Senate health-care bill without facing a Senate filibuster, and without requiring House members to vote in favor of a Senate bill that is now politically toxic.

Clever seems to be a Dhimmicrat specialty. Reading the Constitution - not so much.

» Obamacare: Shortcut to socialism

The official title is the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," (bill text here) popularly known as "Obamacare," passed by the Senate in the wee-hours of Christmas Eve. This 2400-page monstrosity does what no enemy of America has ever been able to do: transform the land of the free into the home of the enslaved.

For the first time in the history of the nation, the federal government will force its citizens to purchase a product.

If Americans – through their elected officials – accept this principle, there is nothing to prevent the federal government from forcing its citizens to purchase any other product that the government decides its citizens should have. Nowhere does the Constitution authorize the federal government to require its citizens to purchase anything. The writers of this bill, however, conclude that even though insurance sales may be limited by each state, health insurance is still sold across state lines, and therefore is subject to federal regulations under the commerce clause, and that regulatory authority includes the authority to force citizens to purchase health insurance, whether they want it or not.

Individuals who fail to purchase the required insurance will be fined 1/12 of the annual cost of the required insurance with penalties "not to exceed 300 percent."(Chapter 48, Section 5000A, Page 321 ff)

As bad as this legislation is, it is just the first step toward a much worse condition: government control of health care.

That's the plan.

» Profits over people ?

Now we have the very unpleasant cumulative effect of irresponsible financial indifference and of finding someone to take ownership of a bill too long ignored because someone else was paying. The President has erroneously blamed insurance companies, but ignored the disastrous contribution of government wage and price controls to spawning a crisis brought about by distance between the patient and the bill. Now, however, the President is planning a colossally worse plan by preparing to have his monstrous-spending government, with all the appearance of righteousness, presume to be the solution.

» Attorney General's duplicity overlooked by media cheerleaders

"My read of Holder and his boss Obama is that they are perfectly comfortable befriending and defending terrorists. Obama's close friend -- and ghostwriter -- William Ayers was a bomb-maker for the fanatical Weather Underground. And Holder possesses a history of beneficence to terror organizations such as when he brokered a deal for releasing FALN bombers in New York just as Hillary Clinton began her campaign for that state's US Senate seat,"

A regular guy who became a fat, pampered Hollywood star, who somehow lost the plot, got way too full of himself and now spews slanders about the very men he chronicles in his latest movie.
» Tom Hanks, What Happened?

I don’t know when Tom Hanks became a “Blame America First”-crank, but his history sucks. And his current events aren’t any better. The soldiers serving us today are not genocidal maniacs engaged in a Race War, but as fine as any this nation has ever produced. I should know–those are my family, too.

If the Tuskeegee Airmen could love and serve America like they did, it should be child’s play for us today. You need to look at your own history, Tom. Maybe you’ll want to return to the time before slanders against America–and Americans–rolled off your tongue like a Hollywood promise.

From House and Senate Cloakroom at Heritage Foundation:

It’s crunch time on health care. The Budget Committee will meet Monday to start marking up a shell of a Reconciliation Bill. The Rules Committee will then meet as early as Wednesday to hollow out whatever the Budget Committee passed and then insert a new bill from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office. The Majority is still planning to use the “Slaughter Rule” that would allow the House to pass the Senate health care bill without voting on it.

RED ALERT: We Are Now Living Under Martial Law -- House Democrats Appear Set to Pass Senate Bill Without Voting On It

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is preparing to pass the health care overhaul through the House of Representatives without a vote, as was originally reported by the National Journal's Congress Daily. Mark Tapscott observes that such a maneuver would be the penultimate refutation of the people's will.

In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House "deems" the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but they would then be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.

Thus, Slaughter is preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill "passed" once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes. Democrats would thereby avoid a direct vote on the health care bill while allowing it to become law!

From the United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 7

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively...

Mark Levin:
... this clause goes to the heart of this Republic.

This clause goes to the heart of how our representative body, that is Congress, makes laws. And so I want you to [observe] how particular the Framers were... They have to pass a Bill to present it to the President...

This is one of the most exacting clauses in the Constitution.

And, to the best of my knowledge, which extends over three decades, no Congress has previously tried to institute policies without actual statutes.

Here we have the President of the United States and Congressional leaders actually talking about the possibility of a brazen and open violation of one of the most fundamental aspects of our Constitution and Republic! How we actually make laws!

Let me be as clear as I know how. If this is done, this will create the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War. It would be 100 times worse than Watergate.

...
This is a crucial lesson for those of you who... aren't sure what your beliefs are, or if you have any beliefs. Or aren't sure if you even care. We have an effort underway by the one of the most powerful chairmen in Congress, the woman who heads the Rules Committee, ...openly discussing gutting Congress. Gutting Congress.

And if this is done, this is about as close to martial law as you'll ever get... So Louise Slaughter, a Representative from New York, is discussing, in essence, martial law. Now I can tell you, if they pursue this process, and try to impose this kind of a law, without actually passing a statute, that I will be in a race -- with scores of others -- to the courthouse to stop this.

I can't think of a more blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution than this. And the liberal media has essentially ignored it!

...It's not only absurd on its face -- that these power-hungry ideologues, party-first-country-second types, would make the claim that the House voted on something it never voted on... that's not only absurd on its face, it's blatantly unconstitutional!

» A Few [of the] Good Reasons to Despise Leftists

... In the past, I used to wonder where all the girly men came from, but then I remembered 50 years worth of rock concerts where young guys would shamelessly stand and gently sway while holding lighted candles aloft. Where, I’d like to know, are the Hell’s Angels when you really need them?
... I would like to use a baseball bat on the NY Times’ Frank Rich for having written that Sen. McCain “epitomizes the unpatriotic opposition.” Apparently, in some addled minds, spending 30 years at the NY Times, going to plays and pontificating, trumps five and a half years residence at the Hanoi Hilton.
...
I only wish I could give credit to the GOP, but it was the American people, otherwise known as astroturfers and tea-baggers, who stopped that runaway freight train.
...

Finally, can I respectfully ask that Barack Obama shuts up and not deliver a speech for, say, the next half hour?

What other dirt does Emanuel have on Democrats?
» Massa Pile of Corruption

If Massa's claim is even partially true, it signals a redoubling of "Chicago-style" political assassination efforts by the Obama administration to ensure passage of their holy grail, health care legislation.

» My Son's Textbook "Screws" Ronald Reagan and John Paul II

I found that his class is presenting a brand new version of History, a version that never occurred ... for example it claims that Jesus lived in Palestine, which is simply propaganda. There was no such place as "Palestine" in the time of Jesus.

And technically, realistically and in reality there still is no Palestine. It exists only in the mind of the anti-Jew leftists.

Beyond the ancient mistakes, my son's text book distorts events I saw with my own eyes.
... It sets up the Cold War period with the mistaken explanation that both sides were aggressors. On page 983 it gives the politically correct, "both sides believed that they needed to stop the other side from extending its power." What it should have said was that it was a battle between the Soviet side wanting to expand its communist philosophy across the world, and the west trying to prevent the takeover."

I'm off to Amazon!
» Politically Incorrect Fiction

I, Sniper by Stephen Hunter

“Someone once defined a newspaper gun story as ‘something with a mistake in it.’”

While I, Sniper (Simon & Schuster, $26) ostensibly is about iconic hero Bob Lee Swagger taking down snipers who have killed several Vietnam-era radicals and framed a war hero for the crime, Hunter’s crosshairs are really on the mainstream media in general and the New York Times in particular.

Hunter, a former film critic for the Washington Post, obviously is fed up with the media’s narrative about Americans who love their guns and the warriors who fight for our freedom.

After someone has taken out an actress who collaborated with the North Vietnamese and made a fortune out of exercise videos, then shot two Chicago academics who were ’60s domestic terrorists (yes, the resemblance is intentional), FBI agent Nick Memphis has this exchange at a press conference:

“Do you have any opinions, special agent, on the use of ‘trained killers’ in the military and the risks such men pose for society when they return to civilian world? I mean this seems to dovetail neatly with the report released by the Homeland Security Agency some months ago that ?”

“You must be from the New York Times.”

“Yes sir,” the young man said.

A perfect storm is brewing for the IPCC

The chief defence offered by the warmists to all those revelations centred on the IPCC's last 2007 report is that they were only a few marginal mistakes scattered through a vast, 3,000-page document. OK, they say, it might have been wrong to predict that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035; that global warming was about to destroy 40 per cent of the Amazon rainforest and cut African crop yields by 50 per cent; that sea levels were rising dangerously; that hurricanes, droughts and other "extreme weather events" were getting worse. These were a handful of isolated errors in a massive report; behind them the mighty edifice of global warming orthodoxy remains unscathed. The "science is settled", the "consensus" is intact.

But this completely misses the point. Put the errors together and it can be seen that one after another they tick off all the central, iconic issues of the entire global warming saga. Apart from those non-vanishing polar bears, no fears of climate change have been played on more insistently than these: the destruction of Himalayan glaciers and Amazonian rainforest; famine in Africa; fast-rising sea levels; the threat of hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves all becoming more frequent.
...
it has also emerged in almost every case that the decision to include these scare stories rather than hard scientific evidence was deliberate. As several IPCC scientists have pointed out about the scare over Himalayan glaciers, for instance, those responsible for including it were well aware that proper science said something quite different. But it was inserted nevertheless – because that was the story wanted by those in charge.

Logical Positivism and the IPCC: 'The Best-Laid Schemes...'

There has never been a scientific scam in the history of mankind as big as the science swindle of "climate change." Nothing comes close. Modern scientific hustles like mesmerism, phrenology, eugenics, the Piltdown man, and even Lysenkoism, pale in comparison to the flimflam of anthropomorphic global warming (AGW).
...
Kurt Gödel singlehandedly crashed the house of cards of modern empiricist, positivist, and atheistic philosophy...sort of like whoever released those CRU e-mails has started to expose the scam that is the science behind man-made global warming.

Global Warming and Cold War Thinking

» Short-Bus Shortshanks Short Circuit with Shortcuts

“Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it…it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House…”–Article 1, Section 7, The Constitution. Yes–of the United States. Yes–of America.

If you are going to pass a law, pass a law.

You don’t pass a rule that says you passed a law, when you didn’t. And further, “deems” it as signed by the president in order to facilitate the shortcut of the first part.

Some try to dismiss this as mere “process”. Newsflash: The Constitution is process.

“Full Faith and Credit”: process.
No unreasonable search without a warrant: process.
“Congress shall make no law…”: process.
“Advice and Consent”: process.
“Due process”: …process!

That “process” is our liberty, and not to be toyed with by a Gangster Government hellbent on imposing Chicago Rules on an unwilling country.

» Kudos to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman for his Negotiating Stance with the Public Sector Unions -- Fire Everyone, Rehire Those Willing to Work

Las Vegas faces a $70 million budget shortfall with wages and benefits of public sector employees comprising a huge percentage of the total. Mayor Oscar Goodman asked union members to forgo scheduled pay raises and instead take 8% cuts in salary over the next two years.

We're talking about unions here, so you know how that went.

» Pelosi: I'm delighted the President will be here to burn the Constitution in Effigy... it's going to be historic.

Even a simpleton or a Democrat (but I repeat myself), would admit that it has nothing to do with health care. It's a political calculation: Democrats are willing to lose Congress in November if they can create a brand new unfunded entitlement that will cement the power of government over the citizen.

» Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change

After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.

Bear in mind, this is the New York Times reporting. So many of the facts reported are actually opinions; accusations of bias are actually just bias accusations.
Like the above quote "...put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks...", which would read more accurately as "... remove the socialist progressive stamp ...".

“We are adding balance,” said Dr. Don McLeroy, the leader of the conservative faction on the board, after the vote. “History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left.”

What he said.

Efforts by Hispanic board members to include more Latino figures as role models for the state’s large Hispanic population were consistently defeated, prompting one member, Mary Helen Berlanga, to storm out of a meeting late Thursday night, saying, “They can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don’t exist.”

“They are going overboard, they are not experts, they are not historians,” she said. “They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world.”

That would be the opinion of the leftists that have rewrote history for about four decades. So technically, the Texan conservatives may be accused of rewriting the rewritten history.

“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” ... “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”

There ya go, lefties, your opportunity to funnel 100 Franklins into the coffers of your favorite Communist organization. All you have to do is prove something that does not exist.

Dr. McLeroy, a dentist by training, pushed through a change to the teaching of the civil rights movement to ensure that students study the violent philosophy of the Black Panthers in addition to the nonviolent approach of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also made sure that textbooks would mention the votes in Congress on civil rights legislation, which Republicans supported.

“Republicans need a little credit for that,” he said. “I think it’s going to surprise some students.”

It's going to surprise alright - especially all those little Obamabots that have been tricked into singing hymns to the Big-O, to finally realize that their beloved Dhimmicrat party was the one that tried to prevent civil rights legislation from passing.

Mr. Bradley won approval for an amendment saying students should study “the unintended consequences” of the Great Society legislation, affirmative action and Title IX legislation. He also won approval for an amendment stressing that Germans and Italians as well as Japanese were interned in the United States during World War II, to counter the idea that the internment of Japanese was motivated by racism.

Other changes seem aimed at tamping down criticism of the right. Conservatives passed one amendment, for instance, requiring that the history of McCarthyism include “how the later release of the Venona papers confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government.” The Venona papers were transcripts of some 3,000 communications between the Soviet Union and its agents in the United States.

In other words, perhaps a few generations will be taught the truth about McCarthy and the rise of the American Communist movement. The Venona papers proved that McCarthy was, indeed, right.

Bravo Texas!

The lefties are pitching a hissy fit all over the country. S'ok though. Cockroaches always get a little miffed when you first shed light on them, but then they run, run, run for the dark corners.

» Backing Away from the Wall

It is an article of faith on the left that a "Wall" separating church and state justifies hounding religion out of the public square. But the federal courts have been backing away from that metaphor.

» Debate Grows on Nuclear Containment of Iran
Comparing Iran to 1960s China is a stupid mistake. The Chinese were very interested in surviving; the prospect of nuclear war didn't appeal to them. That cannot be said of the Iranian mullahs.

When future generations of Americans are forced to do battle against a nuclear jihad, I doubt they will have fond memories of those of us that now condemn pre-emptive warfare.

Myopic Poppycock
» The Real Tea Party Story: Community Builders vs. Community Organizers

In less than a year, the MSM has gone from ignoring Tea Parties to mocking and insulting their participants to grudging coverage with ridiculing overtones. Finally it has arrived at giving wide attention to the movement, albeit grudgingly and ungraciously. A once-highly esteemed fourth estate, they have become talking-head dilettantes on a mission to save the disgruntled masses from democracy itself.

The real Tea Party story is quite simple and an eloquent tribute to democracy: a genuine movement of ordinary people rising to the demands of their all-American principles. It represents a fundamental difference between those who seek to provide for themselves and those who see government as provider of all material goods.
...
The message from Tea Partiers is that Alinsky has not succeeded any better than his more illustrious revolutionary peers. Rather than losing all hope in the American system of liberty, justice and limited government, these community-builders -- the Tea Partiers -- are rallying to express their firm commitment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees equality under the law, not equality of material-world goods. The Constitution is designed to preserve liberty, not "empathy," for as any sentient person knows, empathy is entirely dependent upon which type of tyrant is sitting in the seat of judgment.

We are witnessing a clash of worldviews in which, as the Tea Partiers have recognized, fence-sitting is simply not an option. Americans will now either rise to reverse the tides of socialist tyranny, which have taken root for decades, or they will oversee the bitter end of our grand experiment in democracy.

» The Cuba I Saw

Interested in seeing Barack Obama's dreams for the U.S. in real time? Pack some toilet paper, Tylenol, and towels. Then hop a plane to Cuba. Just ninety miles off Florida's coast, Obama's ideas are alive and kicking.

In fact, visiting Cuba today may be more meaningful than ever before. Touring the country of 11 million lets you see everything the far left "knows" is right, just, and good for all of us.
...
Cuba is an antique car-collector's dream...except that Cubans aren't collecting 1940s and 1950s vehicles -- they're driving them.
...
Cuba's health care has "minor" glitches like no medicines. There aren't over-the-counter or prescription drugs, vitamins, or supplies like diabetic strips.
...
Fired for wrongdoing or company politics? It's over. No severance, no recommendation, and probably not another job. But hey, who's complaining? It's socialism and it's fair, even when it's not.
...
Cuba bans freedom of speech and the press, something Obama, Axelrod, Pelosi, Reid, and Durbin would celebrate. In fact, speak against the government and disappear: effective. Dissent is outlawed. (Obama and Pelosi, eat your hearts out.)
...
Washington will be pleased to know that there are few overweight Cubans. (No financial drain there.) Of course, it's because they lack food. (Only the elderly, sick, and kids under seven are allowed milk.)
...
if Barack Obama and his DNC succeed in making their dreams for the United States a reality, here's some advice: Head to the grocery and stack up on toilet paper. Then hang on real tight -- it's going to be one rough ride.

Merd Have Lorcy!
Did the congressman advocate sending SEALs after the Attorney General?!
» Rep. Poe Says SEAL Three Should Be Sent To Capture Another Terrorist
Oops, I jumped to a conclusion on that headline.

Rep. Ted Poe told HUMAN EVENTS he thinks the three Navy SEALs who captured terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed should be sent back out to capture another terrorist. The SEALs face court martial after Abed accused them of punching him.

Poe isn’t necessarily buying Abed’s story, especially since Abed didn’t launch the accusations until after the SEALs surrendered him to the Iraqis (he supposedly underwent further questioning by the SEALs, while technically remaining in Iraqi custody). According to the Al Qaeda training manual released by the U.S. Justice Department, members of the organization must complain of torture and mistreatment inflicted on them.

“I think they ought to give them medals, send them out to bag another one,” Poe said of the SEALs. “I think they showed great restraint. We are at war.”

He and 76 cosponsors introduced a resolution back in December to honor the Navy SEALs for capturing Abed, but the resolution hasn’t made it out of a House committee.

The only investigation that was warranted was to determine if the SEALs suffered any abrasions on their fists; and if so award Purple Hearts.

Progressives' Step One : TAX
» Colorado Internet Retailer Tax Backfires

More evidence that if you want less of something, tax it: The so-called "Amazon tax" on Internet retailers.

In February, Colorado became the fourth state to approve the tax, which requires Internet retailers with in-state "affiliates" -- individuals operating websites with links to cyber-companies like Amazon.com -- to collect the state sales tax. New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island have already passed their own Amazon taxes.

Colorado Democrats predicted that revoking what they described as the Internet sales-tax exemption would bring an additional $5 million to the state's depleted coffers. Instead, it appears the Democrat-controlled legislature has killed an entire industry at the cost of as many as 10,000 jobs.

Almost immediately after Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed the legislation, Amazon struck back. The company sent out emails to its associates informing them that it would cease its affiliate program in Colorado. That means Colorado website operators can no longer earn income by referring customers to Amazon through links and advertising on their sites.

Logically, the next step would be for the CO dhims to appeal to the Congressional dhims to pass laws to force Amazon to do business with them. (After all, congress is no longer required to vote on legislation to pass it.)
If that doesn't work, then they could sic ACORN and SEIU on them.

The recession is an essential part of the "Progressive" plan to transform the foundation of the country from capitalism to socialism
» Obama: Serving Ambitions, Not Citizens

The unemployment rate of 9.7 percent represents only about half of the workforce that would be working if jobs were available. Jobs in the private (productive) sector continue to decrease, while government and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) taxpayer paid jobs continue to increase.

With less and less revenue from private sector production and more and more government dependence, you can see where this is headed. You can also see why our government keeps borrowing more money to pay for liabilities that aren’t being covered by tax revenue.

When progressives talk about creating jobs, they're talking about government jobs. Government jobs (including 'green' jobs) contribute nothing to the GNP and reduce the economy instead of benefiting it. Government jobs produce no wealth.

the latest subversion of constitutional law comes from Rep. Louise Slaughter who is suggesting a new rule that would consider the bill passed if the House passes a “corrections bill” that would make changes to the Senate bill. This means that the House wouldn’t actually vote on the healthcare bill at all.

The Constitution is very clear on this point:

“…But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively.”

Obama is becoming desperate. He is becoming unglued, knowing that his signature legislation is failing, instead of becoming the most important accomplishment (the only accomplishment) of his career. He is demanding that Congress pass this abomination by March 18 before they go on Easter recess.

... we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it ...
» Nancy Pelosi Sums Up what is Wrong with the Democratic Led Congress and Barack Obama in One Sentence

Nancy Pelosi addressed the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties earlier this week. With her vacuous hyperbole, Pelosi confirmed, yet again, that she and Maxine Waters are cerebrally indistinguishable from cork. Being a fervid pursuant of the prodigiously stupid and the intellectually irrelevant, especially in Congress, I was once again surprised that I could be momentarily startled by any maniacal doctrine Pelosi or Waters verbalized.

In one sentence, Pelosi transcended everything that has been written or spoken about the health care reform bill. All the conjectures, suppositions, conclusions, and interpretations could not summarize this bill, Congress, and Barack Obama more poignantly than [that one sentence]