Here is something that the founders of Reason Magazine would not have wanted.
Check out the screencap:
You can go here, and or just hover over this link here to watch the video. But it is sad to see a independent libertarian magazine like Reason magazine selling out it’s soul to those to advocated the War in Iraq; which we now know was based upon lies. Which, by the way and for what it is actually worth, I knew way back before I ever switched sides politically. It just took forever for that truth ever came out. How convenient that it comes out after Bush is safely out of office. 🙄
Lew Rockwell and I have never agreed on much of anything at all; mainly because of his morbid obsession with seeing police officers killed in action. However, I will give him this; when he said “No one dare call it Reason,” he was absolutely correct.
To Lew Rockwell, I am a Neo-Con Statist; mainly because I thought his hatred of police officers was rather morbid. However, when it comes to stuff like this; Rockwell is right on point.
At Rep. Paul Broun’s town hall meeting on Tuesday, the Athens congressman asked who had driven the farthest to be there and let the winner ask the first question.
We couldn’t hear the question in the back of the packed Oglethorpe County Commission chamber, but whatever it was, it got a big laugh. According to an outraged commenter on the article, the question was, when is someone going to shoot Obama?
I’ve asked Team Broun whether that was indeed the question and haven’t gotten an answer. The commenter accurately described the questioner and the circumstances, and no one has disputed his account.
Update: Broun’s press secretary, Jessica Morris, confirmed that the question was indeed, who is going to shoot Obama? “Obviously, the question was inappropriate, so Congressman Broun moved on,” she said.
Here was Broun’s response:
The thing is, I know there’s a lot of frustration with this president. We’re going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we’ll elect somebody that’s going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
All Americans should condemn assassination speech, but especially if you’re a member of congress. What an epic shame. What a blight these people are on our government.
Um, Mr. Willis, Where were you, when these people were walking around with signs like this? (H/T NewsBusters)
Where were you Oliver, when these things was being paraded in the streets?
Oh, I know where you were Mr. Willis; you were out there helping CARRYING these signs and things around, weren’t you?
How is it, when a White Conservative Republican is in the White House and liberals threaten to kill him —- it is perfectly fine. But you let a socialist Negro in the damned White House and just because someone dares to verbalize what many in the silent majority are thinking; that is some sort of a fucking federal crime? Tell me that! By the way, I call him a socialist Negro, because that is what the hell he is, I do not believe in Political Correctness on this blog. I call it like I see it.
UPDATE, 11:50 a.m.: In a new statement Rep Paul Broun appears to admit he should have condemned his constituent:
Tuesday night at a town hall meeting in Oglethorpe County, Georgia an elderly man asked the abhorrent question, “Who’s going to shoot Obama?” I was stunned by the question and chose not to dignify it with a response; therefore, at that moment I moved on to the next person with a question. After the event, my office took action with the appropriate authorities.
I deeply regret that this incident happened at all. Furthermore, I condemn all statements — made in sincerity or jest — that threaten or suggest the use of violence against the President of the United States or any other public official. Such rhetoric cannot and will not be tolerated.
“In this case this was poor taste,” the source says. “The person realized that.”
Now there’s the small matter of whether Broun regrets not condemning the comment. My understanding is more will be forthcoming from his office on this soon, so stay tuned.
Happy now crybabies? 🙄
Anyhow, yeah, it was stupid; I will admit that, but where was all of that outrage, when the liberals were wanting Bush dead? Fucking hypocrites, the damned whole lot of them. 😡
Note: I just noticed the silly typo in the headline. Hug ordeal? Good Lord. 🙄 I fixed it.
UPDATE: Tikkum olam is a rabbinical concept that might properly be translated as “for the public good,” but which in the modern era has been politicized by many on the Left, so that it is indistinguishable in their interpretation from “social justice.” Most famously, Michael Lerner — a 1960s anti-war radical who once led an SDS splinter group called the Seattle Liberation Front — named his magazine Tikkun.
I am assuming that Ben Howe is Jewish; That is a new one on me. and This ugly leftist must be Jewish too, she certainly ugly enough to be one. (D’oh! I am so bad… 😛 )
So, does this make this little incident, Jew Vs Jew, you know; kinda like Spy Vs Spy?
Note: Sorry about that misspelling in the headline. I just woke up here, due some awful heartburn. I love ya Mexico, but your food plays hell on my tummy! 🙁 I know, I know, go from picking on Jews to Mexicans; Hey, at least I am fair and…slightly balanced. 😀
Believe me, when I tell you. I am not a big fan of Tabitha Hale; she just did not make a big impression on me at all. Might be because of silly photos like this here. Not that a I hate her or anything; just with me, first impressions are everything, and she did not really impress me much.
Only defense is I have for the guy is this; he did not want to be taped and he slapped the camera. It is considered assault and I would have been calling the police, or better yet, I would have been kicking the guys ass. This is why I advocate going to these events armed, or if you know one of these is showing up. I would have armed to tooth and would have exercised my second amendment rights on his head with my glock. I do not advocate just shooting someone —- just to be shooting someone or murder — but I do advocate defense; and in this case, this mans killing would have been justified.
Like I said, I do not hate the lady or anything, but her silly looking photos did not impress me one bit.
This must be more of that liberal civility we have been hearing about, right? 🙄
I’m a 5?1 female in a dress, and he was standing up on a garden wall above me in the courtyard. He hardly felt threatened. I was stunned, because generally protesters are there to, you know, get their message out. They don’t normally shy away from the camera.
I’m very much okay, and very appreciative of the support from my fellow bloggers and activists today. I am, however, shaken up by the level of sheer hatred I experienced today. The look of fury on his face in the close up is appalling. I had not exchanged a word with him. He didn’t know who I was. He didn’t even know my name, what I do. He had probably surmised that I was with FreedomWorks and that was enough.
This just can’t be tolerated anymore. It’s one thing to be called a violent teabagger. It’s another to be called a violent teabagger while you’re being assaulted. They’ve been comparing themselves to the Egyptians ousting Mubarak. Looks like they’re not too far off, given that they share the tendency to assault women with cameras.
In addition, it’s disgusting to me that the first response I received from the Left was rationalization. “You were too close, respect personal space” and “well he obviously didn’t want to be filmed!” – essentially, it’s the “her skirt was too short” defense. No one deserves to be hit. The concern from a bystander was that “You’ll get on the news, stop it!” Unfortunately for him, he did not know who he was dealing with. I will ensure that this happens.
I was not asking for this. There was no confrontation between the thug and myself prior to this. He had not asked me to put the camera away. I was not as close as the video implies (it was cropped from a vertical iPhone video so it would fit on youtube). I was simply filming a protest, as I have done for the past two years. Amazingly enough, none of those crazy right wing extremists ever hit me.
At this point, I’m grateful we moved to a higher security building last month. For a bunch of violent racists, the Left sure seems to be comfortable threatening and attacking us.
We must really suck as bullies.
First of all, I do not know who the hell she thinks she’s calling someone on the left, and second of all; my feeling is, you can’t take the damned heat, then stay out of the kitchen. Also too, thanks for reminding us, that your a poor innocent little girl, we needed that. If Freedom Works is so damned worried about security, why was not the police called and a report filed, why were there no people there armed to make sure nothing like that happened? I will tell you why; because it is all about publicity; Tabitha’s and more broadly Freedom Work’s. This Video will get circulated and more people will feel sorry for Tabitha and money will flow, it is a classic strategy.
…and lastly, No Tabitha, you do not suck as a bully; but you sure do suck at sob stories and at being a political pawn.
I post this, with the usual disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this video are not necessarily those of the owner of this Blog.
This blog does not advocate any sort of violence towards anyone in Government at all. We have a system of redress of grievances in this Country. It is called the ballot box.
However, there are some legitimate points and stories that are included in this report; which is why I post them.
—————-
Synopsis:
This week we bring big brother to the spot light. Hillary’s security muffling protest and remote controlled birds are spying on us, people losing their cars to corrupt city laws. Fox admits to their "screw up" with egg on their face after Ron Paul pulls in over 700,000 dollars to his cause and another Paul gets drafted for the Senate. Libya is figures it's time for a change as they start their own anti government riots. Oathkeeper Stuwart Rhodes sits down with Sheriff Mack to discuss a possible 2012 Senate bid. Federal spending bill is doomed to failed after Obama promises to veto. Hold tight, it’s the Reality Report!
This, my friends, is a sign that she is totally ate up with herself:
Sarah Palin has apparently created a second Facebook account with her Gmail address so that this fake “Lou Sarah” person can praise the other Sarah Palin on Facebook. The Gmail address is available for anyone to see in this leaked manuscript about Sarah Palin, and the Facebook page for “Lou Sarah” — Sarah Palin’s middle name is “Louise” — is just a bunch of praise and “Likes” for the things Sarah Palin likes and writes on her other Sarah Palin Facebook page. “Lou Sarah” even says “amen” to Facebook posts by Sarah Sarah.
So we’ve been reading this leaked Palin book. Interesting read! But this manuscript doesn’t seem quite ready to be published, despite it being leaked around to the entire Internet. Frank Bailey and his co-authors excerpt a bunch of Sarah Palin’s e-mails, and one page of these excerpts shows Palin’s personal Gmail address. We searched for this address on Facebook, the way millions of people search for people on Facebook every day, and it appears that Palin keeps a second Facebook account. Besides staying in touch with Sarah Palin’s father Chuck Heath, what does “Lou Sarah” use Facebook for? Saying “amen” to her own Facebook fan page missives, in the guise of a completely different person. “Lou Sarah” also really “LIkes” Bristol Palin’s Dancing With the Stars photos.
Oh, it looks like we spoke too soon. Somebody finally shut down the “Lou Sarah” account, either while we were writing that last post or after it went up. So we guess Palin’s statement last night is true. Her public page is her only account, currently, as “Lou Sarah” is no more. Meanwhile, our repeated e-mails to Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account, as it was listed in her former advisor’s leaked book, continue to be unreturned. But we’re not getting delivery errors back, so the account still exists. We’ll let you know when that gets shut down too, we guess.
Sarah Palin says it was not her account. Sarah Palin also said her daughter was not knocked up too, when that first broke too. She also says Trig is her baby too. 🙄
I’m just sayin!
She’ll never be president; if she even fucking tries, I will make it my life’s goal to destroy that bitch; I assure you of that. She’s not a Conservative, she is a feminist and a liberal populist and I will do everything within my means to stop her from the nomination. You have been warned, Mrs. Palin. 😡
Good ol’ Glenn Reynolds, supposedly a law professor in Tennessee; although conversely, he does more blogging, than teaching, if you ask me. Uses this horrible story of a woman, who was found dead in a office cubical to make a cheap political point.
It appears to me that there seems to be a problem in the Conservative movement; and that is an attempt by the Republican and Conservative establishment, to silence those with whom they disagree or dislike. Earlier this week, on my personal Blog, I posted two videos; one of RINO, Neo-Conservative princess Sarah Palin, saying that the “Birther” issue was a distraction to the Conservative and Tea Party movement and another of Karl Rove; who conversely was the brains behind Neo-Conservative George W. Bush’s Presidency. A Presidency that included the invasion and occupation of the sovereign Nation of Iraq —-which we now know was based upon a lie. Karl Rove in this video suggested that the Birther movement should be excommunicated from the Republican Party and from the Conservative movement entirely, like the John Birch Society was from the Republican Party and the Conservative movement was by that pied piper of the establishment; William F. Buckley.
I have read quite a bit about that so-called excommunication, and in all reality it was an unfair branding of the John Birch Society as being a racist and anti-Semitic organization. This was performed by Neo-Conservatives, which were and still are, former Democrats who seem to be in love with idea of a big Government — as long as they are the people controlling it. Furthermore, Neo-Conservatives claim, falsely of course; to be for the constitution — all the while declaring war against countries and other actions that fly in the face of the very principles that the document itself was founded upon. They do this, all the while, defending a Country and people, who look upon the people of Christian America as nothing more than a group of idiots, of good use. Yes, Neo-Conservatives, I am referring to your pet project —- Israel. All of this, in the name of “Defending America” or as it should be called, “defending the empire.”
If any of this sounds even vaguely familiar — it is because Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany or for you history buffs — Rome — minus Israel, of course; did the same very things and eventually were destroyed or simply went broke and failed.
You see, I happen to believe that those who have doubts about President Barack Obama’s place of origin or birthplace; or “Birthers” as they are called by those who wish to degrade them, members of the John Birch Society, we Paleoconservatives and our cousins; Libertarians — are Americans too. I believe that anyone who tries to silence any sort of political thought, belief, or conviction — of any sort — is doing what was done to those who dared to challenge the actions of Adolf Hitler and the Communist leadership in the former Soviet Union. Yes, that does include those, of whom I disagree with. It is called thought policing and it goes against the very tenets of our United States Constitution and the very ideals that surrounded our leaving of England to find a land, where we as a people could be free to worship God in the way that we pleased — without fear of persecution. This is what caused Senator Joseph McCarthy to lose support from his fellow Republicans.
Whenever you seek to control those with whom you disagree, you run the danger of becoming like the liberal left in this Country. This is why I have such an issue with the Neo-Conservative wing of the Republican Party. It is because of the mentality of “We are always right in what we believe and if anyone disagrees with our way of thinking and Governing; then that person is not a real Conservative.” Furthermore, they will try to suppress those, of whom they disagree; that my friend is a tactic right out of the Saul Alinsky playbook. This is to isolate, suppress and even mock and ridicule those who are in opposition to what these people believe. Hence, the reason Neo-Conservatives are even called by that name, it is not a slanderous term that is related to a particular ethnic or Religious group, it is a name given to bunch of people, who bolted from the socialist party and joined the right — and brought their tactics with them.
Now, I feel that I should be clear; I do not have any problem believing that President Barack Obama is a citizen of the United States of America. However, I believe that President Barack Obama, like every other President; should release his original long form birth certificate. Now does that make me a crazy person? I think not. Furthermore, I believe that John Birch Society is a great American institution of liberty and I happen to agree with the majority of what they believe in, if not all of it — Now does that make me a crazy person or even a racist or anti-Semite — of course not. I also happen to believe that Pat Buchanan and Representative Ron Paul are both exemplary Americans, who happen to love their Country and do not wish to see it become another third world Nation lost to the wiles of Socialism and Globalism. Now, does that make me some sort of a racist, Anti-Semite terrorist? I think not.
Now, do I believe that Ron Paul can be elected President of the United States? As much as I would like to believe that he could be elected; I cannot. Neo-Conservatives control a good part of the Republican Party, and between them and the Neo-Liberal left in this Country; which control a good part of the media — except for Fox News that is Neo-Conservative and not Ron Paul friendly at all, I just do not believe that Ron Paul would be able to overcome such odds. You do not believe that the Neo-Conservatives would give up that cottage industry that easily, do you. Oh please, just look what they did to Pat Buchanan when he tried to break into that little clique in the Republican Party — much of the same thing as did happen to Ron Paul —- False accusations of racism and Anti-Semitism.
As long as there is empire to defend, Countries to be invaded for oil and pseudo-states to support the Neo-Conservatives will never surrender control of the Republican Party. Furthermore, as long as there is a stranglehold on the mainstream media by the neo-liberal left in this Country someone like Ron Paul does not have a chance in Hades to be elected President of the United States of America. As long as lying Neo-Conservatives like Karl Rove, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are around, the chances of Paleoconservatives like Pat Buchanan or libertarian Conservatives like Ron Paul do not stand a chance of ever being elected.
In closing, America is a great Country; it is just being held hostage, so to speak — by some very powerful and evil people, as is the Republican Party.
Interest payments on the national debt will quadruple in the next decade and every man, woman and child in the United States will be paying more than $2,500 a year to cover for the nation’s past profligacy, according to figures in President Obama’s new budget plan.
Starting in 2014, net interest payments will surpass the amount spent on education, transportation, energy and all other discretionary programs outside defense. In 2018, they will outstrip Medicare spending. Only the amounts spent on defense and Social Security would remain bigger under the president’s plan.
The soaring bill for interest payments is one of the biggest obstacles to balancing the federal budget, pushing the White House and Congress to come up with cuts deeper than previously imagined. Unlike with discretionary spending or even entitlement programs, the line item for interest payments cannot be altered except through other budget cuts.
The phenomenon is a bit like running up the down escalator. Without interest payments, the president’s plan would balance the budget by 2017. But net interest payments that year are expected to reach $627 billion, up from $207 billion in the current fiscal year.
“This goes to the heart of why we have to address our fiscal problems,” said Mark Zandi, co-founder and chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “If we don’t, we’re going to get swamped by our interest payments.”
Here is the part that worries me:
As bad as the outlook is in the Obama budget proposal for fiscal year 2012, it could get worse. So far, interest payments have been relatively low because of the willingness of global investors to lend the U.S. government money at abnormally low interest rates. But that could change.
“The scary scenario – which I am not predicting but is a real possibility – is an incident of capital flight, where investors lose confidence in the U.S., causing interest rates to rise precipitously and pushing the budget deficit even further into the red,” said N. Gregory Mankiw, a Harvard economics professor and former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The Obama budget’s assumptions include a substantial increase in rates. It predicts that the interest rate on 10-year Treasury notes will climb from 3 percent this year to 3.6 percent next year. It forecasts rates of 5 percent by 2015 and 5.3 percent at the end of the decade.
Short-term rates will rise even more sharply, from nearly zero now to 4 percent by 2015 in the Office of Management and Budget assumptions.
Rogoff calls the administration’s forecast “reasonable,” but he warns that the actual number is hard to know with any certainty.
“The basic issue is that when you hold a lot of debt you’re vulnerable to shifts in sentiment and sharp rises in the interest rates,” Rogoff said.
He said that combined federal, state and municipal debt in the United States is at a record high, beyond the famous post-World War II levels. Unlike interest payments made then, however, a huge portion of interest payments are flowing to investors in other countries, draining funds out of the U.S. economy. (There are other interest payments made to the Social Security fund, but because they shift money from one pocket of the government to another, they are not counted in the net interest numbers.)
Some positive developments could ease the interest payment crisis, including faster-than-expected economic recovery, higher-than-expected tax receipts and lower-than-expected government borrowing rates.
Ultimately, Rogoff said, the federal government should aim to reduce the amount of debt as a percentage of GDP. But for now, the U.S. government is still borrowing just to meet the interest payments on earlier borrowing.
“We are in a self-reinforcing, vicious cycle,” Zandi said
I am not trying to scare anyone at all; but no matter how you slice this, it does not look good for America in the next coming years. This is why; and I know I have said this on this blog a million times; well, a million and one now. This is why you do NOT spend yourself out of a recession. Keynesian economics just does not work. The only reason it ever even remotely appeared to work, was because of World War 2 and all of the industry that surrounded that era. In fact, some of the things that Roosevelt did, were overturned by the supreme court and after that, and only after that the did the economy begin to grow.
This is not to say that this is all President Obama’s fault. There was spending under Bush; just not quite as much. Here are some charts for you to look at:
Spending under Bush and Obama
But many Liberal Democrats will say, “What about the Iraqi war?” I simply say to them, “what about it?”
See this graph:
Spending with and without the war, under Bush.
The truth is that the total cost of the eight-year war was less than the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2009, a fact confirmed by FOX News:
As President Obama prepares to tie a bow on U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Congressional Budget Office numbers show that the total cost of the eight-year war was less than the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2009.
According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.
The projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion.
The U.S. deficit for fiscal year 2010 is expected to be $1.3 trillion, according to CBO. That compares to a 2007 deficit of $160.7 billion and a 2008 deficit of $458.6 billion, according to data provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
My friends, this is why you do not spend your way out of a recession. This is what happens. America has lived well beyond its means for much too long. We must act, and we must act quickly. Before it is too late. So far, Republicans have NOT shown any backbone. 2012 is coming, it will be time to vote the rest of them out. Speaker Bonher; yes, I am talking about you! You piece of Neo-Conservative excrement! 😡
There is another thing that most up on Capital Hill are not discussing; and that is cutting Military spending. We need to end the war in Iraq NOW! They have their Country now, we defeated the insurgency. We need to get out there ASAP! As for Afghanistan, who knows about that anymore, that is another Neo-Conservative boondoggle that the Democrats are trying to continue; good luck with that — Osama Bin Ladin is in Pakistan and that Country is not too keen on us being there. Again, I say — Good luck with that!
Not only this, but we have way too many of our Military stationed around the world. Why tell those people, either you pay us to be here or we are going home? It makes no sense, this is where Ron Paul has a point.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan was repeatedly sexually assaulted by thugs yelling, “Jew! Jew!” as she covered the chaotic fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo’s main square Friday, CBS and sources said yesterday.
The TV crew with Logan, who is also the network’s chief foreign correspondent, had its cameras rolling moments before she was dragged off — and caught her on tape looking tense and trying to head away from a crowd of men behind her in Tahrir Square.
“Logan was covering the jubilation . . . when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration,” CBS said in a statement. “It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into a frenzy.
“In the crush of the mob, [Logan] was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers.
“She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning,” the network added. “She is currently in the hospital recovering.”
A network source told The Post that her attackers were screaming, “Jew! Jew!” during the assault. And the day before, Logan had told Esquire.com that Egyptian soldiers hassling her and her crew had accused them of “being Israeli spies.” Logan is not Jewish.
I guess I am supposed to feel sorry for her. Sorry, nope, I just cannot muster the pity for her. You lie with dogs, you get fleas. Just that damned simple.
This is what happens when liberals make alliances with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Further more, this is what happens when the United States props up dictators. It is called blowback, it is a CIA term. There will be more of it, trust me.
In this space, before I post this video; I usually post a disclaimer, because usually, I do not agree with some of the content and ideas presented in this Video report. However, this week, I am going to forgo the disclaimer. Because a good ninety percent of what is presented here, I absolutely agree with and besides, nothing gives me more joy, than to watch freedom-loving Americans making Neo-Conservative fascists look like the damn fools that they are. Yes, it warms the cackles of my stone cold heart to see those who wish to sell our freedoms out to the altar of “Security” made to look like buffoons.
Very well done gents, very, very, well done. 😀
Having said all that —- here is the synopsis and Video….
Synopsis: In this special CPAC expanded edition of the Reality Report, we go face to face with Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich and present the highlights (and lowlights)! ; Gary Franchi runs into former Saturday Night Live star, Victoria Jackson, and interviews CPAC Chair David Keene about the Defender of the Constitution Award. Gary also meets with Jesse Benton, Ron Paul’s Communications Director, to give you the inside scoop on the Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign. Jeff Frazee from Young Americans for Liberty joins the show to tell us how he got turned on to Ron Paul’s message. We meet with Congresswoman Nan Hayworth from New York’s 19th district to ask her about her vote for the Patriot Act. We also ask Ron Paul supporters what it is about his message that inspires them. We also take you to the Jordan Page after party for the release of his new album titled “Liberty”. Angie returns to deliver the headlines with a special report on the Young Americans for Freedom and Truth Squad.TV’s confrontation. We’ll read your email, review last week’s poll results and brand a new enemy of the state.
This is a very interesting story, the problem is; I cannot embed the stupid video, because the U.K. Guardian does not allow embedding of their videos. doggone putzes. 🙄
In a small flat in the German town of Erlangen in February 2003, an out-of-work Iraqi sat down with his wife to watch one of the world’s most powerful men deliver the speech of his career on live TV.
As US secretary of state, Colin Powell gathered his notes in front of the United Nations security council, the man watching — Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, known to the west’s intelligence services as “Curveball” — had more than an inkling of what was to come. He was, after all, Powell’s main source, a man his German handlers had feted as a new “Deep throat” — an agent so pivotal that he could bring down a government.
As Curveball watched Powell make the US case to invade Iraq, he was hiding an admission that he has not made until now: that nearly every word he had told his interrogators from Germany’s secret service, the BND, was a lie.
Everything he had said about the inner workings of Saddam Hussein’s biological weapons programme was a flight of fantasy – one that, he now claims was aimed at ousting the Iraqi dictator. Janabi, a chemical engineering graduate who had worked in the Iraqi industry, says he looked on in shock as Powell’s presentation revealed that the Bush administration’s hawkish decisionmakers had swallowed the lot. Something else left him even more amazed; until that point he had not met a US official, let alone been interviewed by one.
“I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime,” he told the Guardian in a series of interviews carried out in his native Arabic and German. “I and my sons are proud of that, and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy.”
His interviews with the Guardian, which took place over two days, appeared to be partly a purge of conscience, partly an attempt to justify what he did. It also seems to be a bid to resurrect his own reputation, which might help him start again in Iraq — a country that eight years later is still reeling from more than 100,000 civilian deaths and the aftermath of a savage sectarian war.
I very highly recommend that you go read the rest of that; because it is very much involved. I must confess, I have very much mixed feelings about watching that; on one hand, It sort of angers me, that this idiot was trusted to the point of sending our and other nations troops over there and for what? Because of a guy who hated Saddam enough to lie? On the other hand; which is the overriding feeling is this — Saddam was, as we all know; a very bad man and treated his own people horribly. So, in hind sight, perhaps it was all worth it.
Ace is not buying the dude’s reasoning; it is a really long posting, I’ll quote a snippet, but I highly recommend you read his too. Thus saith Ace:
So to me this is guy being pressed for further information or proof and (having none) saying “Fine, if that’s what he says.” That doesn’t seem to sound anything like a confession, and I’m not surprised that no one took it as such at the time.
Furthermore, I don’t trust Curveball now, either. We already know, by self-confession, he’s a longtime liar who tells interested parties what they wish to hear. His current version of reality is that the spun these lies for the patriotic purpose of deposing a tyrant; he doesn’t mention that valued intelligence assets get money and nice little protected apartments, too.
Again, as with the Guardian story, Go read the rest. As it is a very interesting read. The gomer award should go to a bunch of people and a couple of Governments, including ours. The real cute part is this; you know how the left says Bush and Co. are all war criminals; if that is the case, ol’ Curvy here, is an accessory and should be tried as well. Truth is, Bush and Co. acted on what they had, which was this guy and other pieces of fragmented evidence. Because of it, they acted. In all honesty, Bush and Co. are simply guilty of violating an old Russian proverb — Trust, but verify. For that, they paid for it dearly, in the loss of the trust of the American people.
No amount of navel grazing will ever change anything, bring back the lost Vets and such. We just should ensure that this never, ever, happens again. Because this War will be a black mark on America’s record for a very long time. God help us, if this ever happens again.
Update: John Sexton, writing over at HotAir.com, has an excellent take on this story:
Now we know that the justification for the war really was based in part on a lie. The left can find some vindication in this fact. That said, the details presented do not support the idea that some dark cabal within the Bush administration organized our entrance into Iraq. On the contrary, we now know who the liar was and he wasn’t part of the administration. We also know why he lied, and it wasn’t to get rich off Iraqi oil, to finish what Bush 41 started or any of the other explanations the left has offered over the years. Curveball wanted to see Saddam toppled for the good of the Iraqi people.
Of course that doesn’t mean American soldiers and taxpayers should have had to go along for the ride. Conspiracies aside, there’s plenty to be upset about here. Numerous intelligence agencies failed, starting with the German BND which interviewed Curveball over a period of six months. British and American intelligence agencies failed to detect the fraud as well. The result is that we were led to war, in part, by a lie. Even if you believe the US is better off without Saddam in Iraq, you can’t be pleased about taking such a big swing on a curveball.
It is not everyday that the paper of record comes out and basically vindicates Ron Paul and Glenn Beck. But it has happened.
This a bit of a follow up to a previous blog posting that I wrote earlier; it turns out, that not only are clothes going up, but everything is going up. 😮
A package of Oscar Mayer cold cuts. A pair of Nine West boots. A Whirlpool washing machine.
By the fall, people will most likely be paying more for each of them, as rising prices hit most consumer goods, say retailers, food companies and manufacturers of consumer products.
Cotton prices are near their highest level in more than a decade, after adjusting for inflation, and leather and polyester costs are jumping as well. Copper recently hit its highest level in about 40 years, and iron ore, used for steel, is fetching extremely high prices. Prices for corn, sugar, wheat, beef, pork and coffee are soaring. Labor overseas is becoming more expensive, meanwhile, and so are the utility bills to keep a factory running.
“There are cost pressures from virtually everywhere,” said Wesley R. Card, the chief executive of the Jones Group, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein. After trying to keep retail prices flat or even lower during the recession, Jones says prices for its brands will climb 15 to 20 percent by autumn.
When commodity prices started to rise last summer, many manufacturers and retailers absorbed the costs, worried that shoppers would not pay higher prices during the competitive holiday season or while the economy was still fragile.
Many big companies, including Kraft, Polo Ralph Lauren and Hanes, say they cannot hold off any longer and must raise prices to protect some profits.
Whether shoppers will pay is unclear. “Consumers are not exactly in the frame of mind or economic circumstances to say ‘Oh, pay whatever they ask,’ ” said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR Inc. “There’s going to be pushback.”
As to why this is all happening? Buried, oh so very far down into the story, there’s this:
Economists say the increases may eventually show up as inflation, though they are not yet projecting rates that would set off alarms. Despite some fears, inflation has been extremely low, at a rate of just 1.4 percent annually in December. Data for January will be released Thursday, but economists expect inflation will run about 2.5 percent this year.
Some do see the creeping signs of higher inflation, and warn that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates or at least stop pumping more money into the economy. Others argue that such moves would choke off economic growth sorely needed to get companies hiring again.
For consumers, higher prices in stores means there will be a little less extra cash to spend. For companies, profits may be squeezed, making them a little less likely to invest in equipment or to hire aggressively.
“Despite some fears?” Wow. That is about the biggest amount of liberal spin that I have ever seen, I am reminded of this cartoon; where the man is surrounded by a barbed wire fence and he’s say, “we must rise up against this tyranny” or something to that effect and a hand comes down and slaps a record player on his head and it’s repeating, “Everything is fine….Everything is fine…” over and over.
I suggest you go read that entire article and if you happen to watch Glenn Beck’s show; think of everything he has said in the past in regards to the Economy, the bailouts and inflation. Think also of what Ron Paul has said here for the last 30 years about what our Government has done to explode our economy. Turns out, maybe, just maybe; that Ron Paul is not not so crazy after all.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has chosen a new special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, after months of delay and disagreements between the White House and the State Department over the parameters of the job that became vacant with the December death of Richard C. Holbrooke, senior officials said.
Retired diplomat Marc Grossman is expected to take over as the administration is facing a crucial year for its war strategy in Afghanistan, where it plans to begin U.S. troop withdrawals this summer and to move toward a political settlement including negotiations with the Taliban before the end of 2011.
In Pakistan, a key partner in the strategy, the situation has become even more fraught with peril, as U.S.-Pakistani relations have plummeted to their lowest point in years over Pakistan’s rejection of U.S. demands to grant diplomatic immunity to a U.S. official accused of murder there.
The administration has suspended high-level official contacts with the Pakistanis, and senior members of Congress have warned Islamabad that it risks a cutoff of U.S. aid.
Wow, I was not aware of all these problems. Looks like Hillary Clinton has her work cut out for her. Two things that stand out here:
Why do we keep sending over retired people to handle these situations? Cannot Hillary Clinton or President Obama find anyone who is not at retirement age to handle this problem? Just a thought there, not trying to criticize it; because I doubt John McCain would be able to handle this any better.
This situation with the murder charge just looks bad all around and will most likely hamper our efforts to combat the war on terror and will hinder us from capturing or killing Osama Bin Ladin. Because you cannot capture the bad guys; if you cannot get along with the people where they are hiding.
Again, I have said this a million times here, and I will say it again. Bush handled this whole thing wrong after 9/11. Bush should have went after the Countries that financed the attacks on 9/11. Instead he went after their training grounds, with the assumption that it would be a cakewalk to catch them; and then he went into Iraq, on what we now now to be bad intelligence and also assumed that would be cake walk too — and Afghanistan was left to neglect. As of a result that poor leadership, we now have this mess to contend with. I pity Hillary and even President Obama to a point, they inherited this awful mess and now, they have to make gold, out of a steaming bag of crap. What a mess! I would not want to be in their shoes at all. 🙁
But, that is what happens, when you elect Neo-Conservatives who are on a so-called “Mission from God.” Let this be a lesson to America and to the Republican Party and all who supported and voted for the man. Say what you want, but between the bailouts and his poorly planned war on terror — we find ourselves in a awful mess; both with debt and with foriegn diplomacy.
Well, isn’t this just a lovely story to pick up on a Sunday Morning?
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s Justice Department has asserted that the FBI can obtain telephone records of international calls made from the United States without any formal legal process or court oversight, according to a document obtained by McClatchy.
That assertion was revealed by the department – perhaps inadvertently – in its response to a McClatchy request for a copy of a secret Justice Department memo.
Critics say the legal position is flawed and creates a potential loophole that could lead to a repeat of FBI abuses that were supposed to have been stopped in 2006.
The controversy is a legacy of the Bush administration’s war on terror. Critics say the Obama administration appears to be continuing many of the most controversial tactics of that strategy, including the assertion of sweeping executive powers.
For years after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the FBI sought and obtained thousands of telephone records for international calls in an attempt to thwart potential terrorists. The bureau devised an informal system of requesting the records from three telecommunications firms to create what one agent called a “phone database on steroids” that included names, addresses, length of service and billing information.
Which proves to this old school, Paleoconservative, Fundamentalist Christian one thing and one thing alone. That the only difference between a Neo-Liberal; like President Obama and a Neoconservative like President Bush is this —- One loves big Government and the other loves big Government as long as they are the one’s controlling it.
I remember how doing the Bush era, people like Keith Olbermann,were wailing to the top of their lungs about how darned horrible of the Bush Administration to allow such stuff to happen; and now that the Obama Administration is in power, what do you hear?
(click to play)
That is right, absolutely nothing about it at all. That is because the socialist liberals do not give a damn about personal liberty, all they care about is winning elections. All of the attacks against the Bush administration about everything; Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, Iraq —- everything —was just partisan politics. It never was about the people; because socialists do not give a darn about the people! All they care about is power – governmental power — everything else to them is just second nature.
Which pretty much sums up why I stopped voted for the Democratic Party. I am pretty much on to their game anymore. They try to come off as the party of the people; but anymore, they are all about the party of the state.
“In the process many have formed some unusual bonds that reflect the singularly nonideological character of the Egyptian youth revolt, which encompasses liberals, socialists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
‘I like the Brotherhood most, and they like me,’ said Sally Moore, a 32-year-old psychiatrist, a Coptic Christian and an avowed leftist and feminist of mixed Irish-Egyptian roots. “They always have a hidden agenda, we know, and you never know when power comes how they will behave. But they are very good with organizing, they are calling for a civil state just like everyone else, so let them have a political party just like everyone else’”
Perhaps maybe next Bill Kristol ought to keep his mouth shut. Because every time Kristol opens his mouth, he exposes himself for the Neo-Conservative buffoon that he really is.
More broadly though is Glenn’s point, which is that an Islamic/left caliphate will happen; it could very well happen. Far Leftists and Muslims have one thing in common, that is their hatred of Israel — or specifically, a hatred of Zionism and everything, and everyone related to it. The problem is; these people in their quest to see Egypt free would be willing to risk their lives to trust people, who would actually like to kill them, once Sharia law was enacted.
The fear among Government officials, including the United States, is that this new Government will install a leader that will want to declare war on Israel or at least be unfriendly to Israel; you know like Iran? However, no matter, “The One” will extend his mighty hand and all will be fine in the Middle East — Right? Right?!?!
The problem with Kristol’s idea of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is that the people of Egypt had no civil rights and the Neo-Conservatives, like Bill Kristol, do not care about civil rights; as long as Israel is protected until the very last ounce of money is spent and the last drop of blood is spilled. This has been the Neo-Conservative’s modus operandi since day one and they do not show any signs of changing anytime soon.
The good news is that the Neo-Conservatives are losing their grip on the intellectual discourse here in America. The still might have their op-eds. However, the American Tea-Party movement came with the agenda of “No more business as usual.” Questions are being asked about the wisdom of foreign policy. Neo-Conservatives position on foreign policy is being challenged by many with the Republican Party and from within the Conservative movement. We Paleo-Conservatives are no longer outcasts; and that my friend is good for everyone.
Rep. Christopher Lee is a married Republican congressman serving the 26th District of New York. But when he trolls Craigslist’s “Women Seeking Men” forum, he’s Christopher Lee, “divorced” “lobbyist” and “fit fun classy guy.” One object of his flirtation told us her story.
On the morning of Friday, January 14, a single 34-year-old woman put an ad in the “Women for Men” section of Craigslist personals. “Will someone prove to me not all CL men look like toads?” she asked, inviting “financially & emotionally secure” men to reply.
Rep. Christopher Lee resigned Wednesday after a report claimed the married Republican congressman sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman on Craigslist.
Earlier Wednesday Lee, asked by Fox News about the report as he was walking to his car, said he was not willing to talk about the issue, adding “I have to work this out with my wife.”
The New York congressman left his office Wednesday after a report surfaced on the website Gawker claiming an anonymous 34-year-old woman was contacted by Lee after she placed an ad in the “Women for Men” personals section on Craigslist.
According to the report, he used a Gmail account, which was later deleted, to contact the woman, claiming to be a divorced lobbyist. Lee is married with one son. The article said Lee at first sent a normal picture of himself and then sent a “PG-13 muscle picture” — the picture published by Gawker showed a shirtless man posing in a mirror.
“Thanks…so do you always send shirtless pics to women from cl?” the response e-mail said, according to the correspondence published online.
“Sorry. Its all I had,” the sender replied.
What sucks is, people that do stuff like that are always so toady about it. Resign and go into hiding; and basically get his butt kicked by his wife. if she does not leave him first. I mean, he was all big about it; until he got caught.
As the lone Paleo-Con here; maybe if his wife was, um, “Take care of him” and giving him what he needs to feel like man — maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I’m just saying. Men do that stuff for reason. Maybe his wife is not keeping him happy. Of course, when you say that; the feminists or the Femin-Nazis as I call them —- will say your a sexist.
Anyhow, hope he can “work it out” with his wife. But something tells me; she is going to work him out! 😮
Update: OOPS! I was under the impression that this guy was a New York State Senator! Turns out, he is a Senator on Capital Hill! 😮 My Apologies. 😀
Which takes this from a normal, everyday screw up… to a BIG, HUGE, Oh my farking goodness — kinda of a screw up! 😉
NineEight House Republican freshmen and three inaugural members of the Tea Party Caucus voted against a proposed extension of three Patriot Act provisions Tuesday night, blocking the measure from passage under fast-track rules.
The House clearly backed the measure, voting 277 to 148 to extend the provisions, and most Republicans stuck by their leadership and supported the extension. But enough defected, joined by most Democrats, to keep the measure seven votes shy of the two-thirds majority required for passage under the fast-track procedure.
The House is likely to bring the extensions back up before the end of the month under regular procedures, when a simple majority would suffice to send it to the Senate.
Attention immediately swung to whether House members sympathetic to the tea party had decided the matter, especially after Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) said Monday that the vote would be “the tea party’s first test.”
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The vote was a blow to President Obama, who had asked Congress to extend the PATRIOT Act’s surveillance authorities — which are due to expire February 28 — for three years.
House Republican leaders weren’t willing to go that far in removing meaningful congressional checks and balances on the surveillance authorities that both the Bush and Obama administrations have used to conduct “roving surveillance” of communications, to collect and examine business records, and to target individuals who are not tied to terrorist groups for surveillance. But they did propose a one-year extension of the authorities.
Most House Republicans — including supposed defenders of the Constitution such as Michigan Congresswoman Michele Bachmann — went along with their leadership. In so doing, they failed to address fundamental concerns, raised by conservatives and liberals, about Patriot Act abuses of the very Constitution that theyread aloud at the opening of the current Congress.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, led the vast majority of House Democrats in opposing any extension. In all, 122 Democrats — roughly two-thirds of the party’s House caucus — voted “no” to extending surveillance authorities that the American Civil Liberties Union warns “give the government sweeping authority to spy on individuals inside the United States and, in some cases, without any suspicion of wrongdoing. All three should be allowed to expire if they are not amended to include privacy protections to protect personal information from government overreach.”
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Today, Dennis Kucinich and the Tea Partiers were on the same side. If Obama wants to be on the wrong side of this issue (as he seems to be on the wrong side in nearly every aspect of the ‘War on Terror’), then so be it. But the House of Representatives has shot down (perhaps only temporarily) a measure to extend the three most grievous portions of the Patriot Act from 2001 (the ‘lone wolf’ provision, the roving wiretaps, and the unchecked powers to seize records with little-to-no probable cause). It has been beyond disheartening to watch Barack Obama more or less carry the mantle of unchecked police powers and indefinite detention that highlighted George W. Bush’s reckless and counterproductive ‘War on Terror’ strategy. More importantly, the apparent approval and continuation of such policies by the Obama administration has turned what was once a bitterly divided series of issues into something resembling bi-partisan consensus. Quite frankly, there is much that the likes of Rand Paul and Dennis Kucinich can indeed agree on. Perhaps this may be the start of the genuine liberals in Congress joining with the genuine conservatives in order to attempt to stop much of the genuinely un-American activities that have occurred post-9/11 on our watch and in our name. It is a pipe dream, but it is a goal worth advocating none-the-less.
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As Members of Congress, we are obligated to protect the rights and civil liberties afforded to us by the Constitution and to exercise our oversight powers fully. Despite years of documentation evidencing abuse of these provisions by the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, they may extended without any meaningful debate or opportunity to implement common-sense reforms to ensure that the privacy and civil liberties of all Americans are fully protected. Our failure to do so makes Congress complicit in these violations of basic constitutional rights.
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The three provisions, incidentally, were for surveillance of non-citizens, roving wiretaps of multiple phones owned by a suspect, and the “library records” provision giving the FBI access to, among other things, medical and business records, which apparently was the sticking point for many Republicans voting no. Those three will lapse at the end of the month unless they’re extended; as with the Bush tax cuts, because the issue is contentious, Congress is in perpetual “temporary” extension mode instead of reaching a permanent resolution on any of them. Frankly, if there’s any tea party angle to all this, it’s that there wasn’t more opposition among the GOP freshmen: After months of rhetoric about government intrusion and hand-wringing on both sides about Obama’s expansion of Bush’s counterterror powers — to the point where U.S. citizens like Awlaki are now marked for death by presidential decree — they had some political cover to draw the line on extending parts of the Patriot Act further if they wanted to. (Ron Paul was among the 26 no’s, of course.) Nope.
More than four years after leaving public life, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continues to believe the war in Iraq was worth the effort, and has no apologies for his decision-making in leading the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In an exclusive interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Rumsfeld concedes that “it’s possible” that decisions on how many troops to send into Iraq marked the biggest mistake of the war.
“In a war, many things cost lives,” Rumsfeld told Sawyer.
Pressed on the fact that President Bush has written that cutting troop levels in Iraq was “the most important failure in the execution of the war,” Rumsfeld called that “interesting.”
I do not much care for the man. He is, in my humble opinion, an ignoramus. But he does have his opinions and he is a human being.
Get the Book:
I also highly recommend George W. Bush’s book as well:
Fox News’s Glenn Beck lashed out at Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol on his radio show this morning, accusing Kristol of betraying conservatism and missing the significance of what Beck sees as an alliance between Islamism and socialism.
“I don’t even know if you understand what conservatives are anymore, Billy,” Beck said in his extended, sarcastic attack on Kristol. “People like Bill Kristol, I don’t think they stand for anything any more. All they stand for is power. They’ll do anything to keep their little fiefdom together, and they’ll do anything to keep the Republican power entrenched.”
[…]
Kristol’s words drew an approving nod from National Review’s Rich Lowry, a rare public repudiation of the influential Fox host from a conservative elite that quietly dislikes him.
Beck, in response, defended his broad theories by reading from the work of the Muslim writer Zudhi Jasser, a sharp critic of most Muslim leaders, to argue of the threat from “Islamic socialism.” He also accused Kristol of propping up Hosni Mubarak, of being stuck in 1973, and of failing to see that “we are fighting the forces of evil on this planet.”
“I think he’s still trying to get Bob Dole elected, i’m not really sure,” said Beck.
“Have you done a minute of research Bill?” Beck asked later, promising to expose the ties between the left and Islamic radicals during this week’s television show and advising Kristol, “Just watch the show in the next week.”
The real hilarious part? Not one time did Glenn Beck use the term Neo-Conservative! He also brought Barry Goldwater into it. Drawing a line from Bill Kristol to Barry Goldwater is about as dumb as drawing a line from Pat Buchanan to Vladimir Lenin. What Glenn Beck was trying to say, but failed to do it right; was that Kristol is a part of the “Big Government” wing of the Republican Party — like the Rockefeller‘s were. So, if he had used that name — it would have made total sense. But, I give him credit for at least taking Kristol to task.
Glenn Beck might be paranoid and a bit of hand wringer; but once and a while — he knocks one out of the ballpark! Now, if we could just work on that little shrill voice of his…. 😉 😛
As you know, this is the 100’th birthday of our Nation’s 40’th President.
But I believe it is important to know, what he really did, while he was in office. The Progressive Blog, Think Progress, lists the things that Reagan did while he was in office. These are the ones that I, as a Paleo-Con care about — :
1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendency.
Now these here, are things that Reagan inherited from Jimmy Carter, and were, of course, by the progressives, blamed on Reagan:
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980?s did little help them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
Which of course, is a liberal talking point. This was actually caused by the raising of taxes under Carter and because of the slump in the economy, caused by inflation; which again, was caused by Democrat’s spending.
Another talking point:
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to chose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
Well, that might have to do with the fact that President Reagan thought Abortion was murder; however, he knew that it was not the role of the Federal Government to stop abortion — but rather the State’s role. This is because he was a Federalist. Not only that — but — do the liberals know the concept of a campaign promise or saying stuff to get elected? Funny, Obama did the very same things, when he was running. But that’s okay — because he is a liberal! 🙄
When America began to tear herself apart over morality, race, and Vietnam in the 1960s, the old certitudes he articulated and the old virtues he personified held a magnetic attraction for a people bewildered by what was happening to their country. When he spoke, he took us to a higher ground, above petty and partisan squabbles and divisions, where we could dream and be one people again.
Reagan passionately believed in the importance of ideas and husbanded rather than squandered America’s credibility. When Ronald Reagan left office the U.S. truly did stand tall, a far cry from its status today as an isolated, distrusted giant. President Reagan likely would have been horrified: the U.S. initiating war on a lie and then finding itself caught in an unnecessary guerrilla war that has made the West less secure and America more hated by more people than at any point in its history.
Daniel McCarthy — “Getting Reagan Right” The Reagan I Knew could just as fairly have been called The Reagan I Didn’t Know, for after a 40-year friendship, Buckley suddenly realized he had misjudged the man. At National Review’s 30th-anniversay gala in 1985, he toasted the then-president as the consummate cold warrior: “What I said in as many words, dressed up for the party, was that Reagan would, if he had to, pull the nuclear trigger,” writes Buckley. “Twenty years after saying that, in the most exalted circumstance, in the presence of the man I was talking about, I changed my mind.”
Reagan’s speeches abounded with themes that were anything but conservative. He aligned the Republican crusader more closely with America’s expansive liberal temperament. In particular, his brand of evangelical Christianity, combined with fragments of Puritanism, enlightenment optimism, and romantic liberalism, set Reagan apart in key ways from historic conservatism.
A great actor in his greatest role. On balance,during his tenure, taxes increased,inflation increased,government employment increased,the debt increased,the power of government increased yet he made you feel good about it. He “talked the talk” but didn’t “walk the walk.” As to the last few years of his 2nd Administration,I think he was in a different world. Yet, all in all,you couldn’t help like the guy and the way he made you feel proud to be an American.
However, for the record; I think it is important to note, what really causedthe collapse of the Soviet Empire — It sure was not Ronald Reagan. I mean, the man gave a speech in free Germany and automatically, Reagan brought down the Soviet Union. Which, of course, is foolishness. Reagan no more brought down that Soviet Empire, than George W. Bush defeated Al-Qaeda.
While I did admire Ron Reagan for his speaking ability and his ability to lead; as a Paleo-Conservative or as I like call it — a real Conservative — I will say, Reagan was by no means perfect.
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Post updated to reflect differences between legit complaints with Reagan and liberal talking points.
Update: As Always Ed Morrissey offers a “Rose Colored Glasses” version of the history of Reagan. ....and as usual the commenters over there are stupidly comparing that feckless train wreak of a media whore to President Reagan; which is sick, if you ask me. 🙄
Please Note: The posting of this video does not constitute an endorsement of views presented in this video. It is simply posted for information purposes only.
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In this issue of the reality report:The Egyptian Revolution triggered a government shutdown of the web. Could it happen here? Is the internet kill switch back on the congressional table? If the Feds shut down the web in the United States how could “We the People” get around the internet blackout? Gary Franchi reveals what tools you need to bypass a Government sponsored internet blockade. In this edition, Ron Paul explains the how the Federal Reserve works outside of congress’ constitutional framework. We also look at Senator Chuck Schumer failing miserably while explaining the three branches of government. Beautiful words are uttered from the lips of the Florida attorney general about Obamacare. President and founder of Freedom Law School, Peymon Montehedeh, gives us the details on this years’ Freedom Conference, and we announce a new action taking place in March. We’ll take a dip into the mailbag, deliver the results of last week’s poll, a viewer brands a new Enemy of the State… and Nina returns to deliver the Headlines from the new Reality Report News Room.
