"Lawfare" Keeps Israeli Officials Home

Using the usual tactics of fear and intimidation, Palestinians stop Israeli officials from travelling. It matters not that the so-called government of the Palestinians is run by groups who are perpetrating violence against a sovereign nation and innocent civilians. The fact that Palestinians have died makes Israel guilty of "evil."

When will the Palestinians hold their own government and the terrorists of their own lands guilty for the violence they commit? The rest of the world graciously welcomes those visitors. Perhaps they should be arrested when they travel to other nations. Then, they could be charged with war crimes. Undoubtedly, the Palestinian activists would scream about being singled out and discriminated against. They would get all kinds of media sympathy and attention. People would feel sorry for them and give them sepcial treatment. Oh. My mistake. That's already happening.

hmm...Why is it that so few people recognize this two-faced behavior and media manipulation for what it really is?

Bias? In The Media? Really?

Obama never left Washington? How gentle and consoling of the Fourth Estate.

So...how come the media never wrote like this about Bush...or other Republicans, for that matter? Couldn't be anything like an inherent left wing bias in the media...or a hidden agenda...could it?

Media Let's Obama Slide...Again...And Again...And...

Obama has been bragging about wrong stimulus job numbers. And, they have admitted it. Now, they are working to correct the reporting. And, as the article clearly shows, the media thinks that's ok since the administration is working to correct it. It was wonderful that the same treatment was given to Republicans and non-liberals. It's always wonderful to see that there really is no favortism in the media.

Meanwhile, the media prenes over Obama for honoring fallen soldiers. The big point of the article is:

The dramatic image of a president on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years. Former President George W. Bush spent lots of time with grieving military families but never went to Dover to meet the remains coming off the cargo plane. Obama did so with the weight of knowing he may soon send more troops off to war.

Personally, I would rather have my President come see me personally if my child had died on combat than just have a symbolic salute. Let's be honest. Which is harder, dealing with grieving people faced to face, as Bush did, or merely saluting the dead, as Obama did? But, once again, the media praises mediocrity and selfishness.

Economics, Politics, and Smokescreens

There was an AP news reports yesterday declaring that Social Security will pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years. The AP also reported that regulators shut down the 95th U.S. bank to fail this year as loan defaults rise in the worst financial climate in decades. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that job seekers exceed job openings 6-1. All of which leaves me wondering why are so many Americans are buying the media blitz and Obama's declarations that things are improving? It's time for Americans to pay attention to the facts being reported by mainstream media, and sorting them out of the hype and distractions these reports are filled with.

Meanwhile, for those who are complacent about their freedoms, you should be aware that Presidential Power to shut down the Internet is being debated in Congress. This comes at the same time that the Justice Department says Federal Computer program to watch computer use is no problem...legally or otherwise. Privacy groups disagree.

But, still, we sit back and listen as one government move after another removes freedoms and personal rights in the name of the public good. The thing to recall is the Socialist party leaders said in the 1944 that they did not need to run for office anymore because the Democratic Party had adopted their ideas.

Six-time Socialist Party candidate for president of the U.S., Norman Mattoon Thomas, said in a speech in 1944 that "The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."

Then, he went on to say, "I no longer need to run as a presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform."

Even worse, by 1948 all items of the Socialist platform had been co-opted by either the Republicans or the Democrats. Obviously, the goal is to have government in charge of everything. For example, healthcare, while important, does not have to be run by the government. But, both parties are talking about how important it is for the government to be in charge of how healthcare is handled. And, the media is complicit, since they rarely if ever give equal space to those who oppose it. We should all probably spend more energy remembering that...as we consider both political parties, coming elections, and what the media feeds us.

The Unethics of Government, Lead by our President

Citezens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a left-leaning watchdog group, has released its annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress. And, strangely enough, most of the top-ten are Democrats.



On the subject of ethics issues and government officials, And according to Liveleak.com, Obama spent $20.3M to bring Hamas "refugees" to America. Well, it was part of H.R. 1388, which passed by the way. Don’t believe me? Here is the Federal Register entry on it…

Federal Register: February 4, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 22)
DOCID: fr04fe09-106 FR Doc E9-2488
Presidential Documents
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
NOTICE: Part II
DOCID: fr04fe09-106
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:

[[Page 6115]]
Presidential Determination No. 2009-15 of January 27, 2009

Go look it up for yourself.



Obama also claims the fines for not carrying health insurance are not taxes. But, according to fact checking that’s a lie.

...the language of Democratic bills to revamp the nation's health care system doesn't quibble. Both the House bill and the Senate Finance Committee proposal clearly state that the fines would be a tax.”

It’s totally amazing to me how many times our President can lie, and not get called for it by the media. Left wing political watchdog groups I can understand skipping over it. But, the media not only downplays the all, but spends huge amounts of time attempting to marginalize anyone who tries to bring these lies to the light of day. How do I know? Check out this quote from later in the article:

Some liberals acknowledge that Obama might be vulnerable on the insurance requirement. But they say most people will understand as long as the legislation provides enough of a subsidy to make the coverage affordable. That's a central issue this week as the Senate Finance Committee starts voting on legislation.

Not only that, it goes on to quote a left wing group as saying whether it’s a tax or not is “a metaphysical question.” And, the media never even questioned that approach.



There were two other articles today that really caught my attention. The media and the President have been touting how much the economy is improving. They have been doing it a lot. So, explain today’s article about “10 Companies Approaching Bankruptcy”. It would appear with these big companies so close to bankruptcy that the economy is not as sound as our leaders would ahve us believe.

This was quickly followed by the article titled “FDIC Might Need To Borrow From Banks.” Turns out the FDIC doesn’t want to tap it’s credit line at the FED. So, they are trying to make banks foot the bill. Of course, the money would be borrowed, meaning banks would get some income off of it. And, borrowing from the big banks is just one option, but it is being seriously considered.

“Regulators also are considering levying a special emergency fee on all banks, charging regular fees early or tapping a $100 billion credit line with the U.S. Treasury, the officials said.”

Perhaps I’m just a bit naïve, but, aren’t these banks in danger of failing due to bad lending, and so forth? Especially the big banks? The same banks that are being told not to repay their TARP funds due to possible solvency issues? And, the government is now going to borrow from the same banks it bailed out?

Big Brother Is About To Grow

Go ahead and post your comments on the White House’s publicly accessible sites. Just be prepared. The government is hiring vendors to market and store your information.

The National Legal and Policy Center, or NLPC, revealed the White House New Media team is seeking to hire a technology vendor to collect data such as comments, tag lines, e-mail, audio and video from any place where the White House "maintains a presence" – for a period of up to eight years.

How much would you like to bet it won’t be just the information posted to their pages that gets examined, harvested and stored? For example, all they need to do is turn their page into an application at Facebook and it automatically shares all of your information. I’ll bet this gets billed as a means to hunt down threats to the President, but I bet all it eventually does is stifle dissent.


But, then again, that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Consider the President’s address to school children—just school children, by the way. Did you know the speech comes with accompanying lesson plans tailored to various grade levels? That’s the chief complaint from Republicans and other conservatives.

NBC spoke with Katie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party, who said the party's "beef" is with the accompanying lesson plans.

According to the article, people are calling those against the speech ignorant for keeping their children from being encouraged by the President. But, obviously that is not the goal. It is all about what the children are supposed to learn. That makes it an indoctrination event, using the basic definition from the dictionary (check this reference at Dictionary.com if you doubt what I say.) Maybe those accusing others of ignorance should better educate themselves on what is going in this case.

Speaking of ignorance, do you know what been going on with the money from the Stimulus package? Joe Biden gave of speech filled with praise on what the package has accomplished. But, the AP did a fact check that shows it isn’t as good as the administration would like it to appear.

(…and Obama wonders why his popularity is dropping…hmmm…)

The Socialization of America...continues...

About 10 months ago, hyper liberal Maxine Waters, Democratic representative from California, announced that the agenda was to socialize big oil, and by extension business in general. The so-called ”Democratic Underground” promptly labeled it as a smear campaign by Fox News, in spite of the fact that Waters clearly stated what she believed should happen. Then back in May, at a regional Democratic conference, delegates specifically stated one agenda of the healthcare reform was to get rid of the insurance industry. (The video used to be on YouTube, but has been removed due to copyrights belonging to Boiling Water Media.) The Obama administration had several soundbites over the following couple of weeks denying this revelation. And, Americans, for the most part, accepted it.

We are sheep, as a nation. Unfortunately, sheep are dumb and do nothing about their condition. We are told, repeated, that national, government healthcare is a must to “save our country.” Wonderful waving of the American flag to stir our patriotism for this “crisis.” I won’t argue that healthcare costs are not out of control, they are. But, unless government can prove to me it can successfully run something without losing money…I don’t want government in charge of my healthcare.

You should also consider that Democratic Congressmen and Senators have openly stated healthcare may go to people based on the economic benefit. That is one method of cost containment being actively considered. You might want to consider an article at The Free Liberal.

As the healthcare debate rages on, there is one reality that even the proponents of this hostile takeover of healthcare by government cannot ignore – and that is money. The government simply does not have the money for a new, expansive, public healthcare plan.



It is still surreal that in a free country we are talking only about HOW government should fix healthcare, rather than WHY government should fix healthcare.

Indeed why do Americans believe that government is always the solution to a problem? The answer is, they have been conditioned by the media and school s to believe that.

As a final thought, here is an ACLU video of where nationalized healthcare could take us. Enjoy your pizza.

Revealing Leftism and Healthcare Lies In the Media

For those who wonder just how leftist the media and the country are going, take a look at this CNBC discussion of the second round of AIG bonuses. Kindly notice that Leslie Marshall (from national Radio) and Tanya Acker (from the Huffington Post) are in favor of throwing legal obligations to the wind based on the income or situation of the average American. In other words, what is right by law has nothing to with what is right from a socialistic viewpoint. What that boils down to, ladies and gentlemen, is that your contract can be voided if it does not meet the social norm, or average, in terms of benefits, salary, and so forth. And, if you don’t think that’s important, look how successfully they were allowed to out-voice the more business minded speakers (leftist though they are).


On the subject of leftists taking over with media help, have you been paying attention to what it will cost for the government to get back to fiscal responsibility? According to an article at CNNMoney last week:

Under Obama's budget, Gale and Auerbach (Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center) estimate the fiscal gap would be 9% of GDP. Conceptually, that means to restore fiscal balance over the long-term the federal government would need to increase taxes by 9% of GDP or cut spending by that amount starting now and lasting "until the end of time," Gale said.

They go on to note that neither the Republican (“no new taxes”) or Democrat (“only tax the rich”) stance on taxes has any fiscal responsibility.

That article is actually about the cost of healthcare legislation. But, there are interesting points on other items, too. But, on the healthcare point:

Gale and Auerbach (Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center) estimate that for health cost savings alone to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio over time, the growth rate in health costs would need to be slowed by 3 percentage points a year -- for 75 years.

In other words, Obama’s healthcare savings, without major tax increases, are a fiction. Of course, this goes along with the CBO report that the healthcare legislation will actually increase the deficit by $1 trillion. Liberals were quick to change that verbiage to “increase the cost”, but the report specifically said it would increase the deficit. (…make sure you pay attention to how things are said…)

We also need to remember that all the projections on budgets are based on economic growth and output. Tax increases equal to 9% of Gross Domestic Product is based on the projected economy. For those who don’t know, 9% of GDP is A LOT! So, what if the economy continues to crater, instead of responding to the first (and expected second) stimulus?

It is, after all, a real possibility. There are many who say the market increases are not backed by real economic activity to match it. Unemployment projections during the campaign and early days of the administration said it would not reach these levels, and now Obama is projecting double-digit unemployment. And, several prominent economists are now saying no economic recovery in the second half of 2009.

Over spending got the world into this mess. And, government wants you to believe that increased borrowing will solve the problem of overspending. Congress, specifically the banking committees chaired by Democrats, allowed this mess to happen in the US. Deregulation may have played a part, but it was not the whole story.

I know this goes contrary to what the media and Liberal leaders are telling Americans. So, take some action. Hold the media accountable. Hold your Congressmen and Senators accountable. Let your voice be heard.

The Benefit of Government Healthcare...and related lies...

Isn’t it interesting that since the Youtube video where Democrats announced they were out to eliminate the private insurance industry, the Democrats and the media are going to great lengths to make Americans believe otherwise? In their latest move, Democrats are faulting CBO calculations that government healthcare would eliminate private coverage for 23 million Americans. Always quick to cite Congressional Budget Office figures against Republican opponents, Dems are slighting the office for it’s work on this. Among other things, the CBO has determined the Kennedy heathcare legislation—which is not as broad as the one Obama is pushing--will also increase the federal deficit.

Enacting the Kennedy plan, nonetheless, “would result in a net increase in the federal budget deficits of about $1 trillion," says the CBO. "That estimate primarily reflects the subsidies that would be provided to purchase coverage through the new insurance exchanges, which would amount to nearly $1.3 trillion in that period.”

The CBO also noted this would break a key promise of the Obama platform that those with existing coverage would get to keep it. The NY Times had this comment in their article:

Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on both committees drafting health legislation, said he found the office’s numbers stunning. He calculated that the Kennedy bill would cost taxpayers $62,500 per uninsured person over the 10 years.

Even at Sen. Hatch’s numbers, that is a huge expense—and Congress knew about that number.

I only have one question. Government is taking over business. Government is saying how and who can be insured. And, it has been said by one Senator that the elderly will have to do without some levels of healthcare. At what point do stop believing the media and our government when it says socialism, or even communism, is not taking over America?

Democrats on Taxes, Banking, and Healthcare...Nothing But Lies.

There was a very interesting discussion of ”What Is Rich”. President Obama, and most Liberal politicians, intend to raise taxes on those making $250,000 or more. Unfortunately, that is a very arbitrary standard.

An income of $250,000 is a lot richer in Abilene, Texas, than in New York's Nassau County, where it takes $430,000 to enjoy a similar quality of life, according to bankrate.com. So let's call them the "working rich."

The other flaw in this idea is that the burden of these new taxes will actually fall on the “working rich” rather than the super rich, as all the political rhetoric implied. The “working rich” are, in reality, the upper middle class. It also needs to be remembered that taxing the rich doesn’t actually stimulate the economy,

Soaking the rich doesn't even seem to increase tax revenues. The top marginal tax rate has fluctuated wildly over the past 50 years, from 91% to 28%; it's now 35%. But individual tax revenue as a percent of GDP hasn't varied much at all - it hovers at about 8% - and its variations don't correlate with the top tax rate.

So, in reality, who is really getting soaked by President Obama’s new tax plan? It’s not the rich. Obama changed nothing, despite his rhetoric.

(…is anyone really surprised?...)


Meanwhile, U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank who did such an amazing job of wathing over the financial community (aka Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) wants to eliminate the ban on internet gambling in the US. Given that Frank has never been called on the carpet by the media for his misdeeds, this will probably be trumpeted as some noble cause by the media. In an effort to look good for the party, it should be noted that Frank is also pressing legislation to halt implementation of Bush administration anti-gambling laws.

"The government should not interfere with people's liberties," said Frank.

You have to admit that as he and the other Democratic leaders in Congress press on with increase nationalization and control of business, standing up for people’s liberties is kind of reversal. The sad part is that the European gambling firms have lost millions in recent times. So, this would not even make sense from a tax revenue standpoint. But, then again, if you put in line with Obama’s failure to tax the rich, it does make a sick sort of sense.


But, in a Reuters news report, the Democrats are telling more lies. Perhaps repeating the same lie would be more accurate in this case. This time, the lie-teller is new U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. On Wednesday, she made an appearance before Congress and stated that the new US Health Agency will “compete with private insurers rather than lead to a socialized system as Republicans claim.” Her statements fly in the face of Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) Admission that Obama Healthcare Plan Will Destroy Insurance Industry. However, the report goes to great lengths to discuss to studies showing the need for urgent reform. Will the media ever get around to reporting this sort of thing properly?

(…it would be nice…but I am not holding my breath…)

Liberal Hate-mongering and Media "Pandemic" Hoaxes

It seems that the Huffington Post is pulling out more stops (…I doubt all of them are pulled, by the way…) in their hate speech and denigration of Conservatives. A recent article paints Republican Party as a dying tyrant, mad with syphilis, ironically like that very Stalin they would accuse their enemies of associating with. Isn’t it interesting that using similar hate filled speech against Homosexuals, Immigrants, and a host of others would generate an outcry. But, not against those of opposing opinions…unless of course, you hold liberal opinions and a conservative disagrees with you. And, Liberals have the nerve to claim they are “open minded” and “fair” and..well…you get the idea.

Meanwhile, did you know the Democrats have openly said they are out to do in the insurance companies? You can watch the video for yourself…


Of course, it was pretty much given that this would happen as soon as the new agency was created to handle all that money. I doubt anyone is surprised by the announcement. We’ll see if liberals have overstepped their hand on that or not.

But, the big media circus, hiding all of this other “trivial stuff”, is the Swine Flu. Let’s put a few facts on the table before we go to far into that discussion. Did you know that some 13,000 people a year die of the flu in the United States under normal conditions? Did you know that according to the WHO:

30 April 2009 -- The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 17:00 GMT, 30 April 2009, 11 countries have officially reported 257 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.

<…snip…>

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (19), Germany (3), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (3), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (8).

What a stunning world health threat! 257 total cases WORLDWIDE!!! It should also be noted, in light of this “sweeping pandemic” the media is foisting on us, that the World Health Organization is not even advising any travel restrictions. Pretty devastating stuff, don’t you think? Before you give in to the media hype, check your facts, then take action. At the very least, take time to present the facts to your local media outlets and officials.

Rule By Popularity and Media Hype

What has the media focused on since Obama has come to office? Well, first of all, they seem obessessed with how it has affected racial issues. Does anyone really believe that 100 days is enough time for any change to really take effect on a national level? Let’s be serious. Local change can occur at that pace. National change, that is real change, merely by the design of government, takes much longer.

Of course, the Huffington Post believes that we need another 100 days to judge Obama’s foreign policy. Why? After all, we didn’t seem to need that during the Bush administration.

Maybe it’s because most of Obamam’s nominees aren’t on the job yet. But, that doesn’t really make sense.

He has announced and nominated roughly as many as Bill Clinton had by this point in his tenure and slightly more than George W. Bush had. But Mr. Bush held over more officials from Mr. Clinton’s administration than Mr. Obama has from Mr. Bush’s, so Mr. Bush on his 100th day had more confirmed officials on duty – 75 to Mr. Obama’s 48.

President Bush was more pragmatic about getting real work done than President Obama? Who would have thought that would be published in the New York Times!

But, I guess the true reality of what the media is reporting about President Obama is that people are not satisfied. He hasn’t done enough to change racial divides. He hasn’t done enough to get his cabinet working properly. This doesn’t even begin to touch the issues resulting from bad cabinet picks (tax issues), bad decision making (747 flyovers in new York), and all the other scandals the media is going all out to down play. In the end, his popularity isn’t all that great. Did you know that at the end of his first 100 days, Obama’s popularity is lower than for the last 40 presidents after their first 100 days? That’s what a new Gallup Poll reveals:

President Obama's media cheerleaders are hailing how loved he is. But at the 100-day mark of his presidency, Mr. Obama is the second-least-popular president in 40 years.

The only one less popular was Bill Clinton, due to the Waco raid. Even George W. Bush was more popular after his first 100 days than Barak Obama.

(…now, there is some serious food for though...)

Policy, Medicine and Islam

After the report on medical information safety by the BBC, the NYT reports that many doctors question whether the cost of implementing digital records may not be worth it.

Two articles, to be published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, point to the formidable obstacles to achieving the policy goal of not only installing electronic health records, but also using them to improve care and curb costs.

Studies found use of data to be far lower than originally thought. One journal article went so far as to say implementing this would be a serious policy mistake. In typical liberal line-toeing, The NYT, though, goes on to cite the importance of implementing the proposed Obama/left wing policy without citing any real sources that refute the Journal’s findings.

On the subject of dealing with tough policy issues, Germany is wrestling with dealing with Islam in the schools. Religious instruction is a constitutional reality in all but two states. The honor killing of a Turkish woman in 2005 scared Berlin into using an ethics based teaching instead of religion.

What everyone shares is an obsession with Muslims, who account for over half the students in parts of the city. The ethics course is partly meant to snuff out incipient violent radicalism. But it leaves many children learning the Koran from teachers who have little stake in German society. Better, says Pro-Reli, to bring it into school, where German-speaking teachers can impart Islam under the state’s watchful eye.

Bringing it into the school to allow state control of religion can be dangerous. America, for instance, was founded on the idea that government should not control the church as well as the church not being the government. At the same time, giving Islam an inroad in one area is just as dangerous. Islam is not tolerant, contrary to those who say otherwise. Just follow the history of how Islam has gained control of once Christian Lebanon.

Consider, for another example, the proposed rules in Tajikistan.

The new law imposes censorship on religious literature and restricts performing rituals to state-approved venues. It makes it harder for new religious communities to get registration.

The new law revolves around a state sponsored version of Islam, for a primarily Sunni population. Part of the new law is government control to block a resurgence of the Taliban.

All of this leaves the U.S. with the question of how it will deal with the most rapidly expanding religion in the world. Will we continue to tolerate it without question, as C.A.I.R. desires and lobbies for? Or will we give it equal footing with other religions and remove the anti-religious laws and restrictions that are steadily increasing in the nation? Or will we do something entirely different? The choice is ours, and we must act. And, we act by what we say to our legislators, and how we deal with those around us. Are you speaking out?

Abandoned Partners

Sunday’s announcement that former insurgents were under Iraqi control was fantastic news. It defied all the gloomy predictions since the plan was announced. Of course, independent journalists, like Michael Yon have been telling the real story of these former al-Qaeda members for a long time. While only about 10-15% of those fighters will actually have positions in the Iraqi security forces or military, the remainder have been promised jobs or training to help them get them. And, all of it was accomplished under the Bush administration’s watch. It leaves me wondering what may happen under Obama’s watch. Will it end up being a string of broken promises and abandonment like the Democrats handed South Vietnam after Nixon? Let us sincerely hope not. Unfortunately, in his latest dispatch, Michael notes that this just might be the case:

The hints coming out of Washington tend to cause me to believe we will abandon Afghanistan. I’m making no personal comment one way or the other yet, other than Iraq was worth the effort and costs all the way around – so long as we cement that success.

You should read the rest for yourself.

Meanwhile, here at home, Democrats continue to circle the wagons around each other. Well, at least the President is doing that for his cabinet folks—still. Despite tax evasion issues, and faulty bailout implementations 9both of which ruined Bush’s popularity levels due to the media), Obama still stands behind Geithner. And then, true to form, the media lets Obama off the hook by merely changing the point of the story to Republican failures. Isn’t it amazing that the media does not care one whit if their party abandons foreign governments, or that Democrats are getting away with all the stuff Republicans can’t do without MAJOR scrutiny?

The Iran Contra debacle caused the Democratic legislature to abandoned Afghanistan to warlords, and eventually the Taliban, during the 80s. The diligent prosecuting of war against communist forces in Vietnam under Nixon caused the Democratic legislature to pass laws which doomed any democratic rule in South Vietnam. I fear what the Democratic President and legislature will bring about in the Middle East in the years ahead.

More of the Same...

Washington needs to be very cautious making deals with Afghan insurgents? Really? Do you think the Obama administration will listen?

The International Crisis Group said previous deals had broken down within months and strengthened the militants.

Instead, it said Afghans needed a stronger state and the rule of law.



In its report, the Brussels-based ICG warned that previous truce deals with militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan "enhanced the power and activities of violent insurgents, while doing nothing to build sustainable institutions".

A timely warning given that US military officials say the administration is close to announcing the strategy. The question is will the media hold Obama to the standard? Or will they continue to soft pedal the warnings and push the liberal agenda of appeasement with the enemies of peace?

(…gee…do we really need to ask?...)


Meanwhile, the NYT reports another Democrat is caught in a scandal. With her husband as a major stockholder, Maxine Walters influenced the doling out of bailout funds for OneUnited, one of the nation’s largest black-owned banks. Ms. Walters did not even disclose her relationship to Treasury officials until later. Treasury officials claim the disbursement was made on the merits. Does that change the facts of impropriety? Does it really matter if it is a minority owned bank? Apparently it does to the liberal media. Just read the article.

(…just one more case of Democrats manipulating the finicial system…but not being held accountable…what a surprise…)

Bad Decisions...And More Bad Decisions

Well…no surprise…but another Obama nominee appears to be in legal trouble.

Obama appointee Vivek Kundra is on leave from his White House post following the arrest Thursday of one of his former colleagues on suspicion of bribery and money laundering.

Now, to be fair, Kundra is not actually named as a party in any of the FBI actions. But, it once again raises the question of who Obama associates with. Pre-election, he was bothered by conservative calls for definition and repudiation of relationships with several unsavory characters. Since his election, he has appointed several who have had tax-evasion problems. And, it seems the circle just keeps repeating itself. My question for America is when does the love of personal charisma give way to legitimate skepticism?

Kind of makes you wonder about another Presidential nominee.

Prominent Wall Street lawyer H. Rodgin Cohen has withdrawn from consideration to become deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary, Democratic sources said on Thursday, dealing another setback to the department's efforts to fill critical positions.



Cohen is the second person to withdraw from consideration for the No. 2 job at Treasury after former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Annette Nazareth decided to drop out last week.

What is it about our President that keeps him from picking people for important positions who do not have legal or personal problems that unqualify them for office? When you add it all up, it appears that the conservatives may have been more correct in their judgments than the liberal left has been.

(...didn't we hear somewhere that there would be no double standard for Obama's appointments?...guess the media really does recognize a difference between a liberal and a conservative...check the coverage levels for yourself...)

Banks, Obama, Islam, and...What the...?

Think Sharia Law will not come to the states? Think again.

University Bank now has an entire subsidiary devoted to financial products that comply with Muslim religious law, or Shariah. It has done nearly $80 million in Islamically approvable “mortgage-alternative” financing for residential and commercial real estate in 15 states.

For the past decade, Dow Jones has computed a stock index for Shariah-compliant companies. The law schools at Harvard, Fordham and the University of California, Berkeley, have held academic conferences on Islamic finance.

In fact, the Harvard Business Review had an article that detailed how numerous business mergers and actions had been forced to become Sharia compliant due to involvement by Muslim companies or nations. It has even been reported that Muslim financial institutions have remained much more stable during this financial crisis. I will readily admit the need for more stringent controls to be in place for lending. A sizable portion of the financial crisis is the extension of too much credit to too many people. But, is Sharia Law the way to go? As it did in Lebanon, this could lead to a very slippery slope giving the religion of Islam control of America.

Speaking of strange successes, Obama is being credited for success in Iraq. The sad thing is the success is due to policies and procedures during the Bush administration. The frightening part is…he is welcoming giving power to Taliban leaders, albeit moderate ones.

"Yesterday, Mr. Obama accepted and approved the path of peace and talks with those Afghan Taliban who he called moderates," Karzai said during a function in Kabul to mark International Women's Day.

The part of the article I found most amazing…

The Taliban, who often operate out of bases across the border in Pakistan, could not be reached Sunday but have turned down similar overtures from Karzai in the past.

(…like the Taliban is going to respond to interview requests to verify news…)

Finally, in an odd piece of news Friday, Spanish police arrested a man with a caast made of cocaine.

A Chilean man with a broken leg was arrested at Barcelona airport after his "cast" was found to be made of cocaine not plaster, Spanish police say.

The 66-year-old carried six cans of beer and two hollowed-out stools that also contained cocaine, they add.

I have a couple questions on this one. First, he was arriving in Spain. How did he get past airport security in Chile? And, second…I want to know what tipped of the cops to check the cast in the first place.

Change We Can Believe In...NOT!

So much for change “Change We Can Believe In” in Washington. Democrats fight to keep earmarks. I seem to recall some campaign promises by a bunch of Democrats, including the President, to end the earmark process.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday preserved pet projects sought by a lobbying firm under federal investigation and tried to nail down support for big domestic spending increases in hopes of passing a wrap-up budget bill by week's end. Democrats defeated, by a 52-43 vote, an amendment to strip 13 projects that the PMA Group has pressed for. The firm, now disbanded, is accused of illegally using straw donors to funnel campaign cash to lawmakers.

How stunning! Lobbyists under investigation? Illegal donations? And, wonder of wonders, no media outcry! The Liberal masses who would not sit still for this from Bush are absolutely silent on this.

But…wait…it gets better! How about the pullout of US troops from Iraq! out of the battlefield by August 2010, perhaps completely gone by 2011. Pardon me, but those dates sound almost exactly like those proposed by former President Bush! And, what does the media do? They praise Obama for getting the US out of Iraq. Using this as a guideline, Bush was already doing that—and he got crucified for it. But, not the Liberal media’s little darling of a President.

There’s actually a pretty good rant on the subject (much better than mine). You can find it here.

Is It Islam...or Money?

MSNBC has made another massive gaff. Friday, the “news source” once again demonstrated it lack of understanding of things Islamic by saying that capitalism not religion defines roles for women in that culture.

O'Donnell then turned to Sally Quinn of the Washington Post, who wrote about the theory on the newspaper's On Faith blog: "This is a hot topic, Sally. Do you believe that oil is behind sexism in the Middle East?" Quinn replied: "Well, I do think that it has a lot to do with it...when you have an oil-rich country, there's much less manufacturing, so that there are fewer jobs for women. But also because the country is so rich that women don't need to work and therefore they're comfortable and they stay home."

How anyone can say that is a mystery to me. The role of women has not changed, per se, in traditional Islamic cultures for hundreds of years. The roles were defined before the oil wealth existed there, and they permeate the culture from the bottom to the top. These kinds of determinations are just perfect examples of Liberalism trying to make things what they appear, not what they really are. And, unfortunately, people believe them rather than question them.

On the subject of things Islamic, the US is reportedly planning to send $900 million in aid to Gaza.

The aid would go to nongovernmental and UN organisations, with some going to the Palestinian Authority, the official said.

Given the UN track record of keeping tabs on and controlling Hamas activities—such as those recently missing explosives--I am not holding my breath over any aid not going to the terrorists.

10/28 Morning Report

The Democrats are guilty of dishonest politics again. They are using misinformation to do it in Texas specifically. Let’s take the battle for Texas courts as an example.

In a campaign called “Fair and Balanced Court”, the liberal s are saying the Republicans are out of line, and side with the rich and corporate interests. The TV ad (see the YouTube video on the web site) includes something else. It says that the Supreme Court is supposed to weigh the evidence and rule accordingly. And, that is not true. All the appeals and Supreme Courts are supposed to do is rule on procedure. In other words, they look at what the lower court did and how it reached it’s decision. It does not rule on the evidence.

While the facts they state, that 82% of cases are overturned, are probably true…maybe that’s because of real errors in the lower courts. After all, that’s how these cases are supposed to be treated in the higher courts. Clearly the liberals are trying to bring increased legislation from the bench in courtrooms across America.


For the absolute record, I’m glad the FBI caught those murdering skinheads. They stepped way outside the boundaries of acceptability in political discourse. It is terrorism, nothing more. The role of American politics is to provide an arena to discuss our differences, and eventually unite behind the leadership chosen by the people. The role of people in American politics is to use discussion and debate, not guns, to reach consensus. Racism, therefore, is just another form of terrorism. None the less, Obama has played the race card repeatedly. And, the media lets him—but no one else—get away with it. The media has even gotten into the act of already blaming possible failure on race. The first possible issue raised by the BBC in their analysis was racial. Anyone making the same comments about an African-American gets crucified. There are plenty of quotes from Obama’s books to demonstrate it. He bluntly says, several times, in both books that he is anti-white. Why is this is not considered racist? But, the media has their “darling.” I would write more, but , Judith A. Klinghoffer did the job well enough I don’t have to.


One final comment on the incongruity of the media…How come they have comments and understanding of every voting group in America…except the Arab-American populations (Christian, Muslim, whatever)? Jonathan mark takes a look at that, and the vagaries of candidates on both sides as it relates to the subject. It’s worth reading.