Tuesday, September 18, 2012

COVER-UP: Hillary Scrubs State Department Memo Downplaying Threat of 9/11 Anniversary Attacks

Isn't this what Third World dictatorships do? That is: flush inconvenient reminders of their failings down the memory hole?

Wednesday night, one day after the 9/11 anniversary protests/attacks in Cairo, Egypt and Benghazi, Libya, I wrote about a September 6, 2012 memo issued by the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), part of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security under the U.S. Department of State...


...in retrospect the memo is an embarrassing reminder of how the United States and its overseas embassies were caught flat-footed on Tuesday.  The phrasing of the last sentence of the memo ("these concerns are the result of increased media attention to the issue, rather than credible evidence" [emphasis mine]) could have even inspired complacency with its rather glib assessment of the potential threat.

There is now evidence that someone at the State Department drew the same conclusion about the memo, because as of today, it is no longer listed on the OSAC website.

Since then, of course, the Libyan government and other sources have indicated that the State Department was indeed warned of the possibility of 9/11 anniversary attacks.

It is plainly obvious that we have not been getting straight answers from Obama officials about what they knew and when they knew it about the dangers facing our consulate in Benghazi and throughout the region. It may be deception, or they may be so incompetent they still don’t know.

There is credible information that there were warnings of trouble to come, and 9/11 itself should have put a consulate in a dangerous section of Libya on high alert with substantial protection afforded the Ambassador. The story told by Susan Rice and Jay Carney the attack was spontaneous is becoming laughable.

There also is evidence emerging that the Ambassador was left with minimal protection... In essence, the Obama Administration tasked an unarmed British firm with security responsibilities that should have been handled by armed American servicemen, and it was all approved by the Secretary of State. Needless to say, the plan failed and an Ambassador was murdered, along with several others.

The cover-up is underway. It will be up to new media to continue to unpeel the layers of this story, since antique media is asleep at the wheel.



Alternate Newsweek Cover

News to me:

In case you missed it somehow, I’m riffing on the Newsweek “Muslim Rage” cover, which annoyed some and amused some and disgusted others. Yes, that is speck of spittle in his beard. No, I did not P’shop it in...


...And before you get too complacent, First Worldies, I’m totally not kidding — the McRib has been rolled back to December. It was scheduled to go out in October.

Fortunately, the Baconator is still available at many Wendy's restaurants nationwide.



SCANDAL: White House Revealed Names of SEAL and CIA Operators to Hollywood Filmmakers

I'll take "Would do anything to get reelected" for a thousand, Alex.

Last July, a top Pentagon official gave two Hollywood filmmakers the name of a Navy SEAL involved in training the squad of commandos who carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Now, the Obama administration is fighting to keep that same name from the public.


In legal papers filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, the Justice Department argued that the government is under no obligation to make public the SEAL's name or the names of Central Intelligence Agency personnel involved simply because officials shared their names, partial names or identities with the makers of a forthcoming movie about the raid, "Zero Dark Thirty."

"The CIA and DoD did not authorize the filmmakers to make the names they shared with them public, to publicly associate the individuals with the CIA or DoD, or to expose those individuals’ identity in any publicly released film, and there was no reason for the CIA or DoD to have believed that any of this would have happened," the Justice Department brief says. "In fact, [Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Mike] Vickers specifically told [filmmaker] Mark Boal, in providing him with the name of someone he could talk to, that 'the only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant.'"

BlackFive's reaction is one of anger:

What's Team Obama going to about this one? Find some amateur donor to make a movie to distract us from the real issue? Oh wait...

Raise your hand if you want to be a part of any TS missions that will save lives and defend our country...but in the process your identity will be given to Hollywood?

Suffice it to say that the nitwits in old media will ignore this outrageous scandal, just one in a series of willful, immensely damaging national security leaks by the Obama administration, all designed to mask the president's disastrous foreign policy record.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Jim Geraghty and Alexis de Tocqueville on the 47 percent

Where would society's makers get the impression that a large percentage of the able-bodied population will suckle on the teat of government until they're forced to work for a living?

"In the Bronx in April of this year, “huge crowds” lined up at an “income tax business” run out of a “99 cent store” to turn over their financial information and IDs to get a “prepaid debt card” allegedly worth $1,000, claimed to be “Obama stimulus money."

...Or how about the reaction to rent vouchers in 2010?

Sixty people were taken to hospitals Wednesday in this Atlanta suburb after a lengthy wait and an angry mob scene in a sweltering shopping-center parking lot. Those treated for heat exposure and injuries from scuffles were among 30,000 people who had lined up for a waiting list for just 455 vouchers to cover part of their rent.

Some camped out for nearly three days in temperatures that neared 100 degrees, including pregnant women, elderly in wheelchairs and people who drove down from New York City and Philadelphia, hoping to get on the waiting list in East Point for Housing Choice, or Section 8, vouchers.

What’s fascinating is that people will stand on line for hours, for a 1-in-65 chance that they’ll get a voucher for part of their rent, rather than seek more reliable methods of making money to pay for that rent. --Jim Geraghty

The concept of an unchecked entitlement state is anything but new:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." -―Alexis de Tocqueville

This is what we're fighting against: societal collapse.



Larwyn's Linx: Pictures That Change Elections?

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

Nation

Pictures That Change Elections?: Power Line
We Don't Tolerate Fascism in America: Levin
Nakoula Arrest Photoshops: Best of the Best: Zombie

Demoralized as Hell, The poll the media isn’t talking about edition: DTG
The Disgrace That Is Susan Rice: RSM
Intel Sources: Susan Rice is Lying: Scoop

White House Prepares to Slash Billions from Defense: FreeEnt
Don't Trust the Polls: Storm Coming
Erickson says Romney's losing; Rasmussen begs to differ: Twitchy

Economy

Romney: 47% of electorate dependent on government: Hot Air
Brilliant: Romney Responds to Leaked Fundraiser Video: GWP
Romney's New Ads: Power Line

Obama Food Stamp Program Runs Amok in Poor Neigborhoods: Shark
Separated at Birth?: MB
The New Deal was a raw deal for America: JournalStar

Scandal Central

The "Logistics" of Intelligence: Former Spook
Obama Campaign Tweets Out Anti-Semitic Libels: Twitchy
Obama administration refuses to rule out Sharia Blasphemy Laws: Totten

State Dept Memo Downplaying Threat of 9/11 Anniversary Attacks Disappears: Speak With Authority
Obama has outspent Romney 2-to-1 in key swing states: Exam
Govt Pays $1M For Obama-Care Propaganda: S&L

Media

Our Constitution Is Under Fire: Foundry
Ben Stein: It's Later In America Than We Dare Think: Ace
What the heck’s wrong with Erik Erikson at RedState?: HillBuzz

The November Referendum on the Liberal Media: Cary
Entertainer-in-Chief to Visit David Letterman, Again: USN&WR
Dear MSM, You’re Part of the Problem. Stop Being Part of the Problem.: Sundries

White House media ignores Obama’s Muslim outreach meltdown: DC
Obama's War on Women: Power Line
Obama Practicing Giving ‘Concise Answers’ at Upcoming Debates: Powers

World

The Day Obama Jumped the Shark: Flopping Aces
Acts of War: NoisyRm
FAIL: US-Afghan Military Operations Suspended After Attacks: Bruce

Who Knew?: Former Spook
Paul Ryan slams Obama: “This fraying relationship with Israel bordering on contempt”: Scoop
Insider Attacks Now Biggest Killer of NATO Troops: Danger Room

Netanyahu On US Embassy Attacks: ‘You Want These Fanatics To Have Nuclear Weapons?’: Wellfonder
Howard Dean: Of course I meant tensions with Israel are Netanyahu’s fault, not Obama’s: Twitchy
Hezbollah Leader Comes Out of Hiding, Rallies 500,000 Terror Supporters Against Nobel Peace Prize Winner: ABC

Bachmann to Obama: Cancel Letterman and Jay-Z, Meet with Netanyahu: CNS
Sources: State Department sent gay man to be ambassador to Libya: HillBuzz
Mob Rule Replaces Rule of Law: Gatestone

Sci-Tech

September 2012 Web Server Survey: Netcraft
Improved simulation methods help scientists bolster theories of Moon's formation: PhysOrg
Fitbit’s New, Cheap, Anti-Lazy Gadgets Are Adorable: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

No Words – Just Pictures – You Don’t Want To Miss This: It's Big Fur Hat
First they came for your Second Amendment rights...: MOTUS
Newsweek 'Muslim Rage' cover sets off social media. How about sales?: LAT

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please support the Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "There's a lot of carping about the Romney campaign going around on the Interwebs this morning, but I fear there's a more substantive reason than the deep details of how his convention speech was prepared that explains why he doesn't have a double-digit lead over TFG.

People like free stuff. Mean guy Romney wants to take it away and put our civilization back on a paying basis. A significant amount of the SCOAMF's support is just this simple to explain.

This election isn't a battle between the haves and have-nots, as the Democrats want to paint it.

It's a battle between the responsible and the irresponsible; the realistic and the unrealistic; the self-reliant and the dependent.

Frankly, it's a battle between an adult's view of the world and a child's. And the adults are precariously close to losing." --Ace o' Spades

Monday, September 17, 2012

Campaign that wrote off the white working class decries Romney's concerns with the culture of dependency

The latest "Romney Can't Win" meme being marketed by vintage media (number 2,280 by my count) revolves around a tape of Mitt Romney discussing campaign strategy:

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney is shown saying in a video posted online by the magazine. "There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it."


"Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax," Romney said... "[my role] is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

President Obama's campaign was quick to jump into the fray:

Obama's campaign called the video "shocking"... "It's hard to serve as president for all Americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement.

Speaking of "writing off" voters, remember this golden oldie from The New York Times?

Obama campaign abandons white working-class voters

President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign will be the first in modern political history to abandon white working-class voters, strategists claim.

For decades, Democrats have been losing more and more blue collar whites. Their alienation helped lead to the massive Republican wave in 2010, when the GOP wooed 30 percent more of them than the Democrats could. Democratic strategists say President Obama is focusing his attention, instead, on poor black and Hispanic voters and educated white professionals...

'All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment... and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic,' longtime political reporter Thomas B. Edsall wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times... 'The 2012 approach treats white voters without college degrees as an unattainable cohort,' he writes later.

Hot Air notes that this will have the same devastating effect that candidate Obama's "bitterly clinging to their guns and religion" comment had in 2008. Which is to say: none.

Like all of the media-manufactured kerfuffles, it will be all but forgotten within one week or until Iran detonates its first nuke, whichever comes first.


Cheer Up! Things Could Be Worse. It Could Be 2013 Under a Hypothetical Obama Second Term!

Ben Bernanke's latest announcement -- to print money until morale improves -- is called "Quantitative Easing 3", the third round of asset purchases designed to keep interest rates artificially low. QE3 is a tacit admission that every one of President Obama's economic policies have failed.

The long-term result is certain: hyperinflation. The short-term result can be seen today: commodity prices (gas, gold, etc.) are ratcheting up dramatically as the dollar is devalued by incessant money-printing.

For the second time in U.S. history -- for the second time under the watch of Barack Obama -- the country's credit rating has been downgraded by rating agency Egan Jones:

...the FED's QE3 will stoke the stock market and commodity prices, but in our opinion will hurt the US economy and, by extension, credit quality. Issuing additional currency and depressing interest rates via the purchasing of MBS does little to raise the real GDP of the US, but does reduce the value of the dollar (because of the increase in money supply), and in turn increase the cost of commodities (see the recent rise in the prices of energy, gold, and other commodities).


...The increased cost of commodities will pressure profitability of businesses, and increase the costs of consumers thereby reducing consumer purchasing power. Hence, in our opinion QE3 will be detrimental to credit quality for the US.

As if to confirm the harm QE3 will do to manufacturers, Bloomberg reports .

Industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in August by the most since March 2009, highlighting risks to the economic outlook a day after the Federal Reserve boosted record stimulus.

Recession. We've never left it.

And it's going to get deeper in 2013 as Taxmageddon and Obamacare hit small businesses with devastating force:

The International Franchise Association held a convention in Washington this week where most of the Radio Shack, Dunkin Donuts, Curves and other franchisers were grumbling about new federal regulations, especially the impact of Obamacare.

...he pulled out his powerpoint showing how funding Obamacare will cut his--and likely their--profits in half overnight. With simple math the small business folks understood, he spelled out that their only choice is to slash employee hours so they aren't eligible for company-paid health care or stop offering insurance and pay the $2,000 per employee fine.


Barr has 23 stores with 421 employees, 109 of whom are full-time. Of those, he provides 30 with health insurance. Barr said he pays 81 percent of their Blue Cross Blue Shield policy, or $4,073 of $5,028 for individuals, more for families, for a total bill of $129,000 a year. Employees pay $995.

Under Obamacare, however, he will have to provide health insurance for all 109 full-time workers, a cost of $444,000, or two and half times more than his current costs. That $315,000 increase is equal to just over half his annual profit, after expenses, or 1.5 percent of sales. As a result, he said, "I'm not paying $444,000."

Providing no insurance would result in a federal fine of $158,000, $29,000 more than he now spends but the lowest cost possible under the Obamacare law. So he now views that as his cap and he'll either cut worker hours or replace them with machines to get his costs down or dump them on the public health exchange and pay the fine. "Every business has a way to eliminate jobs," he said, "but that's not good for them or me."

If we don't crush the Democrat Party at the ballot box in November, even more people will fall into poverty -- all races, all creeds, all colors, all religions -- and more people will become dependent upon a government that is bankrupt.

Society is fraying and it is up to each and every one of us to save it in November. Marshal your family members, your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors.

The Democrat Party must be smashed politically if we are to save this country.


Hat tip: Mark Levin. Cartoon: GetLiberty.org.

Photo o' the Day: the Good Samaritan



Hat tip: K.D.

10 Arab Spring™ Stories You Won't Be Reading in Vintage Media

10. Hezbollah Leader Comes Out of Hiding, Rallies 500,000 Terror Supporters Against Nobel Peace Prize Winner: Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the vicious terror group Hezbollah, hadn't been seen in public since December 2011. The Arab Spring prompted him to pop out of his hole today and he led a rally of half a million Hezbollah members and terror supporters in Beirut. Their mission? To exterminate the United States and Israel.

9. While the Middle East erupted, President Obama watched a whole lot of football this weekend: According to White House press reporter Amy Gardner, the President watched "a [whole] lot of football".

8. And he pretends he's going to work on Saturdays and instead watches 'Homeland': "While Michelle and the two girls go play tennis on Saturday afternoons, I go in the Oval Office, pretend I’m going to work, and then I switch on ‘Homeland.’"

Between the football, the Homeland, the golf, Letterman, Jay-Z, Beyonce and other fundraisers, it's a wonder he has any time for intelligence or economic briefings. Oh, you say he doesn't have time for those? Gotcha.

7. Oops. Former DNC Head Crazy Howard Dean Admits Obama at Fault for Rupturing Alliance With Israel: In an interview, Howard Dean accidentally blurted out the truth:

Because it’s incredibly foolish for one of our critical allies to make that relationship worse. My guess is the personal relationship between Netanyahu and President Obama is not all that good. I think most of that has to do with President Obama. If you look back at our relationship with Israel, which is historically incredibly strong and remains strong, this is really a personality problem.

After the usual cattle-prod and taser treatment, Cory Booker-style, Dean appeared in a hostage video walking back his statement.

6. Mitt Romney is not getting the intelligence briefings his predecessors received.

Given the gravity of issues facing a prospective commander-in-chief, it has become customary for each party's nominee to receive regular intelligence updates during the run-up to the fall election. In 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama received his first briefing just five days after accepting the Democratic nomination.

So why hasn't Mitt Romney received the same courtesy? According to a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, it's a matter of "logistics."

5. The Obama administration has refused to rule out Sharia Blasphemy Laws. It's that pesky First Amendment again! Thomas Perez, Obama's assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, refused to say on the record that the DOJ won’t try to criminalize blasphemy in the future.

4. In Pakistan, "Gunmen" opened fire on a bus full of nuns: A gunman opened fire on a van in Hyderabad that was carrying nuns and other women, wounding the driver. Also in Hyperabad, an unknown gunmen opened fire on the St. Xavier church also in Hyderabad, killing one. I, for one, suspect Militant Quakers are behind these attacks.

3. Netanyahu On US Embassy Attacks: ‘You Want These Fanatics To Have Nuclear Weapons?’. It's a simple question. And one that no one on the Democrat side of the aisle seems to want to answer.

2. As for turning around the perception of the United States by "the Arab Street"...? Yes, that too is an epic fail... it's now lower than that of the evil Booooooosh.

Arab approval of the United States in the Middle East has plummeted so drastically that it now is lower than it was during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to a startling new survey... The poll of over 4,000 citizens in six Arab nations -- Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates -- shows the favorability rating of the United States dropping precipitously

1. Unbelievably, the Obama administration states it's "very proud" of its foreign policy record. Perhaps World War III would mark a bigger success.

We are happy to debate — and there is certainly ample time and appropriate time to debate foreign policy approaches, this president’s record on foreign policy,” [White House spokesman Jay] Carney told reporters during the press briefing when asked if the attacks stemmed from “perceived American weakness” that stems from Obama’s leadership. “We’re very proud of the president’s record on foreign policy and are happy to make the case at the appropriate time.”

Just wondering:how many Nobel Prize Winners have touched off a World War?

Talk amongst yourselves.

The Perfect Visual Metaphor for Obama 2012

Say, is that a dude taking a whiz (on the, er, grassy knoll) as the president speaks in Cincinnati?


Why, yes. Yes it is.


And you know this drone is a Democrat because he's peeing uphill.

Oh. And lookie here:



The loathsome Paul Krugman hardest hit.


Larwyn's Linx: For Barack Obama, 'Defending Islam' Now Supercedes Our Constitution

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

Nation

For Barack Obama, 'Defending Islam' Supersedes Constitution: Joshua
The Fatal Racism and Arrogance of Barack and Hillary: JOdysseus
Rice: Benghazi attack was spontaneous; Libya: No, it wasn’t: Hot Air

Who Had the Worst Week in DC? WaPo Says... Romney: Conservatory
Liberal Smear: Romney’s War for the Jews: Commentary
Hijacking the First Amendment: Creeping

The Consequences of Obama’s Bungled Mideast Policy: Barone
You ever wonder about those polls?: LoneCon
Finally–Rep. Allen West Gives Weekly Republican Address: Bruce

Economy

Levin rips county judge decision to strike down WI union law: Scoop
Islamists step up pressure for U.S. media curbs, Obama equivocates: DC
Rahm Emanuel to seek injunction forcing teachers to work: ChiBiz

Scandal Central

Another Lutheran Extremist!: RSM
Obama tweets: 47 for Jay-Z and Beyonce; 1 for Libya killings: WZ
This Is What Democrats Mean by Tolerance and Inclusion: IMAO

Climate & Energy

Email From Lead Analyst, Weekly Petroleum Supply Team on Possibility of Recession: Mish

Media

American Pravda: Hawkins
Journalists for Obama: CNN’s Peter Hamby tweets out donations for Obama link: Twitchy
How the Media Lies: trying the same thing as in 2010 to drag Democrats across the finish line: HillBuzz

NBC Ignores Libyan President’s Denial of Anti-Islam Film Blame: State Dept. Scrubs Website: MagNote
How Did Saturday Night Live Portray Obama and Romney Last Night in its Season Premiere?: HillBuzz
Quoted and Linked by a Member of Congress: Winter Soldier

Black Pastors Tell Congregants to Stay Home on Election Day: Dollard
Krauthammer: 6 Times in 20 Years We Have Gone to War on Behalf of Oppressed Muslims: MagNote
AP on 9/10: 'It Will Be a Rare Day' When National Security or Terrorism Will Be 'Center of Attention': NB

World

Libyan Govt: Attack On U.S. Embassy Was 'Planned — Definitely, It Was Planned by Foreigners': AmPower
Netanyahu: Obama Should Get Tougher with Iran: NewsMax
Ahmadinejad: US leaders realize Israel is ‘no longer beneficial’: Times of Israel

US Refused Even Standard Security at Benghazi Consulate Despite Four Previous Attacks: MB
Say, Why Is The Arab World So Easily Offended?: Cove
The Incredible Muslim Hulk proves to be no friend of Islam either: smh

Acts of War: NoisyRm
Taliban Attack Destroys Six Harrier Jets at 180 Million Dollar Cost: FPM
Afghan insider attack kills 4 U.S. troops: ArmyTimes

Sci-Tech

Introducing PicaQuote - Content for your Facebook Page or Website: PicaQuote
Re-Envisioned Modern Day Sling Launches Steel Balls Like Nobody’s Business: Gizmodo
US, Russian Space Trio Lands in Kazakhstan: AP

Cornucopia

America's Estate Sale For Obama: What Will You Sell?: Cube
Nakoula Arrest Photoshops: Best of the Best: Tatler
This Administration in Automotivators, 2009- Present: Troglopundit

Image: smh.com.au
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: WeCheck.org - People-based Fact-Checking

QOTD: "Religious liberty was considered so important by our Founders that it was written into the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a country populated by those fleeing the religious oppression of governments.

We considered religious liberty a bedrock of freedom and democracy and, as stated in our Declaration of Independence, we believed we were endowed with Unalienable rights by our Creator, not by men or governments.

The U.S. in recent years has grown increasingly indifferent to the lack of religious tolerance around the world as it has taken an increasingly violent turn.

Christians in places like Nigeria and Iraq, along with Coptic Christians in Egypt, have been subject to ruthless persecution by those for whom religious tolerance and freedom are a threat...

...Here at home we find a different kind of war on religious liberty, not violent but insidious, conducted by a government intent on imposing its beliefs regarding access to contraceptives and mandating that religious institutions violate their beliefs and consciences in the name of government health care edicts." --Investors Business Daily

Sunday, September 16, 2012

OUTRAGE: But Hillary said they were taking him to the hospital: New Video Shows Crowd Cheering as Amb. Stevens is Dragged Through Streets

Breitbart relays a newly uploaded video that appears to show crowds cheering as the body of Ambassador Stevens is being dragged through the streets.

YouTube user "Abdalgadar Fadi" has uploaded a video on the arabic language version of the video sharing site purporting to show US Ambassador Christopher Stevens dragged from the consulate in Benghazi.

The translation of the text below the video reads: "Moment directed the U.S. ambassador before his death" and the headline translates to: “U.S. Ambassador and the people of Benghazi rescue attempt before his death.”

The victim in the video appears to be wearing the same pants, belt and t-shirt seen in this photo of Amb. Stevens.


The validity of the video and the accuracy of the description of the events it depicts are still under investigation, but through Twitter and Facebook the video has already taken a life of its own.

Developing... (John Sexton and Morgen Richmond contributed to this report)

Which represents another in a series of lies promulgated by this administration: "Hillary Clinton said Libyans tried to save Ambassador Steven’s life and brought him to a hospital."

The Independent said the Obama administration had 48 hours notice that the embassies in Cairo and Benghazi were targets but they did nothing to warn them or put them in lockdown. The attack might have been an inside job. [Update: 9/14: Jay Carney denied today that the U.S. had any knowledge of the upcoming attacks]

Documents revealing the names of Libyans working with the U.S. government were lost as well as information on oil contracts... One witness said that there were at least 400 of these violent protesters and nothing would have stopped them. Our State Department said there were 20.


Hillary Clinton said Libyans tried to save Ambassador Steven’s life and brought him to a hospital. There are conflicting reports about whether he was tortured or brought to the hospital to be rescued... Other reports say that Stevens went missing first and his corpse was later taken to the hospital with his body being returned at an airport 12 hours later.

...Information now leaking out points to the attacks being planned for the 9/11 anniversary... There were no U.S. military personnel at the Benghazi Embassy even though it had been attacked before.

But according to dinosaur media, it was Mitt Romney that had a really bad week.

Just to recap: this week, we discovered the president missed all of his intelligence briefings leading up to 9/11. He ignored multiple warnings of attacks on U.S. interests. The Ambassador to Libya and several other State Department personnel were subsequently murdered by Islamist terrorists and dragged through the streets. Dozens of U.S. embassies and consulates around the globe were targeted for attacks and protests, which are ongoing even today.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced more money-printing in the form of additional quantitative easing, after two bursts failed to spur an economy descending into an outright depression. The labor-force participation rate hit a 31-year low. And the U.S. just registered its fourth consecutive trillion-dollar deficit.

But it was Mitt Romney that had a bad week.

The good news: left-wing print media is bleeding out as we speak.


Administration Beclowns Itself Once Again: Amb. Susan Rice Picks a Fight With Libya's Government Over the Fatal Attack in Benghazi

Libyan President Mohamed Yousef el-Magaria offers CBS a "most devastating interview" according to Donalid Douglas:

BOB SCHIEFFER: Was this a long-planned attack, as far as you know? Or what-- what do you know about that?

MOHAMED YOUSEF EL-MAGARIAF: The way these perpetrators acted and moved, I think we-- and they're choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, I think we have no-- this leaves us with no doubt that this has preplanned, determined-- predetermined.

BOB SCHIEFFER: And you believe that this was the work of al Qaeda and you believe that it was led by foreigners. Is that-- is that what you are telling us?

MOHAMED YOUSEF EL-MAGARIAF: It was planned-- definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who-- who entered the country a few months ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their-- since their arrival.

On ABC's This Week, however, Ambassador Susan Rice directly contradicted Libyan officials and said the attack was not premeditated:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi last week was not premeditated, directly contradicting top Libyan officials who say the attack was planned in advance.

“Our current best assessment, based on the information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it was a spontaneous – not a premeditated – response to what had transpired in Cairo,” Rice told me this morning on “This Week.”

...Ambassador Christopher Stevens, along with three other Americans, were killed in Libya following the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi, on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Rice said the FBI is examining the attack, saying their investigation “will tell us with certainty what transpired.”

Rice’s account directly contradicts that of Libyan President Mohamed Yousef El-Magariaf, who said this weekend that he had “no doubt” the attack was pre-planned by individuals from outside Libya.

Now let's back up a couple of steps. Clear your head. Take a deep breath. And ask yourself:

What would be more likely to prompt a deadly attack on a U.S. Embassy? Incessant grandstanding by Obama about killing Bin Laden and relentless drone attacks that indiscriminately kill -- or a sad-sack YouTube video that no one watched?

Everyone knows that Rice is covering for the president's feckless foreign policy (or lack thereof) and his obvious dereliction of duty (namely, his refusal to regularly attend his daily intelligence briefings).

Call it by its true name: bleeding from behind.


Hat tip: PHS.

CBS: Obama has three-point edge over Romney! (Er, please ignore the wildly inappropriate sample we used to get there)

Just when you thought the media couldn't become even more of a laughingstock, they try something like this:

The polls are specifically designed to drive a narrative that Obama is surging and Romney is struggling. Increasingly, though, the polls are having to go to ridiculous efforts to support this meme. Friday's CBS/New York Times poll, for example, uses a D+13 sample of registered voters. This is absurd.


...In 2008, an historic election wave for Democrats, the electorate was D+7. In 2004, when George W. Bush won reelection, the electorate was evenly split. In other words, D+0. Repeat after me; the Democrat share of the electorate is not going to double this year. Given the well-noted enthusiasm edge for Republicans this year, the electorate is going to be far closer to the 2004 model than 2008. Any poll trying to replicate the 2008 is going to artificially inflate Obama's support.


Let's try a simple thought experiment. Imagine if, for a week, all media polls decided to use a sample that replicated the 2004 electorate--a D+0 model. Given the GOP's enthusiasm edge--even the CBS poll found Republicans voters with a double-digit lead on enthusiasm for the election--the electorate is going to look a lot more like 2004 than 2008. Imagine how the narrative of the campaign would change. The CBS poll found Romney beating Obama among Independents by 11 points. With a balanced partisan sample, Romney would likely post consistent leads against Obama.

Let me repeat: Even this pathetic excuse for a Times poll shows Independents breaking for Romney by a double-digit (11 percent) margin.

Furthermore, more likely voters are self-identifying as Republicans, not Democrats. The numbers this year would indicate that an R+3 model is required for accuracy.

And an R+3 model by these corrupt SOBs would have Romney winning by a very formidable margin.

We are watching legacy media die, right before our eyes. Not only is the media utterly corrupt, but so are their polls, "news" articles, and op-eds.

Vote accordingly in November.


Best Chart o' the Day: Just Desserts

Via Henry Blodget's left-wing e-pub Business Insider comes this heartening news:

[This chart Mark J. Perry] shows inflation-adjusted newspaper advertising revenue over the past 60 years... Thanks to the precipitous decline in the last ~7 years, the industry is now back to where we it was in 1950. And it's only slightly better off when you factor in online revenue.


Journalism professor Jay Rosen of NYU observes that the peak year was the one in which blogging software first appeared.

So bloggers killed the newspaper star?

Oh, the humanity.


Larwyn's Linx: Why Barack Obama Should Resign Today

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

Nation

Why Barack Obama Should Resign Today: Instapundit
Disgrace in Benghazi: Steyn
State Dept Running Scared, Scrubbing Documents: ConTreehouse

Law student’s response to JFK’s grandson’s plea to reelect Obama: LI
It's Come to This: A National Yard Sale For Obama: GWP
Violent Protest Near U.S. Embassy in Paris--100 Detained: JihadWatch

Obama: The First Amendment? Never Heard of It: Driscoll
Would-be Chicago Car-Bomber an Occupy and Obama Supporter: Riehl
Sudan Humiliates Obama Administration: Riehl

Obama's Stumbling Response to Embassy Attacks: Barone
The Unofficial Campaign’s Latest Disinformation Offensive: Rahe
Blasphemer found, detained by LA Police. Allah be Praised!: ProWis

Economy

Operation Screw: Schiff
BofA Sees QE3 Leading to $3,350 Gold, $190 Crude Oil: ZH
We Need a New Stock Market: ZH

Scandal Central

Disgraceful Disregard for America’s Security: Virtuous
Israeli foreign ministry: US buried its head in the sand, ignored our warning: Matzav
Today’s Intelligence Briefing has been cancelled due to lack of interest and aptitude: MOTUS

Disturbing Evidence Obama, Hillary Negligence Responsible For Death Of Ambassador, Marines, SEAL: Dollard
Compare: Obama’s 9/11 Anniversary Tweet Vs. Mitt Romney’s: WZ
Bishops’ President: Obama Admin Threatening Religious Freedom: LifeNews

Media

The week the legacy media dropped all pretense of impartiality: GayPatriot
Standing Athwart Sony Yelling ‘Stop’: Driscoll
New Film Mocking Religion Surfaces - No Riots Yet: MEMRI

Michele Bachmann Speech: Our First Amendment Rights at Risk Under This Administration: Values Voter Summit
Okay, Now We’ve Heard it All! The Media Blames Romney for Their Failure to Cover Obama!: LoneCon
ABC, CBS, NBC Devote More Time (20 to 1) to Romney Flap Than Obama Mideast Mistakes: MRC

Santorum: Obama victory would ‘fundamentally’ change America: Hill
Rick Santorum Flays Obama: AmSpec
Awesome: Google refuses to pull 'Innocence of Mohamed' film clip: Matzav

World

State Department: Stop asking us about the Benghazi attack: ForPol
The Muslim World Still Hates America: AmPower
Obama Polling Worse Among Jews Than Any Dem in 32 Years: FPM

'For the first time since Jimmy Carter, we’ve had an American ambassador assassinated...': AmPower
State Department To Downplay Religious Oppression: IBD
For first time since Israel-Egypt peace treaty, El Al set to halt flights to Cairo: Times of Israel

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike: Telegraph
Hardly Mentioned: 8 Americans Wounded in Benghazi – Security Forces Abandoned Property: MagNote
Base attackers wore U.S. camo, destroyed jets: ArmyTimes

With Obama policy crumbling, White House blames movie for Mideast unrest: Exam
While the Middle East Burns, Obama Phones It In: Virtuous
Mali: Amputations of Thieves: MRC (Caution: Graphic)

Sci-Tech

The Man-Machine Merger: Kurzweil
Delta Crimps Startups Tracking Airline Rewards; MileWise, AwardWallet, Others Affected: Crunch
Panasonic, Toyota Report Damages in China as Protests Widen: Bloomberg

Cornucopia

An Open Letter: smh
My husband’s NEW ‘Apologize to Mohammed’ Contest!: Five Feet of Fury
Art world rejoices over 'botched' restoration: GlobPost

Image: Instapundit
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Dishonorable Disclosures

QOTD #1: "According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and "lockdown", under which movement is severely restricted." --Kim Sengupta, "Revealed: inside story of US envoy's assassination"

QOTD #2: "...you spoke about topics like green energy and climate change as reason for reelecting President Obama. These areas of policy are clearly important ones, and they rightly deserve a place in our national conversation. But more so than government mandated energy efficient vehicles and climate change awareness, the single most important thing to our generation should be ensuring that America as we know it survives for the generations that will come after us. America cannot be a global leader in green energy production if we can’t even pay our own bills." --Bryan Jacoutot

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the Obama campaign from fundraising during the funerals of heroes

That awful, awful Mitt Romney. Can you believe his hubris, what with he and his campaign tweeting during the funerals of American heroes?

Oh. What's that you say? It was the Obama campaign? That can't even wait a few hours after the funerals of American heroes to send crass fundraising tweets?

This is just unbelievable, especially in light of the Defcon 1 attack the MSM put on Romney for responding to a tweet from the US Embassy in Cairo without waiting some unspecified period of time. Will those same MSM bobble-head dolls criticize the president and his most trusted adviser for tweeting during a funeral?


Look at the time-stamp. This is literally in the middle of the ceremony... But not to be undone, David Axelrod also couldn’t wait to speak up:


At least Axelrod waited for the ceremony to end — by about 4 minutes, according to when Mark Knoller’s tweeted the doors to the hearses closing:

I will walk barefoot on broken glass in November to vote for Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and every single Republican on the ticket. The Democrat Party needs to be nuked from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.


NSFW Mannequins?

Spotted at an undisclosed location in Florida:


Two words: Boo. Behz.

Boobehz.


Must-See Proof: Corrupt Media, Corrupt Polls

We already knew that legacy media was completely and utterly corrupt, with ironclad confirmation coming in the form of the recent gang-attack conspiracy against Mitt Romney.

Now, @NumbersMuncher (via @AriFleischer) represents graphically that very same corruption. Namely, how most recent Bizarro-Polls show Barack Obama in the lead despite a disastrous economy and a Mideast in flames.


Briefly put, the polls showing the SCOAMF in the lead are oversampling Democrats to bias the results.

But what should the samples be? Rasmussen (the most accurate of the 2008 presidential pollsters) posits the following ratio:


Point 1: For 2012, the average Republican-to-Democrat sample, the correct sample should be 36 (R) to 33 (D) to 31 (I).

Point 2: Among likely voters, independents break for Romney, 51 percent to 40 percent (according to the ultra-liberal National Journal).

So let's just get this straight: more people identify as Republicans than Democrats and Independents break by a double-digit margin for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

And, in the midst of an conflagration in the Middle East, QE3, and an economy back in recession, the media is trying to save this election for the SCOAMF.

Here's a hint, Chrissie Milbank-Dionne: It. Ain't. Gonna. Work. 2010 will look like a fond memory in comparison.


Barack Obama Channels Jimmy Carter (Again)

Barack Obama, September 12, 2012:

"There's a broader lesson to be learned here. Gov. Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later," Obama said in an interview with CBS News's Steve Kroft that was scheduled before four Americans were killed Tuesday at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.


"As president, one of the things I've learned is you can't do that," Obama added. "It's important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them."

Jimmy Carter, August 15, 1980:

In their fantasy world, all the complex global changes of the world since World War II have never happened. In their fantasy America, all problems have simple solutions -- simple and wrong.


It's a make-believe world, a world of good guys and bad guys where some politicians shoot first and ask questions later.

"Shoot first and aim later"?

You mean like blurting out the fact that Egypt's no longer an ally?

Criticism of the president's foreign policy by the opposition party never appeared to be much of an issue for vintage media when George W. Bush was in office.

Harry Reid's despicable declaration that "this war is lost" comes to mind. Or the Democrats' slanderous rhetoric about U.S. troops in Iraq.


Hat tip: Western Journalism.