Sunday, June 06, 2010

Israel Solidarity Rally in L.A. Features Patriot Jon Voight

More than 3,000 gathered in L.A. today to show their support for Israel.

Consul General Jacob Dayan and Governor Schwarzanegger take a call from Noam Shalit, father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Jay Sanderson, President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, emceed the event.

It was a patriotic crowd proudly displaying a love of freedom, for the U.S. and Israel.

Patriot Jon Voight gave an inspirational speech.




Consul General Jacob Dayan spoke as well: "We have gathered here today from all over: Democrats, Republicans, Jews, Christians, Latinos, Armenians, from the Russian community to the French community to the Iranian community…to say to Israel that: "We support you. We are behind you. We are proud of your wonderful and brave soldiers."

Aside from the Democrat remarks, Dayan's comments appeared to be spot on.


Photos: Linda K. and Karen C.

Open revolt: are disgruntled Democrat insiders sabotaging the Obama administration?

Inquiring minds are considering the surprising series of self-inflicted gaffes that have plagued the White House of late:

The Jobs Report Blunder


After talking up -- some called it 'leaking' -- the forthcoming May job numbers last week, the President was dissed when the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a truly depressing report. The President's predictions were covered by all of the major wire services including Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP, which resulted in wide play nationwide. When the real number was released on Friday, it proved a stunning humiliation for the White House. After removing the Census and other "make work" numbers, the private sector actually shed 226,000 jobs last month. The stock market reacted with a violent downturn as the DJIA shed more than 300 points.

So who fed President Obama an obviously bogus jobs report, Trading Places-style?

The Romanoff Leak


In the midst of the Sestak uproar, an anonymous source offered that the Obama administration had tried to influence another Democrat primary. Reports circulated that the White House had "dangled the possibility of a government job for former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff last year in hopes he would forgo a challenge to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet", according to unnamed officials.

Which 'unnamed officials' leaked highly controversial information at the very time the White House was trying to deflect the burgeoning Sestak scandal?

The Brutally Deficient Sestak Statement


After months of stonewalling deferring questions about Sestak bribe allegations, the White House finally released a document that purported to explain its side. Only one teensy problem: the administration's document made no sense when compared to the very public statements by Senate candidate Sestak. In fact, it was riddled with contradictions:

• White House: "White House staff did not discuss these options with Congressman Sestak."
•: Sestak: Replied "Yes" to the question "you were offered a job by someone in the White House?"

• White House: "It has been suggested that discussions of alternatives to the Senate campaign were improperly raised with the Congressman. There was no such impropriety. "
• Sestak: Replied "Yes" to the question "Were you ever offered a job to get out of this race?

• White House: "It has been suggested that the Administration may have offered Congressman Sestak the position of Secretary of the Navy in the hope that he would accept the offer and abandon a Senate candidacy. This is false."
• Sestak: Replied "No comment" to the question "Was it Navy Secretary?", when a simple "No" would have sufficed. In a separate interview, MSNBC says that Sestak did confirm the offer of the Secretary of the Navy position.

So who crafted this disastrous statement? It's a perfect example of what not to do in this kind of situation, because it raises more questions than it answers and it contradicts other official statements. Within minutes of its release, veteran Beltway pundits were picking it to pieces. In other words, it was a public relations disaster.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Even taken separately, these blunders are bizarre. Placed together, a pattern emerges: an insider (or insiders) may be sandbagging the President.

Is there a patriotic Democrat mole, burrowed inside the power structure, who realizes the disastrous Leftist agenda must be stopped? Is there a cadre of Hillary loyalists planting land-mines for the administration to step on in preparation for 2012?

In either case, one can only hope.


Linked by: Instapundit and Patterico. Thanks!

140 Muslims Killed in China's Xinjiang Uygur Province; No World or Media Outcry as 'Israel Not Involved'

As if you needed further evidence for the Everest-sized pile of hypocrisy that are the United Nations and legacy media, word comes that China is killing Muslims by the score. Apparently, this is perfectly acceptable because there are no Jews involved.

The death toll from riots on Sunday, May 2nd 2010... has risen to 140. ...Riots began in the regional capital of Urumqi on Sunday when a group of protesters demanded an investigation into the deaths of two ethnic Uighurs killed in a fight with Han Chinese workers at a toy factory in late June... Xinhua said protesters from the Uighur Muslim ethnic minority group began attacking ethnic Han pedestrians, burning vehicles and attacking buses with batons and rocks.

Chinese authorities said the unrest had been "instigated" by forces outside of China... general secretary of the Uighur American Association in Washington Alim Seytoff as saying that police had begun "indiscriminately" shooting at protesting crowds.

Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs have complained of political, cultural and religious persecution by Beijing and there have been repeated calls by Uighurs for independence.

True to form, the Progressive blogosphere is also silent on the matter, presumably because they're scouring back issues of Der Stürmer for reprint rights.

After all, it's only 140 dead Muslims. And since the news can't be used to undermine America's only true ally in the Middle East, these reports are useless to the Left.


It's working flawlessly: President Obama's outreach to Muslim countries

The oh-so-nuanced Arab media weighs in on Turkey's Jihad Flotilla, which had attempted to break the blockade of weapons to Hamas.










I'm surprised the major American progressive blogs aren't syndicating this stuff.

Along with reprints of Der Stürmer. And some Helen Thomas op-eds, of course.


Hat tip: Phil.

Larwyn's Linx: The Final Assaults -- Deceit in the Open

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation




The Final Assaults: Deceit in the Open: EternityRoad
‘Journalist’ Helen Thomas: Jew-hater, Democrat fundraiser: Pollak
Holder reassures Muslims: U.S. oppression is over: Power Line

Rahm Emanuel, another tax cheat?: RWN
'Phoenix Rising' for SB 1070 at Arizona State Capitol: AmPower
Health Care Statists on the March: AT

Economy

'Leader with a Plan' Invites a Health Care Nightmare: AT
Where's the inflation?: WATN
Finally: Pushing Back Against the MSU at UC Irvine: PJM

DemCare Preview: British cancel millions of operations: BlogProf
G20 Drops Obama’s Keynesian Stimulus-palooza: GWP
Grade-A Governor: Post

Climate & Energy

Never let an oil leak go to waste: RedState
The Western Watersheds Project’s Assault on Family Ranchers: PJM
Green Tech Defined: AT

Media

The Test and the Choice: Hewitt
Why Helen Thomas Matters: Shayne
Ubersturmbannfuehrer Helen Thomas must go: Bachmann

FTC: we need a massive bailout of newspapers: AT
Fathoms Beneath The Flotilla: Kesler
Israel Firsters -- Unite!: LegalIns

World

Ground Zero Mosque Imam Tied to "Freedom Flotilla": Moonbattery
Israel, Turkey, and the End of Stability: Steyn
Satellite photos support testimony that Iraqi WMD went to Syria: PJM

2 NJ Men Arrested At JFK for Terror Ties: Jawa
Law enforcement fears Shabaab infiltration: TFS
Palestinians, Uighurs, and the Curiously Selective Media: PJM

Oops! Gitmo is Not Closing. Ever.: Gormogons
Should Jews apologize to Turkey or go back to Germany?: Hanson
Perspective, Daoud, perspective: Yourish

SciTech

Highly Encouraging Results on New Cancer Drug, Vaccine: Wizbang
Apple's Jobs expected to reveal new iPhone on Monday: Breitbart
iPhone triples Android in mobile market share: CNet

Cornucopia

One Hundred Things That Don’t Make You a Better Person: RWN
For once, I agree with Jerry Springer: Obi's Sister
Andrew Sullivan concentrates on the hard subjects: NewsBusters

Images: 'Phoenix Rising' for SB 1070 at Arizona State Capitol (American Power).
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sharron Angle for Senate: Unseat Harry Reid!

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Every waking moment

Headline spotted in The Miami Herald on 27 May 2010:

Obama: "Go to Gulf beaches; most still open", clean


Thu May 27, 2:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is encouraging Americans to visit the Gulf Coast despite the huge offshore oil spill... At a White House news conference Thursday, Obama said while three beaches in Louisiana have been fouled by oil, the rest of the region's beaches are clean and safe. He says Gulf state governors have asked him "to remind everybody" the beaches are open.

Heaven knows, the President hasn't changed any plans because of the tragic leak in the Gulf.

Visiting with Jay Leno...

Golf, golf and more golf...

Fundraising for Leftists...

Schmoozing with contributors...

Schmoozing with Bono...

Schmoozing with Marv Albert...

Is there any doubt that the President spends every waking moment worried about the environmental catastrophe still unfolding in the Gulf?


Hat tip: Lawyer Mom Musings.

Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Turncoat: Charlie Crist Accused of Fraud, Money Laundering

RedState points us to a TampaBay.com article on the disgusting (okay, "allegedly" disgusting) machinations of RINO-turned-indie Charlie Crist. The charges relate to former GOP Chair Jim Greer's apparent misuse of party funds.

Greer, a former Crist campaign executive, set up a shell company called "Victory Strategies LLC" to which he diverted as much as $125,000 in GOP funds.

Gov. Charlie Crist personally signed off on his former Republican party chairman's confidential fundraising role with the state party – according to Jim Greer's attorney, whose allegation contradicts the governor's statement that he "didn't know anything'' about the deal now part of a criminal investigation.

...Greer's attorney, Damon Chase, said Saturday that the deal giving them a 10 percent cut of party donations was legal. What's more, Chase said Crist's former right-hand man, now U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, first proposed the idea that they earn a fundraising commission to save the party money and replace the $30,000-a-month contract with fundraiser Meredith O'Rourke...

"Jim thought a change would be a good idea and I said, 'Whatever you think needs to be done, and if you need to bring in Delmar, that's fine,' " Crist said...

"The governor knew about Victory Strategies from the very beginning,'' Chase said. "They all worked on it together. . . . They saw it as a way to save money.''

Greer was a little-known councilman in Oviedo who had worked on Crist's 2006 campaign for governor when he was tapped to lead the Republican Party of Florida. Allegations that he used party money to live a life of luxury forced him to step down in January.

I have exactly the same level of confidence that Crist's ethics are above reproach that I have his tan is legit.


Leftist Blogosphere Aligns with the Enemies of Israel -- and Civilization

If you ignore the fact that Turkey's new political leaders are Islamists, and if you ignore the fact that these same leaders used the "Peace Flotilla" as a thinly veiled method of breaking Israel's blockade of Hamas, and if you ignore the fact that there is absolutely no humanitarian crisis whatsoever in Gaza, and if you ignore the fact that Egypt has sealed the border with Gaza and keeps its Arab brothers segregated, and if you ignore the fact that six million Israelis face 350 million Arabs who have tried for more than 60 years to cleanse the region of Jews; well, if you ignore all of that, odds are you're a progressive or an Islamist. But I repeat myself.

Consider what passes for reasoned commentary at the racist cesspools that are today's "progressive" blogosphere.

Salon: Progressives are getting really, really pissed at the Democrat leadership: "The Democratic base is increasingly uncomfortable with its leadership's unflinching support for Israel", which is predicated upon pressure by the Zionist lobby. "Progressive criticisms of Israel becoming widespread among the Democratic base, a sense of urgency is taking hold, too... The trajectory of both party bases seems clear. Democrats are growing more critical of Israel as Republicans become more supportive. The only question is when this split will be reflected in party leadership."

Andrew 'Glutes' Sullivan: Those who defend Israel are deranged, because Israel has the most powerful military in the world and letting Palestinians resettle the land to which they have an unquestionable right is the only sane solution.

FireDogLake: The "humanitarian aid boat" that tried to break the Zionist blockade was a just cause, because of the 1.5 million starving residents in Gaza. And the blockade is definitely not Egypt's fault, just because they sealed their border with Gaza. The Jews are to blame, no matter what. So we can't discuss Egypt at all. Just the "massacre" of innocent terrorists peace activists.

Daily Kos: While Democrat politicians lose their courage when dealing with the Zionists, the group Peace Now speaks for all of us when they state, "Israel marked a new low point in the way it chose to contend with its domestic and external policy dissidents... the domestic Israeli propaganda machine began to work and in just a few hours every Israeli will be recounting how Hamas helicopters took over a Jewish ship and shot illegal immigrants in all directions."

Raw Story: Due to threats by the Zionist lobby, Democrat politicians are walking back their criticism of Israel. In fact, Harry Reid now blames the activists for their own deaths!

The Washington Post's Plum Line: Democrats are pathetic weaklings because they're folding due to threats by the Zionist lobby. If Democrats had an ounce of sense, they'd express regret for the deaths of terrorists peace activists and demand that the impartial U.N. get involved with an investigation.

The Huffington Post's Eileen Read: The Jerusalem Post must fire writer Caroline Glick for helping create the musical video We Con the World, which is 'tasteless and blatantly racist'.

Juan Cole: The 9 dead Hamas terrorists peace activists were shot 30 times! Plus, I believe every single report from my pals in the Arab media, because their accuracy has been well-documented.

What was once described as "the new face of antisemitism" isn't very new any more. And it isn't a new face. It's the same, centuries-old credo: blame the Jews.

Oh, and you Jews who still vote Democrat despite the unchecked rise of anti-semitism on the left? There's a word for you. I think it's "Kapo".


Related:
Photo Gallery: Top Ten Weapons of Peace Found on the Humanitarian Flotilla (aka The Love Jihad Boat)
Gaza 'Humanitarian' Flotilla: a Ruse for a 'Martyrdom Operation'
IDF: Flotilla refused security inspection; film shows humanitarians knifing Israeli soldier; other Israelis were shot by terror-linked IHH members

Boom Times: The One Graph That Perfectly Depicts the Smashing Success of the Obama Recovery [Updated: Now Infused with Bonus Misery!]

I've slightly modified a graph from Calculated Risk to illustrate the stunning economic boom touched off by the $840 billion Stimulus package, the Omnibus Spending Bill and DemCare, to name but a few.

The closeup.

I, for one, have complete confidence that our President will continue delivering upon his promise to bring real prosperity to all Americans.

We're well on the way, as you can see.


Update: The unemployment numbers were even worse than we thought -- yes, worse than the private sector shedding nearly a quarter of a million jobs.

Friday's jobs report was pretty rough, but actually the unemployment rate dipped to 9.7%. That's because, despite the lack of private sector hiring, a large swath of jobseekers [322,000] decided to, for whatever reason, quit the workforce.

...The spike up in the total flow from those "unemployed" to "not in the labor force" follow what looked like a couple of months worth of the reverse: people moving on net from not in the labor force to the unemployed, looking segment.

What it looks like is that a lot of frustrated workers were sold on the idea that there was some kind of recovery underway, and then realized they'd been lied to.

That's simply impossible. The federal government under Barack Obama would never, ever lie to the people. Don't you get it? We're in the midst of a recovery!

The new bumper stickers are here! The new bumper stickers are here!

The staff members here at the Journal have gone retro -- and they're waxing nostalgic for the heady days of Bush Lied, Children Died bumper-stickers.




Hat tip: Jem.