The latest news on the "Vast Left Wing Culture of Corruption" front

But it's really nothing new.

Dems want to have it both ways when it comes to election fraud.

The summation is in the lede:

"When Republicans win elections, liberals are quick to cry fraud. But when actual fraud is found, they are just as quick to deny it, if Democrats are the ones who benefit."

Excerpt:

Local officials refused to accept the registrations because they had been delivered after last year's Oct. 7 registration deadline. Initially, Acorn officials demanded the registrations be accepted and threatened to sue King County (Seattle) officials if they were tossed out. But just after four Acorn registration workers were indicted in Kansas City, Mo., on similar charges of fraud, the group reversed its position and said the registrations should be rejected. But by then, local election workers had had a reason to carefully scrutinize the forms and uncovered the fraud. Of the 1,805 names submitted by Acorn, only nine have been confirmed as valid, and another 34 are still being investigated. The rest--over 97%--were fake.

Speaking of health care

....it's beginning to look like Moses Cone Health System is becoming part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Excerpt:

"Blue Cross rejected a request from Moses Cone to increase the fees they receive for reimbursement for health care by 18 percent immediately and more than 36 percent by July 2009, Blue Cross officials said in a press release."

Sounds like posturing on Mose Cone's part in an attempt to get BCBS labeled as the Bad Guy here.

I have a dog on both sides of this hunt.

BCBS is my carrier, and LeBauer (Mose Cone subsidiary) is my primary care provider.

I've had issues with both.

"A War We Just Might Win"

Gee, what happened? Did the guy who had the "All Bad Iraqi War News All The Time"watch fall asleep at the Times? How did THIS article get in the paper?

Oh wait.....I see the obligatory Bash Bush message in the second sentence.

Never mind.

Furious spew is sure to follow from the Nutroots, the Usual Suspects, and the Amen Chorus.

Wisdom from Walter Williams regarding single payer healthcare.

“There’s absolutely no mystery why our greatest complaints are in the arena of government-delivered services and the fewest in market-delivered services. In the market, there are the ruthless forces of profit, loss and bankruptcy that make producers accountable to us. In the arena of government-delivered services, there’s no such accountability...

Our health care system is hampered by government intervention, and the solution is not more government intervention but less... Before we buy into single-payer health care systems like Canada’s and the United Kingdom’s, we might want to do a bit of research.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based Fraser Institute annually publishes ‘Waiting Your Turn.’ Its 2006 edition gives waiting times, by treatments, from a person’s referral by a general practitioner to treatment by a specialist. The shortest waiting time was for oncology (4.9 weeks). The longest waiting time was for orthopedic surgery (40.3 weeks), followed by plastic surgery (35.4 weeks) and neurosurgery (31.7 weeks).

As reported in the June 28 National Center for Policy Analysis’ ‘Daily Policy Digest,’ Britain’s Department of Health recently acknowledged that one in eight patients waits more than a year for surgery. France’s failed health care system resulted in the deaths of 13,000 people, mostly of dehydration, during the heat spell of 2003. Hospitals stopped answering the phones, and ambulance attendants told people to fend for themselves. I don’t think most Americans would like more socialized medicine in our country.”

(from the Patriot Post US)

Channeling Jimmy Carter: Obama screws up

This is a MAJOR mistake on his part.

Excerpt:

"America has never gone away, Senator. In fact, we have engaged in serious diplomacy where diplomacy has application, including with North Korea. What we have not done is to call summit meetings between heads of state without having any foundation for progress on our national priorities as well as whatever the dictator du jour has in mind.

Obama wants to use John Kennedy and even Ronald Reagan as his examples, but neither of these Presidents rushed to meet with the nation's enemies. Reagan disliked summit meetings entirely, and only engaged in them when the Soviets needed something bad enough that they would acquiesce to American demands to get it. Kennedy seems like an even sillier example; he tried to have Fidel Castro assassinated, and never attempted to get a tete-a-tete with the island dictator."

Obama needs to get a lot smarter than this regarding foreign policy if he expects to be taken seriously in this area, especially if he expects to be able to overtake Hillary's lead for the Dem presidential nomination.

Where are the people advising him?

Asleep?

More "progress" achieved by the multiculturists in combating "hate crime"

And it all happened here.

This obviously calls for more "sensitivity training" and stricter punishment for these heinous offenses.

I'd say the death penalty would be appropriate for this most egregious offense against the mutlicultural jihad, wouldn't you?

Side note: Does anyone really think we would be hearing about an incident like this if it involved a Christian Bible?

Facts you will never see or read in the Lame Stream Media

(hat tip: Joe Boden)

These are some rather eye-opening facts:

Since the start of the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan , the sacrifice has been enormous. In the time period from the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 through now, we have lost a total of 3,140 military personnel.

As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics.

Annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2004:

1980 .......... 2,392

1981 ......... 2,380

1982 .......... 2,318

1983 .......... 2,465

1984 ......... 1,999

1985 .......... 2,252

1986 .......... 1,984

1987 ......... 1,983

1988 .......... 1,819

1989 .......... 1,636

1990 ......... 1,508

1991 .......... 1,787

1992 .......... 1,293

1993 .......... 1,213

1994 .......... 1,075

1995 ......... 1,040

1996 .......... .974

1997 ......... ..817

1998 .......... 826

999 ............ 795

2000 .......... 774

2001 ......... 890

2002 .......... 1007

2003 ......... 1,410 ----- 534*

2004 .......... 1,887 ----- 900*

2005 .......... 919*

2006 . 920*

* Figures are Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
fatalities only

Does this really mean that the loss from the two current conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Mr. Clinton's presidency? Were we at war?

Now, are you confused when you look at these figures? I was. Especially when I saw that in 1980, during the reign of President "Nobel Peace Prize, Jimmy Carter" himself, there were 2,392 US military fatalities.

What this clearly indicates is that our media and our liberal politicians pick and choose , and they tend to present only those facts that support their agenda driven reporting.




Another fact our left media and politicians like to slant is that these brave men and women losing their lives are minorities. Wrong again - The latest census shows the following:

European descent (white) ..... 69.12%

Hispanic .... 12.5%

African American ..... 12.3%

Asian ..... 3.7%

Native American ..... 1.0%

Other .... 2.6%

Now, the fatalities over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom are:

European descent (white) ..... 74.31%

Hispanic ..... 10.74%

African American ..... 9.67%

Asian ..... 1.81%

Native American ..... 1.09%

Other .... 2.33%

These statistics are published by DOD and may be viewed here

Vindicating Gonzales

The New York Times won't admit it, but the article they published yesterday does just that.

Power Line's John Hinderaker explains how and why.

Key point:

"The fact is that the Senators who ridiculed Gonzales, questioned his credibility and called for a perjury investigation were wrong. They owe the Attorney General an apology."

It will never happen.

Not from the politicians who slimeballed him.

Not from the Nutroots far and near who pulled the same stunt.

It's just one more example of their "Business As Usual" bullshit in an attempt to score political points.

This Canadian MD provides an inside look

....into the things he dealt with under Canada's socialized medicine, and why it's important that we not let it happen to us here in the U.S.

Key point:

"And if we measure a health care system by how well it serves its sick citizens, American medicine excels. Five-year cancer survival rates bear this out. For leukemia, the American survival rate is almost 50%; the European rate is just 35%. Esophageal carcinoma: 12% in the U.S., 6% in Europe. The survival rate for prostate cancer is 81.2% here, yet 61.7% in France and down to 44.3% in England — a striking variation."

Yet the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" always tell us how "swell" this type of medical care will be when we get it here.

Edwards continues to prove he's not very sharp

.....especially as it pertains to tax policy.



Noteworthy:

"Robert S. McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, a labor-backed group whose calculations are widely respected by tax experts, said that if the cost of extending tax cuts for people earning less than $200,000 was added to the calculation, the plan would create a $35 billion revenue shortfall instead of the extra $50 billion predicted by the Edwards campaign.

'John Edwards is trying to do something nice for low-income people,' Mr. McIntyre said. 'The question is whether he has a way to pay for it. He is repealing tax cuts on the rich that really do not exist and the only part of substance is that he is expanding the Bush tax cuts to everyone else, but doesn’t count it. I don’t want to go overboard in the criticism, but this is very deceptive.'"

Meanwhile, here's a good assessment of the train wreck called the Edwards' Campaign.

The phony Gonzales "scandal"

There are a number of Usual Suspects in our nation's capital, and right here in the local blogosphere who are trying to make chicken salad out of the usual chicken shit they've concocted in the so-called Gonzales scandal.

To put it in perspective, read this analysis that PowerLine's John Hinderaker gives us.


To the point:

"More broadly, the Democrats' attack on Gonzales resembles the Scooter Libby prosecution, in that there was no underlying wrongdoing. The President replaced eight or nine U.S. Attorneys who had served out their terms with other qualified nominees. U.S. Attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President. That's really all there is to that story. But it became the pretext for a fishing expedition by the Democrats, and as soon as they found a conflict between testimony by two witnesses--something that inevitably happens in just about any investigation--they started howling for a perjury prosecution.

These are dark days in Washington, and not because of Alberto Gonzales."

Indeed

Just more business as usual for the Usual Suspects.

FCC Chairman says Fairness Doctrine unneccessary

Details here.


Quote:

"'In short, I see no compelling reason to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in today’s broadcast environment, and believe that such as step would inhibit the robust discussion of issues of public concern over the nation’s airwaves,' Martin said."


Unnecessary, indeed......not that that won't stop the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" from trying to muzzle Talk Radio anyway.

We all know that what that crowd can't control otherwise is ALWAYS subject to regulation.

Nifong "apologizes"

And says he's sorry.

He certainly IS sorry.....that he couldn't pull off this most outrageous abuse of prosecutorial power we've seen in a LONG time.

It's clear he's saying this now in an attempt to avoid a trip to the slammer, which he so richly deserves for his arrogance.

"Gee, what would this guy know about it, anyway?"

The surge is going better than expected.

Key point:

"Lowry: Conventional wisdom is that no matter how well the surge is going by the spring of next year, the president will have to start drawing down.

Gen. Keane: The surge, or the counter offensive as I like to describe it, was recommended to be a temporary operation, and for the people who were implementing it, they knew it was a temporary operation. Those of us who have looked at it quite a bit in the preliminary discussions, we believe that this was always a temporary operation that was going to last 12-18 months. And that sometime in ’08, late ‘08 at the very latest, we would probably be reducing back to pre-surge levels."

PREVIOUSLY

"Tax increase? Oh, THAT tax increase."

"It's no big deal.

It's just 20,000 percent increase on those evil and nasty things."

No, they wouldn't try to sneak something like this by the public, would they?

Attention Everyone! Take notice of this OFFICIAL revision of certain Global Warming truths!

It's officially been decided that Global Warming PREVENTS hurricanes!

Noteworthy:

"Now, I know many of you are puzzled... You've been told repeatedly by Al Gore and the like that Global Warming causes hurricanes but that was before the 2006 hurricane season was a dud so the global warming hucksters made a new theory that Global Warming reduced hurricanes.

So there is your proof. If you use the new global warming hurricane theory and not last year's global warming hurricane theory you have conclusive evidence global warming is real.

Somebody call the U.N.

Who gets the credit for the reduced hurricanes? According to Bill Clinton Republicans are stopping hurricanes."

You read it here first, folks.

Always come to this blog for the latest "updates" in True Believer gospel.

Quote of the Day

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."

-- John F. Kennedy



JFK was a great visionary.


How else could he have anticipated:


"Global Warming"

"Universal Health Care"

"Tax cuts for the rich"

"Valerie Plame was covert"

"The global war on terror is just a bumper sticker"

"Two Americas"

....and all sorts of other favored Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" talking points?

I provide, you decide

Look VERY carefully at the cover. What association do you make strictly from the visual?

In the long run, is this a plus or minus for our John-boy?

If you haven't figured it out yet, here's the main clue:

What's the most likely thing to hit the eye on first glance when the reader sees the cover, before they have a chance to consider the main subject of the cover?

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

Here's what a real publishing pro has to say.

The costs of "free universal health care" that "progressives" love to tout

.....as detailed in the nonsense being proposed in Wisconsin.

Let's see now:

-- Costs are 3 BILLION more than the state currently receives in TOTAL revenue.

-- Taxes will increase more than $500 per MONTH for each taxpayer.

-- Payroll taxes will nearly DOUBLE, to almost 30 percent (federal and state income taxes are NOT included in that total).

-- Huge increases in non payroll, non income taxes are also proposed.

-- The plan is also openly hostile to market incentives that contain costs, which will lead to the rationing of health care, and the reduction of standards in the heath care system toward third world conditions.

No big deal, right?

If this is a "solution", it's much worse than the "problem".

Gasp! THIS sort of thing will set the cause of "Diversity" back a hundred years!

Oh the humanity!

Children of immigrants are starting to prefer English as their primary language!

Heaven forbid they should escape the bonds of vitimization that those of a certain political/social/economic worldview would love to continue to impose on them.

Heaven forbid that they should become part of the greater society that is the strength of this nation, and take their places as Americans, rather than hyphenated Americans.

True Believer Scientists " don't even try", IPCC methods "fiction"

So says a leading international geologist, and a former IPCC reviewer.

Excerpt:

"They simply dismiss evidence that is, for all intents and purposes, irrefutable. Instead, they substitute their faith, constructing a kind of science fiction or fantasy world in the process. The IPCC postulates an atmospheric doubling of CO2, meaning that the oceans would need to receive 50 times more CO2 to obtain chemical equilibrium. This total of 51 times the present amount of carbon in atmospheric CO2 exceeds the known reserves of fossil carbon – it represents more carbon than exists in all the coal, gas, and oil that we can exploit anywhere in the world."


Indeed, we have ample evidence of that sort of thing from at least one source who appears from time to time right here in our local blogosphere.

Cop Killers and Political Correctness

Thoughts on NYC cop killers by Heather McDonald.

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

The Ugly Truth:

"Yet under the race-baiting precedents established by Al Sharpton, New York City Councilman (and former Black Panther) Charles Barron, and New York Times columnists and editors, the police have more than enough grounds for racial complaint. Blacks are blowing away police officers at rates far exceeding their own numbers. Nationally, blacks made up 40 percent of all cop killers from 1994 to 2005, even though they are only 13.4 percent of the American population.

That fact is not allowed in polite company, however, because race-baiting is tolerated in only one direction. Any time an officer shoots a black civilian, he runs a risk of igniting protest in the African-American 'community.'"



We don't have a Cop Killer and Cop Killer Apologist problem here in the Triad area.....yet.

But the underlying ingredients that lead to this are present for anyone who cares to take off the blinders.

Witness the constant drum beat of "intolerable racism" that is allowed to run almost unchecked.

Witness the constant obsession with race and supposed "hate crimes" pandering from a certain daily newspaper.

Witness "prominent" members of our community who never tire of playing the race card whenever it suits the purpose.

Witness the subservient demeanor of elected officials and high government employees to directly or indirectly do the bidding of a political action group whose main business is to exercise political, social and economic control to fulfill a racial agenda.

Will this all evolve to a "taking it to the streets" mentality of violence directed at our law enforcement officers?

And finally, will there be a great hue and cry for a "Truth and Reconciliation" process if it gets that far?

Here's the consequences the "Get Out Of Iraq Now" crowd

.....does not want you to think about.

Read the whole thing. It speaks to the truth of the matter.

Noteworthy excerpts:



"What would the effect be of all this televised carnage and chaos on the United States? Antiwar critics would turn on a dime — disclaiming their prior assertions that our presence ipso facto had been the chief cause of the violence in Iraq.

Instead, when the mass beheadings of female reformers and serial shootings of 'collaborators' appeared on our screens, American and European leftists would almost immediately blame our fickleness for the carnage."


This article from Professor Hanson is a powerful indictment of those who fail to understand neither the complexities of this struggle for cultural survival nor the true costs that we face with this most insidious of enemies.

Remember how the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" used to say "listen to the generals"

...when they wanted a Bash Bush talking point about Iraq?

Look how they've magically changed their tune.

Noteworthy:

"If it appears rather backwards to have Congress ignore the advice of the military commander on the ground in a war, along with the ambassador and the commander's #2, now we know why the founders made sure that the prosecution of war remained the responsibility of the executive. Congress insisted on benchmarks as their own standard of progress, and the truth is that they did a poor job of selecting them. Confronted with that truth, they have chosen to ignore the men closest to the situation and best able to analyze it in favor of their own flawed presumptions.

So now it's OK to stop listening to the generals. Indeed, it's now OK to bark insults at them. Just ask Joe 'Listen to the generals' Biden."

Are their irresponsible words and actions the result of their malfeasance or stupidity?

Or is it just the same old hypocritical politics as usual we've come to expect?

Doesn't really matter, does it?

We've long since ceased being surprised at hearing and reading things like this.

Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

The Dems' worst nightmare is about to come true

It looks like Ralph is running again.

As you might guess, I'm no fan of Nader, who is most often totally wrong on the issues. But he does get SOME things right, as this quote shows:


“No other country comes close to providing voters with such a small number of choices and making third party candidates hurdle an almost insuperable number of obstacles just to get on the ballot.”


Watch for the illiberal liberals to do anything they can to keep Nader off the ballot AGAIN.

Contrast their action with those of the Republicans if Bloomberg or Paul run as independents.

The Republicans won't be happy, but they certainly will not resort to the slimeball level of chicanery against Bloomberg or Paul that the Dems will use against Nader.

algore as evangelist

He's no more successful in his career as the Goracle of the Church of the True Believers than he was in his other failed career adventures.

Noteworthy:

"When Al Gore adopted the voice and dialect of a Black Baptist preacher in the 2000 election, most of us cringed in embarrassment. Looking back, it may have been a moment of true self-discovery. Ever since, Mr. Gore has been morphing into a very secular Old Testament Jeremiah. It has made him rich and famous. His daughter recently picked up his son from the local police station in her 400 horsepower V-8 Maserati. The Gores take care of their own."


"Despite the media-crafted image of the GOP as home to hypocritical religious demagogues, it is the Democratic Party in which more snake oil peddling faith healers find a home, albeit disguised as non-religious in nature. Sadly, the Left's starry-eyed faith in demagogues like Gore, the Clintons, Edwards, John Fraud Kerry, and yes, even Obama (the White Man's Hope for Absolution of Guilt At Last), is destined to be disappointed, time and time again."

Another disgusting and obnoxious product from Ted Rall

(click to enlarge)

(hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

This piece of trash speaks for itself. No further comment is needed.

So what happens if the Jihadistanis manage to set off a suitcase nuke

.....in DC at the most opportunist time, and everything is totally flattened from Baltimore to Fredericksburg to Winchester to Annapolis?

Attention politicians....Don't you think its time to start figuring it out?


Example:


"Consider the worst-case scenario: a suitcase nuclear attack at a presidential inauguration, with the outgoing and incoming president and vice president, most of Congress, and the Supreme Court present; the outgoing Cabinet scheduled to leave office; and no incoming Cabinet members yet confirmed. There would be chaos -- no clear president to take over, probably many Al Haig wannabes announcing that they were in charge, no quorum to reconstitute Congress, no court to sort out the conflicting claims."

"Because that's where the enemy is."

Robert Cox provides the answer for why we need to stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to get the job done.

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)


Excerpt:


"To my friends on the anti-war left, I ask simply this: If we are not going to fight al Qaeda in Iraq when we know it is there, then where and when do they propose we should fight it?"


The answer is undoubtedly "nowhere".

Remember, according to the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives", the war on terror is nothing but a bumper sticker, and our efforts to fight it are just an excuse to keep us all afraid.

Perspective on the current noise about reviving the "(un)Fairness Doctrine"

Clayton Cramer has some details.

Noteworthy:

"The Democrats haven't changed much in four decades--still committed to indirect censorship to get their way."

And, as well we know, they're not above lying about the issue to get their way.

More bad news for the "Tax Cuts for the Rich" crowd

Tax revenues are surging.

Excerpt:

"The MSR projects a $205 billion budget deficit in fiscal year 2007, down slightly from $248 billion last year. Tax revenues are projected to rise by $167 billion (7 percent), and spending is projected to rise by $123 billion (5 percent). One hundred percent of the budget deficit's decline is caused by revenue increases, and none by spending cuts. Lawmakers have not cut one dollar from the budget."


Imagine that!



Regarding entitlements:


"There is no way that the revenue sources considered in the MSR can--much less should--cover all of this projected spending. Lawmakers therefore must remain vigilant on spending. They should focus on pursuing long-term entitlement reform and creating a budget process compatible with spending restraint."


That should start up another round of "seniors eating dog food" and "seniors forced to choose between drugs and food" from the Usual Suspects.

Heed the Goracle!

....from the unofficial website of the Church of the True Believers

Quote of the Day

"I'm not sure that an anti-war Democrat can win [the general election]. We haven't proved that yet. Some people point to the fact that the war in Vietnam was dreadfully unpopular, but that when I came out for an immediate withdrawal, it helped me win the nomination but not the general election. And there may be some truth about that."

-George McGovern

Does anybody think the Dems will actually learn their lesson?

The origin of the liberal lack of common sense and reason

It started with the JFK assassination 44 years ago.

Noteworthy:

"It was the liberals who threw evidence and reason to the winds, inheriting the crippling effects of their own bad judgment."


"Mr. Piereson's own argument is persuasive and well-presented, but liberalism was never as reasonable as he assumes. The irrationalism that exploded later in the 1960s had been a component of left-wing ideology well before."

"It's not reason that is at the heart of modern-day liberalism but rather the claim to superior virtue and, even more important, to a special knowledge unavailable to the unwashed or unenlightened. Depending on the temper of the time, such virtue and knowledge can derive disproportionately from scientism or mysticism--or it can mix large dollops of both."





This piece is a thorough and insightful look at the malaise that runs rampant today in those who profess to be "progressives", as reason is subjugated to unfounded emotion and irrrational thought and action.

Here's Rudy's foreign policy team

It appears to be a good one, and will do much to solidify support in the conservative base.

Be sure to click on this Think Progress link, as mentioned at LGF.

I love it when people of a certain world view start frothing at the mouth.

I think there are LOTS of people on the Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" side that deeply fear that Rudy is unbeatable when compared to any of the candidates the Dems are likely to put up.

To a slightly lesser extent, the same thing is true of Fred Thompson.

Cartoon of the Day

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

Quote of the Day

.....once again, regarding the "Scientific Consensus" on "Anthropogenic Global Warming" cult.

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

"Science is never settled, and it is about hypothesis testing against known facts, not arm-waving about imaginary futures that have been created by PlayStation 4 computer buffs. Consensus nonsensus."

-- Bob Carter, in The Australian.

Quote of the Day

"Scientists have gotten way too fond of invoking their authority to claim that 'science' dictates their preferred policy solutions and claiming that any disagreement constitutes an attack on science.

But, even assuming that scientists agree on the facts, science can only tell us something about the state of the world. It cannot tell us what policy is the best to adopt.

Scientists' preferences are not 'science.' You cannot go from an 'is' (science) to an 'ought' (policy).

Social science, particularly economics, can tell you something about the likely tradeoffs ...... But it can't tell you which tradeoffs to make."

-- Virginia Postrel

Attention Global Warming True Believers!

Are you running out of things you can use to blame on global warming in your various discussions with heretics like me?

Well, look no further.

Here's the place you need to consult to keep you going like the Ever Ready Bunny we know you are.

With a list of links like this, you ought to be able to keep yourselves busy until the next Ice Age comes around!

(hat tip: Clayton Cramer)

"Goring the Shark"

More classic Mark Steyn.


Excerpt:

"I believe if you go back and freeze-frame the famous 'Happy Days' episode where Fonzie jumps the shark, you'll see the shark is in fact Al Gore enjoying a quiet backstroke."

Good for Congressman Dingell!

He's calling his fellow Dems' bluff and illustrating the political grandstanding over "global warming" and the whole bogus carbon "cap and trade" illusion.

Excerpt:


" 'I sincerely doubt that the American people will be willing to pay what this is really going to cost them,' Mr. Dingell said on C-SPAN last week.

That's why most politicians prefer policy artifice that disguises the cost of raising energy prices. These policy tricks include higher automobile mileage standards and a 'cap and trade' regime for swapping 'credits' for carbon emissions. These schemes shift the direct costs onto businesses, which then pass them along indirectly to unwitting consumers. These policies still amount to taxes on energy use, but they allow politicians and green lobbyists to pretend that you can 'save the world' for the price of a concert ticket."

Little Bobby Kennedy continues to embarrass himself

...with his whacko rhetoric over his "Global Warming" nonsense.

He's now saying that politicians who disagree with him on climate change are commiting treason.

Excerpt:

"This is treason and we need to start treating them now as traitors."

(sigh)

This is the mentality we have to deal with on this issue, isn't it?

Why are we not surprised to read this?

Algorepalooza was a major flop.

Excerpt:


"Apparently the spectacle of celebrities lecturing people on lifestyle has little appeal even for a country more sympathetic to the issue of global warming."


Especially hypocritical "celebrities", like Algore The Prophet himself.

Meanwhile, check out the stats from Rasmussen.

Noteworthy:

"Adding to the skepticism, an earlier survey found that just 24% of Americans consider Al Gore an expert on Global Warming."

Ahh, but 100% of the engorged algore considers himself an expert.

That's the only thing that matters, right?

Regarding the (Non) Fairness Doctrine revival

“At first the liberal Democrats were coy about reports that they wanted to impose government control on talk radio. When it was reported that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had discussed the matter with Sen. Barbara Boxer, both denied it.

That is characteristic. They lied to the public. Now the Democrats admit to this assault on the First Amendment. There was no point in continuing to lie when it was time to take action against the Rush Limbaughs of this world...Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin [said], ‘It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine. I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they’re in a better position to make a decision.’ Well, at least he admits that he is old-fashioned.


Unfortunately for him, history really has moved on. The so-called Fairness Doctrine, used for years to keep diversity off the airways, was instituted when all we had in the communications system was radio and fledgling television. Perhaps in those days it was admissible to believe that there were only two sides to a ‘story,’ as Durbin puts it.


Today there are many sides to stories, and no government body is equipped to judge what should be on the broadcast media and what is too marginal. In other words, it ought not to be left to government to decide what the sides are in a debate. That is anathema to free debate.”

—Emmett Tyrrell

(hat tip: Patriot Post US)

Fisking algore's "The Assault On Reason"

Here's a short list of Gore's inaccuracies and/or lies.

(hat tip: Wendell Sawyer)

Excerpt:

"Many of the assertions Gore makes in his movie, ''An Inconvenient Truth,' have been refuted by science, both before and after he made them. Gore can show sincerity in his plea for scientific honesty by publicly acknowledging where science has rebutted his claims."

Gore?

Admit he was wrong?

What's the chances of that ever happening?

More bad news for the Church of the True Believers

....from NRO'S Planet Gore blog:


"It means that although we are now confronted with global warming, the whole ice sheet will not melt and bring about the tremendous sea-level rises which have been the subject."



Yet another setback for those followers of Al the Messiah, but I'm sure they'll be able to overcome this they way they always manage to do.....namely, by ignoring those Inconvenient Facts that they don't like.

Mark Steyn live blogs Live Earth

As usual for Steyn, it's right on the money and way too funny for the Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" crowd to appreciate.

Meanwhile, Tim Blair has some info on the business end of the algorepalooza hypocrisy.

R.I.P., Detroit

No one from the ranks of The Church of the True Believers' wants to talk about how the Law of Unintended consequences will adversely affect our economy, and especially individuals, as a result of their totally wrong headed and obstinate approach to their "Scientific Consensus" on "Anthropogenic Global Warming".

Eric Peters discusses the disastrous impact that this religious cult will have on our domestic automobile industry.


Key points:


"For domestic automakers -- already reeling from the effects of exorbitant health care and pension "legacy costs" -- an EPA diktat that effectively outlaws the larger vehicles they specialize in (and which remain one of the few segments where they've been able to retain market share and make a profit) could be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back. The mainline Japanese automakers -- who specialize in smaller cars -- are much better positioned to absorb such a blow. If it seems like the early '70s all over again, you're not alone in so thinking. We (or at least our leaders in Congress) seem to have an instinct for national economic suicide when it comes to passing laws that cripple our own manufacturing base while giving huge artificial advantages to foreign competitors."




"Passing laws and issuing potentially strangling regulations on the basis of speculation -- especially when it is as politically charged as is the issue of human-caused global warming -- makes about as much sense as taking that homeless-looking guy with his "The End is Near" cardboard sign off the street and putting him in front of the controls of a 747 at 40,000 feet."

Covering Babs Boxer's "Global Warming" Senate hearing

It sounds like it wasn't the usual Dog and Pony show for the benefit of the Church of the True Believers, despite Senator Babs' best intentions.

Excerpts:


"While the science implicating human activity on global warming is uncertain and speculative, the economic costs of cap and trade legislation are certain and severe."



"However, although Kyoto would provide no discernable climate protection, it would cost the U.S. economy tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in higher energy prices, lost jobs, and lower GDP."




"It seems to us that the leadership of this Congress, with the support of the Majority of this Committee and some Republicans, are intent on helping Mr. Gore and those of his ilk in achieving his unquestionable legacy, which will be the destruction of American lives and more death as a result of his hysterical global goofiness, with no environmental benefit...
Some wealthy elitists in our country and many in our Congressional leadership, particularly from California and New England, and in the entertainment industry, including Mr. Gore, who cannot tell fact from fiction, have demonstrated an Olympian detachment from the impacts of draconian climate change policy. For them, the jobs and dreams destroyed as a result will be nothing more than the statistics and cares of other people. The consequences are abstractions to them. But, they are not to me, as I can name many of the thousands of American citizens whose lives will be destroyed by these elitists' ill-conceived "global goofiness" campaigns."


"Global Goofiness".....what a superb (and accurate) label for all the nonsense!

algore's Live Earth: Mixing "Global Warming" and radical Islam

And it still didn't sell well, despite the political and cultural sympathy that a significant number of True Believers must hold for those who promote terrorism.

It's no big surprise the organizers would try to combine two theologies like this.

Their big mistake was not getting Osama to headline the event alongside algore, instead of Cat Stevens.

I understand his rap routine is pretty boring, though.

Libby's sentence is commuted by the President

There is no doubt that was the right thing to do.

Excerpt:

"A sense of proportionality argues in favor of eliminating Libby's prison term. This was an unusually harsh sentence for a first offender convicted of a nonviolent and non-drug-related crime. Sandy Berger, national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, was not sentenced to prison for sneaking documents out of the National Archives, destroying them and then lying to investigators. For his actions, Berger received no jail time, a fine one-fifth of that imposed on Libby and 100 hours of community service."


It's likely that Libby will ultimately prevail and become completely exonerated through the legal system.

Oh, one more thing....

Ignore the babble, dribble, drool and spew about the commutation that's out there in full force from every stripe of Dem/Lefty/"Progressive"/Nutroot you can imagine.

It's not worth wasting your time and energy.

News flash: I'm afraid I've been.....

(sigh)......just call me Martin Luther Bubba.