(H/T HyScience)
Hound Dog? Hmmmm:
I personally think this version is better myself… than Elvis’s version.
Tag: Opinion
Shocka!: Evidence Shows That Cheney Swayed White House reaction and response to CIA Leak
This is no big surprise; however it is news worthy:
A document filed in federal court this week by the Justice Department offers new evidence that former vice president Richard B. Cheney helped steer the Bush administration’s public response to the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson’s employment by the CIA and that he was at the center of many related administration deliberations.
The administration’s discussion of Wilson’s link to the CIA was meant to undermine criticism by her husband of administration allegations that Iraq attempted to acquire uranium, a matter that her husband had probed for the CIA, according to testimony presented in a 2007 trial.
A list of at least seven related conversations involving Cheney appears in a new court filing approved by Obama appointees at the Justice Department. In the filing, the officials argue that the substance of what Cheney told special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in 2004 must remain secret.
via Court Filing Shows Evidence Cheney Swayed White House Response to CIA Leak – washingtonpost.com.
I would suppose that there are those will be shocked to the learn this or excuse it saying that we were at war. This writer is not among them. I have long argued on this Blog and in my previous incarnation as a “Left of center” Blogger the following; that the Bush Administration knew that they were over their hands, that there were no weapons of mass destruction.
My political criticism is not limited by party lines nor by any sort of partisanship. Just as much as I criticize President Barack Obama for his socialist polices and lefty liberal nonsense; I also criticized George W. Bush’s Wilsonian, Neo-Conservative and quite frankly, Christian Theocratic Foreign Policy. Unlike other bloggers in the Conservative Blogsophere; my criticism is not limited by party loyalty or blinded by partisanship. That is a different between a Independent Conservative, like myself and the Republican establishment Bloggers and those taking their talking points from Irving Kristol and John Podhoretz.
The real knee slapper is this here:
The Obama administration has since agreed that the material should not be disclosed. A Justice Department lawyer at one point last month argued that vice presidents and other White House officials will decline to be interviewed in the future if they know their remarks might “get on ‘The Daily Show’ ” or be used as fodder for political enemies.
Ha! Forget National Security, we cannot let John Stewart get ahold of the stuff; Them Liberals might laugh at us! 😆 Now that is funny. 😀
(Update: Corrected rather silly grammar error… “We might laugh at us?” Good Lord; Must learn to not blog until I’ve drank my lot of coffee.)
Don’t believe the hype on the Coup in Honduras
That is what Octavio Sánchez is saying, and he should know; he’s there:
Tegucigalpa, Honduras – Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d’état.
That is nonsense.
In fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.
[….]
Under our Constitution, what happened in Honduras this past Sunday? Soldiers arrested and sent out of the country a Honduran citizen who, the day before, through his own actions had stripped himself of the presidency.
These are the facts: On June 26, President Zelaya issued a decree ordering all government employees to take part in the “Public Opinion Poll to convene a National Constitutional Assembly.” In doing so, Zelaya triggered a constitutional provision that automatically removed him from office.
Constitutional assemblies are convened to write new constitutions. When Zelaya published that decree to initiate an “opinion poll” about the possibility of convening a national assembly, he contravened the unchangeable articles of the Constitution that deal with the prohibition of reelecting a president and of extending his term. His actions showed intent.
Our Constitution takes such intent seriously. According to Article 239: “No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform [emphasis added], as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years.”
Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says “immediately” – as in “instant,” as in “no trial required,” as in “no impeachment needed.”
Continuismo – the tendency of heads of state to extend their rule indefinitely – has been the lifeblood of Latin America’s authoritarian tradition. The Constitution’s provision of instant sanction might sound draconian, but every Latin American democrat knows how much of a threat to our fragile democracies continuismo presents. In Latin America, chiefs of state have often been above the law. The instant sanction of the supreme law has successfully prevented the possibility of a new Honduran continuismo.
The Supreme Court and the attorney general ordered Zelaya’s arrest for disobeying several court orders compelling him to obey the Constitution. He was detained and taken to Costa Rica. Why? Congress needed time to convene and remove him from office. With him inside the country that would have been impossible. This decision was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day.
Don’t believe the coup myth. The Honduran military acted entirely within the bounds of the Constitution. The military gained nothing but the respect of the nation by its actions.
But yet you have idiot douche bag Communist Liberals, like Hillary Clinton, Like President Obama and the U.N. trying to tell the people in Honduras; that this man was right for doing this. I guess Senator McCarthy was right after all. The Democratic Party has been taken over by the Socialists, who are basically Communist light. So, to this writer; is no big surprise that President Obama and his right hand lady Hillary Clinton took sides with the Communists.
WaPo is now WaPimp?
That’s what it looks like….
Via Politico:
For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to “those powerful few”: Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — even the paper’s own reporters and editors.
The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff.”
With the newsroom in an uproar after POLITICO reported the solicitation, Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli said this morning that he was “appalled” by the plan and said the newsroom will not participate.
“It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase,” Brauchli told The Post’s media reporter, Howard Kurtz. The proposal “promises we would suspend our usual skeptical questioning because it appears to offer, in exchange for sponsorships, the good name of The Washington Post.”
Earlier this morning, Brauchili said in a staffwide e-mail that the newsroom would not participate in the first of the planned events — a dinner scheduled July 21 at the home of Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth. Brauchli,was named on the flier as one of the “Hosts and Discussion Leaders.”
Um…. Cue the Music!
Notice how when the Newsroom found out about this; they were all like, “We are not involved!” Uh-huh, sure you all aren’t. Gives a whole new meaning to the word, “In the tank.” More like over the tank hank, if you know what I mean here.
Reactions are about equal across the Blogsophere:
Michelle Malkin is loving every second of it:
Ouch, stop, stop. Sides. Splitting.
Now as for Ed Morrissey; He is still trying to figure out what to call it:
A facilitator! That’s certainly more pleasant than “pimp”. I prefer the Night Shift term “love broker,” which reasonably applies between lobbyists and the White House — and for that matter, between the press and the White House, too.
Poor Ed. Someone could be selling crack outside his front door; and he still would never stop smiling and being kind to them. It’s that whole Catholic upbringing thing, and no, I do not mean that as an insult either. The man makes makes my sorry protestant self, look quite bad at times. 😳 Every Catholic I know, is just like that too. Scares the living bejeezes out of me. I mean, the world could be on the brink of nuclear annihilation; and Ed would still be there, holding his balloon and smiling. I can’t say I have not heard Ed get aggressive, I did once; Ed was on Mitch Berg’s Show once, and some idiot tried calling in to argue with Ed over something; and basically tried to call Ed a liar over something. Ed turned on the man, I had never seen him like that. It was quite amazing to behold. 😮
Anyhow, Ta-nehisi Coates is quite surprised, but gives the news guys the benefit of the doubt:
I genuinely believe that the newsroom staff could not have known that the marketing department was out promising lobbyists access to them in exchange for cash. I also have no idea why any White House officials would allow themselves to be used for such a purpose. If there aren’t already laws forbidding high-ranking officials from taking part in something like this, there should be.
Sister Toldjah Says:
But even though it’s not exactly surprising, that doesn’t make their latest attempt at cashing in on their pro-Obama bias any less distasteful. Hell, for that matter, the liberal McClatchy news outlet been working hard at making money on Obama’s election for months now via selling a book full of Obama glossies and articles taken and written on the campaign trail, as well as a DVD commemorating his “historic run.” Gee – no wonder they gave him such fawning coverage last year. Liberal bias + the need to raise $$=a complete loss of critical objectivity. Follow the money.
Quite true and if anyone’s looked at the New York Times as of late; they know that this is perfectly true. Talk about over the tank hank! 😮
Damn, even the DailyKos folks are not to impressed with this either!:
This comes at remarkable time for the Post, really, with columnist Dana Milbank just having whispered to the Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney that he was “such a d*ck” during their televised battle over newspaper versus blogger ethics.
Perhaps, for an extra ten grand, they’ll bring Milbank into the salon, to whisper to you that, “you’re such a rich d*ck.”
Heh… Too funny! 😆
Pandagon quips:
That’s the critical difference between blogs as media watchers and major media itself – as much as big media might like it, bloggers have neither the ability nor the desire to engage in the sort of ethical lapses that are available to outlets like the Washington Post every day. We may sit in our mothers’ basements watching torrented Thundercats episodes, but we do it honestly.
Uh, I haven’t watched Thundercats since I was like, uh, 14 years old? Also, Liberal Bloggers, Honest? Since when? Tell that to Sarah Palin, Please. 🙄
Even Reason Magazine is not amused. When the Capitalist Libertarians cry fowl, you know you are, uh, Screwed. 😛
Anyhow, the “Off the Record Solon’s” are now canceled. Seeing that the story was exposed. Paraphrasing a common line from the “Scooby Doo” show; “and I would have gotten away with it, if it were not for those meddling bloggers!”
Good job gents, all the way…around? 😛
Helen Thomas goes nuclear over the Obama Administration’s controlled Townhall meetings and controlled press
First the video, that led Thomas to go Nuclear:
Transcript:
Gibbs: “… But, again, let’s–How about we do this? I promise we will interrupt the AP’s tradition of asking the first question. I will let you [Chip Reid] ask me a question tomorrow as to whether you thought the questions at the town hall meeting that the President conducted in Annandale—“
Chip Reid: “I’m perfectly happy to—”
Helen Thomas: “That’s not his point. The point is the control–”
Reid: “Exactly.”
Thomas: “We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some, but not– This White House.”
Gibbs: “Yes, I was going to say, I’ll let you amend her question.”
Thomas: “I’m amazed. I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and—”
Gibbs: “Helen, you haven’t even heard the questions.”
Reid: “It doesn’t matter. It’s the process.”
Thomas: “You have left open—”
Reid: “Even if there’s a tough question, it’s a question coming from somebody who was invited or was screened, or the question was screened.”
Thomas: “It’s shocking. It’s really shocking.”
Gibbs: “Chip, let’s have this discussion at the conclusion of the town hall meeting. How about that?”
Reid: “Okay.”
Gibbs: “I think—“
Thomas: “No, no, no, we’re having it now–”
Gibbs: “Well, I’d be happy to have it now.”
Thomas: “It’s a pattern.”
Gibbs: “Which question did you object to at the town hall meeting, Helen?”
Thomas: “It’s a pattern. It isn’t the question—”
Gibbs: “What’s a pattern?”
Thomas: “It’s a pattern of controlling the press.”
Gibbs: “How so? Is there any evidence currently going on that I’m controlling the press–poorly, I might add.”
Thomas: “Your formal engagements are pre-packaged.”
Gibbs: “How so?”
Reid: “Well, and controlling the public—”
Thomas: “How so? By calling reporters the night before to tell them they’re going to be called on. That is shocking.”
Gibbs: “We had this discussion ad nauseam and—”
Thomas: “Of course you would, because you don’t have any answers.”
Gibbs: “Well, because I didn’t know you were going to ask a question, Helen.
Go ahead.”Thomas: “Well, you should have.”
Reporter: Thank you for your support.
Gibbs: “That’s good. Have you e-mailed your question today?”
Thomas: “I don’t have to e-mail it. I can tell you right now what I want to ask.”
Gibbs: “I don’t doubt that at all, Helen. I don’t doubt that at all.”
After that Helen Thomas went nuclear…With the due respect; the woman went on a tirade. She was quite ticked.
The report from CNSNEWS.COM:
Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.
“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.
“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”
Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama’s press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran.
“When you call the reporter the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said.
“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well–for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”
During today’s briefing, Thomas interrupted a back-and-forth between Gibbs and Chip Reid, the White House correspondent for CBS News, when Reid was questioning Gibbs about who was going to decide what questions would be asked of President Obama in a townhall meeting that was scheduled to take place in Annandale, Va., today.
It looks like the media’s honeymoon with the President is over; his free pass just ended. His whole “We cannot pick on him, because he is new, and because he’s black and we might be called racists“, little card just ended today. After this, look for the Press to become more confrontational and start criticizing the President more. The Government, in a free and democratic society cannot control the media, it will bite them in the rear end, if they do. The Obama Administration miscalculated and thought they could control the message, because Obama was black. They thought wrong.
This should be a very, very interesting pattern to follow and watch. I give it 6 months or maybe less and the MSM will be contacting WorldNetDaily for more information on the whole Birth Certificate rumor. This does, of course, poke holes in Bill O’Reilly’s theory that the whole media is controlled by the Liberals and that they’ll never say anything bad about him.
Update: A Big thank you to Free Republic for linking in. Thanks “FromLori”!
Update #2: Welcome StumbleUpon users! There’s a great deal more to this site. click here to get the front page!
They’ve finally figured it out….
It seems that someone over at the G.O.P. finally woke up and smelled the Liberal; and possibly Neo-Conservative stench in America.
Via WhoRunsGov.Com:
“The financial crisis of 2008 had its roots primarily in ill-conceived government policies,” reads the memo. It was prepared by Republican staffers to advise GOP members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on how to handle a recent hearing on the government’s role in Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch.
The memo attacks Bush’s — and Obama’s — bailout policies for exacerbating the crisis. “Given the role of government policies in creating the conditions for the housing bubble which caused the financial crisis, it is remarkable that the prescription of the Bush Administration and the Democratic Congress was more government intervention in the economy,” it says. “The Obama administration has not missed a stride.”
It is about time someone over at the G.O.P. woke up and smelled the coffee.
Robert Stacy McCain Adds:
Somebody at GOP-HQ has finally got a clue to what Michelle Malkin — and Heritage, and Cato, and Instapundit, and every other actual pro-market individual or institution in America — has been saying for more than a year: Keynesian “pump-priming” does not work, and is not conservative.
Okay, so why did Michelle Malkin and all the rest listed attack Ron Paul when he was trying to espouse these principles during the election? Oh, that’s right, because they were and still are; taking orders from their Zionist masters. Like John Podhartz for example, and people like the Israeli lobby and The Project for the New American Century.
Countdown to the Right Wing Jewish race-baiters attacking me in 5….4….3…2….. (Sieg Heil!)
Audio: Jack Hunter and Richard Spencer on Mark Sanford
A very interesting discussion…
(H/T Taki’s Magazine)
[podcast]http://takimag.com/podcasts/mp3s/Sanfordpodcast.mp3[/podcast]
Franken-Gate Continues
It now seems that the Conservative owned and funded WSJ has bad case of sour grapes and in the process shows it’s horrid case of bias in the process.
The WSJ Writes:
The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year’s disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman’s gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat. The unfortunate lesson is that you don’t need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact.
Mr. Franken trailed Mr. Coleman by 725 votes after the initial count on election night, and 215 after the first canvass. The Democrat’s strategy from the start was to manipulate the recount in a way that would discover votes that could add to his total. The Franken legal team swarmed the recount, aggressively demanding that votes that had been disqualified be added to his count, while others be denied for Mr. Coleman.
But the team’s real goldmine were absentee ballots, thousands of which the Franken team claimed had been mistakenly rejected. While Mr. Coleman’s lawyers demanded a uniform standard for how counties should re-evaluate these rejected ballots, the Franken team ginned up an additional 1,350 absentees from Franken-leaning counties. By the time this treasure hunt ended, Mr. Franken was 312 votes up, and Mr. Coleman was left to file legal briefs.
What Mr. Franken understood was that courts would later be loathe to overrule decisions made by the canvassing board, however arbitrary those decisions were. He was right. The three-judge panel overseeing the Coleman legal challenge, and the Supreme Court that reviewed the panel’s findings, in essence found that Mr. Coleman hadn’t demonstrated a willful or malicious attempt on behalf of officials to deny him the election. And so they refused to reopen what had become a forbidding tangle of irregularities. Mr. Coleman didn’t lose the election. He lost the fight to stop the state canvassing board from changing the vote-counting rules after the fact.
This is now the second time Republicans have been beaten in this kind of legal street fight. In 2004, Dino Rossi was ahead in the election-night count for Washington Governor against Democrat Christine Gregoire. Ms. Gregoire’s team demanded the right to rifle through a list of provisional votes that hadn’t been counted, setting off a hunt for “new” Gregoire votes. By the third recount, she’d discovered enough to win. This was the model for the Franken team.
Mr. Franken now goes to the Senate having effectively stolen an election. If the GOP hopes to avoid repeats, it should learn from Minnesota that modern elections don’t end when voters cast their ballots. They only end after the lawyers count them.
Uh, Sour Grapes much guys? Look, I am about as happy about Al Franken being a damn Senator; as I would be about getting a root canal. But this petty whining and crying, because you lost a legal challenge is just downright childish. Besides, Norm Coleman was most likely out of money and just could not afford to keep fighting. Not only this, The G.O.P. most likely told Coleman to drop it, because the G.O.P. was already bruising from the Mark Sanford scandal. Not only this, but the G.O.P. is looking towards 2010 and 2012, and the last thing they need; is to be viewed by the General public as a party desperately trying to grasp for power.
Patrick Stack makes a valid point, but in the process dredges up old Democratic Party conspiracy theories and sour grapes of his own:
First, Norm Coleman’s concession was hardly “gracious” — he drew out the process in court for seven months, leaving Minnesota down one senator the whole time. And if anybody is the model for election legal street fights and sketchy vote-count maneuvering through the courts, I think that would have to be the guy who “won” in the 2000 Presidential election.
Glass houses, yo.
Patrick (Nice name, by the way! :D) makes a point in the first part of that, but in that second part, he drags out the old dead tired conspiracy theory that Bush stole the election. There is absolutely no valid proof that Bush stole that election, if there was, how come John McCain did not steal this election in 2008? That’s because there was no election fraud at all. The SCOTUS made that decision based upon one big factor, there was no way those votes could be counted down in Florida accurately, in a reasonable amount of time and Bush won more states than Gore; so, the Court decided in Bush’s Favor. Now am I happy about that? Quite frankly; No, I am not. Bush economic polices proved to be a disaster for this country, his authorizing the bailout of all these banks. The War in Iraq; which Bill O’Reilly himself even has said was a waste. I could go on and on about that, but I think you know what I mean. I never was a Bush Cheerleader, anyone that reads this blog knows this to be a fact.
Chris Cillizza over at “The Fix” has a nice explanation of how Coleman won, sans the Conservative Sour Grapes.
Which brings me to my final and most important point. I was over at HotAir last night and I happened to watch this video here:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Now, first off this video is supposed to be what MSNBC calls “Fair and Balanced.” If that is fair and balanced, I think I want to move to another Country. Secondly, If Markos and crew over at DailyKos think that the Democrats are going to now do every little thing that the “Nutroots” wants them to; they are going to be in for a HUGE surprise and letdown. The Democratic Party establishment looks out for one person and one person alone; itself. The only difference between the Establishment of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party; is the name. Sure, the Grassroots or in this case the “Netroots”; may have some limited influence, but when the “Goodyear hits the Asphalt”, so to speak, the Establishment calls the shots and if Markos and company think that this 60 votes myth is going to change that, they are going to be in for a big surprise.
The Obligatory Vanity Fair does a Sarah Palin Article that causes WW3 in the G.O.P. Posting
Whew, that’s a long title… But it is what is happening.
Vanity Fair did a rather long article about Sarah Palin. The long and the short of it is this; there’s nothing new in it. So, say Conservatives and Liberals. Now that is a rarity!
Because of what was written in the Article; Bill Kristol and Steve Schmidt and Randy Scheunemann are all screaming at one another:
“You’re a Douche!”
“No, You’re a Douche!”
“No, You are!”
I got news for ya Boys…. You’re ALL fucking douche nozzles in my book.
Yeah, She’s pretty. For a Neo-Con.
(Okay, I changed it, ya’ll happy now?!?!?!) 🙄
Franken wins, Coleman Concedes
Well, looks like the supreme court of Minnesota has ruled in Al Franken’s favor. Norm Coleman did the smart thing and conceded; which I personally think was quite smart, seeing that the G.O.P. has quite the image problem right now. With the revelation of Standford’s affair, I think the G.O.P. just wants to avoid any conflict.
The reaction of the far right Blogophere was muted, with some notable exceptions; not surprisingly, they have nothing to say, so, they mock. Which is about normal for that crowd. Although, Ed Morrissey; whom is one of the more intelligent Neo-Conservative Bloggers weighs in:
Norm Coleman has conceded. He wants to focus on fishing more than the governor’s race for now, but I think he decided to stop now to preserve his viability within the state of Minnesota. Probably not a bad decision for him personally.
Not to mention the viability of the G.O.P.; I mean, reality has not been too kind to that party. Is it Bush’s fault? Not entirely. Although, I will not lie to you all. That is a big part of it.
As always, Memeorandum has the round up of reactions.
The Southern Avenger on “Mark Sanford and the Right”
Synopsis: When South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford admitted his infidelity, many in the GOP establishment at both the state and national level were happy to witness the possible downfall of a prominent conservative who made them look bad by comparison.
Ramirez on Obama’s meddling in Honduras
Birds of a Feather
Man, is he ever right.
Somewhere, Cliff Kincaid is saying, “I told you so!”
Somewhere John McCain is smiling.
Sen. Lindsey Graham the New Republican Leader?!?!?!?!?!?!??!
That’s what they’re saying.
Now pardon me, while I go puke.
Krugman calls those who reject globalwarming traitors.
Really.
Click here to read it.
SCOTUS Overturns White Firefighters Case.
I knew they would; but here’s the story anyhow.
Honduras Arrests and tosses it’s President
Fausta over at Fausta’s blog is doing a one heck of a bang up job of following this situation down there.
From what I have been able to extract from the various news reports is that the President of Honduras got this bright idea that He was going to start running that Country like Venezuela’s President runs his, and the Courts over there said, “Oh no you don’t!” and ordered him arrested and tossed out of the Country.
So…. It looks like that Country is going to be finding a new President. AllahPundit Predicts that there will be military action from Vanezuela’s President, thus making headaches for President Teleprompter. Eh, I say ol’ floppy ears wanted the damn job bad enough; enough to ruin peoples lives, and lie about his citizenship; So, let him deal with the headaches.
As always Memeorandum has the roundup.
Tisk Tisk; Mr. Stone, Bad Form….
Normally, as a Free Speech advocating libertarian kind of a Conservative; I do not have a problem with people speaking their minds. But this sort of idiotic nonsense is totally uncalled for:
Film producer/director Oliver Stone, a far-left promoter of conspiracies who is working on a sequel to his 1987 ‘Wall Street’ movie, declared on Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher that “Reagan was a dumb son of a bitch” and “I really think George W is dumber” and so, after producing movies on the CIA conspiracy to murder President Kennedy and a dark look at President Nixon, he won’t create a movie on Ronald Reagan because “by doing the W movie I kind of put all my efforts behind dumbness.”
via Oliver Stone: ‘Reagan Was a Dumb Son of a Bitch’ Who Spawned Bush | NewsBusters.org.
Here’s the full exchange:
OLIVER STONE: Nixon always said Reagan was a dumb son of a bitch and, you know, I think that he was [audience applause]. And I think, I really think George W is dumber [more audience laughter and applause].
BILL MAHER: Definitely
STONE: I do think that by doing the W movie I kind of put all my efforts behind dumbness and I don’t want to go back there because, you know, I’m not the Farrelly brothers. But I do think Nixon is the father of Reagan and I think Reagan’s the father of Bush. There’s sort of a very strong line….
I knew there was a reason that this seal here was created:
The Democrats Seal!
I am no a big fan of George W. Bush either. His big Government spending and the war in Iraq are just a few things that I have against him. Ronald Reagan is another story; Reagan was by no means perfect, but he was much better than what we have in the White House now. However, I feel that this sort of bashing of Presidents, especially dead one’s like Reagan is just totally uncouth.
Reagan was what American needed at the time, to deal with the Soviets, to deal with the problems at hand, at the time. There is no telling how Reagan would have handled 9/11 or even Iraq, or the current situtation in Iran.
The Bottom line is this; While Oliver Stone might have sounded cleaver to his audience; to the rest of the World, he came off sounding like a crybaby.
I think it is high time that the Democrats start acting like adults. They did, after all, win the election.
Hey Boehner, Don’t hold back, Tell us how you really feel!
From the “Not mincing words” Dept…:
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a few choice words about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) landmark climate-change bill after its passage Friday.
When asked why he read portions of the cap-and-trade bill on the floor Friday night, Boehner told The Hill, “Hey, people deserve to know what’s in this pile of s–t.”
Using his privilege as leader to speak for an unlimited time on the House floor, Boehner spent an hour reading from the 1200-plus page bill that was amended 20 hours before the lower chamber voted 219-212 to approve it.
Eight Republicans voted with Democrats to pass the bill; 44 House Democrats voted against it.
Pelosi’s office declined to comment on Boehner’s jab. But one Democratic aide quipped, “What do you expect from a guy who thinks global warming is caused by cow manure?”
[….]
One Democrat was upset that his leaders would needlessly force vulnerable Dems to vote for a bill that will come back to haunt them. Mississippi Rep. Gene Taylor (D) voted against the measure that he says will die in the Senate.
“A lot of people walked the plank on a bill that will never become law,” Taylor told The Hill after the gavel came down.
Any other time; I would be criticizing Bonhner about the Language. But he does have a point. The bill is not going to create jobs. It is only going to result in higher energy bills for everyone.
Here’s Boehner on the stimulus: (H/T HotAir.com)
He has some very good points. Since the stimulus has passed, no real jobs have been created. I’m still unemployed. Most people around these parts that I know, are still without work. Like my cousin; who has a new baby, and needs work quite badly. So, Obama’s plan is simply a distraction from the real problem. This stimulus is simply the Democrats way of doing things. Throw money at a problem and hope it goes away. They have been doing this for years and will continue to do, as long as people continue to vote for them.
Others: Stop The ACLU, Conservatives4Palin.com, Weasel Zippers
Change?: President Obama ready to sign order to Executive Order to Allow Indefinite Detention of Terror Suspects
This broke last night and the Liberal Blogosphere about went nuclear.
Via The Washington Post:
Obama administration officials, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, are crafting language for an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations.
Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that an order, which would bypass Congress, could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.
After months of internal debate over how to close the military facility in Cuba, White House officials are increasingly worried that reaching quick agreement with Congress on a new detention system may be impossible. Several officials said there is concern in the White House that the administration may not be able to close the prison by the president’s January deadline.
White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said that there is no executive order and that the administration has not decided whether to issue one. But one administration official suggested that the White House is already trying to build support for an order.
“Civil liberties groups have encouraged the administration, that if a prolonged detention system were to be sought, to do it through executive order,” the official said. Such an order could be rescinded and would not block later efforts to write legislation, but civil liberties groups generally oppose long-term detention, arguing that detainees should be prosecuted or released.
The Justice Department has declined to comment on the prospects for a long-term detention system while internal reviews of Guantanamo detainees’ cases are underway. One task force, which is assessing detainee policy, is expected to complete its work by July 21.
In a May speech, President Obama broached the need for a system of long-term detention and suggested that it would include congressional and judicial oversight. “We must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. They can’t be based simply on what I or the executive branch decide alone,” he said.
Shall we start calling him President George W. Obama? It sure sounds like it. When the Conservatives AND Liberals are calling this plan a disaster; something is dreadfully wrong.
Should be interesting to follow.
As always Memeorandum has the round up.
Cap and Tax Passes House….
Well, it seems that the Wrongly called “Cap and Trade” Bill passed the House yesterday.
Get ready to start paying higher energy bills. The reason I say this is, because the energy companies that start paying more to run their plants are going to pass that wonderful little cost increase into their customers.
It’s going to be a long four to eight years.
Previous Cap and Trade Blogging here.
Update: Robert Stacy McCain writes; about me, the following:
Paleo Pat at Political Byline picked us up, as well: “instead of sitting and writing about crap I know zero about, I will quote people that do know about it.” The fact that you admit knowing zero about it, Pat, puts you on the same level as the pack of clowns that voted in favor of it, albeit in the more honest section.
Why that lousy son of….*cough* Ahem…… 😆
Seriously now, As it says in my F.A.Q. section, which is a subsection of my “About Me” page, and I quote:
Question: Is there anything about Political Blogging, that you dislike?
Answer: Yes. The Pile-ons, People that use their Blogs to talk out their proverbial Backsides and so on.
As I said up there, there are many bloggers who use their Blogs to yowl out their backsides. Liberals; as well as a good number of Conservatives do it. I try like the dickens, not to do that here. If there is something that I know nothing about, or not enough to sit here and write like I am an authority on it. I am going to tell you that. It is just the way I am wired. It is called brutal honesty. I just do not have all the answers and I am honest enough of man to tell you readers that. I will also be the first Conservative to tell you that the Republican Party does not have all the answers. Neither does the Democratic Party either. Neither of these parties are perfect, and they all have their bad points.
I know McCain was being funny, and Yes, I enjoyed the little dig. But, I think he thinks I’m just stupid and am linking for the hits. But it goes deeper than that; with me anyhow. I believe if I’m not able to give my opinion on something, I should point to someone that knows more than me, and at least try to get opinion from the other side; that being the Liberal side. Even if I do think it is wrong. I can disagree with Liberals and not be an asshole about it. That is my issue with good part of the Conservative movement, they are so ate up with this, “We are right and we’re going to be assholes about it.” This is why, I believe they lost the election, not to mention all the other factors.I could go on here, but I think you people know what I mean. I hope so anyhow! 😮
Cap and Trade-Gate
Quite honestly, I can fit the head on a pin, when I honestly know about this “Cap and Trade” bill that Congress is trying to ram through. So, instead of sitting and writing about crap I know zero about, I will quote people that do know about it.
Hey, At least I am honest.
Wall Street Journal writes:
Steve Fielding recently asked the Obama administration to reassure him on the science of man-made global warming. When the administration proved unhelpful, Mr. Fielding decided to vote against climate-change legislation.
If you haven’t heard of this politician, it’s because he’s a member of the Australian Senate. As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to pass a climate-change bill, the Australian Parliament is preparing to kill its own country’s carbon-emissions scheme. Why? A growing number of Australian politicians, scientists and citizens once again doubt the science of human-caused global warming.
Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as “deniers.” The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life in Australia, Europe, Japan and even, if less reported, the U.S.
In April, the Polish Academy of Sciences published a document challenging man-made global warming. In the Czech Republic, where President Vaclav Klaus remains a leading skeptic, today only 11% of the population believes humans play a role. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to tap Claude Allegre to lead the country’s new ministry of industry and innovation. Twenty years ago Mr. Allegre was among the first to trill about man-made global warming, but the geochemist has since recanted. New Zealand last year elected a new government, which immediately suspended the country’s weeks-old cap-and-trade program.
The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. — 13 times the number who authored the U.N.’s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world’s first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak “frankly” of her nonbelief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming “the worst scientific scandal in history.” Norway’s Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the “new religion.” A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton’s Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled. (Both Nature and Science magazines have refused to run the physicists’ open letter.)
Ed Morrissey, Who’s a hell of bunch more informed on this sort stuff than I; Writes:
All of the increase will get passed to consumers. Democrats hope to buffer that through targeted subsidies, but the AP neglects to mention that mechanism — because that money also comes from consumers. Business costs always get passed to the purchaser in the form of higher prices, and anyone who argues that they don’t either have no understanding of business and pricing or has a desire to sell snake oil to the gullible.
Cap-and-trade is a tax, one imposed through an artificial scarcity model onto an industry that drives the economy. The AP reports the CBO and EPA cost estimates without mentioning that those predictions only cover the actual mechanical costs of cap-and-trade. They do not predict the economic impact on American families from the loss of economic power as energy becomes more scarce and expensive. This bill will lose the US 2.5% of its GDP each and every year in the years after the first decade of implementation.
King Canute knew better than to believe his advisers when they told him that he was powerful enough to affect ocean levels. Unfortunately, this administration and the Democratic Party don’t have the sense Canute did.
Greenpeace does not even like the Bill, but not for the reasons you might think:
Washington, D.C., United States — In advance of tomorrow’s vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act in the House of Representatives, Greenpeace USA Deputy Campaigns Director Carroll Muffett issued the following statement:
“Since the Waxman-Markey bill left the Energy and Commerce committee, yet another fleet of industry lobbysists has weakened the bill even more, and further widened the gap between what Waxman-Markey does and what science demands. As a result, Greenpeace opposes this bill in its current form. We are calling upon Congress to vote against this bill unless substantial measures are taken to strengthen it. Despite President Obama’s assurance that he would enact strong, science-based legislation, we are now watching him put his full support behind a bill that chooses politics over science, elevates industry interests over national interest, and shows the significant limitations of what this Congress believes is possible.
“As it comes to the floor, the Waxman-Markey bill sets emission reduction targets far lower than science demands, then undermines even those targets with massive offsets. The giveaways and preferences in the bill will actually spur a new generation of nuclear and coal-fired power plants to the detriment of real energy solutions. To support such a bill is to abandon the real leadership that is called for at this pivotal moment in history. We simply no longer have the time for legislation this weak.
“With many others in the environmental, faith and consumer rights communities, Greenpeace has expressed tremendous concern about the role of offsets in this legislation. Unless strictly controlled, the abuse of offsets could prevent real emission reductions for more than a decade. The decision to move authority over offsets from EPA to the Department of Agriculture further reduces the likelihood that such controls will be maintained and increases the likelihood they will undermine real reductions.
This legislation sends a strong and unmistakable signal to the world that the United States is not yet ready to show the leadership necessary to reach a strong agreement at Copenhagen in December. Already, we are seeing the impact of this signal as one country after another retreats from the aggressive targets needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.
We call on the Congress to reject this bill and begin immediate and urgent work on legislation that treats seriously the dire threat of climate change. We call on President Obama to move beyond rhetoric and deliver on his commitments to “restore science to its proper place” and to lead the world in addressing climate change.
Yeah, I know what your thinking; (Fuck Greenpeace!) and I agree. I just thought I would add their take on it.
Investors Business Daily Editorials Writes:
Not since a misguided piece of legislation imposed tariffs that turned a recession into a depression has there been a piece of legislation as bad as Waxman-Markey.
The 1,000-plus-page American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) is being rushed to a vote by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before anyone can seriously object to this economic suicide pact.
It’s what Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security, might call a “man-caused disaster,” a phrase she coined to replace the politically incorrect “terrorist attack.” But no terrorist could ever dream of inflicting as much damage as this bill.
Its centerpiece is a “cap and trade” provision that has been rightfully derided as “cap and tax.” It is in fact a tax on energy everywhere it is consumed on everything it is used to make or provide.
It is the largest tax increase in American history — a tax on all Americans — even the 95% that President Obama pledged would never see a tax increase.
It’s a political bill that could come to a vote now that a deal was struck with farm-state legislators concerned about the taxation of even bovine flatulence.
As part of the agreement reached Tuesday night and announced by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Beverly Hills, agricultural oversight for cap-and-trade was transferred from the Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Farmers hope the USDA will be less intrusive. The EPA has been tasked by a Supreme Court ruling to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from your nostrils to your lawn mower. This even covers the emissions of barnyard animals, including the methane from cows.
The American Farm Bureau warns that cap and trade would cost the average farmer $175 on every dairy cow and $80 for beef cattle. So farm-state politics trumped climate change.
I guess you can see, by what is written here; that this bill is no good for anyone. Higher Taxes, Businesses being punished; Not good, not good at all.
There are quite a few bloggers covering this topic and are more informed about it than I. Here they are: QandO, Vox Popoli, Pundit & Pundette, Michelle Malkin, The Sundries Shack, The Foundry, AmSpecBlog, Gateway Pundit, A Blog For All, American Solutions, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Cold Fury and The Other McCain, Weekly Standard, RedState, Pajamas Media, Riehl World View, : The Jawa Report, The Strata-Sphere, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Pundit & Pundette, The Volokh Conspiracy, QandO, Classical Values, AmSpecBlog, Commentary, The Other McCain and Michelle Malkin
The Obligatory Obama Healthcare Special/Infomercial Posting
No, I did not watch it. But there is many who did.
Go here for the round up.
My opinion is simply this; The Government cannot even do intelligence properly, perfect example being Iraq. What makes anyone think that they could do Health care?
I do not have health care insurance, but I am not about to become a cheerleader for Government paid, controlled, and financed Health care insurance. It is just another form of Governmental control. As if we do not have enough of that already.
What amazes me, is how ABC has drove in the tank for Obama, just like MSNBC. It is a sad thing.
John Dickerson at Slate Magazine on Sanford
Perhaps one of the best things that I have seen yet on Sanford:
Sanford’s fumbling efforts to explain how he’s tried to rescue himself with his faith offered some people an opportunity to make fun of his religion, as if a confused, lost, flawed person were the right spokesman for anything. People tend to think the most awful thing about a person is the most true thing. They also apparently think it’s the most true thing about his or her associations. So an e-mail arrived asking, “[I]s there any Republican not sleeping around?” Maybe Sanford should have been a presidential candidate. He apparently represents an entire party and an entire religion.
What Mark Sanford seemed to be trying to say is that he screwed up, in the biggest possible way, because he lost his bearings. He lost his self-control. He was indulgent. He forgot that there were other humans in the world. Yet in the constant flow of abuse, joke-making, and grand conclusions about his failings, it seemed everyone having a good time pointing at his self-indulgence was also engaging in a form of it.
via The strange, heartless glee at Sanford’s downfall. – By John Dickerson – Slate Magazine.
Quite true. If one wanted to wax philosophical on this whole situation; one could say that those who gleeful about Sanford’s downfall, are actually saying that they are not capability of committing such an offense. Which we all know is quite untrue. However, it is not to try and say that Sanford’s actions are not above scorn. However, one could establish that the very one’s that are scorning Sanford are violating one of the most simple of Christian principles, and that is forgiveness.
Further more, much of anger by those on the Neo-Conservative right, is simple based upon one thing; Because Sanford embraced the principles of Paleo-Conservatism, most notably; a non-interventionist foreign policy. Personally, my feelings of disappointment are of a selfish nature. I was hoping that Mark Sanford would be able to make a run in 2012. I was hoping to be involved in his campaign. Hence the enormous let down. I suspect that this is why there is such disappointment among Paleo-Conservatives. Plus, he was seen as someone who would carry on the mantel of Ron Paul.
Again, it is a huge disappointment and it will be a huge blow to the G.O.P., As there is no clear leader for 2012. Sarah Palin is big Government and a “Do as I say, not as I do”, Republican and Mike Huckabee is not someone I believe needs to be in the White House, as he is too much of a Theocratic Republican and Mitt Romney is a Mormon; who is quite the asshole as well. So, if they pick him for 2012. I’m voting Libertarian again and possibly will leave the Country.
As I’ve said here many times before; it is going to be a LONG four to eight years.
(H/T Instapundit)
Sanford admits to having an affair
This is terrible…. I will explain after the video and story…
The Video:
The Story:
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, his eyes red, admitted to having an extramarital affair Wednesday with an Argentine woman.
“I’ve been unfaithful to be my wife,” Sanford said at a state capitol news conference.
It began very innocently,” he explained, saying that developed into an adulterous relationship in the past year.
He said he seen his unidentified mistress three times since they began the affair or, as he put it, “since the whole sparking thing.”
Sanford said he was resigning his post as Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association.
Taking questions from reporters, Sanford said his wife knew about the relationship before his trip last week and that “they had been working through this thing for about the last five months.”
He shed tears as he explained how helpful one friend had been.
He also choked up when he said: “This has been selfishness on my part.”
Sanford’s admission caps an extraordinary week in which he was revealed to having been in Argentina and not, as his staff said, hiking on the Appalachian trail.
Before disclosing his relationship, Sanford apologized profusely to a number of family and friends.
“I’ve let down a lot of people — that’s the bottom line,” Sanford said.
My Friends, I am not going to try and spin this or lie about it or anything. For the first time in my blogging career; I can honestly say, that I am at a loss for words. The emotions that I am feeling right now are shock, disbelief, anger, slight numbness; all of that. In the back of my mind, I was worried that people like Jack Hunter; who’s also known as “The Southern Avenger“, was putting way too much stock into the guy. I thought that this was a setup by the Neo-Conservatives and the Liberals to keep him from trying to running for President in 2012. I even was about ready to pen a Editoral blasting those whom I thought were behind the attempt to undercut the man.
Well, all that’s not going to be needed now. Mark Stanford admitted he was in deep trouble.
I am, as they say; devastated.
Update: As always, Memeorandum has the round up.
Update #2: Michelle Malkin does not mence words, She calls Sanford a “Bastard“. To which I say; Amen.
Update #3: The Anchoress has some choice words for Sanford as well.
Update #4: I’ve seen some Democrats just loving this. Let me say this, at least Mark Sanford wasn’t trying to run for President; while cheating on his wife with cancer; and the last time I checked, Sandford doesn’t have any “Hey, ask me about my dead kid!”, stickers on the back of his car. Unlike a well-known Democrat that we all know.