Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Line o' the Day: Surberisms


Don Surber on endemic vote fraud:

In addition to requiring a photo ID from voters, perhaps a mirror should be held to their nostrils to make sure they are still breathing.

Ever notice that it is always the Democrats who register in the cemeteries?

The Audacity of Gullibility


David Jeffers, a religion columnist at New Media Journal, describes "The Deep Faith of Barack Obama." His analysis dissects a 2004 interview with Obama that is -- to be frank -- quite disturbing given what we now know about his relationships and judgment.

...First, Senator Obama says in the interview:

So that, one of the churches I met, or one of the churches that I became involved in was Trinity United Church of Christ. And the pastor there, Jeremiah Wright, became a good friend. So I joined that church and committed myself to Christ in that church.

By now most Americans know about the controversy swirling around Reverend Wright and the majority of people do not believe that Senator Obama could be a member of that church and not know about Reverend Wright's racist tendencies. But what if he is telling the truth, what if he didn't know?

Then there is something more troubling and it brings into question Senator Obama's judgment and his ability to evaluate people's motives and desires. How is it possible that a grown man educated in an Ivy League school could be taken completely by surprise over Jeremiah Wright's behavior? When asked if he had people in his life he looked to for guidance, Senator Obama responded:

Well, my pastor is certainly someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for... I have a number of friends who are ministers. Reverend Meeks is a close friend and colleague of mine in the state Senate. Father Michael Pfleger is a dear friend and somebody I interact with closely.

Add on to Senator Obama's list his dear friend convicted felon Tony Rezko and his associate, domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, and we have a pattern here. And if it is true that Barack Obama was completely fooled and surprised by the behavior of these four men, three of whom he says "...is not the man I knew", then that leads to a very important question.

How are we to trust this man to sit across the negotiating table with the likes of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syria's Bashar al-Assad, North Korea's Kim Jong-Il, or Venezuela's Hugo Chavez? Senator Obama has already stated that he would initiate "tough negotiations" with these four countries and yet he is unable to know the hearts and minds of three close friends and one political associate?

Those are damn good questions.

Hat tip: Larwyn

Obama Campaign Blog: putting neocons and the "Israel lobby" in formaldehyde is a "perfect solution"


That crack, Internet-savvy web team at Obama Central is really on the ball. Since January 12th, 2008, an Obama campaign blog posted by a racist crackpot ("blu") has advocated a "perfect solution" for neocons and the "Israel lobby": putting them in formaldehyde.

What Israel, her Israel Lobby, and her neocons desire is to successfully manipulate America to permit and support Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine (which takes care of her internal enemies, the Palestinians) while manipulating America to illegally attack any nation Israel and her Israel Lobby sends us to attack (which takes care of her external enemies)...

...What workable plans do Israel and her Israel Lobby have for the Palestinians and peace in Palestine? The Likud/Netanyahu extremist Israelis running Israel have put the dead Palestinians in a jar of formaldehyde on the shelf - preserved dead forever...

...I say the neocons have suggested their own perfect solution - we put the neocons and the Israel Lobby in formaldehyde and we put it up on a shelf and teach generations of Americans what crimes, disasters, and holocaust they have wrought upon the world, America, and the Palestinians...

But wait! There's more!

...I love that Samantha is at the Kennedy School of Government along with Stephen Walt - Walt being the coauthor of the seminal work on 'The Israel Lobby' along with Mearsheimer. Samantha is a perfect choice for stopping our neocon-led phoney war on terror EVERYBODY KNOWS is really a 'war of terror for Israel' but just about everybody in academia or politics simply don't have the cojones to say. Edwards and Samantha are visionary enough to have the guts to overcome the 'Israel Lobby's' kibosh on discussing these truths. [EVERYBODY KNOWS? Jeez, I was out of the loop on that one.]

At the very core of our involvement in Iraq and Iran is our support for the slow genocide of Palestine that the Israelis have been carrying out for the last 60 years in blatant violation of UN Sec Co Resolutions 242, 194, 338, the Geneva Conventions, and International Law...

Historical revisionism and virulent hatred at a presidential candidate's blog: now that's change we can believe in!

Update: Obama's campaign has reportedly hired web specialists to "fight web smears." He might want to spend some of that money on cleaning up his own blog first.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

One Minute Action News: June 10, 2008


Good evening. I'm Bip Ripley and this --

-- is One Minute Action News!

Gas prices hit another record high... a national average of $4.04 a gallon.

In reaction, Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich attempted to launch impeachment proceedings against President Bush for "lying the country into war," a move certain to lower gas prices.

Also, Democrats in Congress proposed to raise taxes on gas by levying a "windfall profits tax" on American oil companies. How raising taxes on gas companies will lower prices for consumers is a scientific mystery -- but that hasn't deterred the dauntless Democrat Party.

Such a "windfall" tax was last attempted during the Carter administration and it was a roaring success -- if you liked gas lines, 15% inflation, 8% unemployment and wearing sweaters in the winter.

Meanwhile, caribou in ANWR are picketing, demanding similar treatment to their cousins at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, where their population is up by over 900%.

Democrats issued a firm rebuke to the caribou, the harshest of which was Harry Reid's rhetorical question, "Who do the caribou think they are? Which is more important -- our initiative to compromise American's national security or growing the wildlife population?"

House leader Nancy Pelosi echoed Reid's statements. "Drilling for oil would strengthen America and give it time to become energy independent while developing green energy sources. We can't permit that!"

Now, Paul "Big Pussy" Spatafore with your seven second weather forecast...

Holy s**t, it's f****g hot out there, Skip! Gimme a f*****g break - I'm sweatin' like a f*****g bad check!

Thanks, Puss. Is it still called "climate change" or is it "global warming" now that it's summer?

Shut the f**k up before I come over there and kick your f*****g ass, you walking hairpiece!

Allllllriiiiighty then... let's swing over to Summer Arrington with seven second sports!

Thanks, Bip! Here are today's betting lines and last night's scores! Remember, if you want tonight's lock o' the week - just visit TonyVig.com!

Thank you, Summer. Love the outfit. Tomorrow night's feature: Barack Obama answers questions about the rumored Michelle "Whitey" video. Don't miss it.

I'm Bip Ripley and this has been today's One Minute Action News... when you don't have a second to spare.

Line o' the day: (Loose) Change!


Hugh Hewitt (via Larwyn):

Barack Obama has selected two men to team with Caroline Kennedy to conduct his Vice Presidential search.

One, Eric Holder, was instrumental in securing Marc Rich's pardon from Bill Clinton on the last day of the Clinton Administration.

The other, James Johnson, received a series of sweetheart loans from Countrywide, including a large loan at an interest rate below 4% which looks like a gift.

Jim Geraghty, Ed Morrissey and Jake Tapper have the details and the key links.

Obama has been blasting Countryside and its CEO for months. He's been promising a sharp break with the Beltway practices of the past. So in his first week of nominee he finds himself defending old guard D.C. players who represent the restoration of the Clintons without the Clintons. Fine. But spare us the sanctimonious prattle about change.

Don't worry, Barack. We're laughing with you... not at you.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Obama administration to prosecute U.S. troops for war crimes


The embarrassment of the Haditha debacle notwithstanding, Barack Obama will not hesitate to pursue the prosecution of U.S. troops and the Bush administration for war crimes.

Charles Johnson discovered a campaign document that made the promise to "hold accountable any perpetrators of war crimes."

Thomas Lifson adds insights gleaned from an Obama interview with a Philadelphia newspaper.

Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" and determine if an inquiry is warranted -- but he also tread carefully on the issue, in line with his reputation for seeking to bridge the partisan divide...

...He worried that such a probe could be spun as "a partisan witch hunt." However, he said that equation changes if there was willful criminality, because "nobody is above the law."

That can only be interpreted as a threat to U.S. troops, because Obama has never criticized Al Qaeda's well-regarded torture practices.

Washington Post: "'Bush Lied' Story Line Phony"


Someone pinch me. The Washington Post's Editorial Page Editor -- Fred Hiatt -- just ripped the entrails from the standard slogan of the leftists: "Bush Lied".

First, Hiatt eviscerates Sen. John Rockefeller's (D-WV) summary of his own Select Committee on Intelligence report. The summary was so disconnected from the real report that it could become a blueprint for all future satire.

In making the case for war, the administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when it was unsubstantiated, contradicted or even nonexistent.

Unsubstantiated contradictions? As Hiatt points out, Rockefeller's summary of the report qualifies, but not the administration's handling of the intelligence data.

On Iraq's nuclear weapons program? The president's statements "were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates."

On biological weapons, production capability and those infamous mobile laboratories? The president's statements "were substantiated by intelligence information."

On chemical weapons, then? "Substantiated by intelligence information."

On weapons of mass destruction overall (a separate section of the intelligence committee report)? "Generally substantiated by intelligence information." Delivery vehicles such as ballistic missiles? "Generally substantiated by available intelligence." Unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to deliver WMDs? "Generally substantiated by intelligence information."

Yes, the committee's report completely validates the approach of the Bush administration -- as any rational observer would have concluded in 2003, having heard every Democratic figure other than Jimmy Carter echo the threat of Iraq.

But what about Saddam's ties to terrorism? Surely, Bush was lying about those!

...statements regarding Iraq's support for terrorist groups other than al-Qaeda "were substantiated by intelligence information." Statements that Iraq provided safe haven for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda "were substantiated by the intelligence assessments," and statements regarding Iraq's contacts with al-Qaeda "were substantiated by intelligence information."

...it was not Bush, but Rockefeller, who said in October 2002: "There has been some debate over how 'imminent' a threat Iraq poses. I do believe Iraq poses an imminent threat. I also believe after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated...

...To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? I do not think we can."

Put simply, Rockefeller's report completely validates his own 2002 statement as well as that of the Bush administration.

The Anchoress asks the obvious question -- the 800-pound gorilla living in the media's finished basement: why, suddenly, is the WaPo deciding, after 5 years of supporting and promoting the “Bush lied” meme, to clarify?

There are no easy answers to that question. But the New York Sun (via Gateway Pundit) did note one other key facet to the story.

...[the critical Ford] memo came on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His words demolish a talking point for Democrats who still say Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq until the coalition of the willing invaded. Mr. Ford wrote that the former emir of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi "has had a good relationship with Iraqi intelligence officials." He added that intelligence on Qaeda "revealed the presence of safe house facilities in the city as well as the clear intent to remain in Baghdad. Also, foreign NGO workers outside of Iraq who are believed to provide support to al-Qaeda have also expressed their intent to set up shop in Baghdad."

Well, that's certainly something you don't read about in the paper every day!

* * *

Executive Summary: The Bush Lied meme, which was marketed incessantly by the Democrats and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself), was unadulterated partisan pap. Furthermore, it was dangerous pap, as it presents a future CINC with additional complexities and bickering even when the need to take military action is clear and present.

As it was with Saddam Hussein's factory of terror.

And as it is with Iran's redoubt of nuclear horror.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

This fall, only on MSNBC: Chris Matthews' New Workout Show


Looks like a strenuous workout.

And it's the only workout show where the host smokes a cigarette afterwards.

Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1917


Hat tips: The Reagan Wing and Reliapundit.

Proof that Obama has powerful friends in the media


Check out today's Word Jumbler.

Hat tip: SNL. Linked by: STACLU. Thanks!

Official Obama blog explains how the Jewish Lobby Works


Yet another hateful blog has sprung up on Barack Obama's official site. The group Socialists for Obama offers a meandering tome that spews bile and vitriol while railing against the all-powerful "Jewish lobby."

The blog appears to have been around since April as one of the commenters voices his thanks for the venue:

First of all, my sincere appreciation to the moderator of this website, that he allows the fundamental issue to be presented and even discussed here.

To that extent, he is more honorable than ANY of the thousands of religious ‘authorities’ and hundreds of media officials (and who controls the media if not the secularists, the Jews and the Christians?) who I have contacted over the last 30 some years.

Officially sanctioned religious hatred?

Now that's change we can believe in!

Update: Lest one think this is some sort of anomaly, the Obama campaign blogs of Dewan Karim ("In collaboration with the Clintons, they [the Jewish Lobby] dispatched a number of "candidacy assassinators" including former Clinton special counsel, Lanny Davis, Florida congress woman, Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, California congress man, Brad Sherman, CNN news anchor, Wolf Blitzer [vis-a-vis Lou Dobbs], Independent Senator, Joseph Lieberman, the far right crippled Washington Post Journalist, Charles Krauthammer and others to torpedo Obama's nomination bid.") and Elaine Kelley ("Senator Obama is for real change or just business as usual. I'd like to know why Sen. Obama started to speak the truth about Palestine/Israel, then did a 90-degree right turn. I want to believe he stands for change we can believe in. But can anyone run for high office in this country without being raked over by AIPAC?") are sufficient evidence otherwise.

Update: Fausta has a good summary of this and other controversial posts hosted by the brilliant, uber-Internet-savvy Obama campaign (via Larwyn). Linked by: LGF, Gateway Pundit, Protein Wisdom, American Thinker, Atlas, Carl in Jerusalem, and Memeorandum. Thanks!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

If today's editors of the New York Times had their way


1979

1993

1998

2001

2011



Linked by: Dr. Sanity's Carnival of the Insanities. Thanks!

Unemployment and the minimum wage: another brilliant Democratic plan implodes


So the mainstream media is trumpeting bad news for the economy: a big jump in unemployment from 5.1% to 5.5%. A certain Mr. Patterico analyzes the numbers and comes to a not-so-shocking conclusion.

[Unemployment] didn’t spike due to a big loss of payroll jobs — those declined only by 49,000 in April. That would be only .0004% in an economy of about 138 million workers.

...the unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group was up dramatically compared to other groups. Unemployment in that group rose 2.4%, compared to increasing by only .4% in the group of workers 25 and older.

Who does this age group represent? How about high school and college students coming into the job market for the summer... And what do many such job seekers get paid? Minimum wage – which Congress increased last year from $5.15 to $5.85, and which will increase again next month to $6.55, and then again next year to $7.25...

Read the whole thing.

The fact that the Democrat Party survives -- despite its insane policies that inevitably crash and burn -- never fails to amaze me.

Hat tip: Larwyn

Who in the hell is behind $5 gas?


John Hinderaker explains:

For several decades, the Democratic Party has pursued policies designed to drive up the cost of petroleum, and therefore gas at the pump. Remarkably, the Democrats don't seem to have taken much of a political hit from the current spike in gas prices. Probably that's because most people don't realize how different the two parties' energy policies have been.

To help illustrate:

Percent of
Democrats against
Percent of
Republicans for

ANWR Exploration
86%91%

Coal-to-Liquid
78%97%

Oil Shale Exploration
86%90%

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
83%81%

Refinery Increased Capacity
96%97%

SUMMARY
86%91%

91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.

Vote accordingly in 2008.

More info: Gateway Pundit has additional illustrations. Linked by: Flopping Aces. Thanks!

Quote o' the day: the case of the disappearing dictator


The AP's Amy Teibel reports a statement by Shaul Mofaz, former Israeli chief of staff and defense minister.

"[Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] will disappear before Israel does... If Iran continues its nuclear arms program — we will attack it... The sanctions aren't effective. There will be no choice but to attack Iran to halt the Iranian nuclear program."

The sooner the better.

Digital Forensics: Spotting Forgeries and Fake Photos


This month's Scientific American has a special section on "digital forensics." Among the areas covered:

How experts uncover doctored images (look for the ducks?).

Five ways to spot a faked photo.

Altered Lance Armstrong photo explained.

Photo tampering throughout history (slideshow).

I tried to get a hold of Dan Rather for this story, but he was unavailable for comment.

How today's media would have covered D-Day


So accurate, it's downright eerie.

Reporter: ...the initial reports we're getting from the beach are grave. In your opinion, General, can the beach be taken?

Analyst: I... I don't think so. At least not the way we're doing it. Hey look, if we came in at night, if the weather was better... all these maybes and and ifs, possibly, but the way we're doing it, in broad daylight, full-on frontal assault, on these heavily defended beaches, I would have to say no way.




If today's mainstream media had operated then, we'd all be living in the land that Philip K. Dick described in The Man in the High Castle.