Tag: Media
UPDATED: I am no Tabitha Hale fan, at all; But this is Bullcrap – Tabitha Hale speaks out on her attack!
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.
Having said all that, Tabitha Hale got roughed up a bit. Michelle Malkin has the story:
This is Tabitha Hale, a young conservative activist/original Tea Party organizer/blogger who works for Washington, D.C.-based FreedomWorks. I know her from her great grass-roots work with Smart Girl Politics when the Tea Party movement was just emerging.
Today, Big Labor groups took their Grievance March to the offices of FreedomWorks.
Among the groups protesting: the Communications Workers of America. They’re one of the heavyweight labor biggies that have received a coveted Obamacare Waiver for Favors. CWA facts here.
Video of the assault:
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? 🙄
Others: RedState, The Sundries Shack, The Other McCain, Caffeinated Thoughts, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The Gateway Pundit, All American Blogger, Sister Toldjah, Weasel Zippers, Doug Ross, AmSpecBlog, UNCOVERAGE.net, POWIP, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Da Techguy’s Blog, No Runny Eggs, The Daley Gator, American Power and Pajamas Media
Update: Tabitha Hale speaks out on her attack:
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.
Related: Yikes! Anti-Semitsm during Union Demostration at Freedom Works HQ?
Special Comment: Birthers, Birchers and Paleoconservatives are Americans too
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.
Also Published at USA Sentinel
A perfect example of why I think liberals are just plain stupid
Is because of comments I get like this, this dimwit is referring to this posting here:
Author : Mandamus (IP: 142.179.209.10 , wacnetwork2.ab.hsia.telus.net)
E-mail : aj.barker@gmail.com
URL :
Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=142.179.209.10
Comment:
You can’t say “A fact confirmed” and “Fox News” in the same sentence without destroying your own credibility.
Oh Really?
Lets looks at the ratings shall we?
This comes from TV by the numbers:
Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for February 15, 2011
P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) Total Day
FOXN
1,129 276 546 CNN
384 130 175 MSNB
464 114 216 CNBC
210 63 107 HLN
231 100 134
Primetime
P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN
2,214 495 1,031 CNN
632 223 281 MSNB
1,061 264 478 CNBC
324 128 142 HLN
342 114 173
Net Morning programs (6-9 AM) P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN FOX & Friends 983 322 616 CNN American Morning 249 108 122 MSNB Morning Joe 433 95 191 CNBC Squawk Box 184 70 127 HLN Morning Express w/ Meade 326 200 253
Net 5PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN GLENN BECK 1,867 429 915 CNN SITUATION ROOM 461 124 189 MSNB HARDBALL WITH C. MATTHEWS 572 127 227 CNBC FAST MONEY 166 39 93 HLN SHOWBIZ TONIGHT 194 93 107
Net 6PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER 2,045 432 850 CNN SITUATION ROOM 502 189 243 MSNB MSNBC LIVE 563 123 247 CNBC MAD MONEY 193 69 123 HLN PRIME NEWS 240 80 103
Net 7PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN THE FOX REPORT W/S.SMITH 1,922 541 957 CNN JOHN KING USA 451 183 244 MSNB HARDBALL WITH C. MATTHEWS 806 183 358 CNBC KUDLOW REPORT 188 64 94 HLN ISSUES 341 105 189
Net 8PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN THE OREILLY FACTOR 3,017 686 1,393 CNN PARKER SPITZER 444 142 184 MSNB LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL 1,000 219 409 CNBC FACEBOOK OBSESSION, THE 265 140 121 HLN NANCY GRACE 482 134 225
Net 9PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN HANNITY 2,196 468 1,005 CNN Piers Morgan Tonight 710 280 304 MSNB RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1,265 321 555 CNBC 60 Minutes ON CNBC 386 139 153 HLN NANCY GRACE-MISSING 276 99 171
Net 10PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN ON THE RECORD W/GRETA 1,427 331 693 CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 740 246 355 MSNB ED SHOW 919 252 468 CNBC 60 Minutes ON CNBC 320 104 153 HLN JOY BEHAR 287 117 138
Net 11PM P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN THE OREILLY FACTOR 1,141 409 655 CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 378 161 173 MSNB LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL 510 139 278 CNBC MAD MONEY 102 39 49 HLN SHOWBIZ TONIGHT 268 120 138 –
Note: We post all the cable news ratings we get. We don’t have ratings for any time periods not shown above.
For other days cable news ratings click here.
P2+ = viewers over the age of 2
(25-54) = Adults 25-54 viewing
(35-64) = Adults 35-64 viewing
Prime Time = 8-11pm
I do believe that if anyone has a credibility problem sir, it is you. Numbers do no lie. Fox News Channel is the highest rated news network right now. That might have something to do with the fact they do not kowtow down to your liberal President’s bull crap, nor do they play his propaganda game. Liberalism and big governess are a losing game. Freedom is popular and you, my little liberal idiot friend, are on the wrong side of that game. Period, end of discussion.
CBS Reporter supposedly gets raped in Egypt
Seeing this is the biggest story out there:
“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.
Blogger Round up: Little Green Footballs, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs, neo-neocon, PostPartisan, No More Mister Nice Blog, Media Matters for America, NewsReal Blog, Latest Open Salon Blog, Wonkette, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Pundit & Pundette, JammieWearingFool, AOL News, POWIP and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »
Related:
Jim Geraghty / National Review: NYU Accepts Rosen’s Resignation
Betsy Rothstein / mediabistro.com: Apologies From Dubai. Nir Rosen: ‘I Feel Like Shrinking Now’
Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online: The Lunatic Left-Right Harmonic Rape Convergence Theory
Aliyah Shahid / NY Daily News:
Nir Rosen, U.S. journalist trashes CBS’ Lara Logan on Twitter after sexual assault in Egypt
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
Nir Rosen Resigns as NYU Fellow After Trashing Lara Logan on Twitter
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Video: Ron Paul’s CPAC speech
Via Fire Andrea Mitchell, who compares Ron Paul to Obama; which is typical of the Neo-Con Ilk.
Video: Don Rumsfield on 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, and More
Some good video here:
The Story via ABC NEWS:
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:
BREAKING NEWS: AOL to buy The Huffington Post
It is official — AOL has gone liberal.
Via the old Gray Lady:
The Huffington Post, which began in 2005 with a meager $1 million investment and has grown into one of the most heavily visited news Web sites in the country, is being acquired by AOL in a deal that creates an unlikely pairing of two online media giants.
The two companies completed the sale Sunday evening and were expected to announce the deal Monday morning. AOL will pay $315 million, $300 million of it in cash and the rest in stock. It will be the company’s largest acquisition since it was separated from Time Warner in 2009.
The deal will allow AOL to greatly expand its news gathering and original content creation, areas that its chief executive, Tim Armstrong, views as vital to reversing a decade-long decline.
Arianna Huffington, the cable talk show pundit, author and doyenne of the political left, will take control of all of AOL’s editorial content as president and editor in chief of a newly created Huffington Post Media Group. The arrangement will give her oversight not only of AOL’s national, local and financial news operations, but also of the company’s other media enterprises like MapQuest and Moviefone.
By handing so much control over to Ms. Huffington and making her a public face of the company, AOL, which has been seen as apolitical, risks losing its nonpartisan image. Ms. Huffington said her politics would have no bearing on how she ran the new business.
The deal has the potential to create an enterprise that could reach more than 100 million visitors in the United States each month. For The Huffington Post, which began as a liberal blog with a small staff but now draws some 25 million visitors every month, the sale represents an opportunity to reach new audiences. For AOL, which has been looking for ways to bring in new revenue as its dial-up Internet access business declines, the millions of Huffington Post readers represent millions in potential advertising dollars.
“This is a statement that the company is making investments, and in this case a bold investment, that fits right into our strategy,” Mr. Armstrong said in an interview Sunday. “I think this is going to be a situation where 1 plus 1 equals 11.”
Ms. Huffington and Mr. Armstrong began discussing the possibility of a sale only last month. They came to know each other well after they both attended a media conference in November and quickly discovered, as Ms. Huffington put it, “we were practically finishing each other’s sentences.” She added: “It was really amazing how aligned our visions were.”
One of The Huffington Post’s strengths has been creating an online community of readers with tens of millions of people. Their ability to leave comments on Huffington Post news articles and blog posts and to share them on TwitterFacebook has been a major reason the site attracts so many readers. It is routine for articles to draw thousands of comments each and be cross-linked across multiple social networks. and
Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Huffington say that AOL’s local news initiative, Patch, and its citizen journalist venture, Seed, stand to thrive when paired with the reader engagement tools of The Huffington Post.
AOL’s own news Web sites like Politics Daily and Daily Finance are likely to disappear when the deal is completed, and many of the writers who work for those sites will become Huffington Post writers, according to people with knowledge of the deal, who asked not to be identified discussing plans that are still being worked out.
I got one thing to say about the above. I give it a year; and Huffington Post and AOL will both be gone. The truth is, that Huffington Post was swirling the drain, according to some of my well-placed sources and Huffington was looking for a buyer. She finally found a sucker, with deep pockets. The problem is that AOL is quickly becoming a relic of the old days of the internet; as in Pre-web 2.0. AOL has tried to keep up; but the majority of internet users, like myself; recoil in horror, when people say, “I am on AOL!”
Again, I give it a year.
Update: Ed Morrissey, always the nice guy, says:
It should be an interesting transition to watch, though. None of these oddities takes away from Arianna’s success, either, in building a blogospheric empire and realizing a fortune from it.
Yeah, she built an empire of wealth; because she was already damned wealthy, because she supposedly “unknowingly” married a guy, who was involved in politics and he turned out to be gay. Further more, the Huffington Post exists for one reason and one reason alone. To propagate socialist Liberal propaganda and make a mockery of Conservatism. In other words; that marble-mouthed socialist got rich off of disparaging American values and our capitalistic system in this Country —- All the while getting rich off of it — or in her case, richer.
Again, it is pathetic and straight up hypocritical. But then again, we are talking about American socialist liberals, are we not?
Update #2: Roundups by MediaGazer, TechMeMe and Memeorandum
It is official: Keith Olbermann is under my bus
I have been meaning to write about this for a few days; but there were other things to write about and this one got cast aside.
I was going to put this one under the whole “Living Proof that liberals are classless assholes” banner. But this one just was just too great, too awful, too nasty.
It appears that Keith Olbermann has some sort of inbred hatred of our United States Military. Now why would I make such a wild accusation as that? For this reason:
Ed Driscoll, who is a Vietnam Vet wrote the following about Keith Olbermann in the Boston Globe:
I AM very happy that Keith Olbermann is no longer on MSNBC. I participated in more than 10 combat missions in Vietnam, so I know a mission is not a war. Someone should have told that to Olbermann, as he demonstrated his ignorance by equating the two for years on his show.
He would end by saying it has been so many days since President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished’’ in Iraq. Bush never said that. Olbermann was referring to a sign on an aircraft carrier that said “Mission Accomplished.’’ The president declared an end to major combat operations, and therefore the aircraft carrier was headed home.
In Bush’s speech, he said that much work has yet to be done. The sign was for the brave people who had completed their mission.
Olbermann can take the money and run. I don’t care where.
A gentle ribbing towards someone who, if anyone, had the right to say that; after all he was a military officer. Well, not to Keith, who hates anything remotely Military — this was his response: (H/T Nice Deb)
How Keith REALLY feels about our Military
That’s right, Keith believes that people that serve in our Military are dumb. This goes along with the whole mentality that whole idea, by the so-called enlightened liberals that most Military people are simple minded Conservatives who are too stupid to think for themselves. You see, Keith does not have his network bosses to answer to any longer, so, now he can spew his far leftist hatred of all things American; including our Military.
As some of you know and you can know this by searching this blog; I used to hold Keith Olbermann in very high regard. I was, at one point, a regular watcher of Keith’s show. That is, until he started with the intellectual dishonesty and straight up lying about everything under the sun. Well, writing about something is not enough, one must put their money where their mouth is.
So, as of this morning. I have removed the one book that Keith Olbermann wrote off of my Blog’s Bookstore. Unfortunately, I could not remove the one book itself. I had to remove the sections about George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Most of it was filled with Anti-Bush and Anti-Cheney books anyhow. I realize that it might not be that big of a deal, not many people buy anything from my Bookstore anyhow. However, with me. It is a personal decision; that I just will not support someone, who is taken to insulting our Military. This is a personal issue with me; it always has been, as I have had family members who served. This is why I have “Lost my shit”, so to speak, in the past, when people have insulted the Military in the Paleo-Conservative circles.
So, Keith, if you happened to even read this; You sir, are history in my book. You just do not insult Military officers, whether active or inactive. Not around me at least. You sir, are no better than the anti-war protesters in the 1960’s who spat upon and mocked the soldiers coming out of Vietnam. In fact, your little smart-assed tweet was, as far as this writer is concerned; was in fact, a virtual spit in the face of a Solider who served proudly in our Military.
For this sir, you are remanded to dustbin of history, as far as I am concerned. You sir are just another Anti-American socialist, who happened to get rich by spewing your lies and bigotry — all the while railing against the very capitalist system that made you rich. Which is a picture perfect example of the blatant hypocrisy of the liberal left. I do hope that you enjoy that money, that in all honesty, you do not deserve to own; and if you just happen to get lucky enough to land another job as a talking head somewhere else. I will be here to blog against your idiotic nonsense. Because as a former “Left of Center,” I am appalled to where you and your communist-lite friends have taken the party that my grandparents and parents voted and still do vote for.
Further more, I find your attacks against our Military sickening and I will be one of many, who will continue to attack you, for your idiotic political viewpoints; until you finally retire and eventually die relieving this Nation of your moronic bombast and empty headed pontifications.
I may be only a small cog in this machine that we call America; but I am a damned good one!
Video: The Reality Report: Bypassing the Obama Kill Switch
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.
The Monday Night Mental Health Break: The Perrys
I saw this on Facebook. Enjoy….:
Video: Andrew Breitbart blows the lid off the pigford lawsuit story!
I am going to be totally honest with you all; I do not even like Andrew Breitbart —- But this video right here, is pretty darned interesting.
If everything in this video is true, the Obama Administration could be looking at some problems down the road. To be fair to Mr. Breitbart, he also goes after Republicans for their cowardice in not checking this out. In short, it is fraud on a massive scale and hopefully when this story breaks, someone in the Republican Party — like in the House, will order investigations. The really funny part is, Breitbart says he hired someone from Huffington Post — of all places — to debunk the story and he could not.
Having said all of that; here is the video which comes from Ed Morrissey, who is out in California:
Of course the cynical person in me thinks that nothing will become of this; because of race and other factors, none of the people involved in this scandal will see justice. It is just how our system works. Only those who ruffle the wrong feathers — so to speak — are the ones who are actually prosecuted.
However, as they say; I will wait and see.
Stay Tuned.
Video: The Reality Report #78: The Homeland becomes the Fatherland
Please note: The posting on this video does NOT constitute support for all of the views therein. It is posted for your education and information.
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Synopsis: In the 78th edition of the Reality Report, Gary Franchi draws the direct parallels America shares with Hitler’s Germany and provides the solution to avoiding their terrible fate. We take a look at Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk where he discusses what a new found interest in the Constitution could mean for America. CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, Peter Schiff tells us why the Chinese modeled their currency after the U.S. dollar. We also hear from the former U.S. military analyst who is responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg. He explains the recent war on whistle-blowers. Chris Mathews latest hypocrisy is revealed and Angie breaks down the news. As always we take a dip into the mailbag, reveal the results from last weeks viewer poll and brand a new Enemy of the State.
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Keith Olbermann signs off Countdown and leaves MSNBC
Man, go to bed early and what happens? The whole darned world turns upside down! Seriously, I sacked out after O’Reilly went off. I was pooped.
Anyhow, here is the video:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
AllahPundit over at HotAir.com has a ton of links going every which a way, as to why this happened.
Memeorandum has a huge round up of blogger reactions of a political sort. MediaGazer has the industry bloggers reactions.
Mediate has the reason why Olby got the sack:
Sources tell Mediaite Keith Olbermann and MSNBC were headed for a breakup long before Comcast’s rise to power, but clearly something set the divorce into motion quickly today, with network promos set to run touting Olbermann’s role in MSNBC’s coverage of next week’s State of the Union address–and, notably, a Keith Olbermann promo running on MSNBC in the hour after the host signed off and left the net, work…
In recent weeks, sources tell Mediaite there have been meetings on the topic of Keith Olbermann and his future at the network. Did Comcast–as many Countdown viewers seem to suspect–order Olbermann out? It appears that the end of the Olbermann era at MSNBC was not “ordered” by Comcast, nor was it a move to tone down the network’s politics. Instead, sources inside the network say it came down to the more mundane world of office politics–Olbermann was a difficult employee, who clashed with bosses, colleagues and underlings alike, and with the Comcast-related departure of Jeff Zucker, and the rise of Maddow and O’Donnell, the landscape shifted, making an Olbermann exit suddenly seem well-timed.
Here is my take on this; I find this very shocking, but not at all surprising. Keith Olbermann, since the election of Barack Obama and even before that, in the last waning months of the Bush era; had become a parody of himself. I mean, doing stuff like telling the President to “Shut the hell up!” on the live TV. Honestly, the man had become a unhinged being. Not only that; but to this former Democratic voting Blogger, turned right of center voter, it just seemed that after Bush left office and President Obama was sworn in and took office that Olbermann made a hardcore turn towards outright partisanship. I found that to be most offensive and not only that; but the outright intellectual dishonesty from him and the rest of the on air talent was just sickening.
As to what this means. Honestly, I have no idea. Could it be a shift for the network back towards the right? I sure as hell hope so. I remember when MSNBC copied the model of Fox News; by having a fair and balanced line up. Chris Matthews who is left of center, Tucker Carlson who was right-libertarian, Keith Olbermann who was Liberal Left, and Joe Scarborough who was a Republican Conservative. That was a balanced line up. Then Don Imus lost his show and Joe was put on mornings and that is when the MSNBC nighttime line up went crazy. All Liberal all the time. Tucker was cut loose and basically that was when I started watching Fox News. I usually watch their daytime news stuff and then I watch O’Reilly at night. I do avoid the rest of the crazies on Fox News. Again, I just do not watch partisan hacks.
Poor President Barack Obama just cannot catch a break!
I swear, sometimes I feel sorry for the President. I know it sounds strange. But I do. Check out his op-ed:
For two centuries, America’s free market has not only been the source of dazzling ideas and path-breaking products, it has also been the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known. That vibrant entrepreneurialism is the key to our continued global leadership and the success of our people.
But throughout our history, one of the reasons the free market has worked is that we have sought the proper balance. We have preserved freedom of commerce while applying those rules and regulations necessary to protect the public against threats to our health and safety and to safeguard people and businesses from abuse.
From child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to our most recent strictures against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, we have, from time to time, embraced common sense rules of the road that strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy.
Sometimes, those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business—burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs. At other times, we have failed to meet our basic responsibility to protect the public interest, leading to disastrous consequences. Such was the case in the run-up to the financial crisis from which we are still recovering. There, a lack of proper oversight and transparency nearly led to the collapse of the financial markets and a full-scale Depression — Read the rest @ Barack Obama: Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System – WSJ.com
The reason I feel sorry for the President is this; from what I have read, on both sides of the political fence —- both side hate this, for some reason. The right says that the President says that Obama is just consolidating regulation, the left says that Obama is moving to the right. I mean, good grief people — can not the man just get credit for doing something right?
If you want a sampling of both sides, check out these links and the round up at Memeorandum.com. Check out the reactions: Political Punch, The Note, The Atlantic Online, Center for Progressive Reform, The Huffington Post, Fox Nation, AOL News, PointOfLaw Forum, The Daily Caller, Comments from Left Field, Bloomberg, No More Mister Nice Blog, Michelle Malkin, JustOneMinute, Salon, Economist’s View, Patterico’s Pontifications, The Awl, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Conservatives4Palin, Questions and Observations, Betsy’s Page, White House.gov Blog, ThinkProgress, CNSNews, Pajamas Media, Clusterstock, The Enterprise Blog, Liberty Pundits Blog, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Maddow Blog, Climate Progress, The Hill, Corrente, Cheat Sheet, Shakesville and Economix
Again, I hate to be the one in the crowd to tell both sides, but I will — In November of 2008, the American people, in record numbers, elected a man to be different than George W. Bush. Millions of people cast thier hopes and dreams on one man. Now he might not be the perfect person that many on the far left assumed that he was; but the man is doing the very best that he can. What people have to realize is this, the President is the President of the United States of America, not the President of the Democratic Party. President Barack Obama represents all of us; Not just a select few.
I think that everyone; right, center, left and even middle of the road — ought to just take a step back, breathe a little and let the President do his job. The President might not do exactly what everyone wants him to do. But he will do what he was elected to do and that is Govern this Country fairly and according to the precepts set forth by the Constitution. Forget the hype and stupidity that is being promoted on the Fox News Channel and on the Neo-Con Blogs and some of the even more sillier nonsense on MSNBC and the left wing Blogs. President Barack Obama only has as much power, as the Constitution allows him to have.
Further more, I find it ironic, that very same people that worked to elect Barack Obama President and bring change of any sort to this Country are now the one’s bitching and griping because President Barack Obama is not catering to the special interests of everyone in the beltway and beyond.
LOCAL STORY: ‘Act of a mad man’ or an American who just ran out of hope?
The local liberal media around here is absolutely sickening. They know no bounds at all; smearing a dead man and not only that, someone who owned his own business. This is confirmed by reading the comments on The Detroit News and Free Press as well.
The Story via The Detroit News:
Novi— A man apparently killed his wife and two young sons Friday, then drove a few miles away and killed himself by breathing in poisonous fumes from a charcoal grill he had placed in his car, police said.
About 11:30 a.m., Novi police responded to the home of Mark and Jennifer Schons on Applebrooke Drive near Nine Mile and Napier roads because friends of 38-year-old Jennifer Schons were concerned that her two sons had not shown up for school. Schons, who was having marital problems, had missed a scheduled appointment with a friend, police said.
Shortly after noon, police entered the home and found three bodies in separate bedrooms, including Tynan, 6, and Camden, 4.
Initial police reports were that all died from gunshot wounds, but Novi Police Chief David Molloy said late Friday that was inaccurate. He wouldn’t comment on their cause of death.
Molloy called the deaths “the act of a madman.”
The couple were considering divorce, he said.
A typical open and shut case of a mad man gone crazy right?
Perhaps not. Let’s look a little closer…. Buried in the lead of this story, is this:
Their party supply store on East Grand River in Howell recently failed; Jennifer Schons was a paint engineer for General Motors for 14 years, working in Warren. They filed for bankruptcy in December, claiming $581,000 in debt.
Of course, the paper just had to get a shot of those rich white people’s house:
First off, let me say this; I do not excuse this man’s actions. What he did was absolutely horrible. Ending the lives to two kids, ages 4 and 6 is inexcusable. But the anti-Business, Anti-White bias on this story is unbelievable. For all these idiots know; this man most likely did this, because of the failing economy; which was brought on by the liberal Democrats who sought to game the system, by socially engineering the system. The man bit off more than he could chew, and most likely the thought of him losing everything and his wife, and children — were just more than he could bear. To some people; especially those who have been wildly successful, going broke or losing it all, is a embarrassment to the point of wanting to die.
What really makes me want to throw up are the asinine comments at the Detroit News site:
That’s what happens when you listen to too much conservative talk radio.
D. Fientz, Pleasant Ridge, MI
Political bias, what political bias? 🙄 
The Detroit Free Press account of it, is a little less biased. But the comment section is just as sickening. Go read.
There is a Christian lesson here. People that do stuff like this, just have no hope. That hope is found in Jesus Christ. But the money is the man thought here:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. —- (1 Timothy 6:6-19 KJV)
Obviously this man never read this.
This is also a sign of the times, as spoken of, by the Bible — Here the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” — (Luke 21:25-31 KJV)
The moral of this story is this; this man and his family owned a business, which failed, they had obviously lived well beyond their means and when it all came crashing down around him. He could not handle it and chose Murder and Suicide. That is because this family had no hope. Which only comes in Jesus Christ. We can expect to see more of this as time goes on.
For what it is worth; I happen to know that area very well. It is a upper middle class and yes, very white part of Southeastern Michigan area. Novi, Rochester Hills; where there are multi-million dollar homes — is all up in that area. Again, while this is a tragic event; what is even more tragic is the bias of the liberal media and also, it is a lesson in what is coming to America in the not-so-distant future, if America does not fix this broken economy. Not everyone has the hope in Christ and not everyone can cope with losing everything.
Tom Delay gets three years for corruption charges
Video Via CBN:
The Story:
Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Texas, was sentenced on Monday to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The sentence came after Delay was convicted in November of trying to illegally influence elections in the Lone Star State.
In a 10 minute speech to Senior Judge Pat Priest, Delay insisted he did nothing wrong.
“I can’t be remorseful for something I don’t think I did,” Delay said, adding that accountants and lawyers checked everything he did.
“This criminalization of politics is very dangerous. It’s dangerous to our system. Just because somebody disagrees with you they got to put you in jail, bankrupt you, destroy your family,” he told Priest.
However, the prosecutor in the case saw the matter differently.
“I think Tom Delay said it best. He said that he was arrogant,” Assistant District Attorney Gary Cobb said.
“His statement was an extremely arrogant statement where he refused to accept responsibility, refused to show any remorse for the offense of which he’s been convicted of,” Cobb added.
I happen to see this a little differently than Tom Delay. I believe there is another motivation factor here; and that factor is race. This is nothing more, than a political and racial watch hunt by a black liberal Democrat who wants to make a name for himself by going after and bringing down a White Conservative Republican. I have information in my possession from well-placed anonymous sources, e-mails from this man saying that he was going to bring down Tom Delay and some very nasty racist words were used to describe Mr. Delay.
It is a sad day in America when out of control liberal blacks can attack, smear and persecute White Americans for crimes that they did not commit.
UPDATED — BREAKING NEWS: FORMER DETROIT MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK & OTHERS INDICTED ON LITANY OF FEDERAL CHARGES — Video of Press Conference Added
INDICTED!
Finally…. Justice is starting to be served here in Detroit.
There is news of it from all over the place in Detroit.
First Video from WXYZ-TV in Detroit:
Next Video from FOX 2 in Detroit:
Update: Here is that actual presser announcing said charges against all involved:
Here are the actual pages of the indictment itself: (via WDIV-TV)
READ PAGES 1-8 of Federal Indictment: Kilpatrick Charged With Conspiracy, Fraud, Extortion
READ PAGES 9-16 of Federal Indictment: Kwame Federal Indictment: Pages 9-16
READ PAGES 17-25 of Federal Indictment: Kwame Federal Indictment: Pages 17-25
READ PAGES 25-32 of Federal Indictment: Kwame Federal Indictment: Pages 25-32
READ PAGES 33-40 of Federal Indictment: Kwame Federal Indictment: Pages 33-40
READ PAGES 41-48 of Federal Indictment: Kwame Federal Indictment: Pages 41-48
I think it would be fair to point out that Kwame Kilpatrick was and still is a REGISTERED DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEMBER!
The Detroit Free Press reports:
A federal grand jury today indicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father and three former top aides on racketeering charges, accusing them of turning the mayor’s office into a criminal enterprise to enrich themselves, families and friends.
Besides the now-jailed former mayor, the 38-count indictment names his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, city contractor Bobby Ferguson, former top Kilpatrick aide Derrick Miller and former water department chief Victor Mercado in one of the largest public corruption investigations ever in the City of Detroit.
The indictment outlined four general areas of misconduct.
It said the defendants extorted money from municipal contractors, state and non-profit donors and engaged in bribery and extortion involving other public contracts and investments.
The indictment said that Ferguson kicked back at least $424,000 in cash and other items of value to the mayor and that Kilpatrick used more than $590,000 in cash derived from the conspiracy to pay his credit card bills, purchase cashier’s checks and clothing and repay loans.
Bernard Kilpatrick, the indictment said, deposited more than $600,000 in cash into his personal bank accounts. He was charged with three counts of filing false tax returns for calendar years 2004, 21005 and 2007.
The penalties for the charges laid out in the indictment range from three to 30 year in prison.
I believe it also would be fair to point out that this is what happens when you have the mentality THAT YOU ARE BLACK AND THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED! This sort of mentality, for what it is worth; dates back to the days of the Coleman A. Young administration. The difference is that Kwame was not able to pay the feds off, like Mayor Young was able to do. Further more, from what I heard at the presser, that Kwame and friends were even doing this sort of that back when Kwame was a state representative.
The Detroit News Reports the list of people, besides Kilpatrick, who have been charged…..so far:
Karl Kado: The former Cobo contractor, who has said in sworn testimony he made illegal cash payments to former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, remains a key government witness and got three years probation.
Glenn Blanton: The former Cobo Center director who admitted taking illegal payments from Kado was sentenced to one year in prison for obstruction of justice.
Lou Pavledes: Another former Cobo director who admitted taking bribes from Kado, Pavledes got 14 months for a banking offense.
James R. Rosendall Jr.: The former Synagro Technologies Inc. vice president became an FBI informant and got 11 months for bribery.
Rayford W. Jackson: The Detroit businessman who was Synagro’s local partner is serving a five-year sentence for bribery.
Monica Conyers: The former Detroit city councilwoman who cast the deciding vote in favor of the $1.2 billion Synagro deal was sentenced to 37 months in prison for bribery.
Jerry M. Rivers: A former member of the mayor’s executive protection unit, Rivers pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with a city land sale and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Kandia Milton: A childhood friend and top aide to Kilpatrick, Milton pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with the city’s sale of Camp Brighton and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
DeDan Milton: Another longtime friend of Kilpatrick, who like his brother is cooperating with prosecutors, is to be sentenced to 42 months in prison for bribery.
Sam Riddle: The political consultant and former top aide to Monica Conyers pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge in May and was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Mary Waters: Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge in May in connection with the Southfield case and was sentenced to one year of probation.
William Lattimore: The former Southfield city councilman pleaded guilty to bribery after he was picked up on a wiretap of Riddle’s cell phone. Lattimore was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Marc Andre Cunningham: A former aide to Kilpatrick, he pleaded guilty to a bribery charge in November and awaits sentencing Feb. 10.
Brian Dodds: Co-owner of Howell-based D&R Earthmoving LLC, he pleaded guilty to concealing a crime in connection with an inflated contract Kilpatrick pal Bobby Ferguson received. He is to be sentenced Jan. 10. Ferguson has been indicted on multiple counts and awaits trial.
Rodney Burrell: The head of Northville-based R&R Heavy Haulers pleaded guilty to concealing a crime in connection with the same bid-rigging on the Ferguson contract. He is to be sentenced in March.
Hopefully and I do mean hopefully; this will send a message to anyone who seeks office in the city of Detroit — that if you run for public office and you decide to break the law, that you will be caught and you will be charged and that you will end up and jail.
Although, I will not lie to you; I have sinking suspicion that somebody somewhere, will play the race card and point out that the people filing these charges are mostly White and latino and will somehow or another convince a judge to throw out the case. I do truly hope that I am wrong about this, I really do. Because Detroit has been rife with corruption for much, much too damned long. Many people, for many, many years have gotten very wealthy by corrupt means in Detroit for much too long —- while the rest of the City of Detroit falls into ruin. It is morally wrong and these turkeys that broke the law ought be jailed for the longest terms possible.
Hopefully, and I mean this one, with all the sincerity that I can muster — as a former resident of that city — this will close the chapter of the culture of corruption in that City and that the City of Detroit can finally, and I do mean finally get on with the business of restoring that City to its once great status. This might be a small step, but it is a very important one and God-willing it will be the first big one.
Guest Voice: Jack Hunter on The Conservative Case for WikiLeaks
(Via The American Conservative)
Transcript:
Lovers necessarily keep or share secrets. Being in a healthy relationship means achieving a certain level of intimacy, where shared knowledge of each others’ weaknesses and insecurities is protected by a bond of mutual trust. Sometimes lovers might do devilish things that outsiders wouldn’t understand, or shouldn’t be privy to, and this is fine. But by and large, what they do is simply no one else’s business.
But imagine that the man in the relationship kept it a secret that he had other women on the side, kids, a criminal record, venereal disease, and basically betrayed his lover in every way imaginable, unbeknownst to her?
Now imagine a third party felt it was their moral duty to reveal it?
No one questions that governments must maintain a certain level of secrecy, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who told Time that “Secrecy is important for many things … [but it] shouldn’t be used to cover up abuses.” The entire premise of Assange’s whistleblower organization is this: To what degree is government secrecy justified? And when particular secrets could be damaging to the other partner in the United States government’s relationship — the American people — should these secrets be revealed in the name of protecting the public?
How often does our government use “national security” simply as an excuse to cover up questionable dealings? Reports Time: “in the past few years, governments have designated so much information secret that you wonder whether they intend the time of day to be classified. The number of new secrets designated as such by the U.S. government has risen 75% … . At the same time, the number of documents and other communications created using those secrets has skyrocketed nearly 10 times…”
To say that government must keep secrets is not to say that all government secrets must be kept.
As admitted even by Pentagon officials and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, none of WikiLeaks’ revelations do anything to compromise national security or endanger American lives — but they have wreaked havoc on political life in Washington, D.C. Americans are not supposed to know, for example, that their government bullied and threatened individuals and other governments that might have undermined the Copenhagen climate change summit in 2009. The federal government attempting to squelch anyone who might undermine global-warming dogma? Do WikiLeaks’ conservative critics believe revealing this is a “national security” risk?
Americans are not supposed to know, apparently, that behind the scenes Saudi Arabia has been encouraging the U.S. to take military action against Iran. But if we end up going to war with Iran shouldn’t it be in America’s national interest, and not simply as a subcontractor for another country? Asks Fox News’ Judith Miller: “Why should Americans not know that Arab states, often at the top level, have been urging Washington to take military or other drastic action against Iran, while they publicly oppose such action?”
And when did conservatives become so protective of Hillary Clinton? What happened to the days of the “Stop Hillary Express,” when right-wing talk radio portrayed the former first lady as Satan and theorized about all the devious ways in which, if in power, she might conspire to bring down the country? When WikiLeaks revealed that Secretary of State Clinton tried to obtain DNA, fingerprints, credit-card numbers, and other private information belonging to United Nations officials, we learned that Clinton’s style was every bit as mafia-esque as her conservative critics once warned. Yet conservatives now attack WikiLeaks for revealing what they once feared. It should also be remembered that the same conservatives now calling for Assange’s head either ignored or were sympathetic to Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame allegedly at the Bush administration’s behest — a revelation arguably far riskier to our national security than anything ever released by WikiLeaks.
But the worst hypocrisy throughout this controversy has been in conservatives reflexively defending the government and attacking WikiLeaks. Since when have conservatives believed that Washington should be able to shroud any action it likes in secrecy and that revealing government’s nefarious deeds is tantamount to treason? Isn’t it government officials who might secretly work for corporate, ideological or transnational interests — and against the national interest — who are betraying their country?
Interestingly, Wikileaks’ founder espouses the traditionally conservative, Jeffersonian view that America’s constitutional structure limits and lessens government corruption. Reported Time: “Assange appears to believe that the U.S. has not become ‘a much-worse-behaved superpower’ because its federalism, ‘this strength of the states,’ has been a drag on the combination of the burgeoning power of the central government and a presidency that can expand its influence only by way of foreign affairs.”
Decentralizing government power, limiting it, and challenging it was the Founders’ intent and these have always been core conservative principles. Conservatives should prefer an explosion of whistleblower groups like WikiLeaks to a federal government powerful enough to take them down. Government officials who now attack WikLleaks don’t fear national endangerment, they fear personal embarrassment. And while scores of conservatives have long promised to undermine or challenge the current monstrosity in Washington, D.C., it is now an organization not recognizably conservative that best undermines the political establishment and challenges its very foundations.
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The “Southern Avenger” Jack Hunter is a conservative commentator on WTMA 1250 AM talk radio and columnist for the Charleston City Paper in South Carolina.
My thoughts on the Obama Presser
I am, of course, referring to this:
Now to listen to the Democrats talk, now is a time of doom and gloom for them.
However, I have to make a startling confession; I was actually impressed with part of this presser. No, I am not talking about the part where he called the GOP hostage takers and so forth. :roll:I expected that stuff, heck, he is a Liberal Democrat. What else was he supposed to say?!?
I am referring to the part where President Obama basically told the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party folk in Congress, “Hey guys? If you had done your jobs before the primary election, we could not be in this position; so, put a sock in it and be glad that we got what we got from the other side!” That impressed me greatly. Any leader who is willing to stand up to his own party and tell them to “get bent” has my respect.
I tend to believe that this will be the end of the “nice” Barack Obama and might just be the beginning of the savvy stern leader President Barack Obama. One of the biggest complaints about him, is that he was too soft. The President might just be trying to reverse that image. It can’t hurt. I mean, maybe if he actually showed some leadership. It might just help his poll numbers.
I do not expect much praise from the Neo-Con side of the fence, as they’ve made a cottage industry out of being his biggest critics. However, I do offer it, as I am not nearly as into the smear machine as some.
Yes Please: Ron Paul says Wikileak the Fed!
Update: Thank you to voters at Reddit! You all are amazing… 😀
Here’s my stats screen as of a few hours ago:
Thanks so much you all. I will try to continue to post stuff like this, that everyone over at Reddit can enjoy. 🙂
Jeff Kuhner takes it to another level: Kill Julian Assange
I figured someone in the Conservative media would say this sooner or later. I thought about it, but I really do not like the idea myself.
Jeff Kuhner at the Washington Times writes:
Julian Assange poses a clear and present danger to American national security. The WikiLeaks founder is more than a reckless provocateur. He is aiding and abetting terrorists in their war against America. The administration must take care of the problem – effectively and permanently.
The recent WikiLeaks document dump is the latest example of Mr. Assange’s dangerous behavior. His release of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, many of them containing classified information, is a major blow to our foreign policy. The essence of diplomacy – especially that of a great power – is the ability to conduct negotiations and hold talks in secret. Foreign leaders will not be willing to engage in sensitive discussions with American emissaries if their words are going to be splashed across the front pages of the world’s newspapers. Officials in autocratic and Islamist states often risk their lives to cooperate with Washington, usually by providing vital information or advice. They now face a further disincentive to help us: The U.S. government can no longer guarantee the privacy and secrecy of their discussions.
American diplomacy has been crippled. So has our ability to conduct the war on terrorism. For example, the cables cache reveals that the United States is working closely with Yemen’s dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in launching drone strikes against local al Qaeda bases. Al Qaeda has spread to Yemen. Its insurgency is growing. Yemen risks becoming what Afghanistan was before Sept. 11, 2001: a vast sanctuary for jihadists. Mr. Saleh insists that Yemeni public opinion – insular, xenophobic and increasingly Islamic – will not support the U.S. military presence on domestic soil. Hence, he says the pretense must be maintained that Yemen is firing the missiles, not America. This pretense has been shattered – and with it, perhaps, a key ally in the struggle against al Qaeda. Mr. Assange is helping chase the American infidel out of Yemen’s desolate deserts.
[………]
The United States is paying a severe price for Mr. Obama’s negligence. This is the greatest diplomatic crisis since the late 1940s, when communist agents in the U.S. government provided atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The world is witnessing the absurd, almost surreal spectacle of the American superpower standing helpless in the face of a lone hacker. Her diplomatic secrets are no longer safe; her allies and friends are being betrayed; and her cyber-enemies are free to roam with impunity. America is no longer feared or respected.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. vows that he is looking into possible criminal charges against Mr. Assange. It is too late for tough talk. At this point, we are beyond indictments and courts. The damage has been done; people have died – and will die because of the actions of this puerile, self-absorbed narcissist. News reports say the WikiLeaks founder is hiding out in England. If that’s true, we should treat Mr. Assange the same way as other high-value terrorist targets: Kill him
Okay, here is the question that I feel the need to ask. Are we going to kill someone every time some whistle blower decides to speak out and expose some corruption in Government? Because if that is where we are headed, that is a slippery slope we can never recover from. Like anyone else, I am for open Government, I am also for seeing elected officials held accountable. However, if the United States Government and more importantly the United States Military is being put at risk, then by all means, arrest this guy and put him away.
I have no idea what Julian Assange‘s motivation is; whether it is conspiracy theory, politics or if he is just a pompous ass. But the idea of KILLING someone, just because decide to release some confidential information is not something, as a Conservative; who believes in rule of law and not Governmental treachery, that I can support. Because once you unleash that monster onto the American and World Wide Community, it cannot be stopped.
I would think that Jeff Kuhner would be a bit smarter than that. However, when you are working for a paper that basically was a cheerleader for the Bush Administration during the lead up to and during the Iraqi Invasion, one can expect only so much.
Others: Reporters Sans Frontières, Hullabaloo, Harry’s Place, Guardian, New York Times, News: News blog and The New Republic
President George W. Bush on Jay Leno
Here’s the entire show. Enjoy: