GEE, MAYBE THE NRA ISN'T CRAZY AFTER ALL: Police in California schools get "assault weapons"

Remember when Democrat politicians and the media (isn't that redundant?) went bonkers after the NRA suggested protecting more schools with firearms?

It turns out locales in Dianne Feinstein's home state of California are quietly doing just that.

FONTANA, Calif. — The school police force in this Southern California city has acquired 14 high-powered semiautomatic rifles for officers to bring to campuses.

Fontana Unified School District police purchased 14 of the Colt LE6940 rifles last fall, and they were delivered the first week of December, a week before a gunman killed 26 students and educators at a Connecticut elementary school.

"I think it just further solidified the need to give our officers the tools they need to respond to an active shooter on campus," schools Police Chief Billy Green said Wednesday about the tragedy.

...The rifles were purchased to address a "critical vulnerability," although there has never been such an attack at any of the 45 Fontana campuses, the chief said. The 14 officers currently carry handguns, according to police officials.

I'm glad more school administrators are coming to their senses. You wouldn't put up a sign in front of your house stating it was a "gun-free zone". Doing so in schools is equally nonsensical.


Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News.

SCHWING: Audi R8 Spyder

Maybe the president could redistribute an Audi R8 Spyder to some deserving young blogger.

...the V8 I drove is still the 424bhp 4.2-litre V8 - and that certainly didn't need to change. Personally I've always preferred it to the mellifluous 518bhp V10, which although more powerful, doesn't quite have the raw, raucous engine note and savage response of the V8. Audi claims a 0-62mph time of 4.5secs for the S Tronic V8, against 3.6secs for the V10, but I always thought Audi cheekily skewed those figures to make the V10 look good...

...No changes have been made to the all aluminium double wishbone suspension, the heavily rear biased 4wd system, nor the 43:57 weight distribution. The R8 is an effortlessly rewarding car to drive. It pootles about majestically, suspension so supple and accommodating, but has the ability to raise its hackles and change its personality in a split second. I'm still not sure that even a 911 does this better. What you discover on a good road is a car that's pin-point accurate, with lovely feelsome steering and body control that's rock solid, yet utterly placid. Accusations of blandness are ludicrous, they only come because of the ease with which the R8 goes about its business...

Daddy like.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

TODAY'S REMINDER: Relying on an unelected, unaccountable, centralized government bureaucracy

Let's put it this way. I have certain, uhm, reservations about big government.

Remember to try the roast beef. I'll be here all week.


Hat tip: R.F.

The sad truth about Social Security

Please hide this particular article from any young hopenchangers who suffer from the delusion that Social Security will be around when they're ready to retire.

Social security is not earned retirement income, an entitlement nor a benefit.

Many people believe that Social Security is an “earned right.” That is, they think that because they have paid Social Security taxes, they are entitled to receive Social Security benefits. The government encourages that belief by referring to Social Security taxes as “contributions,” as in the Federal Insurance Contribution Act...

...However, in the 1960 case of Fleming v. Nestor, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that workers have no legally binding contractual rights to their Social Security benefits, and that those benefits can be cut or even eliminated at any time.

Nestor sued, claiming that because he had paid Social Security taxes, he had a right to Social Security benefits.

The Supreme Court disagreed, saying “To engraft upon the Social Security system a concept of ‘accrued property rights’ would deprive it of the flexibility and boldness in adjustment to ever changing conditions which it demands.” The Court went on to say, “It is apparent that the non-contractual interest of an employee covered by the [Social Security] Act cannot be soundly analogized to that of the holder of an annuity, whose right to benefits is bottomed on his contractual premium payments.”

The Court’s decision was not surprising. In an earlier case, Helvering v. Davis (1937), the Court had ruled that Social Security was not a contributory insurance program, saying, “The proceeds of both the employee and employer taxes are to be paid into the Treasury like any other internal revenue generally, and are not earmarked in any way.”

In other words, Social Security is not an insurance program at all. It is simply a payroll tax on one side and a welfare program on the other. Your Social Security benefits are always subject to the whim of 535 politicians in Washington. Congress has cut Social Security benefits in the past and is likely to do so in the future...

Unfortunately for the drones (i.e., the Obama Cultists), the math always defeats the political rhetoric. Always. And the fuse on the fiscal time-bomb is fizzling away, without any of our leaders making the slightest effort to douse it.


Hat tip: R.F.

Noted hunter and gun owner Mike Thompson, whoever that is, decries the evil of "assault magazines"

Someone claiming to be a Democrat Congressman from California named "Mike Thompson" got a forum in today's Wall Street Journal. He was there to market a purportedly "centrist" brand of gun control.

His op-ed, entitled "A Middle Path to Reducing Gun Violence", makes the preposterous claim that Americans support "universal" background checks and "limits on ammunition".

Mike Thompson: A Middle Path to Reducing Gun Violence

Remember, whenever a statist uses the term "gun violence", he really means "gun control".

As a hunter and gun owner, I believe that we should protect the Second Amendment right of law-abiding individuals to own firearms...

But...

...Yet our laws allow people to buy firearms privately or at some gun shows without going through a background check...

Yes, that's right: a young man can inherit his grandfather's hunting rifle without running afoul of the ATF or having to register in some DHS database.

Government registration -- in every case throughout history -- is a precursor to confiscation. I suspect most Americans will have a four word reaction to registration: No way. No how.

The same goes for illegal gun trafficking. Many law-enforcement officials say that illegal gun-traffickers are most often charged with mere paperwork violations...

So when are you going to demand Eric Holder come clean about Operation Fast and Furious, Congressman? After all, that was the biggest gun-trafficking operation in American history, which sent thousands of military-style weapons to Mexican drug cartels and left more than 300 dead, including two U.S. law enforcement officials.

And the Democrat attorney general and the Democrat president both refuse to release the documents related to this patently illegal operation. So where's the outcry on this egregious example of gun-trafficking, Mr. Congressman?

A majority of Americans also agree (according to a Pew poll released this month) that assault magazines have no place in our society. These magazines hold more than 10 rounds and allow a shooter to inflict mass damage in a short period of time without reloading. Banning them will save lives.

"Assault magazines"?

Oh, my. Tell me, "Mike" -- if that is your real name -- did the last ban on military-style weapons and "assault magazines" reduce these incidents of mass shootings and gun violence? Oh, that's right: it didn't.

On the issue of reducing gun violence, there is a path between extremes. This debate isn't a choice between protecting the Second Amendment or reducing gun violence. It is about the willingness of a responsible majority to do both.

Here's a prescription for avoiding "gun violence" on the most important scale of all. Let's enact policies that prevent millions of deaths. After all, we have experience with your policies.

A quarter of a billion children, women, and men were slaughtered by their own governments in the 20th century alone. Letting any government have a monopoly on force over its citizens is a recipe for disaster.

Which is why the Second Amendment protects the rest of the Bill of Rights.

Tell you what, Mr. Congressman: why don't you find out what the gun-trafficker-in-chief did with the thousands of weapons lost in Operation Fast and Furious before you start infringing on the rights of actual law-abiding citizens?

Larwyn's Linx: Boom: CBS tears into White House over Benghazi-gate

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

Nation

Boom: CBS tears into White House over Benghazigate: Twitchy
Obama's Progressive Vision: A World Without Political Opposition: Reason
'More Flexibility': Obama to Govern by Executive Fiat in 2nd Term: Fitton

To John Dickerson: Here's Why We Hate You: HayRide
He's not a liberal. He's a communist.: Nice Deb
Reid: Nuclear option if no filibuster deal in 36 hours: Hill

Top Obama Aide: U.S. System Not Worthy of Obama: Dossier
Joe Biden already gearing up for 2016: Malkin
Sen. Dick Durbin (IL): 10 Rounds 'Generous': Trailers

Economy

Obama vows to give every American the chance to pay more taxes: IBD
Not a 'nation of takers,' Mr. President? Check the numbers: AEI
First Term: 8,332,000 Americans Dropped Out of Labor Force: CNS

Obama: Obamacare didn’t do anything for rising health care costs: Hot Air
Obama Promises To Fix Inequality After Making It Worse: IBD
Inaugural lunch: glaring nutritional hypocrisy: CDN

Scandal Central

Executive Orders On Guns But Executive Privilege On F&F: IBD
Claim: New Obama Litmus Test For Military Leaders: Willing to Fire On US Citizens: Nice Deb
Second time this month: Reality TV star, Obama gun-ban critic raided by heavily-armed fed contingent: Owens

Media

Unbiased? 18 of 20 Top Newspapers Push Gun Control in Editorials: NB
The Progressive Mind: BlackFork
William F. Buckley Meets Saul Alinsky: NRO

CBS's Attkisson: Obama Admin. Has Stonewalled on Benghazi Since October: NB
The New Cultists: GWP
Fake Singing, Real Tyranny: RSM

Bullies: Interviewing Ben Shapiro and the Leftists' Culture of Fear and Intimidation: Hawkins
Creepiest Ad of the Year?: First Things
What Phil Mickelson Should Have Said: WolfFiles

World

Hagel should not be confirmed: AEI (Pletka)
Brits Ban Guns at America’s Largest Gun Show: RS
U.S. gift of F-16 fighters headed to Egypt, despite Morsi's harsh rhetoric: Fox

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

You've Got 25 Years Until UNIX Time Overflows: Slashdot
AT&T Faces Backlash Over U-verse Outage: LightReading
How Social Media Could Land You Your Next Job: Mashable

Cornucopia

Looking Back on MLK Day: 5 Martin Luther King, Jr. Picture Quotes: RWN
Erick Erickson Makes A Good Point … Also Concerning My Recent Absence: Riehl
Four MO Years: MOTUS

Image: @Nuguppy
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: NRA Life Membership $300 - Down From $1,000

QOTD: "Anyway you look at it [the Inauguration], it was historic.

And if you don’t believe me, just ask Chrissy Matthews who thought it so historic he called it Big Guy’s “Gettysburg” Address.

Others who shall remain known only to me said it sounded more Petty-burg or Vendetti-burg than Gettysburg. I don’t see how phrases like “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it -- so long as we seize it together,” sound very Lincoln-esque, butt what do I know?" --MOTUS

PUCKER FACTOR: A carjacker's worst nightmare

That's what the indispensable AWR Hawkins calls the Taurus Judge Public Defender.

[For those who] regularly drive three or four hours at time or who drive a lot in the worst areas of big cities, the question is: What gun can I keep in my car for self defense? ... In my mind, one gun stands out above the rest for this application–the Taurus Judge Public Defender.

The Public Defender is a five shot revolver that holds either .45 long colt or .410 shotgun shells, or a combination of the two.

When Taurus debuted the Judge revolver family a few years back, they did something nobody saw coming–they turned the handgun world upside down. The Public Defender is a bit meatier than a .357 magnum with a similar length barrel, but its recoil is more comparable to a .38 Special and its self-defense advantages are similar to that of a small gauge shotgun.

The Judge family in general, and the Public Defender in specific, became so popular that Federal Ammunition starting loading .410 self-defense rounds specifically for handgun applications. These rounds contain nine big pellets in each shell. In a self-defense situation where a carjacker is holding his own gun and trying to pull your car door open, a Public Defender loaded with this ammo turns the tables quickly.

...The whole line of Taurus Judge revolvers is excellent, and they come in many variations–ranging from one with a polymer frame to a larger Judge with a six-inch barrel... However, the Public Defender is my favorite for the very reason Taurus provides on their website: “The ‘Public Defender’ delivers…devastating firepower in a…scaled down size that can travel with you.”

Daddy like.


Hat tip: BadBlue Guns.

OH, HOW THEY DESPISE THE CONSTITUTION: And they're not even trying to hide it any more

A brilliantly titled op-ed at The Wall Street Journal ("We the Government") lays bare the lie that the modern Democrat Party remains moored to America's values, traditions and laws.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer expressed the current mood in the West Wing this way to the Washington Post on Inauguration Day: "There's a moment of opportunity now that's important. . . . What's frustrating is that we don't have a political system or an opposition party worthy of the opportunity."

So neither the checks and balances of U.S. democracy nor the Republican Party that controls one branch of Congress is worthy of President Obama's grand aspirations. Presumably they must bow to his superior moral purposes. It's important to appreciate how much such contemptuous talk deviates from normal public White House respect for the men and women a President must do political business with.

Democrats and the media -- but I repeat myself -- continually decry the "polarization" of today's government. But the reason for that dichotomy lies with the radical sixties retreads who have overwhelmed the Democrat Party, laying waste to the once-dominant JFK/Scoop Jackson wing.

As historian Trevor Loudon and many others have proven with overwhelming evidentiary documentation, the modern progressive epoch is is an offshoot of the Cold War and Soviet-era Communism.

America's new divisions are so obvious, and the Democrat leadership so radical, that local law enforcement officials from around the country have told the President and the Justice Department that any attempt to revoke the Constitution's Second Amendment will be immediately repudiated.

Some officials have gone so far as to "pledge their lives" to resist the administration's lawless proposals. One such group is the Utah Sheriff’s Association, which wrote the administration the proverbial strongly worded memo [PDF]:

We respect the Office of the President of the United States of America. But, make no mistake, as the duly-elected sheriffs of our respective counties, we will enforce the rights guaranteed to our citizens by the Constitution. No federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights — in particular Amendment II — has given them. We, like you, swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.

Here's an entertaining thought experiment: when was the last time in American history that large groups of state and local officials promised retaliatory violence against a tyrannical, authoritarian government operating outside the law?

Oh and hey, remember when then-candidate Barack Obama said, "There's not a blue America or a Red America, there is the United States of America"?

Yeah, that was funny.

RUH ROH: please keep this chart hidden from any Chinese government officials you may know

I mean, would you loan money to someone with this kind of balance sheet?

This is the balance sheet from hell. And not a great fiscal legacy for Timothy Geithner. From the U.S. Treasury Department’s just-released Financial Report of the U.S. Government for Fiscal Year 2012 [PDF]...

...As of September 30, 2012, the Government’s total debt outstanding subject to the debt limit was $16.027 trillion, $367 billion below the current limit. As budget deficits continue to occur, the Government will have to borrow more from the public. Instances where the debt held by the public increases faster than the economy for extended periods can pose additional challenges.

I love that last bit: “Instances where the debt held by the public increases faster than the economy for extended periods can pose additional challenges.” Yup.

But don't worry, folks: Paul Krugman -- who won a Nobel Prize for his work advising Enron, if memory serves -- says America's fiscal house is in perfect order--and, in fact, needs more debt.

QOTD: Wise Counsel

Spotted at TEOTWAWKI Blog:

Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News.

Egan-Jones discovers that all comments concerning the emperor's lack of clothing must be discreetly subdued

The name Egan-Jones may be familiar because it is a rating agency that has downgraded the debt of the United States at a far more realistic aggressive pace than its more compliant well-known peers like Standard & Poor's. Like this:

The New York Times' headline earlier today: "Egan-Jones Barred for 18 Months on Some Ratings."

The real headline: "SEC Bars Egan-Jones From Rating The US And Other Governments For 18 Months."

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday that Egan-Jones, the upstart credit ratings firm run by Sean Egan, had agreed to an 18-month ban from rating asset-backed and government securities issuers as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization.

The agreement settles accusations that the firm made misstatements about its record when applying for a government designation, the S.E.C. said.

“Accuracy and transparency in the registration process are essential to the commission’s oversight of credit rating agencies,” Robert Khuzami, director of the S.E.C.’s division of enforcement, said in a statement.

But don't think of this step by the SEC as payback for dissing the Obama administration's reckless economic policies; consider it a mere coincidence.


Hat tip for title: JLA.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama's Target Is Not Just the Republican Party, but the Constitution Itself

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

Nation

Obama's Target Is Not Just Republicans, but the Constitution Itself: Breitbart
Thank you, President Obama! Really. Sincerely.: GSL
Classless Scum: DOJ Lawyer Began the Booing of Paul Ryan: Nice Deb

Tolerance: At Church, Obama’s Pastor Calls Republicans “The Enemies”: GWP
Mark Levin's Inaugural Day Message: Breitbart
A Retreat Emanating from the GOP Retreat?: RS

Preparing the ground for confiscation?: Camp o' the Saints
Beware of Those Advising GOP To Unilaterally Disarm: DLim
Holder's Comment About 'Military-Style Weapons' Sparks Debate: CNS

The President's Hyper-Partisan Inaugural Address: Ace
Do Gun Control Laws Control Guns?: Sowell
Obama’s Inaugural Prayer Drops “Under God”: WZ

Economy

Historians will judge Obama's fiscal irresponsibility harshly: Patterico
Gun Shop Owner Calls for Groupon Boycott After It Cancels His Deal: DailyFin
Bad news aplenty for leftist gun-haters…: GSL

Special Report: Beyond the Fiscal Cliff: Solari
The grim labor force participation rate graph: RS
Pigging Out While We Starve: WyBlog

Scandal Central

Sen. Rand Paul: Obama Administration May Be Involved in Guns-to-Jihadists Cover-up: GWP
Assault rifles have been banned for 27 years. So why are politicians and the media lying to you?: Owens
Maryland: Your Governor has BIG plans for Gun Control: Heels and Handguns

Climate & Energy

CBO Says Electric Vehicle Subsidies to Cost $7.5 Billion With Little Benefit: NLPC
EPA-proposed air pollution clean-up to cost Navajo nation coal plant $500 million: DC
Oh that’s gonna leave a mark – EU carbon trading ‘worthless’: Watts

Media

Rapper Lupe Fiasco thrown offstage during pre-inauguration event after anti-Obama rant : DC
Congratulations to Barack Obama on Another Four Years to Cement the Destruction of My Children's Future: Patterico
Jarrett Thanks MSNBC: WFB

Josh Marshall wants you to know that an unwillingness to keep and bear arms is a virtue: ProWis
Gallup: Obama lowest-rated re-elected President since WWII: Hot Air
Time Magazine attempts to scare with AR-15 "factoid": Everyday

Chris Christie – reprehensible hypocrite: LibertyZone
Our Long National Nightmare Is Over: RSM
'New York Times' 2013 buyouts and layoffs watch: CapitalNewYork

World

The Left's new campaign to destroy a friend of Israel's: Glick
Gun Control Charts: LI
Bye-bye London: Glick

Josh Marshall wants you to know that an unwillingness to keep and bear arms is a virtue: ProWis
Marcus Tullius Cicero on National Survival: RightPlanet
Panetta: US has to 'fight back' against al Qaeda after three Americans killed: Hill

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Spotted: Sergey Brin wearing Google Glass specs as he blends in on NYC subway: NextWeb
Cheap, polymer-coated cotton automagically captures water from desert air: ExtremeTech
3D Printers Are Close To Changing The Ballgame: Ace

Cornucopia

America’s Answer to Politicians: Oklahoma State Senator Nathan Dahm: CDN
Our First, Second (okay, fourth) Historic, Ceremonial Inauguration: MOTUS
The Viral Layoff Letter Making Its Way Around The Internet: HayRide

Image: Former TN slave, Mary Fields, holds the assault weapon of her age - PagunBlog
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Stop the Witch Hunt Against Michele Bachmann

QOTD: "...many countries haven’t come back from [the kind of Statism we've seen under Obama]. It’s happening from within. When an individual like Obama uses the instrumentalities of government against us, when he uses the power that the Constitution grants to a president to evade the Constitution and abuse power, when he uses liberty to exploit opportunities to promote the tyranny of centralized government, it’s extremely difficult for people who are not paying attention or who are not engaged in the political process to help us stop what's taking place.

Only when things get so bad do many of them realize what's happening, and that's usually too late... The President is making institutional, structural changes to our country. Do I think the country can survive? I think America will certainly exist. But what kind of America?

The question is whether we will be a free and prosperous people or just another miserable place where rights are denied and needs are scarce and distributed by the government. I believe knowing the perilous state of the nation, and not pretending otherwise, and knowing that only we conservatives have any hope of stemming this tide and gradually reversing course, we will fight this in every legitimate way we can. And hopefully our already significant ranks will grow. We have no choice but to stand and fight. Everything is at stake." --Mark Levin

MARK LEVIN ON INAUGURATION DAY: Time to Fight

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart's Ben Shapiro, constitutional attorney and radio host Mark Levin had a message for regular Americans on Inauguration Day: Fight!

...“I don’t think Obama knows exactly what he’s going to go for in his second term,” Levin said, "as he will look for opportunities to exploit as events unfold. I am sure they've drawn up a partial a list, and we already know that it includes, but is not limited to, gun control; attacks on the First Amendment such as religious liberty; amnesty for illegal aliens; union expansion; institutionalizing Obamacare; institutionalizing voter corruption; de-industrialization via the EPA; destroying the capitalist-based economy via tax increases, smothering regulations, massive deficit spending, and endless borrowing; and hollowing out our military; etc.

...It will do extreme damage to the nation in many respects. I think Obama sees himself as correcting historic wrongs in this country, as delivering the fruits of the labor of other people to people who he believes have historically been put upon. I think there’s a lot of perverse thinking that goes on in his mind, radical left-wing thinking. He was indoctrinated with Marx and Alinksy propaganda. You not only see it in his agenda but in his words -- class warfare; degrading successful people unless, of course, they help finance his elections, causes, and organizations; pretending to speak for the so-called middle class when, in fact, he is destroying their jobs, savings, and future. Obama's war on our society is intended to be an onslaught in which the system is overwhelmed.”

How to fight that agenda? Levin said the answer certainly doesn’t lie in the current Republican Party leadership. “I think the Republican Party, its apparatus, its so-called leadership, the parasitic consultants, represent an institution that is tired, old, almost decrepit, full of cowardice and vision-less. It has abandoned the Declaration of Independence and any serious defense of constitutional republicanism.

The Democrat Party is now a radical 1960s party; it’s the anti-Constitution, anti-capitalism, anti-individual party. It largely controls the federal government, including the massive bureaucracy and much of the judiciary -- what I call the permanent branches of the federal government. The Democrat Party represents the federal government, and the federal government expands the power of the Democrat Party. They're appendages of each other.

On the other hand, the GOP today stands for capitulation, timidity, delusion -- so mostly nothing. Republicans may speak of the Constitution, limited government, low taxes, etc., but what have they done about them? Next to nothing if not nothing.

Even when Bush 43 was president and the Republicans controlled Congress. What did they do? They went on a spending binge. They expanded Medicare, the federal role in local education, drove up the debt, etc.

Meanwhile, we are lectured by putative Republicans like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Tom Ridge, and a conga line of others trashing often viciously NOT Obama and what the Democrats are doing to our nation, but conservatives, constitutionalists, and tea party activists who are the only people left standing for liberty against tyranny in this country."

...[T]he answer [however,] isn’t to start a third party – “The problem is a practical one. If we go third party, I can see the Democrats winning elections for a generation. Given the radicalized character of that party, that would seal our fate, and the fate of our children and grandchildren to, as Reagan put it, 1000 years of darkness.

The day may come, perhaps soon, when abandoning the GOP for a new party is the best way to deal with events and stop the rise of tyranny. I think the answer at this moment is for conservatives to retake the Republican Party. Reagan did it, and Reagan was opposed by the Republican establishment every step of the way, including the Bush family...

...After the Reagan presidency, Bush 41 and Bush 43, who'd opposed the Reagan Revolution, immediately dragged the nation back into the Republican mush. In fact, they sought to distance themselves from Reagan and his achievements, using such silly phrases as "a kinder and gentler" conservatism or "compassionate conservatism," as if all the opportunities, wealth, jobs, and enterprises Reagan's policies launched were neither kind nor compassionate.

There is an intransigence in the Republican Party that sabotages and obstructs those who have answers for this nation based on our founding principles. And so we had a brief eight-year period where Reagan showed us the way and created a foundation on which future Republican presidents could build, and they haven’t.

...the Tea Party grew out of the last months of Bush 43 and the early months of the Obama presidency. Yet Bush administration staffers are everywhere today: the media, advising candidates, leading fundraisers, etc. And they arrogantly and condescendingly lecture conservatives about responsible, moderate governance.

...They also cheerlead for more establishment candidates, like John McCain, Mitt Romney, and the like, who are not only sure losers, but have no grasp of the urgency of our times and the principled agenda necessary to address it. Meanwhile, the Reagan and traditional conservatives, the constitutionalists and the tea party leaders, are all but unheard and unseen on TV, even some of our favorite outlets.”

...Sadly, when you look at some of the great outlets for conservative thought and activism of the past, it’s a crying shame, because many of them have abandoned their past role as serious and substantive breeding grounds for conservative strategies, policies, and new intellectuals. Instead, they spend an inordinate amount of time analyzing polling data and otherwise naval gazing -- when they're not taking shots at other conservatives or promoting their TV appearances. With respect to policy, you could see this when the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Bill Kristol attacked the tea party back in 2011, when the tea party opposed the disastrous debt-ceiling deal.

...Our society is deteriorating as the federal government devours more and more of it, we are on an unsustainable course that threatens our liberty and all we have built and earned, and these people act as if it's just another day of wheeling and dealing. At a bare minimum, at least make the case to the American people, and if the people decide they want to live in chains, then there's not much we can do about it. But make the damn case and fight like hell!"

...But Levin said that the country rests on the blade of a knife right now, and that every effort is necessary to preserve its liberty. “Right now we have a government with so much power, a government so ubiquitous, a government so cancerous in its growth and so exponential in its expanse, that I cannot conceal my great fear for the future of this country...

...But it’s not just about winning the next election. That’s the minimum we need to do. We need to roll back the size of the federal Leviathan or it will surely be our undoing. Republicans have been allergic to this. We need to roll back the debt, even though the last Republican administration contributed mightily to it. The way to start is by cleaning out the old guard in the GOP and installing fresh, bold, articulate, knowledgeable, confident, courageous conservatives. We must find a way to depose the old, decrepit, tired so-called leaders who've used the system to climb to the top, but once at the top demonstrate they don't belong there. We also must find ways to devolve political and economic power back to the states and the individual. It is a fool's errand to believe that the same people who've brought us to the brink are the people who can solve the dire problems they've contributed to. This is a puzzle that must be solved."

Will the country be able to come back from Obamaism? Levin said that the road would be an uphill one: “To be perfectly honest, many countries haven’t come back from this. It’s happening from within. When an individual like Obama uses the instrumentalities of government against us, when he uses the power that the Constitution grants to a president to evade the Constitution and abuse power, when he uses liberty to exploit opportunities to promote the tyranny of centralized government, it’s extremely difficult for people who are not paying attention or who are not engaged in the political process to help us stop what's taking place...

...Only when things get so bad do many of them realize what's happening, and that's usually too late. Reestablishing the civil society will be extremely difficult. I have hope, but I’m not going to delude myself or others that this is just another election cycle or just another president or just another agenda we can easily overcome if we win the White House back in 2016. The President is making institutional, structural changes to our country.

...Do I think the country can survive? I think America will certainly exist. But what kind of America? The question is whether we will be a free and prosperous people or just another miserable place where rights are denied and needs are scarce and distributed by the government. I believe knowing the perilous state of the nation, and not pretending otherwise, and knowing that only we conservatives have any hope of stemming this tide and gradually reversing course, we will fight this in every legitimate way we can. And hopefully our already significant ranks will grow. We have no choice but to stand and fight. Everything is at stake," said Levin.

...But there is a bright spot: the American public still cares about the Constitution. In fact, they care more than they did even a decade or two ago. “The one positive aspect I see today,” Levin continued. “There are more people in America now who have at least a general concept of how the Constitution is supposed to work, including the Bill of Rights, and a general concept of what the Declaration of Independence means, including the emphasis on the value of every individual. This was not so 10 or 20 years ago. That’s not to say that such an understanding can easily transfer into modern politics. But I think, in part, that’s why you see so many millions of people frustrated, because they know our government shouldn’t be operating this way... The choice is in our hands right now.”

Pass the original article on to your friends. We need to continue to fight this political madness, now harder than ever.


Images: "Don't Cry for Me, America."

YEP, I REMEMBER ALL OF THESE FAWNING, SYCOPHANTIC ARTICLES WHEN REAGAN AND BUSH WERE INAUGURATED, TOO

Rejected headline for this post: A cacophony of butt-smooching:

Fortunately, the market for hard left advocacy "journalists" is just as sustainable as the federal government's finances; thus, in most cases, we'll be offered the opportunity to wish many of these crackpots a fond adieu.

Keeping Al Jazeera Out of Your Home [Jack]

Jack:

Al Jazeera wants to be able to tell its anti-American story to everyone in the United States -- and it has begun by buying Current TV through Al Gore for an outrageous amount of money.

Their purpose is not to make money, but rather to be able to influence the American public. They are therefore prepared to buy their way into your home through your TV.

Money is no object to oil rich Qatar which has been ruled as an absolute and hereditary emirate by the Al Thani family since the mid-19th century. As the article below points out, most cable networks are paid by cable providers. However Qatar has so much money that it will pay your cable provider to be included in their mix of channels.

The only way we are going to stop this from happening is if we each advise our provider that we will drop their service if they include or retain Al Jazeera in their lineup.

Whether you are serviced by Time Warner, Comcast, Dish, Cox, Verizon, or AT&T, let them know now that if they begin to include Al Jazeera, you will switch to another provider.

###

Al Jazeera's New Channel Struggles for US Distribution

Al Jazeera's announced plans to establish a new U.S. cable news channel via the purchase of Current TV isn't even 48 hours old and already it finds itself in a vicious battle to retain distribution rights.

Al Jazeera's acquisition of Current TV is basically a pay-for-distribution play. The Qatar-backed network plans to replace Current TV in the more than 40 million homes where it is currently distributed with its own news network, tentatively dubbed Al Jazeera America. The new network's success is predicated on maintaining, if not increasing, that level of distribution.

One person with knowledge of cable TV deals said pay-TV operators will definitely seek more favorable terms from Al Jazeera since, "no one wanted to carry Current TV and they want to carry an Al Jazeera channel even less."

For instance upon learning of deal, which closed on Wednesday, Time Warner Cable immediately said that it would terminate its contract with Current TV, meaning its customers would not be seeing the new network to be named Al Jazeera America...

Al Jazeera has been trying to break into the U.S. cable market for years, but the network has so far failed to gain significant distribution largely for political reasons. The Pan-Arab network had been viewed by many as being anti-American particularly at the height of the U.S. War in Iraq.

Cable industry sources interpreted that statement to mean that Time Warner Cable would be open to distributing Al Jazeera America, just not at the same 12 cents per subscriber per month that Current TV was receiving, media consultancy firm SNL Kagan said... By comparison, SNL Kagan said Fox News averages 89 cents per subscriber per month, while CNN gets 57 cents and MSNBC collects 18 cents...

Interesting: the average Fox News viewer is worth more than four (4) times his or her MSNBC equivalent. Which pretty much says it all about the radical sixties retreads running MSFBC.

Exclusive Photo of Inauguration Captures Haunting Beauty of Ceremony Cementing Another Four Years

ConMom relays this stunning photo.

Hey, it's not me! No less an expert than NBC's Brian Williams said the event felt like "a police state."

PHOTO SEQUENCE: First Lady Rolls Her Eyes at John Boehner's Remarks to the President (But Can't Stop Eating)

But remember, folks: these are our respectful betters who want to tell us how many calories we should eat each day.

Judging by the appearance of FLOTUS, Lisa Jackson, Regina Benjamin (the Surgeon General), and Janet Napolitano -- to name but a few -- the calorie counting only extends to the rabble.

Larwyn's Linx: Return of the Tea Party

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

Nation

Return of the Tea Party: MB
When I want a progressive's opinion on guns...: Giles
Obama, Circa 1990s Decried Gun Ownership: Ammoland

Gun Violence: Not a GOP Problem, a Democrat Problem: Greenfield
Axelred on Obama's Second Term Priorities: Hot Air
Democrats: The Party of Criminals: RSM

Obama’s Soaring Rhetoric vs. His Divisive Actions: GayPatriot
HHS Mandate: How Far Will This Fight Go?: Patheos
Assault Weapons & Homicide By The Numbers: Howling

Plouffe: President Has Enough Votes to Pass Gun Control: NewsMax
GOP Puts Spotlight on Feckless Senate Democrats: Barone
Unprecedented: Obama Campaign to Turn Itself into Non-Profit: Breitbart

Economy

The Trends to Watch in 2013: Martenson
Business Owner Fires Two Libs To Cover Cost Of Obamacare: WZ
Universities Bludgeon Adjuncts With Obamacare Loophole: Mead

Scandal Central

Report: Obama Ousting CENTCOM Chief Mattis: Beacon
Charles Schumer (D, New York): the Democratic-controlled Senate will pass a budget: RS
There’s No Truth In The News And No News In The Truth: Loudon

Climate & Energy

More delays at Heathrow as Britain hit by snow: Exam

Media

About those gun show shootings...: Hot Air
Media Reports 5 Shootings on “Gun Appreciation Day”; Chicago's Daily Shootings 17,200% Greater: Sooper
Flashback: How Liberal Hypocrites Used Dubya’s Daughters, and Insulted his Mother, to Bash The Prez!: Sooper

Obama's Secret Beer Summit With Reporters Turns Into Swoonfest: Breitbart
Most Bizarre Example of Obama Worship in the Media?: Tatler
Hitlerian Press: This is the Second Coming: Atlas

Obama Attends Church, Pastor Asks God To Prepare Obama “For Battle” Against His “Enemies”: WZ
Name That Party: AP Converts NV Story on Dem Lawmaker’s Arrest For Threatening Colleague: Bizzy
Sundance 2013: How did a newbie make an unapproved film in Disney parks?: LAT

World

Iran’s Growing Influence in Latin America adds to the Already Definitive Reason to Destroy the Regime: ObjStd
Tienanmen Square survivor on the need for the 2nd amendment: Scoop
Greece Law-and-Order Problem Escalates; America's Debt-Laden Future: Mish

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Wanted: 'Adventurous woman' to give birth to Neanderthal man; Harvard prof seeks mom for cave baby: DailyMail
Cable Industry Admits That Data Caps Have Nothing To Do With Congestion: Consumerist
Still a series of tubes? The dynamic Internet and competition policy: AEI

Cornucopia

The One Classified Medal of Honor: This Ain't Hell
A COR-o-nation in the PORN-o-nation: MOTUS
Obama Oscar Nominations: Morlock Revolt

Dog Soldier vs. Apache Scout: OnPoint
This Could Really Happen……..: Spew
Michelle Obama, the fifth Beatle: Cube

Image: American Power
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sign up for the Right Wing News Newsletter

QOTD: "Obama won every major city in the election, except for Jacksonville and Salt Lake City. And the higher the death rate, the bigger his victory.

He won New Orleans by 80 to 17 where the murder rate is ten times higher than the national average. He won Detroit, where the murder rate of 53 per 100,000 people is the second highest in the country and twice as high as any country in the world, including the Congo and South Africa. He won it 73 to 26. And then he celebrated his victory in Chicago where the murder rate is three times the statewide average.

These places aren’t America. They’re Obamerica." --Daniel Greenfield

Cartoon o' the day: Lennay-nay

Perfect.

Via: Kevin Jackson.

HEADLIGHTS ON ALL DAY TOMORROW

I'm down with this.

Via: @ChipWoods.