Friday, May 31, 2013

COTD: The Big Picture

McClatchy: Maybe the IRS Targeted More Conservatives Than We Were Earlier Led to Believe: "102 This IRS thing is so democrat media takes the hit against democrats to gain credibility to then waive off Bengazi.

Bengazi has a paper trail leading to Hilary. IRS has no paper trail.

Small hit to protect the Party against the big hit threatening 2016.

All democrats need is amnesty because everything is going their way if they get that through it is game over except for 2016.

Posted by: GardenGnome at May 31, 2013 05:08 PM (LBUCy)"

Read More......

Because Shut Up

Ace of Spades HQ: "Shouting to an angry, near-riotous crowd "Let's go kill the mayor!" could get you prosecuted, because that would be called an incitement which has a clear and present danger of actually being followed through on.

But less than that? Anything less than a direct incitement to perform a specific illegal action which has a present likelihood of being executed?

We are free in such speech. As Holmes argued almost a hundred years ago, we must be pretty free in our speech, or else we'll always be looking over our shoulders and censoring ourselves for fear of the Government Prosecutors putting us in jail for exercising our inalienable rights as Americans.

This was the law of the land for nearly a hundred years.

Apparently it is no longer US law in the Eastern district of Tennessee."
Yes, you absolutely need to go RTWT.

Read More......

Holder: Too Clever By Half

Rep. Bob Goodlatte on Fox News: Did Eric Holder Commit Perjury? | Fox News Insider: "He is not yet willing to comment on whether he thinks Holder committed perjury, saying he is waiting for Holder's response to the letter. Goodlatte set a deadline of next Wednesday for Holder to answer.

Goodlatte said Holder's statement is clearly contradicted by the DOJ's argument to a federal judge that Rosen had committed a crime in his dealings with a State Department source. He explained that DOJ is now saying that since Rosen was never indicted, that Holder's May 15 statement was not untruthful.

But for Goodlatte, that brings up yet another "very alarming concern."

"Is the Justice Department putting false information in their warrants to get the information they want? Because they could not have received a warrant with regard to Mr. Rosen, unless they accused him of a crime," he said."

Read More......

COTD: The Left In A Single Comment

Yet Another Explanation for the Killing of Ibragim Todashev - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic:
"soulpatchtony • 3 hours ago
When our people are in power - as is the case now - we shouldn't question authority or any of the actions of government. Save that for when and if (atheist god forbid) the opposition ever regains real power."

Read More......

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

CERN Outlook: CLOUDy

Update on the CLOUD experiment at CERN | Watts Up With That?: "The latest results of the CLOUD experiment in CERN are published: http://science.orf.at/stories/1717291/. It’s a German article with the following statements of Jasper Kirkby (head of the CLOUD experiment):

At the present time we can not say whether cosmic rays affect the climate. What we have investigated so far, is the production of condensation nuclei for cloud droplets, namely those arising from gases: The technical term is “gas-to-particle conversion”. They make up about half of condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. The remaining germs come from soot and dust.

Which gases are involved in this process? We first looked at sulfuric acid and ammonia. The results of the first tests were: the cosmic rays enhance the formation of condensation nuclei from gases by a factor of ten. But that alone is not enough to significantly affect the formation of clouds. According to our previous experiments, there must be other gases or vapors that enhance this process. Presumably organic substances.

Which substances?
The results are currently under review in a journal. Unfortunately, I can not say more about it. Only this: The results are very interesting. During the year some results will be published."
You can pretty much bet from this that Jasper Kirkby is the prime target in an internal civil war at CERN right now. This suggests he's found something the Lysenkoists don't want to swallow.

 I wonder if it could even be as crazy as a finding that we really need more air pollution to cool the planet. Or that CO2 or maybe just the biosphere is key to cloud seeding in some way!

We need to be patient apparently...

Read More......

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend: I Drive Your Truck (Bumped -- Newer Posts Below)

Ace of Spades HQ: "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006.

While Staff Sergeant Monti was leading a mission aimed at gathering intelligence and directing fire against the enemy, his 16-man patrol was attacked by as many as 50 enemy fighters..."

This choked me up. A lot. You will be too.  As a proud father of boys I can't even imagine it.

Most of you -- I dare say all of you -- have never read this by Eric Blair. Eric Blair you say? That would be George Orwell to you. You'll be shocked out of your brainwashed state to learn that his view of the British pacifists -- or "fascifists" as he derisively referenced them -- in WWII was somewhat less than complimentary.

The fascifists still rule the western countries today. What's left of the western countries anyway.

I would say that things never change except to say that they do indeed.  For the worse.

Read More......

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Only A "Genius" Can Be This Stupid

Government by Eurocrats: The Olive-Oil Dispenser Debacle | Zero Hedge: "The decision exemplified what’s wrong with EU governance. But there were other issues with the harebrained law. It would create a cesspool of bureaucracy and mountains of additional trash, including the small one-use-only tamper-proof bottles with their spouts, boxes, and containers. And more oil would be wasted as the bottles – much like Ketchup bottles – would be designed to make it impossible to get all the oil out of them.

But this time, the Commission and its process of comitology were greeted with an outburst of loathing and mockery. Criticism was “universal and came from consumers and restaurant owners in all EU countries,” an EU official told the Telegraph. And it came from the very top. “This is exactly the sort of thing that Europe shouldn’t even be discussing,” explained UK Prime Minster David Cameron, with an eye on the real problems that are currently dogging Europe. “It shouldn’t even be on the table, to force a pun – so to speak,” he said. And Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told his parliament, “I think it is too bizarre for words and incomprehensible to come with this sort of proposal at a time like this.”"
Welcome to your future. And, much, much worse.

Read More......

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Arresting Granny (British Cheese Wheel Edition)

Mission Statement | National Review Online: "Meanwhile, in Britain, the constabulary of a nation where men are hacked to death on the street in broad daylight are arresting Tweeters who Tweet insufficiently culturally sensitive Tweets about the unfortunate incident – and sending three coppers to warn an 86-year old lady that the cheese wheel she makes for the annual cheese-rolling competition is a threat to public safety.

This is how it’ll go. As western governments lose their ability to impact anything that matters, they’ll become ever more coercive about all the little stuff. Heaven help the first granny who takes down a machete-wielding jihadist with an oversized cheese wheel."
Idiocracy. Focused like a laser on the ever growing threat of cheese wheels.

How I wish I was making this up.

Read More......

Animal Rights: Hayek In Beijing

The Weekend Interview with Yang Jisheng: Reading Hayek in Beijing - WSJ.com: "Still, Mr. Yang hardly seems to have given up hope that he can play a role in raising his country's prospects. In particular, he's keen to reclaim two ideas at risk of being lost in today's China.

The first is the meaning of rights. A saying attributed to the philosopher Lao Tzu, he says, has it that a ruler should fill the people's stomachs and empty their heads. The gambit of China's current rulers is that they can stay in power forever by applying that maxim. Mr. Yang hopes they're wrong.

"People have more needs than just eating!" he insists. "In China, human rights means the right to survive, and I argue with these people. This is not human rights, it's animal rights. People have all sorts of needs. Spiritual needs, the need to be free, the freedoms.""
RTWT.

Read More......

Friday, May 24, 2013

Outlawry

Outlawry | protein wisdom: "The entire establishment political class is corrupt. And it has declared open war against those Americans still left who believe in fiscal responsibility and a constitutional check on federal powers. Both the establishment Republicans and the Democrats (and their ancillary and parasitic attendants in the media and the inside-the-beltway political machinery) have shown themselves immediately willing to scapegoat the one anti-big government faction willing to insist on making the difficult choices necessary to save the country from the bloated, cynical, complacent pig class who presumes to run it in our name — though never in the way we wish. And that’s because party doesn’t really matter any longer, as I’ve been saying for years now.

What we are witnessing is the ruling class vs. the governed — a fight we among the governed are only really taking up after the ruling class has already gobbled up the allegiance of a huge swath of its quarry by turning them into either clients or dependents (something that would likely never happen with, say, a flat or fair tax, incidentally, which is one of the reasons no serious push for one ever comes out of DC).

The TEA Party is an impediment, one that the professional political class needs to see weakened, if not entirely marginalized. And that’s because the TEA Party is threatening the mechanism of cheap grace, power, and perks these politicians live on."

Read More......

The Airhead

Whose Administration Is It, Anyway? | Power Line: "President Obama’s response to the multiple scandals besetting his administration has been revealing. It turns out that they have nothing to do with him: he has no idea what is going on in the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, the State Department, the IRS, or, apparently, anywhere else, other than what he reads in the newspaper. He takes no responsibility for the actions of those whom he appointed to high office, and seems entirely indifferent to their misdeeds. For a man whose job it is to run the Executive Branch, his detachment is remarkable."

Read More......

Wha, Huh? 6?

Why 6 Bullets is Not Enough to Defend Your Home from Intrusion | partneringwitheagles: "The story of a young Georgian during a home invasion is putting a new spin on the gun control debate. She fired all 6 rounds from her .38 revolver at a single intruder, hit him with 5 of the shots, and he was still able to flee the scene. What if there had been two intruders?"
Ummm, yeah.  That would be the case.

Read More......

Thugs Rising

Instapundit » Blog Archive » KIMBERLEY STRASSEL: Conservatives Became Targets In 2008: The Obama campaign played a big role in …: "The White House insists President Obama is “outraged” by the “inappropriate” targeting and harassment of conservative groups. If true, it’s a remarkable turnaround for a man who helped pioneer those tactics.

On Aug. 21, 2008, the conservative American Issues Project ran an ad highlighting ties between candidate Obama and Bill Ayers, formerly of the Weather Underground. The Obama campaign and supporters were furious, and they pressured TV stations to pull the ad—a common-enough tactic in such ad spats.

What came next was not common. Bob Bauer, general counsel for the campaign (and later general counsel for the White House), on the same day wrote to the criminal division of the Justice Department, demanding an investigation into AIP, “its officers and directors,” and its “anonymous donors.” Mr. Bauer claimed that the nonprofit, as a 501(c)(4), was committing a “knowing and willful violation” of election law, and wanted “action to enforce against criminal violations.” . . ."
RTWT.

Read More......

Wait, Wha?

Group of Thugs Target Seemingly Defenseless Woman — They Had No Idea She Had Been Frequenting the Gun Range | TheBlaze.com: "A group of thugs figured it would be easy to overpower one Kansas City woman. After all, her husband had just left to run an errand, leaving her all alone in the home.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

The woman, later identified as Shirley Roberts, 52, immediately retrieved her gun after she heard someone jiggle the knob of the front door. She also witnessed two additional men heading to the back door.

Looking through the blinds, Roberts saw the men putting on gloves and preparing to force their way into her home. So she trained her firearm on the men and opened fire."
I was assured that incidents like this never happen in modern day Ameritopia? I want my money back.

Read More......

Car-B-Que Warm-Ups

Stockholm rioting continues for fifth night | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Police in Stockholm are to seek reinforcements after youths set cars ablaze and threw stones at police for a fifth night running, officials said.

About 30 cars were set on fire in poorer districts in north-western and south-western parts of the Swedish capital on Thursday night, with rioters causing widespread damage to property, including schools. However, a police spokesman said the overnight violence was less intense than in previous nights.

Despite Sweden's reputation for equality, the rioting has exposed a faultline between a well-off majority and a minority, often young people with immigrant backgrounds, who cannot find work, lack education and feel marginalised."
The long, "hot" summer is just getting started in "oppressive" Sweden ... my *ss. About the oppressive part that is.

Well, let me qualify that. You could argue that they're oppressive from a conservative libertarian standpoint. You know, like the little fact that they are creating ghettos little better than slave plantations in the name of glorious, tolerant "diversity". Like, say, Detroit. Cough, diversity, bullsh*t, cough.

But in their microscopically brain powered little world they couldn't be any smarter or more caring could they now? How do you think that will work out for everyone in the end?

Read More......

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Men Without Chests

Belmont Club: "The women came forward. Children in nearby schools were locked down by their teachers.

This incident illustrates, if nothing else, the endpoint of the social engineering of the West. It has been remarkably effective.

From a certain point of view, the British crowd behaved perfectly and this is the way “they” all want us to behave. The populace sheltered in place, didn’t do anything rash, talked to the perpetrators as people. They waited for the police to come and the hospital helicopter to take the corpse away. Some will doubtless get counseling to overcome their shattering experience.

And then they will congratulate themselves on how tough British society is; resilience and all that. The more caring will leave some flowers by a railing and hold a few candle vigils for healing and peace, until these wither and blow away and the news cycle washes up a new object of attention.

The attackers knew they were actors in a drama — as keenly watched in their communities as on the BBC. And in that other audience they were asking: “How will the locals behave?” We know now. And that other audience may derive an entirely different lesson from this tableau: “See? Only their women act like men. They follow orders. They are nothing anymore — these Westerners. They are a civilization whose core has been destroyed.”"
RTWT -- a real classic from Wretchard.  The Brits fall from here will be swift.

Read More......

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

TOTD: Conspiracy Theories

Twitter / MPeper: .@lee_ritz Almost 100% of the ...: ".@lee_ritz Almost 100% of the bad news coming out of Washington was once a conspiracy theory."

Read More......

Waiting For Godot

The Tense Exchange Between Rep. Trey Gowdy and the Former IRS Head You’ve Been Waiting for…and It Doesn’t Disappoint | Video | TheBlaze.com: "“If there’s inappropriate conduct being done on your watch in the IRS,” Rep. Gowdy said, “then that inappropriate conduct can last as long as the inspector general’s investigation lasts.”

The congressman’s remarks were in response to former IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman saying he didn’t stop the agency’s political targeting of conservative groups because the IG was looking into it.

“Is that what you’re telling me?” Gowdy continued. “You’re not going to step in and stop it? If there’s someone wielding a knife in the parking lot, are you going to call the inspector general? Are you going to wait until his or her investigation is over until stop it?”

There was a long pause after that question."
Welcome to the Idiocracy.

Read More......

COTD: Welcome To Knife Control

‘War in London Tonight’: Rioters Clash With Police Over ‘Cleaver’ Terror Attack (Plus: Read About Mother Who Reportedly Confronted Killers) | Video | TheBlaze.com: "@FISH

I’m serious. My small pocket knife (3″) would be illegal because the blade locks.

You won’t believe this, from the UK government website:

“It is illegal to:

-sell a knife of any kind (including cutlery and kitchen knives) to anyone under 18
-carry a knife in public without good reason – unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less, eg a Swiss Army knife
-carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife (the list of banned knives is below)
-use any knife in a threatening way (even a legal knife, such as a Swiss Army knife)

“Lock knives (knives with blades that can be locked when unfolded) are not folding knives, and are illegal to carry in public."

By the way, liberal politicians in the US called for knife control while Obama was signing his unconstitutional executive orders this year.”
It's coming here. Look how well it works in London. /sarc

You won't have to wait long after they confiscate our guns.

Read More......

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Abandoned

Moonbattery » Open Thread: "Via StanDeyo.com, on a tip from dan."
Nothing to see here. Move along now...

Read More......

COTD: IG's Down

All of Obama's Scandals Are Ultimately About Information Control | National Review Online:

Dr__P • 10 hours ago
Let us not forget the earliest Obama scandals involved controlling the IG offices.
Du'O.  The rest is Q.E.D.

Read More......

Let Me Predict Tomorrow's Events

The IRS Scandal is Officially Dead | Shenandoah: "The course of action taken by the former head of the non-profit division of the IRS, Lois Lerner, is no shock to this blogger as once a criminal investigation is announced, all cooperation ceases. All witnesses and potential whistle blowers will obtain counsel and please the 5th Amendment also. Emails, memos, and any printed material will not become evidence in the possession of a Republican dominated committee but instead will be sealed by the Attorney General so as not to “taint” any case that may develop against those guilty of any potential crimes. The actions initiated by Eric Holder with the announcement last Friday night of a criminal investigation has basically initiated a course of action identical to what occurred with the Fast and Furious scandal.

The problem and clash between branches will now depend on second and third level Senators and Congressmen initiating action to pressure the leadership into forming a select committee to investigate at a minimum the IRS scandal if possible all of the abuses of power engaged in by the Obama administration. Based on the track record of the Republican leadership (or lack thereof) and the inability of the media to grasp the depths of the crisis should Obama be allowed to escape prosecution, Americans should begin preparations to live in a totally lawless society controlled with a police state based domestic military and continuous variations of regulation to create a nation of citizen criminals guilty of only living within our borders and out of favor with the powers that be."
All tornado, all the time.  Lois Lerner who?  The average delton won't have a clue about anything except O Duce's pleas to help the poor OK red state victims. I know, I know. Why would he go out of his way to help a red state?

Maybe because he's laughing all the way to his third term and it's a reasonable price to pay for that -- doncha think?

(Speaking of) OK.  Let me clarify the word "delton".  To the first order you can of course think of it as morally equivalent to "low information voter".  But as my previous delton linkage hinted, it results from the fusion of the "lowest" "delta" and "epsilon" social/ biological "classes" or "breeds" from Huxley's epic dystopia "Brave New World".  If you haven't yet read it you should immediately apologize to me and go crawl into a hole.  You may think that's extreme but it's really not.

Because you're living BNW as we speak and aren't smart enough to know it.

Stay tuned.

Read More......

We Have Finally Found A Constitutional Amendment That The Constitutional Law Professor Supports

Instapundit » Blog Archive » THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FINALLY FINDS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IT CAN GET BEHIND: Top IRS offici…: "THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FINALLY FINDS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IT CAN GET BEHIND: Top IRS official will invoke 5th Amendment. “A top IRS official in the division that reviews nonprofit groups will invoke the 5th Amendment and refuse to answer questions before a House committee investigating the agency’s improper screening of conservative nonprofit groups. Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening — or why she didn’t disclose it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III. Lerner was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.” She’s lawyered-up, and not just with any lawyer, either.

UPDATE: “Look forward to reading tomorrow’s pieces explaining how GOP is overplaying hand by pointing out that Lerner is pleading 5th.” No scandal here — she just doesn’t want to talk because telling the truth might incriminate her!

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 4:42 pm"
You know, this has moved far beyond parody and I seriously doubt that even this will wake up the low information voters deltons.  We should just put a fork in the country.  We're done.

Read More......

Monday, May 20, 2013

COTD: Already Gone

Three FoxNews Reporters Spied on by DoJ: "61 Now you know why they are going after the second amendment - the first is already gone.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at May 20, 2013 03:41 PM (54/YX)"

Read More......

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Attack America

Bookworm Room » Is the IRS scandal the worst political scandal in American history? I say “yes.”: "There’s been a lot of debate swirling amongst the pundits lately. Is the Watergate cover-up worse than the Benghazi cover-up or vice versa? Is the only scandal that matters the Justice Department’s decision to tap Associated Press phones, because that’s the only one that the media will care about? What did Obama know and when did he know it?

Ignore all that. The absolute worst scandal that’s emerged lately, and the worst administration scandal in American history is the IRS scandal. Why? Because you, the People, became the targets of a comprehensive federal government effort to stifle dissent, one made using the government’s overwhelming and disproportionate policing and taxing powers.

All of the other scandals, going back to Andrew Johnson’s post-Civil War scandals, Warren G. Harding’s 1920s Teapot Dome scandal, Nixon’s Watergate, Reagan’s Iran-Contra, and Clinton’s Oval Office sexcapades have actually been narrowly focused acts of cronyism, garden-variety political chicanery, or personal failings. It’s been insider stuff.

The IRS scandal, by contrast, is a direct attack on the American people."
Well, how else are you going to put your jack-boots on the neck of America without attacking them? Saul would approve O course...

Read More......

No Involvement

Obama denies role in government | Power Line: "President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to reassure the American people that he has “played no role whatsoever” in the U.S. government over the past four years.

“Right now, many of you are angry at the government, and no one is angrier than I am,” he said. “Quite frankly, I am glad that I have had no involvement in such an organization.”"

Read More......

COTD: Dr. Ferris Watch

The Volokh Conspiracy » Colorado Sheriffs file Second Amendment lawsuit against anti-gun bills: Colorado’s recently passed HB 1229, its so-called universal background check law, is a low misdemeanor on the first violation, but then comes the real kicker. A first conviction also carries with it a prohibition on all firearm possession for 2 years. Thus, while you will only be assessed a fine on a first conviction, the court can and will also order that all of your guns be immediately confiscated. Imagine a law that established a rigid speech code that upon violation subjected one to a gag order prohibiting them from making any public statements such as writing a letter to the editor, commenting on a blog, or writing a blog post for 2 years after a first conviction for saying something that liberals choose to call hate speech. That would be a law making it easy for liberals to shut down their critics, and HB 1229 is a law meant to make it easy for them to confiscate your guns.

Governor Hickenlooper responded to criticism when he signed this into law by saying he was not trying to take away anyone’s right of self defense and he wasn’t trying to take anyone's guns away. It there were even a kernel of truth in that statement he would have vetoed HB 1229.

They made is very easy to violate this law. Handing your gun to your buddy at a shooting range to let him try it is a violation by both of you unless you first go to a gun store and pay for two background checks. While there is a shooting range exception in the law, the very next sentence has a definition of "shooting range" that no shooting range in Colorado meets.

This law was passed by liberal Democrats with malice aforethought.
Dr. Ferris you ask? That would be explained in the previous comment.

Read More......

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Targeting The Grassroots

Oddly, the IRS didn’t seem interested in large 501s « Hot Air: "Why might that be? Groups like American Crossroads and Priorities USA can afford to defend themselves, even if we entertain for a moment the fantasy that this IRS would go after a group of former Obama advisers.  Bullies don’t pick on those who can effectively defend themselves.  Also, these groups get a lot of attention, and starting a war with Karl Rove would have exposed this effort a lot more quickly than anyone in the IRS or the Obama administration might have wanted.

Had these enforcement efforts actually been legitimate, the IRS would have wanted that kind of attention.  The fact that they actively avoided accruing it speaks volumes about its perceived legitimacy even among its perpetrators.

This tells us, then, that the IRS wanted to target conservative groups who couldn’t afford to defend themselves, and who could be easily intimidated out of organizing for their agendas.  That’s not a strategy for reform or enforcement, but simply a brute-force bullying effort in order to sideline grassroots opposition to the current administration.  Contra the AP, that’s not irony at all, but corruption and abuse."
RTWT. And do you think that Holder would ever have the FBI investigate this?  Good luck with that.

The FBI used to target criminal conspiracies -- now it works for one.

Read More......

Friday, May 17, 2013

Holy Fr*ck

Highlights of Today’s IRS Hearing | Power Line: "Former acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee today; Paul live-blogged his appearance. My friend Jeff Davis compiled this video of highlights of today’s proceedings. As usual, the highlights consist more of the Congressmen’s questions than Miller’s answers, but the video is nevertheless revealing. Miller comes across just as Paul described him:"
Drop everything and WTWT.

Read More......

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Bitter Experiences Ahead

Trust Me! Or Else… | Power Line: "It appears that, having made the astonishing mistake of re-electing Barack Obama, the American people will learn through bitter experience why the Founders feared demagogues and tried to establish a system of limited government."

Read More......

What Movie?

Benghazi Emails Directly Contradict White House Claims | The Weekly Standard: "The half dozen references to terrorists – both in Benghazi and more generally – all but disappeared. Gone were references to al Qaeda, Ansar al Sharia, jihadists, Islamic extremists, etc. The only remaining mention was a note that “extremists” had participated in the attack.

As striking as what appears in the email traffic is what does not. There is no mention of the YouTube video that would become a central part of the administration’s explanation of the attacks to the American people until a brief mention in the subject line of emails coming out of an important meeting where further revisions were made."

Read More......

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Powerless

United States of Surreality, 2 | protein wisdom: "Moreover, no really really high-ranking IRS officials knew any of this, despite reports to the contrary that are backed by paper trails, and even if they did, they were powerless to stop the determination specialists, who were not adequately trained to be specialists, just as immediate management was unable both to inform these determination specialists of their inappropriate methods nor curtail them, try as they might — not being determination specialists themselves, and so who are they to presume?"

Read More......

Phone Records Of The House Of Representatives!?

Would You Believe The Administration Got Phone Records of The House Of Representatives? « The Greenroom: "DN: So when they went after the AP reporters, right? Went after all of their phone records, they went after the phone records, including right up here in the House Gallery, right up from where I’m sitting right now. So you have a real separation of powers issue that did this really rise to the level that you would have to get phone records that would, that would most likely include members of Congress, because as you know…

HH: Wow.

DN: …members of Congress talk to the press all the time.

HH: I did not know that, and that is a stunner.

DN: Now that is a separation of powers issue here, Hugh."
Well, I know they'll find some way to hide this back under the carpet. But I've got to believe it will be at least somewhat entertaining to watch. Well, if you're not a Delton that is...

UPDATE: “There was a little confusion between him and the host during the conversation: He did not mean to refer to phone records of the cloakroom itself, but of the Capitol,” said Nunes spokesman Jack Langer.

DOJ did seize call logs for a phone in the Capitol used by AP reporters, but that phone is in the press gallery, not the cloakroom.


OK. Maybe not quite as bad as originally feared -- but still ugly. And this whole thing about Holder's assertion that this was the worst national security leak EVAH and that's why they had to go after the AP this hard does not square at all with O Duce not knowing anything about it.

Holder (or his deputy?) would be going in front of a FISA judge carrying the full gravitas of the President to get this done. So either Holder needs to be fired for a power grab or O Duce is flat out lying with his Sargeant Schultz routine. I'll take the latter but the former still isn't pretty.

Read More......

Tear Down This Wall

To Trib Editor Gerould Kern: Tear down this wall… «: "When asked about the sealed Blagojevich tapes and transcripts that the Feds shared with the two reporters for their book, Coen replied that the leaked material was “the Tribune's business.” He refused to elaborate.

In other words, talk to my boss. So we’ve talked to Coen’s boss.

Tribune Editor Gerould Kern was asked why the Trib has failed to share the tapes and transcripts with its readers.

Kern will not respond.

We call upon the Chicago Tribune to inform its readers and publish the transcripts. After all, they represent news, and the paper is supposed to be in the news business."
I'm guessing O Duce might have to advance directly to prison if it was published...

Read More......

Perfect

The Strata-Sphere » Obama/Holder Bit By The Bush-FISA Fiasco: "Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday that the Bush administration once considered issuing the type of subpoena that the Justice Department issued against the Associated Press, but ultimately opted against it.

“There was at least one occasion in which we were engaged in a very serious leak investigation and we had to make some very difficult choices about whether or not to move forward, going after the reporters in order to try to figure out where the source of the leak is,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe. “And sometimes, the department finds itself in a situation where they have exhausted all means and they have to make a very hard determination as to whether or not they want to subpoena the reporter, if they want to subpoena the reporter’s notes. So yes, I’ve had that situation. In the instance that I have in mind, we ultimately decided not to move forward.”
This is all truly ironic. Holder and Obama are getting roasted for doing what Bush never did, but the liberal left claimed Bush did all the time."

Read More......

No Way

BREAKING: Obama White House Just Caught In HUGE Lie/Contradiction – See Proof Here. - The Ulsterman Report: "So please now consider this reader – the Attorney General of the United States of America publicly informs the media that there was such a significant threat to American security that it required the Department of Justice to revoke the First Amendment rights of a significant media source.

And yet, despite that significant threat to American security, the White House then indicates Barack Obama HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THAT THREAT or the attempt to remedy that threat.  That he in fact just learned of his own Department of Justice’s potentially illegal actions against the Associated Press.

NO WAY."
Wow.

Read More......

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Move Along Now, Nothing To See Here... (Part 8,492,593)

Ace of Spades HQ: "Twice Is Enemy Action?

Before he became the current acting IRS commissioner, Steven Miller was investigating anti-Clinton groups in the late 90's."
Ugh.

Read More......

Just Wow

neo-neocon » Blog Archive » Methinks…: "There was a crash landing Sunday at the Duluth International Airport, but it didn’t involve airplanes. Rather, it was two bald eagles, which were fighting in midair when they locked talons. In a rare spectacle of nature, they were unable to disengage in time before crashing to the runway.

“Apparently, mature eagles will sometimes fight over territories,” Randy Hanzal, a Minnesota Conservation Officer, told GrindTV in an email. “They will do battle in the air, crashing into each other and grabbing an intruding eagle with their talons."

Read More......

Subversives

Ace of Spades HQ: "There group had a good rejoinder: They sent back a copy of the United States Constitution.

I wonder if the IRS found it subversive."
Heh. Don't get too near Madison's grave lest you be injured.

Read More......

Monday, May 13, 2013

Judge Jeanine: Just The Facts

Judge Jeanine "Fact Blasts" Hillary & Obama Administration on Benghazi Attack - 5-11-13 - YouTube: "Judge Jeanine Pirro, who attended this week's Congressional hearing on Benghazi, says the testimony she witnessed proved President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are liars."

Read More......

Snakes

Moonbattery » Open Thread: "Passed along by G. Fox."

Read More......

A Pyromaniac In A Field O Straw Men -- Hillary Edition

Hillary Clinton’s false choice | Power Line: "But, as Clinton knew by January when she gave this testimony, the attack was a preplanned assault by an al-Qaeda affiliate. It was neither “because of a protest” nor “because. . .guys out for a walk one night decided to kill some Americans.” Thus, as Hanson concludes, more than four months after the fact, Clinton peddled to Congress scenarios that were simply untrue and were designed to mislead."

Read More......

Auditing Paula

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MICKEY KAUS: What About Clinton’s IRS? “I always thought the number of Bill Clinton enemies audite…: "MICKEY KAUS: What About Clinton’s IRS? “I always thought the number of Bill Clinton enemies audited by his Internal Revenue Service was a bit high to be coincidental. When Clinton accuser Paula Jones was audited in 1997, Clinton’s press secretary Mike McCurry denied White House involvement . . . . We now know, of course, that you don’t need direct White House involvement to politicize the IRS, at least for Democrats. The underlings know what to do! The idea that they are apolitical professionals was always a myth. It’s even more of a myth now, in the era of Daily Kos and Greg Sargent.”

Plus: “Big government will always mean giving bureaucrats some control, and these bureaucrats will always tend to be Democrats. If they aren’t restrained by the apolitical civil service ethic, then they will always tend to harrass conservatives and Republicans.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 7:59 am"
Du'O.

Read More......

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Move Along Now, Nothing To See Here...

Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform | Threat Level | Wired.com: "The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system.

Buried in the more than 800 pages of the bipartisan legislation (.pdf)  is language mandating the creation of the innocuously-named “photo tool,” a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID."
...other than you that is.

Read More......

Thank God There's No Slippery Slope To Be Found Here...

Senators Caught on Tape: "Confiscate, Confiscate, Confiscate" | Politicker NJ: "Second Amendment rights advocates are fuming today over words from three Democratic state senators caught on tape after Thursday's hearing on the upper chamber's gun control package.

The three female senators, who sound from the recording to be Sen. Loretta Weinberg, Sen. Sandy Cunningham and Sen. Linda Greenstein are heard discussing the just-closed hearing.

“We needed a bill that was going to confiscate, confiscate, confiscate," said an unknown voice."

Read More......

Big Government in Wonderland | protein wisdom

Big Government in Wonderland | protein wisdom: "Although I suppose to circle back around, Ben Stein does here capture the absurdity of what we’re being forced to pretend we can’t draw together and assimilate in order to make sense of the scattershot and frankly insane nature of our government and its policies."

Read More......

Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Marching Morons O Benghazi

BENGHAZI SCANDAL! (Featuring Andrew Klavan) - YouTube: "BENGHAZI SCANDAL! (Featuring Andrew Klavan)"

Can you say marching morons? I thought you could...

Read More......

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Radioactive Vipers

Stunning Video Lets You Pretend You’re Riding Along in an F-16 With the ‘Flying Fiends’ | Video | TheBlaze.com: "The aircraft dubbed “Viper” by many pilots is actually formally nicknamed the Flying Falcon."

Read More......

Fascinating

Video: Old Spock vs. New Spock « Hot Air: "In later years, I second-guessed my decision to always be Shatner when I could have been Nimoy. It was a juvenile preoccupation with status over more intangible qualities, I think. These days, I’m Team Spock, for both old and new “Star Trek.”

As such, I am torn, here:"

Read More......

Monday, May 6, 2013

Best 2nd Amendment Tag Line

Best tag line: "”Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.”"

Read More......

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Madison On Disarming The People

James Madison Quotes (Author of The Federalist Papers): "“Disarm the people- that is the best and most effective way to enslave them.”
― James Madison"

Read More......

Gun Walking, A Concise Summary

Sipsey Street Irregulars: Sam Adams at the time of the Powder Alarm, 1774. "I have written to our friends to provide themselves without delay with Arms & Ammunition.": "The Gunwalker Scandal Made Simple There are five key accusations against ATF and DOJ made by ATF whistleblowers and other sources within FedGov:
1. That they instructed U.S. gun dealers to proceed with questionable and illegal sales of firearms to suspected gunrunners.
2. That they allowed or even assisted in those guns crossing the U.S. border into Mexico to "boost the numbers" of American civilian market firearms seized in Mexico and thereby provide the justification for more firearm restrictions on American citizens and more power and money for ATF.
3. That they intentionally kept Mexican authorities in the dark about the operation, even over objections of their own agents.
4. That weapons that the ATF let "walk" to Mexico were involved in the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE agent Jaime Zapata, as well as at least hundreds of Mexican citizens.
5. That at least since the death of Brian Terry on 14 December, the Obama administration is engaged in a full-press cover-up of the facts behind what has come to be known as the "Gunwalker Scandal.""

Read More......

Sam Adams On The Powder Alarm

Sipsey Street Irregulars: Sam Adams at the time of the Powder Alarm, 1774. "I have written to our friends to provide themselves without delay with Arms & Ammunition.": "Dr. Thomas Young wrote to Adams reporting that, upon the news that the British had seized a supply of colonial gunpowder from Charlestown, tens of thousands of colonists had taken up arms and marched in that direction, from as far away as Connecticut. Samuel Adams replied to him, "I have written to our friends to provide themselves without delay with Arms & Ammunition, get well instructed in the military Art, embody themselves & prepare a complete set of rules that they may be ready in Case they are called to defend themselves against the violent attacks of Despotism." -- Samuel Adams, A Life by Ira Stoll, p. 137."

Read More......

Tranzis v the Militia

Ace of Spades HQ: "The reason the colonies revolted was because the King of England was viewed as having become a tyrant. Having fought a bloody war to become free of his tyranny, the founders wanted to make sure the new government they created did not in turn become tyranny. Trading one tyrant for another wasn't what they had in mind. So the Constitution contains layers of mechanisms to try to prevent tyranny. And the last and best of these is the Second Amendment.

Remember how the shooting revolution began? The Battles of Lexington and Concord. Rebels in the Boston area had been stockpiling weapons, powder, and ammunition near Concord MA, and the British got wind of it and sent an armed column out from Boston to seize the stockpile. Superb espionage by rebel forces detected this, and word spread through the countryside for the militia (remember that word; it's important) which formed up and fought against the British force. The main battle was fought at Lexington MA, which repelled the British and caused them to retreat again back to Boston.

The "militia" was all able bodied men in the area, who were to show up with their own rifles (or muskets)."
RTWT ... more than once until it soaks in. And yes, O Duce is a Tranzi. (Trans-National Progressive)

Read More......

Saturday, May 4, 2013

WTF, Over

Bookworm Room » Pentagon will court martial people charged with religious proselytizing: "In connection with my post about the Left’s fierce hatred for Christianity (which burns bright alongside its antisemitism and pathological love and respect for Islam), I wrote about the Pentagon’s decision to partner with Michael Weinstein, a rabid anti-Christian who’s set his sights on the military. The next phase in this secularist crusade is the Pentagon’s announcement that, why yes, we will be court martialing proselytizing."
No you won't be, jack*sses.

Read More......

Not Victims

Bookworm Room » Two stories about guns, each showing that the issue is how they’re used, rather than their existence: "First, from the NRA, a really solid video about women and guns:"

Read More......

Victims

Moonbattery » Open Thread: "Via Dixon Diaz, on a tip from TED."

Read More......

Off The Wow Scale: 'Judge Jeanine' To NRA: America 'Unrecognizable'

'Judge Jeanine' To NRA: America 'Unrecognizable': "'JUDGE JEANINE' TO NRA: AMERICA 'UNRECOGNIZABLE'"

I would normally say WTWT. But I think we need to do that more than once...

Read More......

Cruuuuuuz!

Cruuuuuuz!: "Number one "the Constitution matters."

Senator Ted Cruz at the NRA convention."

Read More......

COTD: Explain The Difference

Instapundit » Blog Archive » QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If you want to introduce someone to libertarian thinking, encourage them to try …: "QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If you want to introduce someone to libertarian thinking, encourage them to try this experiment. Spend a few days reading nothing but technology news. Then spend a few days reading nothing but political news. For the first few days they’ll see an exciting world of innovation and creativity where everything is getting better all the time. In the second period they’ll see a miserable world of cynicism and treachery where everything is falling apart. Then ask them to explain the difference.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 12:19 pm"

Read More......

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Narrative: Gay Basketball Player Good, Gay Ambassador Who?

The Benghazi Talking Points | The Weekly Standard: "As intelligence officials pieced together the puzzle of events unfolding in Libya, they concluded even before the assaults had ended that al Qaeda-linked terrorists were involved. Senior administration officials, however, sought to obscure the emerging picture and downplay the significance of attacks that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The frantic process that produced the changes to the talking points took place over a 24-hour period just one day before Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made her now-famous appearances on the Sunday television talk shows. The discussions involved senior officials from the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the White House.  "

Read More......

Delta Country

Ramirez, Crowder on Gosnell « Hot Air: "While we wait for the jury to finish its deliberations in the Kermit Gosnell trial — which, as I wrote on Tuesday, will take quite a while — we can continue to look at the meaning of the issues that the trial raises.  At least, we can do that among those paying any attention at all to the trial.  Steven Crowder returns with a new vox populi video that shows people well informed about the Boston Marathon attack (with one hilarious exception), less so about the explosion in West Texas, and utterly ignorant of the Gosnell trial:"
You're living in it.

Read More......

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Nazi Prelude Watch

Instapundit » Blog Archive » IF YOU WONDER WHY PEOPLE ARE SUSPICIOUS THAT THE FEDS WANT TO CREATE AN ILLEGAL REGISTRY OF PEOPLE’S…: "IF YOU WONDER WHY PEOPLE ARE SUSPICIOUS THAT THE FEDS WANT TO CREATE AN ILLEGAL REGISTRY OF PEOPLE’S GUNS: Docs Show Napolitano Thanked Missouri Governor For Breaking State Law. “Missouri Governor Jay Nixon repeatedly denied knowing anything about Missouri illegally sharing its citizens private CCW information with the federal government, even after his own head of Missouri Highway Patrol contradicted him in a public hearing. Now we’ve learned that Nixon not only knew about the violation of Missouri law, but he was thanked in a letter by Janet Napolitano. Missouri law — signed into effect by Gov. Nixon himself — prohibits full compliance with the Real ID Act. This includes sharing Missouri’s conceal carry list, which officials under Nixon did, with his full knowledge, according to this letter.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 11:41 pm"
Where does my title come from? It comes from the fact that the "liberal" German government that preceded Hitler coming to power had implemented a gun registry. Which Hitler promptly then used to find and take away the Jews guns. And you know the rest.

And the sickness remains that the Germans still have draconian gun control laws -- ostensibly to suppress a National Socialist resurgence ... while having implemented what is now basically a new National Socialist state.  Just ask the Greeks for instance.

Oh, but the Germans still have this gem in their "basic law": "When other avenues are not open, all Germans have the right to resist attempts to impose unconstitutional authority."  RTWT.

With sharpened toothpicks apparently.  Ugh, I better not give them ideas on what to ban next.

And did I forget to mention that the U.S. gun control law of 1968 was modeled on the Nazi gun control decrees of 1938 contemporaneous with Kristallnacht?  Not only are we screwed but we have been so for a long time.  Have you figured out yet that you need to follow that link I just gave you?

Read More......

Missing The Boat

Boston Manhunt ‘Missed the Boat’ as Police Skip Street - Bloomberg: "“No one disputes that the police and soldiers who searched for the bomber are heroes -- they put their lives on the line for us,” Pepper said. “I just wish they came down our street.”"

Lund, the fellow Franklin Street resident, said she appreciates the hard work and bravery of the police and soldiers involved. Still, failing to search her block means someone wasn’t doing his or her job.

“With the helicopters and the Humvees and the soldiers and the police working all day to find him, all they had to do was search our street,” Lund said. “They missed the boat.”
Look. First of all, it's not part of the job description of the police to lay down their lives to protect you. Only you can do that.  And if you're properly armed and trained you might be able to avoid the "laying down your life" part.

Second, they're human beings that make mistakes under pressure just like everyone else.

At least they're not willfully trying to destroy the country for their own enrichment and satisfaction like our bozo political class.

Read More......