The Democrats are demanding respect from the President and holding defense spending hostage. Their next step is to hold their collective breath until their collective face turns blue. The head crybaby is David Obey, according to the Washington Post; (more…)
Category: Politics
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Cynthia Mckinney 08, Bringing Competition to Craziest Candidate
Front Page has a nice little piece about disgraced (or at least disgraceful…) former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s announcement that she will run for president as a Green party candidate.
Where to start?
Well, with her in the race, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are no longer the only candidates that are insane.
Announcing her campaign to reach all “51 States including the District of Columbia†explained: “I’ve belatedly become a member of the Green Party…No other platform speaks to the African American community as acutely as the Green Party platform.â€
Fifty-one…
No other platform speaks to the African American community? Really? Um, you know, if I were black that would really offend the hell out of me. I don’t think THAT many black people speak Loon.
That she is no longer a democrat is fine. That she is now a Green is WONDERFUL! Now we never have to worry she might be elected again. We should give thanks for this conversion.
This just wouldn’t be complete with out a picture.
(right click and read the properties for this) -
Draining Pelosi’s swamp; Hoyer’s earmarks
Back before the 2006 election, Nancy Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” in Congress, meaning she wanted to set the country and Congress on the right track again (or more accurately the “Left” track). The first thing she promised was to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.” So how’s that working out?
Well, according to the Washington Post this morning, Steny Hoyer, Pelosi’s House Majority Leader has tucked in $96 million of his own earmarks in the latest budget;
Even as House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer has joined in steps to clean up pork-barrel spending, the Maryland congressman has tucked $96 million worth of pet projects into next year’s federal budget, including $450,000 for a campaign donor’s foundation.
Hoyer (D) is one of the top 10 earmarkers in the House for 2008, based on budget requests in bills so far, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent watchdog group.
$96 million. Important stuff, right?
Consider the $450,000 that Hoyer inserted into a 2008 education spending bill for the California-based InTune Foundation Group, whose Web site describes it as a music-education nonprofit group.
In 2005, InTune got a previous earmark for nearly $500,000 to develop lesson plans on funk music and Nobel Peace laureates. Asked recently how effective that program had been, Education Department officials said they didn’t know. InTune hadn’t turned in a report on what it did, officials said.
“It is significantly past due,” department spokeswoman Rebecca Neale said, noting that the deadline was September 2006. She said that the department had tried to reach InTune but that its old telephone and e-mail were out of service and there was no contact information on its Web site.
So they don’t report on how their money is spent and they’ve disconnected the phone and their email service – and Hoyer wants to give them another $1/2 million.
Told about InTune’s last grant, Hoyer replied: “If in fact they are not compliant with the requirements that the Department of Education has, they shouldn’t get the money” for the 2008 earmark. That money was in a bill vetoed by President Bush that probably will be part of the jumbo budget package this week.
Hoyer said he supported the foundation’s new request because “I thought it was a program that would be a positive program.” He said that he understood it would involve music education nationally and at the National Music Center in downtown Washington — “that’s how it was described to us.”
Maillard told The Post that InTune hadn’t decided exactly how to spend the 2008 earmark, although most of it would go to create youth programs at the National Music Center.
They don’t even know what they’re going to do with the money, but Hoyer’s going to give to them anyway. If this is draining a swamp, why are taxpayers still neck deep is slime?
Crossposted at Red Maryland
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It is a Spade, Damn It!
With todays obsession with never, ever offending anyone, our world gets worse. Political correctness has been around for years and all it has done is hide the truth and obfuscate facts.
DNC Chairman Howard ‘YEARRRRRRGH!’ Dean has pontificated that in the most recent debate, Republicans used “outrageous phrases like ‘illegal aliens.’ ” He urged the candidates to “have some morality and some humanity.”
Excuse me? Using the proper legal terminology is now outrageous? What is moral or humane about condoning crime? The democrats’ continued efforts to make illegal immigration flatly ignores several important facts:
The problem isn’t with Hispanics, it is with criminals.
Criminal is not now, nor has it ever been a race.
Not all Illegal Aliens are Hispanic, to suggest that they are, is racist.
The Republican presidential candidates should NEVER have participated in the Univision debate. There are far more people in this country who do not speak Spanish and to pander to those who do is an insult to the rest.
To claim that the term illegal alien is outrageous is so stupid as to be laughable.
Dictionary.com defines illegal as:
1. forbidden by law or statute.
2. contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.:
and alien is defined:
1. a resident born in or belonging to another country who has not acquired citizenship by naturalization (distinguished from citizen).
2. a foreigner.
3. a person who has been estranged or excluded.
4. residing under a government or in a country other than that of one’s birth without having or obtaining the status of citizenship there.
So, then an Illegal Alien would be properly defined as:
(My definition)A person residing in a country, not of their birth, in a manner contrary to or forbidden by law or statute
Dictionary.com’s definition:
1. a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country’s authorization.
2. a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, esp. a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or businessperson.
That’s odd, I didn’t see anything in any of those definitions about Hispanics, or Mexicans, or about speaking Spanish… Why is it then that politicians are compelled to kiss up to the Hispanic population? Oh, I see, they do that because the single largest group of illegal aliens are Hispanics who happen to be from Mexico. That doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter a bit. Where they criminals were born or what language they speak doesn’t have anything to do with the crimes they commit, unless you are a racist… -
Al Gore’s Nobel prize
The great Al Gore travelled to Norway to get his reward today and never the type to pass up an opportunity to shake his finger at US business, Gore comically told us how serial our situation remains (AP/CNN);
Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize on Monday and urged the United States and China to make the boldest moves on climate change or “stand accountable before history for their failure to act.”
In accepting the prize he shared with the U.N. climate panel, the former vice president said humanity risks sliding down a path of “mutually assured destruction.”
“It is time to make peace with the planet,” Gore said in his acceptance speech that evoked Churchill, Gandhi and the Bible. “We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilized for war.”
I’m sorry, but I just can’t get the “manbearpig” episode of South Park out of my head. But the Left continues to pray at the altar of international walking punchline, Al Gore;
Gore spoke of moral authority — and he has moral authority. That could never, ever be said of George Bush.
They’re so cute when they cleave to their false idols. I’d like to know what moral authority Al Gore has that our President hasn’t. But when your political philosophy has to fit on a bumpersticker to attract attention deficit adherents, I guess you don’t need reason.
I wonder what the Left thinks of Al Gore’s moral authority when it’s discovered he’s used the global warming red herring to line his own bank account. Oh, that’s right he has moral authority (h/t Newsbusters);
Al Gore has come under fire for making personal gain from his mission to save the planet after charging £3,300 a minute [about $6,600] to deliver a poorly received speech.
The former American Vice-President was also accused of being “precious” at the London event, demanding his own VIP room and ejecting journalists, despite hopes the star-studded gathering would generate publicity for the fight against global warming.
Many of the audience at last month’s Fortune Forum summit were restless as Mr Gore, who has won both a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his campaigning work this year, delivered the half-hour speech that netted him £100,000 [about $200,000].
But a source told The Mail on Sunday: “Many guests looked tired and began to talk among themselves during his speech. Heads began to twitch with tiredness.
“Al uses his position for great personal gain. He goes from event to event delivering a similar speech, earning a large fee, and a lot of the time he doesn’t actually inform the audience.
Suckers. But not as big as the suckers of the Nobel Prize committee.
Curt at Flopping Aces writes “IPCC Chief – “You just have to believe us””.
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Republican Univision fiasco
It reminded me of the old joke about a hobo who tells a rich man on the street that he hasn’t had food for a week and the rich man tells him not to worry, that food still tastes the same. Years ago, a debate of “hispanic issues” at the University of Miami would have included a discussion of tinpot despots repressing their “pueblo” and bloodthirsty communist guerillas murdering citizens in their sleep. Today a discussion of “hispanic issues” is all about helping people circumvent our legal system.
From Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler;
There were few differences voiced among the candidates and not a single candidate attacked any of his rivals, a sharp contrast to recent Republican debates.
Rather, it seemed that the evening was a discourse between the Republican Party and the Hispanic community, as moderators asked about immigration, health care, education and Latin American politics, and Republicans sought to show they shared values with their questioners even as they touted various tough policies to stem illegal migration here.
“The sky’s the limit for Hispanic Americans but you know something, the sky’s the limit for all Americans if we have the right kind of leadership,” said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The only way to change the discussion in this country is to speak honestly about changing the culture of victimhood. The Republicans were so busy tip-toeing around the immigration so they wouldn’t get booed on camera that they ended up discussing nothing – just pandering to the Latin audience.
The closest thing to a political stand came from Ron Paul as reported by Stephan Dinan of the Washington Times;
The studio audience shouted and booed Rep. Ron Paul of Texas when he said he would talk to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
“We create the Chavezes of the world, we create the Castros of the world,” Mr. Paul said.
George Moneo of Babalu Blog was there and discribes the scene;
The star of the night, however, was Ron Paul. He was thoroughly booed when he gave the answer about “talking” to fidel and hugo the monkey boy; I yelled “you’re a fool” amidst the boos, to which the Ron Paul supporters sitting next to and behind us, yelled back the highly original “no, you’re the fool.” Libertarianism is a good concept, but in practice it’s terribly naive about human nature, and dangerously isolationist in foreign policy. (As opposed to post-Camelot liberalism which is just stupidity codified as a political philosophy.) The fact that Paul wants to talk to enemies that want to kill us says all I need to know about the man, despite his spot-on analysis over the years of our fiscal mess. Today, he’s just Jimmy Carter with an (R) at the end of his name.
Ron Paul was just playing to his supporters, none of whom know where Univision is on their cable boxes. But the boos will probably be worth another buck-and-a quarter per in contributions. Kate at A Columbo-Americana’s Perspective has more to say about Ron Paul.
To me, the main issue facing the nation and it’s hispanic population is one of assimilation, particularly language and no one addressed it. While the Spanish language television channels and spanish language print journalists have a vested interest in the new arrivals remaining mono-lingual, it’s certainly not in the interests of the hispanic population since the language of commerce is English – in effect the spanish language media are locking the spanish-speakers out of the economy by telling them to remain ignorant.
And, of course the spanish language media want unfettered illegal immigration to expand their market without having to work very hard for it, but Republicans need to break that perception that the spanish media has created and tell the truth that the Republicans want what’s best for the country, and stop pandering to special interest groups – especially on the television network that represses that same message. All Americans are equal – and that’s the way they should be treated. Equally.
On the upside, Moneo (Babalu Blog) reported that there was at least on candidate who knew what the debate in Miami should have been about;
(P.S., one more thing: John McCain showed off his white CAMBIO bracelet when talking about the repressive tactics of the cadaver-in-chief. Nice!)
And the Times story reported that Hunter compared Republican foreign policy to Democrat policy in Latin America;
Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, said Hispanic voters should examine Republicans’ record when it comes to freedom in Latin America. He said it’s better than the Democrats’ record, which he said is embodied by President Kennedy’s handling of U.S. forces during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
“A Democrat administration let their aircraft carrier sit there, while those freedom fighters were machine-gunned,” said Mr. Hunter, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.Â
My criticisms remain the same of Republicans as they did of the Democrats when they “debated” on spanish language television. It was naked pandering and it accomplished nothing. No one told the truth and no one wanted to hear the truth spoken.
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Sunday afternoon links
Just trolling around the ‘net. Everyone seems to be interested in the same things I wrote about this morning, so here’s whatelse is going on. I troll so you don’t have to;
Pamela at Atlas Shrugs writes about the Taliban hanging a 12-year-old boy for being a spy.
Michael Ledeen and Gateway Pundit have pics and video of massive protests at Tehran University.
DrewM at Ace of Spades tells a story about a wife who takes her wounded husband’s place in the Army (shades of Molly Pitcher);
Whatever he decides, he won’t be leaving Army life behind – because his wife has enlisted to take his place in uniform.
“After everything he’s gone through – and he loves the Army – he kind of inspired me,” said Janay Albarran. “I made him a promise that I would finish what he started.”
While he underwent five-day-a-week rehabilitation to recover his balance and strength on a prosthetic leg at an Army rehabilitation facility in San Antonio, she was in boot camp at Fort Jackson, S.C., learning to shoot a rifle and stand in formation.
Since it ain’t Sunday without a Chavez post, Bloodthirsty Liberal writes on the latest addition to Chavez’ “Axis of Ultimate Evil” and Jungle Mom at The Jungle Hut republishes the story of a family of Christian Missionaries expelled from Venezuela.
Sergeant Grumpy (deployed to Iraq) writes that the Iraqis believe every conspiracy theory spoken;
Speaking of Israel, Iraq is a country run by rumor, these people will believe the most outlandish rumor before even considering the truth. People near our base are afraid that when we get mortared, the mortars will bounce off our forcefield and hit their house, that we have Israeli spies working in our kitchen, and Iraqi is messed up because our Blackhawks spray “stupid gas” on people. No, seriously.
Blackfive tells the (brief) story of a Taliban ambush against Afghan/Coalition recon patrol.
At The Weekly Standard Blog, Michael Goldfarb writes about another convert from the anti-war crowd to the “surge”;
There are two stories here: 1) A formerly anti-war general flips on supporting the war, and now believes Petraeus has the right strategy; and 2) Batiste has left VoteVets.org, and the antiwar movement, and joined up with the pro-troop, pro-surge, pro-victory Vets for Freedom.
The antiwar movement has lost one of its most powerful voices today….
Crotchety Old Bastard calls Batiste a “Sunshine Patriot” and I tend to agree.
Western Hemisphere Policy Watch writes that Reconquistas reconquered a radio tower in Montana;
A small but growing group of malcontents living in the Southwest and Central U.S., dubbed by some as the Reconquista movement, are causing trouble of late in Montana. In Kalispell Montana, a Mexican flag was erected in front of a U.S. flag 200 feet up a huge tower that belongs to the oldest radio station in America – KGEZ. Before the incident, station owner John Stokes said that he was getting calls from angry supporters of the extremist La Reconquista movement, a separatist group that advocates the violent overthrow of the southern and western U.S. states, and had also received death threats.”
At The Long War Journal, Bill Roggio writes about the battle for Musa Qala in Afghanistan.
DRJ at Patterico’s Pontifications writes about “The Agenda Behind the Iranian NIE Report”. Curt at Flopping Aces says the NIE Looking More Partisan Daily. Augean Stables highlights the difference between American and Israeli intelligence estimates of the Islamic Republic.
Raw Story (h/t Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom) writes about that brilliant up-and-coming political wonk Sean Penn;
Lambasting Democrats in Congress for their refusal to pursue the impeachment of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other members of the current administration, Penn praised Kucinich for his “moral courage,” according to an advance copy of the speech provided to RAW STORY.
“[O]ur cowardly Democratically dominated House and Senate can barely find one voice willing to propose so much as an impeachment. That one voice of a true American,” said the actor. “That one voice of Congressman Dennis Kucinich.”Â
mRed at Invincible Armor and Don Surber add to the story below by Don Carl about Andrew Young.
PJ-Comix at DUmmie FUnnies trolls the depths of Democrat Underground to gage the response to Larry O’Donnell’s unhinged biased anti-Mormon rant this weekend that you can see and read about at Newbusters.
By way of Blue Crab Boulevard, I read that McQ at QandO dissects the Energy Bill just out of Congress.
Confederate Yankee writes that (surprise) Helen Thomas doesn’t like bloggers.
And in case anyone is wondering – I read every blog in my blogroll EVERYDAY! Well the folks that link to me anyway, the others if I have time. So if you want a guarenteed reader everyday – link to me!