The Senate on Saturday blocked a bill that would have created a path to citizenship for certain young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children, completed two years of college or military service and met other requirements, including passing a criminal background check.
The vote by 55-41 in favor of the bill, which is known as the Dream Act, effectively kills it for this year, and its fate is uncertain. The measure needed the support of 60 senators to cut off a filibuster and bring it to the floor.
Supporters said they were heartened that the measure won the backing of a majority of the Senate. They said they would continue to press for it, either on its own or as part of a wide immigration overhaul that some Democrats hope to undertake next year and believe could be an area of cooperation with Republicans, who will control a majority in the House.
Most immediately, the measure would have helped grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant students and recent graduates whose lives are severely restricted, though many have lived in the United States for nearly their entire lives.
Young Hispanic men and women filled the spectator galleries of the Senate, many of them wearing graduation caps and tassels in a symbol of their support for the bill. They held hands in a prayerful gesture as the clerk called the roll and many looked stricken as its defeat was announced.
President Obama had personally lobbied lawmakers in support the bill. But Democrats were not able to hold ranks.
Five Democrats joined Republicans in opposing the bill. They were Senators Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Jon Tester of Montana.
And three Republicans joined the balance of Democrats in favor of it: Robert Bennett of Utah, Richard Lugar of Indiana, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Mr. Obama, in a statement, called the outcome âincredibly disappointingâ and said that he would continue fighting to win approval of the bill.
Which should prove that America is a center-right Country and that most Americans oppose any sort of disruption of what is commonly known as “RULE OF LAW.”
A federal grand jury today indicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father and three former top aides on racketeering charges, accusing them of turning the mayor’s office into a criminal enterprise to enrich themselves, families and friends.
Besides the now-jailed former mayor, the 38-count indictment names his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, city contractor Bobby Ferguson, former top Kilpatrick aide Derrick Miller and former water department chief Victor Mercado in one of the largest public corruption investigations ever in the City of Detroit.
The indictment outlined four general areas of misconduct.
It said the defendants extorted money from municipal contractors, state and non-profit donors and engaged in bribery and extortion involving other public contracts and investments.
The indictment said that Ferguson kicked back at least $424,000 in cash and other items of value to the mayor and that Kilpatrick used more than $590,000 in cash derived from the conspiracy to pay his credit card bills, purchase cashier’s checks and clothing and repay loans.
Bernard Kilpatrick, the indictment said, deposited more than $600,000 in cash into his personal bank accounts. He was charged with three counts of filing false tax returns for calendar years 2004, 21005 and 2007.
The penalties for the charges laid out in the indictment range from three to 30 year in prison.
I believe it also would be fair to point out that this is what happens when you have the mentality THAT YOU ARE BLACK AND THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED! This sort of mentality, for what it is worth; dates back to the days of the Coleman A. Young administration. The difference is that Kwame was not able to pay the feds off, like Mayor Young was able to do. Further more, from what I heard at the presser, that Kwame and friends were even doing this sort of that back when Kwame was a state representative.
The Detroit News Reports the list of people, besides Kilpatrick, who have been charged…..so far:
Karl Kado: The former Cobo contractor, who has said in sworn testimony he made illegal cash payments to former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, remains a key government witness and got three years probation.
Glenn Blanton: The former Cobo Center director who admitted taking illegal payments from Kado was sentenced to one year in prison for obstruction of justice.
Lou Pavledes: Another former Cobo director who admitted taking bribes from Kado, Pavledes got 14 months for a banking offense.
James R. Rosendall Jr.: The former Synagro Technologies Inc. vice president became an FBI informant and got 11 months for bribery.
Rayford W. Jackson: The Detroit businessman who was Synagro’s local partner is serving a five-year sentence for bribery.
Monica Conyers: The former Detroit city councilwoman who cast the deciding vote in favor of the $1.2 billion Synagro deal was sentenced to 37 months in prison for bribery.
Jerry M. Rivers: A former member of the mayor’s executive protection unit, Rivers pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with a city land sale and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Kandia Milton: A childhood friend and top aide to Kilpatrick, Milton pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with the city’s sale of Camp Brighton and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
DeDan Milton: Another longtime friend of Kilpatrick, who like his brother is cooperating with prosecutors, is to be sentenced to 42 months in prison for bribery.
Sam Riddle: The political consultant and former top aide to Monica Conyers pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge in May and was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Mary Waters: Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge in May in connection with the Southfield case and was sentenced to one year of probation.
William Lattimore: The former Southfield city councilman pleaded guilty to bribery after he was picked up on a wiretap of Riddle’s cell phone. Lattimore was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Marc Andre Cunningham: A former aide to Kilpatrick, he pleaded guilty to a bribery charge in November and awaits sentencing Feb. 10.
Brian Dodds: Co-owner of Howell-based D&R Earthmoving LLC, he pleaded guilty to concealing a crime in connection with an inflated contract Kilpatrick pal Bobby Ferguson received. He is to be sentenced Jan. 10. Ferguson has been indicted on multiple counts and awaits trial.
Rodney Burrell: The head of Northville-based R&R Heavy Haulers pleaded guilty to concealing a crime in connection with the same bid-rigging on the Ferguson contract. He is to be sentenced in March.
Hopefully and I do mean hopefully; this will send a message to anyone who seeks office in the city of Detroit — that if you run for public office and you decide to break the law, that you will be caught and you will be charged and that you will end up and jail.
Although, I will not lie to you; I have sinking suspicion that somebody somewhere, will play the race card and point out that the people filing these charges are mostly White and latino and will somehow or another convince a judge to throw out the case. I do truly hope that I am wrong about this, I really do. Because Detroit has been rife with corruption for much, much too damned long. Many people, for many, many years have gotten very wealthy by corrupt means in Detroit for much too long —- while the rest of the City of Detroit falls into ruin. It is morally wrong and these turkeys that broke the law ought be jailed for the longest terms possible.
Hopefully, and I mean this one, with all the sincerity that I can muster — as a former resident of that city — this will close the chapter of the culture of corruption in that City and that the City of Detroit can finally, and I do mean finally get on with the business of restoring that City to its once great status. This might be a small step, but it is a very important one and God-willing it will be the first big one.
The managing editor of Townhall Magazine called Diversity Lane “very, very well done.” And Michigan Review described it as “laugh out loud funny.” Why not make this the day you discover the best in conservative comedy today at Diversity Lane?
US Treasuries last week suffered their biggest two-day sell-off since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The borrowing costs of the government of the worldâs largest economy have now risen by a quarter over the past four weeks.
Such a sharp rise in US benchmark market interest rates matters a lot â and it matters way beyond America. The US government is now servicing $13.8 trillion (ÂŁ8.7 trilion) in declared liabilities â making it, by a long way, the worldâs largest debtor. Around $414bn of US taxpayersâ money went on sovereign interest payments last year â around 4.5 times the budget of Americaâs Department of Education.
Debt service costs have reached such astronomical levels even though, over the past year and more, yields have been kept historically and artificially low by âquantitative easing (QE)â â in other words, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernankeâs virtual printing press. Now borrowing costs are 28pc higher than a month ago, with the 10-year Treasury yield reaching 3.33pc last week, an already eye-watering debt service burden can only go up.
Few on this side of the Atlantic should feel smug. The eurozoneâs ongoing sovereign debt debacle has pushed up Germanyâs borrowing costs by 27pc over the last month â to 3.03pc. The market has judged that if Europeâs Teutonic powerhouse wants the single currency to survive, it will ultimately need to raise wads of cash to absorb the mess caused by other member statesâ fiscal incontinenceâŚ
âŚSome say that growing signs of a US economic recovery are positive for stocks, which means money is being diverted out of Treasuries, so lowering their price, which pushes up yields.Thatâs wishful thinking. Sovereign borrowing costs have just surged in the US â and therefore elsewhere â because a politically-wounded President Obama caved-in and extended the Bush-era tax cuts, combining them with a $120bn payroll tax holidayâŚ
âŚThe market is increasingly alarmed at the rate of increase of the US governmentâs already massive liabilities. Americaâs government debt is set to expand by a jaw-dropping 42pc over the next few years, reaching $19.6 trillion by 2015 according to Treasury Department estimates presented (amid very little fanfare) to Congress back in June. Since then, government spending has risen even more. So US debt service costs, like those of many other Western nations, are expanding rapidly in terms of both the volumes of sovereign instruments outstanding, and the yields on each bond.
You know what that means? It means that if you are a small time investor; that you need to get out of the Market NOW! This could have a huge impact on the market, and you could lose very big. I do virtual trading and so far, I have done well on my trades. But I am not about to lose my shirt, so, I ordered a sell off of everything. Now the big time guys will be able to afford to ride this out, because they have the wealth to spare. But the small time people will get burned. The best thing I can tell you small times investors, is to dump your shares and put it all into Gold. That would either be into EFT‘s or real actual Gold.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a expert on the subject of stocks, trading or even Gold. However, it does stand to reason that when such news as this is report, that it will affect the U.S. markets and the United States financial system. I do however, promote a great investment advice service called Elliotwave. You might want to check it out.
A Columbia University political science professor that blogs at the Huffington Post was charged Thursday with having a sexual relationship with his 24 year old daughter.
[David Epstein] was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with one count of incest in the third degree at an arraignment hearing on Thursday. According to police, the relationship appears to have been consensual.
Epstein declined to comment when reached on his cell phone Thursday evening.
His wife, Sharyn OâHalloran, chair of the executive committee of the University Senate and a tenured professor, also declined to comment when reached by phone.
The New York Daily News reports, “Epstein, who specializes in American politics and voting rights, has taught at Harvard and Stanford and often is quoted by news organizations.”
Epstein was not a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post, but what he did write was quite liberal.
Lovers necessarily keep or share secrets. Being in a healthy relationship means achieving a certain level of intimacy, where shared knowledge of each othersâ weaknesses and insecurities is protected by a bond of mutual trust. Sometimes lovers might do devilish things that outsiders wouldnât understand, or shouldnât be privy to, and this is fine. But by and large, what they do is simply no one elseâs business.
But imagine that the man in the relationship kept it a secret that he had other women on the side, kids, a criminal record, venereal disease, and basically betrayed his lover in every way imaginable, unbeknownst to her?
Now imagine a third party felt it was their moral duty to reveal it?
No one questions that governments must maintain a certain level of secrecy, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who told Time that âSecrecy is important for many things ⌠[but it] shouldnât be used to cover up abuses.â The entire premise of Assangeâs whistleblower organization is this: To what degree is government secrecy justified? And when particular secrets could be damaging to the other partner in the United States governmentâs relationship â the American people â should these secrets be revealed in the name of protecting the public?
How often does our government use ânational securityâ simply as an excuse to cover up questionable dealings? Reports Time: âin the past few years, governments have designated so much information secret that you wonder whether they intend the time of day to be classified. The number of new secrets designated as such by the U.S. government has risen 75% ⌠. At the same time, the number of documents and other communications created using those secrets has skyrocketed nearly 10 timesâŚâ
To say that government must keep secrets is not to say that all government secrets must be kept.
As admitted even by Pentagon officials and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, none of WikiLeaksâ revelations do anything to compromise national security or endanger American lives â but they have wreaked havoc on political life in Washington, D.C. Americans are not supposed to know, for example, that their government bullied and threatened individuals and other governments that might have undermined the Copenhagen climate change summit in 2009. The federal government attempting to squelch anyone who might undermine global-warming dogma? Do WikiLeaksâ conservative critics believe revealing this is a ânational securityâ risk?
Americans are not supposed to know, apparently, that behind the scenes Saudi Arabia has been encouraging the U.S. to take military action against Iran. But if we end up going to war with Iran shouldnât it be in Americaâs national interest, and not simply as a subcontractor for another country? Asks Fox Newsâ Judith Miller: âWhy should Americans not know that Arab states, often at the top level, have been urging Washington to take military or other drastic action against Iran, while they publicly oppose such action?â
And when did conservatives become so protective of Hillary Clinton? What happened to the days of the âStop Hillary Express,â when right-wing talk radio portrayed the former first lady as Satan and theorized about all the devious ways in which, if in power, she might conspire to bring down the country? When WikiLeaks revealed that Secretary of State Clinton tried to obtain DNA, fingerprints, credit-card numbers, and other private information belonging to United Nations officials, we learned that Clintonâs style was every bit as mafia-esque as her conservative critics once warned. Yet conservatives now attack WikiLeaks for revealing what they once feared. It should also be remembered that the same conservatives now calling for Assangeâs head either ignored or were sympathetic to Lewis âScooterâ Libbyâs outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame allegedly at the Bush administrationâs behest â a revelation arguably far riskier to our national security than anything ever released by WikiLeaks.
But the worst hypocrisy throughout this controversy has been in conservatives reflexively defending the government and attacking WikiLeaks. Since when have conservatives believed that Washington should be able to shroud any action it likes in secrecy and that revealing governmentâs nefarious deeds is tantamount to treason? Isnât it government officials who might secretly work for corporate, ideological or transnational interests â and against the national interest â who are betraying their country?
Interestingly, Wikileaksâ founder espouses the traditionally conservative, Jeffersonian view that Americaâs constitutional structure limits and lessens government corruption. Reported Time: âAssange appears to believe that the U.S. has not become âa much-worse-behaved superpowerâ because its federalism, âthis strength of the states,â has been a drag on the combination of the burgeoning power of the central government and a presidency that can expand its influence only by way of foreign affairs.â
Decentralizing government power, limiting it, and challenging it was the Foundersâ intent and these have always been core conservative principles. Conservatives should prefer an explosion of whistleblower groups like WikiLeaks to a federal government powerful enough to take them down. Government officials who now attack WikLleaks donât fear national endangerment, they fear personal embarrassment. And while scores of conservatives have long promised to undermine or challenge the current monstrosity in Washington, D.C., it is now an organization not recognizably conservative that best undermines the political establishment and challenges its very foundations.
(CNN) – Defying President Obama, House Democrats voted Thursday not to bring up the tax package that he negotiated with Republicans in its current form.
“This message today is very simple: That in the form that it was negotiated, it is not acceptable to the House Democratic caucus. It’s as simple as that,” said Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen.
“We will continue to try and work with the White House and our Republican colleagues to try and make sure we do something right for the economy and right for jobs, and a balanced package as we go forward,” he said.
The vote comes a day after Vice President Biden made clear to House Democrats behind closed doors that the deal would unravel if any changes were made.
“Wow did the [White House] mishandle this,” a senior House Democratic Source told CNN. “Breathtaking. Members have major substantive concerns and they should have gently guided people to the finish line.”
Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon said: “They said take it or leave it. We left it.”
Naturally, it is the Democrats of the far left stripe who want to play politics with a bill that will actually help the middle class:
Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that âthis means we will not bring this [agreement] to the floor as is. It has to be changed.â
Daly would not outline what revisions House Democrats specifically are seeking, but he did say that Pelosi would stand by todayâs caucus resolutionâŚ
Asked whether Pelosi would bring up the package over the objections of her Democratic colleagues, Miller suggested that wouldnât happen without further consultions with rank-and-file lawmakers.
âI still think itâs going to go throughâwhy do you think it isnât?â Frank said in a Thursday interview outside the caucus meeting. âI always knew a majority of Democrats would be against it. I still think they have the votes for it, yeah.â He added that House Democrats simply lacked the ability to have a major impact on the legislation: âI think the notion that the caucus controls legislation is not a good one.â
Frank emphasized that he still opposed the tax-cut bargain but nevertheless thought a vote should be held on the tax package as it currently stands. Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have to decide herself whether to bring the legislation to a vote on the House floorâa decision that many House Dems at the caucus meeting suggested was up in the air. But Frank was convinced that Pelosi would bring the presidentâs tax deal forward: âI think she will have to, yeah.â
So, at this point, I do not know what is going to happen, nor do I believe the Democrats know either. One thing I will say is this; if the Democrats decide to play partisan politics with this bill and let it and DREAM act bill die — over stupid stuff like ideological purity, the American people, especially the middle class —- like my parents, are going to be very highly ticked at Congress and basically the Democrats will be sealing their own fates come 2012.
Americans, not matter what their political leanings, understand one thing very well. Paying taxes, means losing their own money to the Government. Which in turn means less money of their own to spend, and that makes for a very unhappy constituency. Doing this sort of a bill, over something as idiotic as political ideology or purity is a suicide pact.
Honestly, I am ashamed of the Democrats at his point. They are doing the same damned thing that the Republicans did with George W. Bush back in 2006. They are following him to the edge of the cliff and jumping off with him, without regard for the Country or the well being of the American people. Not to mention for the well-being of their Party. At this point it is all about egos and ambition. It is insanity and will cost the Democrats for a very long time to come. The President of the United States gave them the best damned compromise that he could get and they are acting like spoiled brats. I am not trying to defending anyone or anybody, least of all the President. However, when I see that polls show that people actually like this Bill, right and left, I just have to wonder, who are these idiots on the hill looking out for?
Now to listen to the Democratstalk, now is a time of doom and gloom for them.
However, I have to make a startling confession; I was actually impressed with part of this presser. No, I am not talking about the part where he called the GOP hostage takers and so forth. :roll:I expected that stuff, heck, he is a Liberal Democrat. What else was he supposed to say?!?
I am referring to the part where President Obama basically told the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party folk in Congress, “Hey guys? If you had done your jobs before the primary election, we could not be in this position; so, put a sock in it and be glad that we got what we got from the other side!” That impressed me greatly. Any leader who is willing to stand up to his own party and tell them to “get bent” has my respect.
I tend to believe that this will be the end of the “nice” Barack Obama and might just be the beginning of the savvy stern leader President Barack Obama. One of the biggest complaints about him, is that he was too soft. The President might just be trying to reverse that image. It can’t hurt. I mean, maybe if he actually showed some leadership. It might just help his poll numbers.
I do not expect much praise from the Neo-Con side of the fence, as they’ve made a cottage industry out of being his biggest critics. However, I do offer it, as I am not nearly as into the smear machine as some.
Julian Assange poses a clear and present danger to American national security. The WikiLeaks founder is more than a reckless provocateur. He is aiding and abetting terrorists in their war against America. The administration must take care of the problem – effectively and permanently.
The recent WikiLeaks document dump is the latest example of Mr. Assange’s dangerous behavior. His release of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, many of them containing classified information, is a major blow to our foreign policy. The essence of diplomacy – especially that of a great power – is the ability to conduct negotiations and hold talks in secret. Foreign leaders will not be willing to engage in sensitive discussions with American emissaries if their words are going to be splashed across the front pages of the world’s newspapers. Officials in autocratic and Islamist states often risk their lives to cooperate with Washington, usually by providing vital information or advice. They now face a further disincentive to help us: The U.S. government can no longer guarantee the privacy and secrecy of their discussions.
American diplomacy has been crippled. So has our ability to conduct the war on terrorism. For example, the cables cache reveals that the United States is working closely with Yemen’s dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in launching drone strikes against local al Qaeda bases. Al Qaeda has spread to Yemen. Its insurgency is growing. Yemen risks becoming what Afghanistan was before Sept. 11, 2001: a vast sanctuary for jihadists. Mr. Saleh insists that Yemeni public opinion – insular, xenophobic and increasingly Islamic – will not support the U.S. military presence on domestic soil. Hence, he says the pretense must be maintained that Yemen is firing the missiles, not America. This pretense has been shattered – and with it, perhaps, a key ally in the struggle against al Qaeda. Mr. Assange is helping chase the American infidel out of Yemen’s desolate deserts.
[………]
The United States is paying a severe price for Mr. Obama’s negligence. This is the greatest diplomatic crisis since the late 1940s, when communist agents in the U.S. government provided atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The world is witnessing the absurd, almost surreal spectacle of the American superpower standing helpless in the face of a lone hacker. Her diplomatic secrets are no longer safe; her allies and friends are being betrayed; and her cyber-enemies are free to roam with impunity. America is no longer feared or respected.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. vows that he is looking into possible criminal charges against Mr. Assange. It is too late for tough talk. At this point, we are beyond indictments and courts. The damage has been done; people have died – and will die because of the actions of this puerile, self-absorbed narcissist. News reports say the WikiLeaks founder is hiding out in England. If that’s true, we should treat Mr. Assange the same way as other high-value terrorist targets: Kill him
Okay, here is the question that I feel the need to ask. Are we going to kill someone every time some whistle blower decides to speak out and expose some corruption in Government? Because if that is where we are headed, that is a slippery slope we can never recover from. Like anyone else, I am for open Government, I am also for seeing elected officials held accountable. However, if the United States Government and more importantly the United States Military is being put at risk, then by all means, arrest this guy and put him away.
I have no idea what Julian Assange‘s motivation is; whether it is conspiracy theory, politics or if he is just a pompous ass. But the idea of KILLING someone, just because decide to release some confidential information is not something, as a Conservative; who believes in rule of law and not Governmental treachery, that I can support. Because once you unleash that monster onto the American and World Wide Community, it cannot be stopped.
I would think that Jeff Kuhner would be a bit smarter than that. However, when you are working for a paper that basically was a cheerleader for the Bush Administration during the lead up to and during the Iraqi Invasion, one can expect only so much.
Well, I submitted this entry to Reddit and as I expected, it was voted down. What I did not expect is this, click the picture bigger:
Nice. đ
I wonder if the owners of Reddit would be willing to stand behind those sort of comments?
I explained as to why I called Helen Thomas what I did. Not because she was an Arab, but because of what she said, and this is the sort of hate that I get in return? I find it appalling that Reddit would allow such hate on their site. Unbelievable. đŻ
So, the next time some idiot liberal tells you that the Republican Party is the party of hate — show them this blog entry, please.
Also, please note; this is not the first time this has happened to me. This is just the first time that I have chosen to go public with it. There have been times, when I have writing positive stuff about Conservatives, only to have it voted down. However, I have written stuff critical of Sarah Palin and Republicans and had it voted up. That my friends is bias and it needs to be stopped at Reddit, Period.
I put that headline up there intentionally, because Helen Thomas IS a Arab dog in my humble opinion. Anyone that would make an asinine comment like the one that she made, is a damn dog in my opinion.
Striking a defiant tone, journalist Helen Thomas, 90, said today she absolutely stands by her controversial comments about Israel made earlier this year that led to her resignation. But she stoked additional controversy with new remarks, claiming that “Zionists” control U.S. foreign policy and other American institutions. The local Jewish community strongly condemned her remarks.
“I can call a president of the United States anything in the book but I can’t touch Israel, which has Jewish-only roads in the West Bank,” Thomas said. “No American would tolerate that — white-only roads.”
Thomas, who grew up in Detroit the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, was in Dearborn today for an Arab Detroit workshop on anti-Arab bias. The Free Press asked her about her comments, which critics have said were anti-Israel.
“I paid the price for that,” said Thomas, a longtime White House correspondent. “But it was worth it, to speak the truth.”
“The Zionists have to understand that’s their country, too. Palestinians were there long before any European Zionists.”
Thomas claimed that “You can not say anything (critical) about Israel in this country.”
In a speech that drew a standing ovation, Thomas talked about “the whole question of money involved in politics.”
“We are owned by propagandists against the Arabs. There’s no question about that. Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists. No question in my opinion. They put their money where there mouth isâŚWe’re being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.”
Using this flea bag old biddy’s logic, Helen Thomas herself is indirectly responsible for 9/11. What am I talking about? Helen Thomas is a Arabic woman, she is Palestinian; so were the men who hijacked those planes on 9/11, so that makes Helen Thomas indirectly responsible for the terrorist attacks on 9/11. After all, if we are going to go the collective route and blame everyone for everything, why not blame Helen Thomas for 9/11?
In case, your one of those slow people; what I just wrote was sarcasm. Because it is, in fact, that stupid. But Helen Thomas has all that covered:
In the interview, Thomas talked about the problems that Palestinians face, saying that “Arabs are not terrorists.“
Which is quite funny, because it is the Arab Muslims that are doing the acts of terrorism —- not Jews, not Hindus, not Buddhists, not Christians; but Arab Terrorists. What Helen Thomas is referring to is the fact that a good majority of Americans believe that ALL Arabs are terrorists. There is a reason for this perception, it is because the majority of peace loving Muslims in America and abroad steadfastly refuse to stand up against those who choose to engage in terrorism, and chose to take a extremist stance on the Koran. Now, there is a defense for that, and I know what it is; it is because if these peace-loving Muslims abroad do speak up, they could be killed by those who are taking the extremist position.
There is a solution to that problem —– numbers. That’s right numbers. There is an old saying, “There is strength in numbers.” Peace-loving Arab Muslims in mass numbers need to rise up and take their Religion back from these cold blooded killers who have hi-jacked a Religion away from those who simply want to practice their religion in peace. Which is why the good majority of Muslims migrate here to American, so that they can do just that.
Now I could go on about what Helen Thomas has said, but I have to honestly ask myself. Is she worth it? The smart answer is no. Helen Thomas is just asking for the attention. I will not give it to her. She went on about the Iraq War, and repeated the liberal talking points about that war. Which is to be expected by her; as she herself, a liberal.
I called Helen Thomas an Arab dog, because that is what she is acting like — a Dog. This is not to say that I actually believe that ALL persons of Arabic decent are Dogs, as I do not. I believe that there are respectable persons of Arabic decent; I also believe that there are racist Anti-Semite Arabs as well. Helen Thomas is quite obviously one of those. Thus the reason why I called her an Arab Dog.
There is no maturity here; no self-reflection; no capacity even to think how to appeal to the half of Americans who are already so appalled by her trashy behavior and cheap publicity stunts. There is a meanness, a disrespect, a vicious partisanship that, if allowed to gain more power, would split this country more deeply and more rancorously than at any time in recent years. And that’s saying something.
I also give Sully credit for not swiping her on that silly screw up with the Korea’s. That was petty and stupid.
Having said that —- Let’s not even talk her appearing with that mentally depraved Feminist Nazi Geraldine Ferraro and acting like she was some sort of hero of hers. She did everything but go down on her, on live TV. Hmph, some Conservative. đ
Plain and simple, Sarah Palin is a damned liberal in a Conservative skin, who thinks she is entitled to be President —– because she is a woman. Reagan is a damned skirt; please don’t make me barf. She’s nothing more than a attention whoring twat, with foul mouthed and slutty daughters. She is not fit to be Mayor of Utah, much less President of the United States. The quicker she disappears from the public scene, the better.
I wonder, are the Palin daughters and fan boys going to some swear at me too? đ
The managing editor of Townhall Magazine called Diversity Lane “very, very well done.” And Michigan Review described it as “laugh out loud funny.” Why not make this the day you discover the best in conservative comedy today at Diversity Lane?
Nearly three years ago, The Washington Independent was launched as a bold experiment in online journalism. The idea was to combine hard-nosed investigative reporting with all the web had to offer: the nimbleness of real-time coverage, the interactivity made possible by this new thing called blogging, and the ability to create a narrative that was bigger than the sum of its parts.
The results were spectacular. We won awards for our reporting and recognition for our pioneering efforts. We sent reporters to Alaska, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. We graced numerous TV shows and were cited by every leading newspaper in the country. Most important, our reporting made a difference, whether by bringing flawed legislation and programs to the attention of people in power or by bringing critical overlooked issues to the attention of a broader public.
But TWI was not just a journalistic experiment; it was also a financial one, and ultimately, the successes of the former couldnât sustain the strains of the latter. Our first year was marked by a kind of exceptionalism, the feeling that we were expanding as other newsrooms were contracting, that this new model of journalism would survive as our dead-tree colleagues struggled. But in the end, we fell prey to the recession just like everyone else.
TWI has always relied on donations, primarily from foundations seeking to promote journalism in the public interest. Those donations began drying up long ago. Iâm grateful to the American Independent News Network for keeping TWI alive long past the point when its expenses began exceeding its receipts. But it wasnât sustainable, and today the bosses informed us theyâre pulling the plug. On Dec. 1, TWI will begin mirroring the content of our networkâs other national site, The American Independent. TWIâs reporters and I will look elsewhere for work.
Perhaps if this publication would have tried a little more honesty and a bit less liberal bias; they would still be around. Them are the breaks. I wish them luck.
This is an interesting video. I do not know what is more humorous; watching John Stewart trying to deny that he is in the same league as the liberal news or Rachel Maddow refusing to accept that MSNBC is the liberal equivalent of Fox News.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s top adviser suggested to The Huffington Post late Wednesday that the administration is ready to accept an across-the-board, temporary continuation of steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers.
That appears to be the only way, said David Axelrod, that middle-class taxpayers can keep their tax cuts, given the legislative and political realities facing Obama in the aftermath of last week’s electoral defeat.
“We have to deal with the world as we find it,” Axelrod said during an unusually candid and reflective 90-minute interview in his office, steps away from the Oval Office. “The world of what it takes to get this done.”
“There are concerns,” he added, that Congress will continue to kick the can down the road in the future by passing temporary extensions for the wealthy time and time again. “But I don’t want to trade away security for the middle class in order to make that point.”
It has been widely assumed that the president would have to accept an across-the-board deal of some kind, but Axelrod’s remarks were the first public confirmation of that fact — and by a figure regarded as closer to Obama than any other White House staffer.
Also dealing “with the world as we find it,” Axelrod declined repeatedly to comment on any of the controversial debt-reduction measures suggested by the chairs of the president’s own commission — even those, such as raising the Social Security retirement age, that go against Obama campaign pledges and strike at the heart of Democratic constituencies.
He said that the White House would wait until the commission made its final recommendations on Dec. 1 before adding, “the president’s commitments haven’t changed.”
This is the consequence of the election. The President is in full on, “I will give you whatever you want, just please do not hurt me!” mode. This is what happens when your Party has lost an election. It is called conceding power. It is something that the Democrats are never good at doing, at all. The unpopular truth is, that the Democrats have no one to blame, but themselves. They are the ones who overreached during the 2008 election and promptly kicked their base square in the jewels and left them out in the cold. They are the ones who, instead of passing job creation bills and a stimulus bill and waiting to see of the economy recovered — instead passed a unpopular health-care bill that no one understood, much less wanted; and now they are paying the price for that stupidity.
The best these jackass idiots can do, is to continue to blame Bush over and over for something that he really had nothing do with. In fact, had Bush not taken some of the steps that he had; we would be in a full on 1930’s or worse style of massive depression. Needless to say, some of Bush’s actions did not sit too well with his base. Either way, the Democrats will use Bush as the proverbial “Human Shield” for a long time to come, when they are not spewing hate about him like this here: (H/T The Right Scoop Originally at The Blaze)
Needless to say, I believe that 2012 will be a referendum on this sort of blind hatred towards Republicans and Conservative values that people like me, hold dear. Further more, I believe that the 2012 elections will be a huge sea change of power and the Democrats will be sent to the wilderness, where they belong.
However, because I am a fair and balanced type of person and because I just do not carry water for ANY political party; I will say this — The Republican Party has one more chance to get it right. If it blows it this time and in 2012, they are sunk and our Nation, as a whole, will most likely be sunk as well. Here is hoping, for the sake and good of this Country, that they do it right and not screw it up. We are counting on you all, please….. Get it right.
We are here because the U.S. is going to end soon. Thereâs going to be an intense, violent, probably haphazard struggle for control. Itâs going to come down to us versus them. The question is: What are you going to do about it?âŚ
Christian fundamentalists, the millennial end-of-theworlders obsessed with the Left Behind series about the End Times, neo-Nazi racists, rural black-helicopter Michigan Militia types cut from the same inbred cloth as Timothy McVeigh, allied with âmainstreamâ gun nuts and right-wing Republicans, have been planning, preparing, and praying for the destruction of the âGodless,â âsecularâ United States for decades. In the past, they formed groups like the John Birch Society and the Aryan Nations. Now the hard Right has a postmodern, decentralized non-organization organization called the Tea Party.
Right-wing organizational names change, but they amount to the same thing: the reactionary sociopolitical forceâthe sole forceâpoised to fill the vacuum when collapse occurs. The scenario outlined by Margaret Atwoodâs prescient novel The Handmaidâs Taleârednecks in the trenches, hard military men running things, minorities and liberals taken away and massacred, setting the stage for an even more extreme form of laissez-faire corporate capitalism than weâre suffering under todayâis a fair guess of how a post-U.S. scenario will play out unless we prepare to turn it in another directionâŚ
A war is coming. At stake: our lives, the planet, freedom, living. The government, the corporations, and the extreme right are prepared to coalesce into an Axis of Evil. Are you going to fight back? Will you do whatever it takes, including taking up arms?
Now, I ask publicly; who among the far liberal left is going to notify the FBI, that this guy is threatening violence against Conservatives, Christians, and Republicans? I mean, I got these tweets basically saying that I am being reported to FBI for expressing an opinion about the far socialist left. Are you same people going to report this leftist guy for being threatening as well?
I will not hold my breath. Because I know the truth about the FBI. They only respond, if they believe the public’s life is in danger and they know for a fact, that I have zero ties to any extremist organizations. Further more, I have zero record with any police department. Not only this, unlike the majority of the liberal left; the FBI KNOWS the law and I have done absolutely ZERO to break ANY federal law. I am exercising my first amendment rights. Just like Ted Rall did.
So, to the liberal idiots, trying to scare me. Nice try gents, but this is one man, who knows the law better than ANY of you.
You know all that talk about whether Keith Olbermann would ever be back on MSNBC?
Well whoever speculated about that (me) was totally off â Olbermann will return to Countdown Tuesday night.
From Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC:
After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday nightâs program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy. We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.
This week, Americans across the country cast their votes and made their voices heard. And your message was clear.
Youâre rightly frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery. So am I.
Youâre fed up with partisan politics and want results. I do too.
So I congratulate all of this weekâs winners â Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. But now, the campaign season is over. And itâs time to focus on our shared responsibilities to work together and deliver those results: speeding up our economic recovery, creating jobs, and strengthening the middle class so that the American Dream feels like itâs back within reach.
Thatâs why Iâve asked to sit down soon with leaders of both parties so that we can have an extended discussion about what we can do together to move this country forward.
And over the next few weeks, weâre going to have a chance to work together in the brief upcoming session of Congress.
Hereâs why this lame duck session is so important. Early in the last decade, President Bush and Congress enacted a series of tax cuts that were designed to expire at the end of this year.
What that means is, if Congress doesnât act by New Yearâs Eve, middle-class families will see their taxes go up starting on New Yearâs Day.
But the last thing we should do is raise taxes on middle-class families. For the past decade, they saw their costs rise, their incomes fall, and too many jobs go overseas. Theyâre the ones bearing the brunt of the recession. Theyâre the ones having trouble making ends meet. They are the ones who need relief right now.
So somethingâs got to be done. And I believe thereâs room for us to compromise and get it done together.
Letâs start where we agree. All of us want certainty for middle-class Americans. None of us want them to wake up on January 1st with a higher tax bill. Thatâs why I believe we should permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for all families making less than $250,000 a year. Thatâs 98 percent of the American people.
We also agree on the need to start cutting spending and bringing down our deficit. Thatâs going to require everyone to make some tough choices. In fact, if Congress were to implement my proposal to freeze non-security discretionary spending for three years, it would bring this spending down to its lowest level as share of the economy in 50 years.
But at a time when we are going to ask folks across the board to make such difficult sacrifices, I donât see how we can afford to borrow an additional $700 billion from other countries to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent, even for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. Weâd be digging ourselves into an even deeper fiscal hole and passing the burden on to our children.
I recognize that both parties are going to have to work together and compromise to get something done here. But I want to make my priorities clear from the start. One: middle class families need permanent tax relief. And two: I believe we canât afford to borrow and spend another $700 billion on permanent tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.
There are new public servants in Washington, but we still face the same challenges. And you made it clear that itâs time for results. This a great opportunity to show everyone that we got the message and that weâre willing, in this post-election season, to come together and do whatâs best for the country we all love.
[David Epstein] was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with one count of incest in the third degree at an arraignment hearing on Thursday. According to police, the relationship appears to have been consensual.
