John Kerry has allowed all the statutes of limitations to expire

......for instituting any claims for defamation against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Beldar gives him one last shot to "vindicate" himself.

Noteworthy:

"The very last thing John Kerry wants is to ever give the Swift Vets the legal tools they'd need to conclusively document their claims, because truth is, of course, a complete defense to defamation claims. Kerry doesn't deserve vindication, and he knows he could never get it in court.

In court, there would be compulsory discovery of witnesses and documents, followed by a fair and disciplined adversary process, followed by a definitive determination of the truth or falsity of the SwiftVets' charges — a determination that he damn well knows would go against him. Instead, the haze of time and the near-universal bluster of his mainstream media allies (who continue to insist that the SwiftVets' claims were "debunked" and that Kerry was victimized) has given him a far better result than he could ever get in court."


C'mon Senator......here's your big chance to prove you're not the fraud we all know you to be.

NC Dems speak with forked tongue

But we knew that already, didn't we?

Here is the latest example of their extraordinary talent.

On their website, here is their stated position on "immigration":



"We recognize that we are a nation of immigrants. We have consistently fought for the rights of working immigrants. Immigrants are a vital part of North Carolina's progress. We believe the State should provide access to important information about State services and benefits in the primary language of legal immigrants with a goal toward English proficiency.

While we recognize that immigration laws are enacted at the federal level, our State government and grassroots citizens can impact such policies by influencing our federal representatives to strengthen our national borders, protect homeland security, and to enforce existing laws. We strive for a just and comprehensive immigration law which includes a path to citizenship for hard-working, tax-paying immigrants that have contributed to making our State great."

There are several parts of that which are odious enough as they are, but wait......there's more.


Look at what their state executive committee adopted as resolutions in session right here in Greensboro last Saturday:


“141. A Resolution In Support of Immigration Reform

Resolved, that the North Carolina Democratic Party calls for

1. International efforts designed to create conditions so that
people do not have to leave their homes out of necessity through
revised policies on trade, international economic aid, debt relief,
and other types of economic programs that result in people not
having to migrate in order to survive

2. A reduction of the visa application backlog and the provision
under law for more available visas for family reunification
purposes.

3. An end to the incarceration of care giving parents of U.S.
Citizens for civil violations of the Immigration laws pending
hearings on status.

4. Sensitive and evenhanded consideration for refugee settlement in
the United States of those persons who are in danger of retaliation
for their part as employees of the United States and/or their
support of U.S. Policies.

5. A temporary worker program that includes:

a. Path to permanent residency which is achievable/verifiable

b. Family unity which allows immediate family members to join
workers

c. Job portability which allows workers to change employers

d. Labor protections which apply to U.S. workers

e. Enforcement mechanisms and resources to enforce worker’s rights

f. Wages and benefits which do not undercut domestic workers

g. Mobility between the U.S. and a workers homeland, and within the
U.S.

6. Opportunities for those without proper immigration documentation
to obtain legalization.

7. A careful consideration and action by the Congress of the United
States as to the legal rights and constitutional protections that
pertain to all persons residing in the United States.

8. Restoration of due process and recognition of basic Human Rights
for everyone irrespective of immigration status by the Citizenship
and Immigration Service of the Department of Homeland Security.


142. A Resolution In Support of Establishing a Policy on Arrest for
Civil Immigration Violation

Therefore Be It Resolved, that the North Carolina Democratic Party urges that no county in North Carolina enter into a memorandum of agreement with any agency to enforce immigration laws or take any other action that might result in racial profiling or create a climate of fear and hostility for any community in the County; and

Be it further resolved, that the Party asks that municipal
governments in the State refuse to enter into memoranda of agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration laws; and

Be it further resolved, that the Party urges all law enforcement
jurisdictions adopt the policy to arrest or take into custody a
person only when such person is known to have committed a criminal felony violation; and

Be it further resolved, that the Party urges that this resolution be
forwarded to all law enforcement agencies and elected officials in North Carolina."


If the Dems get their way, the speech will be "Welcome to North Carolina, your official illegal alien welcome center."

Can you say "sanctuary state"?

City funding of the Civil Rights Museum comes up--AGAIN!

The voters of Greensboro have TWICE indicated by referendum vote that they are NOT willing to spend any more public money on the Skip and Earl pet project.

But like the proverbial bad penny, it just keeps coming up.

Yet according to Doug Clark at the N&R:


"Our Editorial Board strongly supports completion of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. Leaving that historic landmark in its present condition is an embarrassment for Greensboro and simply unacceptable."


"Unacceptable" and "an embarrassment" to exactly whom, Doug?

Have you seen any mention of this story anywhere in the Lame Stream Media?

No?

Imagine that!

Headline:

UPI/Zogby Poll: Most Americans Say Iraq War Not Lost

Excerpt:

"Overall, 43% believe that since the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress in January, the current Congress's performance in handling the war in Iraq has been worse than the previous Republican-held Congress. Just 20% believe the current Democrat-held Congress is doing a better job....."

The true cost of "carbon trading" schemes

It's more than the True Believers are trying to make you believe. MUCH more:

"How much would power prices go up if carbon emissions were no longer free? The Energy Information Administration estimates that under a plan cutting expected emissions growth by half by 2030, the price of electricity after inflation would be higher than it would otherwise be by 4 to 6 percent by 2020 and by 11 to 13 percent by 2030, as power companies spent money both upgrading power plants and buying the emissions credits that they’d need should they choose not to upgrade.

Carbon cap and trade has pushed wholesale power prices in Europe up 5 to 10 percent just since 2005, says Phil Hare, director of U.K.-based Pöyry Energy Consulting. And if Europe lowers its initially generous cap enough to encourage companies to switch permanently from coal to gas power plants, prices could rise 20 to 40 percent over a decade or so."

It's a lot of money to pay for "fixing" a problem for which legitimate science has yet to find empirical evidence, despite what the True Believers want you to believe.


For pete's sake, they can't even show that CO2 is the actual problem here, let alone any rationalization that the miniscule contribution that human society contributes to CO2 levels is the culprit.

Why is Corzine making a bad situation worse in NJ?

As Milton Friedman is quoted in this article,it’s just obvious that you can’t have free immigration and a welfare state.



"Don't Ask--Don't Tell" employment policies, "Sanctuary City" policies, and those illegal immigration policies that have even worse implications (such as evidenced by the history of those who committed those recent murders in Newark) are becoming intolerable.

And all we get are proposals that make the problem LARGER, such as the Illegal Immigrant Amnesty bill that the only the will of the public saved from becoming a horrible law.

And, as we are well aware, the situation is not likely to change if the Dems are able to fool enough voters into electing that party's nominee to the Presidency.

Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

Hillary calls someone else "unscrupulous"?

And does it with a straight face? The irony is way too important to let pass without comment.

Excerpt:


"Take it from a Southerner who knows: Ms. Rodham, married to the Arkansas Attorney General, was taking the shortest short-cut possible to scrapping her principles and lining her purse with gold. Her association with this particular law firm ensured not only a nice income, but a backdoor route to insider deals, mountains of under-the-table perks, and the golden parachute that comes with on-the-ground-floor speculating - whether in land development or cattle futures. She and Bill, as well as the Rose partners, knew it was a shady conflict-of-interest setup; they obviously didn't care."

It pretty obvious that everything else being equal, Hillary Clinton will be the Dem nominee for President next year. It's also pretty obvious (especially to Dem party stalwarts) that it's highly likely that she will fail, and bring the entire Dem party crashing down around her.

It will be interesting to see what steps the stalwarts might take to submarine her completely.

Oh, by the way, Edwards supporters.....

Don't get your hopes up for the submarining of Hillary to help your boy.

He's toast.

Joke of the Day

Placed here by popular demand from a number of my correspondents.....


One day, the seven dwarfs left to go work in the mine. Snow White stayed home to prepare lunch. When she arrived at the mine with the lunch, she saw that there had been a terrible cave in.

Tearfully, and fearing the worst, Snow White began calling out, hoping against hope that some of the dwarfs had survived.

"Hello, hello," she called. "Can anyone hear me? Hello?!?!" For quite a while there was no answer.

Losing hope, Snow White called again, "Hello. Is anyone down there?" Just as she was about to give up all hope, there came a faint voice from deep in the mine.

The voice said, "Vote for Hillary. Vote for Hillary."

Snow White, somewhat relieved screamed out...."Oh, thank God. Dopey is still alive."

About Edwards' "poverty plague"

Who are these people, exactly?

Let's look at the facts.

Noteworthy:

"Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR, or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs. While this individual’s life is not opulent, it is far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians."




"Of course, the living conditions of the average poor American should not be taken as representing all of the nation’s poor: There is a wide range of living conditions among the poor. A third of “poor” households have both cell and land-line telephones. A third also telephone answering machines. At the other extreme, approximately one-tenth of families in poverty have no phone at all. Similarly, while the majority of poor households do not experience significant material problems, roughly a third do experience at least one problem such as overcrowding, temporary hunger, or difficulty getting medical care."




"As noted above, father absence is another major cause of child poverty. Nearly two thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes; each year, an additional 1.5 million children are born out of wedlock. If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, nearly three quarters of the nation’s impoverished youth would immediately be lifted out of poverty.

Yet, although work and marriage are reliable ladders out of poverty, the welfare system perversely remains hostile to both. Major programs such as food stamps, public housing, and Medicaid continue to reward idleness and penalize marriage. If welfare could be turned around to encourage work and marriage, the nation’s remaining poverty could be reduced."



Somehow, I can't imagine Edwards talking about those facts in detail.

It's way too easy to exaggerate the extent of poverty so that he can play to the grandstand with his "Two Americas" sound bytes.

For him, it's standard operating procedure.


UPDATE:

Related Post at the CA.

Quotes of the Day

"John Edwards leads an all-star cast of liberal politicians and intellectuals (Edwards is decidedly not the latter) who worship at the altar of Invidia, praying that she will exact penance from the undeserving half of our ‘two Americas.’ Like the ‘scientific socialism’ that concealed envy behind a slide rule, today’s liberals invoke social science as justification for their covetousness.

In one famous study, a majority of people said they would rather make $50,000 if others earned $25,000 than earn $100,000 if others were making $200,000. Such studies are deeply flawed. For starters, as Arthur Brooks notes in the current edition of City Journal, they don’t address the question of whether people would be happier in a world of total equality. Rather, they ask whether people would be happier in a world of inequality so long as they could be richer than everybody else.

More damning, however, is that these studies turn a vice into a virtue. With the exception of the self-esteem movement, which glorifies pride, it’s difficult to imagine another area where we so shamelessly tout a sin as the basis of public policy. All men lust in their hearts; shall we dole out concubines for those of us who can’t live like Hugh Hefner?"

—Jonah Goldberg



"In every state of the union, medical insurance is regulated. In some, it’s heavily, heavily regulated.

Oregon legislators, for instance, just added a few new mandatory benefits to all health insurance policies: contraceptives, prosthetics and orthotics, and treatments for injuries caused by intoxication... Do you really wonder why health insurance costs so much? I don’t. The American health care system is addicted to regulation. Our legislators are the pushers. We need to go cold turkey."

—Paul Jacob




"Multiculturalism’s goal is not to teach about other cultures, but to promote—by means of distortions and half-truths—the notion that non-Western cultures are as good as, if not better than, Western culture.

Far from ‘broadening’ the curriculum, what multiculturalism seeks is to diminish the value of Western culture in the minds of students. But, given all the facts, the objective superiority of Western culture is apparent, so multiculturalists must artificially elevate other cultures and depreciate the West."

—Elan Journo



"The interesting and complicated phenomenon of climate change is still being figured out, and as much as those determined to turn it into a crusade of good vs. evil may insist otherwise, the issue of global warming isn’t a closed book.

Smearing those who buck the ‘scientific consensus’ as traitors, toadies, or enemies of humankind may be emotionally satisfying and even professionally lucrative. It is also indefensible, hyperbolic bullying. That the bullies are sure they are doing the right thing is not a point in their defense. For as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote long ago, ‘The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding’."

—Jeff Jacoby

(hat tip: Patriot Post US

How terrible! The American health care system leads to murder!

Yet another reason why we need to junk our heartless and cruel health care system for universal health care!

(Will the fallacious drumbeating EVER stop?)

The legacy of leaving Viet Nam: Lessons the Defeatocrats refuse to acknowlege

The Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" (and some moderates and non-resolute Republicans) don't seem to care about the real costs of bailing out of Iraq.

They had lots of fun trying to make Iraq into George Bush's Viet Nam, but when we point out the actual events that took place after we lost Viet Nam, they ignore the facts or try to change history to something more convenient for them.

Witness this recent excerpt from the New York Times:

"In urging Americans to stay the course in Iraq, Mr. Bush is challenging the historical memory that the pullout from Vietnam had few negative repercussions for the United States and its allies."

Revisionist history at its best......quite a handy tool to use to squelch something that doesn't quite fit the political agenda.

Jules Crittenden demolishes the Times' "historical memory" nonsense.

Key point:

"Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised that the New York Times expects us to have forgotten all that, when Americans apparently know and care so little about the world they live in.

Maybe Barnum, the New York Times and the Democratic leadership of the United States Congress are right. Maybe they won’t go broke underestimating our intelligence."

Look at the laughable attempts at revisionist history in the comments.



Hat tip: Sister Toldjah, who has more.

SSDD indeed, Sister.....

The "Progressives'" paranoia, and their fictional history

Living large on the paranoia world view.

Key point:

"Let's give the last words to Mark Crispin Miller, as he told the blog Buzzflash in February 2006:

'That sort of warped perception comes from extreme paranoid projectivity: the tendency to rail at others for traits or longings that one hates and fears inside oneself. .  .  . We're dealing with a movement that is anti-rational. It's faith-based .  .  . it's a movement that believes what it believes, and it believes what it believes is right. .  .  . It believes what it wants to believe. If it hears contrary evidence, it comes up with evidence of its own. .  .  . This is not a movement that the rational can ever shame into surrendering by merely demonstrating its illogic to its followers. .  .  . Paranoia .  .  . is based on fear, and therefore on a kind of 'logic' that's impervious to evidence and quite incapable of learning from experience. .  .  . Paranoia is an atavism, deep within us all.'

Right you are."

"Libs Say The Darndest Things"

James Lewis absolutely NAILS IT.

For those of you under a certain age, this the title of this piece was inspired by the old kids interview segment that Jack Linkletter used to have on his daytime TV show years ago.

More painful truth:

"We have a lot of truth-telling to do, to put straight what is snarled and upside-down in the minds of 'way too many Americans. But don't argue with liberals, at least not the ones I know; it never works. Their minds are made up and locked tight.

Discussion only works with open minds."

How the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" politicize the terrorism threat

Our "friends" on the other side are always quick to point fingers at the Bush Administration and conservatives regarding the "use of terror to justify infringement on our liberties, and to keep us afraid".

No one but those with that kind of a world view buys into that nonsense.

In fact, there is more than adequate evidence that suggests that THOSE folks (currently Hillary Clinton in particular) are the ones who are trying to manipulate the situation for their own benefit.

Captain Ed has details.

Noteworthy:

"From a purely political point of view, the question demeans the audience to which it was asked and exposes the poser as the poseur she is. Most hilariously, she used this hypothetical to explain how she deals with negative attacks from Republicans.

It's hard to get more negative -- and more foolish -- than to speculate that a terrorist attack would give the GOP an advantage, and that she's prepared to take political advantage of the situation should it arise."

The lessons learned from the Big Tobacco shakedown

.....are going to be used against "Big Energy" to fulfill a "global warming" agenda item.

Noteworthy:

"The point of such exercise would not be to litigate the matter to conclusion — ever more challenging what with forced corrections of the temperature record, recent exposure of the woeful reliability of our own world's most reliable surface measuring network, and of course no global warming in a decade (or, we now know, since 1900 for that matter) — but to extract massive settlements from the energy industry to further fund the trial lawyers, greens and the greens' pet projects.

Just imagine the anti-energy campaign that this model would yield! And at no cost, really, except to anyone who uses energy and/or invests in these sleepy 'granny stocks'.

Oh, and the economy."

The Defeatocrats just never give up, do they?

They're getting ready to launch yet another surge of BDS in their never-ending attempt to score political points.

Key point:

"Aware of the trouble Iraqi progress could mean for Democrats at home — House Whip James Clyburn recently said if the surge were successful, it would be 'a real problem for us'— a revised set of talking points is being worked up by Democrats that declares the escalation of troops in Iraq has not been successful despite White House claims otherwise."

I've got news for you pal. It already IS a problem for you and your cronies.

Despite what your propaganda is designed to effect, the American people are not blind to your despicable behavior.

They'll rightly pin this problem on you and your national candidates next year, and all of Hillary's triangulation on this subject will be worthless to your cause.

Here's an "alternative" energy source that we need to be using

Forget ethanol....

We have an abundance of the first commodity mentioned.

However, there IS a drawback.......the predictable "outrage" by the True Believers, Pope algore the Worst, and the rest of the Church of the Scientific Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming.

Listening to the constant whining and hypocritical political grandstanding and demagogic rhetoric from them on this subject is extremely tedious.

When Hypocritasaurus attack........

(click to enlarge)

Hey True Believers!

Would YOU like to win a cool 100Gs?

Well, step right up and take the Ultimate Global Warming Challenge!


Oh, there's just one little problem......

You will have to put your money where your mouth is.

Perhaps then you will understand that unlike what happens in your make believe world of "global warming" alarmists, there are real costs associated with bad economic, social, and political policy in the real world.

The truth about our "Global Warming" alarmists

Exposing "the shortcomings of the science that is so shaky a school girl (albeit a rather precocious one) like Kristen Byrnes, armed with a rudimentary knowledge of science and a small dose of courage, can challenge the myriad investigators funded by federal and UN billions."

Noteworthy:


"The writers say that this whole global warming alarm sounding is

'...the result of a brilliant, if unethical, PR campaign in which environmental lobbyists have turned global warming into a moral rather than a science issue. And as a moral issue it resonates deeply with western Christian roots.'"

But those of us who don't live in la-la land already knew that, didn't we?

Quoting Dr Carter, from the original article:

"To step - as many climate alarmists and collaborators thus do - onto the slippery slope of 'the ends justify the means' is to embark upon the moral decline that is now widely present in the global warming debate."

Quotes of the Day, "Global Warming" file

(hat tip: the Patriot Post US)


“Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. [The recent] Newsweek cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder. It’s an object lesson of how viewing the world as ‘good guys vs. bad guys’ can lead to a vast oversimplification of a messy story...

As we debate it, journalists should resist the temptation to portray global warming as a morality tale—as Newsweek did—in which anyone who questions its gravity or proposed solutions may be ridiculed as a fool, a crank or an industry stooge. Dissent is, or should be, the lifeblood of a free society.”

—Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson


“There’s a reason why one should be extremely wary of the computer models that are cited by the endless doomsday predictions of Al Gore, the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change, and all the other advocates of ‘global warming.’ The reason is clouds. Computer models simply cannot provide for the constant variability of clouds, so they ignore them.

In a July issue of The Economist an article called ‘Grey-Sky thinking’ was subtitled, ‘Without understanding clouds, understanding the climate is hard. And clouds are the least understood part of the atmosphere.’

Since the increasingly rabid claims of Earth’s destruction from rising temperatures depend on computer modeling, how can they be regarded as accurate if they must largely exempt or deliberately manipulate the impact of clouds? How can you make predictions, whether it’s a week or a decade from now, if you haven’t a clue why clouds do what they do?”

—Alan Caruba

Watch for the hedge funds shakeout

Those that tout making the deal at any cost will be the ones shaken out.

Key points:


"Investors today are watching the wrong ballgame, and totally completely over-reacting to that game.

The subprime situation is indeed a mess, but hardly a surprise. Smart money guys like Ben Stein have correctly dissected the whole mess, and called it for what it is. After estimated recoveries on the actual foreclosed properties, it may portend a 2 or 3% loss, which, in historic loan loss terms, is about the proper amount that should have been reserved anyway for good loans, not to mention loans that everyone knew upfront had 'issues.'"



"Can money still be made in the coming cycle?

Absolutely. Listen to the seasoned experts like Ben Stein. Don't buy into panics that may be just disguised efforts to roil the markets for the benefits of a few gunslinging traders."

Cutting through the hysteria over the "liquidity crisis"

Dick Armey nails it perfectly.

Excerpts:


"Let's put this in perspective. For all of the media's hysteria, less than 15% of the 44 million mortgages in America are in the subprime sector. As a total of all mortgages, foreclosure rates are 0.6%, up slightly from 0.5% last year.

While these foreclosures are often individually difficult, this hardly has the potential for wholesale economic catastrophe. Losses are estimated to be $35 billion at most — equivalent to a stock market decline of 0.2%, according to Stephen Cecchetti of Brandeis University."


"The real threat to the economy is not the foreclosure rate, but that government will overreact, especially if the motives are driven by impulsive populist politics. Chances are, by the time hearings are held and legislation is passed, the market correction will be over."

But I can hear the Chicken Little plaintive squawks, in tune to the bleat from the sheep who masquerade as so-called experts:


"Yeah, but it's the DELINQUENCIES that matter".

Really?


Excerpt:


"Some of them have blown their chance by exhibiting the same kind of behavior that made them bad credit risks in the first place. But most have not. In fact, about nine out of every 10 sub-prime borrowers are still making their payments."

Here's the truth:

-- The media has milked this thing for all it's worth. As we know, they live for bad news.

-- Those of a certain political/social/economic worldview are vested in seeing the economy slide into recession, so that Republicans will not be able to run on the robust economy that we have enjoyed in recent times.

-- The wild swings on the various American stock markets are generally a result of short trading, and other manipulation by money managers, who are so cynical that nothing else matters than to make the deal happen.

"Oh No! The Arctic ice cap is MELTING! "

"PANIC! PANIC! Whatever shall we do?"


"Oh....ummmmm.....oooooops. We already tried this little bit of alarmism back in 1922."

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

More bad news for the Church of the True Believers

More facts that show that the True Believers' sacred text of the IPCC report got yet another crucial point wrong.

Key point:

"Stephen Schwartz is a pretty mainstream climate scientist. Yet along with dozens of other studies in the scientific literature, his new study belies Al Gore’s claim that there is no legitimate scholarly alternative to climate catastrophism.

Indeed, if Schwartz’s results are correct, that alone would be enough to overturn in one fell swoop the IPCC’s scientific 'consensus', the environmentalists’ climate hysteria, and the political pretext for the energy-restriction policies that have become so popular with the world’s environmental regulators, elected officials, and corporations. The question is, will anyone in the mainstream media notice?"

Regarding the Nutroot Blowhards

.....attempt to blow moderate and uncompromising Dems out of their own party.....

We all know the story about how Joe Lieberman gave them the finger last year, but most folks don't know Henry Cuellar's story.



"They win when they intimidate people," says Mr. Cuellar. "I've taken everything they've thrown, plus their kitchen sink, and I still stand proud as a moderate-conservative Democrat."

He says his triumph over blogger fire has only strengthened his conviction that his party will only win elections if it continues to be a "big tent" open to all views. "To make that tent smaller, to force people--not to persuade, but to force, because these are threats--to quiet down, that's destructive in the long term and the short term."

Noteworthy:

"In a match-up on 'Meet the Press' this past weekend, the Daily Kos's Mr. Moulitsas extolled those who use his site to trash thoughtful folks such as Mr. Cuellar as a shining example of 'democracy.' In the same breath he then commanded the DLC's Mr. Ford to 'control' his moderate members, and force them to stop disagreeing with liberal Democrats. If you get that logic, you might just be a Daily Kos reader. "

Or just simply an advocate for the persecution of Politically Incorrect Thought Crime.

This proposed legislation needs to happen

It's a matter of honor, pride, respect, and dignity.

(hat tip: Bruce Ranstad, MAC USN-Ret.)

Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK):

"To salute is a form of honor and respect, representing pride in one's military service. Veterans and service members continue representing the military services even when not in uniform."

So very true.

It's also in memory to those of us who gave all in defense of what our flag represents.

Cartoon of the Day

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

Regarding the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" mythification of Karl Rove

Good post by Jay Reding with spot-on analysis.

Key point:

"For all the talk about how Rove was 'Bush’s brain' and some evil Svengali-like character, the truth (as always) is far more prosaic: Karl Rove’s skills were in retail-level politics."

The following comment from poster Eracus is priceless:

"The greatest trick Karl Rove ever pulled off was in convincing the chattering class of his political and omnipotent genius, of which Mark’s posting above is just another glittering jewel in the crown of colossal ignorance.

In the simplistic worldview of today’s poorly educated and misinformed, their frustration and unhappiness must be the fault of SOMEONE, and so what better device to complete the liberal narrative than to portray this or that political consultant as some sort of monstrous Svengali.

What drama!! What a story!! The Truth is out!! Everything is explained!! Why, it’s all Karl Rove’s fault!

Red Riding Hood had her Big Bad Wolf, and so the Democrats have had their big, bad Karl Rove. How original! But, of course in either case, it’s still just a fairy tale no matter how willing people are to believe it.

Why examine your own failure and defeat when you can just play the victim of some (gasp!) evil genius. Pathetic."

Rove will take some time off and resurface this fall as a key member of the Rudy Guiliani or Fred Thompson campaign.

UPDATE:


Even as I posted this, Ed Cone reports a rumor from DC that says Rove will go with Romney.

We shall see.

Yeah, it's just all one big scheme to keep us afraid and distracted, right?

If you have not yet done so, read Jonathan Gurwitz' excellent article on the opinion page in today's N&R, or follow this link.

Noteworthy:

" Worse than those who suffer from failures of imagination and recognition are the cynics who reject the threat of terrorism as a mere tool to manipulate the masses. John Edwards summed it up nicely in a Time magazine interview in which he rejected the war on terror as political language 'used to justify a whole series of things that are not justifiable, ranging from the war in Iraq, to torture, to violation of the civil liberties of Americans, to illegal spying.'"

Some of those cynics can be found right here in our local blogosphere, making those same lame accusations whenever they get the chance.

Acknowledging the reality of the threats we face is something they will not do.

Indeed, some will go to great lengths to distort the realities of the issue, such as what we see in this typical example of the type of thing we're discussing here.

And then again, sometimes it IS what the media says

Did you catch the CBS Evening News last night, with that perky Katie Couric?

Did you hear the lies they told about all the "10 hottest years have been since 1990", echoing The Prophet himself, algore and his nonsense?

Well, surprise surprise!

The truth is slightly different.

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

WAY different.

Excerpts:

"Well, it turns out, according to the NASA GISS database, that 1998 was not even the hottest year of the last century."


"Government scientists using taxpayer money to develop the GISS temperature data base at taxpayer expense refuse to publicly release their temperature adjustment algorithms or software (In much the same way Michael Mann refused to release the details for scrutiny of his methodology behind the hockey stick)."

"This weeks Newsweek article and statements by Al Gore are basically aimed at suppressing any scientific criticism or challenge to global warming research. That is why NASA can keep its temperature algorithms secret, with no outside complaint, something that would cause howls of protest in any other area of scientific inquiry."

"I cannot get over the irony that in the same week Newsweek makes the case that climate science is settled and there is no room for skepticism, skeptics discover a gaping hole and error in the global warming numbers."

There's no irony about intellectual dishonesty to further certain political, social, and economic religious agendas that the acolytes of the Church of the Global Warming True Believers want everyone to accept as gospel.

Sometimes, it's not what the media says

....it's what they DON'T say.

Read this story and see if you can guess what the AP writers don't say.

After reading the first link and thinking about it, read this story.

Big difference, huh?

Ya think there might be some agenda at play over at the AP?

All this comes courtesy of Eric at Classical Values, who gets the best line in:


"It must be hard work when there are so many details that have to be omitted."

Oooops! Yet ANOTHER little "glitch" in the "anthropogenic global warming" statistical modeling....

PowerLine has the details.

Money shot:

"....Which is to say that much climate 'science' isn't science at all."

But we knew that already, didn't we?

"The Againstocrats"

This new book takes an inside look at the Nutroots and their mega rich hard line fringe financiers who enable them to hijack what's left of the Dem party.

Noteworthy:

"The liberal billionaires, such as George Soros and Peter Lewis, and the bloggers, such as 'blogfather' Jerome Armstrong, are certain of what they’re against, Bai demonstrates. They are passionate in their hostility to the Republican 'dictatorship,' the reviled George W. Bush, and his war in Iraq; they despise the evangelical “lizardheads” who live in 'Dumbfuckistan'; they detest the Clintons as compromisers whose strategy of triangulation has turned the Democrats, as they see it, into me-too Republicans chasing after the middle-class vote; they loathe the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and, as famed Hollywood liberal Norman Lear puts it, 'Joe "Fucking’'Lieberman'; and they are sure, insofar as they give it any thought, that the war on terror is largely a scam that has been sold to the 'morons' of middle America."

Notice anything in that passage that is a regular talking point on some of our own local "progressive" blogs?



This passage is dead on:

"The bloggers, for their part, are as emotionally stunted as the billionaires, but as inhabitants of 'a fantasy game inflected world,”' far less literate: 'The Daily Kos and other blogs resemble a political version of those escapist online games where anyone with a modem can disappear into an alternate society, reinventing himself among neighbors and colleagues who exist only in a virtual realm.' Bai adds: 'One of the hallmarks of the netroots culture was a complete disconnect from history—meaning basically anything that happened before 1998.'"

McMansion home owners targeted in latest "global warming" scheme

Here's yet another foolish "global warming" grandstand move which will of course end up costing EVERYONE.


Excerpt:

"These are all new ideas," Dingell said. "I know I'm going to catch hell for them," but "if we are serious about global warming, we need to reduce consumption by making it more expensive."

(sigh)

Once again, there is NO empirical proof that human activity, let alone carbon dioxide, is causing "global warming".

Period.

All this sort of thing does is cost an incredible amount of money and increases the misery index of everyone.

Fortunately, saner people will intervene to put a stop to nonsense like this.

Plus, since when is a 3000 foot home a "McMansion"?

RELATED:

CAFE standard increases are counter-productive.

But we already knew that, didn't we?

The funny thing is that Dingell, criticized above for his "McMansion" nonsense is against CAFE standard increases. I blogged about that here.

Ed the Troll

Read the article and the comments in this latest example of Cone's unmitigated arrogance over at JR's.

Here's my reply:


(quoting Cone)

"I never touched a comment for about five years. That experiment failed."



I won't begin to list the amount and the content of the support I've received since you pulled your little stunt, but it's a clear indication that you bear the majority of the blame for the situation at hand.

You have consistently and deliberately misrepresented other people's contributions to your blog, and have continuously instigated the trouble by your own words and actions. You are the classic troll on your very own blog and your "who, me" disclaimers are wearisome.

Your obnoxious and insidious reaction to those with whom you don't agree is legendary.

You are not fooling anybody.

Do what you need to do.

I'm tired of being a convenient excuse for your own bad behavior.

So what's the agenda for a "Movement 2.0"?

Patrick Ruffini fleshes out some details at Hugh Hewitt's.

The policy points seem pretty concise, although other domestic policy issues (Kelo, unfunded federal mandates, free speech rights, among others) should be addressed too.

Yet another example of how bogus the global warming "science" usually is

From Clayton Cramer.


Excerpts:

"If each A/C unit was 2000 BTU, that would be 22x2000=44,000 BTU of waste heat dumped within 100 feet of the Stevenson Screen where the thermometer is located.

Additionally. for other biases, positive and negative there's the buildings, the windows, the shade trees, the wind sheltering, and the lawn sprinkler. There's also the big parking lot to the southwest, and the Stevenson Screen is at the top of a slope and there's a parking lot downslope.

When I mentioned to the site curator about the A/C units she said 'hmm, I never thought about that" but then added, "But I can tell you that when we water the lawn, my high temps are lower'."



And you can guarantee that this nonsense all passed "peer review", which of course sanctifies the findings as an absolute and undebatable fact of "scientific consensus" regarding "anthropogenic global warming".

No big surprise.

Just business as usual.

BDS: Minnesota bridge collapse version

(from the Patriot Post US)

“The total outlay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so far, over $600 billion. Think for a minute about what we could do with that money here at home, not only to improve our own infrastructure, but for other domestic needs that go wanting. Here’s the question: In light of the Minnesota bridge collapse, how could the U.S. better spend the $2 billion a week that we’re pouring into Iraq here at home?”

—CNN’s Jack Cafferty

"The bridges of every county: How the endless war and endless spending crippled our ability to repair or just check our infrastructure.”

—MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann

“Is it time we raise the federal gas tax to start fixing up our nation’s bridges and roads?...In Minnesota, Governor Pawlenty, who vetoed an increase in his state gas tax, said now he may consider one. Is this Republican dogma against taxes now precluding the ability of you and your party to come up with the revenues that the country needs to fix its bridges?”

—Columnist David Yepsen to debating GOP presidential candidates

“Funding the nation’s infrastructure is all a matter of priorities... Congress and the White House have traditionally had trouble making the tough decision to collect and spend more tax dollars on infrastructure.”

—CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson

“As time goes on, the [infrastructure] problem gets worse. And we’re coming up against it at the time when we’re spending, what, $4,000 a minute on the Iraq war.”

—Margaret Carlson

UPDATE:

Mark Tapscott asks the right question:

How many bridges would $5 million worth of earmarks buy?

Comment of the Day

This comment on the previous thread was so good it deserves a thread of its own.



"Bubba, I don't mean to put you or Sam down, but why do you bother with an over the hill has been?

He has a few like minded followers who like him are also over the hill. He seems important because he spends his day throwing out inane posts to get himself listed often on We101. That's all it is

You and Sam are both intelligent men who have so much more to say and so much more to do than let a tad pole in a very small pond absorb so much of your attention.

Sincerely, BB"


Actually Brenda, he thinks of himself as a Big Fish in a Medium Pond who obviously wishes he could be a Big Fish in the National Pond.

Somebody has to to let all his hot air out so that others will see him for what he really is: a tadpole with an overinflated ego and attitude.

Ed the Troll

UPDATE:

Dr. J calls Ed the Troll....on his trolling.



WEDNESDAY UPDATE:


Ed the Troll defends his trolling.....

"I have begun to take a somewhat more active role in policing my comment threads. I wanted this community to police itself."

Who's going to police YOU, Troll?

Just a few days after you express your opinion about not making threads about personality and asking my cooperation, YOU proceed to do the same thing against Sam Spagnola.

When I respond, calling you on your hypocrisy, you react poorly and issue a King Troll proclamation of "one week suspension" from posting for me.

And then there's this:

".....it's really up to the commenters to improve the neighborhood and maintain some standards."

Translated: "I refuse to be held accountable for my words to those who don't agree with me."

As well we already know, Ed the Troll's own "standards" set poor examples for anyone to follow.

Clean up your own act, hypocrite.

Cone qutoes Elizabeth Edwards

Drudge picks it up, puts it mildly out of context, the Edwards campaign staff are obviously aghast, much hilarity ensues.......



Listen to the whining from one of Ed's Peanut Gallery:

"As soon as Drudge links to your site, Ed, the caliber of your comments drops. Did you notice that?"

Darn!

I thought the quality of Cone's blog dropped because of me, The CA, Fred, and Dr. J.

But I must admit I'm having fun. See what happens when I'm not there?

I don't need to make comments on Ed's blog about his threads and his remarks.

I'll just make them here.

More on the essential emptiness of John Edwards

Firsthand observations about Edwards from previous campaign events by a member of The State's (Columbia SC) editorial board.

Noteworthy:

" Then I saw Mr. Edwards step to an offstage position just behind the bleachers to my left. None of the folks in the “good” seats could see him.

His face was impassive, slack, bored: Another crowd, another show. Nothing wrong with that — just a professional at work.

But then, I saw the thing that stuck with me: As his introduction reached its climax, he straightened, and turned on a thousand-watt smile as easily and artificially as flipping a switch. He assumed the look of a man who had just, quite unexpectedly, run into a long-lost best friend."

Cartoon of the Day

The Dems' Class Warfare strategy is floundering

Imagine that!.

Key point:

"This isn't to suggest some of these bad taxes won't go through; they will. But it's encouraging to know that, even amid this latest round of Democratic class-warfarism, the party harbors a minority who understands that taxes do have economic consequences. You can almost hear the ghost of the luxury tax past rasping away in the background."

Let's list some of the tax items this Dem leadership has supported:

-- letting the Bush tax cuts expire.

-- letting the Death Tax return to its confiscatory level

-- increase of the capital gains tax

-- increase taxes on oil and gas companies by 15 billion, which will be passed on to you and me., and would impact lower income people severely.

-- impose large tax increases on tobacco, which would also severely impact low income people. (SCHIP)

-- taxing private health insurance, and gutting the Medicare Advantage program that eliminates costs for many low income Medicare recepients.

(NAACP: "“The director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Washington bureau had written lawmakers on March 14 that fewer dollars for Medicare Advantage ‘would have a negative impact on the health and health care of millions of Medicare beneficiaries, particularly for low-income and minority beneficiaries.’

Rosa Rosales, national president of the League of Latin American Citizens, wrote that her group was concerned further cuts to Medicare Advantage ‘will threaten access to comprehensive benefits, result in higher out-of-pocket health care costs, and create financial barriers to care that will be particularly harmful for Hispanic seniors.’” (Associated Press, 4/15/07)")

Let's see.....what have I missed?

We haven't even begun to talk about the costs of various Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" agenda items like "universal health care", "global warming", etc.

And obviously, we have yet to move to the state and local level tax increases that are coming to us at a fast and furious pace......

Quotes of the Day

(hat tip: Patriot Post US)

“The Democrats have convinced themselves, once again, that the enemy is us—or at least our fault. There was no al-Qa’ida in Iraq before we invaded the country, they argue. If it exists now, it’s entirely our own doing. Our presence causes the violence in Iraq. In fact, they say, our presence in Iraq is the greatest recruiting tool the terrorists have.”

—Mona Charen



“Liberals used to be the ones who argued that sending U.S. troops abroad was a small price to pay to stop genocide; now they argue that genocide is a small price to pay to bring U.S. troops home.”

—Jonah Goldberg



“Gen. Dave Petraeus and his subordinate commanders are by far the best team we’ve ever had in place in that wretched country. They’re doing damned near everything right—with austere resources, despite the surge. And they’re being abandoned by your elected leaders. Maybe the next presidential primary debate should be held in Baghdad.”

—Ralph Peters

Battling the "Global Warming" myths

Here's an important report from the John Locke Foundation folks, designed to help citizens cut through the nonsense, and propaganda of outright lies and distortions that the True Believers are using.

Key point:


“'Whatever the risks of future climate change, they pale in comparison to the risks of the "wrenching transformation"sought by Gore and his environmentalist allies,' Schwartz said. 'The restrictions they seek to force on the world would require us to give up the energy consumption that supports our prosperity, health, and comfort of life.'"

Fugly scene

I hope it's nowhere near as bad as it looks.

UPDATE:

See the comments for some of the Bush Derangement Syndrome nonsense being spewed by the Nutroots regarding this disaster.

Today's "One Giant Leap For Mankind" story

Details at the Washington Times about the Dems' SCHIP bit.

Key point:

"To pay for the plan, House Democrats propose a 45-cents-per-pack cigarette tax increase, which they say would raise about $27 billion.

They also proposed cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, a program that works to provide health care services for rural seniors and minority communities across the nation. The cuts would save billions of dollars more, Democrats say."

Yeah, thats the ticket.....pit the NEA against AARP.

THAT would be fun to watch!

News Flash: "Global Warming" will not cause world wide deprivation

So say (believe it or not) many economists, Paul Krugman obviously not among them.

That assumes of course that the Luddites and the True Believers don't get their way. ("But despite our growing prosperity there is a renewed fear in many quarters that we are living on borrowed time, because we’re running out of resources and endangering our very environment.")

Key points:

"I found that by wide margin economists are exceptionally optimistic about the future of the American economy: most predict that the robust economic growth of our recent history will continue into the foreseeable future."

"The bottom line is that most economists are very optimistic about the economic future of almost all the world. They find pessimism implausible because the forces that have driven past growth — the accelerating pace of technological innovation and the strong incentives embedded in the capitalist system that steer us around potential roadblocks — aren’t likely to disappear anytime soon. Moreover, the consensus among economists is that climate change has very little potential to slow down our economic growth machine. Rather, economists identify the major challenges facing the American economy over the next sixty years as coping with the effects of an aging population and flaws in the Social Security system, exploding health care and health insurance costs, and our inefficient educational system.

Perhaps it’s time for us to stop worrying about a future of deprivation and finally learn how to handle unrelenting prosperity."