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October 30, 2009
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Month: October 2009
Dede Scozzafava suspends NY-23 Campaign
I knew this was coming, sort of. I knew she was doing bad, I just was not sure if she would actually drop out. Well, Surprise surprise!
My Good Friend and fellow Blogger Robert Stacy McCain broke the news:
Just confirmed that Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has quit the race. Speaking to supporters, Scozzafava broke down in tears.
UPDATE: Scozzafava, the hand-picked choice of the New York state GOP in the key 23rd District special election, reportedly will throw her support to Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.
Scozzafava’s withdrawal came shortly after a new Siena College poll was released this morning, showing her in third place, with Hoffman neck-and-neck with Democrat Bill Owens.
This is confirmed by the Watertown Daily News:
Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence parties candidate, announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and releasing all her supporters.
The state Assemblywoman has not thrown her support to either Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, or Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate.
“Today, I again seek to act for the good of our community,” Ms. Scozzafava wrote in a letter to friends and supporters. “It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my party will emerge stronger and our district and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.”
Ms. Scozzafava told the Watertown Daily Times that Siena Research Institute poll numbers show her too far behind to catch up – and she lacks enough money to spend on advertising in the last three days to make a difference. Mr. Owens has support from 36 percent of likely voters in the poll, with Mr. Hoffman garnering 35 percent support. Ms. Scozzafava has support from 20 percent of those polled.
Now there are some bloggers who are saying that Scozzafava threw her support behind Doug Hoffman. As it is stated above; that simply is not true. Dede released her people to support whomever they wish; big difference there.
Ali Akbar (!) has the farewell or “I’m such a damned loser, that I am quitting” statement:
Dear Friends and Supporters:
Throughout the course of my campaign for Congress, I have made the people of the 23rd District and the issues that affect them the focal point of my campaign. As a life long resident of this District, I care deeply and passionately about its people and our way of life. Whether as a candidate for Congress, a State Assemblywoman or a small town Mayor, I have always sought to act with the best interest of our District and its residents in mind—and today I again seek to act for the good of our community.
The opportunity to run as the Republican and Independence Party candidate to represent the 23rd District has been and remains one of the greatest honors of my life. During the past several months, as I’ve traveled the district, meeting and talking with voters about the issues that matter most to them, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received as I sought to serve as their voice in Washington. However, as Winston Churchill once said, Democracy can be a fickle employer, and the road to public office is not always a smooth one.
In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this District. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.
It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.
On Election Day my name will appear on the ballot, but victory is unlikely. To those who support me – and to those who choose not to – I offer my sincerest thanks.
Dede
See ya RINO!
and Besides:
Fugly and a loser! What a Combo!
Now would be a good time to head over to Doug Hoffman’s site and give big!
Related headlines:
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard’s Blog: BREAKING: Scozzafava suspends NY 23 campaign
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air: Breaking: Scozzafava quits after Siena poll; Update: Hoffman campaign asking for endorsement?
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain: NY23: SCOZZAFAVA QUITS! UPDATE: New poll shows Hoffman in dead heat with Democrat Owens
Jude Seymour / Watertown Daily Times: SCOZZAFAVA SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:NEW! Dede Drops Out!
Paul Volpe / The Fix:10 minutes ago Scozzafava drops out of NY-23 special election
Andy Barr / The Politico: Steele: Hoffman win is a GOP win
Michelle Malkin: Radical leftist GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava quits
Real American Bloggers on the story: Betsy’s Page, QandO, Macsmind, NewsBusters.org, Outside The Beltway, Daily Pundit, Weekly Standard, Townhall.com, Conservatives4Palin.com and The Other McCain, , Erick’s Dump Dede, Sister Toldjah, Left Coast Rebel, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool
Commies, America-haters, Socialists, Leftest Turds, and Democrats: (I’m being redundant, I know…) The Hill, Washington Wire, Daily Kos, The Daily Politics, Taegan Goddard’s …, TPMDC, Below The Beltway, PoliBlog, Campaign Trail, AMERICAblog News, The Hill, The Politico, The Moderate Voice, Swing State Project, The Washington Independent and msnbc.com
Nancy Pelosi’s Obamacare Bill is chock full of Taxes
Seriously, it is the classic class warfare nonsense that the Democrats are known for.
The Americans for Tax Reform has the Taxes outlined:
- Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).
- Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.
- Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.
- Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).
- Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)
- Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services.
- Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses (Page 336): Imposes an income surtax of 5.4 percent on MAGI over $500,000 ($1 million married filing jointly). MAGI adds back in the itemized deduction for margin loan interest. This would raise the top marginal tax rate in 2011 from 39.6 percent under current law to 45 percent—a new effective top rate.
- Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.
- Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.
- Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Delays for nine years the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act
- Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.
- Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.
- Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.
You see, this is why I am against a Government-run public healthcare system…..and I have no health insurance, at all. Why? Because as Ed Morrissey puts it:
“Has the middle class discovered the biggest lie of the Obama campaign yet? When statist policies get imposed, everyone pays. Everyone.”
What I am trying to say here is this; I have no health insurance at all. But the last thing I want, is my healthcare coming out of the pocket of anyone else; especially the middle class, like my parents, or more specifically my Dad. Who worked his ass off for 31 years at General Motors and earned his nice Healthcare insurance plan that he has. Why could I want to steal it or see him double and triple taxed; just so I can have insurance too. It just is not fair to him.
Some may think that I am silly to think this way. But to me, it would UnChrist-like to steal for anyone, just so I can say. Yes, I have insurance. It is nothing more than Class warfare and generational theft. Case Closed.
Update: Thanks to Karl Lembke for pointing my rather silly grammar error. 😛
WND: ‘Muslim Mafia’ linked to Detroit FBI shootout
Normally I take what I read over at WorldNetDaily with a grain of salt; but once and a while, they stumble over something big.
I believe they have done it again:
Already under increased scrutiny after revelations in a new book, the Council on American-Islamic Relations now is defending itself against documented links to a federal case that drew national attention this week when an indicted Detroit imam was killed in an FBI raid.
Internal documents from an undercover investigation by the authors of “Muslim Mafia” show CAIR helped finance the legal appeal of Muslim cop-killer Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who is named in the Detroit criminal complaint as the spiritual leader of a radical group that calls for violent action to establish a sovereign Islamic state within the U.S.
The federal complaint also states one of the 11 indicted followers of the imam who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the FBI Wednesday, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, attended a mosque “affiliated with CAIR” in Windsor, Ontario, just across the Canadian border from Detroit.
via ‘Muslim Mafia’ linked to Detroit FBI shootout.- WND.com
I highly suggest that you go read the rest of this as it is quite interesting. Looks like CAIR is involved as well. This is big and could have lasting impact.
Like I wrote before; the idea of “Fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here” is a bit lame now; because quite frankly, they are already here and this proves that!
Shots fired at Lou Dobbs’s House
This is totally crazy and quite unbelievable.
The Video: (Via The Busters) (H/T Michelle Malkin)
Jeff Poor Writes:
“But I want to tell you, when you talk about what they’ve done – they’ve created an atmosphere and they’ve been unrelenting in their propaganda,” Dobbs said. “Three weeks ago this morning, a shot was fired at my house where I live. My wife was standing out and that followed weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls.”
Dobbs detailed the event, the notification of law enforcement and threatening phone calls he had received after the fact.
“And, as I told the state patrol, and by the way, the New Jersey State Patrol is absolutely terrific – they responded instantly. But this shot was fired with my wife not, I don’t know, 15 feet away and we had threatening phone calls that I decided not to report because I get threatening phone calls,” Dobbs continued. “I now – it’s become a way of life – the anger, the hate, the vitriol, but it’s taken a different tone where they’ve threatened my wife. They’ve now fired a shot at my house while my wife was standing next to the car. It’s become something else.”
The CNN host later took a shot at the “national liberal media,” which he claims has taken a side on the immigration issue and has created this sort of reckless environment.
“But we’ve got to start being honest,” Dobbs said. “Instead, the national liberal media has chosen sides and they’ve decided that they’re going to focus on the liberal view, which is that they will embrace illegal immigration – no matter who is harmed, no matter how many laws are broken or how few consequences there are for breaking those laws.”
Dobbs had been attacked by Fox News host Geraldo Rivera earlier and told his listeners that following these events that he was in no mood for attacks from Rivera.
“My wife has now been, and I have been, shot at, our driver,” Dobbs said. “My house has been shot and hit. An investigation continues. I’ve had bodyguards now and you know what, I’m not in the mood to put up with little fools like Geraldo Rivera.”
Unbelievable. This is what we are fighting against folks. They want to silence us. Hopefully, we do not allow the far left to marginalize the Conservative and yes, White voice in this Country. If we do, our Country will end up a Country of one political Party; with one political stance. Like South Africa. This is not to say that I agreed with the racist actions of the “National Party”. I do not. But I do not believe that any minority has the right to marginalize anyone else.
The White House should run WordPress
Hey, it works good for me!
I guess the White House website is running Drupal (ugh!) and Chris Wilson over at Slate does not think that it is such a swell idea.
Chris Writes:
Drupal knows best. It’s not that Drupal thinks you’re evil. It just thinks you’re ignorant. In a basic setup, the software is suspicious of everything you try to do. Should you, say, go completely rogue and try to add some Javascript in the body of a page—a 14-year-old technology that controls interactive components like buttons—the platform will have none of it. The message: “That’s dangerous stuff, and you probably don’t know what you’re doing.” Better to outlaw something altogether, Drupal figures, than simply ask you if you really want to use it. If Drupal ran the Food and Drug Administration, it would ban high-fructose corn syrup. This is just the sort of straitjacketed paternalism that half the country is convinced the Democrats are hell-bent on imposing on us all.
Drupal is impenetrable. Even the software’s defenders admit that it is hostile to newcomers—or at least indifferent to their plight, as a University of Baltimore study found. The apologists will tell you that, once you scale the learning curve, it gets much easier. This is probably true, but a lot of ordinary, code-fearing people who just want a simple Web site are getting left behind. If Drupal were an employee of the federal government, it would be the person who answers the phone at Immigration and Customs Enforcement who is unable to help you and unable to tell you who can. If you suspect government is the problem, not the solution, this sort of bureaucratic sprawl is your worst enemy.
Drupal hates change. Want to modernize Drupal by upgrading to a newer version? Ask these guys how that worked out for them. If Drupal were a piece of legislation, it would be the farm bill: desperately in need of an overhaul but unlikely ever to get one because entrenched interests keep the forces of reform at bay.
Drupal is disorganized. Instead of displaying your pages in folders that you can browse, like you do on your personal computer, Drupal provides a nightmarish content list. To find what you’re looking for, you have to search for it. And unlike most content management systems, Drupal doesn’t have a convenient way to prevent two people from accidentally editing the same page at the same time. This is exactly the kind of rudderless confusion that small-government types have always said defines the federal government.
Drupal is righteous. The open-source movement has done wonderful things for the Web. But at its core, it remains a religion. If you went to DrupalCon in Paris last month, then you would have almost certainly come across proselytizers of one the movement’s fundamental tenets: Drupal doesn’t break Web sites. People with Drupal break Web sites. Most problems with Drupal stem from people who “don’t get it” or aren’t using it correctly. This is probably true, but it’s not much consolation when you spend 45 minutes trying to upload a photo. Drupal’s defenders are eerily reminiscent of those movement Democrats who were constantly knocking at your front door in the summer of 2008. Granted, they did get Obama elected, but it’s a miracle they didn’t cost him the election in the process.
Allow me to share with you all my little experience. Back before I wrote here on Political Byline. I used to be a “Left of Center” blogger. One day I got this wild hair up my butt about running a news site on Drupal; with my WordPress Blog in a sub-directory. How did it work out? To be blunt:
EPIC FAIL!
The pesky Russian hackers that had been sniffing around my blog, found their opening and they got it. To be very blunt; they farking hacked my crap to hell and back. A years worth of blogging, GONE in an instant. Nothing like a SQL Database injection hack to bring things in to perspective. I just about cried; and it was two days before Christmas no less.
Anyhow, after that; I said, no more Drupal and WordPress.
In fairness to the Drupal people, I did have some lousy hosting and I am not referring to the guy that was giving to me for free; it was the fault of the company that this guy buying from. (Hosting Scene) In techie terms; their MODSECURITY was much out of date. I know, OUCH! What I said, when it happened. I was not a happy camper. 😡
I am much pleased to report that I am, “Over the Moon” as they say with my current hosting provider. Which is EWF Media; who gets his reselling hosting from a neat company named Site 5. Site 5 basically does co-location with The Planet hosting; which is about the best darned hosting company on, well, The Planet! I highly recommend them, they are the best. If you are looking for excellent reseller hosting, go with EWF Media, he is so affordable. If you are looking to get a reseller account, go with Site 5, they are the best. (Now, watch my server go down after talking these guys up… HA!)
Anyhow, if the White House sees this, go with WordPress, you will be glad you did. It is truly, the bomb diggity.
Others: Lean Left, techPresident and Greg’s Opinion
Update: After I posted this last night and came back this morning, I realized that I forgot to mention why WordPress itself is so wonderful… So, without further ado; I present that reason. First here are some video as to why WordPress is so wonderful:
If you’d like to learn more about this software, head on over to the WordPress Home Page. For what it is worth; some of the biggest names in Blogging run WordPress.
The PB Pub Presents Resurrection Band
This one hits me really hard. I guess it is where I was raised; which was, for what it is worth, Southwest Detroit.
I offer this without commentary…. This is Afrikaans:
Lyrics:
I hear the gunfire, see the blood run, feel the rage
I see a black man, see a colored man, in a cage
The sweat of miners, digging diamonds, digging graves
To feed the bossman, to feed his family, to feed his slaves
Men are cursing, women praying, for release
But when a white man kills one of “them” no one sees
From Capetown, to Pretoria, to Johannesburg there is a crying
Of people dying, that can be heard
I hear the gunfire, see the blood run, smell the fear
You lock your minds up, shut the curtains, you close your ears
Forget the black man, neglect his baby, ignore his hell
We need apartheid to keep the animal in his cell
You sweep the pavement, shine the buildings, display the maid
You say “republic”, I say blind man, it’s a cage
God makes the color, but the color doesn’t make you God
And in the judgment, He will remember the ones you robbed
Without the Lord’s love, this injustice will prevail
Until Jesus is the only Master, we’ll never break the bars of jail
Updated: NY-23 Gate Continues
The saga of the NY-23 election race continues. Seems that there has been some interesting stuff uncovered by some very enterprising reporters.
Michael Patrick Leahy over at the TCOT Report writes about some interesting information about how this Liberal-lite candidate was chosen. Dan Riehl also has some interesting information as well. Dan is also making some new friends as well! 😉 😛 😀
Robert Stacy McCain, who is really a good guy and a damn good shoe-leather reporter; has some good information as well, and is also kicking at the stalls to get back up to upstate New York and do some more shoe-leather reporting. McCain also reports that the New Media, together with the big time endorsements has really help Hoffman’s Campaign. McCain could also use some donations as well. So, head on over and help the old man out. Better yet, Click right here to give to McCain. Mention my name and my Blog; and maybe I will get some kind words out of the deal. When you are done, donate to me as well; as I would just LOVE to be up there in the middle of all that myself. I have many needs, I need a better car; as the one I am driving now is just not road worthy at all. In fact, if my cousin doesn’t have the money to buy it by next week, it is going to the junk yard.
So, if you can click on my donate button as well and GIVE LIBERALLY! 😀
Update: Looks like the Liberals are hitting back a bit: (H/T to Simon via E-mail)
The Politico has more.
My feelings on this is basically this; Class warfare. Which is quite lame. It is the Democrats last line of defense, sort of like the Race Card.
Update #2: Some Great Bloggers covering this story: Campaign Trail, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Michelle Malkin, The Other McCain, American Spectator, AmSpecBlog, The Washington Independent and RedState (H/T Memeorandum)
It is official: Levi Johnston is a scumbag
Yesterday, AllahPundit wrote about this idiot; and I thought he was wasting his time. However, After watching this video; I am convinced, that this jackass is simply looking to destroy Palin to fatten his own pocketbook.
Just be clear, for the 500’th time; I am not a Sarah Palin fan boy. But this just goes too far. It is obvious to me, that this turd is just going after Palin for the fame and for the money. Most likely to buy his damned mommy more drugs; as she is a druggie you know.
At this point, if I were the Palin family, I would go to court and DEMAND that the judge remove all of Levi Johnston’s visitation rights and fix it where he never saw the child again, ever. I would bring up the drugs, I would bring up the posing for playgirl; I would inform them of his actions, and that he is more interested in being a “star” than he is a Father.
I know that I might sound a bit harsh; but it is quite obvious to me, that Levi Johnston is simply looking to cash in on Bristol Palin’s lapse in judgment; which, quite frankly, is much of Levi’s fault. Had Mr. horn-dog kept his hands off of her, she would not be pregnant and that baby would not even be here. All of this just to either make money for himself and possibly get back at Palin and or Bristol. That my friends, is the perfect definition of an asshole and that my friends is what Levi Johnston is.
Quite frankly, I am a bit pissed off at John McCain; for basically using Sarah Palin as window dressing for his rather idiotically ran campaign. If John McCain would have picked someone else; Sarah Palin would not be having to write books to defend herself and that poor family of hers. I mean, God love them people; they have been literally through hell and yet, they say nothing. No lawsuits, No lashing out. Nothing. I just do not see how they do it. If that were me, would be suing the living crap out of every damned Liberal media outlet that even remotely slandered me and my family; I’m talking multi-millions of dollars of lawsuit money. I would go after all of them; when I was finished with them, there would be some very wealth California Socialists who would be paying me some very big money and if their websites and papers went under, that would be just be too bad.
As for you, Mr. Levi. I just lost what little respect that I actually had for you dude. For a while; I actually gave you the benefit of the doubt. You have nothing on Sarah Palin; if it is anything, it is so damned minor, that not one damn person would even remotely care. Especially coming from a idiotic opportunist jack ass like you.
May you rot in the hottest part of the devil’s hell, you bastard piece of tripe.
Blogging on one mug of coffee after a long night can be hazardous to ones health
I just pushed out my first posting and noticed two very humorous typos.
Oy… 🙄
One of these days, I will learn; don’t blog until you have enough coffee in your system. Blogging while still waking up can have some unintended consequences. 😯 😮
I got to cut out those late nights. Facebook games are just not that important.
The Terminator sends a special message to the California Legislators
I must confess, I laughed out loud, when I saw this:
It was hardly a bill of cosmic import, but Assembly member Tom Ammiano’s AB 1176 would have helped the Port of San Francisco with some financing issues. It’s the kind of bill that legislators offer on behalf of their cities all the time — and generally, they are non-controversial. This one was the same — no substantive opposition, it passed both houses easily — and normally, the governor would sign it with little fanfare.
But no: Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill — and sent Ammiano and the legislators a remarkable veto letter. The letter says nothing about the substance of the bill; in fact, the language is really convoluted and it’s hard to figure out what the gov is really saying.
With all due respect to those in Government out in California. It might have something to do with the fact that Tom Ammiano shouted “Kiss my Gay ass!” at a Democratic Party dinner that Arnold showed up at.
However, over at the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire, the Governor’s office says the following:
When asked about the intent of the message, Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said that “like every veto message, it says why the governor vetoed the bill.”
Okay. What about the other message in the letter?
“As far as what it says on the left-hand margin, that’s just a strange coincidence,” McLear said. “When you do so many vetoes, that’s bound to happen.”
Then, less than a minute after hanging up the phone, McLear sent Washington Wire a list of other veto messages in which the letters on the left-side of the statement spell out different words. Senate Bill 115, about religious exemptions to public employees, spells out “ear.” Assembly Bill 1276, concerning international trade, says “poet.”
And Senate Bill 674, about oversight of fertility clinics and cosmetic surgery centers, spells out “soap.
Plausible. It would have been a very strange coincidence.
As for Mr. “Kiss my Gay ass!” Ammiano….:
Ammiano said he didn’t notice the hidden message until the Bay Guardian pointed it out today. “It was a little bit of shock and awe,” he said, adding: “I thought it was pretty funny.”
He said he will reintroduce the bill next year. “Hopefully, we’ll have a clean slate,” Ammiano said.
Sounds to be like the media and some Bloggers are making a bigger deal about this, than actual people involved in said incident. Which is about typical for the Liberal Media. Just look at how they handled Bush and the Iraq War.
Matthew Hoh resigns over Afghanistan
I have to give this man credit; he is a man of conviction, for that alone, he is a true patriot.
Via the Washington Times:
When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.
A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.
But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.
“I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan,” he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department’s head of personnel. “I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end.”
The reaction to Hoh’s letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.
U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer,” Holbrooke said in an interview. “We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him.”
While he did not share Hoh’s view that the war “wasn’t worth the fight,” Holbrooke said, “I agreed with much of his analysis.” He asked Hoh to join his team in Washington, saying that “if he really wanted to affect policy and help reduce the cost of the war on lives and treasure,” why not be “inside the building, rather than outside, where you can get a lot of attention but you won’t have the same political impact?”
Hoh accepted the argument and the job, but changed his mind a week later. “I recognize the career implications, but it wasn’t the right thing to do,” he said in an interview Friday, two days after his resignation became final.
“I’m not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love,” Hoh said. Although he said his time in Zabul was the “second-best job I’ve ever had,” his dominant experience is from the Marines, where many of his closest friends still serve.
“There are plenty of dudes who need to be killed,” he said of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. “I was never more happy than when our Iraq team whacked a bunch of guys.”
But many Afghans, he wrote in his resignation letter, are fighting the United States largely because its troops are there — a growing military presence in villages and valleys where outsiders, including other Afghans, are not welcome and where the corrupt, U.S.-backed national government is rejected. While the Taliban is a malign presence, and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda needs to be confronted, he said, the United States is asking its troops to die in Afghanistan for what is essentially a far-off civil war.
As the White House deliberates over whether to deploy more troops, Hoh said he decided to speak out publicly because “I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, ‘Listen, I don’t think this is right.’ “
“I realize what I’m getting into . . . what people are going to say about me,” he said. “I never thought I would be doing this.”
The underlined parts up here are the parts that I think are the most inspiring. Some Conservatives and even some MilBloggers might want to slam this guy. Well, I will not be counted among that group. I have said on this blog many times that I felt that Bush basically screwed us in the long run, for trying to fight two wars at the same time. That belief is becoming clearer now, eight years on and we’re still trying to catch Osama Bin Laden —- and that task is becoming more of a difficult task everyday. There is plenty of blame to go around; Bush is not the sole person responsible for this terrible screw up. The whole “We have to fight them there, so, we don’t have to fight them here..” line is a bit worn thin now, seeing that there has been people arrested on terror plotting charges here now.
Again, I applaud this man for having the courage to stand up and dissent. Some may knock him, but not sane thinking Americans, who see things through the long lens; like me.
The Round up for ALL sides of the Political fence: The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, Top of the Ticket, Abu Muqawama, Matthew Yglesias, JustOneMinute, New York Times, Neptunus Lex, Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, MoJo Blog Posts, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, The New Republic, Salon, The Atlanticist, BLACKFIVE, Jules Crittenden, The Daily Dish, Guardian, Mudville Gazette, Rethink Afghanistan, Newshoggers.com, Atlas Shrugs, Chicago Boyz, RedState, Newsweek Blogs, LewRockwell.com Blog, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, MyDD and Politics Daily
Joe Lieberman says that he will back GOP filibuster of Senate Healthcare Bill
I have an idea as to why Lieberman is doing this; well, I have several different ideas:
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he’d back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform bill.
Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue, said he opposes any health care bill that includes a government-run insurance program — even if it includes a provision allowing states to opt out of the program, as Reid has said the Senate bill will.
“We’re trying to do too much at once,” Lieberman said. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now.”
Lieberman added that he’d vote against a public option plan “even with an opt-out because it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line.”
His comments confirmed that Reid is short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill out of the Senate, even after Reid included the opt-out provision. Several other moderate Democrats expressed skepticism at the proposal as well, but most of the wavering Democratic senators did not go as far as Lieberman Tuesday, saying they were waiting to see the details.
Lieberman did say he’s “strongly inclined” to vote to proceed to the debate, but that he’ll ultimately vote to block a floor vote on the bill if it isn’t changed first.
“I’ve told Sen. Reid that if the bill stays as it is now I will vote against cloture,” he said.
via Joe Lieberman: I’ll block vote on Harry Reid’s plan – Manu Raju – POLITICO.com.
Here is my official theory as to why Lieberman is doing this. For one; I believe that Lieberman is doing this to get back at the Senate Majority leader for his scolding of him for supporting John McCain during the 2008 election. Another theory I have is that Lieberman is attempting to garner support amongst the Conservative leadership on the hill. Maybe Lieberman is going to try for a run as a moderate to Liberal Republican in the not-so-distant future in the Senate. Either that, or Lieberman knows that he will never be elected as a Republican or a Democrat ever again and he is doing this, thinking that it will, someday be seen as his last great feat to save the Country from out of control socialism.
Either way, I believe that any chance of Lieberman getting back into the Democratic Party just totally dissolved. At this point, if I were a Democrat, I would want Lieberman’s head on a platter.
Others: Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, Weekly Standard, The Corner, AmSpecBlog, The Greenroom, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Moderate Voice,
Honestly, What the hell is up with Alan Grayson?
The Short Video:
The Long Video:
RedState has more on this rather strange buffoon.
Dan McLaughlin writes:
Far be it from me to suggest that Alan Grayson should tone down his act. Hey, he’ll probably get another cookie from his enablers.
Ya think? Good Lord. 🙄
Next time some idiot calls me a extremist; please, show them this.
Glenn Beck interviews Doug Hoffman on Fox Show
Last week I ripped on Glenn Beck for not having Doug Hoffman on his Television show and he ended up having Mr. Hoffman on his Radio show, and now he had Hoffman on his Television Show. Mr. Beck, I salute you. Thank you from everyone that supports Hoffman!
Here’s the Video: (Via AllahPundit at HotAir.com)
Yeah, Beck’s a bit a paranoid goof. But, he is a very patriotic paranoid goof, who is on our side. 😛 and that’s always a plus. 😀 Besides, I will take someone like Beck, over some overrated egotistical jackass like Olbermann, who likes to insult the American people, any day of the week.
GM OnStar Humor
Heh… Now this is funny:
Via AutoBlog:
On its way to doing the 1/4-mile in 11.07 seconds at 128 mph, a Hennessy-tuned 700-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V hit .99 longitudinal G as it left the start line. By the end of the run the phone inside the car was ringing, and it was your friendly neighborhood OnStar representative wondering “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ok, not quite… but they did have some questions
(H/T Say Uncle)
Ouch! Washington Examiner to Spitzer: “Put a sock in it”
With friends like these….: (H/T Insty)
Disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer thinks people who own shares in mutual and pension funds should pressure the directors and executives of America’s great corporations to silence the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Spitzer, aka the “Client Number Nine” who famously kept his socks on while dallying with Emperor Club VIP hookers, now accuses the chamber of misrepresenting its members. How? By lobbying against “the reform of markets, health care, energy policy and politics that we have all been calling for.”
Spitzer’s solution is for mutual and pension fund owners to demand that the corporations cancel their chamber memberships, thus denying the nation’s most influential business voice of the lifeblood of every trade association — dues revenue. It comes as no surprise to hear such demands from Spitzer, who as New York attorney general posed as an ethical champion while using the mere threat of state-sponsored litigation to force corporate boards and executives to take actions that clearly weren’t in the best interests of their stockholders.
Lest anybody gets the idea that Spitzer can be considered a credible source on issues of corporate ethics, let’s review a few facts about his own misuse and abuse of the public trust. During his successful 2006 campaign for governor, Spitzer loudly announced his return of more than $124,000 in campaign contributions he had received since 2003 from lawyers with the Milberg Weiss law firm in New York. The firm and four of its senior partners had been indicted on 20 counts as a criminal enterprise by the Justice Department for paying an estimated $11.7 million in bribes to plaintiffs in at least 150 cases going back to 1981. The firm received $250 million or more in tainted legal fees from the cases.
[…]
These facts perhaps shed light on why Spitzer sat on his hands in 2004 when the Washington Legal Foundation filed an official complaint with him concerning Milberg Weiss. So anytime Spitzer gets the urge to lecture the U.S. Chamber or anybody else on ethics, he would be well-advised to put a sock in it.
via Memo to Spitzer: Put a sock in it | Washington Examiner.
You don’t suppose that paper has a problem with Spitzer, do you? 🙄
I mean, the guy messed around and all. But good grief! Act like he was some sort of politician! Oh, Wait.
14 Americans killed in 2 helicopter crashes in Afghanistan
A sad bit of news: (H/T Gateway Pundit)
KABUL (AP) – A series of helicopter crashes killed 14 Americans in insurgent-wracked Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said. It was one of the deadliest days of the war for U.S. troops.
In the first crash, a chopper went down in the west of the country after leaving the scene of a firefight with insurgents, killing 10 Americans—seven troops and three civilians working for the government. Eleven American troops, one U.S. civilian and 14 Afghans were also injured.
In a separate incident in the south, two other U.S. choppers collided while in flight, killing four American troops and wounding two more, the military said.
U.S. authorities have ruled out hostile fire in the collision but have not given a cause for the other fatal crash in the west. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmedi claimed Taliban fighters shot down a helicopter in northwest Badghis province’s Darabam district. It was impossible to verify the claim and unclear if he was referring to the same incident.
via BreitBart: US: 14 Americans killed in 2 helicopter crashes.
I think it would be a good thing to remember all of our service men in our Prayers this day.
I just hope this is all worth it.
Conservatives are the top ideological group
So says Gallup:
PRINCETON, NJ — Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.
Think of this the next time some screwball poll comes out in favor of the Democrats. The reason the pollsters are able to get the results they want is by oversampling the Socialist Democrats.
(H/T Confederate Yankee)
News from a Fundamentalist Christian Viewpoint
Disclaimer: I, Patrick, owner of politicalbyline.com do not agree with ALL of the viewpoints expressed here. I publish these for a unique perspective into the Evangelical Christian movement that I once was a part of. Please be aware that David W. Cloud is a Fundamentalist Baptist Missionary and does hold to that believe process. — I never thought I would have to publish a disclaimer. But seeing that some bloggers like to take potshots at those who are Christians, I thought I would include one this time. — Pat
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FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
October 23, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 43
October 23, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 43
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM PREACHES IN THREE-SELF COMMUNIST CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, October 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Following in his father’s footsteps, Franklin Graham recently preached in a registered Three-Self communist church in China. The church, Bethel Church of Baoding, is the second largest church in China. This was Franklin’s second occasion to preach in Three-Self churches. It is illegal in China for churches to exist unless they register with the government and come under government restrictions which forbid them to do such things as have Sunday Schools or preach the gospel outside of times and venues approved by the communist government. Those who have refused to submit to these restrictions and have sought to obey God more than man have been harshly persecuted. Even today many unregistered preachers are in jail for their faith, as we have often reported in the Friday Church News Notes. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council were founded by the brutal Mao Tse Tung as a tool to control the churches. To preach in a deeply compromised communist-registered church is a sellout to the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole Head of the Church. The Grahams will give account to God for their great compromise of His Word and for their mocking of biblical fundamentalists who simply want to take the Bible seriously. They have gone the way of bigness and worldly popularity, but Jesus said, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). (We have written many articles about the Three-Self movement and its former head K.H. Ting, a theological modernist and a master of Chinese communist propaganda. These can be found in the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, which goes on sale in the next couple of weeks.)
Another short note of thanks
Just another thanks to Sisir in Sharjah, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for his donation of $60.00 ( 😯 😮 )
I e-mailed him to make sure it was legit, here is his reply:
Haha!
You must be thinking that because its from Middle East, maybe its a Sting type operation (Obama IRS posing an Arab sheikh..)
That’s cool , I understand
Actually I’m from India residing in Dubai (Dubai for Indians is like Miami for Cubans)
I’m a Glenn Beck wingnut, I resided in U.S and being from a semi third world country, I know how precious freedom is and I’m alarmed at the creepy cult of personality and throttling of free speech and economy that the current administration perpetuates.
In the words of Peter Hitchens on Nov 5th 2008 “what will happen to the last good hope of the world”
I was saddenned by your employment predicament and thought I’d help out. Every now and then , I have a fit of doing something good! Us conservatives should stick together (its hard for us admittedly to so as we tend to be individualists and exist to disagree and dispute!)
I work for (redacted)
Hope the above placates your worries
Take care
Cheers
I must confess; I let out a rather loud snort about that Miami for Cubans joke… heh! 😆 The IRS and Arab sheik thing was funny too. 😛
Only reason I did inquire about it is that, people do steal credit cards and sometimes do funny stuff with them. Been there and did that. Cleared me out! Fought with the bank for weeks! 😡 Anyhow, it’s cool. He’s legit and I’m quite the happy camper at the moment.
Anyhow, thank you Sisir! 😀
Video: The Southern Avenger on “The Myth of Objective Journalism”
I do not always agree with Jack Hunter; however I do on this video here. Especially on his views of the Main Stream Media in the lead up to the Iraq War. Whether it is his anti-Military bias or an honest disgust with the Bush Administration; that Jack can only answer. But he is right, and very sadly so. The media was laying down on the job during that time period.
Having said all that, let me be absolutely clear; while I am quite happy that Bush’s surge worked and that Iraq, outside of the occasional car bomb, is much more stable than it was in 2006. But that does not take away from the fact that Bush’s invasion of Iraq and occupation of it was not justified. I believe that this will be a black mark on America for a long time to come.
Enjoy the Video:
Short note of thanks
Just a short note thanks to Anthony in NJ and Dave in Va for your Donations.
It is truly and deeply appreciated.
Car Bombs in Iraq kills over 100
First CNN Video:
and from the AP:
The Story via CNN:
At least 132 people were killed and 520 wounded in twin suicide car bombings in central Baghdad Sunday, officials said — the deadliest attack on civilians in Iraq this year.
Two car bombs detonated in quick succession near Iraqi government buildings about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, as the Iraqi work week began, an Interior Ministry official said.
Among the wounded were three American security contractors, the U.S. Embassy told CNN. The embassy would not give any more details.
One of the bombs exploded outside Baghdad’s governorate building. The second was outside the Justice Ministry, about 500 meters (1,600 feet) away. The Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, which is about 50 meters from the Justice Ministry, also sustained severe damage.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki surveyed the carnage shortly after the explosions.
“The cowardly attack that took place today should not affect the determination of the Iraqi people from continuing their battle against the deposed regime and the gangs of criminal Baath party and the terrorist al Qaeda organization, who have committed the most heinous crimes against the civilians,'” al-Maliki said in a statement.
Countdown to the Liberal Democrats and Lefty Blogs saying “See? We need to leave, right now!” in 5…4…3..2…
This is what will happen, if we leave, before Iraq is ready to stand on its own. But multiply that by 1000%.