Friday, May 29, 2009

Best. Complaint letter. Ever.


Amy sent this one in.

This is an actual letter from an Austin woman sent to an American company regarding their feminine products. She really gets rolling after the first paragraph. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best web mail-award-winning letter. [Ed: eh, what?]

Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your [Brand] maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the Leak Guard Core or Dry-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from the curse? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps.

Crazy!

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened a maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.'

Are you ****ing kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James?

FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong', or are you just picking on us?

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bull ****. And that's a promise I will keep. Always.

Best,

[Name redacted]

Testy!


Questions that haunt me


Sent in by Dave W.

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up like every two hours?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is 'bra' singular and 'panties' plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Do you ever wonder why you gave me your e-mail address in the first place?

Dealergate: 40 Democrat-friendly Dealerships Become 42 After The Dust Settles; Their Competition Gutted As Well


BUMPED AND UPDATED: Joey Smith and I have now found at least four Democrat-friendly dealer groups, representing 40 (forty) Chrysler dealerships. These four groups will be left with 42 dealerships after the shuffling, while their in-market competition will be wiped out across the board. The odds of you losing net dealerships if you are a big Democrat contributor? Looks to be somewhere between slim and none. Taken at face value, it would appear that Democrat contributors and bigwigs were rewarded and their competitors punished.

The drones liberals progressives are seething over the scandal we're calling Dealergate. They're whining hysterically at websites like Fred Silber's 435.com telling everyone within earshot that there's nothing to see here. Nothing at all. Just move along.

"Hey, it's all statisticulus," they say, "and you wingnuts can't possibly figure out our vector arithmetic and such!"

Perhaps Frank at 432.com could consider the following:

Item 1: Using the list of all 789 dealerships to be closed, WND found that owners contributed $450,000 to GOP presidential candidates; $7,970 to Sen. Hillary Clinton; $2,200 to John Edwards and $450 to Barack Obama. For the "progressives" out there, that's a 1000-to-1 ratio of GOP-to-Obama donations and a 42-to-1 ratio of GOP-to-Democrat donations for closed dealerships.

Item 2: Dealership conglomerate RLJ is owned by Democrat bigwigs Mack McLarty and Robert Johnson. RLJ magically happened to keep all six (6) of their dealerships while its competitors were shuttered. McLarty is a former Clinton chief-of-staff and Robert Johnson (founder of BET) is a major Democrat fundraiser. These politically connected, powerful Democrat supporters were completely insulated from the closings in every market in which they compete.

Item 3: Democratic donor Sidney Deboer is Chairman of Lithia Motors. He donated over $14,000 to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Lithia Motors lost only two of its 29 dealerships while gaining as many as five additional ones in the resulting carnage. Deboer was also insulated from Chrysler's closings.

Item 4: White House car czar Steven Rattner is married to Maureen White, the former national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee. And before Rattner became a major player on Wall Street, he was a New York Times reporter. Rattner is a key decision-maker on the Obama-slash-General-Motors-slash-Chrysler management team. And Rattner's wife would presumably be an expert on political fundraising and could, if so inclined, advise her husband on who to protect and who to punish.

Item 5: Steven B. Fader contributed the individual maximum to Hillary Clinton for her 2008 campaign: $4,600. Fader is listed as owning four dealerships. Two of those dealerships are in Virginia Beach, VA: Hall Chrysler Jeep and Hall Dodge.

In the Virginia Beach area, Fader's competitor Grafton Dodge (in Grafton, VA) was shuttered. Grafton is owned by L. A. Julien, Jr., who does not appear to have contributed to either party. Another Fader competitor, Tysinger Motor Company was also closed. Tysinger is owned by Mark Tysinger, who also does not appear to have contributed to either party. Fader's two dealerships in the same city remain open, while nearby competitors were shuttered.

Another Fader dealership that remains open is Heritage Chrysler in Baltimore, MD. Nearby dealers that were closed include Antwerpen Dodge of Randallstown, MD owned by Jacob Antwerpen (no contributions founds); SKS Auto-Park of Baltimore; Bel-Air Dodge of Baltimore; and Schaefer & Strohminger Dodge Towson of Baltimore. The latter three are owned by Louis M. Schaefer, who has no contributions of any kind listed. Put simply, Fader's dealership remained whole while four area competitors were wiped out.

The final Fader dealership is Motorworld Chrysler, in Wilkes Barre, PA. It remains open while nearby Pompey Dodge of Kingston, PA and Ertley Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Moosic, PA were both closed. Charles W. Pompey and Ronald D. Ertley are the owners, respectively, and neither contributed to any candidates in 2006 or 2008. Much of Fader's competition in this area was also wiped out.

Item 6: An anonymous source emails the following message:

You need to check on why Dealmaker Auto Group in Watertown, NY is still open. They are a multi-franchise company in the area and are on a cash-only basis with Ford... for parts and still have problems getting them. GM has pulled cars from [their] lots while they were trying to sell them and have won judgments against them... PJ Simao is the primary owner of this group... [would seem] like a primary candidate to lose the Dodge/Chrysler portion of his auto group...

Simao, it turns out, is a major Democrat contributor. In the last election alone, Simao sent the maximum contribution ($4,600) to Hillary Clinton's campaign.


A quick review of the Dealmaker Auto Group reveals the following, uhm, issues:
  • Watertown Daily Times: HSBC: dealer owes $10.2m: Lender says DealMaker Auto Group defaulted on loans, notes from 2006... A commercial lender is seeking a $10.2 million judgment against DealMaker Auto Group, claiming that the car dealership defaulted on a series of loans and notes provided in 2006.
  • Watertown Daily Times: DealMaker implements companywide procedural training: In the wake of an investigation by the state attorney general that cost the company $2 million in payments, DealMaker Auto Group has begun an aggressive training campaign to standardize and improve operating procedures at all seven dealerships...
  • Trading Markets: GMAC suit seeks DealMaker assets: The company that provides financing for vehicle inventory at DealMaker LLC's Seaway Chevrolet has begun action in state Supreme Court to take control of the business's assets after claiming it defaulted on a financing agreement. General Motors Acceptance Corp., Cranberry Township, Pa., filed its suit Wednesday at the Jefferson County Clerk's office against DealMaker, seeking a judgment of nearly $2.4 million. It claims, among other things, the Theresa dealership violated its wholesale floor-plan financing agreement.
So another dealer, who appears to be enmeshed in a wide variety of legal and financial disputes, happens to keep his dealership while coincidentally contributing the individual maximum to a Democrat presidential candidate in 2008.

Item 7: Now, and this is important, Chrysler claimed that its formula for determining whether a dealership should close or not included "sales volume, customer service scores, local market share and average household income in the immediate area."

To summarize: despite the claim that each dealership was evaluated at the individual market level, at least four major, connected Democrat contributors will end up with more dealerships in the aggregate than when they started.

These four Democrat dealer groups own 40 Chrysler dealerships. One of those owners is already in all sorts of legal and financial hot water with suppliers and customers. He's not exactly a candidate most screening processes would keep.

Yet they will likely end up with 42 dealerships after the shuffling (maybe more). And their competition is gutted in every single market! Strange!

And, oddly enough, the Car Czar's wife is a former Democrat fundraiser... not just an Obama fundraiser. She knows exactly who to cultivate, you might say.

Geez, what are the odds of that happening in forty different locations?


* * *

Paging Nate Gold... Nate Gold, over at 531.com: can you explain that data?

It's soooo quiet. Oh, are those crickets chirping?

And... check it out! Is that a bindle of tumbleweed rolling by?



Update: Oops! Please -- no one tell Nate Copper that two Senators (one from each party) is asking for an investigation. We wouldn't want to burst the delicate bubble that is his worldview.

Update Part Deux: Gateway Pundit has more dirt on DealMaker. Also, Josh Painter has an excellent overview of the situation. And Protein Wisdom, Paul Ibrahim, NewsBusters and Babalublog have more hope and change.


Larwyn's Linx: Honesty from the Speaker of the House

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Nation

A Justice Department Mystery: Malkin
A bit of honesty from the Speaker of the House: Wolf
Here come the taxes: Blue Lines

End run on the Second Amendment: PJM (Owens)
Sotomayor is unqualified for Supreme Court: Rand Center
The Truth about 'La Raza': HE

Stiffing GM's creditors will backfire: IBD
Fed deficit becomes nearly indecipherable: PJM (Blumer)
Release The Sotomayor Memos: LegalIns

Republican Donors Hit by Chrysler Closings: Timmerman
Who decided which Chrysler dealers to close?: Reuters
Crittenden’s Boutique Right-Wing Warmonger Bookshop & General Store: Crittenden

World

Drug-resistant malaria threatens millions: TAB
NatGeo blames Israel for Christianity's decline in Arab countries: CAMERA

Media

At NBC: News Of Fresh Disaster: PJM (Driscoll)
NBC News: Relax Immigration Laws Despite High Unemployment: NewsBusters

Sci-Tech

The Baby Grand has Arrived: Watts
Hubble's final service mission: Globe

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Fat, bald white guys pleased with Supreme Court pick


Fred "LeRoy" Paisley's nomination to the U.S. Supreme court is a historical milestone for balding Caucasians, but it resonates well beyond the simple bald-guy pride. It is perhaps the most potent symbol yet of a rapprochement between the U.S.'s two largest "silent majorities": Bald-Americans and Obese-Americans. In the past, both groups could be as violently distrustful of each other as Tom and Jerry.

And after Obese-Americans helped push Barack Obama into office by giving him a remarkable 52% of their vote, Obama seemed to return the favor by selecting Paisley the first morbidly obese Supreme Court justice, decades of friction between the two groups seem to be melting away like ice cream on a frying pan at Steak & Shake™.

"The symbolism of an obese and bald Justice can't be overstated," says former actor Shel Silverman, who played "Mr. Klean" in numerous television commercials. Mr. Klean, the sixties icon, was a jolly, balding custodian who burst into toilet stalls occupied with groaning, constipated consumers, offering them "Preparation K" ("It'll Klean You Out!") to help them achieve regularity.

"The fact that LeRoy is both obese and bald is huge. Frickin' immense. Imagine a fat, balding guy standing with an African-American President -- what a f*****g country!"

And it's bad news for an already beleaguered Republican Party. Just five years ago, the GOP thought it had begun a conquest of the Obese-American vote, but it saw its share of that electorate plunge more than 2 points in last year's presidential election.

Hat tip: Time Magazine, for the most ridiculous "news" reporting of the week. Linked by: Ed Driscoll. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Geithner's Loan Program Falters

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Nation

It is failing: all of it: Denninger
Sotomayor a member of La Raza (The Race): ABAnet
TurboTax Geithner's Bank Loan Program Founders: WSJ

Obama Is Leading Us Down The Road To Economic Hell: Blodget
It's About Time: Comprehensive Plan to Tax the Poor : JWF
Here comes the Option ARM explosion: BI

Furor grows over partisan car dealer closings: Tapscott
I have seen the future of the auto -- and it sucks: PJM (Green)
How to succeed in business: Wizbang

21st Century Schizoid Mad Men: Driscoll
Sotomayor: what should the GOP do?: Power Line
GM capital structure: UAW above taxpayers: TigerHawk

The Indispensable Geithner: AT (Arenas)
Unreal. After Weeding Out GOP-Linked Dealers, Chrysler Looks To Open New Ones: Gateway

World

Land of No Smiles: Rare North Korea Photo Album: FP
Blue reality: Green jobs in Spain: Rasmussen

Cornucopia

15 Words You Won’t Believe They Added to the Dictionary: Cracked
Awkward family photos

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The $350K Nurse: Cali's Outrageous Public Sector Salaries


San Francisco's list of public employee salaries is truly something to behold (hat tips: Business Insider and Michelle Malkin).

That city alone appears to have at least 100 employees making more than $200,000 a year. And a $350,000-a-year "Special Nurse". Special, indeed!

What's that? You say that California is going bankrupt?

What if the state slashed salaries by 33% for any public sector employee making over $200,000?

Oops -- you say they're all unionized?

And that I should just support card check, so we can bankrupt more states? And kill more companies like GM and Chrysler?

And you say that the rest of us should bail out the California's Democrat fatcats?

Oh, those crazy, whacky Democrats! What will they think of next?


Dealergate: Stats demonstrate that Chrysler Dealers likely shuttered on a partisan basis


5/28/2009 Update 19:26 ET: Click here for the latest Dealergate post, which summarizes findings thus far.

This work builds upon the research done by numerous parties, most notably Joey Smith. It is a follow-up to my original post, entitled "Did anti-Obama campaign contributions dictate which Chrysler dealers were shuttered?" The odds that these closings occurred without partisan bias are roughly equivalent to the odds that Jean Claude Van-Damme will grab a Best Supporting Actor Oscar next year for a remake of Terms of Endearment.

How did the U.S. government's "car czar" decide which Chrysler dealers to close and which would remain open? No one appears to know, not even the President of Chrysler:

...Lawyer Leonard Bellavia, of Bellavia Gentile & Associates, who represents some of the terminated dealers, said he deposed Chrysler President Jim Press on Tuesday and came away with the impression that Press did not support the plan...

"It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers," Bellavia said. "It really wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormous pressure from the President's automotive task force."

Follow the evidence trail, below, and judge for yourself.

Dealers on the closing list donated millions to Republicans, $200 for Obama

The initial pass at the list of shuttered dealers showed they had donated, in the aggregate, millions to Republican candidates and PACs and a total of $200 to Barack Obama.

In fact, I have thus far found only a single Obama donor ($200 from Jeffrey Hunter of Waco, Texas) on the closing list.

Another review of all 789 closing dealerships, by WND, found $450,000 donated to GOP presidential candidates; $7,970 to Sen. Hillary Clinton; $2,200 to John Edwards and $450 to Barack Obama.

Now, and this is important, Chrysler claimed that its formula for determining whether a dealership should close or not included "sales volume, customer service scores, local market share and average household income in the immediate area."

Dealer Jim Anderer told Fox News' Neil Cavuto he can't comprehend how his dealership can be among those killed: he stated that his sales volume ranking is in the top 2 percent of all dealers.

Furthermore, Anderer says explanations aren't forthcoming. "They won't tell us. They seem to be running for cover right now because they won't give us a solid explanation. They come up with all these reasons, but none of them seem to make sense... This is insanity. The government is stealing my business. And they're telling me there's nothing I can do about it... There was no process that you could put your finger on and say, 'Hey, we cut 25 percent of the lowest performing dealers.' They didn't do that. Nobody will give us a real clear explanation of the formula that they came up with."

The odds of a non-partisan process being employed can best be illustrated by RLJ.

The Mysterious Case of RLJ

In Smith's research, one company kept popping up on the list of dealerships remaining open. The company is RLJ-McLarty-Landers, which owns six Chrysler dealerships. All six dealerships are on "the safe list."

RLJ's owners "are Steve Landers (long-time car dealer, 4th-generation dealer), Thomas "Mack" McLarty (former Chief of Staff for President Clinton), and Robert Johnson (founder of Black Entertainment Television and co-owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats)... McLarty campaigned for Obama in 2008, and Johnson has given countless amounts of money to Democrats over the years."

Smith examined RLJ's markets, which I've illustrated below.

Bentonville, AR Market


1. Bentonville, AR Landers-McLarty (RLJ owned)
2. Springdale, AR Springdale Chrysler-Jeep (owned by Harold Schwartz)
3. Springdale, AR Steve Smith Country

Springdale is about 15 miles south of Bentonville.

The 2 Springdale dealerships gave no money to any political candidates since 2004. The 2 dealership will close in June while the RLJ-owned dealership in Bentonville will remain open.

The Landers-McLarty dealership will have no other Chrysler dealers within a 20-mile radius of the dealership.

The closest competitors will be in Pineville, MO (22 miles away) and Fayetteville, AR (27 miles away).

Huntsville, AL Market


1. Huntsville, AL Landers McCarty D-C-J (RLJ Owned)
2. Athens, AL Champion Chrysler Dodge (owned by Jeffrey Hamm)
3. Decatur, AL Cloverleaf C-D-J (owned by Kevin Morris)

The dealerships in Athens and Decatur gave no money to any political candidates since 2004. Landers-McCarty and the Athens dealership will remain open while the Decatur dealership will close in June.

Here is a link to the document containing the information gathered on RJL-McLarty-Landers. It appears that the company will benefit greatly from the reduced competition in their markets. For the most part, the dealerships that are forced to shut down in the 5 markets have either given no money to candidates or have donated to GOP candidates in the past...

Branson, MO


There are 4 dealerships within 30 miles of Branson, MO.

1. Branson, MO Tri-Lakes Motors (RLJ owned)
2. Ava, MO Davis Dodge (owned by Larry Davis)
3. Ozark, MO Heritage Chrysler-Jeep (owned by Kay Church)
4. Ozark, MO Ozark Dodge (owned by Kay Church)

Mr. Davis and Ms, Church gave no money to any political candidates since 2004.

The RLJ owned dealership in Branson will remain open while the other 3 dealerships will be forced to close in June.

Tri-Lakes Motors in Branson (RLJ owned) will have no other Chrysler dealers within a 30-mile radius of its dealership...

Lee's Summit, MO


There are 5 Chrysler dealerships near Lee's Summit:

1. Lee's Summit Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep (Lee's Summit, MO)
2. Crawford's Raytown (Jeep) (Raytown, MO)
3. Mitch Crawford's Holiday Motors (Chrysler) (Raytown, MO)
4. Raytown Dodge Company (Dodge) (Raytown, MO)
5. Milner-O'Quinn Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep (all 4 brands) (Harrisonville, MO)

#1 is located in Lee's Summit and is owned by RLJ-McCarty-Landers.

#2, #3, and #4 are located 9 miles northwest in Raytown, MO and is owned by Michael Crawford.

#5 is located 19 miles south in Harrisonville, MO and is owned by Charles O'Quinn.

The Lee's Summit dealership will remain open while the other 4 in Raytown and Harrisonville will close. The Lee's Summit dealership will have no other Chrysler dealerships located within at least a 20 mile radius. All of the local competition will be wiped out due to the Chrysler closings.

Bossier City/Shreveport, LA Market


There are 3 dealerships in this market:

1. Bossier City, LA Landers DCJ (RLJ owned)
2. Shreveport, LA Roundtree Automotive Group
3. Shreveport, LA Bob Post/Hebert's Town and Country

Marshall Hebert (owner of Hebert's Town and country) gave $4,250 to GOP candidates, $2,500 to Dem candidates, and $1,300 to the NRCC since 2004. Mr. Hebert is also on the National Auto Dealers Association Board of Directors representing Louisiana.

Frank Stinson (owner of Roundtree) gave $24,000 to GOP candidates and $3,400 to Demcocratic candidates since 2004.

The Bossier City dealership owned by RLJ-McCarty-Landers and the Shreveport dealership owned by Marshall Hebert will stay open. The Shreveport dealership owned by Stinson will be forced to close.

But that's not all

Smith and various tipsters also point to Lithia Motors. Sidney Deboer will "come out a winner" due to the shutdown of various competitive dealerships.

Of 29 existing dealerships, Smith reports that Lithia will likely have a net gain of three new dealers after the dust settles (they lose just two and may gain five). Debeor has donated nearly $15,000 to two Democrat candidates and approximately $8,250 to four GOP individuals.

What are the Odds?

All other factors being equal, what are the odds that RLJ's dealerships would remain open while all other area dealerships would be shuttered? The approximate odds of such an occurrence can be calculated. 789 of the Chrysler's dealerships are closing, which represents 25% of the total (according to MSNBC).

Recall that Chrysler claimed that its formula for determining whether a dealership should close or not included "sales volume, customer service scores, local market share and average household income in the immediate area."

Thus, the odds that any, randomly selected, single dealership would remain open is roughly 75%. The odds that a single dealership would close is roughly 25%.

In the Bentonville, AR territory, the odds that RLJ would remain while its competition gets axed is .75 * .25 * .25 = .046875 (4.6%).

In Huntsville, AL, the odds are .75 * .25 * .25 = .046875.

In Branson, MO, .75 * .25 *.25 *.25 = .01171875.

In Lee's Summit, MO, .75 * .25 *.25 *.25 *.25 = .0029296875.

In Shreveport, LA, .75 * .25 *.75 = .140625.

What are the odds of all of these RLJ dealerships remaining open while their competitors are wiped out? Maybe 1/10,000,000 of 1%. Yes, that's one ten-millionth of one percent.

Approximately the odds that I'll win American Idol. Or that you'll land two frisbees, simultaneously, on each of Barack Obama's teleprompters during one of his televised speeches.

Hello, mainstream media: anyone listening? How about you, class-action lawyers?



Update: See Gateway Pundit for the latest. Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Mass Backwards. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Where Policy Is Made

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Sotomayor

SOTOMAYOR: All of the legal defense funds out there, they're looking for people with Court of Appeals experience because it is -- Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know, and I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don't make law, I know. (laughing) Okay, I know. I know. I'm not promoting it and I'm not advocating it. I'm -- you know. (laughing)

Supreme Court hasn't viewed Sotomayor's decisions kindly: Bench
The Reverse Racist: EIB
Alito and Sotomayor: the Lawyers' Take: Power Line

Obama just appointed himself: Goldberg
Sotomayor's Radical Group Helped Kill Estrada Nomination: Spectator
Sotomayor: Gun Ownership "Unconstitutional": Jumping in Pools

Why you should oppose Sotomayor: PJM (Kimball)
Policy-making Judge-slash-radical hack Sotomayor: JWF
The case against Sotomayor: TNR

Nation

Maryland's millionaires go missing: WSJ
GM creditors watch Chrysler lawsuit: FT
Let's try Maryland's success in Michigan!: BlogProf

MIA: the mockery of Joe "Dumbya" Biden: PJM (Mauro)

World

Doomed to repeat history: Center for Security Policy
When will Barack Obama stop fudging it?: Telegraph (UK)
The Halimi Cover-up: INN

Diseases returning, thanks to anti-vaccination movement: LGF
Chevron: No good deed goes unpunished: BMW
Persecuting Terror Defeaters: HNN

Media

Max Boot: let's throw Cheney, Levin and Coulter under the bus: Greenroom (CK)
10 News photos that took retouching too far: 10,000 words
Newspapers less popular than airlines: BizWeek

Cornucopia

Life imitates art imitates life (NSFW): Shawarma Mayor
Two greatest worst car ads of all time: BizWeek

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

This wasn't mentioned in the safari brochure



ACORN internal memo blows cover off its claims of "non-partisan" status


The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN, is a far-left organization that purports to promote the poor and disadvantaged. It is currently being investigated for voter registration fraud in least 14 states, having submitted hundreds of thousands of bogus registrations throughout the country.

ACORN claims to be "a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization with national headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.."

And despite its troubling track record, ACORN receives plenty of money from Democrats in Congress. ACORN affiliates in just 11 states are reported to have received more than $31 million in taxpayer funding. And ACORN has plenty of affiliates. Hundreds, in fact.

ACORN founder Wade Rathke also founded the huge public sector union, the SEIU (Service Employees International Union), which also happens to funnel funds to ACORN. Other ACORN affiliates, like the American Institute for Social Justice, also send millions directly to its parent.

Worse, ACORN is competing for $8 billion in Stimulus dough, thanks to President Obama.

So where does the money go? Fox News traced the money to a single, small funeral parlor in New Orleans on Elysian Fields Avenue. It appears to be a bank for ACORN and as many as 268 of its far-left affiliates.

And some of its affiliates -- like "The ACORN Institute" -- are 501(c)(3) organizations.

To maintain its tax-exempt status, various arms of ACORN purport to be a non-partisan, community support organizations. These are laughable propositions, to be sure, but thus far have resisted attempts to puncture their complex corporate veils.

But Mitchell Blatt may have found a damning piece of evidence that destroys ACORN's claims of non-partisanship. It's an internal ACORN memo -- dated January 26, 2004 -- that spells out explicit gerrymandering strategies to benefit Democrats.

This is a long-term, multi-faceted project with the following goals:

a) Impact the post-2010 Congressional redistricting process by building progressive electoral majorities in swing state legislative districts in states where partisan control of legislative bodies is potentially in play.
b) Organize in 10 – 20 selected Congressional Districts where recent close elections and/or demographic shifts make them likely swing districts.

The strategy here is to build the long-term, targeted organizing and electoral capacity needed if we are to have a Congress with a progressive majority. The redistricting process is key, since it is unlikely that there are enough competitive House districts to end right-wing control of the House of Representative before 2012. But we need to start now.

The first step is to review the literature analyzing the redistricting process state-by-state, determine which states’ re-districting processes are in the hands of state legislatures (most), which state legislative bodies have a close enough Democrat-Republican ratio to be in play, and which state house and state senate districts in those states are competitive. With this information, one can then target appropriate legislative districts. We have identified an organizer with previous experience with 21st Century Democrats and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee who we would like to hire to develop this targeting plan.

In other words, ACORN plotted a national campaign to benefit a Democrat Party takeover of Congress, explicitly naming the Democrats as beneficiaries of their "largesse".

Sounds non-partisan, eh?

You can read the entire memo here, preserved for posterity.

I am recommending that like-minded individuals report this egregious violation of the tax code to the IRS. To do so, fill out a Form 13909 (Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form). Then use one of the following methods to dispatch the form to the IRS:

  • Mail to IRS EO Classification, Mail Code 4910DAL, 1100 Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75242-1198,
  • Fax to 214-413-5415, or
  • Email to eoclass@irs.gov.

Feel free to reference ACORN's own memo.

Georgia State Sen. Jeff Mullis (Chickamauga) has filed legislation urging the IRS to revoke ACORN's tax exempt status. Consider this additional ammo for Mullis' efforts.



Linked by: Pat Dollard. Thanks!

Top 10 reasons to favor a gun over a woman...


Papa B sent this one in with the missive, "You didn't get this from me." Oops.

Top 10 reasons to favor a gun over a woman

#10. You can trade an old 44 for a new 22.

#9. You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you're on the road.

#8. If you admire a friend's gun and tell him so, he will probably let you try it out a few times.

#7. Your primary gun doesn't mind if you keep another gun for a backup.

#6. Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.

#5. A gun doesn't take up a lot of closet space.

#4. Guns function normally every day of the month.

#3. A gun doesn't ask, "Do these new grips make me look fat?"

#2. A gun doesn't mind if you go to sleep after you use it.

And the number one reason a gun is favored over a woman....

#1. YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A GUN
and YOUR LICENSE MUST BE RENEWED AFTER 5 YEARS OR IT IS NULL AND VOID.

Boys will be boys


Izismile has the complete collection. My favorites:







Ruh roh! On tape, Burris promised campaign check for Blago!


The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Roland Burris was caught on tape in a compromising position (hat tip: Marathon Pundit) offering cash to the disgraced Governor Blagojevich weeks prior to his receipt of Barack Obama's Senate seat.

In a November conversation caught on an FBI wiretap, Roland Burris promised Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother that he’d write the governor a campaign check by mid-December, Burris’ lawyer said today.


That was about seven weeks before Rod Blagojevich appointed Burris to the U.S. Senate
...

...Burris did not mention a promise of a check in a Feb. 4 sworn affidavit that Burris submitted to an Illinois House panel investigating Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment.

Maybe he forgot.

Illinois blogger-in-residence Marathon Pundit has the salient analysis.

Two words for you, Senator Burris: Resign now.

Five words for you, Governor Patrick Quinn: We want a special election.

Within hours of Blagojevich's December 9 arrest, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called for a special election to decide who would be Barack Obama's successor in the Senate. But Durbin backed off his call almost immediately.

While still lieutenant governor, Patrick Quinn called for a temporary appointment by the governor--he's governor now--followed by a quick special election.

I favor Durbin's initial stand.

We want a special election!

Indeed.


Larwyn's Linx: Saving America from the Abyss

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Nation

Saving America from the Abyss: PJM (Solway)
Is California Too Big to Fail?: McArdle
Will The Left Apologize To Bolton?: LegalIns

Scenes from Memorial Day: First In
Cheney: crystallizing Obama's hypocrisy: PJM (Guariglia)
Obama's War on Talk Radio: Morris

"We're out of money": Instapundit
Ayers and Dohrn say racism not dead: Sun-Times
He’s From The Government And He’s Here to Help: Six Meat

Is Obama another Jimmy Carter?: Forbes (Raman)
Mark Levin on Dreher, Frum and Friedersdorf: Riehl
Debating Mark Levin with Conor Friedersdorf: Riehl

Climate & Energy

Disproving The Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) Problem: Watts
Hyperion boasts 70 orders for mini-reactors: Denver Post
The greening of the slums: JWF

AGW prof: I would 'slaughter' skeptics in a debate: Depot

World

Axis of Evil Tortures Obama: AT (Spraygeen)
Netanyahu Declares War: “We Are Answering The Call”: Dollard
Fist clenches harder: Iran sends warships to Gulf of Aden: Reuters

Korean blast demonstrates world's weakness: WSJ
Emergency Wrist Slap Roundup: STACLU
Report: Venezuela sends Uranium to Iran: AP

Nuke test hints that Kim Jong-Il succession looms: Times
Playing The Nork Card: LegalIns
Additional Nork missile launch may be imminent: STACLU

WaPo asks: does Obama condone Chavez's acts?: S&L

Cornucopia

12 Most Unfortunate Product Names: Oddee
Goodbye, tats!: Fausta

If the Terrorists Misinterpret Islam …: PJM (Steinberg)

Forbes’ 2009 survey of the world’s most dangerous countries is out, and the list is comprised almost entirely of Islamic-dominated lands. A second list, of the world’s active conflicts, is essentially a checklist of current Islamic aggression (and describes an entirely related point — the few non-Islamic conflicts have communist/socialist or other totalitarian participants). Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Pakistan, West Bank/Gaza Strip, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Algeria, Nigeria, Georgia — that’s Forbes‘ top 15.

The world’s current conflicts: an Islamic revolt in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq; an Islamic butchery in Sudan; an Islamic civil war in Somalia; an Islamist civil war in Sri Lanka; an Islamic invasion into Chad (perpetrated by the Sudanese butchers); an Islamic insurgency in Thailand; an Islamist insurgency across all of Northeast Africa (the Maghreb); an Islamic separatist movement in Kashmir; an Islamist insurgency in the Philippines; and a sustained Islamic belligerency against Israel involving Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran...

Monday, May 25, 2009

Flat on your back in the hospital is no reason you can't surf the web!


This is a clever solution:

By golly, you can't keep people off the Internet!


An Open Letter to Colin Powell

Dear General Powell,

I read with great interest your recent statement that the Republican Party must be "more inclusive" and that it must expand its "very, very narrow base".

While all Americans respect and honor your service to this country, when it comes to political theory, economics, law and history, you are thoroughly, utterly confused.

On October 19th of last year, you endorsed Barack Obama for President on Meet the Press.

But America had a "moderate" Republican candidate for president at that time. John McCain was an "inclusive" candidate and certainly didn't pander to a "narrow base". Yet you abandoned him, Mr. Powell, and -- in fact -- helped sabotage his campaign by publicly endorsing the most ideologically pure, leftist candidate this country has ever seen.

How is it then, that so-called "moderate Republicans" continue to lose elections? How is it that the most pure conservative in recent history -- Ronald Reagan -- crushed Democrats in two successive landslides? Ronald Reagan -- the very man who plucked you out of obscurity! Republicans have nominated many so-called moderates in the form of George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush and John McCain; yet they either scraped to win elections or lost them outright.

So why would you endorse Obama? Because you've been attacked by the left; and though McCain is exactly the kind of candidate the "moderate" Republicans have been demanding... and you stab him in the back!

According to Time Magazine, the endorsement of Obama was in the works for months. And it was arranged with Meet the Press, where you delivered your endorsement, to levy maximum damage upon McCain's campaign.

Your endorsement and subsequent statements weren't about salvaging the GOP -- they're about marketing the Colin Powell brand! After all, it's the free market system that pays you $100,000 to $150,000 a speech and lets you fly around in private jets.

And who are the racists here? Colin Powell backed Barack Obama because they share the same skin color, period. No other explanation holds water. Because all the other reasons do not make sense. None of them. And that's a disgrace. And the Left claims they're the enlightened thinkers. That the Right must become more inclusive. Yet they're the ones obsessed with race!

And you, Powell, are obsessed with not being called any more names by the Left. Consider your explanation, your rationale for endorsing Obama:

"...because of his ability to inspire... the inclusiveness of his campaign... because he is reaching out all across America... because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities... as well as his substance, he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president. Being an exceptional president. He is a transformational figure... for that reason I'll be voting for Barack Obama."

What? What did that mean? Was there a single, substantive fact? His "rhetorical abilities"? His "substance"? He meets the standard of "being an exceptional president"?

How do you meet the standard of "being an exceptional president" prior to you serving as president?

I never thought you were that bright, Powell -- but that statement is proof. You prepared that endorsement for months and that's the best you can do?

A lot of people are charismatic: some are dangerous leaders; some are great leaders. But being charismatic proves nothing about leadership! It proves nothing!

And where's the guy's substance? How is he ready to be President?

And, for a guy who says he wants the Republicans to be more inclusive, you ripped McCain on a national stage as well.

"...And I've also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Senator McCain has taken recently, or his campaign ads, on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign... ...trying to suggest that, because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow, Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate."

Really? So if a Republican had the same sort of relationship with a Klansman or a Neo-Nazi, you'd be okay with that?

Seven years is just a "limited relationship"? That's spinning like a liberal. And if you don't think Ayers is relevant, why don't you talk to some of the families victimized by the Weather Underground? Maybe you should talk to the families of the three cops that they killed and the security guard that they murdered?

This is an outrageous statement by you -- a domestic terrorist, according to our own FBI, who got off on a technicality and called himself "guilty as hell".

What a disgrace! No wonder Cheney couldn't stand you. No wonder Rumsfeld couldn't stand you. The future of this country was at stake in the 2008 election and the fact that you were plotting for months to come on Meet the Press and make the biggest splash you possibly could, and you spewed this garbage?

And did you complain about the Obama campaign's treatment of Sarah Palin? You said nothing about the attacks on John McCain for his inability to use a keyboard due to his injuries as a POW! Not a word!

"...And I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired; but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made..."

This was an attack on conservatives... on outside-the-beltway politicians. Doesn't this sound like David Gergen or Chris Matthews? You simply parrot the Obama talking points!

So Palin's not qualified to be VP, but Joe Biden is. Right. Palin is smart -- she can learn what she needs to learn. Biden's stupid -- he can't learn to be smart.

General Powell, in one breath you claimed Rush Limbaugh "inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without," but you seem to conveniently ignore the vitriol and outrageous attacks directed at Palin by Obama and his minions in the media.

Recently you stated that "Americans do want to pay taxes for services... Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."

Really? Did you see how California just voted? California -- the bluest of blue states? They don't seem to want to pay more taxes, Mr. Powell. They don't want to be inclusive any more -- it's bankrupted them!

So which Americans want to pay more taxes? You mean the top 50 percent of workers who currently pay 97 percent of all federal income taxes? And, under Obama's cap-and-trade, health care and other monster-government plans, would pay more and more?

Americans do not want higher taxes and more government. They want liberty. The freedom to pursue their interests and live in the civil society without government dictating what kind of cars they must drive, what kind of toilets they must use, and which kinds of light bulbs are "legal".

The American free market and the concept of private property -- articulated by the Constitution -- these things make up the ultimate big tent. That is why the simple conservative principles represented by Ronald Reagan were so successful. The free market knows no racism; the truck driver does not know the skin color of the person who manufactured the boxes he carries; the airline pilot does not know the religion of those who manufactured his engine; nor does the entrepreneur know the gender of the person who shipped him raw goods.

The American free market is the most inclusive of all systems and this is what you, Powell, and your Democrat minions can't seem to comprehend.

You ask us to lose the traditions that made America the greatest country ever seen on the face of the Earth? You ask us to lose the principles and tenets of the Constitution?

This we will not do.

General, you are all about the Colin Powell brand. You don't care a whit about the Republican Party. You care only about the Learjet circles, the book tour circles, the cocktail circles in which you gladhand the elites.

You are a petty bureaucrat, who sat on critical information while Lewis Libby's name was dragged through the mud, knowing that your number two man -- Armitage -- was the source of the ridiculous Plame leak.

It's a synergistic relationship that you have with the mainstream media. The media uses Powell; and you use the media.

Your blueprint for inclusiveness is a sham. As are you. You're no more a Republican than Joe Biden or Chris Matthews.

So, good day, sir -- and don't let the door hit your backside on the way out.



With apologies to: Mark Levin, for many of the concepts herein. Linked by: STACLU. Thanks!

Half boy, half man


Phil sent this in:

Half boy, half man

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent high school graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten-year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.

He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands.

He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away? those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy... He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so.

As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot.

A short lull, a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets.


Please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan, sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those in Iraq, Afghanistan and all foreign countries.

'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need... Amen.'

Amen.



Linked by: Legal Insurrection. Thanks!

RED ALERT: Did anti-Obama campaign contributions dictate which Chrysler dealers were shuttered?


5/28/2009 Update 19:26 ET: Click here for the latest Dealergate post, which summarizes findings thus far.

5/27/2009 Update 19:26 ET: Click here for the latest Dealergate post, which shows statistical evidence that Chrysler dealers were shuttered on partisan grounds.

Critical Updates Below: Red State, American Thinker, Joey Smith and Reliapundit provide anecdotal and quantitative evidence that would appear to confirm a decided bias against dealers who donated to GOP causes or to anti-Obama Democrats.

Quote from an attorney who Deposed Chrysler's president last week: "It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers... It really wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormous pressure from the President's automotive task force."

Late night updates from Joey Smith and Thomas Lamb: Large Democrat Donor groups not only remain open in all locations, but have their competition eliminated... and/or can purchase for pennies on the dollar.

Stay tuned. More data crunching is underway.

A tipster alerted me to an interesting assertion. A cursory review by that person showed that many of the Chrysler dealers on the closing list were heavy Republican donors.

To quickly review the situation, I took all dealer owners whose names appeared more than once in the list. And, of those who contributed to political campaigns, every single one had donated almost exclusively to GOP candidates. While this isn't an exhaustive review, it does have some ominous implications if it can be verified.

However, I also found additional research online at Scribd (author unknown), which also appears to point to a highly partisan decision-making process.

Consider the partial list of Chrysler dealership owners, listed below. You'll notice that all were opponents of Barack Obama, most through sponsorship of GOP candidates and organizations, but a handful through Barack's Democrat rivals (Hillary Clinton and John Edwards in 2008, for example).

• Vernon G. Buchanan: $147,450 to GOP candidates and organizations
• Wallace D. Alley and Family: $4,500 to GOP.
• Robert Archer: $4,600 to GOP and conservative causes.
• Homer S. Higginbotham and Family: $2950 to GOP.
• James Auffenberg and Family: $28,000 to GOP; $6,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Michael Maroone and Family: $60,000 to GOP; $8,500 to two Democrat candidates.
• Jerome Fader: $6,500 to Democrats; $2,500 to Independent Joe Lieberman.
• Stephen Fay and Family: $13,500 to GOP.
• William Numrich: $20,000 to GOP.
• Robert Carver: $10,000 to Democrats including $1,950 to Hillary Clinton, nothing to Barack Obama.

• Robert and Linda Rohrman: $24,000 to GOP.
• Frank Boucher, Jr. and Family: $18,000 to GOP, $1,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Scott Bossier: $4,300 to GOP.
• Todd Reardon: $17,000 to GOP; $2,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Russ Darrow and Family: $78,000 to GOP.
• Bradford Deery and Family: $24,700 to GOP.
• Charles Gabus and Family: $30,000 to GOP.
• Brian Smith: $15,500 to GOP.
• Michael Schlossman: $14,000 to GOP; $14,000 to three Democrats ($12,500 to Sen. Russ Feingold).
• Don Hill: $11,000 to GOP; $12,800 to conservative incumbent Rep. Heath Shuler.

• Don Miller: $2,000 to GOP; $1,000 to Feingold.
• Eddie Cordes: $2,150 to GOP.
• Robert Edwards: $1,100 to GOP.
• James Crowley: $19,100 to GOP.
• Stanley Graff: $2,200 to John Edwards (2008 Presidential Run); $500 to GOP.
• John Stewart: $10,500 to GOP.
• John Fitzgerald and Family: $4,600 to John McCain (2008); $2,000 to Hillary Clinton (2008); nothing to Barack Obama.
• William Churchill and Family: $3,500 to GOP.
• Thomas Ganley: $9.450 to GOP.
• Gary Miller: $20,000 to GOP.

• Kevin and Gene Beltz: $18,500 to GOP.
• Arthur Grayson: $14,000 to GOP.
• Eric Grubbs and Family: $26,000 to GOP.
• Michael Leep and Family: $19,500 to GOP; $4,800 to three Democrats including Sen. Evan Bayh.
• Harry Green, Jr.: $10,000 to GOP.
• Ronald Hoover: $5,250 to GOP.
• Ray Huffines and Family: $18,500 to GOP.
• John O. Stevenson: $1,500 to GOP.
• James Marsh: $8,200 to GOP.
• Max Pearson and Family: $112,000 to GOP.

I have thus far found only a single Obama donor (and a minor one at that: $200 from Jeffrey Hunter of Waco, Texas) on the closing list.

Chrysler claimed that its formula for determining whether a dealership should close or not included "sales volume, customer service scores, local market share and average household income in the immediate area."

In fact, there may have been other criteria involved: politics may have played a part. If this data can be validated, it would appear to be further proof that the Obama administration is willing to step over any line to advance its agenda.

It bodes poorly for America and the rule of law.


Update: Noteworthy comments from Cars.com's blogs:

As an employee of one of the affected dealerships... First, this isn't just Chrysler's decision. They were forced into bankruptcy by President Obama. When Chrysler emerges from bankruptcy the Federal Government will be a junior partner in the new Chrysler. This is SOCIALISM! Wake up people! This isn't about business it's about politics and control. My dealership is in the top 125 out of the 3500 plus dealerships nationwide...yet we are on the list. We are not small nor are we rural. We are in a large major metropolitan area. Our new vehicle inventory alone is well over $4.0 million. Is that small? Secondly, Chrysler is already "shopping" for dealers to take over the open "points" (another name for franchise) left by the closed dealerships. Again, you think this is just business. Lastly, and more importantly, every state has franchise law in affect that protect companies from this very thing - being forced out of business under the cloak of bankruptcy with out the benefit of due process. This is illegal!

This is so much more than "just business". This is about control and power by our present administration in Washington. An administration that will stop at nothing to bring complete Socialism to this once great country. Wake up people or get in line now to "drink the Kool-Aid".

I just saw on the list that my local dealership, Wilson Dodge is closing. This is very shocking to me since they are the oldest and most recognized Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep dealer in the metro. This is really sad because these are great people with excellent service...

...There was an interview on the news this evening with the owner of the dealership that is going to be closed in my area where I learned that the DCJ dealership they competed with in my area is factory owned. So, instead of closing their own, they choose to close a successful franchisee. That's #$@?ed up IMO! ...

Update II: Deseret News, 14 May 2009, "Chrysler dealership closures may hurt small-town economies":

"I've been around this forever, and there's no rhyme or reason," Fred Barber, owner of Barber Brothers Motors in Spanish Fork, said Thursday.

...Why were Barber's Chrysler dealership and nine others from Utah among the 789 dealerships nationwide singled out by Chrysler LLC, in bankruptcy-court filings, to be eliminated by June 9? Was there any rhyme or reason to why certain dealerships were selected and others not? What's next for the targeted dealerships, and what will be the ripple effects?

"This is as close to socialism as I've seen — we've got the government running the automotive industry," he added.

Jim Lunt, vice president of Lunt Motor Co. in Cedar City, said employees at his Main Street dealership are anxious, while the owners feel "abandoned."

"It's like they chopped out your legs," Lunt said. "We haven't looked at other manufacturers. We've stuck with Chrysler through thick and thin. You kind of feel like you've been thrown overboard."

Update III: APP, 18 May 2009, "Ousted Chrysler dealers prepare legal fight":

Michael Bernstein, an attorney with Arnold & Porter who represents the Chrysler National Dealer Council, said the dealers may offer a number of objections to the plan in U.S. bankruptcy court, and that the case will enter some uncharted legal territory.

...Bernstein said under bankruptcy law Chrysler would have to show how its "reasonable exercise of business judgment" led to the closing list. While the company cited a bevy of standards by which it chose dealerships, Bernstein said it was noteworthy that Chrysler didn't cite costs.

"There's no cost to Chrysler associated with dealers. Dealers are a source of revenue," Bernstein said. "A lot of people were surprised by the number of dealers Chrysler is proposing to reject..."

Update IV: For those who want to do a deeper dive, here are the lists of both sets of dealers: those who are being shuttered and those who remain open. I have not had time to investigate the latter list, but welcome any help!

AllPar: Chrysler Dealers to be cut and kept

Please email me with with any conclusions, even preliminary ones, which you can draw from this data.

Update V: Rick Moran observes, "Kind of puts George Joseph's letter we published a while back in a different light, doesn't it? Maybe it's not so mysterious a turn of events after all."

Update VI: Red State adds more anecdotal evidence.

Does Obama have a car dealer enemies list?

...There were too many things about the selection of dealerships to be closed that just didn’t add up. Some of the dealers chosen to be terminated were among the more successful outlets in the Chrysler dealership network, and many of them had been loyal Chrysler and Dodge agents who had maintained an excellent working relationship with the Detroit automaker for decades.

Some dealers who got a thumbs down from Obama’s automotive panel told compelling stories about their situations that raised doubts about the process of selecting them for closing. One example, a dealership in Alvin, Texas, had increased its new car sales by 50% in the first four months of 2009, while other MOPAR dealers’ sales were in the tank. Another in Melbourne, Florida, had, at Chrysler’s insistence, totally renovated its facility financed by incurring millions of dollars of debt in the form of a bank mortgage. The are just two of many stories which highlight the incongruities to be found on the list of dealerships not deemed worthy to remain in operation...

...Eric Dondero recognizes some of the dealers’ names on the hit list:

“Vern Buchanan is a Republican Congressman from the Tampa Bay area. Robert Archer is the son of former Republican Congressman Bill Archer. John Culberson, a libertarian-leaning Conservative, is now the Congressman for that West Houston District. He was heavily supported in his election efforts by the Archers Family.”

“Additionally, James Crowley, owner of a Chrysler Dealership in Escondido, California is on the list to be closed. Crowley is a big backer of libertarian-leaning Republican Cong. John Campbell of Orange County.”

The list is heavy with influential Republicans and libertarians. Another name on the list is Ray Huffines, who owns a large dealerhsip in the Metro-Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The Huffines family have been major contributors to Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) over the years...

Update VII: Joey Smith, who I must credit with a huge amount of work with the OpenSecrets campaign contribution database, writes:

...I have not analyzed the data from the dealerships that will remain open, but I have looked at all the dealers in the Little Rock, Las Vegas, and Joplin, Missouri areas. It appears that the dealers that are closing in these areas have not donated money to Democrats while the ones that remain open have donated to Democrats in the past.

Update VIII: Reliapundit points us to a Reuters article that would seem to confirm the political nature of the closings.

A lawyer for Chrysler dealers facing closure as part of the automaker's bankruptcy reorganization said on Tuesday he believes Chrysler executives do not support a plan to eliminate a quarter of its retail outlets.

Lawyer Leonard Bellavia, of Bellavia Gentile & Associates, who represents some of the terminated dealers, said he deposed Chrysler President Jim Press on Tuesday and came away with the impression that Press did not support the plan.

"It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers," Bellavia said. "It really wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormous pressure from the President's automotive task force."

Update IX: Joey Smith reported tonight that a Democratic donor group in the Midwest and South will not have to close any of their Chrysler dealerships... and their competition was gutted.

The company is called RLJ-McLarty-Landers, and it operates six Chrysler dealerships throughout the South. All six dealerships are safe from closing. The dealer locations are: Bentonville, AR (northwest Arkansas); Lee's Summit, MO (south of Kansas City, MO); Branson, MO; Olathe, KS (near Kansas City); Bossier City, LA (near Shreveport); Huntsville, AL...

The interesting part is who the three main owners of the company are. The owners are Steve Landers (long-time car dealer, 4th-generation dealer), Thomas "Mack" McLarty (former Chief of Staff for President Clinton), and Robert Johnson (founder of Black Entertainment Television and co-owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats). Landers has given money to Republicans in the past, but McLarty campaigned for Obama in 2008, and Johnson has given countless amounts of money to Democrats over the years...

...So far, RLJ-McCarty-Landers will have 8 competing dealerships total[ly] eliminated from 3 of their markets: Lee's Summit, MO; Branson, MO; and Bossier City, LA. I'm willing to bet that the other 3 markets that they serve are similar in nature.

Thomas Lamb writes:

Look into the 32 minority dealerships that were closed and what Maxine Waters had to say.

In one case, you will find the biggest minority dealer in the U.S. being bought up by Democrat donor Gillet out of Vail Colorado.



Hat tip: Bob. Linked by: Ace o' Spades, Gateway Pundit, The Anchoress, Conservative Grapevine, Be John Galt, Bookworm Room, Memeorandum, NewsMax (Ken Timmerman), Protein Wisdom, Say Anything, American Digest, TigerHawk, Atlas, Pat Dollard, Prairie Pundit, The Real Revo, TCOT Report and Nice Deb. Thanks!