Two Politifacts in One!

The indefatigable Avik Roy of Forbes offers us this scandalous dichotomy (hat tip: Sondrakistan):

Politifact, October 2008:

Politifact, December 2013:

As noted earlier, Politifact has already completed its transition from embarrassment to laughingstock.

New Jersey Says You Must Have a "Justifiable Need" to Exercise Your Constitutional Rights

Guest post by Brian Kelly

Picture a woman going to register to vote in New Jersey only to find the State has passed a law requiring her to undergo a background check, pay a fee, show proficiency in civics and, after meeting all those requirements, having to write a summary justifying her Need to vote.

Now, after attempting to justify her need to exercise her right (let that statement sink in) she is denied by a judge who has arbitrarily determined that she didn’t have an urgent need to vote.

That judge’s lover and the local police chief’s sister-in-law however have miraculously passed all the above hurtles and can freely exercise that right with gleeful abandon.

Too farfetched? How about in the aftermath of 911, New Jersey passes a law requiring anyone wishing to practice Islam must apply for an Islam permit and show ‘justifiable need’ to pray to Allah. The State justifies this by claiming a large amount of terrorists are Islamic and therefore the Islam Permits will only be issued to very few people in order to protect the public, after all they can’t have NJ turn into the Gaza Strip.

If you find these examples offensive, you should, as they clearly violate an American’s rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and no amount of fearful justification merits such infringement. Unfortunately that same, arbitrary, subjective standard applies to most New Jersian’s right to protect themselves and their loved ones in public with a firearm.

New Jersey’s ‘Justifiable Need’ requirement to obtain a carry permit is the self defense equivalent of ‘Separate but Equal’ Jim Crow laws.

The Crisis of the Middle Class and American Power

Guest post by George Friedman

When I wrote about the crisis of unemployment in Europe, I received a great deal of feedback. Europeans agreed that this is the core problem while Americans argued that the United States has the same problem, asserting that U.S. unemployment is twice as high as the government's official unemployment rate. My counterargument is that unemployment in the United States is not a problem in the same sense that it is in Europe because it does not pose a geopolitical threat. The United States does not face political disintegration from unemployment, whatever the number is. Europe might.

At the same time, I would agree that the United States faces a potentially significant but longer-term geopolitical problem deriving from economic trends. The threat to the United States is the persistent decline in the middle class' standard of living, a problem that is reshaping the social order that has been in place since World War II and that, if it continues, poses a threat to American power.

The Crisis of the American Middle Class

The median household income of Americans in 2011 was $49,103. Adjusted for inflation, the median income is just below what it was in 1989 and is $4,000 less than it was in 2000. Take-home income is a bit less than $40,000 when Social Security and state and federal taxes are included. That means a monthly income, per household, of about $3,300. It is urgent to bear in mind that half of all American households earn less than this. It is also vital to consider not the difference between 1990 and 2011, but the difference between the 1950s and 1960s and the 21st century. This is where the difference in the meaning of middle class becomes most apparent.

New York Times: We Had a Reporter Embedded With Terrorists in Benghazi During the Attack

Based on the headline, I really thought the Twitchy story entitled "NYT: ‘We had a reporter on the scene talking to the attackers during the [Benghazi] attack’" was satire. It wasn't.

NYT reporter says NYT knows who Benghazi attackers are > @ddknyt: we had a reporter on the scene talking to the attackers during the attack

—
Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 31, 2013

What’s that? The New York Times had a reporter on the scene of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya? Reporter David D. Kirkpatrick, who wrote this weekend’s piece on Benghazi, says it was invaluable to have a reporter on the ground talking to the attackers during the attack.

Which begs the question: who in the hell was this "reporter" and just what the hell was he doing during the attack -- and for the last 15 months? Biff Spackle offers some possibilities:

This scandal needs to go viral.

@RichardGrenell @ddknyt Please see "Secret Benghazi Reporter Comics" for helpful illustration: http://t.co/m0UvQ4wkT4 pic.twitter.com/YNlC6HNmln

— Doug Ross (@directorblue) December 31, 2013

Larwyn's Linx: Trey Gowdy Cremates NYT Benghazi Fable That Curiously Omits Hillary Clinton

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

Nation

Trey Gowdy Cremates NYT Benghazi Fable That Omits Hillary Clinton: MagNote
A New Year and Old Problems: Thomas Sowell
Political Timidity & Clerical Cowardice: Paul A. Rahe

WWII vet warns America: 90 percent of Congress are traitors: BPR
White House Quietly Announces a Net Loss of 3 Million Insurance Plans: TPNN
Wonderful: Labor Unions Funding the Republican Civil War: Scott Bland

How The NSA Hacks Your iPhone (Presenting DROPOUT JEEP): ZH
GOP Must Strike While Obamacare Iron Is Hot: David Limbaugh
A GOP “dam ready to break” in West Virginia: Jazz Shaw

Economy

Why Obama frets about income inequality, not family breakdown: Pethokoukis
Crashing and Burning in 2013: Victor Davis Hanson
AFL-CIO Defends Union Violence As A ‘Legitimate’ Union Activity: LUR

The Government-Employee Dismissal Rate For Poor Performance is...: WZ
Democrats, Obama, Unions prepare for big minimum wage push in '14: Hot Air
Downfall of a California police-union law firm: Walter Olson

Scandal Central

Yes, There IS Evidence Linking al Qaeda to Benghazi: Eli Lake
NY Times Benghazi Piece Penned by Cairo Bureau Chief: Shoebat
Michelle Obama, CGI and the $678 million connection: Allen West

Climate & Energy

If only the Global Warming Expedition had sailed 100 years ago: DTG
Climate Research Ship Trapped By Ice; Only 1 of 23 Network News Stories Mention: MRC
Helicopter rescue needed for passengers on icebound ship: Fox

Media

NYT: ‘We had a reporter on the scene talking to the attackers during the [Benghazi] attack’: Twitchy
So, that NYT Benghazi ‘investigation’ to cover for Hillary isn’t working out too well, huh?: Dan Calabrese
Dear Gallup: For WHAT is Obama Most Admired, Exactly?: SIGIS

NY Times: Hey, that YouTube video did have something to do with Benghazi attack after all: Ed Morrissey
Globe op/ed page highlights the great national divide: Caldwell's Corner
‘Beyond the pale’: Fox Business’ Charles Payne blasts MSNBC for mocking Romney grandson: Twitchy

Leftism Is A Mental Disorder…Part 965: Nice Deb
Charlottesville Newspaper Shuts Down Comments on Knockout Game Report for 'Hateful Nature': TruthRevolt
Washington Post's Obamacare Miracle: Loren Heal

World

The Islamization of Britain in 2013: Soeren Kern
NBA Tony Parker now making Nazi salutes quenelle: FAM
Wiesenthal Center Accepts Tony Parker Apology, Calls for Statement in French: Algemeiner

America's Internal Checkpoints: Wes Kimbell, Reason
St. Louis to Become DUI “No Refusal Zone” – Driver Blood Tests Required: GWP
I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on: Guardian

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Cops to Use Portable Drug Test at New Year's DUI Checkpoints: NBC-LA
Photographer captures stunning photos of the split-second when a gun fires: Bob Owens
Four New Tech Trends That Should Be Huge In 2014: Julie Bort

Cornucopia

Top 10 Conservatives of 2013: John Hawkins
Frontpage’s 2013 Man of the Year: Ted Cruz: Daniel Greenfield
A&E, The NYT and the DNC Bring You “REHAB ADDICT: The Hillary Addition”: MOTUS

Image: A&E, The NYT and the DNC Bring You “REHAB ADDICT: The Hillary Addition”
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please Support the Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "Next time some lefty tells you how uninformed Fox News viewers are, remind them of this uncomfortable statistic:

81: Percentage of young Democrats who approve of the Affordable Care Act, according to December poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics.

58: Percentage of young Democrats who approve of "Obamacare."

Ahem. "Obamacare" and the "Affordable Care Act" are the same thing." --Jim Geraghty

Year-end Blog Stats

Here's a year-long chart of daily visits to this site. Can you find the time the Drudge Report linked?

Here are the year's top 50 referrers:

Rank	Source	Visits	% New Visits	New Visits
1	hotair.com	103443	19.01%	19664
2	drudgereport.com	84705	88.76%	75188
3	linkiest.com	65924	50.26%	33136
4	badblue.com	63399	14.96%	9484
5	thegatewaypundit.com	25303	28.97%	7331
6	iowntheworld.com	24638	24.99%	6156
7	ace.mu.nu	20575	40.54%	8341
8	reddit.com	19604	95.88%	18797
9	maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com	17444	31.08%	5421
10	michellesmirror.com	15615	20.90%	3263
11	pjmedia.com	13957	42.27%	5900
12	rightwingnews.com	12279	39.64%	4868
13	newsbusters.org	10140	28.48%	2888
14	americandigest.org	9458	25.05%	2369
15	legalinsurrection.com	8556	16.80%	1437
16	smalldeadanimals.com	8164	71.84%	5865
17	zerohedge.com	8077	79.50%	6421
18	freerepublic.com	7465	67.05%	5005
19	punditandpundette.com	7161	20.64%	1478
20	theferalirishman.blogspot.com	6518	30.45%	1985
21	ihatethemedia.com	5558	48.96%	2721
22	godlikeproductions.com	5500	90.80%	4994
23	curmudgeonlyskeptical.blogspot.com	5009	29.33%	1469
24	jammiewf.com	4560	25.70%	1172
25	im41.com	4354	66.88%	2912
26	weaselzippers.us	4187	51.97%	2176
27	astuteblogger.blogspot.com	3375	11.29%	381
28	proteinwisdom.com	3328	35.91%	1195
29	nicedeb.wordpress.com	2843	15.20%	432
30	jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com	2789	20.62%	575
31	stevequayle.com	2782	94.36%	2625
32	bastionofliberty.blogspot.com	2771	27.21%	754
33	dailypaul.com	2750	80.76%	2221
34	coldfury.com	2748	19.43%	534
35	michellemalkin.com	2705	56.71%	1534
36	beforeitsnews.com	2637	86.04%	2269
37	whitehousedossier.com	2630	30.95%	814
38	thepiratescove.us	2430	25.06%	609
39	yidwithlid.blogspot.com	2410	28.46%	686
40	sondrakistan.com	2359	19.08%	450
41	americanglob.com	2350	20.81%	489
42	reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com	2328	23.63%	550
43	adriennescatholiccorner.blogspot.com	2192	10.63%	233
44	powerlineblog.com	2121	68.65%	1456
45	moonbattery.com	2079	31.07%	646
46	thenewscommenter.com	1962	85.47%	1677
47	westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com	1930	66.53%	1284
48	angrymikeshood.blogspot.com	1815	35.26%	640
49	nicedoggie.net	1813	46.22%	838
50	ninetymilesfromtyranny.blogspot.com	1782	47.98%	855

Thanks to all of my beloved readers and fellow bloggers -- patriots one and all -- except for you progressive miscreants and you know who you are.