Sunday, May 06, 2012

Hilarious: Michigan Democrat Caucus Requires... Voter ID

I'm assuming the fine, upstanding hippies writing "progressive news and commentary" at Eclectablog alerted Eric Holder's Department of Justice.

This Saturday, from 9 a.m. until noon, Michigan Democrats will hold caucuses around the state to choose Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for president in 2012. While this may seem like a formality, there’s a bit more to it than that so you should plan to attend the caucus in your area on Saturday morning.

The caucuses give Democrats a chance to meet, discuss the election ahead, meet local candidates in an easy, conversational setting and to learn about the various ballot measures for petitions are currently being circulated. At some caucus sites, local candidates will give a brief speech about themselves. You’ll likely have petitions available to sign and you’ll get a chance to connect with other Democrats in your area.

....You will be asked to sign a statement saying your are participating as a Democrat. Please bring an id (photo id is not required.)

...NOTE: YOU MUST GO TO THE SPECIFIC CAUCUS FOR YOUR AREA ONLY! You can find the caucus locations for every Congressional District (CD) in Michigan HERE. There are around 200 caucus sites around Michigan.

Can you believe all of the rules and procedures required to participate in the Democrat caucus?

Haven't these racists heard that requiring ID and prior registration prevents minorities, illegal immigrants and the dead from voting?

I suggest rallying Al Sharpton and the New Black Panthers to protest this madness.


Hat tip: MOTUS.

Pie Chart: Complete Demographic Makeup of a Typical Obama Voter

Don't try to debate the merits of this chart, because the science is settled.



Obama and His Ilk Are Experts in Only One Area: Legalized Plunder

President Obama's erstwhile pal, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, "may well be the worst and most destructive American of his generation" according to Walter Russell Mead.

The latest [Detroit] scandal, which leaves even hardened observers of the abysmal Democratic machine that has run the city into the ground bemused, involves a real estate firm which gave the felonious mayor massages, golf outings, trips in chartered jets and other perks as this enemy of the people went about his hypocritical business of pretending to care about the poor while robbing them blind. The firm, apparently run by a sleazy low class crook named by the reprehensible Kilpatrick to be the Treasurer of what was left of Detroit’s finances, used Detroit pension funds to buy a couple of California strip malls. Title to the properties was never transferred to the pension funds, and they seem to be out $3.1 million.

Kilpatrick’s partner in slime is his ex-college frat brother Jeffrey Beasley, who is accused of taking bribes and kickbacks as he made bad investments that cost pension funds $84 million. Overall, a Detroit Free Press investigation estimates that corrupt and incompetent trustees appointed by Democratic officials over many years in Detroit are responsible for almost half a billion dollars in investments gone wrong.

I honestly don’t know why there is so little national outrage about this despicable crew and the terrible damage they have done. The ultimate victims of the crime are Detroit’s poor and the middle class and lower middle class, mostly African-American municipal workers who may face serious financial losses in old age.

The 41 year old Kwame Kilpatrick may well be the worst and most destructive American of his generation; his two terms as Mayor of Detroit are among the most sordid and stomach churning episodes in the storied history of American municipal corruption. Now under federal indictment for, essentially, running Detroit City Hall as a criminal enterprise, Kilpatrick reportedly turned down a plea bargain that included a 15 year prison term. Insiders say that since the maximum time for the charges he faces was 18 years, the offer from the prosecutors indicates strong confidence in their case. Indicted with him was his father; it’s nice to think that father and son will have some quality time in the can.

The Kilpatrick case is typical of Obama's friends and colleagues. Among the president's advisers, Valerie Jarrett stands out as perhaps his closest confidante. And Jarrett's history is equally troubling, having managed thousands of federally subsidized housing units until they were finally shuttered as "uninhabitable".

In 2008 The Boston Globe reported on the stunning failures of Jarrett's companies. "Jarrett is the chief executive of Habitat Co., which managed Grove Parc Plaza from 2001 until this [past] winter and co-managed an even larger subsidized complex in Chicago that was seized by the federal government in 2006, after city inspectors found widespread problems."

Problems including the fact that many of the approximately one thousand housing units were "uninhabitable" and were condemned by federal authorities. Grove Parc Plaza, one of the largest residential housing complexes in Barack Obama's state senatorial district, has been at the center of a variety of scandals.


A few months after the Globe's report, a non-partisan watchdog group -- Judicial Watch -- announced that it had secured documents linking Jarrett to a variety of real estate scandals including failed housing developments operated by Obama fundraiser Tony Rezko... "Valerie Jarrett served as a board member for several organizations that provided funding and support for Chicago housing projects operated by real estate developers and Obama financial backers Rezko and Allison Davis. (Davis is also Obama's former boss.)

In short, taxpayers had millions looted by corrupt developers and real estate managers; Jarrett's involvement with this skulduggery was never exposed to the American public by national media.

Under this administration, Legalized Plunder has become an art form.

Social Security disability fraud has exploded since 2010.

Obama's IRS is refunding billions to illegals who are claiming kids and other dependents... in Mexico.

Federal inspectors have discovered billions in Stimulus fraud, from Solyndra to a "tree census".

The USDA's food stamp program has suffered billions in fraudulent payments annually.

Medicare fraud is estimated at between $60 and $80 billion a year.

And the failures of the $800 billion Democrat Stimulus package are well-documented; huge chunks of the money went not to construction, but to prop up public sector union employment in order to recycle dues into Democrat campaign coffers.

In the world of Obama's Democrats, government exists only to plunder your money. This is precisely as Bastiat described in his seminal work, The Law:

Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Thus the beneficiaries are spared the shame, danger, and scruple which their acts would otherwise involve. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons, and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim — when he defends himself — as a criminal. In short, there is a legal plunder...

...But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

...Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on, and so on. All these plans as a whole — with their common aim of legal plunder — constitute socialism.

The Democrat Party, now dominated by the far-Left progressive movement, is a party with only one plank: Legalized Plunder.

In November, I urge you to vote against every single Democrat. Republicans aren't perfect, to be sure, but we have a chance of salvaging that party. The Democrat Party, subsumed by the radical, sixties-retread leftists, must be politically obliterated and reconstituted from scratch. It's the only way to be sure.


Larwyn's Linx: Ten Reasons to Impeach Eric Holder

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Ten Reasons to Impeach Eric Holder: FPM
Rogue Democrats Loot Detroit As Nation Sleeps: Mead
The More Precise Life of Julia: Frank J.

Anarchy 101: Wisconsin's Leftists Embrace Violence, Chaos: GWP
Occupiers Storm Boston Tea Party Rally: Loudon
Michelle Says We Are "Blessed" to Have Barack: RWN

Economy

CME The Most Powerful Company in the World: P&F
Romney: Welcome To Ohio, Champ. Where Are The Jobs?: Cove
Obama 2008 battles Obama 2012: WZ

Rampant Fraud: 2.2MM Claim Disability Since 2010: Mish
How the Public School Creates Big Government Democrats: C4P
A Better Life for Julia: Foundry

2012 Elections

Dems Unworried About Drop in Latino Voter Registration: Sooper
British Media Does the Job U.S. Journalists Refuse to Do: Breitbart
“Julia”: Obama marketing machine fail: LI

Not #ReadyToGo? Hashtag Doesn't Fill OH Arena for Obama: RSM
Obama may release dead Bin-Laden photos to help his re-election bid: FAM
Obama’s auditorium so empty that ushers moved people at the rally ‘in order for seats to look full for TV': WZ

Scandal Central

Few actions, minimal compliance from Holder on Fast and Furious subpoena: DC
Is Fast and Furious the Next Watergate?: Caruba
This Congressman Thinks Solyndra Makes Cars: Fox Nation

Climate & Energy

Only Obama Stands in the Way: TransCanada Reapplies For Presidential Permit to Build Keystone: GWP
Inhofe: Panetta Global Warming Remarks Show Need for More Congressional Oversight: CFP
About Those Heartland Billboards That Made The Warmists Insane.: Cove

Media

Bill Maher: Real Comedian: Powers
It’s rather strange that Obama’s composite girlfriend matches Bill Ayers’s real one: Bookworm Room
Think Progress Ridiculous Soft Focus Pics Hide Low Obama Turnout: Sooper

The New York Times prepares its readers for the loss of Ohio.: Moe Lane
Real time center-right news – it’s Bad Blue!: Radio Patriot
The Life Of Peter, Julia’s Sperm Donor: RWN

World

Top General: Obama Knew About OBL's Hideout in Mid-2010 – Refused to Act Until May 2011: GWP
Former AG: Obama had memo drafted to blame military if Bin Laden assassination failed: Matzav
Obama’s Afghan War Unhindered by Partisan Fights: RWN

Reset: Russia Considers Preemptive Strike Against U.S.-Led Missile System in Europe: AmPower
Nashville: 3 convicted, 6 acquitted in Somali sex trafficking case: Creeping
Sarkozy faces defeat as France heads to polls: Reuters

Lawmaker Questions FBI Materials Purge: IPT
Terror-linked ISNA invades Tampa to re-elect Obama: Creeping
So, the UN Wants the U.S. to Return Land to Indian Tribes…: Rosett

IKEA scandal only one of many examples of slave labor in Cuba: Babalu
China's Population Poised to Crash in Perfect Demographic Storm: Mish
Anonymous lashes out at Activision following Call of Duty trailer: GlobPost

Sci-Tech

Everyone Has Been Hacked. Now What?: Wired
Here's A Clever Way To Make The iPad Keyboard Better: Insider
BMW shows, prices four-door version of 6 Series coupe: USA Today

Cornucopia

OHHHHHH, YEAAAHHHHHHHH...: News From Doswell
Batman Takes on Occucommies: MB
Barack Obama participates in Horse Race: Morlock

Image: Occupy Seattle Protest Photos by Foolish Reporter
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Thank You, Wisconsin!

QOTD: "Asked about the arrival of “The Dictator” on the heels of a bad year for tyrants, with the Arab Spring and the death of Kim Jong-il, Mr. Baron Cohen, as Aladeen, responded forcefully by e-mail: “Some would say that an age of print media is passing, but you don’t see me throwing that in your face do you, New York Times? And what’s up with this pay wall of yours? Only 10 free articles a month? And you call me the tyrant!? But to answer your question, no, I do not think that an age of tyranny is passing. We are merely in the eye of the storm. The Arab Spring is just a silly fad, like ‘mood rings’ or ‘human rights.’ And I don’t worry about it happening in Wadiya, because my people love me so greatly. However, just to be safe, I have removed all the spring months from the calendar and made February 128 days long.”

Saturday, May 05, 2012

Smart Power: Iranian Students Jailed for Speaking Out

Almost three years ago to the day, Iran's citizens erupted to protest the Mullahs' fixed elections.

Egypt's Mubarak is gone, but somehow Iran's Mullahs live on, slaughtering dissidents and crushing the pro-Western rebellion

...[Human Rights Watch] called for the unconditional and immediate release of the 32 students in prison on various national security-related charges. Authorities rounded up many of these students after the disputed June 2009 presidential election, and revolutionary courts convicted and sentenced them on charges such as “propaganda against the system,” “participating in illegal gatherings,” and “insulting the president.”


...Therefore all were convicted specifically for exercising their rights under international law to freedom of speech, of association, and of peaceful assembly. Security, intelligence, and university officials have disciplined, suspended, or expelled hundreds of other students who criticized the government during the past few years.

Egypt's Mubarak is gone, but Iran's Mullahs live on, building nukes and planning for the apocalypse.

Heritage: A Better Life for Julia

Brilliance from the invaluable Heritage Foundation:




Read the rest


Obama Campaign In Disarray: Critical Mistakes, Zero Excitement

Today was the "official" kickoff of the Obama reelection campaign and, judging by the activity on the official Obama 2012 website, there's a serious, serious problem.

No one cares. Check out the number of Twitter retweets and Facebook likes for today's events.


Even the photos on the website were carefully manipulated to make it appear that Ohio State's Schottenstein Arena was filled. Only it wasn't.



As Professor William Jacobson observes, disastrous marketing efforts like "#Julia" and horrible turnout for major campaign events are all signs of a campaign in disarray.

Even BuzzFeed noticed Obama 2012's bizarre response to a horrific unemployment report: "Obama Campaign Celebrates Disappointing April Jobs Report."

Houston: it would appear that President Subprime McDowngrade has a problem.


Excellent news: 23 bodies discovered either hanging from bridges or decapitated in "secure as it's ever been" border area

Remember how Janet Napolitano, our beloved baritone DHS secretary, claimed that the border area was "as secure as it's ever been", even though the Obama administration halted construction of a security fence?

Well, citizens, don't worry when you read about the complete breakdown of society right on the border, as our ultra-secure, but non-existent, border fence will protect us. Somehow. Because Nappy's on the case.

The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or decapitated and dumped near city hall Friday in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where drug cartels are fighting a bloody and escalating turf war.

Authorities found nine of the victims, including four women, hanging from an overpass leading to a main highway, said a Tamaulipas state official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide information on the case.

Hours later, police found 14 human heads inside coolers outside city hall along with a threatening note. The 14 bodies were found in black plastic bags inside a car abandoned near an international bridge, the official said.

...Local media published photos of the nine bloodied bodies, some with duct tape wrapped around their faces, hanging from the overpass along with a message threatening the Gulf cartel...

...[In 2003, k]illings and police corruption became so brazen that then President Vicente Fox was forced to send in hundreds of troops and federal agents, and the only man brave enough to take the job of police chief was gunned down hours after he was sworn in... The Zetas won that fight and have since ruled the city with fear, threatening police, reporters and city officials and extorting money from businesses. They broke off their alliance with the Gulf cartel in 2010, worsening the violence across northeast Mexico.

But last month, 14 mutilated bodies were found in a vehicle left in the city center. Some media outlets reported that the Sinaloa cartel took responsibility for those bodies and in a message allegedly signed by its leader, Guzman, said the group was now back in Nuevo Laredo "to clean" the city.

The Democrat Party's quest to buy votes among illegal aliens trumps any concern over the security of American citizens.


And that, my friends, is why the border area is wide open, despite the ongoing, narco-fueled civil war occurring just a few dozen yards south of our border.


Bridge photo: Borderland Beat (Caution: graphic photos).


The Quintessential #Not2008Anymore Photo

Ouch:

This photo of the Obama’s big campaign kickoff rally in Ohio is making the rounds on Twitter.


#not2008anymore indeed.

Aside from the fact that the president has tried to divide Americans by class, ethnicity, religion, income, gender and other arbitrary segments, the critical factor in his political meltdown is clear.

He is an epic failure, from the economy to the "Arab Spring". Jimmy Carter breathes a little easier each night, knowing that he's only the second worst president in history.


And you want to be the guy to convince people that Republicans are waging a "War on Women"?

President Obama deplaned Air Force One to open his campaign today in Ohio and made a little "oopsie".


Oh, I forgot my wife!

But he's not self-absorbed or anything.


Scientific-like Analysis Reveals Elizabeth Warren's Complete Racial Background In an Easy-to-read Chart

SooperMexican's exquisitely detailed DNA analysis of Massachusetts Senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren makes for a fascinating illustration.


Looks like a rock-solid analysis to me.

It's a pity that legacy media can't use a similar approach to research George Zimmerman's racial background.

Oh, wait.


Shockingly, grassroots support for RINOs evaporates, leaving Dick Lugar grasping at straws (and Leftists)

Four days before the GOP primary, six-term incumbent Dick Lugar (R-IN) is in serious trouble, trailing Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock by 10 points. Lugar, in his desperation to cling to power, has now turned to insulting Republicans and begging Democrats for support.

But, if he loses the primary, perhaps Lugar can run in the general as a Democrat:

The leftward drift of Democrats in the past couple of decades makes compromise increasingly untenable. Whatever basis there remained for genuine bipartisanship in Congress died during the second Bush term. The 2006 election brought into office a crowd of Democrats beholden to the far left, demanding radical measures on every issue from gay rights to global warming to health care. This was bad news for the Arlen Specter/Mike Castle type of “centrist” Republicans, just as it was for the Rick Boucher/Barron Hill type of “Blue Dog” Democrats, who were all but wiped out in 2010.

Liberal media types, always sympathetic to GOP moderates, like to portray the primary defeats of guys like Lugar as indicative of right-wing extremism among the Republican electorate, but the exact opposite it true: The problem is that the Democratic Party’s agenda is now so extreme that any Republican who tries to compromise with the opposition ends up embracing policies rejected by common-sense GOP primary voters.

Worse still, the establishment GOP -- the pretend conservatives like Eric Cantor -- have spent significant dollars trying to shore up Lugar's support. Why? Because they appear to be so out-of-touch with mainstream America and so addicted to power, that they have become infected with the same disease that has poisoned so many politicians.

They are in love with power, not serving the will of the people.

The questions Cantor and Boehner have to ask themselves are obvious:

• Is there some mystical grassroots support for RINOism that I've somehow missed all of these years?

• Has RINOism worked to stop the insane deficit spending of the radical Left?

• Is RINOism going to attract the base that helped orchestrate the 2010 wipeout of the Statist Left?

• Does RINOism address America's most crippling problems, from entitlement reform to a mandatory overhaul of the tax code?

No. No. No. And. No.

Compromise with people who want to "fundamentally transform" America -- i.e., destroy it -- is impossible if we are to honor our highest law, our institutions and traditions.

We must be resolute. We must continue to overthrow the RINOs in the Republican Party and to return the GOP -- and the country -- to its lawful roots. We must force this government to revere the Constitution, above their own petty whims. We must force this government to serve the people, not the other way around.

In November, Messrs. Cantor, Boehner, McConnell and the rest of the RINO panty-waists must be relegated to the back-bencher status they so richly deserve. Their foolhardy maneuvers, cowardice in the face of radical Leftists, and attacks on conservatives are all worthy of utter disdain by Republican voters.


Larwyn's Linx: The Life of Zachary

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The Life of Zachary: City Journal
Economy Craters, Unemployment Soars, Obama Seeks Scapegoats: RSM
Obama meets his nemesis: AT

Obama Abolishes the Press Conference: Dossier
Dance around the May prole: JPA
Occupy Oakland May Day General Strike: Zombie

Economy

Jobless numbers down to 8.1% but almost no one believes it: Q&O
Why Did the Unemployment Rate Drop?: WSJ
Impending Market Dislocation? (PNSN): Denninger

Four Years of Obama Undoes Eight Years of Reagan: Ricochet
Forward to the Fiscal Cliff!: Beacon
71% of Top Companies To Drop Insurance Under ObamaCare: AllAm

California: “the ninth circle of business hell.”: Troglo
Common Cause: Uncommon Donors, Including Corzine: Beacon
The Crashing US Housing Metro Areas: DHB

2012 Elections

New mailer from 'Young Guns' backs Lugar, touts Ethanol: Breitbart
Santorum Endorses Mourdock: Malkin
Romney Slams Obama Over Disastrous April Jobs Report: AmPower

The Obama Campaign Organization: All Fumbles. No Spark.: Elephant
From ‘hope and change’ to ‘hype and blame’: RS
Lugar Flailing: Insults Republicans, Cites Labor Support In Latest Plea To Stay In DC: Riehl

Scandal Central

Holder is a Great Holder of Documents: DC
Game on, Mr. Holder: Fast and Furious Isn't Going Away: AT
Time for Eric Holder to Follow the Law: DC

Climate & Energy

Federal Agencies Out of Control: Quick Roundup: Cato
Heartland Institute Ends Experiment with 'Unabomber’ Global Warming Billboard: Heartland
The EPA is earning a reputation for abuse: WaPo

Media

Figures: Bin Laden Liked CBS & MSNBC, Loathed Fox: S&L
MSNBC rips Obama's #Julia ad: Exam
Best of #Julia Responses: Alexa

Occupy Cute Puppies!: Cube
Paul Krugman, wrong yet again about income inequality: Peth
New Details from Edwards trial make Silky Pony look like a manipulative low-life: Insider

Decolonize Oakland May Day Occupy Rally: Zombie
Number of Americans Paid Not to Work Growing Faster than Number of Taxpayers: Breitbart
New All American Radio: Doug Ross Talks Bad Blue and Stacy Washington Talks Race and Politics: AllAm

World

More on #Chen: Fausta
Somebody at NATO Needs a Geography Lesson: Powers
The Euro Area Economy Is Deteriorating At A Disastrous Pace: Insider

Former AG Mukasey: Obama Officials Drafted Memo to Blame Military If OBL Mission Failed: GWP
Huge Victory! SIOG, Human Rights groups succeed in stopping mega-mosque in Georgia: Atlas
Newest Navy Ship To Be Named, USS Time Limited, Scope Limited Military Action: Ace

Sci-Tech

Study Reveals Joggers Live 5 Years Longer: Wired
F-22 Pilots to Discuss Why They Won’t Fly the Jet: DefTech
Samsung Galaxy S3 review: Telegraph

Cornucopia

Julia's Circle of Life: IowaHawk
MittStache Caption Contest: Morlock
Big Guy’s Dolls, take 2: Paper, Blowup and “Composite”: MOTUS

When A Narcissist Falls Apart: Flopping Aces
Help Find This Occupying LA Maggot That Assaulted a Female Cop: Sooper
Two Burglars Enter The Home of Two Marines, Coroner Arrives Later: AllAm

Image: Occupy Oakland May Day General Strike (Zombie)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please support the Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "A contempt of Congress citation targeting Attorney General Eric Holder, which was released on Thursday, details exactly what Operation Fast and Furious-related information he has refused to provide to Congress. House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa subpoenaed 22 categories worth of information about Fast and Furious from Holder on Oct. 12, 2011. According to Issa’s contempt of Congress citation draft, he hasn’t provided any documents for 13 out of the 22 categories. In a briefing paper accompanying the Holder contempt citation, Issa said that Holder hasn’t ‘completely fulfilled any of the 10 categories for which documents have been produced." --Matthew Boyle

Friday, May 04, 2012

The Scariest Jobs Chart — By Far (And You Haven’t Seen It Before)

Dude.

For all of the attention paid to the labor force participation rate — now at its lowest point since 1981 — much of the decline has little to do with the state of the job market and everything to do with demographics.
Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit, figures that fully half of the decline in the participation rate since the end of 2007 is due to the aging of the population and, thus, should have been anticipated.

...The focus of economics coverage should really be on the weakness in the jobs data that isn’t due to demographic shifts, and the data clearly show that the 16-54 population is ground zero for the jobs crisis.

Job holders among this group have declined by 4.9 percentage points since the recession began — nearly twice the 2.6-percentage-point drop in their labor force participation... Based on a normalized rate of participation, Bandholz estimates the unemployment rate would have been 10.1% in April, not 8.1%.

...In all, the share of job holders among those 16-54, 68.5% in April (up from a cycle low of 67.9%), remains 8 percentage points below the level that prevailed in 1999-2000. This is the worst level since the depth of the 1983 recession, but that episode was relatively brief.

Because younger workers have borne the brunt of the jobs recession, its economic effects — due to long-term unemployment, underemployment and stretched household balance sheets — may be more likely to linger.

You say excessive regulation, centralized micromanagement of the economy, and unceasing attacks on America's investors "rich" are counterproductive to job creation? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say.


The New York Times Accidentally Confirms the President's Laughably Pathetic Work Ethic

The New York Times offers us a rare glimpse into the Sunday meetings at which the president and his key advisers plot his reelection campaign.

...[the] previously undisclosed sessions, which take place nearly every other week just across the hall from the Oval Office, are designed to bridge a divide between his campaign headquarters in Chicago and his aides in Washington in preparing for what Mr. Obama and his team anticipate will be a grueling race against Mitt Romney.

The cast of top advisers - a group limited to 10 in hopes of streamlining the meetings - offers a revealing look at the pecking order of the hierarchy in the Obama campaign... Neither Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. nor any other cabinet members are on hand. Instead, the room is filled with a group of trusted confidants who were at Mr. Obama's side during the last campaign.

The attendance roster, which was confirmed by multiple people familiar with the list, reveals a mix of White House staff, including David Plouffe, a senior adviser and campaign manager from 2008; Jacob J. Lew, the chief of staff; Valerie Jarrett and Pete Rouse, senior advisers; Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director; and Alyssa Mastromonaco, a deputy chief of staff who has worked for Mr. Obama since his days in the Senate.

The campaign team includes Jim Messina, the campaign manager, who sets the agenda for the meeting; David Axelrod, a senior strategist; Stephanie Cutter, a deputy campaign manager; and Larry Grisolano, a top political adviser.

What I found most interesting however, was not the machinations of his Red Diaper Baby advisers like Axelrod and Jarrett. Instead, it was the numerous references to Obama's lackadaisical schedule and the ridiculous amount of time he spends screwing around. Consider the following snippets from the Times article:

  • "...The gathering often takes place after Mr. Obama's regular Sunday round of golf..."

  • "...aides say he still spends far more time on his iPad checking scores on ESPN than obsessively reading up on Mr. Romney..."

  • "...[He] is set to open his re-election campaign formally on Saturday with back-to-back rallies in Ohio and Virginia..."

Formally launching his campaign? Obama has already held more fundraisers than the previous five presidents combined.

If you'd like to get a daily sense of the president's oh-so-busy schedule, I'd encourage you to visit White House Dossier on a daily basis. Keith Koffler does an outstanding job capturing the view from the White House press room -- sans the recycled DNC talking points. And he also publishes Obama's daily schedule, which -- to put it mildly -- is less than rigorous.


But it's only the most important job in the world, don'tcha know?

Furthermore, Obama's work ethic perfectly matches an unconfirmed description by the so-called "White House Insider", who long ago described Obama's White House "man cave" and his fixation with sports.

President Obama, when he is in his de facto office upstairs – the one that is closer to Jarrett’s own office, and a short hop over to the residence, he spends his time there often in shorts, or sweats, a t-shirt, and those sandal things…flip-flops...

...There is a large screen television in there and that’s where hours of his time are spent when he is actually at the White House. Day in and day out. The First Lady rules the residence, and the president heads over to his second floor West Wing study. Starting around last spring, he started to take regular briefings in there. And the instructions that went out on those briefings to the president were that they were to be most importantly – brief. Anything more than about 15 minutes is unacceptable to Obama. So let’s look through the eyes of someone heading into Barack Obama’s upstairs office at the White House to give him a briefing. Maybe it’s on national security. Maybe the economy. Energy policy. Whatever – doesn’t matter.

The scenario being played out these days is pretty much the same regardless of the particulars. You knock on the door – it’s always closed. Always. Often you have to knock for some time before being given approval from inside to enter. The big screen will be on – the volume loud. You can easily hear it from outside the door. The sports channels are the ones most commonly playing, though sometimes the channel will be set to music, or Fox News.

Sometimes Valerie Jarrett might be there, but most often it is just the president and his personal aide. A large leather chair will be facing the television – it’s well worn. Not part of the White House furnishings but something the president must have brought in from back home. That’s where you’ll most often find the President of the United States – the most powerful man in the free f***ing world.

He often sits with one leg draped over one of the chair’s arms and the other leg stuck straight onto the floor. Shorts, sweats, a t-shirt, and like I said, no shoes or just those sandal things that so many of the younger people like to wear these days. And that leg that’s draped over an arm of the chair will be bopping up and down, like…like someone with a lot of nervous energy. Like a kid does. And there’s the smell of smoke hanging on the president. The guy never quit smoking – that was all bulls***. I told you that already. In fact, there’s one of those smokeless ash trays on the desk in there. And that desk, it’s a mess. Magazines spread out all over it. Stupid s*** too. Real low brow reading material the president is into. People. Rolling Stone. Lots of those tabloid things. The most common thread with this s*** is it’s about the president. If it’s about him, he’s gonna read it. Good or bad – doesn’t matter. If somebody is talking about him, he’s reading it. He’s watching it. Whatever. The guy’s self-obsession is off the f***ing charts.

Accurate? I don't know. But it certainly fits the Times profile.

One thing is clear: we need to remove President Obama from the Labor Force Participation Rate in November.

Welcome Back, Carter: Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since '81

Say, is this chart racist?

...it is just getting sad now. In April the number of people not in the labor force rose by a whopping 522,000 from 87,897,000 to 88,419,000. This is the highest on record.


...The flip side, and the reason why the unemployment dropped to 8.1% is that the labor force participation rate just dipped to a new 30 year low of 64.3%.
Did I mention that this represents (yet another) Obama record? By some measures, there are actually 100 million working-age Americans that do not have jobs.

James Pethokoukis of AEI believes the real unemployment rate is closer to 11.1 percent.

...If the size of the U.S. labor force as a share of the total population was the same as it was when Barack Obama took office—65.7% then vs. 63.6% today—the U-3 unemployment rate would be 11.1%.


...[But if] you take into account the aging of the Baby Boomers, the participation rate should be trending lower. Indeed, it has been doing just that since 2000. Before the Great Recession, the Congressional Budget Office predicted what the partipation rate would be in 2012, assuming such demographic changes. Using that number, the real unemployment rate would be 10.7%.

...Then there’s the broader, U-6 measure of unemployment which includes the discouraged plus part-timers who wish they had full time work. That unemployment rate, perhaps the truest measure of the labor market’s health, is still a sky-high 14.5% [and the] employment-population ratio dipped to 58.4% vs. 61% in December 2008. An historically and alarmingly low level of the U.S. population is actually working.

Americans got a "stimulus package", alright. Right where it counts.


Larwyn's Linx: Dubious donations (gangster government edition)

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Nation

Dubious donations (gangster government edition): Power Line
Structure and Elements of a Disinformation Campaign: AT
Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be “Julia”: RWN

Obama Issues New Threat to Supreme Court over ObamaCare: CFP
Who the hell is "Julia," and why am I paying for her?: Harsanyi
Executive Order 13563 – Ceding U.S. Sovereignty?: Sentinel

From the Annals of ObamaCare: IL Suspends Health Exchange: Cato
The Life of Julia Under Obama and Mitt: SooperMexican
3 ICE Agents Shot in California: Fox Latino

Economy

The income-less Recovery: Peth
Unions not paying fair share to Democrats: Beacon
Illinois Faces 25% Cost Increase to Borrow $1.8 Billion: Bloomberg

Each Child Born Today will Inherit $1.5M of National Debt: Beacon
AP: Jobless Claims Down Most In 3 Months!: S&L
Pro-Violence Liberals Encourage Occupy Law-Breaking: RWN

Obama Promises Women A Lifetime Of Dependence: IBD
CNN Wakes Up: The 86 Million Invisible Unemployed: GayPatriot
Want to Have Less of Something? Make its Provision a “Right”: Bastiat

2012 Elections

If Wisconsin is competitive as in this poll, Obama should be concerned: Politico
Obama campaign outsourced $78K worth of telemarketing to call centers in the Philippines: Beacon
Obama’s imaginary girlfriend is really no surprise …: ProWis

Scandal Central

Fast and Furious: DoJ-supplied guns used in Mexican lawyer’s murder: Toldjah
Darrell Issa drafts contempt order to Eric Holder: Politico
Holder DEA apologizes for forgetting about shackled student for five days : DC

Climate & Energy

The Human Consequences of EPA’s War on Coal: Foundry
Shock: Green Jobs Figures Inflated: Beacon
Tens of thousands to fly to Rio to discuss how to limit greenhouse gas emissions: Malkin

Media

Over 30 Major News Organizations Linked to George Soros: MRC
Liberals Target Fox’s Broadcast Licenses: STACLU
All Five Cleveland Would-Be Bridge Bombers Are Occupiers; ABCNews Fails To Mention That: Ace

Obama’s White Girlfriend Turns Out to Be Fictional Character: MB
I'm Beginning to Suspect The Left Just Might Be Playing Fast and Loose With Race For Political Reasons: Ace
Why Julia?: Lady Liberty

#NotGoodEnoughForRomCon: Zilla
Dem congressman for Solyndra’s district is so clueless he thinks Solyndra makes cars: Tatler
Poll: Wasserman Schultz or Pelosi, the Next Possible Speaker of U.S. House?: Shark Tank

Politico’s Priorities: News analysis masquerading as news riles defense experts: Beacon
Nancy Pelosi: Seriously Not Funny: Twitchy
Hannity Destroys Occupy Organizer In Fiery Segment About Movement’s Violence: Mediaite

World

Chen Guangcheng Ignored by Hillary Clinton: WS
Vaunted Obama Courage Suddenly AWOL: IBD
More Navy SEALs coming forward to criticize Obama for aftermath of Bin Laden raid?: Hot Air

Obama's DoD not reporting Afghan attacks on American troops: Atlas
Obama Praises Nazi Supporter in Jewish Heritage Month Proclamation: Breitbart
Obama Dictates to Israel: Jerusalem is Not Your Capital (2011): Loudon

Bin Laden Documents Released: BBC
Al Qaeda Thought MSNBC ‘Neutral’ Until Keith Olbermann Firing: Mediate
Spring Break Tourism Surges in Mexico Despite Warnings: Fox News Latino

Sci-Tech

Oracle and the End of Programming As We Know It: Dr. Dobbs
Red wine anti-aging properties shown in new study: Global Post
Fake Apple Hardware: 9 Knockoffs That Would Make Jony Ive Cringe: Wired

Texting, tweeting and social networking are behind 'rough behaviour' of teens, says Pratchett: Daily Mail
A/B Testing: Why Is a Financial Times Subscription So Expensive?: Wired

Cornucopia

Shock and Gah!–The Michelle Obama Party Dress Thread: Bruce
Breaking News In The Obama "Girlfriend" Story...: iOTW
Docs reveal Hitler farted, received sex injections, craved cocaine: Exam

Image: Sad Hill News - Solyndra’s Agent, ‘Show Me The Money’
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "One determining factor in the development of NPD [narcissistic personality disorder] is childhood abuse... Obama’s early life was decidedly chaotic and replete with traumatic and mentally bruising dislocations... Mixed-race marriages were even less common then. His parents went through a divorce when he was an infant two years old. Obama saw his father only once again, before he died in a car accident. Then his mother re-married and Obama had to relocate to Indonesia , a foreign land with a radically foreign culture, to be raised by a step-father. At the age of ten, he was whisked off to live with his maternal (white) grandparents. He saw his mother only intermittently in the following few years and then she vanished from his life in 1979." --Dr. Sam Vaknin

Bonus QOTD: "Obama is Jimmy Carter with a much creepier logo." --Me, just now.


Thursday, May 03, 2012

Have I mentioned lately that Democrat Elijah Cummings is a hack?

Elijah Cummings (D-MD), if that is his real name, is the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. For nearly a year-and-a-half, Cummings has witnessed Eric Holder's Justice Department commit perjury, stonewall and otherwise impede the committee's investigation into "Operation Fast and Furious".

The DOJ gunrunning operation, which allowed guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels unimpeded, has thus far resulted in 300 dead. Among the victims: Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and the brother of the Chihuahua state attorney general.

Seven months ago, DHS head Janet Napolitano stated that she couldn't comment on the case because Justice was awaiting the results of the Inspector General's investigation. We're still waiting. And even interim results have been unlawfully withheld from Congress.

Finally, it would appear, the House has had enough. Committee chairman Darrell Issa has drafted a contempt order against Attorney General Eric Holder.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) circulated a draft contempt order against Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday for a “refusal to cooperate” in the investigation of the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.

“In describing the results of the Justice Department’s refusal to cooperate — including the hardships the family of a fallen Border Patrol agent have faced in seeking the truth, and retaliation against agents who blew the whistle on gun-walking — this briefing paper provides the facts, on which decisions will be made,” the House Oversight Committee chair said in a statement... The briefing paper sharply criticizes the Justice Department’s response to the committee’s investigation of the botched gun program, alleging that the department failed to provide many of the documents the committee requested.

...“For over a year, the Department has issued false denials, given answers intended to misdirect investigators, sought to intimidate witnesses, unlawfully withheld subpoenaed documents, and waited to be confronted with indisputable evidence before acknowledging uncomfortable facts,” it reads. “’Operation Fast and Furious’ outrageous tactics, the Justice Department’s refusal to fully cooperate with the investigation, and efforts to smear and retaliate against whistleblowers have tainted the institutional integrity of the Justice Department.”

The stonewalling, intimidation and lies have been copiously documented, blatant and -- plainly -- outrageous.

If Democrats had an ounce of integrity among them, they would be likewise demanding an explanation from Justice and some measure of comfort for the 300 killed by Holder's operation.

But the modern Democrat Party has no integrity as evidenced by the words of ranking member Elijah Cummings.

“Holding someone in contempt is one of the most serious actions Congress can take, but it is being used in this case as part of a partisan election year witch-hunt,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said in a statement. “Unsurprising these draft contempt documents were leaked to the press and Republican House leaders before Committee Members ever saw them, and are based on an investigation characterized by repeated claims that turned out to be false.”

...Issa spokesman Frederick Hill brushed away the accusation, promptly shooting back, “It’s disappointing, but not altogether out of character, for ranking member Cummings to dismissively ignore the struggles of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family to learn the truth about his death.”

The Justice Department has repeatedly defied House subpoenas by withholding or redacting nearly all of the requested documents. They claim -- which has no basis in fact -- that Executive Privilege (which the administrative state does not possess) allows their inspector general's investigation to complete before presenting documents to Congress.

Did I mention that Holder's I.G. used to work for him and that her investigation has now gone on longer than the Warren Commission's investigation into JFK's assassination?

So a legitimate inquiry into DOJ actions -- which has resulted in the deaths of more than 300 people -- is now positioned by hacks like Cummings as a "partisan witch-hunt".

I'm going to love it when Republicans are in power of all branches of government and follow precedent: using all of the pathetic Democrat tactics against them.


Helpful hint for reading an article written by the Associated Press: if there are words in the story, you can be sure it's unmitigated bulls***

Sorry for recycling a headline, but it's appropriate for the kind of crap the Associated Press peddles on a daily basis.

Romney’s gay national security spokesman resigns after questions about his conservatism


Mitt Romney’s national security spokesman resigned Tuesday after critics questioned his conservatism because he is gay.

Richard Grenell announced he had decided to leave Romney’s campaign shortly after he was hired in late April. Grenell, who is openly gay, previously worked for neoconservative former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, as well as other foreign policy hawks.

...A series of critics on the right had suggested Grenell’s sexuality would present problems for the Romney campaign...

Within 24 hours, GayPatriot helped debunk the story, which has about as much truthful content as a Michael Moore "documentary".

Lost in all the hullabaloo over Richard Grenell’s resignation from the Romney campaign are the actual words of his statement announcing his decision:

I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.

Emphasis added. Some of the left have used this story as a cudgel with which to bash conservatives, but they ignore the strong critique this openly gay man offered of Obama’s foreign policy, who cited its many failures and faulted the president’s weak leadership.

And this openly gay man made clear that his sexuality was not an issue to the Romney team.

The Associated Press could not be reached for comment at press time, reportedly because they were feeding the million monkeys that write their stories.

Legacy Media Visual Style Guide

Just soes you keep the race-baiting consistent, the unmatched graphic geniuses at iOwnTheWorld offer the penultimate NBC style guide:


As an aside, a third NBC producer was just fired for editing the 9-1-1 tape to make Mr. Zimmerman sound... racist.