Looters Redux

Articles: Political Legitimacy and the Special Interest State: "It took the New Deal and the Great Society to convert the concept of interest group capture of government into an affirmative philosophy of government, and to turn our elections into contests between competing groups of looters. The political legitimacy of the American republic was based on the consent of the people, which was in turn conditioned on the understanding that government must be limited to performing genuinely public functions and cannot be allowed to become a tool for whatever interests capture the levers of power. The Special Interest State transgresses these principles, and recent polls indicate that fewer than 25% of the people say that government has the consent of the governed.  People did not consent to be looted by venture socialist friends of whatever administration is in power, or by cozy dealings between public unions and their pet elected officials.  The inhabitants of California's Central Valley did not agree to a system in which coastal environmentalists destroy their livelihoods for the sake of the Delta Smelt.  No one wants a medical system governed by trial lawyers combined with those who most effectively lobby HHS."

What part of "Banana Republic" don't you understand?

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Sssshhhhh!!!!

According to NOAA data, all time Antarctic sea ice extent record was set on Sept 22nd, 2012 | Watts Up With That?: "But I just found another data set, NOAA’s Sea Ice Extent here. (thanks to commenter HaroldW at the Blackboard) And it turns out day 265 set an all time record, and then day 266 (Sept 22nd) broke that record. Days 265 through 270 are now the 6 highest Antarctic Sea Ice Extent’s of all time (in the satellite record)! 11 of the top 15 extents are now in 2012."

And for heaven's sake don't let anyone know about this:

Skate (SSN-578), surfaced at the North Pole, 17 March 1959. Image from NAVSOURCE

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The New Normal

Valium and the New Normal - NYTimes.com: "Nearly 50 years after Valium was introduced and aggressively marketed, we’ve learned its lessons well. My generation of aging baby boomers does its brain styling, by and large, with antidepressants: Prozac, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Paxil, Zoloft. And for my daughters’ generation, the millennials, the pills of choice tend to be Ritalin and Adderall, for mental focus. But when Americans are feeling out of sorts, we are still more likely to turn to anti-anxiety drugs than to any other kind. The leading successor to Valium, Xanax, outsells every other psychiatric drug on the market (48.7 million prescriptions last year). And even Valium is still out there, the classic little-black-dress of tranquilizers. In 2011, 14.7 million prescriptions were written for the drug that first made its cultural mark as a Rolling Stones song (“Mother’s Little Helper”) back in 1966."

We're screwed of course. And have been for a long time.

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Red Lines

Our Feckless President’s Priorities | Power Line: "Much has been made of Barack Obama’s unwillingness to engage with foreign leaders during the recent events at the United Nations, and the priority that he consistently gives to campaigning and fundraising over discharging his ostensible duties as president. Michael Ramirez sums up the critique by contrasting Benjamin Netanyahu’s concept of a red line with that of our president:"

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Room 101 Today

Anti-Islam filmmaker held at Los Angeles federal jail - Yahoo! News: "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The California man behind an anti-Islam film that stoked violent protests across the Muslim world was being held at a federal high-rise jail in downtown Los Angeles on Friday over possible probation violations, a prison official said. Federal officials, citing safety concerns, were tight-lipped about the conditions of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula's confinement, including whether he was being held with the general population or was isolated from other inmates."

And what was the premise of 1984's Room 101? Why to confront you with the thing that you most feared of course. And what are they doing to Nakoula? Why placing him in a jail heavily populated with Muslim's of course. And the sheep have no clue while O Duce just laughs.

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Obama's Czar Rattner: We Need Death Panels

Bailing Out Obamacare: Sarah Palin Was Right | Power Line: "I missed this piece from Steven Rattner (who was a key figure in the Obama auto bailout) when it appeared in the NY Times a couple weeks ago.  Tacitly acknowledging that costs are going to soar out of sight, Rattner opens with this frank admission: “We need death panels.”  Jonah Goldberg wonders: When can Sarah Palin expect her letter of apology?”"

It'll be a cold day in hell before that ever comes...

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How You Do It

Attention Camp Romney … [Darleen Click] | protein wisdom: "This is how you do political ads …"

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COTD From The Wayback

Obama's Directive 10-289: "To: mnehring IMHO Michael Barone missed what ended the “Great Depression” and what is needed to end our current one. What ended the depression of 1932 wasn't FDR and that has been known for years. What ended that depression was a massive influx of “free money” from Europe that started around 1938. Europe was facing another massive war and its leaders knew they couldn't out produce Germany which was on a war footing. So, they came to America with their national gold reserves and invested in America's future production. The declassified secret histories of World War II show multiple transfers of gold reserves to the US to serve as both collateral and investment capital. In a micro sense - how would your personal finances change if you could suddenly double or triple your pre tax income without working more than the standard 40-hour week? Take that level of change and apply it to the nation for a four year period, 1938 - 1941. After 1942 we were on a war footing ourselves which lasted another 4 years. After that we were the only intact industrial base in the world. My ideas as to where we could find another surge of “free money” to pull us out of this depression is the subject for another posting. "

Interesting.

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A Tale O British Spying

Articles: Who is Barack Obama?: "In 2005, then-Senator Barack Obama went on a mission to Russia with Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN).  The  newly-minted U.S. senator was invited to be part of a Russian fact-finding tour that inspected a nuclear weapons site in Perm, Siberia.  The base Lugar and Obama visited was where mobile launch missiles were being destroyed under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (CTR), which also went by the name of the Nunn-Lugar program.

What happened next -- after the inspections were over -- was at the time reported by several foreign news sources but was never reported in the USA by the CMM.  The Russians detained Obama and Lugar for three hours at the airport, demanding to examine both Obama's and Lugar's passports and search their plane.  Some sources reported that the Russians accused Barack Obama of being a spy.

But wait -- there's more!

According to an Italian source, the Russians did not accuse Obama of being an American spy; they accused him of being a spy for the British!  The report went on to say that the incident ended up involving the White House, the U.S. State Department, and military officials, along with their counterparts in Moscow."

The truth is out there, isn't it?

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Frick

Special Report details an up-to-date extensive time line of events from the Benghazi attack to now » The Right Scoop -: "This is an excellent time line of events since the attack on Benghazi from Special Report that includes everything we now know about what actually happened vs the administration’s response along the way. It is quite revealing to watch it this way"

Go WTWT pronto.

We live in Oceania. Or is it Eurasia? Who can tell anymore?

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Directive 10-289 Watch

“GDP collapse puts U.S. economy into recession red zone” | protein wisdom: "Bottom line: Growth the past two quarters has averaged about 1.6%. Not only does this mean the economy is growing more slowly than last year’s 1.8%, it is also slow enough to signal about a 50% chance of a recession within a year. And the third quarter also looks weak.

The anemic, three-year-old U.S. recovery is already running out of steam. And if it does, it may be several more years before we see unemployment below 8%.

Prediction:  if Obama is reelected, the post Jan 1 2013 tax shock will within a year effectively collapse the private sector economy, usher in buyouts of smaller competitors by connected corporate giants, create a perfect environment for coordinated crony capitalism, and lay the permanent foundations for the liberal fascist stopping point that always seems to block that one final turn down beautiful, bucolic Utopia lane."

And the film version is about to release:
But I'm afraid few will understand the need to avoid this outcome until it's too late and they're living it live ... and then ... dead.

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Du'O (Part 7,783,853)

Some Administration Officials Were Concerned About Initial White House Push Blaming Benghazi Attack on Mob, Video* - ABC News: "Even before Defense Secretary Leon Panetta contradicted the initial story about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, today, Obama administration officials told ABC News they were concerned after the White House began pushing the line that the attack was spontaneous and not the work of terrorists.

Events were too uncertain, and suspicions had been aroused, officials said.

Panetta today said that the attack that killed four Americans on the anniversary of 9/11 was not only carried out by terrorists — it was pre-meditated."

Unexpectedly.

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Not On Your Side

“Quantum of Easing” | Power Line: "Many observers have criticized the Romney campaign’s television ads for not being snappy or hard-hitting enough. I think they have generally been pretty good, but admittedly not as creative as this James-Bond-themed ad from American Crossroads, titled “Quantum of Easing.” It hints at the possibility that President Obama might not be entirely on your side:"

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Video Of The Week Draws The Comment Of The Day

Roger’s Rules » A Short, Bracing Video Obama Should See: "2. shaun evertson
Swap “islam” for “anti-western progressive utopianism” and the message is just as valid. In the only sense that matters, radical islam = progressivism. Same sense of entitlement, same insulted outrage, same “my way only” attitude, same willingness to treat all others as objects to be subjugated and discarded. The west has no room for either version. Perhaps Turkey could become the new homeland for both — suitably isolated from the rest of the planet, of course.
September 23, 2012 - 6:56 am   Link to this Comment | Reply"

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4 pinOcchios From The Radical Right Wing (/sarc) WaPo

And this beat down is after WaPo math that's incredibly generous to him:

Obama claim that Bush is 90% responsible for current deficit gets 100% of Pinocchios at WaPo « Hot Air: "Obama certainly inherited an economic mess, and that accounts for a large part of the deficit. But Obama pushed for spending increases and tax cuts that also have contributed in important ways to the nation’s fiscal deterioration. He certainly could argue that these were necessary and important steps to take, but he can’t blithely suggest that 90 percent of the current deficit “is as a consequence” of his predecessor’s policies — and not his own.

As for the citing of the discredited MarketWatch column, we have repeatedly urged the administration to rely on estimates from official government agencies, such as the White House budget office. It is astonishing to see the president repeat this faulty claim once again, as if it were an established fact.  Four Pinocchios[.]"

RTWT.

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Bumps

protein wisdom | …because not just anybody can summarize the news: "Boom."

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Looks Like McCain's Gonna Take It...

Howard Stern Interviews Obama Supporters 2012 | RealClearPolitics: "Howard Stern contributors Sal and Richard travel to Harlem to interview Obama supporters and ask them why they are voting for Obama. Stern and his crew ask denizens of Harlem various outrageous questions, including if they believe Obama will find and kill Osama bin Laden; if Romney is a Muslim and if Obama is a Mormon; if Obama made the right choice by picking Paul Ryan as his running mate and if he did it because he is black. One interviewee was under the impression that 2008 Republican nominee John McCain is also running this time. "Just trust me, not one person knew that Osama bin Laden was dead," Stern said during the segment. "Well, we're obviously dealing with a whole population that doesn't listen to the newscasts or read a newspaper," co-host Robin Quivers said."

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Meltdown

And yet another shocka from Powerline:

State Department Meltdown | Power Line: "There is an obvious irony in the Secretary of State’s spokesman–the diplomat’s diplomat–being reduced to this sort of profane, out of control spluttering, which one would normally expect from a left-wing blogger. One can only imagine–it is a cliche, but nonetheless true–what a sensational news story it would have been had such emails issued from Condoleezza Rice’s spokesman, or Dick Cheney’s. But the reality goes far beyond the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State’s meltdown. It appears that the Department itself is in disarray."

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The 10% President

Drop everything and RTWT:

Review & Outlook: The 10% President - WSJ.com: "A question raised by President Obama's immortal line on CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday—"I think that, you know, as President, I bear responsibility for everything, to some degree"—is what that degree really is. Maybe 70% or 80% of the buck stops with him? Or is it halfsies? Nope. Now we know: It turns out the figure is 10%. The other 90% is somebody else's fault."

WSJ's takedown is one of the best relatively short decoder rings for Obama's horsesh*t that I've seen lately.

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Whoops: Saudi billionaire did help Obama into Harvard

Cashill strikes again:

Saudi billionaire did help Obama into Harvard: "The story, however, has come back to life. The elusive al-Mansour was a guest Sept. 19 on the BlogTalkRadio show “The National and International Roundtable.” In his introduction, the host openly acknowledged that al-Mansour “made news in 2008 when it was revealed that he had been a patron of President Barack Obama and had recommended him for admission to Harvard Law School.” The host went on to describe al-Mansour as “co-founder of the International law firm of al-Waleed, al-Talal and al-Mansour and special adviser to Saudi Arabian prince, his royal highness Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulazziz.” This meshed completely with what Sutton had said in 2008. According to Sutton, al-Mansour had asked him to “please write a letter in support of [Obama] … a young man that has applied to Harvard.” Sutton had friends at Harvard and gladly did so. Although Sutton did not specify a date, this would likely have been in 1988 when the 26-year-old Obama was applying to Harvard Law School."

This is way beyond a RTWT. And check out the column from Vernon Jordan (and the date)!

Just Wow.

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Hmmmm...

Sources: Slain U.S. ambassador recruited jihadists: "Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador murdered in Libya, played a central role in recruiting jihadists to fight Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, according to Egyptian security officials speaking to WND. Stevens served as a key contact with the Saudis to coordinate the recruitment by Saudi Arabia of Islamic fighters from North Africa and Libya. The jihadists were sent to Syria via Turkey to attack Assad’s forces, said the security officials."

RTWT. (The article's editing leaves something to be desired but it's interesting even if you run across some things twice ;)

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Dreams From His Real Father ... That Can't Be Kept Hidden Except From Morons Apparently

More confusion about Obama’s real father: "His father taught him to love jazz. So claims an email dispatched this week from the Obama campaign soliciting a donation for a chance to have “Dinner with Barack,” with airfare “on us.” But the claim is not credible, contends Joel Gilbert, whose documentary “Dreams from My Real Father” has just been released. “How is this possible?” Gilbert asked. “Obama’s official life story claims he was with Barack Obama, the Kenyan, only one time, in the early 1970s, and then briefly, for a week or 10 days,” he explained. “How was that enough time to teach 9-year-old Obama to love jazz music? Besides, jazz is uniquely American. Besides, what evidence is there the Kenyan dug Coltrane?” Joel Gilbert’s “Dreams from My Real Father” is available at WND’s Superstore Nevertheless, on Monday Gilbert received an email solicitation from Julianna Smoot, deputy campaign manager of Obama for America. The same announcement also was posted on the campaign website, encouraging voters to try to win a dinner with President Obama. Smoot spelled out some of the benefits the winner will enjoy. “You can learn a lot: His dad taught him to love jazz, his girls get crazy-embarrassed when he dances or sings in public, his dream job is starting point guard for the Chicago Bulls – and he really looks forward to sharing these meals with supporters like you.”"

Yes, we are truly down the rabbit hole now:

Gilbert’s first reaction was to assume the Obama campaign was conceding to the major premise of his documentary: that Frank Marshall Davis was the real, biological and ideological father of Barack Obama, not Barack Obama, the Kenyan, who came from Africa in 1959 to attend the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. “There can be no arguing that there never was an opportunity for the Kenyan Obama to teach Barry to love jazz,” Gilbert told WND. “However, there was a man who raised Obama who was a jazz aficionado, his name was Frank Marshall Davis.” Gilbert viewed the ad as a breakthrough. “It appears the Obama campaign is finally admitting I’m right, that Frank Marshall Davis, the Communist Party USA propagandist and Marxist, was his real father. So there you have it, Obama is a red diaper baby.” In contrast to the Kenyan Obama, Frank Marshall Davis was widely recognized as a lover of jazz and an expert. Davis befriended jazz musicians in Chicago, where he was a DJ for a short time on a jazz radio station, WJJD.

Wow. RTWT.

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Conquest And Confiscation

“The idea that the State originated to serve any kind of social purpose is completely unhistorical. It originated in conquest and confiscation — that is to say, in crime. It originated for the purpose of maintaining the division of society into an owning-and-exploiting class and a propertyless dependent class — that is, for a criminal purpose.” —Albert Jay Nock

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"It's Not So Cut And Dried"

I laughed, I cried [Darleen Click] | protein wisdom: "I wondered why only The Onion has the cojones to mock Barry Obama.

WASHINGTON—More than a week after President Barack Obama’s cold-blooded killing of a local couple, members of the American news media admitted Tuesday that they were still trying to find the best angle for covering the gruesome crime.

“I know there’s a story in there somewhere,” said Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, referring to Obama’s home invasion and execution-style slaying of Jeff and Sue Finowicz on Apr. 8. “Right now though, it’s probably best to just sit back and wait for more information to come in. After all, the only thing we know for sure is that our president senselessly murdered two unsuspecting Americans without emotion or hesitation.”

Added Meacham, “It’s not so cut and dried.”"

Heh.

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COTD Plural: Of Cargo Cults, P.J. O'Rourke And Reynolds Law

Ouch:

America at Crossroads: It’s all about $94 | The Daily Caller: "Tim Noah's entire list is a masterpiece of "cargo cult" magical thinking. Build the control towers and the landing strips, and the American planes full of riches will come back! If raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour is such a great idea, why doesn't he propose that we end poverty altogether by the simple expedient of raising it to $50? Instead of imposing government price controls on college tuition, why not have scholarships for high-achieving students in fields that lead to better goods and services -- medicine and engineering and scientific research, rather than sociology and fuzzy studies? And before we "re-regulate Wall Street," how about keeping in mind P.J. O'Rourke's observation: “When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”"

Heh. And look over at the quote that's been sitting near the top of my right sidebar for a very long time. And Reynold's law you say?

"The government decides to try to increase the middle class by subsidizing things that middle class people have: If middle-class people go to college and own homes, then surely if more people go to college and own homes, we’ll have more middle-class people. But homeownership and college aren’t causes of middle-class status, they’re markers for possessing the kinds of traits — self-discipline, the ability to defer gratification, etc. — that let you enter, and stay, in the middle class. Subsidizing the markers doesn’t produce the traits; if anything, it undermines them." -- Reynolds' Law

Oh, and at the post that crystalized Reynold's Law you will find this:

Not coincidentally, progressives accumulate power for themselves, not only by seizing it as a necessary means to their goals but by aggravating the very social problems they promise to address, thus creating an ever more powerful argument that something has to be done.

And of course, Ayn Rand explained all of this long ago in her various works which is of course why she is so despised by the left...

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Speaking Of Orwell

George Orwell: Notes on Nationalism: "If one harbours anywhere in one's mind a nationalistic loyalty or hatred, certain facts, although in a sense known to be true, are inadmissible. Here are just a few examples. I list below five types of nationalist, and against each I append a fact which it is impossible for that type of nationalist to accept, even in his secret thoughts:

BRITISH TORY: Britain will come out of this war with reduced power and prestige.
COMMUNIST: If she had not been aided by Britain and America, Russia would have been defeated by Germany.
IRISH NATIONALIST: Eire can only remain independent because of British protection.
TROTSKYIST: The Stalin regime is accepted by the Russian masses.
PACIFIST: Those who ‘abjure’ violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf.

All of these facts are grossly obvious if one's emotions do not happen to be involved: but to the kind of person named in each case they are also intolerable, and so they have to be denied, and false theories constructed upon their denial. I come back to the astonishing failure of military prediction in the present war. It is, I think, true to say that the intelligentsia have been more wrong about the progress of the war than the common people, and that they were more swayed by partisan feelings. The average intellectual of the Left believed, for instance, that the war was lost in 1940, that the Germans were bound to overrun Egypt in 1942, that the Japanese would never be driven out of the lands they had conquered, and that the Anglo-American bombing offensive was making no impression on Germany. He could believe these things because his hatred for the British ruling class forbade him to admit that British plans could succeed. There is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind. I have heard it confidently stated, for instance, that the American troops had been brought to Europe not to fight the Germans but to crush an English revolution. One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool."

Have you read this essay? My guess is that not only have you not read it but you most likely have not read "1984" either. Well, I'm waiting for you to get busy...

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The Tallest Evah

protein wisdom | …because not just anybody can summarize the news: "Palate cleanser …"

Heh.

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CNN Leaning Rogue?

Hmm:

CNN finds, returns journal belonging to late U.S. ambassador - CNN.com: "For CNN, the ambassador's writings served as tips about the situation in Libya, and in Benghazi in particular. CNN took the newsworthy tips and corroborated them with other sources. A source familiar with Stevens' thinking told CNN earlier this week that, in the months leading up to his death, the late ambassador worried about what he called the security threats in Benghazi and a rise in Islamic extremism. Stevens died on September 11, along with three other Americans, when the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi came under attack amid a large protest about a U.S.-made film that mocked the Muslim Prophet Mohammed."

Well not so rogue yet that they aren't still trying to waft the bad movie bullsh*t. But they must have a scoop on something being about to blow up big time for them to have actually read the diary and reported on it...

Naah.  Probably just a lover's spat...

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THIS

It works on many levels methinks...

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The Most Damaging Revelation O All

CS Monitor: Say, this admission on Benghazi terrorist attack might cause Obama a few problems « Hot Air: "Let’s recall the date of this attack.  It was the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a date which al-Qaeda has repeatedly attempted to exploit again in order to make itself feared.  Benghazi is in the eastern part of Libya, where AQ has operated for years, recruiting hundreds of low-level jihadis for the war in Iraq, and who have been able to operate even more openly after the fall of Moammar Qaddafi.  That prompts the question of why the Obama administration didn’t take any extra precautions for the Benghazi consulate, especially now that Libya claims to have warned the US a few days before the attack of the deteriorating security environment in Benghazi."

And:

The cover story offered by the White House shows just how badly they miscalculated on the Arab Spring, and the inevitable seizure of power by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the rise of AQ in eastern Libya, two utterly predictable consequences of Obama’s interventions. It also shows that the Obama administration, from the top down, understood just how bad this story was — and either lied to themselves, lied to us, or a bit of both in order to avoid the consequences of it. That might be the most damaging revelation of all.

Umm ... yes. [Touches index finger to nose multiple times.]

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Nothing To See Here, Move Along Now...

The U.S. Suffered Its Worst Airpower Loss Since Vietnam Last Week and No One Really Noticed - Global - The Atlantic Wire: "The Taliban attack on an air base in southern Afghanistan on Friday drew coverage for the way the insurgents cloaked themselves in U.S. army uniforms to gain a tactical advantage, but few have taken note of the historical proportions of the damage inflicted. John Gresham, at the Defense Media Network, has published a detailed account of the attack on Camp Bastion, in which two Marines were killed, six U.S. Marine Corps jet fighters were destroyed, and two more  "significantly" damaged. Those facts were all carried in most reports, but if that just sounds like a typical damage report from a decade-long war, you're wrong. Gresham explains the devastating damage done to VMA-211, the name of the Marine Corps attack squadron that was most affected last week, noting that it is "arguably the worst day in [U.S. Marine Corps] aviation history since the Tet Offensive of 1968." Or you could go back even further. "The last time VMA-211 was combat ineffective was in December 1941, when the squadron was wiped out during the 13-day defense of Wake Island against the Japanese.""

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Smart Power

‘We Don’t Have Enough Power to Catch Them’ - By Pete Hegseth - The Corner - National Review Online: "The quote says it all — Libya’s leadership either can’t, or won’t, hunt down those responsible for killing our ambassador to Tripoli. The story here goes on to say:

A Libyan official admitted they will most likely not be able to find the killers behind the deadly attack at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last week.

They’re not able to find the killers, and this administration has shown no urgency in hunting them down."

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If You Really Care...

Instapundit » Blog Archive » POOR MITT. APPARENTLY, NOTHING HE DOES MAKES THEM HAPPY. Romney Tax Returns Released, Left outrage…: "POOR MITT. APPARENTLY, NOTHING HE DOES MAKES THEM HAPPY. Romney Tax Returns Released, Left outraged Romney paid too MUCH in taxes, gave 30 percent to charity; Reid, Biden hardest hit. “Romney gave 30% of his income last year to charity. Yes, he’s clearly a greedy, selfish one-percenter who doesn’t care about the poor.” If you really care, you don’t give money yourself. You get the government to force other people to give. That’s what true compassion is all about. Just ask Joe Biden. UPDATE: Unlike Warren Buffett, Mitt Romney Overpaid His Taxes."

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Kurtz On Redistribution: Yup, That Would Be Correct

Obama’s Fuller 1998 Remarks at Loyola - By Stanley Kurtz - The Corner - National Review Online: "The Globe story is frightening enough, but today’s investigative piece at the Washington Examiner breaks new ground on what we learned from the Globe in 2008. What we’re really looking at here is a clever way of funding social-welfare programs via breaks for favored business partners, who in turn become permanent campaign contributors to the politicians who vote for the programs. This is less about free-market competition — although that’s the happy face Obama sought to put on it — than about Obama-style crony capitalism. As I explained earlier, the leftist New Party, which Obama joined not long before his Loyola remarks, favored a kind of institutionalized crony capitalism as a strategy for socializing the economy by degrees. Obama’s support for this faux public–private partnership in housing policy was also part of his broader support for the regionalist movement. Regionalists seek to break up “concentrated poverty,” and this is why Obama brought in Rezko to manage mixed-income housing projects, in preference to large public-housing units. Although the thrust of the regionalist philosophy Obama embraced is overwhelmingly redistributionist, regionalists typically do try to force their housing strategies onto private developers, as in “inclusionary zoning,” a favorite regionalist gambit. So when you go back and look at the regionalist policies in housing, education, and other areas that Obama was supporting and enacting at the time of his 1998 Loyola remarks, it’s entirely fair to conclude that he was redistributionist in a profound sense. The newly revealed continuation of Obama’s Loyola remarks does nothing to contradict that. If anything, the new passages only make the real meaning of Obama’s redistributive regionalism more clear."

Another RTWT. You have no clue how manipulative O Duce is. No. Clue.

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priOrities

Our Feckless President | Power Line: "As the economy continues in the doldrums and the Middle East burns, President Obama does the one thing he really cares about–he campaigns for his own re-election. Raising money from celebrities is what Obama does best. Michael Ramirez comments:"

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Speaking Of Pregnancy...

Hoover Asks - By George H. Nash - The Corner - National Review Online: "As we discuss the power of government to redistribute wealth and create dependency, here is a timely remark that I recently came upon in my Hoover studies:  “Can the American people be bought with their own money?”          —Herbert Hoover, in a speech in Philadelphia on May 14, 1936"

...here's a pregnant question. I'm light years from being a Hoover fan but he cut to the quick on this one.

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Big Brother Isn't Watching Over You

New Study Shows Childbirth Is Safer than Abortion - By Michael J. New - The Corner - National Review Online: "Overall, Reardon and Coleman found very strong evidence that giving birth is in fact safer than obtaining an abortion. The mortality rate for the women who gave birth was significantly lower than the mortality rate for women who obtained abortions. This finding was robust as it held true for every time period studied — from one year to ten years after the pregnancy. Overall, during the course of the entire study period, women who had early abortions had mortality rates that were almost 80 percent higher than women who carried their pregnancy to term. Interestingly, women who had late-term abortions had significantly higher mortality rates than those who had abortions earlier in pregnancy."

One of the handful of instances where he isn't. Because ever since the racist Margaret Sanger, suppressing the minority population is paramount above all else to Democrats...

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COTW, Actually

Instapundit » Blog Archive » BLOG COMMENT OF THE DAY: “”So I feel that I’ve been President for all Americans – the stupid Cambri…: "BLOG COMMENT OF THE DAY: “”So I feel that I’ve been President for all Americans – the stupid Cambridge Police, the members of my security detail who wouldn’t think twice about shooting a black guy, doctors who perform unnecessary amputations out of greed; bankers and pitchfork-wielding mobs; Hispanics and their enemies, who I encouraged them to attack; the people who were entitled to money when GM went bankrupt, and the people who got money when GM went bankrupt; filmmakers critical of Islam who give me lots of money, and filmmakers critical of Islam who are invited to come downtown for routine questioning.” Much more at the link. Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:55 am"

Go RTWT...

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The Reasonable Joe Biden

Obama’s leadership vacuum - Right Turn - The Washington Post: "President Obama’s argument for reelection seems to be: 1) the economy is getting better, and 2) if I win I can work with Republicans. The first argument has been essentially eviscerated by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed doesn’t come up with a super-charged printing press to flood the economy with dollars, push down bond yields and light a fire under the stock market if we are on the right track. QE3 is an emergency response to an economy that is headed for zero growth or contraction. As for the second, the idea that if Obama is given four more years he could unlock the stalemate in Washington has been dealt a death blow by Bob Woodward’s book, “The Price of Politics.” The bulk of the book is a step-by-step account of Obama’s unique ability to frustrate, annoy and blindside both Democrats and Republicans throughout the search for a grand bargain to address the debt. By contrast, VP Joe Biden comes across as responsible, digging for spending cuts with Republicans and trying to keep the process on track. (He came up with over $1 trillion in cuts both sides could live with.)"

We are screwed when Joe Biden looks like a genius.

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Executive Fiat

Obama 2012 campaign erases all previous civil liberties campaign guarantees - Boing Boing: "Listening to Obama's famous keynote address from the 2004 DNC - his springboard onto the national stage - Obama sounded like an entirely different politician. Then he argued, "If there's an Arab-American family being rounded-up, without benefit of an attorney, or due process," he said, "that threatens my civil liberties." Ironically, on the same day Obama gave his latest DNC speech this year, a federal judge in DC issued a ruling excoriating his administration's recent decision to unilaterally restrict Guantanamo detainees' access to attorneys, saying "this country is not one ruled by executive fiat"."

Oh yes, it is. Her ruling was just reversed by the appellate...

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No Time To Talk

Our President’s Priorities | Power Line: "President Obama never heard of a fundraiser he couldn’t find time to attend, and he is always ready to hang out with Hollywood types and rappers. When it comes to national security, however, his calendar suddenly gets crowded. Michael Ramirez comments:"

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Comment Doublet O The Day

Roger’s Rules » Mastermind of World Trade Center bombing to be “transferred” to Egypt?: "6. jetty If he doused an old lady with gasoline and lit her on fire … the media would still shill for him.
September 17, 2012 - 5:57 pm   Link to this Comment | Reply

Rob Crawford The headline the next day would be “Obama Warms Freezing Woman”.
September 17, 2012 - 6:25 pm   Link to this Comment | Reply"

LOL

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Three Card Benny

Either You Believe In Math; Or You Believe In Magic | ZeroHedge: "Analogizing from the sleight-of-hand tricks of magicians to the confidence-based efforts of the world's central bankers, Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital provides at once an entertaining and also devastatingly simple explanation of what these guys are up to. As he notes, in deference to The Usual Suspects, "the greatest trick central bankers ever pulled was convincing the world that they work for the public and not for the banks." Comprehending the financial repression and inflation that is occurring - and knowing where to look to see the truth (and how to protect your assets) - is critical in not becoming the shill in Bernanke, Draghi et al.'s global game of Three-Card-Monte."

The next time a Democrat tells you they aren't a shill of Wall Street, ask to see a list of their largest campaign bundlers and contributors. And whether Jon Corzine should be in jail.

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None

Instapundit » Blog Archive » WHY BARACK OBAMA SHOULD RESIGN. Just for the record, this is what it looked like for a man who made…: "When taking office, the President does not swear to create jobs. He does not swear to “grow the economy.” He does not swear to institute “fairness.” The only oath the President takes is this one:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

By sending — literally — brownshirted enforcers to engage in — literally — a midnight knock at the door of a man for the non-crime of embarrassing the President of the United States and his administration, President Obama violated that oath. You can try to pretty this up (It’s just about possible probation violations! Sure.), or make excuses or draw distinctions, but that’s what’s happened. It is a betrayal of his duties as President, and a disgrace. 

He won’t resign, of course. First, the President has the appreciation of free speech that one would expect from a Chicago Machine politician, which is to say, none."

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IowaHawk Strikes

David Burge (iowahawkblog) on Twitter: "David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog @SalmanRushdie if Barack Obama had been PM instead of Margaret Thatcher, you'd be dead."

AND

December 7, 1941: FDR flies to Hollywood for fundraiser at Clark Gables' house, says "Obviously, we are all heartbroken" over Pearl Harbor

Ooof.

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Lying in State

Lying in State - By Mark Steyn - The Corner - National Review Online: "Rich, re the silence of the State Department, I understand that America has decayed from a land of laws to a land of legalisms but the position that no one at State can say a word about Benghazi because there’s now an FBI investigation, and so it’s a sub judice police matter, and Sergeant Friday has flown out with an extra long roll of yellow “DO NOT CROSS” tape and strung it round the smoking ruins of the U.S. consulate and the “safe house” is stark staring nuts.

This is a security fiasco and a strategic debacle for the foreign policy of the United States, not a liquor store hold-up. What is wrong even with the bland, compliant, desiccated, over-credentialed, pansified, groupthink poodles of the press corps that they don’t hoot and jeer at Victoria Nuland? I know why she’s doing it; I know why Hillary Clinton is desperately trying to suggest that some movie trailer on YouTube is the reason that a mob in Benghazi knows the location of the U.S. ambassador’s safe house. But why would anybody else even pretend to take this stuff seriously? Elderly Soviet propagandists must be wondering why they wasted their time jamming radio transmitters and smashing printing presses when they could just have sent everyone to Columbia Journalism School."

Stark, staring nuts indeed...

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Pirates

The Barbary Pirates revisited | Power Line: "Oren and Hitchens report on the March 1786 meeting of Jefferson and Adams with the pirate warlord of Tripoli in London. The Tripoli warlord “voiced a credo that would someday sound familiar to Americans, but left these founding fathers aghast.” Oren quotes the report of Jefferson and Adams to John Jay:

It was…written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their [the Musims'] authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.

America’s response to the Barbary pirates unfolded over several years and four administrations, ultimately leading to the termination of the practice of tribute. The response included the framing and adoption of the Constitution, the founding of the United States Navy and a naval war on the pirates. It was not a venture in multicultural understanding or international appeasement.

Oren writes that George Washington’s request for the funds necessary to build a navy prevailed over substantial opposition in Congress because Congress “could no longer bear the disgrace of kowtowing to Barbary.” In the administration of James Madison, Commodore Stephen Decatur conducted an extraordinary exercise in gunboat diplomacy that brought the Barbary Wars to a successful conclusion. Henceforth, the United States would pay no tribute to pirates."

I've pointed this out many times before and it's completely crazy that I need to yet again...

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Of Course Palyi Was Right

The Anti-Bernanke's Early Warning on Quantitative Easing - Total Return - WSJ: "In a prescient warning of what contemporary economist Carmen Reinhart calls “financial repression,” Palyi foresees “a ‘totalitarian’ control of credit under which treasury financing can be cheaply carried out in spite of raising the national debt…by the new system of combined and interconnected open-market policies.”

“Thus,” he concludes, ”what was supposed to be a policy of maneuvering on the open market [leads] to a system which ends for the time being the existence of an open market.”

Quantitative easing, in effect, runs the inherent risk of turning into a policy stance that central banks themselves can’t exit. Eventually, Palyi argues, the assertion of control may morph into a situation beyond their control.

Palyi’s essay was published in July 1939. For decades, he seemed wrong.

We can at least hope that he doesn’t turn out to be right now."

Just open your eyes and look. RTWT.

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Meanwhile, There Is Free Speech In Australia...

Photo of the Day | Jammie Wearing Fools: "This kid must have really hated the “anti-Islam” film that has the Muslim world in a frenzy. This is from Australia, where it’s apparently OK to call for beheading people."

Just not for adults or sane people...

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The Can

Fiddling at the Fire by Nouriel Roubini - Project Syndicate: "Ineffective governments with weak leadership are at the root of the problem. In democracies, repeated elections lead to short-term policy choices. In autocracies like China and Russia, leaders resist the radical reforms that would reduce the power of entrenched lobbies and interests, thereby fueling social unrest as resentment against corruption and rent-seeking boils over into protest.

CommentsBut, as everyone kicks the can down the road, the can is getting heavier and, in the major emerging markets and advanced economies alike, is approaching a brick wall. Policymakers can either crash into that wall, or they can show the leadership and vision needed to dismantle it safely."

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The "Knights" Among Us

It’s Not About the Video - NYTimes.com: "This has happened many times before, and Westerners should be used to it by now. Anyone in need of a refresher course should consult Salman Rushdie’s memoir, due out this week and excerpted in the latest New Yorker, which offers a harrowing account of what it felt like to live under an ayatollah’s death threat, and watch as other people suffered at the hands of mobs chanting for his head.

What Rushdie understands, and what we should understand as well, is that the crucial issue wasn’t actually how the novelist had treated Islam’s prophet in the pages of “The Satanic Verses.” The real issue, instead, was the desire of Iran’s leaders to keep the flame of their revolution burning after the debacle of the Iran-Iraq War, the desire of Pakistan’s Islamists to test the religious bona fides of their country’s prime minister, and the desire of religious extremists in Britain to cast themselves as spokesmen for the Muslim community as a whole. (In this, some of them succeeded: Rushdie dryly notes that an activist who declared of the novelist that “death, perhaps, is a bit too easy for him” would eventually be knighted “at the recommendation of the Blair government for his services to community relations.”)"

Today’s wave of violence, likewise, owes much more to a bloody-minded realpolitik than to the madness of crowds. As The Washington Post’s David Ignatius was among the first to point out, both the Egyptian and Libyan assaults look like premeditated challenges to those countries’ ruling parties by more extreme Islamist factions: Salafist parties in Egypt and pro-Qaeda groups in Libya. (The fact that both attacks were timed to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks should have been the first clue that this was something other than a spontaneous reaction to an offensive video.)

Good God. I can't believe this even has to be explained to people.

We do live in a memory hole...

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QUICKMEME: Goldstein Edition

Instapundit » Blog Archive » OBAMA AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: THE QUICKMEME. I like this one: Make your own here. Share l…: "OBAMA AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: THE QUICKMEME. I like this one:"

UPDATE: (and you must go to quickmeme and look through the growing collection -- wow)

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Progressives Unavailable For Comment

“Moderate” Muslim Malaysia Teaching Parents How To Spot Gay Kids… | Weasel Zippers: "American “progressives” unavailable for comment.

London, September 15 (ANI): The Malaysian government is organising seminars aiming to help teachers and parents spot signs of homosexuality in children, it has been revealed.

Ten seminars have so far been organised by the Teachers Foundation of Malaysia – and the last one attracted about 1,500 attendees, signalling an increase in religious conservatism in the Muslim majority nation."

Speaking of lunacy, did you know that:

How about spotting a gay ambassador to Libya? The kiddies over at Hillbuzz, and various other places, believe Ambassador Stevens was gay. Now, outside of death ROEs, we have the "smartest woman on the planet" sending what some are saying is a gay ambassador to Libya.

And maybe we can send a female ambassador to Saudi Arabia ... who'll last until she's promptly shot through the back of the head in a stadium event with popcorn or whatever the Muslim equivalent of it is...

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Whoops! (Al Qaeda 11th Anniversary Of 9/11 Edition)

Al-Qaeda Says Attack On U.S. Consulate In Benghazi “Revenge” For Recent Drone Killing Of Abu Yahya Al-Libi… | Weasel Zippers: "So it wasn’t over the Mohammed movie?

Via AFP:

AL-Qaeda said the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya was in revenge for the killing of the network’s number two Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, SITE Intelligence Group reported.

“The killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya only increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mokhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet,” said al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement, quoted by the US-based monitoring group."

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Operation Screw

Operation Screw: The Fed goes all-in on QE - YouTube: "The geniuses at the Federal Reserve have concocted a bold new plan to revive the U.S. economy -- print a bunch of money, loan it to Americans at super low interest rates so they can speculate on rising real estate prices, extract the appreciated equity and spend it on consumer goods. In other words, build an economy of real estate, by real estate, and for real estate. The only problem is we've been there and done that. The last time it almost destroyed the U.S.economy. I guess almost isn't quite good enough for the Fed, so now it's determined to finish the job."

The only way that disaster is averted on this is if folks stop taking out mortgages and thereby thwart the operation of the Fed's policy. I don't think that's likely -- but even if it happens it still leaves the economy in its current downward spiraling torpor...

We're actually screwed if we do and screwed if we don't. But what else is new?

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My Theory...

Barack Obama and flags | Power Line: "Rioters in Tunisia have torn down the American flag at the U.S. embassy and replaced it with the flag of al Qaeda. As John said earlier tonight, someone should roust Barack Obama from whatever fundraiser he is attending and let him know there is a crisis going on.

But is it clear that the burning of one flag — ours — and its replacment by another — al Qaeda’s — represents a crisis in Obama’s view? Or is Obama too sophisticated to worry about flags?

As a Senator, Obama declined to wear the American flag pin in his lapel. He called it “a substitute for true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security.”

No, Mr. President. Speaking isn’t true patriotism; action is. In the face of anti-American riots and attacks on Americans, brought on by the “Arab Spring” about which you have been so sanguine, what are you prepared to do?"

... and it is looking more and more like reality all the time is that Barry could start flying the Al Qaeda flag over the White House and the average Democrat would still vote for him. What am I missing? I fear I am not missing a thing.

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Double The Whittle

Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Seeing Double - YouTube: "A recent trip to Toronto had Bill Whittle seeing double -- literally -- thanks to Canada's mandated bilingual laws."

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Did I Forget To Mention The RPGs And Mortars?

A Non-Denial Denial From the Obama Administration | Power Line: "Of course, the Independent story didn’t say that the Obama administration had “actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.” It said that “the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted,” but did nothing to step up security. The administration’s denial does not contradict the Independent’s statement, and the fact that the denial is phrased so narrowly suggests that the Independent’s report is, in fact, accurate.

The administration also denied, incredibly, that the Benghazi attack was “premeditated.”

A U.S. official told POLITICO: “There’s no intelligence indicating that the attack in Benghazi was premeditated.”

This is both silly and pointless. Of course the attack was premeditated; that’s why the terrorists were armed with RPGs and mortars."

Good God.

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9/11 And Al-Qaeda Related? On the 11th Anniversary Of 9/11? Wha?

Well, it is possible to have some clue about what's going on if you don't rely on our presstitutes:

Revealed: inside story of US envoy's assassination - World Politics - World - The Independent: "The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.

American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.

The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the "safe house" in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed "safe".

Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts.

According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and "lockdown", under which movement is severely restricted."

Pardon my sarcasm about our smartest President EVAH.

And:

Senior officials are increasingly convinced, however, that the ferocious nature of the Benghazi attack, in which rocket-propelled grenades were used, indicated it was not the result of spontaneous anger due to the video, called Innocence of Muslims. Patrick Kennedy, Under-Secretary at the State Department, said he was convinced the assault was planned due to its extensive nature and the proliferation of weapons.

There is growing belief that the attack was in revenge for the killing in a drone strike in Pakistan of Mohammed Hassan Qaed, an al-Qa'ida operative who was, as his nom-de-guerre Abu Yahya al-Libi suggests, from Libya, and timed for the anniversary of the 11 September attacks.

Did I forget to mention that Barry wants it known that he personally selects which of his Muslim rivals to kill? But they surely will like him for it since he is also stopping the oceans from rising, no?

Oh, did I just say Muslim rivals? Heh.

Oh, and "presstitutes" is an unnecessary insult to an honest profession.  So I apologize for that...

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Moron Meltdown

Krauthammer’s Take on Hillary: ‘Meltdown at the State Department’ - By Eliana Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online: "“The worst line in the clip you showed was this where she said there are different views around the world about the outer limits of free speech. Why is she engaging in a disquisition on free speech with the mob? The implication here that, perhaps the mob is right, that we ought to be suppressing anything that offends Islam, this is a nation where somebody puts a crucifix in bottle of urine and it ends up in a museum. We allow all kind of expression. But perhaps we ought to make an exception in the case of Islam. This is absurd. She ought to be speaking to the heads of state, to the State Department equivalents in other states and saying ‘You speak to your mob and talk to them and defend the embassy.’ This is return to statement a few days ago, I think and they are totally in meltdown at the State Department.”"

Soon to be followed by U.S. freedom meltdown. What we have left of it anyway...

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More Important Things To Do...

Marc Thiessen: Obama alone: This president does not need intel briefers - The Washington Post: "Vietor’s reply is quite revealing. It is apparently a point of pride in the White House that Obama’s PDB is “not briefed to him.” In the eyes of this administration, it is a virtue that the president does not meet every day with senior intelligence officials. This president, you see, does not need briefers. He can forgo his daily intelligence meeting because he is, in Vietor’s words, “among the most sophisticated consumers of intelligence on the planet.”

Truly sophisticated consumers of intelligence don’t see it as a sign of weakness to “be briefed” by the experts. Most of us, if we subscribed to a daily report on, say, astrophysics, would probably need some help interpreting it. But when it comes to intelligence, Obama is apparently so brilliant he can absorb the most complicated topics by himself in his study. He does not need to sit down for up to an hour a day with top intelligence officials, or hold more than 100 “deep dives” in which he invites CIA analysts into the Oval Office and gives them direct access to the commander in chief to discuss their areas of expertise. Such meetings are crutches this president does not need. Written briefings, questions and comments are enough. Obama has more important things to do — such as attend Las Vegas fundraisers."

Yes, that's right. Obama skipped his pre-9/11 intelligence briefing. And did I forget to mention that he was good with unarmed Marines at the Egyptian Embassy and no Marines at the Libyan consulate. Locked doors was apparently all you needed.

Not.

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About That Chicago School Strike

Ayers, Obama: Exact same take on Chicago schools: "“The biggest source of resistance was rarely talked about,” Obama continues, namely that these educators “would defend the status quo with the same skill and vigor as their white counterparts of two decades before.”

As to the claims of these educators, affirmed in “Navigating,” that “cutbacks in the bureaucracy were part of a white effort to wrest back control,” the author of “Dreams” says teasingly, “not so true.”

“Not so true”? In these three words one can anticipate Obama’s potential return on Ayers’ investment. Simply put, as an African-American Obama could address sensitive racial issues in ways Ayers could not.

Ayers surely recognized this. To advance Obama’s career, it seems, Ayers finished up “Dreams,” got Obama appointed chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant, and held a fundraiser for his State Senate run in his Chicago home, all in 1995."

Another RTWT from Cashill.

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Whoops!

Counterintuitive, models wrong – rainfall more likely over drier soil | Watts Up With That?: "The researchers compared their observations with six global weather and climate models used to simulate climate change. They found that the existing models do the wrong thing, triggering rain over wetter soils.

The implication is that existing climate models are more likely to go into a vicious circle whereby dry soils decrease rainfall, leading to even drier soil conditions. The paper concludes that fixing this problem is a priority for scientists developing the climate models.

Dr Taylor added, “Both heat and moisture are critical ingredients for rain clouds to build up during the afternoon. On sunny days the land heats the air, creating thermals which reach several kilometres up into the atmosphere. If the soil is dry, the thermals are stronger, and our new research shows that this makes rain more likely.”"

Never mind those 100 year climate forecasts. Nothing to see here. Move along now...

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An Interview With Seven Of Nine

Owned By Government And Loving Every Moment Of It | rayharvey.org: "This is an instructive glimpse into the philosophy and basic mindset of the democrat, straight from the source:"

Stark. Raving. Mad. All. O. Them.

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Contrast

Moonbattery » Too Busy to Meet With Netanyahu, Yet…: "One went on to be a great leader; the other remained a useless punk."

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Barack Carter

Barack Carter: Apologies Are Forever | Power Line: "Is it looking more like 1979 every day? That’s what Steve says. When you think 1979, you’re thinking Jimmy Carter; actually, most people have been thinking Jimmy Carter for most of the Obama administration. The resemblances are eerie, and a good cartoonist–a great one, in Michael Ramirez’s case–can blend Obama and Carter into one awful president with one awful message:"

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Time For Him To Grow One

Sarah Palin | Facebook: "Apparently President Obama can’t see Egypt and Libya from his house. On the anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks ever perpetrated on America, our embassy in Cairo and our consulate in Benghazi were attacked by violent Islamic mobs. In Cairo, they scaled the walls of our embassy, destroyed our flag, and replaced it with a black Islamic banner. In Benghazi, the armed gunmen set fire to our consulate and killed an American staff member. The Islamic radicals claim that these attacks are in protest to some film criticizing Islam. In response to this, the U.S. embassy in Cairo issued a statement that was so outrageous many of us thought it must be a satire. The embassy actually apologized to the violent mob attacking us, and it even went so far as to chastise those who use free speech to “hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.” (Funny, the current administration has no problem hurting the “religious feelings” of Catholics.)

But where is the president’s statement about this? These countries represent his much touted “Arab Spring.” How’s that Arab Spring working out for us now? Have we received an apology yet from our “friends” in the Muslim Brotherhood for the assault on our embassy?

It’s about time our president stood up for America and condemned these Islamic extremists. I realize there must be a lot on his mind these days – what with our economy’s abysmal jobless numbers and Moody’s new warning about yet another downgrade to our nation’s credit rating due to the current administration’s failure to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan. And, of course, he has a busy schedule – with all those rounds of golf, softball interviews with the “Pimp with the Limp,” and fundraising dinners with his corporate cronies. But our nation’s security should be of utmost importance to our Commander-in-chief. America can’t afford any more “leading from behind” in such a dangerous world. We already know that President Obama likes to “speak softly” to our enemies. If he doesn’t have a “big stick” to carry, maybe it’s time for him to grow one.

- Sarah Palin"

Hooaaahh!

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In His Own Words

Video: Obama, in his own words « Hot Air: "I’d call it a palate cleanser, but you’re not going to feel clean when this is over."

Your jaw will need re-attachment after this one.

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ApolOgies

Instapundit » Blog Archive » TWEET OF THE DAY: “This presidency started with an apology in Cairo & looks like its ending with an…: "TWEET OF THE DAY: “This presidency started with an apology in Cairo & looks like its ending with an apology in Cairo.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 11:29 pm"

Perfect.

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Barry Does 9/11 In Egypt And Libya

‘Obama, Obama, There Are Still a Billion Osamas!’ - By Andrew C. McCarthy - The Corner - National Review Online: "“Obama, Obama, there are still a billion Osamas!” they cried today as they attacked our embassy, shredded our flag, and replaced it with the al-Qaeda flag — the one so popular with the “rebels” in Libya and Syria. One of the 9/11 hijackers was an Egyptian, as is the current leader of al-Qaeda, as is the Blind Sheikh. A real ally would be embarrassed. An enemy marks the day like Egypt did. The Obama administration marked the day by apologizing for free speech and declining a presidential audience to the prime minister of Israel — our actual ally in the region. President Obama’s calendar is very busy after all: Between campaigning and rounds of golf, he’s blocked a day to roll out the red carpet for Egypt’s new president.

Is it too much to hope that the Romney campaign might see an opportunity here to make a point about American national security and foreign policy under Obama? Remember back in 2002, back when we were following the original “with us or against us” Bush Doctrine — back before the doctrine was warped by delusional visions of sharia democracy? Here’s the question: Would they have dared storm the American embassy in Cairo on September 11, 2002?"

Oh, and reports are that a U.S. consulate worker in Libya was killed. Smart power my *ss.

COTD UPDATE: Ron Kearns · Top Commenter · Colorado Springs, Colorado

Thus says the Einsteins at the State Dept, "We cannot confirm any connection between these incidents."

In other news, pigs flew across the Mississippi River, I was offered $1 million for my house, and my hair grew back.

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We Will Barry You...

Moonbattery » Mistranslation Corrected: "When communist dictator Nikita Khrushchev shouted threats at the free world, he didn’t say we will bury you…"

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The Seductive Lifestyle

Why Is This Election Close? Big Government and Delegated Virtue - By David French - The Corner - National Review Online: "For some time, the Democratic party has been the party of the bookends: with Democratic support strongest amongst the poor and uneducated, generally declining with income and education, but then reemerging at the highest education and income levels. It’s a coalition of economic dependents and their “virtuous” caretakers.

The uncharitable, self-congratulatory liberal elite has pulled off one of the greatest P.R. con jobs of all time. They’ve successfully sold to millions of Americans the idea that religious conservatives — those most likely to volunteer their time and give their money to help those less fortunate — are uncaring, greedy, haters.

Moral superiority without sacrifice: It’s a seductive lifestyle."

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Bad. Period.

Why Cronyism Is Always Bad | Power Line: "In today’s Wall Street Journal, Charles Koch explains concisely why corporate cronyism, a hallmark of the Obama administration, is bad–not just when it’s the other side’s cronies, but bad, period:

“We didn’t build this business—somebody else did.”

So reads a sign outside a small roadside craft store in Utah. The message is clearly tongue-in-cheek. But if it hung next to the corporate offices of some of our nation’s big financial institutions or auto makers, there would be no irony in the message at all.

It shouldn’t surprise us that the role of American business is increasingly vilified or viewed with skepticism. In a Rasmussen poll conducted this year, 68% of voters said they “believe government and big business work together against the rest of us.”

Businesses have failed to make the case that government policy—not business greed—has caused many of our current problems. To understand the dreadful condition of our economy, look no further than mandates such as the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “affordable housing” quotas, directives such as the Community Reinvestment Act, and the Federal Reserve’s artificial, below-market interest-rate policy.

Far too many businesses have been all too eager to lobby for maintaining and increasing subsidies and mandates paid by taxpayers and consumers. This growing partnership between business and government is a destructive force, undermining not just our economy and our political system, but the very foundations of our culture."

RTWT.

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Lapdogs

Instapundit » Blog Archive » CHARLES GASPARINO: The Party Of Wall Street: Among the many falsehoods pushed at last week’s D…: "CHARLES GASPARINO: The Party Of Wall Street:

Among the many falsehoods pushed at last week’s Democratic Convention is that this is the party of the people, unafraid to hold Corporate America responsible for its many ills.

Judging by the records of the last two Democratic administrations, just the opposite appears to be true. Certainly, President Obama and, to some extent, Bill Clinton like to talk a good game in terms of class warfare, but under both men, real corporate crime-fighting has been at best a side issue — despite the immense amounts of white-collar fraud their administrations faced. In fact, neither Obama nor Clinton can hold a candle to the corporate crime-fighting record of George W. Bush, that supposed lapdog for large corporate interests.

Consider: As we near the four-year anniversary of the financial crisis, not a single Wall Street fat cat has been charged with violations of securities laws in connection with the 2008 collapse."

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Intelligence-less

Obama Missing Daily Intelligence Meetings Regularly - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online: "First, it came out in July that Barack Obama hadn’t held a meeting of his jobs council since January — because he “has obviously got a lot on his plate,” according to the White House. Now, the Washington Post’s Marc Thiessen reports that Obama was also too busy to attend more than half of the daily national-security intelligence briefings"

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Zzzzzz ... Clank, Clank, What The???

California’s Prop. 31: The Revolution Will Not Be Publicized - By Stanley Kurtz - The Corner - National Review Online: "We are two months away from fundamentally transforming the State of California, and barely anyone knows it. With a five to six point lead in the latest poll, Proposition 31 has a solid shot at passage. The measure is meant to bail out California’s failing cities by creating regional super-governments empowered to raid and redistribute suburban tax money. It’s the end of the system of local self-government that has served as the bedrock of American democracy since the time of the Founders — in the nation’s largest state, no less. Yet virtually no one is paying attention."

Change Chains you can will believe locked in.  This is somewhat beyond a RTWT -- sit up and pay attention.

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Free Ice Cream

Whistling past the graveyard at the Democratic convention - Right Turn - The Washington Post: "If you had been dropped from outer space into the Democratic National Convention, you would have thought that we enjoyed full employment, reduced poverty and stared down Iran, leaving us with deeply important issues like paying for birth control for grown women. You would have thought that a large majority of Americans weren’t sympathetic to Israel and weren’t religious. You’d have thought that the federal government had money to burn and no looming debt crisis. You would never have thought that Obama had signed a “historic” health-care bill. And you’d have thought that the political heavyweight in the Obama household was Michelle. (Well, you might have been right about the last one.)

But knowing that the America of 2012 is so very different than the convention portrait, it’s worth asking how the Democrats’ convention became so divorced from reality.

We saw a party in which the inability to tackle the monumental problems of our time ( entitlement reform, fiscal crisis, endemic high unemployment, a nuclear-armed Iran) has left a large gaping hole where its core should be. As our problems have gotten bigger, the party has gotten smaller, angrier and less grown-up. The house is burning down, and the Democratic constituencies want free ice cream.

So, how does it happen that days are spent on abortion on demand (which we essentially have anyway until the Supreme Court decides differently) and contraception, while big-ticket items are ignored?

The answer is twofold, I think. The current state of the Democratic Party is both the natural consequences of a longtime trend and the reflection of a president who is tragically unequipped to do his job.

Constituent politics is nothing new to the Democratic Party, of course. Ever since FDR strung together an alliance of urban blacks, Southern whites, labor and immigrants, the Democratic Party has been collecting interest groups like a girl collects charms for her bracelet. The groups have multiplied (gays, Native Americans, public employees), but the concept has been the same for 70 years. In exchange for votes the Democratic Party will give you lots of “free” stuff. To get free stuff you have to pay a lot of taxes and idealize government as the font of good deeds, so that citizens won’t mind an increasingly intrusive and expensive government. The point is not to solve problems or even measure success; the point is to keep the swapping (votes for free stuff) going strong."

Yup. RTWT.

But I disagree with her happy talk conclusion that voters will in the end want to fix the big things and be willing to forego free stuff to do so.

It ain't happening -- we are already far on the downside of the slide where the voters have discovered they can vote themselves money:

When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. -- Benjamin Franklin

It won't stop until mass destitution and violence -- the exact opposite of what these rocket scientists think they are achieving...

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I Think I'm Feeling A Bit Less Uncertain Today...

Scientists cast doubt on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle: "It is often assumed that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle applies to both the intrinsic uncertainty that a quantum system must possess, as well as to measurements. These results show that this is not the case and demonstrate the degree of precision that can be achieved with weak-measurement techniques.

"The results force us to adjust our view of exactly what limits quantum mechanics places on measurement," says Rozema. "These limits are important to fundamental quantum mechanics and also central in developing 'quantum cryptography' technology, which relies on the uncertainty principle to guarantee that any eavesdropper would be detected due to the disturbance caused by her measurements.""

... but I'm not entirely sure ;)

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COTD: How Can An Intelligence Analyst Tell When A Politician Is Lying?

Belmont Club » We Didn’t Know Nothing: "20. RWE
Back in the mid-90’s when Pakistan exploded its first nuclear weapons and India responded with additional tests of its own, I was struck by an NPR report on why the intelligence community missed these developments.

The report said that the CIA analysts had heard the clear statements by the leaders of Pakistan and India, but “assumed that the leaders were lying, based on their experience with US politicians, who often lie.”

Remember, this was during the Clinton Admin.

So, based on Slick Willie’s performance, the analysts assumed that the leaders of Pakistan and India were lying about building nukes. And that Saddam was lying about not having WMDs.

The analysts could not handle politicians who tell the truth."

ROFL! What a screwed up disaster of a world we live in when the people have forgotten how to tell when a politician is lying but the (now "Plame-ly" politicized) "intelligence community" hasn't!

And just think of the implications for Iran: When the Muslim loonie rulers claim they're going to wipe out Israel the "intelligence" community thinks that's now a big guffaw -- just like when they say they're anti-gay. No, wait...

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Obama And Democrats Say They Support Gays And Muslims

Muslims burn 3 gay men alive for allah and his minions | MRCTV: "Muslims burn 3 gay men alive for allah and his minions"

Excuse me while I call horsesh*t on having it both ways.

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Spotting It

SOON AND BRIGGS: Global-warming fanatics take note – Sunspots do impact climate | Watts Up With That?: "Consider the accompanying chart. It shows some rather surprising relationships between solar radiation and daytime high temperatures taken directly from Berkeley’s BEST project. The remarkable nature of these series is that these tight relationships can be shown to hold from areas as large as the United States.

This new sun-climate relationship picture may be telling us that the way our sun cools and warms the Earth is largely through the penetration of incoming solar radiation in regions with cloudless skies. Recent work by National Center for Atmospheric Research senior scientists Harry van Loon and Gerald Meehl place strong emphasis on this physical point and argue that the use of daytime high temperatures is the most appropriate test of the solar-radiation-surface-temperature connection hypothesis. All previous sun-climate studies have included the complicated nighttime temperature records while the sun is not shining."

Whoops!

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